Chapter 14: I Got Better
Back on the Normandy, Shepard sent Lia to see Dr. Chakwas before showing Samara around the ship. Samara took the explanation of the difference between the heretics and the geth ease and handled herself with aplomb when introduced to Legion. She remained polite but reserved through all introductions, but Shepard knew that wasn't unusual for Samara.
"This is strange for you, isn't it? Being around so many different species," Shepard said.
"I have met few who were not asari in my life, this is true," Samara said.
"I'll come by once we take off again, and you can ask me any questions you might have about any of this," Shepard said.
"I look forward to the conversation. Until then, I shall be in my meditation," Samara said.
Shepard watched as the Justicar sat in the middle of the floor facing the observation window. Biotic energy flared around her as Shepard left her to mediate. Garrus waited by the elevator when Shepard walked out of the starboard observation. Shepard paused, not expecting him to be there.
"Hey," she said walking down the hall towards him.
"You're going back out for the drell assassin, aren't you?" Garrus asked.
"I am. Want to come with me?" Shepard asked.
"And here I had a speech prepared to convince you," Garrus said.
"Why would you need a speech?" Shepard asked.
Garrus shrugged and said, "Well, you took me out on the first one today and it seemed like I upset you so…"
"I'm not upset, Garrus. I've been… concerned about some of the ways that you've changed. Not because of what these things mean to me, but because of what they would have meant to you once. How you might feel about them beneath it all, I guess. There isn't a whole lot that you could ever do that would make me stop loving you or wanting you by my side," Shepard said.
"I've come to terms with them, Shepard," Garrus said.
"OK, then I will, too," Shepard said.
"There was the other thing, too," Garrus said.
"What other thing?" Shepard asked.
"Your, hmmm, your reaction to the drell. I wasn't sure if you'd be comfortable with me being there for your reunion," Garrus said.
Shepard groaned and said, "You really had to remind me, didn't you?"
Garrus chuckled and pulled Shepard to him. She let her forehead drop against his armored chest and slipped her arms around his waist.
"As if you'd forgotten," Garrus said.
"As if we could ever forget," Jane said.
"Well it's fine with me unless it's weird for you or something," Shepard said. "Is that why you want to go?"
Shepard tilted her head back so she could watch Garrus' eyes. His mandibles fluttered and he shook his head.
"No, I want to go because he's a damn assassin and you seem to be blind to that fact. I mean, you followed him into an alley and aren't at all bothered by the fact he was watching you on the Citadel," Garrus said.
"It really was a stupid move and you're damn lucky he didn't decide to kill you," Jane said.
"But what if that had meant the end to you being forced to relive all of this?" Shepard thought.
"Not if it also means that the reapers win," Jane said.
"So you mean to protect me from the big bad assassin, is that it?" Shepard asked.
"You don't seem willing to protect yourself when it comes to him," Garrus said.
"That's because I don't need to be protected from him," she said.
"You can't know that. We've always met him under completely different circumstances. You might have changed things too much with him too early for him to ever be trusting of us again," Jane said.
Garrus said, "Then humor me until I get the chance to see that for myself."
"I was going to ask you to go anyway. Mordin, too. We have some time to kill before we'll take a cab to where he should be, and I wanted to speak with Mordin about some things away from the ship," Shepard said.
Garrus slipped his hand beneath Shepard's hair and ran a finger down the scar at the base of her skull. Jane flinched away from the reminder of what she still felt was a betrayal.
"That talk?" he asked.
"Yeah," Shepard said.
"Hmmm. I had to tell him, Shepard," Garrus said.
"I know, and I'm glad you did all things considered," she said.
"It would have been far worse for you if he hadn't," Shepard thought.
"They should have talked to us about it all first, given us the chance to choose," Jane said.
"Maybe, but if we had refused how could they have ever known if it was a genuine refusal or a response created by the chips?" Shepard thought.
"So when are we headed out?" Garrus asked.
"As soon as I drag Mordin away from the lab. I thought we could grab something to eat on Illium while we talk," Shepard said.
"You mean I get to eat something other than dry rations or unidentifiable goop from the mess? I'll drag him out for you, let's go," Garrus said.
Shepard laughed and hit the elevator's call button. They took the elevator up to the second deck and made their way to the labs. Mordin was busy doing something over by the collector's tank when they walked in.
"Mordin, get your salarian ass to the airlock. Shepard's buying us dinner on Illium before the next recruitment," Garrus said.
"Suggest informality, interesting. Not the whole crew so not for purpose of morale. Turian present, not mating ritual," Mordin said.
Garrus looked at Shepard with a raised brow ridge. She shook her head and shrugged her shoulders.
"Social setting. Must want to talk. Collectors? No, no, can do that on ship. STG maybe? Or… Ah. Excellent. Will be ready in ten minutes. Must finish test," Mordin said.
"How does he even do that?" Shepard asked.
Mordin grinned as he moved around to the other side of the collector tank to fiddle with the machinery keeping the collector alive. Held up his empty palms and shrugged.
"I don't know, but maybe we can find a way to bottle whatever it is and sell it. We'd be rich overnight," Garrus said.
"Just meet us at the airlock when you're ready," Shepard said.
Mordin didn't respond so Shepard and Garrus left him to his experiments. Ten minutes later, Mordin joined them by the airlock and they left the ship. Once again, Careena gave Shepard a fake smile that did nothing to cover the contempt in her eyes. Shepard led them past the trade floor and up the stairs to Eternity. Bar food wasn't the most appetizing option, but it was a good place to talk. The music from the bar would help keep them from being overheard and that was very appealing to Shepard.
Mordin looked around the bar curiously as Shepard paid a small fee to reserve the side room. The bartender took their order at the bar and told Shepard that she would bring them their order when it was ready. Shepard chose the spot that had the best view of the door and the bar outside and sat down. She glanced up when she realized Garrus was hovering over her.
"What?" Shepard asked.
"I wanted to sit there so I can watch the door," Garrus said.
"Well, so do I," Shepard said.
"Yes, but my eyes are better than yours and I have my visor," Garrus said.
Shepard pursed her lips.
"Hmmm, and it's not as easy for me to get in and out of these seats, I need the leg room," he said.
"Fine," Shepard said with a sigh and scooted further down.
The bench seating wrapped around half the room, taking sharp turns at the corners. In the center sat a large circular table. Mordin sat down on Shepard's other side and watched her with anticipation.
"Before I tell you anything, let me be clear that some of your questions I simply won't have answers for," Shepard said.
"He's going to try to dissect us," Jane said.
"No he isn't," Shepard thought.
"He'll want to," Jane said.
"Understood," Mordin said.
Shepard squirmed in her seat before she began speaking, "So, apparently… I've lived this life before. Thousands of times. Only they weren't me, or well, I guess they were but not really."
Mordin blinked his eyes as he sorted through Shepard's flustered beginning statements.
"Not the whole life, I guess, it always starts for her on the same day. Gods I'm not making any sense with this," Shepard said.
"You did somehow sound less crazy when you told me," Garrus said.
"Geez, thanks. That helps," Shepard said. "This is different. There wasn't much chance of you dissecting me."
"Would never dissect you, Shepard. Not while living," Mordin said.
"And not when she's dead," Garrus said.
"Not without permission," Mordin said.
"OK, so, let me just give you Jane's perspective," Shepard said. "Commander Jane Shepard was the first, or at least that is her recollection and I've seen nothing to disprove that. She was called to the Normandy for a shakedown run to a planet called Eden Prime. She was being vetted by a Spectre named Nihlus. She found him dead on Eden Prime, killed by another Spectre named Saren."
Shepard paused when Garrus said the bartender was coming with their order. She waited for the asari to put their plates and glasses down and leave again before she continued.
"She spent the next year fighting Saren and finding out about the reapers just as I did. She saved the Citadel, just as I did. She died…," Shepard's words caught in her throat. "She died over Alchera just as I did and was brought back by Cerberus. She fought the collectors, spent time in prison, saved the galaxy from the reapers and died during the war."
Shepard took a drink from the tall glass of iced tea before continuing. She kept her eyes down on the plate in front of her as she spoke.
"Only she didn't stay dead. She woke up again, in someone else's body. Some other Commander Shepard, on the same day that they were to report to the Normandy for the same shakedown run to Eden Prime. They couldn't hear her, or feel her or anything. She didn't know what was happening or why. That Shepard went through the same things and died in the war; only to wake up with Jane in a third Shepard's body and do it all over again. It just kept happening," Shepard said.
Shepard put a French fry in her mouth and glanced at Mordin. His expression gave nothing away, his more rapid blinking the only sign that she had just told him something that sounded completely insane.
"How many times?" Mordin asked.
"She's lost count, a thousand at least," Shepard said.
"Why do you refer to 'them' as 'she'?" Mordin asked.
"She's dominant, I don't hear the others. Well, usually. I guess because she was the first," Shepard said.
"How do they die?" Mordin asked.
"We die in a device we will call the Crucible, it is made from plans found in the prothean ruins on Mars. In order to use the device to stop the reapers, we have to make a choice. All choices lead to our death, some immediate, some… not," Shepard said. "All of the choices put a stop to the reapers destruction, if what the Intelligence – that's an ancient AI living in the Citadel and another story completely – if what he tells us is true. But each choice does so in a different manner and at a cost of different sorts to the entire galaxy."
Garrus stirred beside Shepard. She hadn't even divulged this much information to him. It wasn't intentional, things had just been moving so fast since Cerberus brought her back and the two of them had gotten off to a rocky second start. She didn't really know all of this before Alchera.
"What are the choices, Shepard?" Garrus asked.
"Control, Destroy, or Synthesis," Shepard said.
"There's a fourth option… you can refuse to decide. Everyone dies, the reapers continue on unhindered," Jane said.
"But of course we would never do that," Shepard thought.
Remorse flickered ever so faintly across Shepard's mind.
"You… you did that? You let the reapers harvest everyone?!" Shepard thought.
"No, not I. I don't acknowledge that one. That one is underserving to share our name," Jane said.
"Good gods…," Shepard thought.
"Shepard?" Garrus said.
Shepard snapped her head up and looked at Garrus. He seemed to be waiting for something.
"I'm sorry, what was that?" Shepard asked.
"I asked how these choices worked," he repeated.
"I'm… I'm not ready to talk about that. I'm sorry. Let's just say that either way, I die but I presumably save the galaxy in doing so. All mass relays are destroyed no matter what," Shepard said.
Garrus snapped his mandibles tight against his jaw and took a drink. He carefully set the glass back on the table.
"Fair enough. I won't force you," he said.
"Will you talk to him about it?" Jane asked.
"I don't know. Eventually. Probably," Shepard thought.
"Thank you," Shepard said.
"What changed?" Mordin asked.
"I'm sorry?" Shepard said.
"What changed? The others were unaware. How are you aware?" Mordin elaborated.
"I… I don't know. I guess there just finally enough of them to start breaking through. I started having strange experiences, visions, unexplained understandings of people, places, events. Liara… Liara found something, she called it a veil, when we joined minds. I let her go poking around in there and things got ugly. Anyway, then the buzzing sound. Gods that was annoying," Shepard said stuffing another French fry in her mouth.
"I worked with an asari psychologist who specialized in humans, she helped me to understand what it all meant; taught me to learn to listen. Then I started hearing actual words. The communication was slow and tedious most of the time, but it was progressing. Then… as I was dying over Alchera something finally gave and the wall came crumbling down. I could hear her perfectly," she said.
"The events are always the same?" Mordin asked.
"Mostly, there were some things that changed from life to life. But it was like – there were a handful of ways a conversation might go, someone I might choose to kill or leave alive, the order of some things like planets that I would visit varied, but the same things always happened more or less when I did. I –," Shepard said.
"Sprits," Garrus said cutting her off.
"What?" Shepard asked.
"You keep saying 'I' and not 'they' or 'she'. You've been doing that more and more. Or sometimes you say 'we'. I don't... Hmmm. It's just… like she's slowly taking over," Garrus said.
"That's not happening. In fact, if anything she's angry because she can't. I've made a lot of changes since I first started to feel Jane, and she isn't happy about some of them," Shepard said.
"You've changed the pattern?" Mordin asked.
"Yeah, at first that was what Jane wanted me to do. In hopes that this cycle could be brought to an end. It's why she fought so hard to be heard. But then… I made the choice to let myself die because I couldn't see another option that would put me where I needed to be to fight the collectors and put an end to the reapers. We lost people we weren't supposed to lose when the Normandy went down this time… and she says it's my fault," Shepard said.
She raked her hand through her hair and took a shuddering breath before she continued.
"She felt, like physically felt, my death and the procedures they used to bring me back this time and it… well, who would be completely sane after that? She fought against me for a while, trying to block my access to her memories and refusing to help me change things further but now she's working cooperatively, if begrudgingly with me."
"And the chips?" Mordin asked.
"No, whatever you did, she didn't feel that," Shepard said.
"Excellent. Will be sure to note that in file," Mordin said. "So must find alternative method of stopping reapers."
"That's the idea," Shepard said. "So, you believe all of this?"
"Would not be good scientist if weren't skeptical. Believe you believe, willing to believe with evidence," Mordin said.
"He thinks you're crazy," Jane said.
"I can tell you things about you that you haven't told me. Like your work on the genophage modification. The Shroud on Tuchanka, you used it to distribute the genophage modification. Or your former protégé, Maelon. Or that you use to perform Gilbert and Sullivan," Shepard said in between bites. "Your friend, Maelon, you'll get word that he's in trouble soon, and we'll go to help him. And you should know that the Shroud was sabotaged after you used it, the STG were sent to make sure that if a cure was developed the Shroud couldn't be used to disperse it over Tuchanka."
Mordin began blinking more rapidly again. He steepled his fingers in front of his mouth, resting his elbows on either side of his plate.
"Activities performed with STG difficult to come by, not impossible. Especially for a Spectre. Maelon's name not classified. Gilbert and Sullivan seen by many people. Circumstantial evidence," Mordin said.
Shepard nodded her head and said, "I thought you would say that. So, I'll just have to show you in the field. Maybe show you some of the videos."
"Gods please don't make see those again," Jane said.
"I won't," Shepard thought.
"What videos?" Mordin asked.
"Jane spoke through me while Cerberus was operating on me. Miranda recorded her work, she kept the videos secret because in one of them I made mention of her sister and other people that she knew. It disturbed her enough that she wanted to talk to confront me once I was awake before sharing them with the Illusive Man. Lucky for me in that aspect. I've since convinced her to keep them secret permanently," Shepard said.
"Assuming she can be trusted," Jane said.
"You've trusted her before," Shepard thought.
"She didn't put chips in our head before, or have those videos," Jane thought.
"Intriguing. Look forward to seeing them," Mordin said.
"Because you want to hear Jane talk or because you want an inside view of how Miranda pieced me back together?" Shepard asked with a smile.
"Both, certainly. Miranda knows all of this?" Mordin asked.
"Not exactly," Garrus said.
"I convinced her that 'The Prophecies of Shepard' as she called them, were a side effect of my interactions with the prothean beacon. When this all first started, that's what I thought they were, and the beacons did cause visions. Just of death and destruction of the prothean race at the hand of the reapers. Oh, the collectors are the product of the reapers altering protheans. I'm sure you can verify that," Shepard said.
"Already have," Mordin said. "Sent you message."
"Sorry, I don't check my messages as often as I should," Shepard said while she checked her omni-tool for the time. "Anyway, we can talk about this more another time. We've got some place we need to be."
Without further comment, Shepard led them out of Eternity and back down to the trade floor. She glanced again at the stairs leading to where she wished she would find Liara before moving on through the door beside the stairs. Normally, Shepard would have been told to speak with one of the shipping station clerks, an asari named Seryna. Shepard led them across the main floor and up the stairs to the transportation district instead. She knew where she needed to go. Shepard hailed a taxi and they took it to the Dantius Towers.
"FENIRS, LOKI, rocket drones, Eclipse, and krogan bounty hunters," Shepard said lowering the cab to the skycar landing zone partway up the second tower. "Salarian civilians."
She stepped out of the cab and before Garrus and Mordin could exit, she pulled her pistol and shot out the glass covered entrance. A salarian huddled behind a support column, his attention temporarily diverted to Shepard running towards him. Garrus was out of the cab and next to Shepard with his gun out when the second salarian ran into the room, looking back over his shoulder.
"Get down!" Shepard yelled.
A LOKI stepped into view and Shepard started firing. The mech turned to address the new threat, giving the two salarians the opportunity they needed to escape. Jane had never been fast enough to save them both before. A second LOKI and two FENRIS moved into the room already redirecting themselves towards Shepard and her crew. Mordin used his Cryoblast to freeze the two FENRIS mechs who were gaining ground on Shepard and Garrus.
Garrus turned his assault rifle on the frozen dogs while Shepard focused on the LOKIs. She used her biotic Charge to slam into one, knocking it back before shooting it in the head and lighting it's insides on fire. She heard one of the FENRIS mechs shatter as she turned to fire on the second LOKI. A moment later the mechs were all down.
"Garrus, grab that terminal in there. Mordin, there's a medical station," Shepard said.
She made her way to where the salarians huddled by a door and crouched down in front of them.
"My name is Commander Shepard. I'm a Spectre. It's alright, you're safe now. Are you hurt?" she asked.
"No… you got here just in time, thank you," one of the salarians said.
"What's happening? Why is she doing this?" the second salarian asked.
Shepard shook her head and said, "I don't know. You should get out of here before more mechs arrive."
Shepard stood up and offered her hand to the first salarian. Garrus and Mordin came over as she was helping the second salarian to his feet. The two salarians mumbled another 'thank you' to Mordin and Garrus as they rushed past them headed for the exit. She opened the door in front of her and turned left down the hall.
"That glass is easily breakable, keep away from it," Shepard said as she glanced out of the glass lining the entire outer wall.
They moved quietly down the hall until it opened up into a room filled with construction materials stacked around. Shepard used hand signals to tell her team that there were enemies ahead and to seek cover before crouching low and running for cover herself. Shepard open fired on the Eclipse mercs at the other end of the room, drawing their attention and their return fire to her location. Garrus moved from his hidden position to a better vantage point before opening fire on the advancing FENRIS mechs. The mercs began to pull back, realizing Shepard wasn't alone and an easy target. LOKI mechs moved forward, unconcerned with the danger Shepard represented and only seeing an intruder that they were programed to deal with. Shepard waited for them to get close enough together before she threw a Shockwave and knocked three of them back.
Working with Garrus and Mordin, two well, formally trained men was a breath of fresh air after her last run with the inexperienced, nervous Lia and the impatient, brutish Grunt. With Garrus and Mordin, Shepard was able to anticipate their movements, give fewer orders, and act with complete faith that they had each other's backs. Especially Garrus, his methodology might have changed, but she still knew what to expect from him when it mattered and the two of them moved together across any battlefield like lovers on a dancefloor.
They pushed their way into the next area where the mercs had retreated, foolishly thinking that the mechs would be able to take care of the problem for them. Even with a handful more of mechs at their disposal, the mercs were easily taken care of. Garrus was particularly delighted by the open construction areas where he could maneuver a target close enough to the edge to be knocked over to fall to their death.
"Practical, saves ammunition," Mordin said after noticing the technique.
They followed the floor plan as it rounded the open area, fighting off the mercs and mechs until they reached a door that led to a ramp. Shepard assumed that eventually a staircase would replace the ramp but for now, she preferred the ramp. It got her to the top faster. She opened the next door and used hand signals to direct her team forward and into cover.
"Hey, I think he went in here," a merc's voice echoed from somewhere.
"Good, he's where he's supposed to be," Jane said.
Shepard put her back to a partial wall and peered around the edge. She could still hear the mercs arguing about who would go after the assassin when she fired her pistol at a LOKI. Mercs and mechs swarmed into view lining up easy targets for Shepard and her crew. They cut through the enemies in their way, letting the bodies and destroyed mechs fall where they may. Shepard felt bad for the police officers that would get called out to this scene. She'd be gone by the time they arrived, but with the two other mercenary massacres she'd already left on Illium, any detective worth their salt would know she was behind the new body count. Maybe they'd give her a metal.
Shepard kept her team moving forward through the twisting construction site until they came to the elevator door. Shepard moved right past the elevator and towards a locked door around the corner. She nodded her head down the hall.
"Garrus, there's some stuff at that end. Mordin, with me," Shepard said.
Garrus nodded towards the door and asked, "What's in there?"
"Afraid I'm going to find the assassin without you? He's not in there, but he did lock some civilians in there for their safety," Shepard said.
"Hmmm, alright," Garrus said before jogging down the hall.
Shepard holstered her gun and nodded at Mordin to do the same before hacking the door. The three salarians inside took a step back as Shepard took a step forward, their eyes darting between her and Mordin. Shepard held up a hand, and stepped out of the way of the door hoping they wouldn't feel trapped.
"It's alright; we're not here to hurt you. You're free to go, we've cleared out the lower levels but be cautious," Shepard said.
"Thank you. We are in your debt," one of the salarians moving for the door.
"Who locked you in here?" Mordin asked.
The salarians stopped in the doorway and looked to Mordin.
"I don't know who he was. He's no salarian, I can tell you that," the second salarian answered.
"Green skin, black markings, and a red frill?" Shepard asked.
"Yes, how'd you know?" the third salarian asked.
"He's a drell. We're here to find him," Shepard said.
"He saved our lives, if you find him, thank him for us," the first salarian said.
"I will," Shepard said. "You should hurry; I don't know how long the lower levels will stay clear."
The salarians nodded and moved out of the room. Shepard watched as they stayed low and ran from cover to cover, peering around the edges before moving on. Garrus made his way back up the hall with a new sniper rifle slung over his shoulder. His eyes tracked the frightened prey-like movements of the salarians as they disappeared from view.
Shepard led them back to the elevator and motioned for them to take cover before summoning the elevator and taking cover herself. She drew her shotgun and readied it with incendiary ammo while she waited. The elevator doors slid open to a krogan bounty hunter and two asari Eclipse. Shepard stood and fired a round at the krogan, ensuring his ire would be focused on her. The mercs moved out of the elevator, the asari already glowing blue as they pulled up biotic energy. Mordin and Garrus distracted the Eclipse while Shepard focused on the pissed off krogan, dancing back out of his reach as he slowly made his way towards her. She broke through his shields and kept the pressure on him, slowly tearing through his armor.
The krogan began to charge and Shepard stepped out of his way, putting him in the perfect position for her as he teetered to a stop near the edge of the construction drop off. Shepard hit him with a Shockwave and knocked him back over the edge. She turned back around to see Garrus finishing off the last Eclipse. Mordin and Garrus moved to her location as she looked down over the edge. It was too dark for her to see the bottom; she was pretty sure that even a krogan wouldn't survive that. Shepard turned and led them back to the elevator before taking it up.
The elevator doors opened again to reveal an Eclipse merc pacing back and forth in front of a window as he tried to assure someone on his radio insisting that his team could handle it and he didn't need reinforcements. Garrus fired a concussive shot at the merc, knocking him forward through the tower's window.
"Garrus!" Shepard scolded.
"What? Did we need him for something?" Garrus asked.
"No, but… I wanted to do that," Shepard said.
Garrus chuckled and said, "Next one's all yours."
Shepard stopped to pick up the datapad lying on the floor in front of the elevator and tucked it away without bothering to look at it, still grumbling under her breath.
"What was that?" Garrus asked.
"Information on the Kirosa family," Shepard said.
"Kirosa family?" Mordin asked.
"Yeah, there's a salarian looking for it. We past him just outside of the main trade floor on our way to get a cab," Shepard said digging the datapad back out and passing it to Mordin.
Mordin looked over the salarian's family pedigree and gave the datapad back to Shepard without comment. She tucked it away again and headed to the door on her. Her team swatted away the handful of mercs and mechs in the next room like flies at a picnic. Nassana's voice came through a console at the back next to a ramp leading to the next floor.
"Where is everyone? Will somebody please give me a report?" Nassana said.
"Mordin, get the civilians out of there. One of them has a gun, but for the love of gods, he's just scared so don't shoot him," Shepard said pointing towards the locked door beneath the ramp.
"Answer me, damn it!" Nassana's voice said from the console.
Mordin nodded and moved to open the door while Garrus followed Shepard over to the console. Shepard opened the comm link on the console.
"It's about time! What's going on down there?" Nassana said.
"Patience, Nassana. We'll see you soon enough," Shepard said.
"What? Who is this? You think you can just walk in here and take me out? Do you have any idea who I am?" Nassana asked.
"Oh I'm not here to take you out, Nassana," Shepard said.
Shepard glanced towards Mordin and saw the three salarians that were locked in that room rushing out the door. Mordin turned and jogged over to Shepard and Garrus. Shepard ignored Nassana's continued rant and started up the ramp. Near the top she signaled for Mordin and Garrus to be prepared to take cover before moving in to fire on the first LOKI she saw. Mordin followed up with his Incinerate and the mech exploded.
Garrus moved past her to take cover behind a stack of metal sheeting before firing on the next advancing LOKI. Shepard moved forward, finishing off the mech before ducking behind a support column and edging around it to get a shot in at the Eclipse taking cover nearby. Mordin moved up and fired at another Eclipse just around the floors bend. The asari Shepard shot at returned fire, tagging Shepard in her wounded shoulder. The shot wasn't enough to completely drop her shields but with the shoulder already wounded she felt the sting of the impact anyway.
She bit off a curse and threw a biotic Reave at the merc, following it up with several more rounds while the merc was doubled over from the Reave. Garrus moved in and took the kill shot on the merc Mordin was targeting before starting on the next. Shepard pushed forward taking out the Eclipse Garrus had just shot even as he was already turning to line up a concussive shot at the final merc. He dropped her shields and Mordin used a Cryoblast to snap freeze her before Shepard started her Charge. Shepard slammed into the frozen merc and she shattered to pieces.
Rounding the corner, Shepard went straight for cover, her team following her lead. Eclipse could be heard talking about explosives and Mordin took that as his cue. The salarian peered around the edge, his eyes locking on the explosives being set up ahead as easily as Shepard's eyes would have found a CO in a crowded room. Mordin targeted the tank with his Incinerate before ducking back down. They heard the sound of the tank exploding and used the distraction to move forward with an open fire clearing out the survivors.
"Rocket drones above," Shepard said as she moved out onto the bridge and straight for cover.
"I don't care what you do, no one gets across that bridge," Nassana ordered over the loudspeaker.
Shepard used Shockwaves to send as many of the enemy targets over the side of the bridge as she could. She used her Charge to cross as much of the bridges surface as quickly as she could, getting her closer to the rocket drones. She knew that it would be a waste of power cells to try to take them out from that distance and if she got closer she could just use her gun. Garrus and Mordin moved behind her from cover to cover, finishing off the enemies Shepard left wounded but alive in her wake. When she got close enough she ducked down behind a stack of crates and started firing. Garrus and Mordin kept the advancing mercs off her back while she focused on the drones. A rocket blew up a crate Mordin was standing behind, knocking the salarian out of the game.
"Shit, Garrus, get that drone," Shepard said.
Shepard got Mordin back on his feet while Garrus covered her six. With the rocket drones out of the way, Shepard moved her team up the flight of stairs to finish off the mercs at the top. She stopped outside of the door that would lead to Nassana's office and reached for the door's release. Her hand stopped halfway there, the first inkling of doubt nagging at her. She couldn't help to wonder, in this moment of truth, if her interaction with Thane on the Citadel changed things for the worse. He might not trust her now, he might refuse to come. Hell, he might even try to kill her but she didn't believe that he would. Thane didn't enjoy killing, he killed because it was what he was trained to do. If he had assessed Shepard to be a serious enough threat to warrant killing her without a contract, she would already be dead. Shepard hit the door's release and watched as it slid open.
Nassana paced behind her desk surrounded by three Eclipse guards. She turned to look out the window, her head turning slightly towards the sound of Shepard and her team approaching. Her guards drew their weapons, aiming them at Shepard as she continued her casual stroll. Nassana spun around.
"Shepard? But… you're dead," Nassana said.
Shepard heard the first hint of a chuckle from Garrus and shot an icy look his way.
"Gods damn it," Shepard grumbled.
Shepard took a couple more steps forward and shrugged her shoulders.
"I got better," she said.
"It's a really good line," Shepard thought.
"Thanks, we always thought so," Jane said.
"And now you're here to kill me," Nassana said.
Shepard shook her head and said, "I already told you, Nassana. I'm not here to take you out. Though after seeing what you did to your employees, it would be the highlight of my day. But no, I'm just here for the show. This isn't my kill."
"What's stopping you, Shepard? I doubt you fought your way through my defenses to stand here and patronize me," Nassana said turning to look out her window again.
"You mean like when you hoped to convince me to kill your sister for you, thinking that I wouldn't find out that you knew she was involved in the slave trade?" Shepard said.
"That hardly matters now, does it? You killed her before coming to see me. It wasn't what I had planned, but it got the job done either way," Nassana said turning around and pacing.
"You know, Shepard, the look on your face when you came to see me that day… the way you ran off as soon as you could, I was beginning to seriously think that the Council had made a terrible mistake making you a Spectre," Nassana said. "For all of your bravado, you looked like you were going to be sick. I didn't think you were cut out for the title, but then you proved me wrong didn't you?"
A sound from the ceiling above caught the attention of one of the mercs. A smile tugged at Shepard's lips as the mercs began looking around the room, moving their weapons as they tried to track the source of the sound.
"I left as fast as I could because when I looked at you I realized I was looking at a dead woman. You're already dead, Nassana. You just haven't accepted it yet. When I looked at you that day, I saw this very moment and in that moment, I knew exactly how you were going to die," Shepard said.
Rage flickered across Nassana's face as she heard the utter truth in Shepard's words. She turned her head and started to move away from the desk, ordering her guard to check the other entrances but it was too late. Thane dropped out of the ventilation system in the ceiling. His eyes locked onto Shepard's for a heartbeat. Then he was moving again, flowing like water as he stepped forward and snapped the neck of the merc in front of him. The next started to turn towards the sound of his partner's grunt of surprise and was met with Thane's palm on his back, locking him in place before Thane's fist connected with his windpipe.
Nassana drew her gun and started to turn towards the threat, but it was far, far too late. Thane drew his pistol and fired into the chest of the last merc, at close range it tore through her shields and she fell back. Thane spun and grabbed Nassana's forearm pulling her in closer. The gun in Nassana's hand fired, hitting the asari merc and ending her life. Thane pressed the pistol against Nassana's stomach. There was the briefest moment of pause. Shepard wondered what flowed through the assassin's mind in that moment, but then when Nassana raised her head and her eyes met his's just before he pulled the trigger, Shepard knew. He wanted her to see him clearly before she died. Jane had never pressed him for the reasons behind why he chose Nassana as his last kill. Perhaps she should.
As Nassana let out her last pained gasps, Thane holstered his weapon so he could cradle the dying woman's body. He laid her gently back against her desk before crossing her arms, one hand atop the other, to rest on her chest. Thane took a step back and watched her breath her last before clasping his hands in front of him and bowing his head.
"What is he doing?" Garrus asked.
"Praying," Shepard said quietly.
"He just shot a woman in the stomach at point blank and now he's praying for her?" Garrus asked.
"No, he's praying for himself," Shepard said. "Prayers for the wicked must not be forsaken."
"Hmmm. What?" Garrus asked, confused.
"His words," she said.
Thane raised his head and clasped his hands behind his back. He watched Shepard in silence for a moment, the lights filtering in through the window at his back distorting his features from her scrutiny.
"I was afraid you wouldn't be here," Shepard finally said.
"It is where I am meant to be," Thane said.
Thane began to walk around the desk, Garrus and Mordin raised their weapons to track his movements. Thane continued to move around the desk and towards Shepard unconcerned.
"Put them away," Shepard said.
"Shepard…," Garrus said.
"I'm not asking you to trust him, Garrus. I'm asking you to trust me," Shepard said.
Garrus put the weapon away with a growl. As the noise rose from his chest, Thane's head tilted slightly. His eyes began to move rapidly as if seeing something that wasn't there. Shepard recognized the expression, she knew what was about to happen.
"I follow her to a bar. She takes a seat next to a turian; he turns in his seat towards her. His body language speaks of familiarity. She orders a drink. I circle through the crowd and step into the shadows nearby. He breathes heavily of the air around her. 'Sprits, woman what am I smelling on you?' he asks. She brings the glass to her lips and lifts a shoulder. 'Drell,' she says," Thane said.
"Of course he was there. He heard the two of you speak about your attraction to Thane, and Garrus' threats. He heard all of that. He heard my name," Jane said
Shepard groaned, recalling the nature of the conversation herself. Garrus growled again and took a step forward; Shepard threw her hand out, smacking her palm against his chest. The movement pulling Thane from his eidetic recollections
"Garrus, stop. We already knew that he's followed me before. It was my fault. Just calm down," Shepard said.
"My apologies," Thane said to Garrus.
"For what? Threatening to break her neck? Stalking her across the Citadel? Eavesdropping on a private conversation? Or just for rubbing it in her face now?" Garrus asked.
"Damn it, Garrus. Don't antagonize the assassin. Drell have perfect recall, and sometimes when a memory is triggered, if it's a strong enough memory they just kind of slip into it again," Shepard said.
Garrus crossed his arms and said, "Fine. So what triggered the memory?"
"You growled at her as you did that day," Thane said gesturing at Shepard.
"I didn't growl at her. I growled because of her; she's a very frustrating woman," Garrus said.
"Indeed," Thane said clasping his hands behind his back.
"An agreeable statement," Mordin said.
Shepard sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose before returning to parade rest.
"Krios, when we first met; I told you why I would be here today," Shepard said.
Thane turned away from Shepard and took a few steps towards Nassana's desk. He watched the skycars move by through the window before he finally spoke again.
"Yes. The collectors are abducting human colonists. You intend to stop them and wish for my aid," Thane said. "I assume you have considered the risks of such an endeavor."
"I know the odds are slim, and I know that it must be done regardless. And I know that you are sick and dying. The thought of this being a one way trip isn't a deterrent for you. Will you join us?" Shepard asked.
"Maybe you should stop antagonizing the assassin," Jane said.
Thane glanced over his shoulder at Shepard and said, "You appear to know a significant amount about me, Spectre."
"I'm sure by now you know far more about me," Shepard said.
"Not as much as I find I would like to know," Thane said turning back to the window. "Yes, Shepard. I will join you."
"Fantastic. Then we should get out of here before this place is swarming with police," Garrus said.
"Indeed," Thane said turning back to the group.
Mordin began to open his omni-tool stepping towards Thane.
"Mordin, your scans can wait until we're back on the Normandy," Shepard said.
"Want to be sure nothing contagious," Mordin said.
"It's Kepral's Syndrome," Shepard and Thane said in unison.
"Ah. So not contagious," Mordin said closing his omni-tool.
"You don't have to sound so disappointed," Garrus said.
"Only rare opportunity to study drell physiology. Kepral's syndrome already well documented. No cure found. Perhaps future project. After collectors," Mordin said.
"Just remember our agreement; permission is required before running any experiments on myself or anyone else on the ship," Shepard said leading them back to the skycar.
"Of course. Won't happen again," Mordin said.