Chapter 55: Seventeen
"Wake up, Commander." Miranda's voice reached Shepard through the fog, a spark of light cutting through, bright as a beacon before her eyelids fell closed again, darkness consuming her once more.
"Shepard, need to get up now. Under attack. Heretics found location." Mordin hovered over her, the bright, orange glow of his omni-tool burning her retinas when she pulled her eyes open again. The sounds of weapons' discharge in the distance confirmed his statement.
"What?" Her head throbbed, and her entire body felt made of lead, muscles aching, protesting the slightest movement.
"Geth heretics. On Gellix, performed surgery to add regulatory implant in occipital lobe. Should be stable now." He slid a hand under the crook of her elbow and tugged, sending pain lancing through her arm, and she hissed. "Need to get up. Facility's automated defense systems jammed." He tugged again, and Shepard groaned but helped, pulling herself upright despite feeling as if it shredded every muscle in her body. "Shadow Broker escort team working on repairs, but heretics already on ground. Invading facility. Miranda ordered Normandy to retreat, engage stealth systems."
She hissed again, sliding her legs over the edge of the operating table, the room spinning a little as she did so. How many? How many did she absorb? Were Jane and John, along with a handful of the others, still fighting somewhere locked away inside her head, trying to defend her? Glancing around her, she immediately recognized the room, the same room Jacob was treated for his gunshot wounds when she came to rescue the ex-Cerberus scientists. The same room she'd taken Talitha back through in her attempt to save the poor woman from Cerberus' torturous indoctrination experiments. The sounds of gunfire grew a little closer.
"Jane," Shepard thought, but got no response.
"Muscle soreness will ease with use. Stand, please." Mordin kept up the slight pressure at her elbow, urging her to her feet, but also offering her support just in case.
"Earth is under attack," she said, shaking off the last of her confusion. Putting her feet on the floor, she tried to stand only to have her knees give out, pain lancing up her legs, setting her feet on fire, but Mordin kept her from falling. "I need to call Anderson."
"Am aware." He held onto her, one hand gripping her arm, the other steady at her waist. "Anderson provided details after calling Dr. Chakwas."
"Dr. Chakwas?" Shepard straightened her legs, easing her weight back onto the screaming muscles of her thighs and calves.
"Take small steps, please." He shifted out from in front of her, moving to her side, but never letting her go. "Tried to summon EDI to get you help when you collapsed, started seizing. EDI unable to respond. Anderson called Dr. Chakwas directly."
The door opened, sounds of gunfire suddenly very loud and very nearby. Miranda rushed through, coming to an abrupt stop, and the door slid closed behind her, dampening the noise once more. "Good, you got her up. Walk her around the room a few times, she's going to need to loosen her muscles up."
Mordin sniffed, the sound carrying enough of his disdain he didn't need to offer any other response.
"Shepard, I'm sorry," Miranda said, shaking her head. "I'd hoped to give you more time to recover, but the geth are inside the facility."
"Yeah, I got that." She took a step, biting her lip against the pain. "What are they doing here?" She took another, cursing under her breath, but already she could feel the scorching heat in her calves easing. "Did they follow us?"
"No, I believe they were already here. I can't say for sure, but I think they might've been investigating this facility and watching it for Cerberus' return." Miranda moved to one of the shelves, pulling down Shepard's clothing and bringing it over to the bed. "It's likely the reapers were aware of the research being done here, bloody hell, it's likely half the scientists here were indoctrinated themselves. They must've seen the Normandy arrive and called in reinforcements."
"Fantastic." Shepard suppressed a groan, half annoyance, half pain. "Any news from Earth? How long was I out?" She kept walking, her stride getting a little longer, leaning on Mordin a little less.
"It's been three days since you collapsed in your cabin. You're lucky Grundan Krul was able to get the things I needed and this facility remained abandoned." Miranda made her way back to the door, drawing her pistol before she opened the door, peeking her head outside. "The Council caved to Anderson, the asari, salarian, and turians are all sending ships to Earth. I haven't heard any further news since we arrived on Gellix yesterday." She turned back to Shepard, letting the door close again. "They've almost made it to the last set of stairs. Do you think you're ready to move, Shepard?"
Shepard pulled away from Mordin, finding herself able to stand steady on her own, and rolled her head on her shoulders. Swinging first one arm up and around, she did the same to the other, trying to loosen the tightness and stop the burning in her other muscles. "Armor and weapons?" She jerked her thumb toward her back. "Mordin, untie me."
The professor did as asked without hesitation, untying the strings of her robe and helping to pull it away from her naked body. "On the Normandy. Were unconscious. Coming in for brain surgery. Did not think it likely you'd be in position to use them."
"Excellent." Shepard made her way back to the bed where Miranda left her clothes and leaned against the side, picking up her panties, she carefully lifted one leg to slide it through the first hole. "Who's down here with us?"
"Dr. Chakwas refused to allow Garrus to come, and he threw a big enough fit she almost needed to sedate him." Miranda rolled her eyes. "Thane calmed him down, reassuring Garrus he'd be with you the entire time. He's right outside the door now, guarding the room. James is on the stairs along with Kal, and Tali is on the roof with Feron and the others the Shadow Broker sent with the supplies. They're working to get the AA guns back up and running."
"Holy fucking hell!" Shepard hissed and growled, her arms locking up on her completely when she tried to reach behind her to close her bra.
Mordin took over for her without asking, ever the pragmatic one. Then again, she did ask him to strip off what little clothing she wore just a few moments before. He clasped her bra while she worked on getting her arms to relax, just barely able to move them back down to her sides. He picked up her shirt, rolling it in his hands until he cleared the opening for her head, and with a gentleness he always surprised her with, he eased it over her head, taking extra care over the fresh wound on the back of her skull. She managed to get her arms through the holes on her own, and steadied herself against the bed. Resting one hand on his shoulder, she lifted a leg as he squatted in front of her, holding her pants out for her to step into. With minimal awkwardness, he got her boots on, laced up, and tied, too.
"I need a weapon. I'm not going out there without armor or a gun." She rolled her shoulders again. "Is it safe to use my biotics?"
"It shouldn't be a problem, but it'll only drain your energy faster. If you're going to use them, use them wisely." Miranda moved back to the door, taking up position with her pistol at the ready.
Mordin pulled out a M6-Carnifex, checking it over before handing it to her along with a spare clip. "Always carry backup."
She smirked, testing the weight of the weapon in her hands, making sure her grip wouldn't give out. "Thanks. Alright, let's get out of here." She glanced at Miranda. "Do you have a plan?"
"We're going to head to the roof, rendezvous with the others. Once the AA guns are back online, we can set them to target the geth dreadnaught." She opened the door, gaze sweeping the area before she waved Shepard on. "I was able to break through the jamming in the facility and retake control of the interior systems. I had to use my alpha code, but I locked down the doors on the lower floors. It'll keep more geth from getting inside, at least for now, but it means …."
"It means the Illusive Man knows we're here." Shepard sucked in a deep breath, putting her back to the edge of the door frame before peering around the corner. "He probably knew either way. I'm sure someone on the crew reported it to him by now." She caught sight of Thane and something inside of her eased. Turning her attention back to Miranda, she left the room, staying as low as her achy muscles would allow, and moved to Thane's side, talking over her shoulder. "Stop calling them geth; they're not geth, they're heretics."
Miranda scoffed, moving up to take point while Mordin fell in behind Shepard. "Now really isn't the time for political correctness, Commander."
"Siha," Thane said, just loud enough for her to hear, his fingertips brushing over her jaw before returning to grip his gun.
She offered him the best smile manageable in the moment. "The next time I'm unconscious and they decide to take me off the Normandy to perform surgery, make sure they bring my armor and guns with me."
He chuckled, dipping his head. "Indeed, but hopefully there will be no next time."
"Irrelevant." Mordin sniffed. "Unlikely could handle the weight of armor right now."
Miranda lifted her hand to her ear, activating her comm as she moved them toward the back of the room, stopping at the head of the staircase leading down. "James, Kal, we've got the commander up and are moving toward the roof. Fall back and join us. EDI can navigate the shuttle to our location."
Shepard reached up, finding her own comm missing. Mordin tapped her on the shoulder, holding his hand out next to her side. She glanced down, finding the little earpiece nestled in his palm. Plucking it from his hand, she worked it back into her ear, turning it on. Gun at the ready, she turned toward the stairs, ready to cover James and Kal's retreat.
A moment later, James came into view at the foot of the stairs, facing the door down below, assault rifle peppering the air with rounds. A few seconds after, Kal did the same, lobbing a grenade at the heretics before disappearing from sight again. James lowered his weapon a fraction, telling Shepard they weren't being immediately pursued.
When he turned to look at Shepard, James flashed her his best shit-eating grin. "Rise and shine, Sleeping Beauty. Nothing like an ambush to get you on your feet again, eh, Ídolo?" He jogged up the stairs.
Kal laughed, following behind him. "I jammed the lock on the door. It won't keep them out for long, but it'll buy us some time." He moved in to take up position with the others, forming a wall around her. Glancing over his shoulder at her, he bobbed his head. "Good to see you up again, ma'am."
She forced her lips up in a smile, all to aware it probably looked more like a grimace with the way her stomach writhed and her muscles twitched. "Yeah, let's just hope I stay this way." It wasn't just the pain, or even the tension of expecting heretics to pour around the corner at any moment, but the thoughts of Admiral Hackett and his crew being taken by the collectors—hell, of the entire population of Earth being taken by the collectors.
James took point, just in front of Kal, and Miranda moved back to Shepard's left. As a group they moved to the door at the back of the room, letting Shepard set the pace. Crowding into the dark space beyond the door, they waited while Kal jammed the lock behind them.
"Shit." Shepard let out a groan.
"What's wrong?" Miranda eyed her, hand moving to Shepard's arm.
"The ladder." Shepard nodded up ahead. "I'm going to slow us down even further getting up that damn thing."
James turned to look at her, shrugging his shoulders. "You can ride on my back."
The thought of hanging on to the marine, hard, ceramic armor digging into her already yelping muscles sounded even less appealing than climbing the damn thing herself. "Yeah, that's not happening."
Miranda let go of Shepard's arm. "I can pull you up with my biotics. I'm strong enough, and I have enough control. It shouldn't be a problem."
Shepard hesitated, weighing out her options. "I guess it's worth a shot. You sure?"
"Positive." Miranda glanced at her, giving her a sly, cocky smirk. "I can do it with James first, if you want, just to be sure. I'll let him back down easy if I find he's too heavy. Probably."
"Uhhh … I'm good with the ladder," James said, turning back around, "thanks."
"He'd probably see it as foreplay." Knowing damn well the operative toyed with James brought a smirk to Shepard's face, despite everything else going on in her mind. She also knew it meant the marine finally wormed his way past Miranda's icy, outer shell—maybe because he locked his sights firmly on Kasumi instead of chasing after her like a dog with his tongue hanging out.
Miranda snorted, just as they reached the ladder. James stowed his assault rifle and started climbing, unholstering it again once he reached the top. Kal waited next to the ladder, waving Miranda up first. She turned at the top, looking back down at Shepard and arched an eyebrow.
Shepard glanced at Thane. "Catch me if she drops me?" She didn't really have a single doubt Miranda could pull it off without a hitch, and really, the drop wasn't that far if she did fall, but even feeling like shit, she didn't want to pass up the chance to give the operative a hard time.
"Of course," he said, already holstering his pistol.
"I'm not going to drop you, Shepard. Have a little faith." Miranda's biotics sprung to life, blue flames dancing over her body. "Are you ready?"
Shepard flipped the safety on the Carnifex and shoved it into her waistband. "Alright, let's do this. Just remember, you break it, you buy it."
Miranda snorted, working the energy down into her palms. "I already own it, my mark is on every one of those implants holding you together."
Shepard had to fight the instinct to dodge out of the way as Miranda flung the dark energy at her, surrounding her in a blue haze. Her feet left the ground, and for a second she just hovered there, her skin tingling with the foreign feel of someone else's biotics, and then she began to rise further up in the air. When her feet cleared the next level, Miranda took a few steps back, pulling her along until she safely floated over solid ground. Lowering her gently back to the floor, Miranda held Shepard wrapped up in her biotics for a few seconds longer, letting the energy eek away, the weightless feeling gradually leaving Shepard, forcing her to stand on her own two feet again with a whimper.
Thane crested the ladder a second later, his hand finding the small of her back while she steadied herself. She took a cleansing breath, rolling her head on her shoulders before drawing her pistol again. Nodding, she moved forward to get out of the way of the others coming up.
"Heretics breaking through. Need to keep moving," Mordin said as soon as his head popped up over the edge.
"James, let's go." Shepard started moving again, urging the others along as they kept her sequestered between them.
"I hear fighting ahead, Commander." James glanced back over his shoulder. "The heretics must've made it to the roof."
Shepard brought her hand to her mic. "Tali, this is Shepard, what's your status?"
"We've got the first AA gun back online, but the heretics are swarming the roof, we can't get to the second one." The thick, nasally tone to Tali's voice told Shepard the quarian was still recovering from her suit breach and should probably be taking it easy, not fighting heretics. "We can't fire on the dreadnaught until both guns are online."
"We're on our way to you now, but the heretics aren't far behind us." Shepard forced herself to pick up the pace, determined to power through the pain just like any other time. She'd been through far, far worse and kept fighting. "Focus on getting to the gun, we'll try to pull them away from you."
A hint of confidence crept back into Tali's tone as she said, "Understood, Shepard."
They made their way around the bend, each step sending fresh waves of pain through Shepard's legs, but each new pang felt a little less intense. Thane helped her over the exterior vent shafts, steadying her as she regained her footing. The sounds of gunfire and the chattering of heretics grew louder as they climbed the ramp. She couldn't see them yet, but she knew exactly where they'd be. Pointing her team toward the AA guns, she ordered James and Mordin ahead to help Tali and Feron. Kal covered their six while Miranda and Thane helped her up onto the crates near the edge of the raised stage where the AA guns were stationed. Just as Thane started to lift her again, the battle ahead of her clearly in sight, she heard the sounds of heretics approaching from the rear, and Kal opened fire.
"Miranda," Shepard called to the woman already taking cover on the next level, letting off a couple of shots into the fray. "They're behind us."
Thane eased her back down, sweeping her into his arms despite her hiss of pain and exasperated sigh. Dropping off the crate back to the level below, he crouched, easing her to the ground behind cover. "Stay down, siha."
She snorted, pressing her back to the crate and peered around the edge, lining up a shot on a heretic moving to cover and fired twice. "This isn't the first fight I've been in wounded, Thane. I'm sore, not bleeding to death."
"You just woke from surgery, your skull is still healing." He raised a brow ridge, somehow the simple gesture conveyed a heavier amount of censure than words alone. "The anesthesia is likely still muddling your response time, siha."
"This isn't the first fight I've been in after—"
"Siha."
"Alright, alright." She huffed, hoping to put a swift end to the conversation. "I won't take any risks, but I'm not just going to sit here hiding. And if you think for a second that any amount of 'sihaing' will get me to, you've obviously forgotten who you've been sharing a bed with."
He let out his own exasperated sigh, ducking out of cover long enough to fling his biotics at a heretic. Miranda kept her position above, changing cover so she was protected on two sides—so long as the fight on the upper level didn't move her way. Shepard lost eyes on Kal, but the rapid-fire sound of his assault rifle gave her an estimate of where he'd gone to cover at her left.
Peering around the edge again, she just barely caught sight of a trooper standing behind a taller stack of crates, the angle to her location giving her a rough shot. She bit the corner of her lip, letting her biotics trickle through, a faucet set to drip, testing the way it made her feel. When her amp didn't instantly overheat, and no other warning bells went off in her head, she turned the tap, setting her fist aglow before flinging out a Shockwave. The trooper stumbled back out of cover along with a second she didn't even know was there. Her team didn't let her down, taking the opportunity she gave them to end the two heretics.
The distinct sound of a biotic Slam kept Shepard informed of Miranda's actions, tucked away out of sight. Thane flung biotics over the top of the crate—Shepard unable to tell the effects from her position—before firing off a few shots. Peeking around the edge again, she spotted a heretic hunter, its cloak a faint distortion to the air as it crept along, moving in on Kal's position.
She tapped her mic. "Kal," she said, lowering her pistol at the heretic. "You've got a cloaked hunter moving in on your twenty." She pulled the trigger, dropping the heretic's cloak, and before she could take another shot, the sharp staccato of Kal's assault rifle ripped through the air, tearing down the hunter.
Jane roused in the back of Shepard's mind, sounding winded and exhausted. "What's that saying? Out of the frying pan and into the fire?"
"The guns are active!" Tali called over the comm.
"You alright?" Shepard thought, waiting for the affirmative hum from Jane before lifting her hand to her mic again. "Good, set it to target the ship and start firing," she said, firing off a couple of shots. "EDI, lock onto the dreadnaught and start firing, too. Take them down or chase them out of here, whatever."
Sounding suddenly more alert but guarded, Jane said, "She put in the implant."
"Locking on to the heretic dreadnaught now, Shepard," EDI said.
"Yeah," Shepard thought. "Can't really tell if it's doing anything yet, though."
The AA guns fired, their force vibrating the crate at her back. A moment later, Feron dropped down over the edge a few feet away, landing in a crouch. He met her gaze, holding it for just a second. Thane glanced over his shoulder at the other drell, and Feron dipped his head before running across the way, staying low to the ground. Turning out, she provided him covering fire until the Carnifex clicked, out of ammo.
Shepard ejected the empty clip, sliding a full one in. An asari she'd never met dropped from the same location as Feron, but instead of staying low, she stood, pulling biotic energy up around her and throwing it out over Shepard's head. Glancing over the edge, Shepard saw a Singularity, pulling in heretics, twirling them about in the air. Firing off three more rounds, she helped to take out the floaters. When she turned back around, the asari crouched next to her, shotgun in hand.
The woman smiled, nodding her head. "Commander. We've been asked to keep you safe until you've returned to your ship. The Shadow Broker said you wouldn't make it easy on us, but I didn't expect to find you in the thick of a firefight with the geth a day after having your head cut open." She chuckled, starting to push to her feet again. "I guess the rumors about you are all true."
"Only a few of them." Shepard peered around the edge, not seeing an easy target.
The asari pulled her biotics up again, flinging them out over the crate before crouching down again. "Yeah? Which few?"
Shepard snorted, glancing over to where Feron took cover. "Only the good ones."
Feron turned out of cover, taking aim with a pistol and fired three times before ducking back behind the crate.
EDI's voice filled her ear. "The heretic dreadnaught is retreating, Shepard. They are still within range. Should we continue to fire?"
She sucked in a deep breath. "Take them out if you can, EDI, but do not pursue."
"We're clear up here, Shepard," Tali said through the comm.
Thane put his back to the crate, glancing at her. "The ground troops are falling back, as well."
"Continuing assault," EDI said, and then a moment later added, "The heretic dreadnaught is preparing to enter FTL. It is unlikely with the damage they've sustained that the ship will survive such a jump, however."
"Thank you, EDI." Shepard peeked around the edge, finding the area clear. "Can you move the shuttle to our location?"
"Right away, Shepard."
Shepard took Thane's hand when he stood, letting him help her pull up, and then she glanced at the asari. "Do you have a ship waiting?"
"We do." The woman gave Shepard a quick nod. "The captain retreated when the dreadnaught arrived, but we've stayed in communication. We have a shuttle not far from where you landed."
"How many of you are there groundside?" Shepard moved to the edge of the crate, managing to push herself up onto the surface on her own, hesitant to show weakness in front of strangers, but still, she felt Thane's hand at her back.
"Four."
Shepard stood, moving to the low wall made by the upper level and turned to look over her shoulder, seeing Kal and Feron approaching. Kal moved up next to the crate and turned, putting his back to Shepard while he watched over the area. Feron smiled, dipping his head to her before coming to a stop next to the asari.
"We'll give you a lift back to your shuttle," Shepard said, turning to push herself up to the next level.
"Thank you, Commander," Feron's gravely voice answered, "but it won't be necessary. Our shuttle is equipped with an automated navigation VI. I can call it to our location with my omni-tool."
Both shuttles waited by the time they made it across to meet back up with the others. Along with Feron and the still unknown asari, Grundan Krul sent a human and a salarian, their faces hidden behind helmets. She supposed it was better that way.
Leaving them their anonymity, she didn't ask for their names, but she held her hand out to each of them. "Thank you."
Feron lingered as the others climbed into the shuttle, closing the distance between himself and Shepard, moving into whispering range, gaze darting to Thane at her side before returning to hers. "The Shadow Broker asked that I inform you he's located Spectre Protalus."
Shepard raised an eyebrow. "Where is she?"
"In a turian colony on Oma Ker, it's in the Aethon Cluster. I'll send you the coordinates." He opened his omni-tool.
"Do we know what she's doing there?" Shepard's omni-tool pinged, and she opened it just long enough to dismiss the notification. She'd look into it later, she had far more important things to worry about.
"No, not yet." Feron tucked his hands behind his back. "But we can look into it further, if you'd like."
She nodded, leaning into Thane's side when he placed a hand on the small of her back. "Keep me updated."
Feron dipped his head, turning on his heel, and joined the others in his shuttle. She watched as he closed the door behind him, the shuttle lifting into the air. Waving her crew to the Cerberus shuttle, she looped her arm through Thane's and let him guide her inside. The second she sat down, Miranda opened her omni-tool and began scanning.
"The implants may need more calibrating, it's not working as quickly as anticipated, though activity is decreasing." She hummed, her gaze shifting over her omni-tool's screen. "Unless …."
"Unless I took in more of them." Shepard took in a deep breath, letting it seep back out of her. "They attacked me. I did what I had to do."
Miranda blinked, leaning forward on the edge of her seat. "How many?"
"Seventeen." Jane almost sounded proud, a shocking contrast to how she felt the last time. "Ruby, Michelle, Sarah, Dante, Philip, Janine, Cynthia, Ron, Olivia, Isabel, Mya, Noha, Lilith, Jeanne, Bobby, April, and Katarina."
Shepard swallowed, shifting a little in her seat, dropping her gaze to the floor in front of her feet. "I killed Seventeen." But then, Quinn's words echoed back to her: '... I'm more alive ….'