Chapter 15
Yes. I did it. I started checking my previous works, connected some dots and decided that the part when Lena let T'Von survive
1) changed nothing in the plot. Nothing major.
2) made no actual sense
Believe it or not, I read the reviews and messages I receive. I have only the small, little problem of having a life to manage in the meantime. In the future, I will also try to take a look at the other chapters BUT I will not change the main plot. That one is already set in stone.
Apart from that, have a good day
Illium. Eclipse holdout. 11 02 local hours.
"Keelah! This is a slaughter."
"Spirits! And I have to believe she did all of this mess by herself!?"
Shepard remained quiet, but even he was surprised by the amount of carnage and destruction his eyes were witnessing.
When Anaya's colleagues allowed both him and his group to bypass the blockade, Shepard had expected to face stiff resistance and constant gunfighting from the entrance to the heart of the Eclipse's base. They were fighting, after all, a single enemy Justicar or not, and Eclipse's bases were known to be packed full with squads of soldiers. From the lowliest grunts to the most elites commandos.
But no one tried to stop them. Not a single shot was fired toward their group. No biotic attacks, no turrets spewing bullets, nothing. Only an eerie silence.
The place itself was not a fortress by any stretch: a simple hab-block bought by the Eclipse who knows how many years ago and repurposed as barracks and warehouse for their operation. It was nothing more than a steel paved road flanked on both sides by metal buildings devoid of any entrance barring a circular door. Everything was sleek, relatively clean and adorned only by wall-mounted terminals and the occasional painting on the walls.
It felt almost homey. Almost.
Of course, the recent bullet holes riddling the place removed part of the charm.
Unnerved by this unexpected welcome, Shepard and his companions immediately readied their weapons, expecting to suffer an ambush. They inspected every single crevice and any black spot they could find inside this small cluster of houses. It was during this inspection that they found the first corpses.
Scattered everywhere, their bones snapped under massive pressures and their weapons uselessly laying next to them.
Tali was the first to spot them and the sight was enough to make the young engineer recoil in disgust. They were all Eclipse warrior, that was clear thanks to the symbol adorning what was left of their broken armours. Expressions of pure pain lie frozen on their faces, and most of their limbs had been twisted in impossible ways, but that was not the worst of it. According to Shepard's scans, most of the Eclipse soldiers had been killed by biotic attacks so powerful that they warped the molecule inside their bodies. An alarm bell immediately rang inside Shepard's mind: he knew only one person capable of doing such a feat, Jack, and even she could barely do this.
He still remembered that time when she used a similar attack against the beast on New Horizon that almost skewered Lena in half. He also remembered to have seen the biotic prodigy collapse under a puddle of sweat and curses a second later, all her reserves spent in that blow.
But here, in this forsaken place of Illium, the Justicar appeared to have performed this feat repeatedly, and without any collateral effects.
-Just how powerful is she?- he asked to no one in particular.
"How many for now?" simply asked Shepard to his team
"Twelve," answered Garrus grimly. No jokes escaped from his old Turian pal, and this was not a good sign. When the joker of the squad became serious, you know shit is about to hit the fan.
"Half soldiers and engineers, the rest commandos. Shepard, what are we supposed to do if she decides that we are also enemies?"
"Let's cross that bridge when we find it," answered Shepard trying to ease the tension. Judging by the Turian's frown it failed at doing so.
"Here! More of them!" told them Tali. She was a bit forward compared to Shepard and Garrus but still within earshot "Five. All commandos. Dead just like the others."
"Standard tactical procedure among Eclipse is to fill their divide their organic in small cells, at most twenty soldiers each. A way to be more flexible in battle," told them Garrus, tapping into his knowledge of mercenaries' custom gained on Omega after some seconds of ruminating.
"Don't they have a way to quickly call back up?" asked Tali "They are getting slaughtered here!"
"They have, but maybe the police stopped them. Or maybe..." Garrus's mandibles twitched unsure for a second "Maybe the fame of this Justicar is so mighty and widespread among the Asari that the other cells refused to come and help them. Remember what Liara and the commissar told us?"
"You mean the part about being absolute judges of the Asari people and so respected that they can kill whoever they want without repercussion?"
Shepard still refused to believe that such an advanced and cultured like the Asari could maintain such a strange and barbarous order, but he had to give Garrus some credit. A destroyed base, bodies everywhere, god only knows how much merchandise lost, and still, no other cells tried to help them?
Difficult to believe, especially knowing the Eclipse.
"Exactly!" chirped Garrus "Somehow this Asari must have spooked the higher-ups of the Eclipse so much that they decided to simply let her slaughter an entire cell, and lose their assets, rather than putting her down."
Garrus's eyes wandered temporarily into nothingness, his mind busy thinking about what he just said
"Wonder why this particular cell still decided to help the Justicar's fugitive."
"Just what in the ancestor's name is a Justicar if she can command such respect?" muttered Tali grimly.
"Quiet you two now." hissed Shepard. "We are reaching the end of the base and my Omni-tool is receiving some signals. Someone at the end of the building complex is still fighting."
"What's left of the Eclipse cell probably," commented Garrus
"Let's move and intercept. Double time." Ordered Shepard
-And let's hope that we shall not end like them.- quietly added on his mind
Illium's commercial district. Same moment
"I cannot believe it that you managed to drag us into all of this."
"Chill out Lena. It was fun, and now you will finally stop resembling a drifter."
"And what is wrong about being a drifter? I swear you people are strange sometimes."
"Mum! This stuff is heavy, and do we have enough space inside the room? I do not want to leave Mr fluffy, the puzzle or the book we just won!"
"We will not. Do not worry!"
The small figure of Raina huffed unsurely but refused to replicate and simply accompanied her mother. She instead decided to play with her giant teddy bear for Lena's relief. Not that she hated speaking with Raina but right now she was too busy trying to not topple the mountain of dresses placed on her hands.
Lena still could not believe it! When Kelly abruptly decided to drag both her and Raina to what she thought would have been a tailor shop, the Claymore had already decided to simply buy the first outfit she saw and be done with this charade. Unfortunately, Kelly had other plans and hauled the couple inside what only could be described as a palace! -No other word could be used to truly describe the massive outlet found by Kelly- and forcing her to come inside. The palace, she learned this only later, was the main seat of a prominent fashion firm of Illium. Packed to the brim with dozens of smaller outlets selling every possible dress known in the galaxy, the place was in the Claymore's eyes a monument to decadence and insanity. Silk dresses that would have made the greatest tailors back at home weep in envy. Small clothes of every kind. Entire sections solely dedicated to kid dresses and some of the most risqué suits ever seen by Lena greeted the Claymore's eyes.
Unfazed by Lena and Raina's looks, Kelly immediately dragged them toward an Asari attendant, a girl dressed in a long, white dress. She happily told her that her friends needed to completely rebuild their wardrobe and were more than ready to spend as much time and money they wanted.
Cold droplets of sweats washed Lena's face when she saw both Kelly and the clerk exchange look of pure evil, but she was in at this point and she could not escape. She only hoped that her fears were unjustified.
They were not: Kelly relentlessly tortured both her and Raina for hours, forcing both girls to prove hundreds of dresses, from common pyjamas to the classiest nightgowns. The changing room used by Lena was literally flooded by dresses of any kind after just one hour of hard job, and yet Kelly claimed that they were far from over!
The fact that both Lena and Raina looked like dead women walking with each passing hour did nothing to stop her.
The attendants were not helping either, on the contrary! When they saw the numbers on Lena's credit cards, their eyes lit like ones of a Yoma that just saw a fresh, juicy prey. But the worst arrived when they discovered that the infamous Ripper was the one using their establishment! Dozens of Asari clerks immediately took an even greater interest of Lena, their gazes filled with lust and passion. Many mistaken Kelly for Lena's lover and many clerks threw at her looks of outright anger and envy for this, and when in one occasion Lena was forced to take some measurements for a particular dress, the clerks almost come to blow because they could not decide who should do the job!
A snarling sound of teeth grinding on each other accompanied Lena when she remembered that particular moment: how the clerk touched her skin over and over, staying seconds more than necessary and looking ready to pounce at her like a predator. It took all her willpower to simply not crush that fool's head like a ripe melon.
At the end of this ordeal, Lena was several hundred credits lighter, but in exchange she now possessed a massive wardrobe, easily eclipsing the ones used by the wealthiest nobles. Twenty new t-shirts and trousers of various colors, three full formal suits, two nightdresses so scandalous that Lena wondered why creating them in the first place, ten sets of bra alongside matching panties, four pajamas, two gym suites, seven pairs of shoes ranging from comfortable boots to stiletto heels alongside a dozen of socks, three jackets and, last but not least, a full set of battle underwear. And this was only Lena's part!
How could such flimsy pieces of fabric be used in any kind of battle was beyond Lena but she refused to comment on that.
They naturally had to rent a cab in the end, because there was no way in hell that three girls could bring such a massive cargo by themselves, and yet Kelly still insisted to bring some bags with them because apparently, a day of shopping is not complete if you do not bring something back at hand.
Another ludicrous idea that Lena simply failed to comprehend.
"Lena is right Raina." chirped Kelly "There is nothing to worry about. I cannot wait to see you with the red tailleur we bought in order to modify it. They should bring it to the ship tomorrow."
"They better do it." snarled Lena back "I have no intention of repeating that experience ever again. I wonder just how meek and broken are their males if all female Asari are so direct and aggressive toward others."
Kelly stopped abruptly on her tracks, her face a twisted mask of surprise and incredulity
"Kelly? What is wrong now?" asked Lena surprised. It took Kelly some seconds before the girl finally managed to regain her speech
"Male Asari?! Wait, Lena, don't tell me that...that you do not know!." she stuttered, still incapable to believe what she just heard
"What do I not know?" inquired Lena
"That the Asari are a mono-gendered species, Lena! There are no -male- or -female- Asari. Just Asari in general!"
Now it was Lena and Raina's turn to be completely flabbergasted
"You mean….they are all female?! But…. I always thought that they existed secluded somewhere. That because of some kind of tradition." Lena's brain was lost for a second, failing to accept such an idea
"But how can they reproduce if they do not have….you know what." asked the Claymore
"Ehm...i am not the best person when it comes to these questions, Lena," answered Kelly hesitantly. The hesitation only increased when she noticed that Raina was also waiting for an answer.
-I stepped on a landmine.- thought the girl for a second
"You should ask the doctor Chackwas for an accurate answer." replied Kelly curtly "Suffice to say that Asari can begin a process called mind-meld with their partners that, when used to the fullest, allow them to be impregnated just like human women."
Lena cringed slightly after hearing this
"And….they can do this at will? No matter what the partner says?" the Claymore still remembered the times when T'Von forced to copulate with Asari clients. The way said clients raped her mind over and over every time they had a chance.
Had she sired entire litters of small Asari without even knowing?
"No Lena." quickly added Kelly "According to every single study ever conducted, and what many aliens married to Asari said, the process of generating a child is two-faced. If one partner does not want to do it, then the entire process is stopped no matter how powerful the Asari is. Still, many races find Asari attractive so this is not much of a problem for them, and for the Asari….well! You see, as I said, Asari is a mono-gendered species. As such, they tend to be far less inhibited than humans. Or any other species for that matter. They simply cannot understand why we are so prudish when it comes to matters like sex, pleasure, or simply living with aliens. On the other hand, the Asari's ability to mate with any alien drives them to find them powerful creatures as mates. The meld allows them to choose what trait they wish to impart to their offsprings after all, and mating with other Asari is seen as a waste of genetic potential. It is also the reason why Asari are so aggressive and attracted toward you, Lena."
"...What?" asked Lena puzzled
"Lena, do you have any idea just how enticing you are?"
Lena looked at Kelly as if she just lost her head somewhere, but the girl simply shrugged and continued.
"You are a sword-fighter! A warrior that in an age of guns and explosives still uses cold weapons in battle, and somehow you survive. Scratch that! You do not survive, you thrive in it! You defeated dozens of enemies inside the arenas of Omega. You ended up being hired by Shepard, the first human Spectre in the Galaxy. You fought against Collectors, Husks, Mutants, and God knows what else and still emerged victoriously! Actions like that tend to attract a lot of attention. And your good looks make you even more fascinating."
"Fascinating me? How?"
"Lena, you...do you even understand how beautiful you are in the eyes of the average person, be it alien or not?"
Both of Lena's eyebrows rose in suspicion and incredulity, but still encouraged Kelly to continue
"Your body is sculpted to perfection: perfectly balanced, possessing both a lovely physique and amazing power. You fought for all your life according to any sources, and yet not a single scar blemishes your white skin. When you walk, you move with the grace of a predator; always ready to pounce, always exuding confidence and power. And your eyes! God, your eyes are so beautiful. Shining like the moon itself! Things like that attract a lot of attention, Lena."
Lena scoffed loudly, refusing to believe that what made her so hated back on the island could be considered beautiful by someone.
"Laugh and jeer if you will, but it is the truth. The same truth that makes any Asari you meet so hell bent of courting you in the hope of gain your attention, even for a second. You are a paragon among humans, and they want that for yourselves."
"Fantastic." Lena snarled, not amused by this.
"Lena." asked Kelly to the Claymore "Are you maybe against inter-species relationships? Or simply against same-sex relationship in general?" there was a note of worry inside Kelly's tone. A strange fear that Lena failed to understand.
"I am not." answered Lena curtly "It would be quite stupid on my part, considering that my female colleagues were the only people that never mistreated me. And I have nothing against aliens, as long as they do not overstep their boundaries."
Lena felt something like a damn breaching inside her. The friendliness of Kelly, her liking the girl, all these things relaxed the Claymore.
Slowly, she left the cautious tone and started speaking with more aggressivity, letting what had festered for two years inside her body out.
"The problems with the Asari is their overeagerness: they have no sense of shame! They always try to gain my attention, even when I desire only peace and quiet! They are always hyper-reactive and exaggerated in everything, especially sex, and always push for more!
I hate them! I hate all of this! What I want from my future mate is quietness, followed by great empathy and that little midget of initiative that spice up any relationships! A person capable of listening to me but at the same time able to understand that some times I just wish to be left alone! I hate loudmouthed people, I hate boasting and over-inquisitiveness! What I am looking for is a person like yo.."
Lena's brain stamped out the word at the last possible second. Barely. She marvelled at herself for her audacity, but at the same time she could not denies what she was thinking.
"Like me?" finished Kelly. There was an unreadable tone ringing on her voice now. Neither flattered nor accusatory.
"Yes!" muttered Lena, her cheeks now red with embarrassment "Like you. But!"
"Lena." Kelly interrupted her "I am flattered, I really am. But dating one of my clients would be the height of unprofessionalism, so I fear I must reject your advance. If you wish we could talk more about your preferences and how to be more open toward others during our next session."
A pang of pain rippled through Lena's heart, but the Claymore refused to comment and simply accepted the other girl's answer. Lena could see next to her that Raina was not happy with this answer, and she understood why: her child had learned to love Kelly in the brief time they lived together. She also knew that her mother was quite fond of the girl, just like her. Maybe she had hoped to have her as a permanent parent. Still, she was polite enough to not try to sway Kelly.
"Right, right." muttered Lena back to her friend "Let's just keep moving. It will take at least half an hour just to reach the space-port. We shall talk about the rest later."
Eclipse Holdout. 11 23 local hours.
The sound of a living body slamming with great speed on the nearest wall reverberated inside the small complex like a thunder. It was so close, so sudden that the one responsible for this almost hit Shepard in the process. It certainly gave him and his squad quite the scare: a second before they were walking toward the source of the living signals. A second later one of said signal literally become a stain of the nearest wall, warping the metal with a sickening crunch and painting Shepard's squad with purple blood. The less was said about what was left of the body the better.
In front of Shepard, there were two Asari. One was an Eclipse commando, the armour and markings clear as day to recognize. She was scared beyond belief and kept aiming a pistol at another Asari in front of her.
The second Asari on the other hand...
Shepard had to blink twice before his eyes finally accepted what he was looking at because this particular Asari was far different than any ever met in his life.
She was tall, taller than him, and possessed a graceful figure that made her look almost etheric in her movements. A red, ancient-looking armour adorned her body, so different than the more common vests used by any soldier in the galaxy. Tattoos of the Goddess were etched on the metal and Shepard noticed that the Asari was armed with just a pistol. But what really left speechless Shepard were the eyes. Deep blue eyes, ancients, exuding power and stolidity as Shepard had never seen in his life!
So different from the usually carefree Asari she met during his life.
"They were my best soldiers." croaked the Asari Commando. Her pistol was aimed at the Justicar's head but her enemy appeared unfazed by this.
"Tell me what I wish to know, and I will let you live soldier." simply said the Justicar. Her voice was just as calm and powerful as her body.
"You think I will betray that...thing?!" replied the girl now terrified. Her eyes bulged with fear and the grip on the pistol trembled "You have no idea what she could do to me."
Shepard quietly filed this piece information on his mind, promising herself to research about it.
Whatever is capable of making a Commando leader piss herself in the pants, especially when in front of a Justicar, deserves some research.
"The name, warrior." replied the Justicar "Your life depends on it."
The mercenary fired back with her pistol as an answer. A futile effort, as expected by Shepard, and he ordered his squad to not intervene.
A shimmering barrier of biotic energy stopped the bullets before they reached the Justicar. The woman's expression remained stoic as if she was not in true danger. A simple wave of her hands and the mercenary flew like a rag-doll across the room. The mercenary screamed and trashed, but the Justicar's biotic grip was one of iron. After some seconds of trashing, the Justicar simply slammed the helpless soldier on the ground and placed her right foot on the girl's neck
"Last chance warrior." she said "The name."
"F...fuck you Justicar..." blabbered the mercenary. She spat a goblet of saliva mixed with blood at her enemy's feet "Someday...someone will...end you."
The Justicar was unfazed by all of this
"Find your peace in the embrace of the Goddess."
A quick movement and the soldier's neck was snapped.
"Wow," commented Garrus. Tali stayed quiet but kept the butt of her shotgun lowered
"Damn right. Ok squad! Guns lowered and fingers away from the trigger. Let's not piss her off." ordered Shepard. He and his squad moved toward the Justicar with slow, measured steps. They always made sure to not appear as enemies, allowing the Justicar to look at them with her blue eyes.
"Justicar." greeted Shepard. He kept his hands away from the guns and offered one to the Asari
"My quarrel is with the Eclipse sister, but I see three heavily armed soldier approaching me." said the Justicar with a calm tone. He refused Shepard's hand but also avoided blasting them with biotics.
Good enough for Shepard.
"My name is Justicar Samara, and I serve the code. Who are you, and what is your purpose?"
Something about the Justicar's voice told Shepard that lying was a very bad idea.
"Name's Shepard, Justicar Samara. I am a spectre under the Council's authority. I am looking for soldiers for a dangerous mission. The Collectors are abducting and killing scores of people in the Terminus system and I wish to stop them. I need the best soldiers in the galaxy for this, and this means also you."
"A noble goal, but is it not true that you now serve Cerberus?" queried the Justicar. Shepard grimaced but refused to back down
"Cerberus rebuilt me, that is true, and I would be lying if I said that I do not enjoy being alive. But my loyalty lies with the Council, the Alliance and its people. Cerberus is the only organization that takes this danger seriously and is now paying the bill. This is why I am working with them but once this mess is over, I will ditch them."
Samara's eyes bore into Shepard's, looking for any kind of lie or falsehood. Shepard almost collapsed under the pressure but refused to give up.
"You are telling the truth, and this honours me, but I cannot follow you, Commander Shepard. I am hunting a very dangerous criminal, one that I have tracked down for centuries. I cannot abandon my hunt, not now that I possess a lead."
"I wish you would change your mind, Justicar." said a voice behind them. Turning around Shepard saw that they were not alone anymore. Commissar Anaya and a small group of policewomen were here, armed and ready.
-Must have followed us.- reasoned Shepard
"My superiors ordered me to detain you."
"You are risking much, Commissar." said the Justicar to the other Asari "Luckily for you, the Code compels me to obey to you, for one day."
"And what happens when the day is over?" asked Tali
"I will break free and kill anyone that stands in my way." it felt like she was talking of the weather, so little emotion escaped from her lips.
"You would kill fellow law enforcers?" asked Garrus scandalized "Why?"
"I do not need to explain my reason to you, Turian, or to anyone for that matter." replied Samara "All I can tell you is that my soul is at peace, unlike the ones of many others."
"Is there a way we can avoid a massacre?" intervened Shepard "Something that can satisfy both parties?"
The Justicar did not reply, deciding instead to think about Shepard's words. Behind him, the Commander could see that both the Commissar and her small retinue were sweating bullets right now, desperately hoping that Samara would accept Shepard's offer.
A far cry from the powerful and snarky policewoman of some minutes ago.
"The prey I am looking for." said finally Samara "Managed to get on a ship prepared by the Eclipse. I was hoping to find some information about it. The name of the ship, or the destination. Alas! The Eclipse of this compound have destroyed their archives, and no one dared to surrender to me, making this battle a waste. But there is another cell not far from here. One governed by one of their leaders. It is the last hope I have. Find the name, and I will serve you for the duration of your mission."
"I know about it!" exclaimed Anyala "It is close. I can let you inside spectre. And that Volus, Pitne For, he knows something. You can interrogate him if you want." She was on the verge of actually begging for Shepard to accept the offer.
"Aren't you afraid that your prey will run away once reached her destination?" asked Shepard sceptically. "This is the ABC followed by any fugitive: always keep moving."
A shadow of pain and guilt washed Samara's usually unyielding expression. Shepard saw...regret? Rage? Sadness? He was not sure.
"She will not run. I hunted her for centuries. I know her. Once reached the destination, she will stop and settle. She has to do this."
Shepard ruffled his hairs, an old habit that sprung back to life when in a pickle. He carefully weighed his options, the power displayed by the Justicar, and the possible dangers. In the end, he made his decision.
"Very well, Justicar. We shall try to pry some information from the Eclipse." announced finally. Samara tilted her head slightly.
"I thank you, Shepard." Samara turned toward Anyala "I am ready to follow you, Commissar."
"Thank you, Justicar. You honour me." her tone bristled with humbleness and happiness. Behind her, her small retinue shamelessly released sights of relief.
"Good hunting Shepard. You will need it."
End of this part. Bit of a filler, I know, but a necessary one. Stay tuned for the final battle and the surprise.
