Interloper Rewrite Chapter 24
Benezia
"So, that dip into the biohazard lab was for this?" Garrus asked, turning the small silicon key in his claws. He placed it back on the table between us with a clack. It glinted in the dim lights of the barracks. "The access key to the maintenance area. Hardly seems worth the trade. What's going on here, Shepard?"
The Commander picked the key up. "The unguarded maintenance areas which lead into the Hot Labs. As for what's going on, here's what I've been able to figure out so far. This whole facility, the scientists working in it, it's been working on a cloning project. A Rachni cloning project." The words stunned the table, jaws dropping. I tried my best to look surprised too.
"But, that's impossible!" Tali said, "the Rachni died out thousands of years ago. The Krogan exterminated them."
"They found a sample, an egg. They've brought them back. That must be why Saren is so interested in the base. He wants to build an army of Rachni," Shepard replied.
"We can't let him, the Rachni almost destroyed the galaxy last time," Liara said.
"I don't intend to. And that's why we need maintenance access. According to one of the researchers, the Rachni Queen is being held in the Hot Labs."
"Keelah, they cloned a queen?" Tali shook her head. "Did they lose their minds?"
"Be that as it may, we're going to put an end to this here and now. From our schematics it looks like a straight shot to the holding labs here." The Commander brought up the map. "We move fast, hit the central room before the Geth know what's hit them. With the element of surprise, even an asari Matriarch should go down."
"Benezia is experienced, and powerful. And if she has one commando with her, there will be a whole squad, each one a specialist in small unit combat with centuries of experience." Liara said nervously.
"Which is why we're going to go in with a plan. The deputy's stunt back down below gave me an idea. The way I see it, once the commandoes engage, they became very focused. If we hit them while they are already fighting something else…"
"We ambush the ambushers, I like it," Garrus said, "So, who's on the second team?"
"I want you and Liara with me on the first team, we don't know how many commandoes are in there and I want a good biotic at my side. Deputy, you and Tali are going to be on the second team. You hit them with tech once they've gotten stuck in. We clear?"
"Clear."
The maintenance tunnels were mainly empty, only a single Rachni warrior standing in our way. We blasted past it, avoiding injury. At a fork in the path, Tali and I split off from the group and headed up a ramp to a higher level.
"This plan is crazy," Tali said, "just the five of us against a whole squad of commandoes."
"A whole squad minus one," I corrected, hefting my reacquired shotgun, "and we have the Commander's devious plan."
"Yes the two of us, you are going to stick to the default combat programs, right?"
"Of course, incinerate, overload. Trust me Tali, I'm in no hurry to have my hand put back together anytime soon. I think this is it." I wedged open a hatch on the side of the passage and peeked through. The hatch opened out onto a tall lab. In a large tube lay the rachni queen, her massive bulk writhing behind a hazy mist. I quickly scanned the inside of the room. On a central platform, stood the Matriarch in her black outfit. She seemed intent on the containment tube in front of her. Below, Shepard and her team walked in.
"Matriarch Benezia. We know what you're up to. We won't let you take this queen to make soldiers for Saren."
"You think you know so much. You do not know the privilege of being a mother. There is power in creation. To shape a life. Turn it towards happiness or despair. Her children were to be ours, raised to hunt and slay Saren's enemies. I won't be moved by sympathy, no matter who you bring into this confrontation." The matriarch rounded on Shepard, but gave a brief, sidelong glance to Liara.
"I'm not looking for your sympathy, and neither is Liara. She's here for the same reason I am, to put a stop to this madness." Shepard stood her ground.
"Madness? What have you been telling her, Liara?"
"What could I say, mother? That you're insane? You've turned your back on the galaxy, and you expect me to what, defend your actions? What drove you to this, mother?"
"I have not been driven to anything. I merely see the inevitability of the situation." Benezia advanced. "Tell me, Shepard, have you faced an asari commando unit before? Few Humans have."
"I beat your assassin," Shepard said coldly, "though I can't believe you would kill your own daughter."
"I am starting to see I should have been stricter with her," Benezia said. She waved her hand across the group, trapping them in a stasis field. From the various side passages, Asari flooded into the room. Shepard and the team broke from stasis and moved to take cover behind stacked crates. The commandoes attacked relentlessly, throwing blasts of biotic energy and firing rifles.
"I think now would be a good time to intervene," Tali whispered. I keyed up my first attack, a shield overload, and nodded. As one, we ducked out of the hatch and targeted two Asari. The burst of static leapt across the space and danced across the commando's barrier. The Asari was taken by surprise and fell to a hail of fire from the first team. The remaining Asari turned and fired at the new threat. Tali and I leapt back as shots sparked off our shields. I keyed a second attack, an incinerate. I fired it towards one of the far commandoes. Shepard and Garrus focused on another commando, while Liara lifted another. My incendiary grenade hit the lift opponent, sending her screaming into the depths of the chamber. Another wave stormed through the door. I looked over at the first team. They stood stock still, frozen in stasis. I fired at Benezia, distracting her long enough for the team to break free. I stayed out too long, because a second later I felt the telltale tingle of biotics run down my spine.
"Michael!" Tali grabbed at my heels as I was yanked from my perch. She missed and I went cartwheeling out over empty space. Fire crisscrossed as the asari attempted to shoot me out of the air. Shots sparked across my weakened shield. I suddenly felt weighted again and plummeted downwards. Seconds before I hit the deck, I once again become weightless. I was gently set down on the deck before being released again. The stomping of Geth feet alerted me to another attacker. I kicked out at the platforms ankle, giving me enough time to shoot it at close range. A third wave had already come through the doors. Our ambush was quickly falling apart. Tali threw incendiaries down at anything that moved. Shepard's team was being squeezed back into a corner. From where I stood I could only see one Geth platform. I hit the unit with an overload then quickly followed up with a shotgun blast. I moved towards Shepard's team, weaving my way through the fallen.
"Friendly on your left!" I called as I dove into place behind the boxes. A fourth wave had poured in.
"What are you doing down here?" Shepard asked. She fired over the boxes.
"Just practicing my dive, think I scored at least an 8.5." I lobbed a grenade over the box. The blast knocked out a few Geth.
"I thought we were saving those." Garrus said.
"We are." Shepard replied.
"I think that took out the last of them though," I said, peeking out to confirm. The coast was clear. Benezia lay crumpled against a control panel. Shepard stood and moved up.
"This isn't over. Saren is unstoppable." Benezia rose, stumbled slightly, and continued talking. "My mind is full of light. Everything is clear."
"If Saren is so unstoppable, why can't he control these rachni? We've seen them out in the base, they're little more that frightened animals."
"I will not betray him, I will not…" Benezia seemed to flounder. "You must listen to me. Saren whispers in my mind. I can fight his compulsions, briefly, but the indoctrination is strong."
"He's controlling you?" Shepard asked.
"It is more subtle than mere control. People do not remain themselves around Saren. They begin to idolize him, even worship him. They are willing to do anything for him. The key is his flagship, Sovereign. A dread
naught of incredible size and power."
"We saw this ship on Eden Prime," Shepard said. "Where did it come from? Where did Saren gain this power to control minds?"
"It is not Saren's power, but Sovereign's. The longer you stay aboard the ship, the more you bend to its will."
"How can a ship have a will?" Shepard asked.
"Please, I do not know how much longer I can resist. Saren sent me to find the location of the Mu Relay."
"The Mu Relay was lost, thousands of years ago. How did you plan on locating it?" Liara interrupted.
"The queen knows, she holds the ancestral memory of her kind. Please, take this OSD; it contains the location of the Mu Relay. Know this Shepard, I did not set out to be Saren's pawn. I wanted to… to… even now he presses against my awareness!" Benezia began to shake. "I wanted to move him from this path."
"You still can, mother. You need only fight his control!" Liara stepped forward and held her mother by the arms.
"It is too late for me, my daughter. I was always proud of you… Liara…. Now Die!" she lunged, stripping Liara's pistol from her belt.
"Mother, no!" Liara screamed. The Matriarch smiled cruelly. Liara yelled with rage and thrust both hands outwards. The rush of biotics smashed Benezia against the containment tubes glass. "I'm… sorry." She fell to her knees.
Liara sat on the ground, her knees hugged to her chest. I sat beside her, arm wrapped around her shoulders. She shook gently with soft sobs. Shepard had spoken with the rachni queen, freeing the creature after extracting a promise to leave the known systems and retreat beyond the Rachni Relay. Garrus and Tali had been incredulous, but had acquiesced to the Commander's judgment.
"I feel… unwell," Liara murmured next to me.
"You've just had to fight and kill your own mother. I'd be worried if you felt as right as rain," I said, trying to sound comforting. Truthfully, I was way out of my depth.
"I understand it had to be done, but I can't shake the feeling that I'm some kind of monster now." She wiped the streak of a tear away from her face.
"Hey, you're not a monster, Liara. If you want to blame anyone, blame Saren. He took everything your mother was and twisted it to his own use. You did what you had to to stop him from doing it to more people, more families."
"You're… too kind, Michael." Liara worked her way further under my arm. "I'm not sure if I totally believe you, but it means a lot to me."
"Liara, I'm sorry it had to be this way, but we need to move," Shepard said as she walked up to us. "There are still more wild Rachni on the loose. We have to get to the Hot Labs, that's where they originated. There must be a way to destroy them before they reach the surface."
Liara stood with my help. "Then we must leave immediately."
We pounded through the passageways and tunnels. At our heels, more Rachni snapped. Garrus dropped another of our precious grenades. The blast slowed the Rachni, but did not stop them.
"In here!" called Liara. We piled into an elevator. "This will take us to the Hot Labs." The elevator descended quickly. I checked the power levels on my shields. Nominal. The doors slid opened onto a small room.
"Over here, help me," a weak voice called out. In the middle of the room, an older man lay in a pool of blood. His pudgy features were slick with sweat. His clothes were ruined. As we moved into the room, I realized his right leg was missing at the knee, the stump bound by a strip of cloth.
"Are you one of the scientists?" Shepard lowered her weapon.
"Yes, Yaroslev Tartakovsky. I worked in the labs, this is all our fault. We found an egg, brought it to life. Binary Helix wanted to create weapon, train rachni to be obedient." The scientist spoke with a thick Russian accent.
"That didn't turn out so well," Shepard said.
"You are all too right, I am afraid. They were wild without contact with the queen. They overran us in minutes."
"Then I guess you're lucky to be alive."
"Ha ha," the scientist chuckled wetly, "Lucky she says, perhaps not in this condition, eh? Mother was right; going into genetics was a mistake. Should have stayed with physics." He gave a wracking cough. "Perhaps I am lucky enough to be fixing my mistakes. Here, take my activation codes. They will activate the neutron purge of the Hot Labs. It is only way to destroy Rachni." He held out his hand. Behind him something stirred. A Rachni. I reacted blindly, throwing out my Omni-tool. I hit the first program in the list in the hope that it would at least slow down the shrimplike alien. There was a blinding flash and an almighty bang. My visor polarized, but not enough to avoid the worst effects of the blast. I stumbled blindly. Through the ringing in my ears, I heard the dull thumps of shots fired somewhere behind me. Disorientated, I tripped over my feet and fell to the ground. I blinked rapidly, trying to clear my vision. As my hearing began to clear, I heard someone yelling. I rolled over and squinted past the afterimage of the flash. Tali was on her feet with her gun trained on something. I looked to see what it was. The Rachni was dead. The scientist lay on his back. He was still breathing. I heaved myself up, groaning. Tali gave me a hand up. By now my hearing had mostly returned.
"Everyone still have all their parts?" Shepard was talking. "Liara, get Yaroslev some medigel." The Asari rushed to his side. "I've got to say, Deputy, not one of your brightest ideas."
"Sorry, Commander, I panicked," I said contritely.
"You got lucky. Who bagged the target?"
"That would be me, Commander," said Tali, "my suit can double-purpose for EVA, its flash visor has much better reaction time than your combat suits."
"Good work. Liara, toss me those codes." She deftly caught the optical disk. "I want everyone ready to move. I'm activating the neutron purge." Shepard entered the control room while Tali and Garrus took up position flanking the door. Liara and I picked up the groaning Yaroslev. "I'm setting the detonator for ten minutes, that should be enough to evac the civilians and get out of the base."
"Uh, Commander, we've got movement." Garrus had his motion tracker out again.
"How many?"
"Lots," Garrus frowned. "They're close. Just the other side of the bulkhead. Wait, that can't be right. This says they're in the room." He looked up. Silence preceded an explosion of noise. Rachni burst through the floor tiles. Their many tentacles waved menacingly through the air. Shepard jammed down hard on the detonator and whirled on us.
"Ready the rest of our grenades, now!" Three grenades whizzed out and exploded amongst the insects. "Go go go!" we surged forward, firing as we went. Rachni snapped at our heels and spewed their sticky acid. The air in the room became a jungle of fronds of the burning stuff. We dodged and dived to avoid the web of stinging fibers, but some managed to catch our shields. Liara and I were the first into the elevator, followed by Shepard. We gave covering fire for Tali and Garrus as they leapt the remaining distance.
"Move, move, move, move, move!" Tali jabbed at the 'up' button repeatedly. The doors closed on a rachni claw. The elevator zoomed to the top.
"Liara and Liddle, secure the tram!" Shepard burst out of the elevator and ran towards the barracks. We fell back shooting. I hopped the lip of the tram with my good arm, landing awkwardly inside. Yaroslev landed on top of me and rolled off as Liara hurdled the wall more gracefully. More rachni emerged from the open shaft. We shot down the first wave, linking fire to blast one after another.
"We need to leave!" Yaroslev cried.
"We're not leaving without the Commander!" Liara yelled back. She threw a Rachni warrior through a sheet of plate glass. I dropped my shotgun and drew my pistol, firing one handed. Rachni had begun to crawl up the side of the tram. I shoved the nearest one bodily off the wall. It caught me with one of its tentacles, gouging a deep gash across my shoulder plate. A bullet to its head knocked it away.
"Incoming!" Shepard and crew came storming across the platform, scientists in tow. A few of the scientists carried weapons, firing inexpertly. One by one they filed onto the tram. "Get this thing moving!"
"On it, Commander!" Tali dashed to the controls. The tram lurched into motion. The crunching grinding noise from our arrival returned, along with a faint hissing.
"What's that…" I stepped forward and put my foot through the floor. The metal grate had been eaten away by rachni acid. More deck plate gave way as I stumbled forward. Garrus reached out and grabbed me by the back of the neck. I hung there, staring into the darkness below the tram.
"I got ya." Garrus pulled me back from the edge. "Wouldn't want you to fall."
"Yeah," I said weakly, "It's a long way down."
