Adrian watched Harper twitch in his noose, and since he was so focused on watching the dictator breath his last; he didn't hear the sound of the mechanical arm whirring as it wound up and punched him.
He felt it though, and he went to the ground, barely catching himself for a moment; then he looked behind him to see Ayashe. Her suit was in tatters, to the point that the action of punching him alone caused the old Black Ops suit to completely fall off her body. Blood was running down her arm and her face; though he could see that the wounds were slowly repairing themselves.
She stepped forward, uncaring of her nudity nor the condition of her injuries as she stared at Harper's dead body; then she turned her gaze on Adrian, and the lines running throughout her body glowed, before her body tensed and her mechanical limbs whirred and clicked. Adrian stood, and she blurred forward and punched him in the chest again.
Adrian grunted as he fell to the ground, coughing and choking slightly as he felt several of his ribs break; and flailed as Ayashe walked over and grabbed him by the throat. He knew it was something that would probably get him killed, but he gasped out. "You know, last time you were standing over me naked like this; I got you knocked up, and with a lot less kinky stuff involved." He wheezed, before coughing and feeling blood in the back of his throat.
The glow of her cybernetics increased, but her grip on his throat lessened slightly; just enough to let him breath. "I kNoW YOu?"
"You did," he gasped out as he reached out and brushed his hand against her cheek, "a lifetime ago."
Her fingers twitched, but the grip didn't tighten. "My dAUghTEr, yOU meT Her?" Adrian nodded as well as he could. "PRooF!"
Adrian reached with his free hand and tapped on the controls of the Omni-Tool built into his armor. A holographic recording popped into existence in front of Ayashe's eyes.
A young woman with chocolate brown hair mock glared at the recorder; and Ayashe blinked. If one ignored all the glowing cybernetics and circuitry, and her mechanical limbs; and if you removed the grey streaks from her hair, this girl would have been her spitting image. "Sorry Father, but you wound her up, so you get to put her to sleep"
Adrian's voice came from out of view. "But I'm her Grandpa! She's supposed to be excited about spending time with me."
Ayita planted her fists on her hips in a way that sparked a vague memory in Ayashe; of her own mother lecturing her father. "Well I'm her mother, and in my quarters that means I outrank you; so go pick a story and get ready for the long haul, Marine."
The recording ended, and Ayashe felt a tear trickle down her cheek; her cybernetics were still glowing, but whereas before it seemed to be fluctuating a lot, now it seemed to be steadying. "WhEre? WhO FatHEr?" She rasped out, still holding Adrian with her metal arm, and keeping him pinned with her metal leg. But her normal limbs were both trembling slightly; as were her mechanical ones as a matter of fact.
Adrian blinked as he tried to decipher her meaning, "What do you mean?" He asked, coughing again and feeling more blood come out. He didn't dare struggle against her though, since he knew this was probably his only chance to break the brainwashing.
"WHerE!?"
"She and her husband, as well as a security detail are taking back the Capital."
"GrAnDChiLd. FaThER?!"
Adrian gave a raspy chuckle. "That's actually a bit of a story. Would you believe he's an alien? Like, Marvin the Martian, but with funny joints? He's a good kid. You'd tolerate him."
"WoUld… Like… TO… Meet… ThEm." She finally said, and Adrian could hear her voice starting to steady out; although it still sounded synthetic, the various jumps in pitch and tone were starting to go away.
He laughed and held her cheek, "First things first." He coughed and wheezed again, "We're gonna have to get you some clothes… and me some medical attention." He said. "Can't have you meeting your son-in-law naked."
"CloThs?" She asked, furrowing her brow in confusion, looking down for a moment before looking back at him. "This uNit does nOt require physical CoverIngs to surVive...?" She finally said, still looking confused, and her voice still jumped from time to time; but it seemed to be a quirk of her mechanical voice box, rather than something she was intentionally doing.
"Well 'this unit' might want to conceal her units before meeting the in-laws; they don't do nudity well." He chuckled, feeling her release him and slowly straighten up; still looking confused.
"Do not uNderstaNd?" She said, and Adrian sighed before coughing again, looking over towards the crashed chopper for a moment.
He slowly limped over to it, and Ayashe watched him, her eyes glowing a dull red still; though he was surprised when she blinked and they turned to a greenish-blue glow, greenish-blue being her natural eye color. Shrugging it off, he reached the cockpit and pulled out the dead pilot; and he pulled off the dead CP's black trenchcoat. Limping back over, he walked up to Ayashe, smiling slightly as he noticed that she was still shorter than him; barely reaching five and a half feet.
With how terrifying she was… is… I would have thought she was seven feet tall. He thought, holding out the trenchcoat. "Here, put this on; won't cover up everything completely, but it'll work." He rasped.
Ayashe took it and stared at it for a moment, then she looked back at him. "hOw?"
Adrian smiled and went to help her put it on, when his leg gave out and he fell to the ground. Ayashe caught him, and slowly supported his weight; and Adrian's smile widened, Guess some things are just instinctual. "C'mon Ayashe, let's get back to our friends."
Ayita and Cato ran down the halls of the underground facility, both of them sparking with fury.
The fat, old scientist would die today there was no question about it; whether it was by their hands, the rebels hands, or the headcrabs he used to execute people and experiment with. Not much stood in their way, just a handful of Overwatch Grunts, a few Ordinals, and one Assassin; most of their opposition actually came from a different form of Combine.
That being Zombified Combine soldiers.
Ayita growled and lashed outward, aiming for the headcrab specifically; as she quickly discovered that all the Combine troopers were semi-Vortal resistant now. Likely due to some experimentation by Lawson with their armor, in case other Vortals or Vortigaunts discovered this place and raided it. "Inszel, slow down." Cato admonished her as she rushed through another group of Zombies, accidentally leaving one alive.
He shot it in the head with his Winfield, but the point stood that if it had been a regular Combine trooper, and if Cato had not been with her; then it would have had the perfect opportunity to shoot her in the head.
"I can't slow down, t-t-this bastard t-t-tortured you!" She snapped furiously, and Cato winced.
She must be really mad if she's stuttering again. He grimaced, and he walked over and hugged her tightly for a second; and Ayita stiffened slightly. "Huneey, he'll be caught one way or another." He said softly.
Ayita just shoved him off and started running again, prompting Cato to sigh and shake his head; running after her.
He could keep pace with her easily since the way Quarian legs were structured allowed him to run for longer without fatiguing; though his endurance was still crap compared to a humans. Any races endurance was nothing compared to a humans. As he ran, slowly catching up to his wife, they both soon saw a light up ahead; and both knew that they were reaching the surface. Blinking, he heard shouting up ahead, and he double timed it to see something that he had only ever heard about from returning pilgrims; but had hoped to never see in his life.
It was a lynch mob.
Only they weren't after some 'random Quarian thief', or after some random criminal they all hated. About half were human soldiers, and the rest were human civilians. Some were half naked, completely naked, or fully clothed; all were very malnourished, and many bore scars and bruises.
Lawson was in the middle, being held by two Rebel soldiers; while a small ring of rebels held the crowd back. Even from here, Cato could hear the man shouting. "This is a travesty! I demand my rights! I demand a trial!" He screamed furiously.
Cato looked around as the crowd grew even more angry, and then he spotted the Rebel Commander standing off to the side; Tali and Garrus standing next to him. The Commander glanced at Cato, then rolled his eyes and pointed his gun up into the sky and fired a burst from his SMG.
The crowd stopped, and all the civilians, particularly the ones that looked to be in the worst amount of shape, all cringed and bowed their heads. "Alright!" The Commander shouted, walking up. "You want a Trial, you'll get a Trial." He growled before pulling out a sheet of paper. "Henry Lawson, you are charged with War Crimes, Treason, Inhuman experimentation, and over 200 counts of rape!" He shouted, and the crowd started to get rowdy again.
Lawson flailed in the grip of the two rebels holding him, and he shouted. "Everyone here is guilty of some crime. You have no right to judge me! I judge you!" He bellowed furiously.
The rebel commander ignored him in favor of reading from the paper. "Kasumi Goto, age 24. Alicia Sterling, age 19. Natalia Asimov age 15. Would you like to read these testimonials yourself?" The Commander sneered for a moment, before turning the sheet of paper back around to face him. "This court finds you guilty of Anti-Citizen behavior, and sentences you to be shot; to be carried out immediately."
He stuffed the paper back into his vest as the crowd started cheering again. As for Lawson, all he could do, was beg. "NO! NO PLEASE! PLEASE DON'T SHOOT ME!" He wailed as the crowd started dragging him towards the Capitol.
Ayita watched them, and Cato could feel the mixed feelings from his wife; and then he felt the buildup of energy from her. Recognizing the buildup for what it was, Cato's eyes widened and he immediately moved to stop her. "Ayita no!"
He was a second too late.
Ayita lashed her arm forward and a bolt of energy shot forward and struck Lawson right in the forehead. The soldiers dropped Lawson in surprise, and the crowd all turned to look at her for a moment; then they looked back at Lawson.
The Commander looked at her for a moment, then shrugged. "Well, that's got it done." He said simply, before gesturing to the two Rebel soldiers. "Go on, let's dispose of him."
The crowd started shouting again, and started dragging Lawson's body away, while Tali and Garrus walked up to Cato and Ayita; both with uncertain expressions on their faces.
Ayita just shuddered and hugged herself for a moment, and adjusted her leaf green Raelk and Sehni; and walked back down into the tunnel. Cato watched her go, knowing that her confrontation with her apprentices was something she needed to do alone.
Palla reached the Consuls office, Zaeed, Jackson, and Jenson right behind her. There were three bodies on the floor: two Elites had been executed and were lying in the middle of the room, while a third woman in a black coat and white armor of a Combine Assassin lay against the wall. She wobbled her head slightly as the three entered the room. Massani was about to put her down when she mumbled, "Help, Ben."
"Shit!" Massani rushed up to the fallen woman in white while Jensen and Palla looked on in confusion. "Jensen, get me a trauma kit, now!"
Palla noticed a moment of hesitation in the other human before he grabbed a med-kit from his belt and headed over. "What's up Master Sarge? We've killed like, a dozen of these Assassins today; what's different about this one?"
The grizzled vet glanced over his shoulder at Palla. "None of the others spoke, much less mentioned Ben."
Before Palla could ask the obvious, Jensen spoke. "Ben Hislop was one of us before the invasion, and he was our man on the inside after."
Zaeed huffed as he read the monitor on the trauma kit. "Alright, she's just had the tar beaten out of her. Stabilize her with a shot of nanites and AGE, then we cuff her and find-"
"Didn't take you for the kinky type Master Sergeant," a familiar voice rasped. Everyone spun with raised weapons to see Adrian leaning heavily on a naked female cyborg. Zaeed and Jensen remained motionless for a moment until...
"Fuking Hell! Ayashe?!" Both men rushed up only to be brought up short as Ayashe brought up a Pulse SMG. "Alright, alright! Old-Home week can wait."
"Harper?" Jenson asked, clearly trying not to stare at the human female cyborgs exposed 'units'; while Palla winced and looked away, the greenish-blue cybernetics glowing under her skin like blood vessels was… unnerving to look at.
Adrian just jerked his head, and Palla followed his gesture to the window that overlooked the elevator shaft. At the top was a massive glass dome, that was partially shattered; and in the center of it, swaying back and forth was… "Wow… hanged him like the criminal he is Gunny." She murmured, stepping up to the window.
Shepard just wheezed and held his side, "Nearly took me with him, and he did take Ben with him; saved my life at the cost of his own." He rasped, before breaking down in a fit of coughing. The naked female cyborg lowered him to the ground, and Jenson started to move forward; but she just raised the Pulse SMG up again.
"Will NoT harM hIm.!?"
Jenson swallowed and shook his head, "I'm a corpsman and a doctor; I took an oath to do no harm." He replied smoothly.
The Cyborg stared at him for a moment, and all her cybernetics flared for a moment before dimming; and she lowered her gun and stood to the side. "HeLp hIm." Jenson just nodded, and immediately crouched next to Shepard and started treating him. Palla took a step back towards Massani, and froze when the female cyborg swung her pistol around and pointed it right between her eyes. "UnkNown Alien. IdentiFy."
Palla straightened and resisted the urge to make any sudden movements. "Sergeant Palla Fenneba; Systems Alliance Expeditionary Corps." and after a moment, she added, "Batarian." hoping that would satisfy the naked female.
Massani kept his hands up and said, "Christ Aya, calm down will ya? It's not like that one prank where we stole all of your towels and clothes along with Adrians; and then swapped the labels to the showers so that you both went into the communal showers." He gave an uneasy chuckle as he glanced downward only to immediately look back up again. "Course uh… the way you're 'dressed'; I would have thought otherwise."
The female looked down, then back up at Massani and Palla, looking confused; "This uNit not in daNger of HypotherMia. GaRments uNnecessAry. Increased heartRate? wHy?" It… She asked, and Palla swallowed heavily and exchanged a look with Massani.
Massani opened and closed his mouth a couple of times before shaking his head. "Ol'Jack did a number on you." He stood slowly and looked her in the eyes. "My guess is, your heart rate is elevated from remembering a very emotional day."
Ayashe shifted her gaze around several times before looking back at Zaeed. "I... I... I don't RemEmber, buT i...i..." She pinched her biological eye shut while the cybernetic one flashed and she sank to her knees. "WHaT DId ThEY DO TO mE!? whY Don'T i RemEMber?"
Palla took a hesitant step forward and rested a hand on the distraught woman's back. "They tried to take away who you were. That's why you can't remember specific moments." She waited for Ayashe to look up. "They failed; that's why you remember the emotions. They tried to take you away from yourself and they failed."
The female cyborg just looked back down, before walking back over to where Adrian sat propped against the wall; Jenson glanced at her, and sighed. "Several broken ribs, cracked sternum, moderate concussion, and punctured lung." He said clinically, looking Ayashe up and down for a moment. "I don't know what you're feeling with all those cybernetics; but I see a number of bruises, biological shoulder's improperly relocated, and a few cracked ribs." He added.
The cyborg didn't reply simply sitting down next to Gunny Shepard, who was already asleep from the anesthetics, and leaned against him; before she raised her mechanical hand to eye level and looked at it, absently tapping her fingers against the 'palm' of her 'hand'.
Jenson just shook his head and reached into the med bag and withdrew a large emergency blanket; noting that she was shivering slightly. "Here." He said, quickly wrapping it around her shoulders; and Ayashe absently grabbed at it with her biological hand. "Can't have you running around naked; pretty cold outside."
"Not iN danGer of HypoThermiA…" was all she murmured, her mechanical eye flashing from blueish-green to red; before she closed her human eye and leaned her head against Adrian's.
Zaeed just smiled lightly and raised a hand to his ear. "All units, this is Alpha 2-1; the Consul is KIA, Geronimo. I repeat, Geronimo."
Lan and Juli stood back from the crowd, even as Miranda Chambers lay unconscious behind them on her stretcher; the baby Humrian picking at Juli's Raelk in curiosity, having since woken up from his artificial slumber. They grew up on cautionary stories about mobs turning on Quarians, and despite their connection to the Vortessence they had no desire to test this group. Still, their focus was directed towards one human in particular.
Ayita stiffened slightly and glanced over her shoulder to see two of her Acolytes glaring at her suspiciously. She had known this moment would come, and saw no reason to drag it out.
"Meet me at the Washington Monument," she imagined the granite obelisk that had somehow weathered the Combine occupation, "and I will answer your questions."
"Why not here," Lan thought bitterly. "You certainly have no secrets from your own kind."
"Because some things are best discussed in private away from those that cannot understand." She replied sadly, before she vanished from the naked eye and her presence withdrew.
Sergeant 'Zorah, Captain 'Zorah, and Commander Vakarian walked up to them and Cato said, "Go with her, you need to hear her reasons for deceiving you so." He ordered, before kneeling next to Miranda and examined the bound stump of her arm. When neither of them moved, he turned his gaze up and jerked his head, "Go, that's a direct order."
The two junior Acolytes snapped bitter, silent salutes and headed towards the stone spire that dominated the landscape.
They made their way across the open terrain and arrived at the base of the monument. Ayita was openly sitting on a bench looking up at the spire. "George Washington was one of the first great American Heroes: the General would led the Revolutionary Armies across eight years against a numerically and technologically superior foe, helped form the government and write its Constitution, and even served as its first elected leader before voluntarily stepping down." She looked over at the two Quarians. "He was also a slave owner. No one is ever just the person you see, and everyone always has facts about them that cast them in a poor light."
She stood up. "My name is Ayita'Zorah nee Shepard, the daughter of Adrian Shepard and Ayashe Kingfisher. I was born in Cumberland, Maryland after my father disappeared, and after the Seven Hour War. I have only ever known the Earth as a Combine occupied wasteland where you either collude with, submit to, or fight against the Consul's forces; all of which are effectively a death sentence.
"I was one of, if not the first Vortal human born, so there was no one to show me how to be a Vortal except the Vortigaunts, and my mother…" something made her hesitate, though she wasn't sure what, "was taken from me when I was seven. I was raised by rebels and retired soldiers, and have only ever had one goal: to see my homeworld restored. I hope you can appreciate that."
Juli and Lan glanced at one another before Lan spoke. "Why deceive us? What did you hope to accomplish by creating your cult of 'The Mistress'?" There was bitterness in both his words, and his connection to the vortessence.
"Because we needed your help, and you wouldn't have given it to a pre-interstellar planet that could offer nothing except the potential for enslavement. But your Admiralty would give it to a mysterious race with powers only matched by the Asari."
Lan and Juli shifted uncomfortably. As much as they wanted to argue, Ayita was correct that had the humans not offered the mysterious Mistress as an ally, that the Quarians would have refused to risk themselves on behalf of the humans.
She shifted slightly, glancing at them and the Humrian, who quickly began reaching for her. Ayita smiled softly, and Lan blinked at the way she waved her hands; the baby Humrian floated out of Juli's arms and over to the human woman. She quickly grabbed the baby and held it in a motherly manner, booping it on the nose and rocking it. "This was the other reason…" she said sadly. "You know 'The Mistress' child… she's a Humrian, my daughter. Lawson created her using mine and Cato's DNA and genes; and unlike the ones down below, whom I may add will be withdrawn from below and adoptions will be posted for both human and Quarian families willing to take the responsibility, she is directly related to me."
She raised the little Humrian up and looked him over, and the baby giggled. "Unlike this little guy, he's only related to me and my Inszel in the same way that you two are related to each other by being Quarian." she explained before setting the baby back on her lap.
The Humrian smiled widely and giggled again, and reached for the green and silver Sehni the woman was wearing. "How do you think your people would have reacted to my little Ori? We wouldn't be able to hide her… She looks like me if I were a Quarian and still had five fingers and toes."
Her smile faded as she handed the child back to Juli. "When Cato saw Doctor Lawson's work the first time he was genuinely terrified of what his people, your people, would do with it. We all had difficulty believing it until we met the Admiralty, and specifically Admiral 'Xen." There was genuine venom at the name. "She tried to kidnap Ori so she could experiment on her: to see if she could reproduce what we saw below the Capitol Building. She wanted to artificially grow a Quarian army to retake Rannoch and subjugate the Geth. From there, she intended to expand into the wider galaxy."
Ayita looked sadly at the two. "The Mistress persona was as much an attempt to hide that potential from the Conclave as it was to deceive the Citadel Council."
Lan looked in Ayita's eyes for a moment. "And now that we have saved your planet and picked a fight with the rest of the galaxy?"
Ayita looked back at the granite spire. "Now, the Mistress fades into legend; her nemesis is defeated and humanity, her allies against the Combine will gratefully aid the Quarian people in their fight for independence and security. But she will always be out there somewhere; a boogieman to give the enemies of our alliance pause."
Once again, Lan and Juli glanced at one another. It was Juli who spoke this time. "We are Acolytes of the Mistress, but she disappeared somewhere in the tunnels under this city."
Ayita almost smiled but for the suspicious look from Lan. "You, Ayita'Zorah, are a stranger to us. We will keep your secret, but don't expect us to obediently follow your commandments."
They turned and headed towards the milling humans on the far side of the Capitol Mall, leaving Ayita to her thoughts.
Shala walked into the staff room, and quietly began typing into the holographic keys for her particular spot at the table. She leaned heavily against the table as she bumped and fumbled several keys on accident; her loss of depth perception still being a major problem for her.
Bringing up the holographic communications set, she opened the line to the leader of the Lambda resistance in City 17; a man by the name of Calhoun. The news of Consul Jack Harper's death had already spread all across the small fleet; and across most of Earth; the parts that had been liberated at least.
The past few days had been… hectic.
But today was different, because today every single one of their sensors had suddenly detected a dark energy flare; and fears had quickly spread amongst the fleet that the Combine had finally decided that enough was enough and was going to call in their fleets from their Overworld. But when they ran a scan of the few Citadels and cities still under contested control, none of them showed any kind of power buildup.
In fact, while the flare had been detected in City 17, it hadn't come from the Citadel; it had instead come from one of the Lambda Rebels research bases, home to a Dr. Isaac Kliener.
From what reports she'd managed to gather, Kliener was already out of the city; having been escorted to an old human Nuclear Missile Silo the rebels were using to coordinate their forces in that area. But Commander Calhoun was still in the city, and could more readily confirm the reports they had been receiving.
The screen lit up with the destroyed landscape of City 17, and she watched silently as the sounds of war filtered their way through the microphone of the mobile communicator.
After a few minutes of patiently waiting, the man she was waiting for appeared on the screen. The Commander jumped slightly, before seemingly regaining his composure; and Shala fought down a smile, knowing that the majority of Earth and Humans were so far unaware of the Quarian fleet and the Marines they had sent in support beyond rumours and hearsay.
Refocusing on the reason she had called the man in the first place, Shala said; "Commander Calhoun I presume?"
"Yeah, who's asking?" the man replied, ducking slightly as another explosion rocked the screen.
Shala drew herself up, and she suppressed a wince when she saw the man glance at her 'Sehni-patch' covering her right eyehole. "I am Admiral Shala'Raan of the Quarian Migrant fleet, current successor to the 'Calin Monarchy and soon to be Queen." She replied.
The man blinked, "Huh… guess I can add that to the bucket list, meeting an Alien Queen. What do you need?" He asked.
"The status of Dr. Freeman, he is reported to be inside City 17. City 1, City 14, and City 9 have all been secured; this is the last stronghold capable of connecting to the Combine overworld." She stated simply.
The man visibly sagged, "Well, no pressure on us then huh? You actually missed him by about an hour. He just took down a number of gunships and a strider by himself; he's currently in the Citadel trying to rescue Eli and Alyx." He reported.
Shala breathed in, and out. "Do you believe he'll be successful?" She asked. "We took heavy casualties trying to secure the Palace in City 1; with similar reports regarding the Citadels in City 14 and 9. Could he do it alone?"
"If anyone can, Gordon could. He didn't let being mute stop him from becoming a Theoretical Physicist; and he sure as hell isn't going to be stopped by a buncha brainwashed cyborgs." He said, smirking slightly. "He's my best friend, and I have complete confidence in him."
Shala opened her mouth to say something, when the screen flashed; and Calhoun took a step back, open mouthed and wide eyed. "Holy Hell! Everyone to defensive positions! Admiral! Get that ship ready to nuke this place!" He bellowed furiously, already turning and running.
She quickly disconnected the call as Calhoun ran off shouting to his men; before she turned and ran to the bridge. "Report!" She snapped as everyone ran about, frantically taking readings and answering calls.
"The Citadel is activating its Quantum Entanglement Reactor." The Pilot, 'Joker' Moreau shouted over his shoulder. "Dr. Breen, the Administrator, is trying to escape to the Combine's homeworld; and bring the Combine's armies over to put us down. They can't lose their beachhead into this universe and they know it."
"Admiral!" Captain 'Mal shouted, "We're getting an audio feed from the Citadel."
"Play it! I want to know at least something before I have to decide whether or not to nuke that damned tower." She snapped.
The communications officer quickly pressed a few buttons, and a soft female voice with a hard undercurrent to it played over the bridge. "It's Doctor Breen! There he is."
After a second, a smug sounding males voice came back. "Doctor Freeman. You really shouldn't be out there. At the moment of Synapse, as I teleport, this chamber will be bathed in deadly particles that have yet to be named by human science. Perhaps when I have the leisure to do the work myself, I'll name one of them after you. That way you won't be completely forgotten."
Shala opened and closed her mouth for a moment, then spun around to the weapons officer. "Load up the nuclear missile in Battery One; and I want drones and airsupport over the Citadel now!"
Dr. Breen continued talking even as everyone hopped to it to carry out her orders. "When the singularity collapses, I will be far away from here; in another universe as a matter of fact. You, on the other hand, will be destroyed in every way it is possible to be destroyed. And even in some which are essentially impossible."
"I got eyes on!" The Weapons officer shouted, bringing up drone footage of the very top of the Citadel. "Ready to fire on your command Admiral."
"Hold." Shala ordered, glancing over her shoulder to see Matriarch Benezia sprinting onto the bridge. "Let's see if Freeman can stop them."
Everyone on the bridge turned to her and seemed stunned for a moment while Benezia stepped forward. "Admiral, are you sure that is wise?" She asked, raising an eyeridge. "Putting all our faith in one un-augmented and non-vortal human?"
Shala's response was stopped dead when Captain 'Mal stepped forward; circling his hand and glowing green, his eyes also glowing Emerald. "This is what's necessary for us to win." He murmured in a monotone. The screens all flared white for a moment, and the bridge stopped dead as everyone stared; watching as the portal opened, allowing a view into the Combine Overworld.
An angry red sky was punctuated by more than a dozen Citadel spires could be seen through the rippling portal. There seemed to be a black snow flying around, until they saw a murmuration, and they realized it was tens of thousands of Combine Synthetic Dropships and Gunships. Everyone tensed as Shala looked towards the communications officer. She almost jumped back when Captain Mal, still staring vacantly into the middle distance, held a hand in front of her.
"Normandy Actual to all ground teams in the vicinity of City 17; withdraw to secondary perimeter and stand by for emergency relief operations."
Shala stared at her senior advisor and gripped the edge of the holotable even as Breens mocking turned to confused and worried plea's. "You don't know what you'll unleash Freeman! You'll bring down this whole Citadel, think of the people below! Think man, think!"
Everyone looked between the display and Shala while she looked between the display and Mal.
"Mal, what do you see?"
"The Freeman will free all men in fire and light."
Turning her attention back to the screen, she allowed herself to say. "C'mon Freeman. Don't listen to him, destroy that tower."
The drone lost sight of the top of the tower for a moment, but it did catch the massive sphere of energy just below the portal exploding. "No!" Breen screamed, before his transmission became garbled. "You need meeeeee…" The message cut out, and Shala breathed a sigh of relief as the portal vanished.
The bridge exploded into a series of cheers as the portal collapsed, until Joker bellowed. "The Citadels Dark Fusion Reactor is spiking, it's gonna blow!"
"Back us off!" 'Mal shouted as the cheers stopped and everyone scrambled back to their stations.
Just as that last word left his mouth, there was a flash of light. "Queen Shala" Shala stiffened slightly as everything on the bridge stopped dead in place; the display showing the top of City 17's Citadel mid-explosion stopping as well, although the explosion had only slowed to a snail's pace, meaning that the explosion was truly moving fast. "Queen of the Quarians, we require your aid."
Shala turned, finding that she was the only able to move; everyone else stayed frozen and blissfully unaware or what was transpiring.
Shala's eye widened as Ulysses seemed to fade into the bridge from nowhere, his head lost in the shadows of his cloak; still leaning heavily on his cane. "You're Ulysses." She whispered.
"We are that we are" The Vortigaunt replied, and he was glowing a bright purplish-blue.
She pursed her lips and crossed her arms across her chest. "Well I am apparently responsible for liberating a dozen worlds and holding off an interdimensional invasion, all while rebuilding a Dynasty that's been dead for three hundred years; so I hope you will understand if I act a little put out at you asking me for another favor."
"This is more of an… exchange if you will. We wish to show you a glimpse of the forces involved; in exchange for freeing the one free man." He stated simply, tapping his cane on the floor. He took a step forward, and Shala blinked as she realized that this wasn't some kind of astral projection like on Xen. The Vortigaunt was actually standing there on the bridge in front of her.
She gestured helplessly around her until she realized everyone else seemed frozen in place. Even the Murmuration of Combine aircraft had stopped all movement. "Did you just stop..." she remembered what her son had told her about the Moment. "You disconnected us from the flow of time." The Ancient being in front of her nodded. She gave an exasperated laugh. "I can't even see out of the right side of my head! What could I possibly do that you can't!?"
"Sight is unnecessary where we shall go; it is what you feel and sense that matters." He said simply, reaching forward with one of his arms, beckoning her to grab on.
"I feel particularly out of my depth, but I sense there's no point in arguing with you."
"Truly, the wisdom of the Royals of the past flows through you."
Shala couldn't tell for certain, but she thought this strange creature was being cheeky with her! Benezia at least managed the 'wise and mysterious ancient' act most days, but Ulysses felt... more familiar. She followed him as he walked towards one of the hatches. It opened with the normal promptness, but instead of a corridor to one of her Ready Rooms, there was a swirling black and purple tunnel.
She could hear voices droning from all around as the two made their way through.
She glanced to her left, and saw an ever-shifting number of Vortigaunts rhythmically chanting and circling their hands as they surrounded someone. She caught the faintest glimpse of pale skin and black hair, and piercing alien eyes that promised untold secrets and torments in equal measure.
Shala felt power coursing through her veins, and she blinked her eye as she looked down in surprise; seeing that she was once again dressed as an ancient Quarian River Sailor, meaning that she was in the Vortessence itself.
She could feel the power the Vortigaunts were wielding, and more importantly, she could feel what they were holding back. The power contained in the fake human was… she couldn't even quantify it. Ulysses tapped her on the shoulder and she quickly shook herself out of her thoughts and hurried over to the cause for all the trouble they were dealing with.
Gordon Freeman was watching the Vortigaunts hold the fake human back with concerned confusion; then slight fear.
And Shala knew why, because what happened next would haunt her for the rest of her long life. She and Ulysses each grabbed one of Freemans shoulders, the human looking at them in confusion; his gaze flicking to Shala's sole glowing eye for a moment, then came the monotone voice, still carrying an undercurrent of fury.
"We'll see… about that. Old Man."
Shala didn't dare look back as she felt her gut twist, and she closed her eye as she, Ulysses, and Freeman teleported away from the all consuming emptiness that surrounded them.
Pilot A/N: Not much to say beyond check my profile for the link to join my discord. It's not much, it's more of a friend group than anything else; but we all have a good time.
In any case, this story will be going on a hiatus again, mainly because Ian and I need to plan out Act 3 (which depending on how it goes will likely be the final act); and because both of us want a genuine break from writing this story. There will be a few interludes that will pretty much wrap up the Half Life portion of this X-Over; and then we'll be much more Mass Effect focused.
Beyond that, I hope you all enjoyed it; Ian, anything to add?
Ian A/N: For those of you hoping the fight is not over yet, fear not! The liberation of City 17 awaits! For those of you expecting a beat-by-beat retelling of Half Life 2, you should know better by now. We have meddled with the very fabric of Story-time, and will continue to do so throughout the interludes. Stay tuned dear readers.
Pilot: Right then, leave a review and let us know what you all think.
A TV Tropes page would be loved and appreciated.
And we will see ya when we see ya.