|23|
The biotics lit to life—Miranda watched in surprise as Sieis pushed through the sentry up ahead, crushing it into the wall, and Catherine clung to his back, the hard pack attached to her shoulders by its straps. Someone fell behind her, knocking her onto the concave floor of the tunnel that led to a downward well of stairs…She rolled over to grasp what was on top of her legs and remembered….Use your powers, woman!
Casnar turned to the percussive blast—the sentry rummaging through the bodies behind them stopped and noticed him there, pulling Kasumi from the banton clinging to her in terror—Miranda lifted the mechanical arm off the banton, freeing him, and turned it into the head sitting on its mount over the aerial disc—crunching through bone and plastic mingled with wire and metal frame, the claw went out the other side and into the wall where it twisted and struggled against her control. Another banton finished the sentry, pulling it apart with tearing fists—Miranda released the power and sat with a heavy breath, sliding off a body as she wiped the back of her wrist over her brow.
"Are they some form of Reaper that wasn't affected by the blast in the war's ending?"
"They're remnants of the civilians that die in the city," Catherine said, coming over with Sieis who had finished his opponent off with the halo weapon around his fist, "…It's part of the reclamation…They use everything. Usually we only have to deal with one at a time….There were three—" She pointed to the corpse of mechanical elements farther down the tunnel, several bantons pulling it apart for scraps and leaving its gruesome remains on the tiles, "…We must have touched something they're sensitive towards when I used the zonepad to search the hospital….What exactly is in your mate that makes her necessary for the Alliance to steal her and bring her here?"
"My mate, Braith," Casnar set Kasumi to stand on her own, "…She is responsible for saving the galaxy from the Reapers….She did something to activate a weapon we used to knock the Reapers offline….That's why we're all still alive—for how much longer here remains to be seen," he added a look to the bantons laying immobile, "…But the weapon fell apart—it was a former space station, a relay, and it destroyed itself when it was activated….The Citadel fell to Earth….Braith was on it—"
"It was conceived that she had died with the rest? The rest of the Citadel's inhabitants?"
"Yes," Miranda said, standing from the floor, "…She should have died with everyone on that station—burned up even, or been frozen or suffocated or worse….She, according to Casnar here, is alive, and there is something inside of her from what his story goes on to say."
They were quiet as more of the bantons gathered to them, then Catherine spoke, "…I wonder what you made when you activated the Citadel….How did you turn it into a weapon….That's beside the point, I'm sorry….Sometimes there's a simple explanation….Maybe when you destroyed the Citadel you actually catalyzed something into creation….Other aliens have been known to seek a host after being born…" She looked at Casnar, "…Now I know that sounds farfetched, but maybe while your friend—mate—was dying, something held her together in an effort to save itself through the destruction that also created it….There was one such system Assembly passed through…Septa…And we passed it on which is rare we do that….In which there were constant cosmic reactions that produced planets the size of your sun—they harnessed it, the inhabitants of this region of space, and they drew power from it to create their own spawn….Like I said, it wasn't long for Assembly to get out of there," she always managed to chuckle or smile in the unpleasant conditions they were faced with, "…But we took a great deal of data from Septa."
Miranda pushed her hair out of her face and tossed her head a little with annoyance, "…That's a nice anecdote…Can you get us out of here and shut off the tunnel so no more sentries come looking for us?"
"I'm lacking for any other explanation how she survived," Casnar mumbled, "…But I agree with Lawson, get us to the hospital or somewhere we can recoup….You've lost a number of your own," and they had—ten bantons were now missing, leaving them with twenty not including themselves….Casnar wiped his face with his sleeve and saw sentry remains on the fabric of his shirt.
Sieis's shirt was parted open from fighting and having been torn by the sentry's claws, and Casnar saw scars in the smooth skin across his chest, Catherine covering it up by pulling the fabric across and tying it to his other rag's end. "Thank you," she mouthed to him and kissed the hand that caressed her cheek, the greater banton doting on her like a cherished doll.
Looking towards Kasumi and Miranda, he saw them forming their opinions with their eyes and scowled at both of them, "….Guess it doesn't matter what galaxy you're in—humans are always going to find a way to be compatible with something big, dumb, and brutish, hmm…" And their eyes narrowed at his conspicuous dig at their prejudices. Casnar turned his scowl away—both Sieis and Catherine were staring at him, "…What."
"If we go down this tunnel, it will take us passed the hospital," Catherine had her zonepad activated and was showing them her file for the current sector, which was approximately one level below city surface.
Casnar glanced at the tunnel ahead and into the display again, "…What's the security like for the hospital….Can you pinpoint her and help me get back to a meeting spot with you all so we can get out of here?"
She wore a frown then, and it was Sieis who answered, "…Catherine is not comfortable with doing that, she worries to call another action from this place," he equivocated with some point-on accuracy….Casnar sighed and looked at Kasumi and Miranda, the pair off by themselves and staying apart from the bantons….They seemed fine with avoiding the women as well.
"I can go in," Kasumi said, flicking her cape off her shoulder and letting it come to life, "…I'll go see if I can find her—you just give me a ballpark location that's within the diamond so to speak."
"There's no way you'll be able to," Catherine paused, "….Sieis, you stay here with the others….You know where to take them and can protect them, okay?"
"No, Catherine—she will leave you if something goes bad….I will go with her, you stay. Sieis can find his way back to you, and Sieis can protect himself and woman if need to." He pointed a blue-tinged finger at her, himself, and Kasumi.
"He's too big…Small compared to some of his buddies," Kasumi turned her shoulder to the others as she pulled her hood over her hair, "…And I'm better off on my own…."
"No," Catherine shook her head and gave Kasumi a stern tilt of her eyes, "…Sieis can hear better than any of you…The bantons are tuned to magnetic disturbances as well and they will know when something more dangerous is coming….Besides, you can give him access to medical supplies we could use for some of us down here," and she removed her hard pack to give to Sieis, but kept the zonepad on her person, "…Go and be quick, Sieis, I will bring the others to our next safety zone and you will meet us there with the Shepard woman, okay?"
"What about docks or ships? While they get Shepard," Miranda suggested, "…We should go find a ship to take out of here…Meet there instead of this safety spot you're just going to hole up in and wait for another sentry to flush you out like before."
"We're splitting up," Casnar said, "…Which is fine for me, but I would like to be the one to find my—"
"Casnar, go with Miranda…You'll be better off using those guns of yours to fend off anyone trying to retake a ship," Kasumi gave him a little smirk—her lipstick was still in place…Not even a smudge to ruin the perfect lines of color. "Besides," her cape wrapped around her and she vanished as before, her voice carrying on, "…I got this."
Catherine gave Sieis a pat on his cheek and watched him lead on down the tunnel, the lights glowing softly and reflecting off his smooth skin….She turned to Miranda, Casnar, and the twenty bantons waiting, "…Okay….I'll show you to the surface then…The docks aren't far from the hospital."
