Chapter 43
Cargo Bay Entrance – Peak 15 – Noveria
"You alright, Liara? I know that last biotic attack must have taken a lot out of you," said Shepard as the elevator pinged and the doors slid open.
"I… I'll be fine," said the asari as she stood to her feet again.
Sighing to herself, Shepard nodded. She knew that Liara was pushing herself to extremes. This was about her mother, and the damage she had done not only to the galaxy, but to their relationship. Whatever troubles they had before, this went well beyond petty family squabbles. Reaching up, she gripped the asari's helmet before pressing their visors together so that they were face to face.
"Liara…" she said, their eyes locked onto the each other's as Liara's eyes widened in surprise. Her mind went back to the volus in the showers, and she let out another sigh. "None of this is your fault," she said firmly.
"Shepard… I know-" she started to say, but the spectre cut her off again.
"You do not need to kill yourself in order to correct what your mother did," said Jane as she continued to hold the woman close. Immediately, Liara's surprised expression wilted into one of sadness. "I can't imagine what must be going through your head right now. But I need you. WE need you. So please, don't hurt yourself trying to make up for what she's done."
The asari let out a shaky breath to clear her head. Shepard could see her close her blue eyes in an attempt to hold back tears. Instead, the asari reached up and planted her hand on Shepard's helmet as well. Activating her silent comm, she linked directly to Shepard's helmet and said silently, "As long as I have you, my guiding light, I will never be lost to despair."
Smiling, Shepard pulled back and nodded. "Glad to hear it. Now, let's clean up the leftovers before we find your mother," she ordered as she released the woman and stepped off the elevator. Liara slapped her helmet with her hands to prepare herself, then followed the others out as well. They made short time to the barricade where Ventralis and his men were holed up, fighting against the rachni.
As soon as they entered the area again, Ventralis' soldiers had their weapons raised. She raised her hand to stop them. "The bugs are dead. You can take a rest now," she said, noticing the looks between the soldiers and their leader.
The man grimaced behind his helmet and let out a sigh. "Thanks for that. But I'm afraid we're under orders from Benezia not to let you go any further."
"I know," said Shepard with a grin. The man's surprised expression was almost amusing. "I knew who you were as soon as I left the room, 'Ventralis.'" She raised her hands and used air quotes when she said his name. "Now, I'm giving you the chance to make the smart decision. Drop your weapons and get the hell out of this station, or end up like the rachni, the geth, and every other traitorous ERCS bastard that thought they could slip one past me." Her cold stare moved from one soldier to the next, all of them wearing uneasy expressions. "That goes for every individual here. Drop your weapons, get on the tram to Hanshan where Captain Matsuo will hold you for questioning. I'm sure most of you aren't in with the matriarch. Hell, you're probably a local mercenary band she picked up to fool me when I got here."
Liara crossed her arms and stared at them all. "I know my mother's associates. And you aren't among them. Do not throw your lives away for someone who won't be able to pay you once we arrest her."
Ventralis looked back and forth at his soldiers, all of whom were no longer holding their weapons up. "Seriously?"
"Life and death situations are always serious," said Shepard as she stepped up to the man himself. He glared at her through his visor but didn't raise his weapon. "What did you think was going to happen when you worked with someone considered a traitor to the Council? She was going to have you kill a Council Spectre and then pay you?" she asked almost condescendingly as she returned his glare. "She would have killed you on the way out to make sure you didn't say anything."
Suddenly, three of the six soldiers in the room immediately dropped their weapons as Wrex trundled in through the door and stood next to Shepard. "Look, pyjack, I get it. I'm a mercenary. You don't want news to spread about you quitting in the middle of a job," he said rolling his shoulders. "But here are your options. Try to kill us and fail miserably as I crush every one of your skulls underneath my boots. Or take a contract from Shepard to get all those sciency types in the cargo hold to safety. We don't say a word about your breach of contract, you get a few questions asked by ERCS back in Hanshan, and you get out of it by saying that you helped a Spectre wipe out the infestation and arrest a traitor to the Council."
Ventralis' glare faded as he looked between the pair. "You'd do that?"
Shepard nodded. "Under the condition that if anyone ever gives you a contract to get in my way again, you come to me so I can pay you more to stay out of my way."
He sighed and looked at the ground for a moment before looking back up at her. "We'll need our weapons in case any of the rachni survived you nuking the hot labs."
"Fine. But turn them towards me, and you won't be getting any more contracts, understood?" she asked threateningly.
"Understood," he said as he turned to the others, all of whom had relief written across their faces. "Alright, gather everyone in the cargo bay up. We'll get Tucker to bring our ship around now that the blizzard has died down and get them to Hanshan."
"Put them and yourselves in the Hanshan Hotel. My treat," said Shepard as she walked past them. They walked past the confused faces as Ventralis went around trying to rally them all together. Shepard nudged Wrex with her elbow, a sly grin on her face. "I think my diplomacy skills are rubbing off on you."
"Don't get too excited, Shepard. I knew you were gonna draw that out trying to convince them. So, I just sped the process up by adding a bit more intimidation and an ultimatum into the mix," he said in a no-nonsense tone.
"Either way, good work," she said as she stepped up to the observation area. Overriding the doors and the defenses, she looked over to Liara, knowing they were about to face off against her mother. She didn't know if they could get answers out of her, or if they could talk her down, or what was going to happen at all. But she knew that there was a good chance that Liara was going to be hurting by the end of this.
Observation Room – Peak 15 – Noveria
As they moved through the halls, Shepard was surprised to see that there no sentries posted outside of the room itself. Telling the others to stay back a moment, she activated her cloaking and entered the room by herself, her plasma rifle up and aimed wherever she looked. Immediately she noticed that the entire room was composed of a walkway built around the outer edges of the room, while in the dead center was a large terrarium. Her eyes widened as she saw what lay within the impenetrable walls of the cage.
There was a massive rachni queen, nearly twice as large as the last one she had encountered. The size of this one would make Wrex take a step back. "Beautiful, isn't it?" came a chilling voice from around the tank itself. Stepping to the side, she noticed the tall, elegant woman standing in front of the main console that controlled the terrarium. "I had it built especially for her."
Not willing to give away her position, the spectre continued to move around the room, checking each corner to make sure there wasn't an ambush waiting.
"I know you're here, Spectre. I can feel your presence," said the matriarch as she turned and gave an icy glare directly where she was standing. Shepard snorted in annoyance as she finally reached up and turned off her cloaking.
The crowned woman smiled gently. "If you knew I was here, why haven't you tried to kill me yet like your subordinates back there?" asked Shepard as she continued making the rounds, uninhibited by stealth now.
"I wanted to see you first. I wanted to know the woman who has enraptured my daughter," said Benezia as she turned away from the tank and faced the armored woman who now stood at the bottom of the walkway that led up to her platform.
"Enraptured?" asked Shepard curiously. "How would you…" she started to ask, but the answer was obvious. The woman was one of the most well-connected beings in the entire galaxy. It wouldn't be hard for her, branded traitor or not, to find out what her daughter had been up to. "Still caring for a daughter you betrayed with your alliance to Saren?"
The matriarch's expression soured at the remark. "Do not presume to understand me with that simple mind of yours human. I've walked different worlds and soared among stars while your people were still sacrificing animals to non-existent gods."
"If you're so wise, then why did you betray the galaxy to help a traitor?" asked the spectre as she clenched her rifle.
Benezia sighed wistfully as she looked back at the queen sleeping inside the cage. "If only you could see what I saw."
"Help me understand!" pleaded Shepard as she took a step closer.
"You wouldn't understand," said the woman as she gave the spectre a side glance. "I know your kind, Shepard. So full of pride and arrogance. Wanting to change the galaxy, save it from some great darkness," she said before fully turning to her again. "Even if I told you every detail about the Reapers, you would never understand Saren. You would continue to try and stop him."
"I mean, you're not wrong. Because unless these Reapers are somehow misunderstood, and are instead the benevolent constructors of the galaxy, then I doubt I'd have much sympathy towards someone supporting them," she said firmly.
"I know," said the woman, giving Shepard a small smile. "Thank you for saving my daughter."
Shepard had no idea how to handle this situation. She was getting mixed signals from every angle. One moment, the woman was a frigid ice queen showing off her vast network of connections, then changed to cryptic babbling about the Reapers, then talking fondly about her daughter. "Of course I saved her."
"Of course you did. You saved her because of who you are. You took her in because of who you are. And that's why I want you to know that I approve of your union," said Benezia in a level tone.
Shepard was seconds away from throwing her hands up and giving up entirely on trying to figure the woman out. Fighting her impulses, she glared deeply at the woman. "Liara needs you. She still loves you. Come with us and talk to the Council about what Saren is doing, and what this key is. Please!"
She sighed again, shaking her crowned head. "It is because I love my daughter that I can never go back," she said as her biotics began to waver over her silky black dress. "One of us will die here today, Shepard."
"Move inside immediately!" shouted Shepard as her movement sensors exploded with red across her visor HUD. She looked over and saw vents blasted off their hinges fly into the room before geth began raining down. More began emerging from under the walkway, no doubt having crawled below and powered themselves down to keep from being detected.
The door at the far end of the room opened and Wrex charged in with a battle cry as he slammed plate first into one of the hidden assassins. Liara followed and immediately stopped as she saw Benezia, who turned and froze as she saw her daughter. "You brought her here!?" asked the woman as she glared at Shepard once more. "You hoped to garner sympathy from me?"
As Wrex and Tali stampeded through the room destroying geth, Benezia was surrounded on her walkway by both Shepard and the matriarch's daughter. "I didn't bring her here to manipulate you. I brought her because she's a member of my crew, and she wanted to see you face to face."
"Indeed?" asked the woman, who turned back to Liara. "And what have you told her about me, Liara?"
"What would you have me tell her, mother?" she asked as she glared at the matriarch. "Would you have me tell her all the little happy moments we had together so that she would hesitate to do her job? Or would you have me tell her that you tried to force me into your lifestyle like your mother did to you? That despite your warm side you became cold enough to drive your own daughter away? What could I tell her without feeling like I'm betraying either of you?"
Benezia frowned deeply at the remark. Turning back to Shepard, the voluptuous asari spread her arms wide as her biotic power radiated off of her like heat from a sun. "You are very skilled in what you do, Shepard. Have you ever faced an asari commando unit before? Few humans have."
Shepard looked across the way to Liara before activating her comm to talk to her directly. "What do you think Liara? Can she be saved?"
"I… I don't know…" said the asari woman with a gasp of desperation.
Looking back up to the matriarch, Shepard gave her a firm glare. "This is your last chance, Benezia. Think of your daughter, think of the Council, think of Thessia. Come with us and you won't be harmed."
Suddenly, hidden doors on all sides of the room slid open and revealed an armada of armored asari commandos, all ready for battle. "You will not stop him! You cannot!" she shouted as she reached out with her biotics. Shepard was pulled from the ground and yanked up the walkway until she floated helplessly before the matriarch. "You are helpless to stop him."
She saw it. Her mother used her biotics to yank Shepard up to her level. Her memory flashed back to when Jane had taken the warp to the chest. That was a human, an amateur in the ways of biotics. If her mother did anything to the spectre, it would likely kill her. Liara's eyes widened as her biotic power, normally flowing around her like a stream began rushing like a hurricane as she felt her rage building. Her body floated from the ground as the floor beneath her warped at the explosion of power.
Suddenly, her biotics erupted from her body, and she flew forward faster than she had ever moved before. Her mother barely turned her head in time to look at her before the young asari thrust her hand out and slammed her own biotic power into her mother's, causing an explosion that sent both the matriarch and the spectre flying.
Out of nowhere, a biotic explosion impacted Shepard and sent her rolling back down the walkway. "Do not touch her!" shouted Liara in an enraged cry as she stood over her mother who was now gasping on the ground from the attack. Shepard looked up in shock as she saw a biotic aura surrounding Liara that she had never seen before. It was so powerful that it was warping the safety rails of the walkway around her. Nor had she seen Liara with such an expression of anger. Looking towards the commander, she pointed to the commandos that were trying to contain Wrex. "Leave my mother to me!"
Simply nodding, Shepard stood again and raised her assault rifle. To her benefit, the plasma shots bypassed their kinetic shields and hit the red-painted asari directly. After one fell, the others turned towards her. Ducking behind the walkway, she activated her cloaking device as the commandos began marching towards her, making for her position with their biotics lit. Pulling out her turian blade, she put her rifle down momentarily.
As the first commando made it around the corner, she rolled out of cover and back onto her feet before slashing upward. The blade cut clean through the surprised woman's throat, splattering her purple blood across the wall before Shepard ducked and rolled under her falling body. Unfortunately, the second commando had her barrier covering her body.
The commando threw a wave of biotics directly towards her, but she barely dodged by planting a foot on the railing and vaulting herself over the attack. Gravity took her and caused her to slam directly into the shielded woman, but a kick sent the invisible infiltrator rolling backwards. "Sorry about this," said Shepard as she grabbed her plasma rifle again.
As the asari scrambled to get up, she stopped as she heard a rhythmic beeping coming from her back. Within seconds, her biotic barrier vanished, and she was on the ground, breathing heavily as an explosive slammed her into the ground with teeth-shattering force. Shepard stepped on her back to hold her down, then ended her with a single blast from the plasma rifle.
Wrex had taken heavy fire from the commandos and geth alike. But it didn't stop his progress. With his eyes tinged orange, he took the warps and bullets to his barrier and body and slammed through their cover, sending two of them sprawling from the impact. A third turned her weapon on him and began unloading a machine gun into his armor, but he grabbed her arm and picked her up, slamming her into one of her comrades hard enough to send both of them back into eternity. Turning to the last one, who was now crawling backwards with her weapon raised, he almost smiled through his blood haze.
"What's the matter, commando? I thought you were supposed to be tough. The way your matriarch talks about you, you should have me on my knees begging for mercy," he said as he slowly stepped towards her. She raised her weapon and blasted at him with a pistol, but most of the rounds hit his newly revived kinetic barrier. "That all you got, commando?" he asked before lunging forward. She threw a powerful wave of biotics towards him and trapped him in a stasis before scrambling back to her feet and holding her weapon to his head. In a flash of blue energy, the krogan shot forward at blinding speed, picked her up, and battering-rammed her into the wall with crushing force. "Should have stayed away from Saren," he growled as he released her and let her crumpled body hit the ground. He turned to find more of the asari troopers flooding in, a smile gracing his features as he readied his shotgun.
The quarian moved fast, faster than ever before as she slid under a rail and blasted the leg off of one of the geth troopers that managed to survive Wrex's initial assault. Reaching up, she paralyzed another one down the walkway with a cyberattack before overloading her heatsink and blasting the first geth, who was still standing on one leg into scrap. The remainder of its parts flew and smashed into the stunned geth, knocking it over before Tali leapt high and blasted it in half before landing on her feet again on the other side.
"Holy hell…" said Wrex as he sent a shockwave crashing through the commandos' ranks. "I could learn a thing or two about style from you," he said, slightly impressed at her antics.
"I don't know about commandos, but with geth you have to be quick. Your reactions are everything because they can pinpoint you within nanoseconds and score a shot at your vitals. You have to keep yourself random, so I got good at… uh… parkour?" she asked, trying to pronounce the word correctly. "I think that's what humans call it." She assisted with the asari warriors by throwing one of her Chitikka capsules among them. It lit up and sent a wave of electricity outward, hitting them all and stunning them.
"Well, you better get that parcake ready again, because we might have to fight our way through them," he said as he noticed more geth flooding out of one of the secret doors. Lighting his biotics again, he sent a devastating biotic punch into an armored asari's gut, sending her crashing backwards into her own team.
Liara stared at her mother with ice in her eyes. By now, her mother had recovered and was now walking circles around her with her hands behind her back. But it almost looked like she was her normal self again. "I've never seen this side of you, Liara. So much passion and anger…"
"You never gave me the chance to express these things. I was always meant to be the quiet child who lived in your shadow, waiting for the day that you passed your empire to me so that I could take your place. I wasn't a daughter; I was a clone to you!" she shouted as she circled around her mother with her arms up and ready for battle.
Benezia's expression almost looked hurt at the accusation. "You… are correct. I wasn't a good mother to you." Lashing out with a hand, she sent a biotic wave that narrowly missed Liara. "I was a matriarch, a guide for our society!" she shouted as her expression twisted again. "Foolish child! You have always fought against the inevitable! You refused to allow fate to take its course!" Whipping another arm out, the matriarch sent a shockwave pounding across the platform that caused heavy dents in the material as Liara rolled out of the way.
Standing again, Liara's eyes widened at what she saw. Whatever was happening, she saw glimpses of her mother, but then something else entirely. It was as if something was fighting for control over her mind. "Mother… are you being dominated?" she asked desperately, looking for any reason to pull her mother back from the brink.
Benezia lurched forward and grabbed Liara by the throat, her face a mask of twisted anger and anguish. Liara reached up and grabbed the crown of the woman's head, then yanked it down as she lifted her knee to impact it. The impact caused Benezia to drop her, and stumble backwards. Raising her hands, Liara mimicked Shepard's fighting style with bent knees and fists upward. "Petulant child!" shouted Benezia as she went to throw another biotic attack. But Liara moved in fast and grabbed the older asari's arm before twisting it, forcing the crowned woman to bend downwards.
"I… I'm sorry mother!" she shouted as she raised her arm high and slammed her elbow directly into Benezia's, causing a loud snap to echo through the room. The matriarch cried out in agony as Liara released her but kept her fighting stance up.
"L-Liara…" said Benezia as she looked up to her daughter, holding her limp arm at her side.
Shepard ran up the walkway, detonating another grenade she had planted inside one of the hidden entrances to keep more soldiers from flooding inside. "Liara! Are you alright?"
"You cannot stop him…" said Benezia, who gasped for air. "My mind is filled with his light…" she said with an agonized expression as he held her head. "You… You must listen! Saren whispers in my mind! I can fight it briefly, but the indoctrination is strong!"
"Mother!" shouted Liara as she ran to the woman's side.
Shepard stepped forward and held her rifle at the ready just in case. Her mind weighed her options of whether she should cut to the chase and ask for information on Saren or ask why she fought for him. One was more important, but the other was also necessary. "How is Saren controlling you? Did he dominate you? Brainwash you?"
The woman collected herself briefly before standing again and staring at Shepard with that same stern, but elegant look, as if ignoring the pain from her arm. The spectre wondered if this was how she looked at everyone. Finally, she spoke again, her voice clear for the first time since they had arrived. "People who work with Saren always change. They are not the same as they once were. They begin to idolize him, believe in his ambition. They would do anything for him." She sighed to herself as tears began flowing down her face, the internal struggle blatantly apparent. "The source of this change is his flagship, Sovereign. It is a dreadnought of immense power."
"The ship from Eden Prime?" asked Shepard incredulously.
Nodding, the matriarch continued. "The ship's true power is its effect on those around it. The longer you stay aboard, the more you agree with Saren. You sit at his feet as he pours his words into you, as the ship alters your thoughts." She reached up and placed her hand on her dark crown. "It is subtle at first, I thought I was strong enough to resist it. Instead, I became a willing tool to be used."
"Used for what? What is he after?" asked Shepard urgently, not wanting to lose her chance at getting actual answers.
"He seeks the location of the Mu Relay. Its position was lost thousands of years ago when the star that it orbited went supernova. It survived the blast, but the shockwave propelled it out of the system. As the millennia passed, the nebula created by the nova enveloped the relay, hiding its position from any who sought it," she said, her face suddenly twisting in agony as she felt the indoctrination pulling at her again.
"Why?" asked Shepard impatiently as she stepped up to the matriarch.
"I… do not know. Saren believes that the key he seeks is behind this relay. I do not know what the key's purpose is, or how it will help him," said the woman as she walked past the commander and over to the console in front of the rachni queen. Reaching down, she pulled an OSD from the console with her good arm and turned around, offering it to the spectre. "The data is here. You can use it to find the Mu Relay."
Liara stood and stepped up next to Shepard. "Knowing the relay's coordinates is not enough. There could be hundreds of systems on the other side. Do you know where he planned to go from there?" asked Liara as she placed a hand on Shepard's shoulder.
"He would not tell me for this exact reason. But… you must find out quickly!" she shouted as she stumbled forward and placed her hands on Shepard's shoulders. Her face was now one of desperate struggle, causing Shepard to tighten her grip on the rifle. "I transmitted the coordinates to him before you arrived. He knows its location!"
Reaching up, her face full of concern, Shepard gripped the matriarch firmly by the back of the neck. "You can fight this Benezia! You have to! For your daughter, for the entire galaxy! Come back to us!" she shouted as the woman sank to her knees.
"No… you have to stop me! You have to kill me before I can stop you-" she said as her face twisted in agony again. "I cannot be saved! Please, do it before I go…" she said before stopping entirely. "Teeth at my ear… fingers on my spine…" Suddenly, her face morphed into a glare of pure hatred as she lifted her hand and flung Shepard down the walkway with a biotic attack. The spectre impacted the floor and gasped in pain as she tried to suck in breath.
Wrex charged up the stairs and was very close to slamming into her, but he recoiled as if he had hit a wall. Shaking his head, he looked up to find her glaring daggers at him. "Uh oh…" he said before he too was hurled away from the woman, his hump slamming into the far wall.
Benezia surrounded herself in a chaotic sphere of biotic energy as she began floating off the ground. Tali's drone sent out an electric charge from the side, which the matriarch brushed away with a wave of her hand, causing it to explode in her face. Her barrier weakened slightly from the blast, but the surprise came when Tali dashed through the smoke and unleashed a hellish blast from her shotgun. Benezia's barrier flickered dangerously as the quarian lashed out with a kick that could have been deadly to anyone else. But the asari grabbed her leg out of the air and swung her, aided with biotics, before slamming her heavily into the wall of the tank. The quarian gasped in air as she slid to the floor.
Shepard moved forward again, her rifle raised and firing at the biotic barrier around the woman. But as Benezia tried to attack with biotics, Liara countered with her own, causing more destructive explosions that blasted the platform's rails off. "Shepard…"
"Yeah?" asked the spectre as she continued to fire into the fray.
"I will do it," said Liara through the comm as she stepped forward. Shepard watched in awe as Liara deflected the biotic blasts that her mother threw at her with a wave of the hand. Suddenly, the young asari reached out and sent a devastating blow into the woman's stomach, her fist wrapped in biotics to bypass her barrier. The matriarch gasped at the blow, then choked again as another crashed into her stomach. "I'm sorry mother…" she said, her voice filled with her anguish as tears streamed down her face. "I love you."
Suddenly, a biotic blast erupted between the two that slammed Wrex, who had been getting back to his feet into the wall again and cracked the nearby terrarium. Then, it was all quiet. No more biotics flooded the room as Liara held the limp form of her mother with her head pressed tightly into the matriarch's neck. Shepard got back to her feet and approached the pair, noticing that Benezia's body was now still.
Liara fell to her knees cradling her mother's form, the sounds of muted crying behind her helmet audible even without the voice projectors. Shepard moved up and knelt next to them as Liara laid her down on the floor.
Benezia was now smiling, an eerie smile with blood pouring down from the corner of her mouth. Reaching up, the matriarch placed a hand on the spectre's helmet. "Shepard…" she said as purple blood began dripping from her nose. "You must… stop him."
Nodding solemnly, the spectre closed her eyes. "We will."
Then, she turned to look at Liara again. "L-Liara…" she said as she gently pressed their heads together. "I am so… proud of you." Inhaling deeply, she whispered, "Athame, masahai t'yan kassa. Good night Little Wing. I will see you again with the dawn." Finally, her head sagged, and her eyes closed for the last time. Liara broke in that moment, her head now in the crook of her mother's neck as she began crying hysterically.
Shepard reached out and gently placed an arm around the doctor's shoulders. "I'm sorry, Liara." Knowing there was no way she could help the grieving asari, she stood up and put the OSD away. Suddenly, out of her peripheral, she noticed movement within the tank. Looking up, her eyes widened as she saw the queen inside staring directly at her with its many glowing eyes. "Shit…"
She raised an arm up, and surprisingly, the queen lifted a tendril up in the same manner. Moving her arm, she extended it outwards and watched as the queen mimicked her movement. "Is she still sane?" asked Tali as she crawled back onto the walkway and stood next to Shepard, her limp more noticeable than before.
"Well, I don't have a headache, so that's a good sign I guess," said Shepard as she finally put her arm down. The queen did the same with her tendril as she continued to stare.
It only took seconds before she felt a similar tingling in the back of her mind. But, unlike her encounters with the rachni soldiers, this wasn't unpleasant at all. "You… are not tainted."
"I don't know what that means…" said Shepard as she approached the tank's console.
"Your songs… they are not sung by those of old…" came the voice again.
"Those of old?" asked Tali as she stepped up with Shepard, her shotgun ready.
Shepard looked over to the quarian, now realizing that they could all hear what the queen was saying. Finally, she looked back and ignored the cryptic musings. "Who are you?"
The rachni shifted slightly, its eyes directed at her. "We… are the mother of those who were lost. We have no name…"
Shepard leaned against the console and stared at the queen with her brows furrowed. "And what do I do about you?"
"I'd say that's a pretty damn easy question to answer, Shepard," said the krogan as he finally approached, flexing his arm to work out the kinks from the constant throwing.
"It would be for you," said the spectre as she returned the krogan's heated glare.
"You… your songs are not in harmony with those who would control us… What will you sing?" said the queen as she tilted her head almost curiously. Shepard looked back through the glass at the caged rachni thoughtfully.
"What do you mean?" she asked, returning the curious look.
"Will you release us to spread our song? Are our notes fated to fade away once more, a symphony of silence and darkness?" asked the queen. Despite her morose and serious question, the thoughts she projected to them were genuinely curious rather than afraid.
"I'll rip my own quad off and eat it before I allow that thing to leave this place alive!" shouted Wrex as he stepped up to Shepard almost threateningly.
She turned to him with a glare. "You're here under my orders, Wrex! That was our agreement when you came aboard, and you can listen to me and stand down or I can leave your ass here to find your own way back!" she shouted back at him, her fiery battle spirit making him take a step back.
"Fine, Shepard. But you need to listen to me. Those things are pure evil. They wiped out a quarter of the krogan population during the war with their damn crystal ships, and if you let them loose, then they'd do the same damn thing to humans!" he said with a sneer.
"Warsong speaks… of the old ones," said the queen, getting both of their attention.
"Warsong?" asked Wrex in bewilderment.
"Old ones?" asked Shepard as she eyed the queen. "That's the second time you've brought up old ones. Who are you talking about?"
"Those who came before. Singers, dancers, builders, warriors, all who sang in harmony before their songs were soured with discord. Songs of the past stretch far, but only songs of oily shadows, dark dirges sung during the war. We do not understand their songs. They are alien to us," said the queen as Shepard's brows furrowed.
"I really wish I knew what that meant," said Shepard as she crossed her arms.
"They are songs of strife, suffering, dissonance. We do not have these songs. We wish only to sing of peace and harmony," responded the queen.
"Then explain why the hell we just had to nuke an entire hive of your children who killed and ate anything that moved!" said Wrex as he glared at the rachni threateningly.
"My lost children… made into tools of war by these needle men. They took them from me… before my songs could guide them. You silencing their maddened cries was a mercy…" she said, her voice sorrowful.
"Children taken away from their parent and locked in a lab would have problems no matter what species they were," said Tali thoughtfully. Wrex turned and glared at her as well.
"So, if I release you, you and your future children will no longer kill people?" asked Shepard as she ignored Wrex's glare.
"You can't be serious, Shepard!" he shouted as he took a step closer again.
"Back off, Wrex! You and I should both know more than anyone else that the mistakes of our species' past should not condemn our future!" snapped Tali angrily as she stepped up to him as well. He looked at her in shock for a moment, as if surprised that the fire inside her that he respected before had now burned him.
"We would harm no singer who did not wish to harm us. We… wish to teach our children harmony," she said, her tone almost sounding cheerful.
"Are you the last of your kind or are there more of you?" asked Shepard sternly.
"We… do not know. We were an egg, just hearing the songs of our mother before. Songs of concern, songs of betrayal, songs of fear. We remember her songs, we remember all of their songs, silenced one after another by a single sour yellow note," said the queen as she shook her body, almost as if she had shivered from mentioning it. "She whose song was silenced by the mournful singer heard this song. She could not fight it…"
"Mournful singer?" asked Shepard, who slowly turned and looked at Liara, who still held her mother's still form. The spectre's head snapped back towards the rachni queen. "Are you telling me that this indoctrination affected your people as well?"
"We… do not know. But we do remember that sour song of discord. We will never forget it," finished the queen. "Firesinger… what is our fate?"
Shepard had a thousand things running through her mind at the moment, from Liara's status, to the rachni's words, to Wrex's advice, to what the Council would say, and finally, the fact that they were still no closer to finding out what the hell this damn key was. Finally, she turned to the console and locked her eyes with the queen's many. "I'm not going to kill you. I'm gonna let you free." She began typing at the console before being halted as Wrex spun her around and grabbed her by the collar of her armor.
"Like hell you are!" he growled in her face. Before either of the other two could move, Shepard pulled out her blade and swung it until it was hovering centimeters from his eye. "Heh, you pull that thing out on me, Shepard, you better be prepared to use it."
"If I pull this thing out on you again, you won't live to regret pissing me off," she grumbled back at him. "Now, let go of me, and if you can't follow orders, then get your ass back on the ship. I have enough shit to deal with without an overemotional mercenary breathing down my neck!"
He snorted before releasing her none to gently, then turning and walking back the way they came. "You wanna unleash a scourge back into the galaxy, Shepard, I'm not gonna stop you. Just don't come crawling up to my quad when you're knee deep in acid and infestations. You and all the rest of your complacent little lackeys here can clean up the mess your damn selves!" he snapped before leaving the room entirely.
Shepard sighed as she reached up and slapped the palm of her gauntlet over her visor. "More shit on my plate…" she said before finally looking up at the queen. "Give me your word that you will not harm anyone who doesn't try to harm you."
A sudden feeling of euphoria washed over their minds as the queen skittered back and forth in place. "We will sing harmony. No more reds and blacks of war and hatred. We fight so our songs go on," she said as her melodic voice calmed their already frayed nerves.
"Good. You're free to go," the spectre responded as she hacked her way into the console and forced the door open. But, instead of leaving, the queen exited the cage and rounded on them. Shepard took a quick step back, reaching for her rifle just in case. But the queen stopped in front of her and stared down at her. "What is it?"
"Firesinger, the salvation of our songs. Our mother's song was silenced before she sang to us our name," she responded as she lowered her head as if bowing. "Please… before our songs grow distant, sing for us a name."
"A name?" asked Shepard curiously. "Why can't you choose your own name?"
"We are named by our mothers. Our mother was known as Heartsinger, her mother Spiritsinger…" said the queen as she began tracing back the memories.
"Alright, alright, I get it," said Shepard as she placed her hands on her hips. "You know I'm not your mother though, right?"
"You sang the song of our freedom. You gave life to us when you could have brought death. You did not bear our eggs, but you are kinsong nonetheless…" said the queen harmonically as she swayed slightly.
"Fine," said Shepard as she began thinking of a name.
"How about Soora?" asked Tali curiously. Shepard cocked an eyebrow at her curiously. "She was a quarian singer when I was young. I always liked her name…"
Chuckling for a moment, Shepard shook her head. "I think we should stick to tradition."
"I will see you again with the dawn," came Liara's voice from behind them. Shepard turned to her and saw that she had finally cried herself dry. Her face was a mess of tear streaks and tired eyes, and in her arms, she held her mother's body as gently as if she were a China doll. "Dawnsinger, you are the beginning of a new era for your species. Please use your freedom wisely," said the asari as she looked down at her mother again.
Shepard smiled slightly at the words, then turned back to the queen. "There you have it, Dawnsinger."
"We sing joy for your gifts, Firesinger," she said almost excitedly before turning around and heading for the nearest exit. "We hope to hear your songs again in times to come…" Within seconds, she was gone from the room, and from their minds.
Shepard watched her go before turning to Liara and checking to make sure she was alright. Meanwhile, Tali huffed slightly as the queen left. "I want a cool name like Firesinger…" she complained.
Cargo Hold – SSV Normandy SR-1
Together, the pair stood in the cargo bay as Benezia's body was carried inside by a troop of asari ERCS soldiers from Hanshan. She was laid to rest inside of a human coffin-like case until a time when they could return her body to Thessia. As she was laid inside the soft folds of the case, the soldiers saluted in asari fashion by leaning their heads back, their hands covering their hearts, then they removed themselves from the ship. Once the cargo bay was closed, Shepard called to Joker to go ahead and take off.
Liara stood in front of the case, staring at her mother once more as fresh tears spilled down her blue cheeks. Shepard stood next to her to try and console her but didn't know if she could or not. Instead, Liara merely reached over and gripped Shepard's hand fiercely. Squeezing back, the commander sighed as she felt the asari lay her crested head on her shoulder.
Shepard could feel the engine of the ship rumble slightly through the deck as she leaned her own head onto Liara's. "I know this is hard…"
"You don't need to do that, Jane," said Liara as she reached up and dried her tears. Lifting her head again, she turned and faced the spectre. "It is hard. But it was harder seeing the good mother I knew inside her tormented by… whatever was controlling her."
Shepard nodded as the asari let out another sigh to try and fix herself up. Reaching forward, Jane wrapper her arms around Liara and cradled her head in the nook of her neck. "You did the right thing. She's free now, returned to the universe." Liara chuckled slightly, making Shepard pull back with her eyebrow cocked.
"I am not a faithful believer of Siari, but thank you for your words, Jane," she said as she folded her hands in front of her.
"So… Little Wing?" asked the commander with a small smile.
Liara almost snorted as she tried to suppress her laughter. Looking around to make sure nobody was listening as they began walking towards the exit to the cargo bay. "Please, do not tell Joker about this," she started, causing Shepard to chuckle. "When asari are young, their crests are more flexible and can sometimes fold away from the scalp. When I was but an infant, my crests parted on the side of my head. My mother said I looked like I had little wings."
"Oh… my… god. Do you have pictures? You have to have pictures!" said the spectre excitedly as she walked sideways so she could see the asari woman with a glowing smile on her face.
CODEX ENTRIES
Masahai t'yan kassa | Translation | Asari Alai
While it has no 1 to 1 translation with any other languages, it can be summed up as saying, "Blessed be these souls." Often used during weddings, it is an asari cultural saying that is often used when two asari who share an absolute love for one another are bound together. In asari religion, it is believed that once one dies, their spirit is returned to the universe to further nourish life. It is the hope of many asari couples who have this blessing that their spirits become one upon their death, and they return to the universe together for eternity.