Chapter 60
Bridge – CFS Destiny Ascension
"Why the hell are we even here?" griped the human ambassador as he sat massaging his aching jaw and staring at the Council.
Matriarch Lidanya never much liked the man. He always seemed a little too eager to get power. Currently the Citadel leaders sat in three chairs that lined the back of the bridge, allowing them to oversee everything happening on the bridge, while all of the ambassadors from the embassy were in non-assigned seats behind them. Lidanya, the commanding officer of the vessel, sat one level below the council, and her crew one level below her.
"I… agree with the human. Why are we… here?" asked Din Korlack, the volus ambassador who sat next to Udina.
Sparatus turned in his seat to look at them sternly. "We've told you. There has been a credible threat made against the Citadel Council and everyone aboard the Citadel itself. You are here for your safety, as are we. If you insist on huffing and puffing, Udina, please do so quietly."
The human growled impatiently as his foot tapped the floor. "Threat to the Citadel indeed."
Tevos turned in her seat, making Matriarch Lidanya shake her head in annoyance. The asari councilor spoke to Udina blatantly. "Is there some reason you do not trust that this threat is serious?" she asked seriously.
His face soured. "Oh, don't act like we don't all know who gave you the message. You're taking the word of a criminal wanted by the Systems Alliance."
Tevos smiled at the human, but Valern spoke for her. "Apologies, Ambassador, but the information we received was considered class 5 as it pertains to one of our spectre agents. If you do not wish to break Citadel espionage laws, then I advise you to guard your words," snapped the salarian quickly before turning back to face the virtual screen in front of them. Both Tevos and Sparatus eyed their comrade with surprise before chuckling and turning to face away from the ambassadors again.
"Commander!" shouted one of the asari below on one of the many terminals.
Lidanya leaned forward in her seat and nodded to the woman. "What is it?"
The specialist looked up at her worriedly. "We just lost contact with all ships in the Horsehead Nebula!"
The matriarch didn't know this human spectre that the council were taking at their word. They had never personally met, but they already had rapport stashed away with her for dropping Dantius in her own office. Even with her enjoying their renegade streak on the Citadel, she wasn't so sure she believed that anyone would be so brazen as to attack the Citadel, especially with the fleet armed and ready to defend it. But still, the lieutenant's words were unnerving.
"Send out a scout ship to see what has happened," she ordered to the communications officer. They opened their line to the flight deck further down in the ship, but suddenly everyone stopped moving as red alerts popped up on every console. Lidanya looked at them all around the bridge. "Report!"
Udina stood up curiously to look down at the asari on the bridge. "What's happening?"
The same woman from before looked up again. "It's geth, Commander!" she shouted, the worry apparent on her painted face. "They're flooding through the Serpent Relay!"
"Goddess…" Lidanya sat back in her seat in disbelief for a moment before shaking her head and snapping to order. "Alert the entire fleet to target and fire and send orders to every ship in Citadel Space and tell them to be alert!" she shouted, then turned to another of the officers. "Send a message to the Systems Alliance, the Thessian Legion, and the Hierarchy to send reinforcements just in case!" The asari nodded and began her calls as Lidanya glared at the craft flying closer to the fleet on the vid screen. Glaring at them, she looked down at the fire team. "Prepare the main cannon just in case."
"On your orders!" shouted the fire team's lead officer as they all began charging the main cannon.
"This can't be real!" said Udina as Din Korlack hid behind his leg.
"Aggravation: It's real, human. Perhaps your accusations against your own Spectre were unjustified," rumbled Calyn, the elcor ambassador from Dekuuna.
The first of the geth ships within range began charging to fire when a battalion of turian ships blasted their cyclonic shields repeatedly before they finally struck the hulls, turning them into dust. Many more were coming, but Lidanya felt her unease lessening. "We outnumber them, and they have to all filter through the relay. We'll take them apart as they stagger into us," said the matriarch, confident in her plan. But, as she looked at the viewscreen, she hesitated. "What are they doing?"
Sparatus spoke from his seat above her own. "It looks like they're either waiting or amassing their forces. Either way, we can't let to many of them gather all at once. These are artificial intelligences we're talking about."
Lidanya nodded as she turned to her comm officer again. "Tell battalions one and two to move forward and get within range. Destroy them at the relay or lure them into the main fleet! Just do not let them build their forces!" snapped the matriarch. As the order was given, she watched the ships fly forward in an attempt to keep the geth from amassing too many of their own together near the relay. But her eyes widened, and she stood up from her seat as the front line of the battalions were completely destroyed.
The Council all stared in awe at the juggernaut of a ship before them. They all knew its name, and they knew what kind of threat it posed. "Sovereign…" said Sparatus, his mandibles twitching.
"It's on a collision course!" shouted an officer from below.
"Move out of its damn way!" shouted the matriarch. "Fire team! Fire the main cannon!" A few seconds passed as the cannon lit. Every gaze on the bridge widened as Sovereign's arms opened showing a glaring red eye. Suddenly, it let out a skull-shattering blast of noise through their equipment, causing some of the consoles to explode in the officers' faces. Seeing that her comm officer was still hanging on for dear life, she shouted over the fires that had started on the bridge. "Call the Citadel! Order the arms closed and the defenses raised to maximum threat!"
"I already tried! Citadel Forces aren't responding!" shouted the officer as she strapped herself in and tried to continue her calls.
Finally, the main cannon fired and Lidanya looked out at the ship that was still some distance away. But much to her horror, and the horror of everyone on the ship, the blast was deflected by a powerful shield. "Goddess…" she said in terror as Sovereign barreled towards them.
"Impact imminent!" came a shout from below, causing Lidanya to sit down again and slap her harness on. Everyone on the ship flinched right before the massive juggernaut slammed into the ship. The impact jerked her so hard that it nearly dislocated her shoulder, and she was sure it likely fractured a few ribs.
Growling, the matriarch looked up, pain radiating from her entire body, only to gasp in horror again as the geth all began firing at once, creating a wall of destruction that was headed directly for them.
Presidium – Citadel
The shuttle appeared again speeding across the Presidium. Shepard's eyes widened as she hit the air brakes, but the shuttle slammed directly into the krogan statue that sat across from the tower. The statue not budging an inch, the shuttle dropped to the ground in front of it.
The group recovered their senses, and Wrex kicked the already loose door off the back of the vehicle. Stepping out of it, he looked up at the statue they had slammed into. "Hmmm… maybe Jeff was right."
Shepard pried herself and Tali out as the others all filed out of the back as well. Once they were all gathered together, Shepard turned and looked at the relay they had just come through. "I'll be damned…" she said before turning towards the tower. "Weapons hot! We're storming the tower! Be ready for anything!" she shouted before running across the reservoir bridge with her pistol drawn. The others followed and she activated the elevator.
They all huddled into the lift, and Shepard ordered it up to the tower level impatiently. But something caught her eye. Looking up, her eyes widened as Sovereign flew into the closing arms of the Citadel and gently latched onto the tower they were about to enter. It appeared that she wasn't the only one to notice either.
Ash's eyes were as wide as they had ever been as she stared up at the colossal ship. "Oh my god…" She looked at Shepard worriedly. "How are we going to kill that? It's enormous! The fleet isn't going to be able to take that down alone!"
Shepard sighed as the elevator moved higher. "If they don't, we're all dead anyway." Suddenly, Shepard cringed as a blast of sound hit her ears. Everyone else flinched as well, but the pain from the klaxon was the least of their worries as the elevator stopped moving. Seconds later, they began to float from the ground. "Damn! He has control of the tower! He cut the power and the gravity!"
Garrus activated his omni-tool, turning his spider boots on, allowing him to stick to the floor. "How the hell are we going to get up there now?"
Shepard looked up again at Sovereign's position, her eyes narrowing as she looked at the outer shell of the shielded elevator they were trapped in. Stepping back, she held up her gun. "Blast it," she ordered. The rest of them held up their weapons as well, and they all fired, peppering the shield with round after round until finally, it shattered "We're going up the side. Use your Spider Boots to stick!" As she said this, she jumped up and grabbed the top of the broken frame before swinging upwards and disappearing. Perhaps in a less flashy fashion, the others followed.
Once they all had their footing, they switched to comms before moving slowly upward, making sure that one foot was always touching the ground. It was slow going, but they were making it up the tower one step at a time. Surprisingly, Wrex was moving faster than the others given his feet were much larger and much less in danger of him floating off.
"Those grapple guns would be really handy right about now," commented Ash as she kept moving at an even place. Out of nowhere, she saw a flash of light the same time as Shepard.
"Get down!" Shepard shouted over the comm.
Everyone tried to run for cover, but Garrus ended up losing his grip and floating off above the presidium. Luckily, Liara reached out with her biotics and caught him just as the geth rocket flew by, missing them all. He reached out as her biotic throw pushed him towards the surface of the building. Getting a handhold, he slammed his feet to the ground again. "Spirits, thank you Liara."
"No thanks needed. I'm glad you're safe," she said as she pushed herself forward until she was behind the same cover as Shepard.
"Safe is kinda relative right now…" said Ash as she stole up behind Garrus.
Using his rifle, he scanned ahead where the rocket had come from. "Looks like they've set up turrets on the outside. Likely for any ships that tried to get to the tower, but they're going to be hell for us."
Growling, Shepard grabbed her cover and hurled herself up towards the turret. It took aim and fired, but she spun, and it whizzed past her. Liara's eyes widened in horror at the spectre's antics. "Goddess Shepard! What are you doing!?"
"We're not getting anywhere by sitting around for this thing,"said Shepard as she reached the turret before it reloaded again. Grabbing the barrel to stop her flight, she planted an explosive on it before using it to swing like a gymnast towards the ground. Once her boots were secured, she covered her head with her hands.
Her explosive went off and bent the barrel at an angle just as the turret tried to fire again. The rocket caught in the bent tube and immediately exploded, sending shattered turret scrap out into space. Wrex nodded approvingly. "Not bad, Shepard. You just got promoted from a pyjack to a varren."
"I'm honored Wrex,"she said in amusement. "Everyone move forward. That sure as hell won't be the last of the resistance we run into." True to Shepard's words, as they moved up the tower, a geth ship flew over them and began dropping geth troopers right in front of them. "Goddammit!"
Once again, Tali jumped into the air, gravity taking her high. Ash saw her go and shouted, "Tali! No!" But her worries were nullified as the jet boosters on Tali's armor propelled her towards the geth ship. Landing on it, she immediately raised her omni-tool and dropped what looked like four Chatikas. All of them flew inside the openings of the ship. Jumping off, she flew back to cover, her jets allowing her to dodge any incoming fire. Seconds later, her drones exploded, taking out key components in the geth's ship. Its flight jets activated, and it flew off sideways.
Shepard had already stepped out with her turian talon blade, sharpened to a molecular level, and hooked it into an unsuspecting geth's spine before severing it. Kicking it, the dead machine flew away from the battlefield. Garrus had also taken down most of the little ones with Wrex blasting anything that came close to their cover.
Liara tried to use her biotics to throw the juggernaut into oblivion, but as soon as its feet left the ground, it used its own rockets to propel it back to the surface. "It appears we are not getting around this one so easily," she commented as she took cover again.
Ash growled and looked at Wrex, who nodded to her. Both of them stepped out of cover and the large automaton aimed directly for Ash. Holding up her arm as if holding a shield, the plasma that the geth fired was scattered by the cyclonic shielding she had. "You're done!" she shouted as Wrex reached the geth and used his shotgun blasts and intimidating presence to draw the geth's attention. The juggernaut grabbed the krogan by his head and lifted him from the ground in an attempt to crush him to pieces. However, Ash reached the geth just then and slammed her cyclonic barrier into the geth's shields, causing the two to short out.
The spectre popped up momentarily, her omni-tool lighting and stunning the juggernaut. Tali stood up and did the same, and with their combined power, the metal giant began to smoke and spasm. Smirking, Ash cocked her fist back and punched the automaton sending it tumbling back and releasing Wrex who was easily caught by Liara and pushed towards the ground. "Damn thing, that hurt like hell."
Ignoring Wrex's growling, Ash took advantage of the time given to her by the tech wizards, reaching forward and grabbing the geth's foot before it could float off. "Liara, I'm gonna need your help in a moment!" she shouted as she too began floating, her legs now locked around the machines leg. Activating the mechanization, she wrenched and shattered the leg, sending it flying off into oblivion. Grabbing the machine once more, she gripped its arms from behind and yanked them backwards. It was mere seconds before the joint gave in and she tore both of its limbs off, leaving it with one leg before placing both of her feet onto its back. Grabbing its head and its pelvic area, she locked her grip and pushed her legs as hard as she could with the mechanized suit helping her.
Then, it died. She tore its head and bottom half clean off; her leg thrust sending its torso off to follow its former limbs. Liara reached up carefully and brought the gunnery chief back to the surface. Wrex glared behind the marine and barreled up to her. "We've got krogan!" he shouted as he grabbed Ash and spun around. Immediately, he yelled out in pain as plasma splashed across his back.
"Wrex!" shouted Ash as she pulled up her assault rifle with one hand and began firing at the charging krogan. Newton's third law carried her backwards with the recoil from the gun, her arm around Wrex as she propelled herself towards the group. Shepard reached out and grabbed them both, pulling them down as Wrex's eyes began to pulse with orange. "Wrex, Wrex, I need you to listen to me," said Ash as she gently stroked his helmet. "You cannot blood rage here. You will endanger us and yourself, so please…"
His rapid breathing began to slow as his suit applied medigel to the wounded area. The orange slowly began to recede as he looked up into her visor. "Damn… that stings," said the krogan painfully.
Ash smirked as she helped him up. "You're a big boy, you can handle it."
Shepard turned to do something about the krogan, but they were already floating off into endless space. They would no doubt eventually crashed down onto one of the wards once they crossed into their gravity well. Shepard smiled at Liara, who nodded to her and smiled back. "Let's move!"she shouted as she leapt the barrier and moved forward again. But once more, they were halted by geth.
Despite this, Tali jumped into the air and used her jets to fly over the geth's head. Garrus saw her go and shouted for her. "Tali! Where are you going!" But he got no answer.
Council Chambers – Citadel Tower- Presidium – Citadel
Rage and a stinging hatred of Shepard is what drove him forward. She thought she could poison him with her words, with her worries. She thought she was morally superior to him when he was doing everything he could to save trillions of lives. The reapers were inevitable. They cannot be stopped. Submission is the only answer to subvert extinction. He had to save them, even if they refused to see what was right in front of them. It was the only option he had.
Still, her words echoed through his mind again. He had this endless nagging feeling in his head telling him that Sovereign is indoctrinating him, that his thoughts were being influenced. But that couldn't be, he still had his free will. He was useful, he was useful… the reapers needed him… did they? Roaring loudly, he shook his head. Looking up, he raised his pistol and blasted a keeper, destroying it and causing its self-destruct sequence.
Marching up the stairs to the Council dais, he immediately stepped over to the control panel. This was it. This was his salvation, and the salvation of countless lives. He pulled out the key. This small, innocuous little datacard was going to save the galaxy. He reached forward to activate it… but stopped.
"No… no, what are you thinking?" he asked himself angrily. "They're machines! They have no use for us!" he shouted, holding his head in splitting agony as he roared out in pain. But Sovereign let out a blast of that ungodly metallic cry, and the pain doubled. Saren fell to his knees, his breathing labored. "Yes, you're right. There is only one way." Standing up, now resolved in his duty, the former spectre typed on the console, giving control of it over to Sovereign. "Now…" he said, his mandibles twitching as he examined the datacard thoughtfully. "What we've all been waiting for."
Inserting the data card into the console of the Citadel controls, he smiled as he went to open the file on the console. But unexpectedly, the console went dark. He stared at it for a moment before tapping the screen to try and activate it again. But… it didn't work! Why didn't it work! The VI on Ilos clearly said this was the key to the lock! But his jaw sank for a moment as he recalled the scanners on the elevator.
"No…" he said angrily. "No!" he shouted as he ripped the datacard out of the console. "Noooooooo!" Hurling the datacard at the floor, it shattered into a thousand pieces, and he looked around in a rage, looking for something to kill. But he was taken by surprise when smoke canisters landed and exploded all around him. He tried to cover his mouth and nose in case it was toxic. He didn't know who the perpetrator was, but he was eager to get his hands on something. Not one to sit in the middle of a trap, he squinted as he made his way through the smoke, trying to get to the stairs. Then, he saw it.
The silhouette standing in the smoke. But as soon as he saw it, he was flying backwards as the figure lashed out and impacted his face. He called out in pain as he bounced down the stairs, landing in the greenery of the third level. Coughing heavily, he rolled over and got to his knees as he pulled his pistol out. The smoke was slowly beginning to clear. "Whoever you are, you've chosen a poor time and place to die," he remarked in annoyance. But a chill went down his spine as he heard a voice behind him.
"I don't think so, bosh'tet," came the melodic tone, eerily calm.
He spun around again to aim at her, but his arm seared with pain as the sound of a shotgun went off, causing it to go limp. She flew forward with amazing speed and kicked the gun from his hand. So stunned by the pain in his arm, he only barely saw the rocket on the back of her foot as it cannoned into his face again, hitting him so hard that he felt vertigo as he flew down the stairs again. He landed hard, pain everywhere in his body. He groaned as he got up, the reaper technology inside him continuously putting him back together every time she cracked his skull, or he broke an arm from the flight of one of her kicks. But it still hurt. She continued to stalk around in the smoke, smashing him into a wall or blasting his leg with the shotgun until he found himself face down drooling. Each time he felt pain, each time a bone snapped, each time he felt his skin penetrated by the blast of the weapon, he felt the voices and whispers beckoning him secede slightly. He began to think clearly for a moment, realizing where he was. It was then that he knew for sure, Sovereign had taken his mind.
"Saren!" came a shout behind him. He turned and saw her, his bane, his nemesis. "Don't… move," she threatened as she held up her pistol.
"Shepard…" he said as he felt every ounce of reaper tech in his body trying to force him to Sovereign's will again. "Kill me…" he said in a strained voice.
"Kill me…" his rasping words said.
Shepard's eyes widened at the statement. But she also looked in horror as she saw the machinery in his body, pulsing with blue light just like the husks. "What happened to you?"
Suddenly, out of the smoke shot the missing quarian, her eyes set in a lethal glare. "Shepard, back off!" she commanded as she moved towards Saren with her shotgun.
"Tali… what?" she asked as she saw the quarian making her way for Saren. Turning back to the turian, she saw him sprint into the smoke again. "Goddammit!" shouted the spectre as Tali fired a shot into the smoke angrily. The smoke had mostly cleared, yet she didn't see Saren until she reached the Council's dais. Her eyes widened as she saw him standing behind the council's control console with a pistol in his hand. But he wasn't aiming it at her. Instead, he had backed himself to the edge of the platform.
"Shepard…" said the turian weakly as he turned the pistol up into his chin. "Go to Alchera."
"No! Don't you dare you bosh'tet!" shouted Tali as she rocketed forward onto the dais. But it was too late. The turian pulled the trigger, blasting a shot through his skull causing all the lights of the reaper tech in his body to go out as he fell backwards and smashed through a protective glass pane into the courtyard below. Tali let out a roar of anger as she jumped down below and landed easily with her rockets. Stepping up to his body, she glared at him. "You should have let me do it…" she growled before aiming her shotgun at his head and making sure he was dead.
Shepard turned her attentions to the darkened console. With the plans from Ksad Ishan fresh in her mind, she reactivated the console. Overriding his control, she opened the arms to the Citadel again, opening Sovereign's back to the fleet. Suddenly, she got a comm call. "Shepard, can you hear me?" came the voice of Captain Anderson.
"Anderson? Where the hell are you?" she asked incredulously.
"I'm aboard the SSV Kilimanjaro, but that isn't important. What is important is for you to open the relay for us so we can help with the fight! We have the whole Fifth Fleet waiting behind the Charon Relay ready to help fight Sovereign!" said the man urgently.
Bridge – CFS Destiny Ascension
Lidanya had multiple cuts on her face from being hurled around the room by the constant geth fire. They had tried to help out, but every geth ship killed by a torpedo was replaced with three more. There were so damn many geth that all of the Destiny Ascension's long-range projectiles had been exhausted. Half of her bridge crew were now either unconscious or dead from the constant assault. She had even sent out the fighters, nearly a hundred of them to try and protect the Ascension and help take pressure off the fleet, but they were killed almost as quickly as the geth appeared. The only thing they had left was the main canon, which was far too slow for how many geth there still were.
Her only hope had been to get the council away from the battle. She headed for the relay as fast as the broken ship would go, but then she slammed her hand onto the piloting console angrily as she saw that the relay was dark. Her last hope blew away like a flower in a hurricane. Tevos came up behind her and placed her hand on the commander's shoulder. "You did your best."
Sparatus, cradling a broken arm, sighed while Valern sat back in a chair nursing a gash to the horn. Udina had fallen unconscious, his head having smacked into the back wall while he was standing during the attack. "Well…" commented the turian. "Looks like this is it." The ambassadors that were still conscious prepared themselves as the ship shook again.
Lidanya heaved a heavy sigh as she turned back the barely functioning viewscreen. Suddenly, her eyes widened as she saw the relay's rings begin spinning rapidly. A massive ship instantly appeared in front of them, nearly as big as the Ascension itself. She saw the logo of the Systems Alliance on the hull and her heart soared as thousands more ships appeared around the dreadnaught. "The Alliance!" she shouted, never feeling happier to say that name.
Within minutes, the Alliance had cleared all of the enemy geth around them and were now racing towards the Citadel itself. "CFS Destiny Ascension, you are clear," came the call from Captain Shepard of the SSV Kilimanjaro. "You are clear to use the relay. The System's Alliance Sixth and Seventh Fleets are waiting at Arcturus, ready to take you in and protect you until the Citadel is safe again."
After the message was sent, the dreadnaught launched an incalculable wave of torpedoes that smashed into the back of the geth holding down the Citadel Fleet as the rest of the ships from the Fifth Fleet soared in and rained fire on them. With the seconds of reprieve given to them, the turian ships from the Citadel Fleet flared back to life and began hitting the intruders from the front, creating a fireworks display of carnage. Before long, the few remaining geth were crushed between the walls of the Citadel Fleet and the Alliance forces. Lidanya activated the thrusters again as she took over for her own pilot who now lay broken against the back wall.
Tevos eyed her curiously. "You're going back?"
Lidanya looked at the two councilors in front of her as she steered the ship. "Councilors, the geth have been cleared from the relay. I'm going to have to ask you to remove yourselves from the ship and take the relay to Arcturus Station."
Sparatus and Tevos both looked at each other for a moment before shaking their heads. "We won't run while the Citadel is being attacked. Full thrust, Commander," responded the turian, getting a nod and a smile from the woman before she pushed the Ascension back towards the Citadel as fast as it could go.
The battle was over quickly, and she heard a call from a man she had met a few times named Admiral Steven Hackett. "The geth are down! Focus on Sovereign!" he shouted to the Fifth Fleet.
Lydania activated her comm, a renewed fire of battle lit within her. "All Citadel forces! Follow the Alliance and destroy Sovereign at any cost!" she shouted as she continued to fly the ship toward the Citadel at an extremely slow pace due to the damage to the ship.
Council Chambers – Citadel Tower – Presidium – Citadel
Shepard cringed as Sovereign angrily blasted her with that horrific noise. But it didn't stop her from inputting the prothean code into the Citadel's controls. Once she had finished, she accepted the command and watched above as Sovereign opened up its arms, showing that glowing red eye. She glared back, wondering if he was about to destroy the tower when she suddenly heard movement from below. Looking down, she saw Saren's body begin to glow brightly. What once glowed blue now turned blood red as the skin that Saren still had left on his body burned off, the guttural screams coming from it unnerving as it scorched any remainder of Saren away.
She watched in horror as in Saren's place stood a mechanical nightmare that looked up at her with a deadly red glare. "What the hell!?" she shouted as the creature launched itself up at her. She rolled backwards, causing it to fly over her head as her squad turned and saw it.
"Oh hell no…" said Wrex incredulously as it turned and glared at him. Immediately, the machine dove for the krogan. The mercenary pulled up his shotgun and fired directly into its chest. He watched as it tumbled backwards, but growled as the abomination rolled back to its feet and lunged at him again. Slamming into Wrex the creature began clawing at his helmet, aiming for the kill. Wrex dodged as well as he could, but its deadly claws nicked his neck armor and stabbed straight through the laser weapon he kept on his shoulder.
Shepard opened her omni-tool and threw a weaponized shock at the abomination. It stopped its assault on Wrex and grabbed its head, falling back in what appeared to be pain. The krogan scrambled to his feet before blasting it backwards with a biotic punch that sent him flying towards Ashley. The gunnery chief caught the thing and used her armor's strength to smash it into the ground with teeth-shattering force. However, it rolled backwards and landed on all fours again, this time glaring at Shepard. The spectre activated cloaking and dove out of the way as it barreled for her. But it appeared that her cloaking did little as it grabbed her by the ankle and hurled her directly into Wrex, landing him flat on his back with her on top of him.
"We gotta stop doing this, Shepard," said the krogan as the spectre climbed off of him.
"Oh, shut the hell up and help me kill this thing, Wrex," she growled as he stood up next to her.
"You let me know when you figure out how to do that," said the krogan as he tossed his useless shotgun and destroyed laser weapon aside. "Hey Liara!" he shouted as he stopped the reaper bot in midair as it jumped at them both. "Your turn!"
The asari nodded and reached out with her own biotics. A singularity appeared, gripping the monstrous machine and collapsed in on itself as it mixed with Wrex's biotics, created an explosion powerful enough to create a sonic wave. The reaper foe landed on the ground, smoking from the explosion with torn limbs. "Hey, it actually worked!" said the asari proudly.
Ash chuckled as she placed an armored boot on its back and blasted it several times with Wrex's shotgun that she had picked up. "Always double tap, Wrex," said the woman as she eyed him.
"Yeah yeah…" said the krogan as he waved her off.
"Shepard!" came Anderson's call over the comm.
"What is it, Captain?" she asked, catching her breath and nursing an aching rib.
"The Alliance and Citadel Fleets are giving Sovereign everything we've got! But we can barely scratch its shields!" said the captain as static filled the conversation for a second. "-ow any way to stop it? Any weaknesses?"
Shepard looked up at the large, windowed ceiling in the chambers and confirmed what Anderson was saying. Sovereign, enraged by her actions, was lifting its arms and firing some kind of superweapon that tore through the ships, shield, hull, and all like they were paper. "I don't know Captain! I didn't-" Shepard barely had time to hear Ash's cry of surprise before she was picked up by her foot from behind and slammed into the ground so hard the wind flew from her lungs and her helmet flew off and rolled down the stairs.
"Shepard!" shouted Garrus as he fired relentlessly at the living machine with his assault rifle. Seeing that it did nothing, he tossed it aside and marched towards it as it shambled on the ground towards him as well. Jumping, he spun in the air and swung a kick that would have ended a normal opponent. But instead, the blade on his spur shattered like glass, sending a painful shock through his system from the impact and allowing the beast to pounce on him and begin clawing for his throat with unreal strength.
But, as if sensing them, the monster jumped off Garrus and sailed through the air, causing Liara to miss her attack. It landed directly in front of her and went to stab its claws into her armor at close range. But the asari flew and bounced off of the ground as Wrex's biotic charge hit her. She looked up and gasped in horror as she saw that the claws meant for her gut now punctured Wrex's armor, his orange blood now spilling out. "B-Bastard…" he growled as he wrapped his strong arms around the beast, its hands digging further into his gut.
"Wrex!" shouted Tali as she rocketed towards him. But the krogan's biotics lit and he rammed full force into a wall, which only caused the claws to sink deeper in, puncturing his back. But he ignored the pain as his eyes filled with the orange of blood rage. Keeping his grip on the monster, Wrex charged directly into another wall, smashing the beast between his body and the wall. Not stopping, the mercenary continued as many times as he could, one after the other, one wall to another wall, creating impact craters in them like he was a freight train as he did.
"Wrex stop! You're gonna die!" shouted Ash as she ran up to him, but he charged before she could stop him.
Liara jumped up with her biotic power and whipped them both in the air before Wrex could charge his biotics again. The monster ripped its hand out of Wrex's body and used the krogan's bleeding, floating form to jump towards the asari. Tali dashed through the air, shoulder tackling the machine and sending it to the ground with her. As it landed, it grabbed the quarian and went to thrust its arms into her as well. But the creature went rigid as Shepard stood up again, her nose and mouth bleeding and her breathing labored, but her omni-tool alive and sending shock after shock into the beast.
Kicking Tali away from it and causing her to land on the dais, it went to attack again, but Ash landed behind it, crushing it to the ground with her cyclonic arm barrier, then locking her arms around its shoulders, keeping it from going anywhere. Shepard's eyes widened as she saw the gunnery chief grab it and lock her arms up around it in a full nelson. "Ash?"
"Don't question it Shepard! Just hit it with everything you've got before it rips my arms off!" she shouted, the strength of the reaper bot making her mechanized armor groan. But Shepard hit it with another shocking attack.
Garrus got up to join her, a limp in his step as he did. "Sorry Ash…" he said, before activating his omni-tool and launching incinerating blasts at the monster. Liara stepped up and joined them, holding both hands forward, creating a warp powerful enough to tear apart a geth juggernaut and focused it directly on the creature, trying not to hit Ash in the process.
Shepard continued, knowing that her omni-tool was about to give out and explode off her arm. But she didn't have much choice in the matter, it was all she could do.
"Tali'Zorah…" came a familiar voice as the quarian tried to free her head of stars.
Looking over at her wrist, she saw the blue omni-tool that Shepard had handed her before they came through the Conduit. She was meant to get an update from Val'eda on what Shepard had seen, but there wasn't really time before they approached the relay, so she strapped the omni-tool to her free wrist and went with it.
"Val'eda?" asked Tali as she slowly recovered her breath from the gut stomp that the monster had given her.
"Tali'Zorah, we have very little time. We must act fast," said the AI urgently.
"Act? What?" asked the quarian as she rose to her feet.
"Tali, you must dock my omni-tool into the Citadel controls," said Val'eda.
Tali looked at her bewildered. "Why!?" she asked incredulously.
"Tali'Zorah, Sovereign is winning," said the AI as Tali looked up and saw scraps of fleet ships flying around outside the tower. "He's destroying the Citadel Fleet and the Alliance Fleet, and he is controlling Saren's body. Soon, everyone will be dead; the fleet, our friends, and then Sovereign will be free to find another way to bring the reapers about." Tali looked over at her friends. Ashley was holding onto the beast as she cried out in pain, her armor heating up from every blast that Shepard and Garrus hit the abomination with. Liara was on her knees, purple blood dripping from her nose as she pushed her biotics past their limit. Shepard and Garrus's arms were both smoking as they gave everything they had, their omni-tools ready to explode from overuse. But even all of this effort did little to damage the monster. She looked over at Wrex and saw him crawling across the ground towards the battle, leaving an orange blood trail from his gut wound. "Tali'Zorah, they will not win. They will die. You must upload me to into the Citadel controls!"
"What good will that do!?" demanded the quarian, her eyes beginning to sting again.
"Sovereign is still connected to the Citadel; it has just been blocked from using its controls. If you upload me, I can infiltrate Sovereign's mainframe and attack it from the inside where it's vulnerable," said the AI, her tone rushed.
"But…" said Tali as she felt tears flowing again.
"I know Tali, I know. I hope this isn't goodbye, but if it is, you were the best friend I could have asked for," responded Val'eda again.
Tali let out a roar of rage as she jumped into the air, her jets carrying her directly to the controls. Reaching down, she whipped the corded physical port off of the omni-tool and hesitated for a second, looking at the omni-tool once more. "Val'eda…"
Knowing that every second counted, she took the data connecter and jammed it into the control panel. The omni-tool powered down as the AI left it and entered the Citadel. "Keelah'selai, Tali. And thank you for everything," said the AI from the terminal before it went dark again.
Within seconds, Sovereign let out another earsplitting roar, but this one was different. The others were angry, visceral sounding war cries. This one sounded like distress. The reaper bot held by Ashley stopped struggling instantly and went limp. The party eyed it before looking up at Tali, on her knees again weeping as she stared at the darkened omni-tool.
Bridge – SSV Kilimanjaro
The admiral stood on the bridge of the dreadnaught class ship, sweating profusely as another blast from Sovereign's tentacle-like appendages rocked the ship. Anderson had tried to contact Shepard about any information she may have on the ship. However, the call was cut short, and while it did concern him, he had issues in front of him to worry about at the moment. He stared at the goliath ship attached to the tower, his brows furrowing as he reached up and held a cloth to the gash on his cheek.
"Nothing we do has any effect. Its shields are insane," growled Anderson next to him who had a serious knot on his head. The safety harnesses can save your life, but they're not meant for comfort, and can easily injure you if the impact is too powerful. "We've sent the fighters out, burned through our torpedoes, and it even took out the main gun on the ship. We haven't even put a scratch on it."
Hannah Shepard stood to his left wiping blood from her nose. "Jane told us about this. Cyclonic shielding that deflects anything and everything regardless of speed or mass."
"She said the geth were using it. I guess that's where the geth got it from," growled Anderson as he wiped perspiration from his brow.
The battle was turning in Sovereign's favor. They needed to think of something fast or their rescuing the Destiny Ascension will have been meaningless. But before he got another thought off, Sovereign let go of the tower and floated between them all letting out a loud mechanical cry. Its legs spasmed around as if it were in agony, another klaxon roaring from it that washed over the entire fleet. After a few seconds of this, its legs curled in on themselves and the wave of fire from the fleets slammed into Sovereign's hull for the first time.
Hannah clenched the blood soaked cloth in her hand as her eyes widened. "The shields are down!"
Hackett immediately grabbed the comm. "Every ship in the Fifth Fleet and Citadel Fleet! Its shields are down, give it everything!" They did just that. Every ship that hadn't been destroyed began unloading everything it had onto the reaper ship.
Explosions peppered the surface of the colossal ship. But the Admiral could see even after all of the firepower they had unleased, there was hardly a scratch on its surface. Anderson had noticed the same thing he did. "They're barely able to even move it…" he said as his brows furrowed.
"We need to penetrate its armor," Captain Shepard said as she got on the comms again. "Do any of the dreadnaughts have their main cannons functional?"
"We do," came the voice of a woman over the comms. The Captains and the Admiral all looked down at the comm to see who it had come up from before looked up at each other in surprise. "Commander Lidanya reporting from the CFS Destiny Ascension. If you're not a reaper ship, get your ass out of the way," said the asari as all three of the Alliance officers stepped down onto the bridge to see the Citadel capital ship charge its weapon. "Go back to whatever hell you came from," growled Lidanya before she gave the command. "Fire!"
Hannah grabbed the comm again and barked his orders in. "Back her up! Now is our only change to destroy it!"
The Destiny Ascension's core glowed brightly for a few moments before it fired a round so destructive that it smashed through Sovereign's hull and blew out the other side, creating an internal opening to fire at. With the hull punctured, every ship in the fleet focused on the opening and unleashed hellfire onto the seemingly dormant machine. The armor began to splinter apart from the inside, each blast detonating more and more inside the reaper, tearing its outer shell away and exposing it to more destruction. Finally, the Destiny Ascension let out one last massive shot from its main gun, penetrating the reaper's armor and scoring a lucky shot to its core. Sovereign folded in on itself before its main body exploded into millions of pieces, sending the now detached legs flying in all directions.
Cheering erupted all over the fleet, most of it sounding over the comm as Hackett sat in relief, dabbing at his injury. But Hannah continued staring for a long moment. "Gods…"
Hackett got back to his feet and watched the view screen, finally seeing what Anderson was watching. A small chuck of the ship's hull in comparison to Sovereign's full size, but massive enough to dwarf the Citadel Tower was flung in the direction of the tower itself. Grabbing the direct comm from Anderson, Hackett shouted into it immediately. "Jane! Evacuate the tower immediately!" But all he got in return was static. After a long moment, the chunk crashed into the building like a meteor. "Goddammit!" shouted the admiral as he slammed his fists onto the console so hard they had nearly broke the displays.
Anderson eyed the admiral curiously as Hannah reached up and gripped his shoulder. Reaching over, Captain Shepard grabbed the comm and sent orders flying. "Commander Lidanya, if you can, order a Citadel Security unit to the Council Chambers immediately! Also, if you could be so kind as to tell the Council that I'll be docking a ship without the permission of Citadel Traffic Control…"
Sparatus's voice came over the comm. "Your request has been heard, Captain. Go." Without waiting a moment, she dropped the communicator and rushed through the hallways.
Anderson followed her through the ship before he noticed that Hackett was on his tail. "Sir?"
"The XO can take care of the ship for a bit. I'm going down there to make sure Spectre Shepard is alive, even if I have to dig her out of the tower myself," he growled at the man. Anderson nodded, then turned and they both headed for the shuttle bay.
Council Chambers – Citadel Tower – Presidium – Citadel
Anderson tapped his foot as the elevator slowly rose up towards the tower. He had been concerned about the ride up given that the safety shield had been blasted out, but gravity was restored to the Presidium, so they didn't have to worry much about it as long as they didn't feel like diving out of the opening. Still, he was impatient, annoyed that Sovereign had done untold levels of damage to almost every part of the Citadel, but somehow this idiotic elevator music survived. Finally, they reached the top.
"Finally!" snapped the captain, but his eyes widened as he saw the roof of the tower chambers collapsed inward. Almost the entire chamber was crushed beneath tons of rubble as well as a massive fragment from Sovereign's hull. Looking from the ceiling back down, he noticed an entire squad of C-Sec officers helping to shift the rubble. He saw Shepard's asari squad mate sitting with her head in her hands being tended to by a medic while the turian laid down next to her, and the krogan was next to him griping about them touching him.
It was then that Ashley Williams walked up to him, her helmet off. "Hey Captain," she said before turning and seeing the pair next to him. "Sirs," she said firmly as she saluted him despite being indoors. Obviously, protocol was the last thing on anyone's mind.
"What's going on, Chief? Where's Shepard?" he asked worriedly as he saw the quarian sitting next to the door, her head practically buried in her knees as she shook with grief.
Williams's face fell as she shook her head. "We don't know. They've scanned for her tags in the rubble, but they're unable to find her." Looking down at Tali, she turned back to the man before leaning over and whispering to him. "They think she might be too far in for the scanners to reach."
Anderson's brows furrowed as he noticed the dreadnaught captain reach over and clench Hackett's arm. "Did none of you see her run?"
"Unfortunately, no. We all ran for our lives when we saw that thing flying at us. We thought she was with us, but when the dust cleared, she was nowhere to be found," said the gunnery chief as she sighed heavily.
The admiral and captain turned to one another and lowered their heads at the claim as Anderson shook his head. "The Alliance may have lost one of its greatest heroes, and the Citadel one of its best."
"She's not dead!" snapped Tali as she stood up and glared at them all. "You stand here and talk as if she's already gone but they haven't even found her yet!"
All three of them looked at one another before they turned back to the quarian. Anderson nodded to her. "Tali, right?" asked the captain, getting a nod from her. "I'm sorry, Tali. If anyone in this universe wants her to make it, it's us. I shouldn't have given up so easily," he said as he reached up and undid his now disorderly Class A uniform jacket and threw it aside.
"Sir?" asked Williams as she eyed him curiously.
"We're not saying she's dead until we find a damn body!" he snapped as he looked at the officers, then back to the rest of her squad. "I know Jane, and she's too tough to die here after everything she's been through. So," he started as he rolled up the sleeves of his Class A button up shirt. "Where do you need help?"
"Over there," said an asari woman as she pointed to the side of the room they hadn't began clearing yet.
Nodding, the captain marched forward… and tripped over something, falling face first into the debris filled ground. Shaking the dust from his eyes, he heard everyone gasp in shock. Rolling onto his back, he sat up and his eyes widened in surprise as he saw a body laying right where he walked, flickering back and forth between visible and invisible. Tali squealed in surprise and bolted to her side, grabbing her and lifting her upper body up. Liara reached forward and gripped the invisible helmet, sliding it up quickly. As soon as the helmet was detached from the armor, the invisibility died and her bruised, bloodied face could be seen.
Liara reached up and placed a hand on Shepard's cheek for a few moments before letting out a long breath she had held in for a while. "She's alive."
"Wha?" asked Shepard curiously as she opened her eyes and looked around, trying to get her bearings. "Who's alive?"
"You are you bosh'tet!" Tali nearly sobbed as she clung to Shepard's arm. "Thank the Ancestors…"
The redhead looked around at them curiously. "Why is everyone gathered around me?"
Anderson chuckled happily as he shook his head. "We'll tell you later," he said as he hooked her arm around his neck and began lifting her from the ground. Ashley assisted on the other side, and they managed to get her standing again, armor and all. Looking up, Anderson found both Admiral Hackett and Captain Shepard gone from the room. He looked around in surprise before telling himself he'd figure it out later.
Groaning in pain, the spectre growled, "I need a damn vacation."
As they headed to the elevator to get her to a medical facility he chuckled at her comments. "We'll get to that after you've seen a doctor," said the man as he touched the sensor for the floor of the medical hospital constructed in the Citadel Tower.
Room 68 – Citadel Central Hospital – Presidium – Citadel
Udina looked at Shepard sourly. Though he was grateful she was alive, she had caused him to have multiple headaches the last few days. One of the more painful ones at the hands of the man sitting in the chair next to her hospital bed. Not to mention that she, singlehandedly, had ended his career. After locking down the Normandy, and then having Saren's reaper ship Sovereign crash through the relay with thousands of geth, nobody in the galaxy would take him seriously again. He had all but committed political suicide by trying to take the Normandy from the spectre.
All that aside, he knew she was damn good at being a spectre. The fact that he was here, looking at her goofy grin as she wore a hospital uniform rather than being blown into space particles or harvested by whatever the hell these reapers actually were, was empirical proof that he had chosen the right candidate for the job. Somehow, this one woman had chased Saren across the galaxy, cornered him, and not only killed him, but stopped whatever plan he had to unleash hell upon them all. She had saved the council with her quick action and stopped the most dangerous man in the galaxy from causing the greatest extinction any of their species had ever seen. And he couldn't help but feel a small amount of pride that he had helped pick her out.
Shepard grinned at them all as they came in, with Tevos having patches and medigel salves on her face, Sparatus with an arm in a sling, and Valern with a head wrapping that made it look like he was wearing a human turban while going around nagging people.
"You call this medical equipment!?" snapped the salarian councilor as he waved at the beeping equipment, much to everyone's surprise. "This is at least six months old! What are we in the stone age!?" asked the councilor as he poked one of the vitals machines outside the door.
Tevos giggled to herself before reassuring them. "You must forgive him. The asari medic on the Destiny Ascension gave him something you humans have called aspirin. She said it did wonders for her own headaches. Unfortunately, salarians do not process acetylsalicylic acid very well."
"Hi there," said the salarian councilor as he slid up to one of the male human nurses with a large smile and his eyes half closed. "So, do you inhabit this place frequently?" The nurse stood stunned for a moment before looking at the other councilors.
Sparatus, even hiding a chuckle himself, shook his head. "Don't worry about it. Salarians have an extremely high metabolism. He'll process it in a few minutes," he said as he turned to Shepard herself. "Spectre, I'm glad to see you in one piece," he said as he looked her up and down. "Well… mostly one piece."
"Likewise, Councilor. Pretty sure I have all my pieces; they just might not be in the right order. I'm pretty sure that reaper bot lodged some of my spine up into my brain," said Shepard as she flexed her back, getting a chuckle from Anderson.
"We'll see to fixing that," said Tevos as she looked over at Sparatus. He nodded and stepped up to the spectre.
"Shepard, we're here because you and humanity have done Citadel Space, and the Council, a great service," started the turian councilor, any amusement now gone from his voice.
Nodding with a sad expression, Tevos continued. "Many humans lost their lives today fighting against Sovereign and its geth. A debt the Council, and the Citadel will never be able to repay."
"There is no greater sacrifice," started Sparatus as he held his good arm behind his back. "We share your grief over the tragic loss of so many noble people," said the turian as he towered over the others.
Nodding, Tevos continued. "The Council also owes you a great personal debt, Jane Shepard." Shepard tilted her head curiously. "You saved many billions from Sovereign and the reapers."
Sparatus picked up again. "Shepard, your heroic and selfless actions serve as a symbol of everything humanity and the Alliance stand for. And though we can't bring back those who died saving our lives and the lives of many, we can honor their memories through our actions."
Tevos let out a small sigh. "So many humans sacrificed themselves. And as such, we believe that humanity has proven that it is ready to stand with us, beside us, as defenders of the peace and order of Citadel Space." Udina's head snapped over to Tevos, his eyes widening. "Shepard, we are welcoming humanity to represent themselves on the Citadel Council."
Every human in the room went wide-eyed at the words. "I… don't know what to say," said the spectre.
"Oh Surakesh, why is my head still pounding?" asked Valern as he stumbled into the room with them. As he saw Shepard sitting on the bed, he immediately perked up. "Oh! Greetings Spectre!" he said as he looked from her to his fellow councilors back to her. "Whatever they've said, I agree with. Please continue."
Tevos chuckled, happy to have her partner back in his right mind. "We will need a list of potential candidates," she said as she eyed Shepard. "Though, an endorsement from the Hero of the Battle for the Citadel would carry a great deal of weight, Shepard."
Jane looked from the Council, back to Anderson, then back to the Council again and nodded. "Can you… step outside for a moment?" she asked curiously.
"Of course!" said Sparatus as he opened the door and allowed himself out. Tevos nodded and followed him, who was then followed by Valern rubbing his cranium and Udina, a dejected look on his face.
As the ambassador followed them out of the room, he closed the door and watched through the window as she talked feverishly with Anderson. He sighed to himself, knowing how this was about to go down. Admittedly, Anderson wouldn't be a bad pick. If he were to pick someone besides himself, the captain would be among the top picks, though he doubted the man really wanted the job. But he knew he'd do it if he was asked, especially by Shepard.
Seeing her waving them back in, he opened the door and walked in followed by the council. Once they were all in their places again, Shepard smiled up at the three. Tevos spoke for the council. "Have you chosen an endorsement?"
Shepard looked at Anderson who nodded to her. Looking back, she nodded. "I have." Hopping off the bed, the spectre faced Udina and gave him a hard stare. "Ambassador, our grudge ends here and now."
Surprised she had even acknowledged his existence, he stared into her eyes. "Spectre, I'm not too arrogant to see how wrong I was to stop you from taking the Normandy. You've… more than proven that," he said as he looked away for a moment. "But I'm happy to put it behind us if you are. Honestly, I was expecting you to hold a fairly big grudge against me."
"Oh, I'm not the kind of person to hold a grudge," said Shepard as she shrugged. "Besides, Councilor, if we're going to be working together, then we need this water to be under the bridge," she said, holding out her hand to shake.
Udina sighed with melancholy and shook her hand. "I doubt I'll be working with you much now that you've…" he said but stopped and his eyes snapped up to hers. "I'm sorry… did you just call me…?"
She nodded. "Yes, Donnel Udina. I'm recommending you to be humanity's first Councilor."
Udina looked from her to Anderson and saw the captain sitting there with a smirk on his face. "Don't look at me, Udina. You couldn't pay me enough to do this job."
"I'm…" said the man as he looked back to the spectre. "I'm very grateful, Shepard. Thank you."
Sparatus cut in. "With that, we will be leaving you, Spectre. I imagine you have a few injuries to recover from, as do we. And we have a lot of damage to the Citadel that needs fixed. So, we will be saying farewell and have a speedy recovery."
As they left, Shepard stretched, then cringed as pain spiked through her ribcage. "Dammit…" she growled.
Slapping his knees, the captain stood up as well. "Well Jane, it's about time I got out of here too. The Systems Alliance has a lot of work to do."
"Later, David. And… thanks," she said, getting a smile from him as he left as well. It wasn't long before someone else opened the door to her room. "I was wondering when you two would stop by."
"Expecting us?" asked the admiral curiously.
"At some point, yes," she said as she eyed the man and woman. He stood tall, his rigid militaristic stance never wavering. Her mother, meanwhile, held her hands in front of her locked together as if anxious. She looked into their eyes curiously. "Were you scared?"
"Of losing you? Of course we were," said the captain as if the answer were obvious.
Shepard chuckled lightly at the pair. "I was too. I didn't think I'd make it a few times out there."
The admiral smirked as the captain gave a knowing smile, saying, "Well, you did. And we're damn proud of you, Jane."
Jane gave them a genuine smile. "Thanks, mom. Thanks, dad."