Noveria: Peak 15:
Pekue had arrived a while later and Shepard and her team quickly got into the tank and Pekue began the drive along the mountain pass to Peak 15 Research Base. The road was snowy and the heavy snowfall made it difficult to see and there was the risk of driving off the side of the mountain. Even though Pekue was a skilled driver, she had to take it easy in order to make sure the Mako did not drive off the side of the Cliff. If she did then it would be very difficult to get back on Mission. The Mako was designed to survive these types of falls but there would be no way of driving back up the mountain as it was too steep.
As they drove towards a large Bridge, Pekue called for Shepard who was on the main cannon "Commander, I'm picking up readings on the monitors." She called "It seems the Geth have set up a barricade nearby."
"And it also seems they've hacked the defence cannons." Garrus added as he looked at his monitors "What should we do Commander?"
Shepard knew the options, they could use the Mako's weapons to take on the Geth or they could drive past them fast. But with the snow and ice, that would be too dangerous "Kaidan, get on the machine gun, you take on the Geth, I'll handle the cannons."
So as the Mako drove on, Shepard fired the Mako's cannon at the Cannons while Kaidan fired the machine gun at the Geth. Pekue had to stop to give them a better aim. The trip did take a while but they were eventually able to make it to Peak 15 Research Base and they drove into the garage where a few Geth Units and even a Krogan were standing guard. They were all quickly taken care of and then Shepard and her team left the Mako.
"Pekue, you best remain here with the Mako. We'll handle any Geth we see along the way." Shepard stated
The Mirialan nodded "Alright Shepard." She stated "But what happens if any more Geth do show up here?"
"If they do then take the Mako back to Port Hanshan and inform us on the radio." Shepard stated The Mako should be strong enough to small numbers of Geth but if a large force arrives then get out of here."
"Understood Shepard." Pekue stated and she got back into the Mako and positioned it in a position where she could use the machine gun.
Shepard and her team went up a set of stairs that took them from the garage and into a small hallway that would take them to the main research complex. Before they went further they saw a pair of Automatic Defence turrets that were facing the opposite way so Kaidan was able to deactivate them without them firing at him.
"Hey, why were those defence turrets facing the wrong way?" Liara asked "They should have helped stop the Geth?"
"You mother must have deactivated them first." Garrus stated "And then turned them around and reprogrammed them to fire at anyone trying to flee the base. They want to keep people in as well as keep people out."
"Goddess!" Liara groaned "My mother has a lot to answer for."
"We need to find her first." Shepard stated "Now let's go."
...
After travelling through several hallways, they arrived at a large laboratory that had several tables set up with monitors. There were several Geth units in the room but they did not know that Shepard and her team were here yet and so Garrus and Bau took position with their sniper rifles and quickly took out a few of the Geth units before the rest of the team charged in with Shepard destroying Geth units with her machine gun and Ashley and Kaidan throwing Geth aside with their biotics. Eventually all of the Geth in the room had been destroyed and they were ready to move on. But Bau first went to chest the monitors to see what information they held.
"Shepard, we should be careful." Bau called to her "According to the files on this computer, this base was used to research some kind of creature which was kept here."
Shepard looked at Bau, she had just found a small room that looked like it once held something "What kind of creatures?" she questioned
"I don't know but the files talk about these creatures which have a queen and work like a Hive." Bau replied "But it seems that some of these creatures broke out when the Geth attacked."
Just then they heard a loud rumbling noise and everyone got their weapons ready. They heard the sound of a door smashing and they turned around and saw something smash one of the doors open. The creature that emerged was not like any they had seen before. This creature looked like a massive insect that was about five meters lone. It walked on four legs and had two large pincers at the front on its head along with some large tentacles. It's mouth also spat some acid which Shepard managed to dodge.
The team now fired upon these new creatures which wasn't easy because their scaly hind was tough to pierce and smaller versions of the creatures also appeared which were much smaller and were green. These one would launch themselves at Shepard and explode which would sting for a while but they were also much weaker than the larger creatures. Eventually, all of the creatures were defeated.
"What were these things?" Kaidan questioned
"I have no idea." Liara stated "Alien creatures are not my area of study."
Bau looked at them "I'm sure I've seen pictures of creatures like this somewhere but I can't remember where." He stated "And the monitors didn't say what kind of creatures were being raised here."
"I guess we'll just have to hope that someone is still alive within the base who can tell us what they are." Garrus stated
"Remember, our mission is to find Matriarch Benezia, whatever was going on here is none of our business." Shepard stated "Now let's move out."
...
After they left the lab, they went up an elevator and arrived in another room that had a large generator at the rear. As soon as they entered the room, a large number of the smaller green creatures started charging towards them and Shepard, Bau and Garrus fired at them with their guns and none of them were able to launch.
When the room was clear, Liara got a better look at the generator at the back of the room "Shepard, that is a backup power system for the station mainframe."
"So let's start it up then." Bau stated and he walked over to one of the power stations, but when he tried to activate it, a computer voice called out throughout the room.
"Critical Start-up Error. Virtual Intelligence user interface offline, Manuel boot required."
"It seems that the Geth must have disabled the VI for the base." Garrus stated "That means the doors are jammed, we'll have to get it restarted for us to move on."
"That must be the VI Core at the back." Bau stated as they looked at a massive piece of equipment "We'll have to rebook it to see what's wrong."
"Can you fix this?" Shepard asked
"I know a few ways of fixing stuff like this from my time as a Spectre and as an SGT Agent." Bau stated "Tali would have been better at this but I'll see what I can do."
Bau went into the VI core which took him down into the mainframe of the system. Bau saw the system needed resetting but thanks to his many years as a Spectre and SGT Agent, he was quickly able to reconnect the system. Shepard then watched as a VI hologram appeared in front of them. This hologram was made to look like a young woman.
"It looks like you're trying to restore this facility." The VI stated "Would you like some help."
At that moment, Bau returned from the core "Help would be great." He stated "What should we call you." VI tented to go by a name when you needed to ask them a question.
"This system is monitored to respond to the name Mira." The VI stated "May I ask your name?"
"I am Jondum Bau of the Citadel's Special Tactics and Reconnaissance." Bau stated "Me and my companions have been sent on an important mission."
"One moment Please." Mira stated "Council authority confirmed, you are entitled to secure access of all systems. Please note that queries relating to corporate secrets require privileged access. Privileged Access is only available to Binary Helix executives. This system is ready to process queries. You may access me at any holographic interface within Peak 15."
"I was sent here to locate an Asari known as Matriarch Benezia." Bau stated "I heard that she was seen in this base."
"Lady Benezia departed on the passenger tramway to the Rift Station subsidiary labs." Mira replied but then she froze "User alert, the passenger tramway is currently inoperable."
"That means we can follow Benezia until we fix it." Liara stated
Bau nodded "What's the situation with the tramway?"
"One moment please diagnostics in progress." Mira replied and was silent for a few moments before speaking again "Critical Failure, Main Reactor Shutdown in accordance with emergency containment procedures. Manuel Restart required. Landline connections are disabled. Passenger tram systems are offline. Report complete, do you have an additional systems status query?"
Bau did have more questioned "What are the landlines and why are they disabled?"
"The Landlines connect my mainframe here at central station to the various sub-facilities of Peak 15" Mira responded "This allows the crew to remotely access my databases from the comfort and security of their own labs. Due to the emergency protocols being implemented within the hot labs, the cabling was automatically ejected."
"That could have something to do with the creatures we found here." Shepard suggested "What were those creatures
"I am programmed to give information on the experiments performed here at Peak 15 to non-workers" Mira stated "you will have to ask one of the scientists here."
"But what about the Main Reactor?" Bau questioned "Why was it shut down?"
"I'm sorry but I was offline at the time of the reactor shutdown." Mira stated "Shutdown could occur if reactor breach seems likely or in case of catastrophic laboratory containment failure. Emergency guidelines suggest that the frigid environment will kill biological contagions, it may also damage mechanical ones."
"Turn off the heat and hope the cold puts whatever you've unleashed to sleep." Garrus stated
"That's all for now." Bau stated
"Very well, shutting down until you need me." Mira replied and then the hologram vanished.
Bau looked at Shepard "We should split up, I'll take Liara and try and fix the main reactor, you take Garrus and Kaidan and fix the landlines."
"Good idea Bau." Shepard agreed "We'll meet you back at the Tram doorway." And then she took Kaidan and Garrus through the door behind them while Bau took Liara towards the door which would lead them to the Main reactor.
...
Shepard, Garrus and Kaidan took the elevator which took them to the rooftop of the Central Station and they found several more of the creatures they had found in the labs. Luckily there was a glass dome which protected them from the extreme cold of Noveria. It took them a while to take all of them out but soon all of the creatures were dead. With the Creatures dead, Shepard found the controls for the landlines and was able to reconnect them.
"We should head back, hopefully Bau will have fixed the main reactor." Garrus stated.
...
Bau and Liara took an elevator which took them deeper into the complex where the Main reactor for the Central Station was. They didn't find any of those strange creatures which they did find a large group of Geth including a Geth Prime. Bau was very skilled and was able to shook each of the smaller Geth troopers one by one using a silenced rifle so he did not alert the others. With the Geth Prime, Liara used her biotics to throw the Prime aside and Bau fired his assault rifle which shattered the Prime to pieces. With the Geth taken care of, Liara and Bau made their way to the main reactor and they saw what the problem was.
"The He3 fuel line is cut." Liara stated when they saw that the main fuel line had been cut, most likely by the Geth. Bau quickly reattached the fuel line and the reactor sprang into life.
"We should head back." Bau stated "Now that the Reactor is online, we can hopefully head on to the Hot Labs." The two of them went back up the elevator and found Shepard, Kaidan and Garrus waiting for them with the corpses of a few more of those strange creatures they had found in the labs "Did you reconnect the Landlines?" he asked
"We did." Shepard replied "But for some reason, the tramway door is still not opening."
"Maybe Mira will know what's going on." Liara suggested
"I'll ask her." Bau stated and he went over to the VI core and reactivated the hologram.
"Connections restored." Mira stated "Processing new data, user alert, unable to connect to the hot labs."
"What's going on with the tram station now?" Bau asked
"Dangerous biological agents are present in the tramway decontamination chamber." Mira replied "The Tram station has been sealed in the interest of crew safety. Activation of the failsafe plasma jets is recommended prior to access."
Bau knew what Mira meant, some of those creatures had gotten into the decontamination chamber and must be eliminated "How do I activate this failsafe?" he asked
"The controls for the failsafe system are located in the security checkpoint outside decontamination." Mira responded but then she paused for a moment "User alert, the failsafe system is currently inoperable."
Bau knew that they would have to try and fix this problem before they went ahead "And how do we fix the failsafe?" he asked
"There is a hardware fault in the control system." Mia responded "This can be repaired on site using a standard Omi tool."
That made things easy since Bau had access to powerful Omi tools since he was a Spectre "I can fix the controls with my Omi tool, override the controls and that will be all"
"Very well Spectre." Mira responded "Logging you out." Mira then vanished and Bau led the team though the now unlocked door.
They went through a few more corridors and arrived at the decontamination chamber where they found the doors sealed and a number of those creatures trapped inside. When they entered the security checkpoint, they found a dead guard with a number of shots in his back. "I guess the Geth must have opened these doors to allow those creatures to escape and this guard must have sealed them shut to prevent more from getting here." Liara stated
Bau looked at the controls and activated his Omi Tool "It will take me a minute but I can fix the failsafe controls which will activate the plasma jets, that will dissolve those creatures in there and then we can pass through."
While Bau fixed the controls, Kaidan searched the nearby lockers and found a very powerful Acolyte pistol which was much more powerful than the M-3 predator pistol. Then Bau finished fixing the Failsafe and activated the plasma jets. Shepard and the others watched as hot plasma was poured into the decontamination chamber which made the creatures screech in pain before collapsing to the floor. After about 5 minutes, the jets shut themselves off and the red light above the doors changed to green and unlocked. They then carried on through a large corridor until they came to the tram station. After they all got onto the tram, Shepard pressed the leave button and the doors closed and then the tram began to leave the station.
"Departing Central Station." A voice called over the radio of the tram as the tram left the station "Destination, Rift Station."
"Hopefully we can find my mother there." Liara stated
"And maybe we can find out just what these creatures are." Bau added "The council will want to know just what was going on here."
...
The Tram travelled through a large tunnel cut through the mountains of Noveria and eventually arrived at Rift Station. "Now arriving at Rift Station, Binary Helix Research Facility."
Bau and Shepard led the group through Rift Station but found the doorway was currently not in use and so they had to go into a small side room where there were two elevators, one went down into the Hot Labs while the other went up into Rift Station sleeping chambers. The Hot Labs elevator was currently not in use so they went towards the Sleeping chambers.
When they arrived, they found a man made barricade had been built out of boxes and tables with a few guards pointing their rifles at them until the captain, a bald male human, shouted at them "Stand down men!" he ordered and then he looked at Bau "Sorry about that, we couldn't be sure who was on that tram."
"I guess you've encountered those creatures before?" Shepard questioned
"Encountered, fought and seen men ripped apart by them." The captain stated "The name is Ventrails, captain of Binary Helix private guards here at Rift Station. Look, you're not those creatures and that's reason enough for me to not shoot but I would like to know who you are?"
Bau stepped forward "I am Spectre Jondum Bau from the Citadel."
"Well, I won't look a heavily armoured horse in the mouth." Ventrails stated "These aliens overran the hot labs last week, only Han Olar managed to get out. The first time we knew about these creatures was when they were clawing into the command post, we had a lot more staff then. We've managed to secure ourselves here in the barracks and down in the small laboratory but our supplies are running low and a few of our people have fallen ill with some kind of toxin from these creatures."
"Have you seen an older Asari here?" Liara asked "We're on the lookout for an Asari called Benezia?"
"Well there is an Asari over in the barracks." Ventrails stated "But her name is Alestia Iallis and she's been here for a while. The board did send another Asari over here to clear up the mess. But she went into the Hot Labs and we've not seen her since."
"We'll go and talk to her but we need to know more about these creatures." Bau stated
"Sadly I don't know what these creatures are." Ventrails stated "Han Olar probably will so you might want to speak with him, he's over by the laboratory. As for the hot labs, there's an emergency elevator that will take you down, but you'll need this key card to access it." Then he was distracted when they heard a loud shrieking noise "Hell, man the perimeter!" Suddenly a bunch of the creatures burst from the vents but Shepard and the team quickly took care of them before anyone got killed. Ventrails then returned "Thanks, I see that you really can fight. Listen, good luck on your mission but please hurry, we're not going to last much longer."
"The quicker we get into the Hot labs the better." Bau stated "But we should speak with Han Olar first to find out what these creatures are."
...
Shepard and the others had gone into what had once been the canteen of Rift Station before they took an elevator down into a small laboratory where there were a few Binary Helix guards standing on guard near a quarantine zone and they saw Han Olar standing next to a pillar. Han Olar was a Volus scientist who was the only survivor from the Hot Labs and so he knew what these strange creatures were and both Shepard and Bau agreed that they needed to know more about them.
"I know why you have come to see me." Han stated "I heard about the Citadel Spectre being here and my guess is that you're here to find out about them."
"Yes, we came here to know what these creatures are." Bau stated "If they came from the Hot Labs we need to know what these creatures are."
"You want to know more about the Rachni?" Han stated
That caught everyone's attention, everyone widened their eyes with disbelief and Liara stated "That's preposterous. These creatures can't be Rachni."
Shepard knew why Liara was saying that. She knew about the Rachni, they were an insect species discovered nearly two thousand years ago by a Salarian research vessel and they began the Rachni Wars where they began attacking the Citadel Colonies. Since the Rachni thrived on Toxic worlds, it was impossible for the Citadel to defeat them until the Salarians uplifted the Krogan and by 300 CE, the Rachni were declared extinct but this event was the reason why the Citadel banned the opening of Relays to prevent another incident like this happening again. "How can these creatures be the Rachni?" Shepard questioned "The Krogan wiped them out hundreds of years ago?"
"Binary Helix found a Rachni derelict ship that had been floating adrift for a thousand years." Han Olar explained "There was an egg inside and they brought it here."
One of the other scientists nearby yelled at Han "Shut up! Do you want to get us all killed?"
"I don't any control over who lives and who dies!" Olar spat back "Do you?"
"If you want to be crazy, then be the quiet kind!" a Turian scientist spat
"I'm sane." Han said softly "Oh god, am I sane?"
Bau had another questioned "Captain Ventrails said that an Asari went into the Hot labs, could she survive there?"
"It's possible." Olar claimed "The Rachni were sensitive to biotics. Maybe she found a way to remove them but not destroy them completely."
Kaidan looked at them "Well now that we know what these creatures are, we should go to the Hot Labs and find Benezia."
"Agreed." Bau stated "Finding her was our mission after all."
...
Shepard, Bau and the others headed back towards where they first met Ventrails and went back down the elevator and they used the key card to unlock the other elevator which had been out of use and they took the elevator down into the Hot Labs. But when they arrived, they saw a man sitting on a chair. The room was surrounded by glass walls which were cracked in some areas and Shepard could see what looked like a hive. Shepard and her team wanted to get out of here as soon as they could before the Rachni swarmed them.
Shepard approached the man sitting in the chair "Are you here to secure the situation?" he asked with a strong Russian accent.
"Wait, who are you and how did you survive down here?" Bau asked "We were told that Han Olar was the only survivor?"
The man sighed "My name is Yaroslev Tartakovsky." He stated "As to how I survived, I have no idea, my memory is not that great. But what has happened here is our fault."
"What exactly happened here?" Bau questioned
"Binary Helix found the Rachni Egg on a derelict ship." Yaroslev explained "There were many eggs on that ship in cryogenic suspension. They brought an egg here, they planned to clone Rachni, mass produce them and create an army."
"Something like that could be devastating if it got into the wrong hands." Bau stated "A Rachni army even if cloned could be devastating."
"These companies only care about money." Kaidan snorted "They don't care about the consequences of their actions!"
"I guess the cloning only made the Rachni feral?" Liara stated
Yaroslev shook his head "That is not quite what happened." He explained "The egg we brought back turned out to not be a common Rachni Egg, it was a queen. After the queen laid her eggs they moved her to Rift Station, they believed that without the queen they can raise the babies to be obedient."
"Wait, even if you did have a queen, wouldn't you need a male to get eggs?" Shepard questioned
"The Rachni might be like the Asari." Liara suggested "Male and female have no terms for us."
"That is close." Yaroslev stated "The Queens already have the genetic code of their fathers. Eggs are carried away from their colonies to hatch alone. Rachni queens can lay eggs in hours and hatch colonies in days, that is how the spread so quickly."
"I guess separating the babies from their mother was a bad choice?" Shepard stated
Yaroslev nodded "It was the wrong thing to do." He replied "I believe that without the queen to teach them, the babies do not develop properly and their minds don't function the same and the Rachni are uncontrollable."
"Shepard, this is all fascinating but we have a job to do." Bau stated
"Yeah, sorry." Shepard apologized and looked at Yaroslev "Was there an Asari Matriarch here?"
Yaroslev looked confused "I do not remember seeing an Asari come in here."
"That means my mother is alive." Liara gasped "But why did Captain Ventrails tell us to come here?"
"I guess we should ask him." Garrus stated
"But we better deal with the Rachni here first." Kaidan added.
Yaroslev nodded "It is a sad thing but these Rachni are beyond saving. They must be euthanized and the only way to do that is to set off the neutron purge. It creates a burst of neutron radiation; it will kill everything here in the hot rooms."
"So how do we set off this Neutron Purge?" Bau asked
"The controls for the purge are behind me." Yaroslev stated as he stood up "All you have to do is insert the key and then I will give Mira..." that was all he was able to say as none of them had noticed one of the larger Rachni soldiers had sneaked behind him and then thrust one of his sharp tentacles through Yaroslev's back and out through his belly which caused his guts to spill out. Shepard and her team jumped back in horror as Yaroslev was thrown aside. Shepard and Bau quickly pulled their assault rifles and fired all they had at the Rachni which killed it.
Bau knelt before Yaroslev but they all knew that he was dead. Bau sighed as he took the purge codes from Yaroslev's pocket "I guess the only thing left to do is to start the Neutron Purge."
Shepard looked at Garrus, Liara and Kaidan, "you three wait by the elevator" she stated "Bau and I will start the Neutron Purge and then come after you, there won't be enough time for us all to get into the Elevator from the office."
"As you wish commander." Kaidan stated and he, Liara and Garrus went back to the Elevator and waited.
Shepard and Bau went over towards the back room and Bau activated the Mira Terminal and the VI Hologram appeared "Connecting, I have full access to the facility and am at your disposal." The VI stated
"Activate the Neutron Purge." Bau stated
"I'm sorry but I cannot do that without the proper code authorization." Mira replied
Bau pulled out the code he had taken from Yaroslev "Code Input: 875-020-079. Code Omega local execution." He said to the VI.
"Code Omega execution in 120 seconds." Mira replied
"Now let's get out of here." Shepard stated and she and Bau quickly left the room only to hear gunfire and looked to see that a swarm of Rachni were now in between them and the elevator where Kaidan, Liara and Garrus were fighting against them. Liara saw them and quickly used her biotics to help clear a path for Shepard and Bau and both of them ran into the elevator and Kaidan pressed the button to start the elevator which began to take them up. They all heard the loud bang and the rumble when the Neutron Purge started, killing all of the Rachni in the Hot Labs.
...
After leaving the Hot Labs, Bau and Shepard went back up the elevator they went up before, they wanted to have a word with Captain Ventrails, he said that Benezia had gone into the Hot labs but no Asari had been there. When they arrived at the barricades, Captain Ventrails was not there but they found him in the canteen of Rift Station.
Ventrails was surrounded by a large number of his men "I'm sorry." He apologized "But Benezia gave us orders, she wants this place purged."
"So you are working with Benezia!" Kaidan spat "I knew something was wrong with you."
Ventrails sighed "It's nothing personal, it's just my orders. Open Fire!"
The guards all began firing at them but Liara created a biotic Barrier to block the shots and then sent it flying towards the guards which threw them back. Ventrails was cut down by fire from Shepard's assault rifle and quickly, all of the guards were dead and they were able to carry on through the base and now the quarantine zone was open. Benezia was likely in there.
As the team headed on into the next room, they saw a number of the guards holding a few of the scientists hostage which included Han Olar. Before any of the scientists were shot, Bau and Garrus fired their sniper rifles which took a few of the soldiers which saved the scientists about to be shot. Then an Asari who Shepard had known to be called Alestia Iallis fired her biotics at Shepard's group only to be thrown against a wall by Liara.
Han Olar walked over to them when their attackers were killed "Many thanks Shepard." He said "I had no idea that Alestia and Ventrails were working for that Asari Matriarch."
"That Asari Matriarch is Benezia." Bau stated "She's working for a Rogue Spectre called Saren."
"I'm afraid that I don't know anyone called Saren but I do know that a Rogue Spectre is bad." Olar stated "My guess is that she was sent here to secure the Rachni Queen."
"With a Rachni Queen, Saren could create a massive army quickly." Kaidan stated
"I do not know how Saren could have succeeded where we failed." Olar replied "But listen, please, I know you all have a bad opinion of the Rachni but please, do not kill the queen, she is the last hope of a species, no one wants to be known for destroying an entire species."
"We will just have to wait and see." Bau sighed "The Council won't be too happy about the Rachni returning."
"Thank you for at least considering it." Bau stated "Now it may be best if I get out of here." Olar and the other scientists then left the room while Bau and Shepard's team carried on going forward.
...
As Shepard and the group carried on through Rift Station, they encountered more of Benezia soldiers and a few more Rachni that had escaped from the Hot Labs. Eventually they went through a large tunnel cut into the mountains of Noveria. Eventually, they arrived at the main lab where the Rachni Queen was kept and where Benezia was waiting.
Matriarch Benezia looked much older than Liara and her skin was almost purple. She wore a long black dress and headdress and was standing in front of a large tank where the Rachni Queen was kept. The Rachni queen looked like a normal Rachni soldier only 10 times larger and it seemed that she would grow even bigger.
Benezia saw that they had entered the room "You do not know the privilege of being a mother." Benezia stated while looking at the Rachni Queen, "There is power in creation, to shape a life, turn it into happiness or despair. Her children were to be ours, raised to hunt and slay Saren's enemies." She walked towards them "I will not be moved by sympathy, no matter who you bring into this confrontation.
Shepard now knew why Benezia had come here, she was to secure the Rachni Queen and use it to create an army for Saren and she also knew that she was talking about Liara being here "Liara is here because she wants to be here, not because I asked her to."
"Indeed." Benezia stated "Tell me my daughter, what have you told them about me?"
"What could I say mother?" Liara questioned "That you're insane, evil, should I explain how to kill you?"
Benezia laughed "Tell me, have you faced an Asari Commando before, few humans have?"
"I guess that means we will have to fight after all." Bau stated "I wanted to take you alive so you could answer for what Saren's done."
Benezia laughed "And Spectre Bau, Saren did say that the Council might send you after him, you are one of the best Spectres."
"And I also don't kill civilians like Saren does to get the job done!" Bau spat
"Indeed." Benezia smirked and then a couple of Asari Commandos appeared through one of the doors while Benezia fired a biotic ball at Shepard which forced her to roll to the side. Benezia then jumped on top of the Rachni Queen's tank which forced Shepard and the team to take out the Asari Commando's down.
The Asari Commando's were tough, they were the best trained Asari in both weapons and biotics which made them very tough to fight. Liara and Garrus had to take cover from one and were having trouble from the Commando's machine gun. But this commando was so distracted by Liara then she did not see Bau get into position and fired at the Asari with his Sniper Rifle which ended the Commando. The other Commandos were also quickly taken out.
With the Commando's down, Benezia sent another biotic force field at Shepard's team and then more Asari Commando's entered the room along with a few Geth Snipers. This fight took a bit longer but eventually, the Geth were destroyed and the Asari Commando's were dead.
Benezia then went in front of the Rachni Queen's tank "This is not over!" she hissed "Saren is unstoppable, my mind is filled with his light, everything is clear."
Liara noticed something was wrong "Mother, what's wrong with you, you don't seem to be yourself."
Benezia turned around and glared at them "I will not betray him!" she spat but her words looked like they were forced as she started to hold her head in pain "You will, you..." she screamed as she held her head before she looked at them again "You must listen to me, Saren still whispers in my mind, I can fight his compulsions briefly but the indoctrination is strong!"
Shepard now realised something, from what Benezia was saying and how she was reaction, she looked like she was under some sort of mind control, she was not helping Saren willingly, she was being forced "What is Saren planning?" she questioned
"And what does he want with me?" Liara added
"It is a terror to be trapped in your own mind." Benezia stated "To beat upon the glass as your hands torture and murder. I was powerless but a tool for Saren. As for his plans, he sent me on a mission to find the location for the Mu Relay, its position was lost thousands of years ago."
"Wait, how can you lose a Relay Position and why does he need a Relay, couldn't he just use Hyperdrives?" Garrus questioned
"Hyperdrives are very complex, they're not a simple as you think" Shepard stated "That's why the Council have been unable to use them properly. And even so, the Hyperlanes follow the same route as the Mass Relays, you can't just blast from one system to another, you could crash straight into a planet, Republic Pilots go through a lot of Training before they can use Hyperdrives."
"As for the Mu Relay, I remember reading something about a Relay that was blown out of orbit by a Supernova. That could be the Mu Relay." Liara stated
"It is." Benezia stated "The Rachni were able to locate the Mu Relay but when the Krogan wiped them out, the location was lost. This Rachni Queen has the location and I downloaded the data onto this data disk, here take it." Benezia handed over a data disk to Benezia
"Knowing the location of the Relay is not enough." Bau stated "The Relay could connect to many systems, we need to know where Saren's trying to go."
"Mother, did Saren say where he was going?" Liara asked
Benezia shook her head "Saren never said, only that he is looking for something called the Conduit. But you must move quickly, I sent Saren the location before you arrived." Then Benezia started groaning and grabbed her head again "Ahhh, you have to stop me! I can't... his teeth are in my ear... Fingers on my spine... Saren is close to finding the rest of the data, you have to..." she screamed some more.
Liara gasped "Mother no!" she yelled "You have to fight him! Don't leave!"
Benezia screamed "I'm sorry Liara, you've always made me proud. No matter what the other Matriarchs say, you are the best of us." She screamed before she turned around and her eyes were glowing purple "DIE!" she fired a Biotic blast at them which knocked them all back and her biotic barrier blocked all shots from Garrus, Bau and Shepard's Assault rifles. Liara and Kaidan used their own Biotic powers to try and break Benezia's barrier but Benezia was very strong with her Biotic Powers since she was an Asari Matriarch. But eventually, she began to use up all of her power eventually, her barrier broke and as soon as it broke, a full magazine of bullets hit her stomach. Benezia then collapsed against the Rachni Queen's tank.
"Mother!" Liara yelled and ran over to her mother.
Benezia managed to give her daughter a weak smile before turning to Shepard "I cannot go on Shepard! You will have to stop Saren."
"Hold on Benezia." Shepard gasped as she knelt in front of the dying Asari Matriarch "We have Medi gel, we can heal you."
Benezia shook her head "No, Saren is still in my mind. Even if you heal me, he will take over my mind again. I will never be free of him. I won't let that happen. Please, just let me die."
"Mother no!" Liara cried "Please, don't leave me!"
Benezia smiled "Good night my little wing." She said softly "I will see you again with the dawn." And with those last words, Benezia's body went prone as he eyes closed and with that, Matriarch Benezia died.
Shepard sighed and placed her arm on Liara's shoulder who was kneeling in front of her mother's body "Liara, I'm sorry. I really am."
Liara used her sleeve to dry her tears "Even after what she did, she was still my mother and Saren had her under some kind of mind control. Saren will pay for this, he'll pay for causing my mother's death."
"He'll pay." Shepard agreed "But first we have to find him."
"We better get back to the Normandy then and make preparations." Garrus stated
"But before we do, we still have one more thing to deal with here." Bau stated and pointed at the Rachni Queen, "What do we do with her."
Shepard walked close to the Rachni Queen's tank but didn't see one of the Asari Commando's bodies start to get up and start walking towards her like a zombie. Shepard then jumped in shock when the Rachni Queen banged it's head against the glass walls and Shepard backed into the Asari which made her pull her pistol. The Asari walked next to the tank in front of where the Rachni Queen's mouth was and her eyes opened.
"This one, serves as our voice." The Asari said "We cannot sing, not in these low spaces, your music's are colourless."
"What's going on?" Shepard questioned "Who am I speaking to?"
"We are the mother." The Asari replied "We sing for those left behind, the children you thought silenced."
Bau gasped "The Rachni Queen is speaking through the Asari." He stated "The stories said that they spoke to their young through singing we didn't understand."
"How are you speaking through the Asari?" Shepard questioned as she approached the tank.
"Our kind sings through the touchings of though." The Rachni Queen replied through the Asari "We plunk the strings and the other understands, she is weak to urging. She has colours we have no names for but she is ending. Her music is bittersweet, it is beautiful. You are not in harmony with those who hoped to control us. Will you sing? Will you release us? Are we to fade away once more?"
Bau knew what was going on "Shepard, the Rachni were responsible for the near destruction of the Citadel nearly 1000 years ago. What if that happens again?"
"There are acid tanks attached to her tank." Kaiden stated as he looked at the tank "If you activate them then that acid will dissolve anything that it touches, they must have been installed for a reason."
"Shepard wait." Liara stated "This is a hard choice but do we really have to kill this queen? The Citadel let the Krogan go too far, this is a chance for them to atone. This queen has done nothing to us."
Shepard knew that she would have to make a hard choice, if she released the queen then there was the chance of a second Rachni War happening. But if she killed the queen, she would be responsible for dooming an entire race, no one wanted to live with that.
"You companions hear the truth." The Rachni queen stated "You have the power to free us, or to return our people to the silence of memory."
"If I let you live, will you attack the other races again like the Rachni did before?" Shepard questioned
"No." The Rachni Queen responded "I do not know what happened in the war. We only heard discordance, songs of the colour of oily shadow. We would seek a hidden place to teach our children harmony. If they understood then perhaps we would return."
Shepard made her choice "I will not be responsible for the destruction of an entire race. You can go."
Bau looked at her "Shepard are you sure about this?" he questioned "Look, I know I'm the Spectre here but you made the decisions here. You know the council will not be too happy about this?"
"I will not be named for the destruction of an entire race." Shepard stated "Besides, the Rachni may be misunderstood, we have an insect species in the Republic and they get on just fine. Besides, she may be useful to the Galaxy in the future."
"You gave us a chance to compose anew." The Rachni Queen replied "We will remember, we will sing songs of your forgiveness to our people." The Asari body dropped to the floor and Shepard walked over to the controls as the Rachni Queen looked at her through her tank. Shepard activated the controls and tank rose up and a door opened. The Rachni Queen gave one last look at Shepard before running through the hole to freedom.
"Well now that our mission here is done, we should head back to the Normandy." Bau stated
"Agreed." Shepard stated "We have taken out part of Saren's operation but Saren is still out there. We'll discuss our plans when we get back to the Normandy."
Chapter End:
Notes: Another chapter finished and this was the longest chapter yet, a lot longer than I originally thought it was going to be. This is my first chapter of 2020. I would like to address some of the reviews I've been getting, I know people want to see Star Wars technology but I don't want to have the Republic too overpowered but went we get to the Armstrong Nebula and Feros parts, you will see a proper battle written in those chapters but the next chapter will be a few side quests. I have also rewritten the timeline, the reason for this was because I felt it was a bit too unrealistic about how quick the Republic grew in power so now the Mass Effect Timeline is not the same and I also brought in a few extra species into the Republic as well as extending the verge war.
