Chapter Forty-Six: Double Strike Pt. VI
"If you can see 'em, shoot 'em. If you can't see 'em, find 'em. And if you can't find 'em... better hope your helmet is strapped on tight, your mag is full, and your bladder is empty."
- UNSC Marine Corps Handbook (Unofficial)
Thessia, Parnitha System
Capitol Government District
"Daaammn Colonel…. I see why Lidayna is so head-over-heels for you."
"Stow it Gunny."
"You stow it ma'am. Learn to take a compliment."
Erissa Levas sneered at Master Gunnery Sergeant Janissa and put away her pocket mirror away into her small handbag. "You have your uniform, I have mine."
The two Asari could not look more different. The Master Gunnery Sergeant was adorned in her SpecOps armor - jet black nanolaminate plate with plenty of sleek compartments for ammunition, grenades, medical supplies, rations, high explosives, and other utility gear. Peeking over the lip of a shoulder was the compacted form of a Disciple shotgun.
Levas on the other hand…
She was wearing a floor-length formal dress of shimmering navy-violet silk, patterns of intermingling color swirls shining on each hip. The garment was tight fitting around the chest and waist, showing off Levas' graceful curves, widening out near the bottom in a way that almost completely obscured her slender black high heels. The V-neck cut running in between her breasts was low, dangerously so, but there was no doubting the Commando pulled the look off.
Over the Sergeant's shoulder she could see quite a few of the Arbiter's SpecOps Sangheili looking not-so-sneakily her way, quickly diverting their gaze back to their weapons and gear checks when they noticed her disapproving glare.
Levas rolled her eyes. Being universally attractive to almost every species was a mixed bag sometimes.
The blackops team was in an abandoned warehouse, waiting for their mission to start. Amidst the old, dusty crates and under the dim, flickering overhead lights that had been turned on for the first time in years, the special forces team completed their final preparations. The locations had been scouted, plans of action had been drawn up and reviewed, explosive charges had been set, vehicles had been 'procured', and weapons, armor, and gear had been checked.
It was time for their final briefing, and Levas called to all the operatives. "Alright, gather 'round everyone."
Eighteen Special Operations Sanghieli and three Asari Commandos — all in helmets and full tactical gear — formed a loose semi-circle around Levas.
"Okay," Levas started, "One hour until the Arbiter arrives. Let's run through it one more time."
It was quite the dichotomy - Levas running the briefing in her striking formal dress, holding a small purse in one hand, opposite of the heavily armed and armored special forces soldiers listening to her.
"D'avi, vehicles?" Levas asked.
"Check. One aircar for you, two appropriated catering airtrucks for the rest of us. Infil routes have been scouted and approved. Minimal security," the commando captain replied.
Levas nodded. "'Taham, status on the charges on the statue?"
"Set, online, and waiting for the activation signal," the Sanghieli officer replied.
"Good. Remember, we're here for the Key, and to make a statement. No one dies unless it's absolutely unavoidable," Levas said. "The Reapers and the Flood are our real enemies."
Serious nods from all assembled. In addition to their standard combat loadouts, each member of the teams other than Levas carried a modified plasma pistol designed to deliver a high-voltage stun impact to their target, instead of a lethal glob of superheated plasma. It was effective at contact range like a taser, and at a distance as a projectile.
Second Lieutenant Rascha Vaya had volunteered to test the device to ensure it would work on other Asari, and after she came to five minutes later the stun pistol was deemed plenty effective for their mission.
"You all know the courtyard layout," Levas continued. They had studied in-depth the blueprints of the government complex's sprawling, lavishly decorated central courtyard that the Gala was taking place in. "Get to your positions, identify security and non-VIPs, and wait for the signal."
She looked towards the rest of her Asari team, D'avi, Vaya, and Janissa. "Biotic negation. Immobilize, but don't harm. We need the VIPs awake and alert for the Arbiter's arrival."
"Ma'am," Captain D'avi nodded in acknowledgement.
"Okay," Levas said, satisfied. She reached into her handbag and withdrew two items. One, a small earpiece comms unit that fit snugly and stealthily into her left inner ear canal, and two, a pair of clear contact lenses that she gingerly placed onto her eyes. She blinked to activate the lenses' heads-up display, and all members of her team were silhouetted in a mild blue lines.
Levas pressed the left side of her molars together, the specific pressure in her jaw triggering her earpiece. "Gear check. Go Black."
Near simultaneously the special forces team vanished into thin air as they activated their active camouflage, with only the slightest shimmers in the dusty, yellow-tinged air of the abandoned warehouse signifying their presence.
To Levas however, their blue-lined silhouettes and combat designation IDs were still visible, her lenses' HUD imposing the information over her left eye. "Check," she said, providing acknowledgement that her gear was functioning.
Her team decloaked and Levas reached one more time into her small purse, withdrawing her final piece of equipment — a paper thin film of photoactive, translucent carbon plastic filiments. Levas draped the sheet over her face, feeling the material adhere itself to her skin. The film had a microprocessor unit contained within that connected with her omni-tool and followed the preset configuration, retracting perfectly sized holes around her eyes, nostrils, and mouth. Last but not least, with a series of blinks she had her contacts change her eye color to a deep, dark navy blue.
"D'avi, check me."
The commando Captain stepped up to her and keyed her omni-tool, bringing up a high-res facial of Admiral Teysa Lidanya. "It never gets any less freaky. Perfect match Colonel. Admiral, I should really say."
D'avi gave Levas a mock salute, and Levas rolled her eyes. She took out a small mirror out of her bag and checked herself. D'avi was right, it was.. unsettling in a way.
She looked like an exact picture of Admiral Lidanya, down to her red facepaint, the freckles on her lower cheeks, and the small birthmark right above the left corner of her upper lip. This would do.
Levas closed her foldable mirror with a decisive snap. "Mount up."
Special Operations Officer Usze 'Taham triggered off the magnification on his visor. "All elements, report. 1-1 in position."
"1-2 and 1-3 ready."
The time was upon them. First and Second Lances had spread out in pairs throughout the outer perimeter of the Gala.
The gathering was centrally located just in front of the large statue of Athame, which was where most of the Asari government officials, dignitaries, and high ranking military officers were mingling around high tables.
"1-4, 1-5 green."
Elegantly dressed servers walked throughout the crowd with practiced care carrying trays of drinks and finger foods. The total count was eighty seven guests, twenty catering staff, and fifteen guards.
"1-6, 1-7 holding in place."
The Special Operations Sangheili and Asari Commandos were hidden in the shadows, nooks, and behind the ample cover provided by the extensive gardens that surrounded the central courtyard the Gala was being hosted in.
"1-8 and 1-9, we're fine."
'Taham registered a shimmering to his left, but wasn't alarmed. It was his element parter, Captain D'avi.
"1-A, I'm okay," she said. "VIP's identified, sending data."
'Taham's visor updated with the information sent by D'avi, and several Asari throughout the crowd were silhouetted by yellow lines. One in particular was outlined in red — Councilor Tevos — who was accepting greetings from all guests just in front of the statue of Athame.
Good, thought 'Taham, as his Lance finished reporting. "Any eyes on Spectre?"
"Not yet," 1-8 replied. He and 1-9 made up First Lance's marksman team, positioned on the roof of a four-story office building on the outskirts of the courtyards gardens, two hundred and fifty meters distant from the statue of Athame. "Her aircar is descending now."
'Taham's comms clicked as a new channel was opened to him from his second in command, N'tho 'Sraom.
"Report Second Lance is ready," he said, positioned on the complete opposite side of their courtyard encirclement.
It wasn't a long ride to the government complex. The aircar's onboard VI could pilot itself so Levas sat back in the driver's seat, hands off the steering wheel, and watched as the skyline of Thessia swept past her.
Compared to her last visit on-planet nearly fifty years ago, the landscapes and architecture had hardly changed. The tall, gleaming residential and office buildings with their graceful curves and arches were a familiar sight, as were the greenway skybridges connecting them, the rooftop mezzanines, and quaint parks dotted all around.
What was different was how little activity Levas saw along the streets and avenues she passed by on her way to the government complex. If she had to guess, not even half of the usual air and ground traffic she would have expected was out and about.
While she was with Lidanya, her lover had explained how the Asari Republic's sudden policy of isolationism from the rest of the Citadel races had resulted in wide-ranging and fast acting economic, political, and mental strife amongst the general Asari population. The actions of those few at the top — Tevos included — had unwittingly cast the rest of the Asari into the mold of galactic pariahs. Cowards, turncoats, good-for-nothings… new labels given to them by the rest of the galaxy, along with many others that were much more crude.
Levas had seen it herself just hours beforehand, where the streets outside the Sapphire Spectre and the club itself had been more or less deserted. Fifty years ago, the spot would have been crammed with Asari and other galactic tourists alike.
Her aircar's VI dinged to let her know that it was starting its descent vector towards the government complex's courtyard. Levas watched out the window as the car banked downwards at a leisurely pace towards a paved clearing meant for arriving guests to be dropped off by their vehicles.
She got a good sighting of the Gala's proceedings from the air - clumps of socializing Asari along swaths of healthy green grass and cobbled stoneways, long tables no doubt laid out with gourmet food and drink, decorative ground lighting and floating lamps of shifting colors, and a few majestic fountains. Looming in the background was the thirty-meter tall statue of Athame, the ancient Asari goddess of prophecy and fate.
The aircar's mass effect drives hummed quietly as it set itself down on the designated landing zone, the side door swinging open upwards. Levas gracefully stepped out and straightened, smoothing the wrinkles on her dress.
It was early summer on Thessia, and at this time in the late afternoon with Parnitha hanging low in the sky the climate well suited Levas' choice of attire. She saw an extravagantly red and wide carpet at the end of the paved landing zone, with a pair of severe looking security glancing her way. One of the Asari tilted her head inwards in a 'come here' motion, and Levas obliged.
She wasn't nervous in the slightest walking up to the first challenge of the operation. She had been a commando for far too long and participated in missions far more covert than this one to allow time to any of those emotions.
"Name?" one of the Asari security workers said. Like her counterpart besides her, Levas could see a Phalanx heavy pistol snug in a secure holster on her hip.
"Teysa Lidanya," Levas replied.
"Yes ma'am'. We have been told to let Councilor Tevos know when you arrive," the guard said, waving her towards them as she withdrew a handheld security scanner from her belt.
Levas raised her brows slightly. "Is that so?"
"Of course Admiral Lidanya," the guard said, waving the scanner over her head and chest importance. "She's decided to make you the guest of honor."
As they had been designed, Levas' inner-earpiece comm, contact HUD lenses, and carbon-filament facemask were not picked up by the relatively standard security scanner.
Guest of honor? This was a new development. Lidayna hadn't told her anything about being a 'guest of honor' at this Gala. Either she hadn't known, or Tevos had declared that this would be the case just within the past few hours.
"I see," Levas said. "Well I won't keep the Councilor waiting."
"You're clear, enjoy the Gala Admiral," the lead guard said, laying out her arm onwards towards the party.
Levas smiled at her, nodding before heading with purpose down the red carpet.
Towards the objective.
"Spectre is moving," 1-8 called over team comms.
'Taham saw her, striding down the carpet and into the Gala proper. Her long, toned legs propelled her quickly through the crowd with long strides, fine silk of her dress shifting around her.
Most of the Asari guests stepped aside to let her through, taking a pause from their drinks and quiet deliberations to offer a small smile or curt nod, which Levas would return.
The team had all heard the conversation she had with the guards at the entrance. Tevos has made 'Lidanya' the Guest of Honor for the night's ceremonies. That didn't exactly change the mission at hand, but for some reason it did start a familiar, uneasy feeling of anxiety that settled in a small pit in the Sanghieli's gut.
'Taham thought that Levas would have been intercepted by various individuals and groups looking to exchange formal pleasantries or curry favor with the master of 1st Fleet and the Destiny Ascension, but they instead were just moving to make a clear path for Levas to head right towards the statue of Athame - and Councilor Tevos.
"Got guards moving, two, towards the perimeter crowd," called 1-3.
"Stay on them," 'Taham said. The two Lances already had their targets picked out, ready to deliver a hail of stun fire on Levas' codeword. The Sangheili Officer saw as two more guards from the opposite side of the courtyard started slowly shifting their way to the outskirts of the assembled Asari as well.
A status light in his HUD flashed a quick yellow - from his element partner, D'avi.
"What is it?" 'Taham asked, opening a private channel between them.
The Asari was fifteen meters away and two his left, crouching behind a solid concrete planter and its accompanying thin, decorative tree. "I dunno. Something's not right. Feel it in my gut."
'Taham grunted. "As do I."
He opened a channel to the leader of Second Lance. "N'tho?"
"Something has changed brother," he said without hesitation. "The air is different."
'Taham tried to focus in on the strange sensations within him. He shouldn't have been this stressed, he was a hardened veteran of hundreds of combat actions and covert operations, and this one wasn't much different. Why then did his stomach feel heavy and the space behind his eyes throb dully? He looked to the countdown timer in the upper right corner of his HUD that signified when the Arbiter would arrive.
4:49.
"Stay alert."
It took nearly everything in Levas' power not to rip Tevos' individual molecules apart with a violent string biotics when she finally saw her standing there underneath the statue of Athame.
Levas was a professional though, so instead she just flashed a smile as she walked towards her.
As she got close enough to see the detail on her face, she could only describe the expression on Tevos as political smugness. On her part the Asari ex-Councilor was wearing a rather conservative long sleeve crimson dress, and in one hand was holding a tall flute of champagne.
"Lidanya, esteemed Admiral," Tevos cooed at her. She raised an arm out towards her in an indication that 'Lidanya' was supposed to come close and receive a hug.
Levas stepped closer and used the rest of the restraint left in her soul to lean in for the short embrace with Tevos.
"Tevos, you look well," Levas said. She didn't mean it. Her eyes looked darker, and it wasn't the makeup around them.
"As do you, Admiral," Tevos replied. "And now that you're here, the Gala can truly begin."
The red-dressed Asari turned away from her and towards the rest of the guests, raising her voice for all to hear. Immediately the chatterings and whispers amongst the other invited Asari died down as they gave their quiet respect towards the Councilor.
"Greetings all!" she exclaimed warmly, "Friends, comrades, sisters-in-spirits. If you would allow me to introduce our guest of honor tonight, the famous Matriarch, Admiral Teysa Lidanya. Captain of the Destiny Ascension, Commandant of the First Fleet, Guardian of Thessia and her peoples."
There was light applause from the assembled, but Tevos raised a hand to stop it before continuing. "And… a traitor of the Republics."
Before she could react Tevos kicked inwards on the back of Levas' left knee, sending her to the ground and buckling her legs. At the same time she grabbed Levas' wrists and clamped down hard, enveloping them in individual biotic stasis fields. As she fell to her knees Tevos kept her there with a hand digging into her shoulder with a grip much, much stronger than Levas ever thought she could have.
As Levas cursed herself for letting her guard down, the rest of the Asari guests recoiled with shocked gasps, open mouths, and wide eyes at the sight of Admiral Teysa Lidanya on her knees in front of Tevos.
"I have the shot!" barked 1-8.
"More guards coming out!" called 1-5. "Count twenty-five!
The tactical situation had drastically changed in the span of two seconds and now 'Taham was playing his least favorite game on the field of battle - playing catch-up. His deep-cover operative was now a hostage, and the number of armed potential enemy combatants had just doubled.
'Taham saw the new cadre of guards stream out of secret access doors placed in walls in the gardens, rushing past their stealthed positions as they sought to encircle the guests in the courtyard.
The Sangheili got a good look at one of the guards as she passed, and one thing stood out to him clearer than any other.
It was her eyes. They were lifeless… open, but unseeing.
"Designate new targets, go lethal on my mark."
Levas pressed her molars together twice in quick succession to send a pair of clicks through the Special Operations unit's comm channel.
Negative.
She was able to hear everything that the team was saying, and she knew that 'Taham was just a word away from having his Lances rain down molten plasma on Tevos and her guards, but not yet.
Tevos had called Lidanya a traitor. She had to find out why.
"You see, even the best among us can make mistakes. We all here have erred," Tevos said. The rest of the assembled guests were rooted to the spot, some of the military officers noticing their sudden encirclement by the guards and narrowing their eyes with suspicious alarm.
"But when the misjudgments by those in the highest positions of power threaten the sanctity and safety of the entire Asari race… appropriate responses must be taken," Tevos said with grim sincerity.
"What in Athame's name are you doing Tevos?" Levas said. "Release me immediately, you don't have the authority to do this to an Admiral of the Republics Navy!"
Tevos leaned down and hissed in her ear. "An Admiral of the Republics Navy doesn't conspire with enemies of the state. Tell me Lidayna, was it worth your night with her?"
Levas flushed in surprise. "What are you talking about?"
"I had eyes on your entire rendezvous with her, Admiral. The Sapphire Spectre, the motel, I saw everything you did." Tevos used her other hand to grab the fringes of Levas' head and jerk it up to look at her. There was anger in her eyes. Dark, malevolent anger. "Where is she! Where is my sister!"
Levas' face contorted into a snarl. "Go to hell."
Yes, Commando Erissa Levas and Councilor Jari Tevos were sisters. Tevos had always despised Levas, having been an only child for three hundred years before their mother had decided to have another. Not being able to understand why her own grand accomplishments weren't enough to satisfy their mother, Tevos took to using her political power to try and hinder Levas at every turn.
Levas had originally dreamt of captaining her own vessel, but Tevos had bribed or threatened every naval academy so as not to consider her for admission. Only the Commando program showed interest in her, and because everything was kept below-board at Levas' request, thankfully Tevos couldn't do anything about that.
That was, until the Councilor had requested a commando team for a wetwork operation against an Asari businesswoman on Illuim who was suspected to be involved in some nefarious activity - namely using her company's transport ships to smuggle arms to the Eclipse Gang.
It was Levas' first time in command, and was a set-up from the very start of the operation. Ecplise gang members had ambushed them right when they had gotten to the 'safe house'. She had been the only survivor, and had nearly gone postal when she was passed information that Tevos had found out just what her sister had been up to for the past several years. Levas had no doubt in her mind that it had been Tevos who had personally requested that her team take the operation, that it had been Tevos who organized the set-up, and that it had been Tevos who was responsible for the spilled blood of her fellow commandos.
Lidanya had taken Levas in after that, having her transferred to the Destiny Ascension and providing her with a new team - her current team. From the first time they laid eyes on each other Levas and Lidanya knew that they wanted to be together, but due to administrative rules in the Navy and Special Operations Command, officers between the two branches were prohibited from having romantic relationships. While they had tried their best to be secret over the decades, one day a VI mole that had wormed its way into the Destiny Ascension's network used a security camera to get footage of a short kiss the two had shared in an empty observation room.
Levas' transfer orders to the remote mining colony of Tarissa had come the day after. After a tearful, heartfelt goodbye with Lidanya, Levas had staked herself out in Tevos' residence, waiting for her to get back from deliberations with other Republic government officials. She had debated on killing her, because she knew that Tevos was the one who had been spying on her, and had never let go of the conspiracy that the Councilor was responsible for the death of her first team. When her sister had walked through the door alone, Levas had held off on physical attacks, but the things she had said, screamed, yelled, and threatened her with ended with Tevos muscling the rest of the Republic Governors to issue a universal ban from ever stepping foot on Thessia for the rest of Levas' life.
"Tell me now, and I'll simply imprison you," Tevos threatened.
"Tevos, let her go!" It was one of the guests who had stepped forwards from the crowd. Levas recognized her, Admiral Hir'Tali, in charge of the Fourth Fleet. "You're not a dictator, you can't do things like - "
Tevos looked to the side and nodded. One of the guards raised her rifle and put a single shot into Admiral Hir'Tali's head, spraying blood, chunks of brain matter, and bits of shattered skull all over the Asari guests besides her. The government officials in the crowd gasped or screamed in surprise and fear, while the military officers and their entourage flared up biotic barriers and turned to face the guards that had now completely encircled their group with weapons raised.
Tevos grabbed the back of Levas' head and turned it to look at the fallen corpse of Amiral Hir'Tali, whose eyes were frozen in an open expression of surprise as dark blood ran from the holes in her head like a river. "This is what will happen if you lie to me! I know you know where she is Lidanya, tell me! This is what will happen to all of you if you are not loyal to the Republics! I'm simply doing what they demand!"
Levas took a sharp, reactionary inhale. They?
"Go!" 'Taham exclaimed into the teamcomms.
Levas was the leader of the op - but she was in trouble - so he was making the call. Tevos' guards had already killed one Asari VIP, and had the rest at gunpoint. The time for action was now.
Dialed in on his target, 1-8 feathered the custom trigger of his Type-50 Long Range Particle Rifle. It was an easy shot for the SpecOps marksman, two hundred and fifty meters distant from a sixty meter elevation.
The beam of blue-white directed energy hit Tevos in the direct-center mass of her chest. Even if she would have had a biotics barrier up — which she didn't — the beam had enough kinetic and thermal energy to blast a neat hole through her sternum and out her shoulder blades, taking with it a good portion of her heart, left lung, ribcage, and upper spinal cord.
The rest of the Special Operations team opened up at their designated targets at the same time, sending flurries of deathly accurate plasma, carbine, and mass accelerator fire towards Tevos' guards. With the element of surprise on their side, the first nineteen guards crumpled as their uniforms and skin were slagged or riddled with holes.
While most of the Asari guests crouched low and covered their heads in instinctual fear of the incoming fire, some of the military officers had the presence of mind to erect a wide biotic barrier that enveloped their cramped group.
The remaining twenty-one guards tried to spin around to return fire at their surprise aggressors, but the Arbiter's Special Operations soldiers were too experienced, too talented, and had done far too many alpha-strikes out of concealment to give the Asari security even the slightest chance. Expertly shifting their aim with the movement of their targets, the Sangheili/Asari Lances second salvo struck just as true as the first.
With the armed opposition out of the way, 'Taham signaled for his soldiers to push forward. "Secure Spectre and the VIPs!"
Levas knew what it meant when she saw the flash on the top of the office building on the outskirts of the garden. It was 1-8 taking his shot, she had heard 'Taham give the order to engage through her earpiece comm.
She heard the whip-crack of the Particle Rifle's report, felt Tevos' grip on the back of her head loosen suddenly, and as Levas spun around on her knees she saw her sister falling backwards. The biotic stasis field on her hands having dissipated, Levas lunged towards Tevos and caught her in her arms as she fell. Her body was limp, a likely side effect from 1-8's beam round severing her spinal cord, but her face was still moving, eyes darting back and forth.
That is what Levas focused in on. Not the blood pouring out of the entrance and exit wounds on her chest and back, not on the thunderous whine of close-range plasma fire as 'Taham soldiers engaged the guards, but her eyes.
Their gazes met, and Levas knew what she needed to do. Her eyes blacked over as she whispered, "Embrace eternity."
Levas was almost rebuffed from the connection, but she steeled herself and pressed onwards. As their consciousness synced in the blue-black void of the meld, she knew that this was no longer her sister.
Jari Tevos as she used to be no longer existed. Instead of visually 'seeing' the body and spirit of your partner in the meld, Levas saw just a maelstrom of swirling black - a roiling stormcloud in the shape of a person, rippling with sparks of violet-red energy.
"You're too late," the cursed apparition hissed, and assaulted Levas' mind with a series of rapid-fire memories.
A mysterious gift that appeared outside her door after a dull day negotiating trade agreements. Contained in a single box, as she withdrew it she marveled at its beauty — a fruit-sized sphere of dark, smooth glass, struck through with the breathtaking color of what she thought an imploding star would have looked like.
Red and black. Fire and void.
It was pretty and pleasing to the eye, so she found a space for it in her bedroom, by the window so that the light from Parnitha could play across it's reflective surface in the late afternoon sunset.
Red and black. Fire and void.
The words first touched her a week later. They slipped into her mind so slyly, so simply, that she thought they were her own. Only she could lead the Asari to greatness. Only her — Councilor Jari Tevos, Matriarch — could be trusted with the true ascension of their race. She knew this, she had always known this.
Fire and void. Black and red.
No one else could be trusted. Only she knew what to do. They told her to be wary of everyone. She thought of reaching out and apologizing to her sister, but no. That was foolish. She didn't deserve to be spoken too. She was an enemy. Banishment was the only proper course. Exile.
Void and black. Fire and red
She was doing good. She was useful. She was favored. Tevos would be greatly rewarded for her loyalty. She would be given greater power than she ever could have dreamed of. She would be spared.
She was to place their beacon into the hands of Athame's statue, and gather an audience for their arrival.
Levas recoiled in horror and despair at the meld died, Tevos' brain losing function. "Oh Jari, what have you done?"
The air around them was much darker, more so than could be expected in the waning sunset provided by Parnitha. Levas looked up, and she saw why.
Towering two kilometers above the statue of Athame, there was the physical manifestation of the whirlwind of evil she had witnessed in the meld with Tevos.
It was a Reaper, looking down on her with six glowing eyes sparkling blood-red. It roared, sending wind whipping through the gardens and courtyard, blowing out windows, and drowning out all senses.
She looked around as movement caught in her eye, and her heart sunk even more as she saw dozens of other Reapers rocketing down onto the ground throughout the city. This was it. This would be the Asari's reckoning.
In her lenses' HUD she could see the countdown read 0:00.
Arbiter, we need you.
Thanks to the slipspace beacon placed by the Special Operations team on their way down to infiltrate Thessia, the Shadow of Intent exited the eleven non-visible infentismile dimensions right where it meant to - directly above the central government complex.
As the Assault Carrier slid through the portal into realspace, it was somewhat surprised to see a Sovereign-class Reaper standing right in front of its egress point, facing towards them.
The Shadow of Intent's bulbous, hooked bow struck the standing Reaper right in the center of its upper mass, energy shielding flaring brightly. Unable to withstand the raw kinetic force of a five-kilometer warship striking it in such a way even at its relatively low speed, the Reaper tumbled backwards and fell with it's 'back' crushing a section of the Republics Grand Assembly chambers behind it, sending shockwaves coursing through the ground.
The Reaper warbled in alarm and protest, peppering the front of the Shadow of Intent with laser batteries and a number of main battery magnetohydrodynamic cannon rounds. Like a much older sibling ignoring the protestations of a younger brother, the Intent shrugged off the incoming fire as it fully exited the slipstream portal and slowed to a stop above the complex.
Energy flashed near the bow of the Assault Carrier and a lance of silver-white shot forth from the ship, piercing the stricken Reaper below it. It screamed as the Intent's number two energy projector sliced the sentient AI-driven warship in half lengthwise, right down the middle. The immediate threat taken care of, a gravity lift was extended towards the surface, just at the rear of the central courtyard the Gala had taken place in.
While one individual and two bonded pairs floated down to the ground, the port and starboard lines of the Assault Carrier flared as plasma torpedoes were targeted and launched at other Reapers touching down throughout the city.
Surrounded by two pairs of towering armored Mgalekgolo, Arbiter Thel 'Vadam stepped out of the gravity lift and into the courtyard.
The air smelled of ozone, particles of atmosphere ionized by the firing of the energy projector and plasma torpedoes above. He could hear the distant echoes and roars of Reapers, the blasts of weapons, sharp retorts of mass accelerator gunfire, and screams of Asari civilians.
Thel saw a worried, frantic group of Asari gathered into a tight ball, maybe a hundred or so coming his way, lead by the three other commandos of Levas' team, flanked by two pairs of SpecOps Sangheili.
"Get them on board and organize getting military leaders back to their commands," the Arbiter said as they approached within earshot. "D'avi, Janissa, Vaya, see to it, then return to us."
The three Asari commandos nodded and ushered the group of VIPs towards the Shadow of Intent's awaiting gravity lift. One of the Asari, a naval officer judging by her dress uniform, shouted a question towards him as she was hurried forwards. "Who are you?"
"Your salvation," Thel replied.
Gablien-pattern repulsor engines whined and the Arbiter looked skywards. The looming form of the Intent blocked out much of the sky above, but he could see four CCS-class Battlecruisers peeling off in different directions to engage Reapers falling throughout the city, lateral plasma lines flaring and bow projectors flashing.
From these cruisers and the Intent herself swarms of Seraphs and Banshee fighters poured forth into the Thessian sky and quickly found themselves dogfighting with Oculus drones and screeching Harvesters. Phantom and Spirit dropships loaded with soldiers sped to deploy their charges in areas around the city where Reaper ground forces were already on the ground and spreading from drop-pods.
The Arbiter continued his walk forwards, seeing his SpecOps soldiers out of cloak dotted around the courtyard, policing Asari bodies and removing weapons from their vicinity. He saw Levas at the foot of the statue of Athame, crouched over the prone body of another Asari. Her own stark blue dress clashed greatly with the crimson red of the prone figure, and Thel could see the blood that had pooled around her upper chest and head on the neatly cobbled ground.
"Levas!" he called, and the Asari's head shot up towards him. She had pulled off the mask that had briefly made her Admiral Lidanya and he could see the wetness in her eyes, as well as the streaks of tear tracks down her face.
The commando captain looked up at the Arbiter, standing tall in his gold-plated Kaidon armor, gleaming even in the shadows cast by the Assault Carrier hovering above. "She was indoctrinated."
Thel hung his head in honest dismay. The plan was never to kill Tevos, rather to intimidate and inform her the path her choices would lead the Asari while he recovered the Key. Yet here he stood standing over her lifeless body, eyes drawn to the neat hole that had been punched into her sternum. Beam rifle shot. Must have been 1-8, Thel surmised. He would find out what all went wrong in the debriefing, but for now he had other concerns.
"The statue," he reminded gently.
Levas nodded, composing herself for a brief moment before tenderly picking her up in her arms. The two started back towards the gravity lift, away from the blast zone.
He found Officer Usze 'Taham waiting for his glance, and the Arbiter nodded when he met his eyes. 'Taham reached to his tac-pad and triggered the explosive charges that the team had set on the statue of Athame hours before.
The representation of the Asari goddess blew apart into thousands of shards of marble and metal frame. As the flames and smoke cleared, at the very base of the statue was a small cube of grey, unassuming material.
While Levas placed Tevos back on the ground to shut her eyelids with her fingers and pay her final respects, the Arbiter strode forwards on powerful legs towards his goal.
The rest of the SpecOps Sangheili and the four Mgalekgolo formed a tight perimeter around the courtyard while their leader approached what they had all come to Thessia for in the first place.
Thel stopped in front of what base was remaining from the statue explosion. The grey cube was now within arms reach, totally bereft of any details, and completely unscathed from the blasts.
The Asari kept this concealed here for who knows how long, Thel thought to himself. All the secrecy, hidden within the goddess herself, for nought.
The Key was not meant for them to access. It was meant for him.
The Arbiter reached out a long-fingered hand and pressed its palm flat against the face of the cube. To him it felt like placing your hand on the top of a body of water, and feeling that light yet present resistance. Thel pushed further and the material of the cube gave way, swallowing and enveloping his hand up to the wrist.
He was not alarmed, and he did not recoil in fear or hesitation. His fingertips felt something thin and smooth within the cube's hollow innards. He grasped it in his fingers, pulling the object back with care.
As he withdrew his limb from the cube he looked upon what was in his hand with the same wonder that he had each time before.
It was another Key, just as grey and unassuming as the safe it had been held in for untold millennia.
He was drawn back to present circumstances by hearing Levas scream in surprise and horror. Thel and many other Special Operations soldiers spun inwards towards the sound, only to see Levas scrambling away from the body of Tevos.
The Arbiter snarled as he found out why. Tevos' body was writhing in violent spasms and unnatural contortions. Thel watched as the dead Councilor's limbs grotesquely stretched and broke, her skin shriveled and withered away to that motley grey color of undeath, eyes and mouth replaced by gaping maws of pure black.
In a flash of biotic teleportation the creature went from laying on the ground to standing on legs that were disproportionately long, eyes of the void pointed right towards Thel — and the Key.
The reanimated husk of Tevos unhinged her jaw and screamed, and as the only one not wearing a helmet the Arbiter could see Levas recoiling in pain as she covered her ears from the auditory assault.
The situation became much more dire as all at once, the bodies of the slain Asari security guards started bucking and writhing as well, their own bodies morphing into the same vile abominations that Tevos has become.
"To me," Thel commanded over the teamcomms, and the rest of the SpecOps Sanghieli and four Mgalekgolo condensed their formation around him.
As each Asari husk shot upright, they added their own screams until forty-one undead Asari drowned out the erupting sounds of battle in the distance, each swirling with angry biotic energy.
"Orders Arbiter?" Lance Leader 'Taham urgently questioned as the lanky Asari husks started taking steps towards them.
He remembered facing creatures like these before, back on that mining world of Tarissa where they had gotten the first Key. Banshees, he recalled N'tho calling them in the post-op debrief. Once their biotic barriers were activated they could withstand an extraordinary amount of small arms fire and explosive power. When he had closed the distance and engaged a Banshee in close combat, his energy swords had cut right through the barriers and dead flesh beneath with ease.
All forty-one Banshee's facing down his team had their biotic barriers active.
Thel spoke with that calm determination that he was known for throughout the Sangheili military. "Draw swords."
Plasma blades all around snap-hissed to life, and the Mgalekgolo rumbled deeply with mirth at the promise of battle. The Arbiter crossed his two energy swords in a defensive guard in front of his chest, smoldering orange eyes staring down deep into the abyss of the orbital lobes of former Councilor Tevos.
The Banshees halted their screeches and leapt forward in biotic jumps to begin their attack.
The defense of Thessia had begun.
Only two more arcs left in the story. Following chapter will kick off the second-to-last arc, "The Battle of Nine Navies."
Thanks for reading.
P.S. Anyone still play Mass Effect 3 Multiplayer on the PC? I've got the nostalgia glasses for that game again.