Chapter Twenty-seven – Myriad
Jules rested her head against Liara's shoulder as the shuttle steadily rose through Piares' atmosphere. It was a subtle attempt to offer silent comfort to the asari, who still hadn't elaborated any further on what had happened between her and Kyla. All Jules did know was that Liara was watching the other asari with the wary attention that an alpha animal gives to a potential rival. Jules could only guess at what that meant.
Conversation had faltered between them and they were left listening to some embellished tale Kyla was relaying to the others, most of which Jules was fairly sure she was making up off the top of her head. After a few minutes she felt Liara's cheek press against her forehead.
"I don't know if it's entirely appropriate for the two most senior crewmembers to be seen acting like an old married couple in front of their squad," Liara murmured softly, not that the others seemed to be taking much notice.
Jules tried a shrug, which was somewhat difficult in her current position, "My ship. My rules. I'm thinking of making public displays of affection mandatory," Liara breathed a laugh, "anyway, who says you're one of the two most senior crewmembers? I was going to make Barbet my XO."
Liara pulled away slowly and Jules glanced up to see her glittering eyes were narrowed carefully, "What?" Jules asked, "I can't afford to show favouritism."
"Why? It's your ship, your rules."
Jules opened her mouth to reply, then she remembered that she never won these arguments anyway so she just smiled and settled back, "We need to come up with a proper chain of command," she added as an afterthought, "we didn't have the chance to sort out everyone's roles before we left."
"It's not an Alliance ship, Jules," Liara reminded her, "and they're not a military crew. A more relaxed approach might work better."
"Mm," Jules mused lazily, "I always was pretty relaxed, compared to most commanders."
"Shepard!" Egret's voice broke their conversation as she called through from the cockpit, "You'll want to see this."
Jules waited for a second, then sighed and patted Liara's thigh before she pulled away. She rolled her shoulders as she moved through into the cockpit, trying to prepare her body for another adrenaline fuelled excursion. Her implants may have prevented the ageing process but that didn't stop her from feeling old right now.
She found Egret gazing out at the edge of Piares' atmosphere as the shuttle broke through into space. She looked round as Jules entered and offered her half a smile, "I think I've found the right station," she gestured to the sensors.
"The biggest one?" Jules aksed.
"Yes. And there's this," as Jules leaned over to look at the console she saw the sensors were registering laser damage around the docking ports.
"Samara," she muttered, "she said she was being chased."
"I don't think that's it. It looks more like she had to shoot her way in."
"She's on a mission," Jules sighed, she'd never seen Samara this doggedly determined before. Running off half-cocked with no plan was a typically human thing to do – not something you expected from a thousand-year-old asari, "I'm assuming we can get in the same way?" she asked.
"I think she's cleared the way for us," Egret agreed, turning back to the controls, "The station's in low orbit, we'll be there soon."
"Good."
"What's Samara like?" Egret asked as she piloted the shuttle out of the last trails of the atmosphere.
"What do the stories say?"
"Not much."
Jules smirked, "Don't expect to learn any more from talking to her. No one could ever accuse her of oversharing."
As they manoeuvred around the curve of Piares, it didn't take long for the station to come into view. From the outside it didn't look very impressive; it was obviously several stations all bolted into one. Jules spotted typical asari designs along with a whole section that looked like it had once belonged to a turian cruiser.
There was crudely patched battle damage across most of the hull but it looked old, possibly from as far back as the war. All remained quiet as Egret moved the shuttle around to the docking bay and carefully brought it inside.
"Has no one tried to contact us?" Jules asked softly.
Egret checked her console and shook her head, "They must have seen us coming, surely?"
"Depends how much damage Samara's managed to do," Jules reasoned.
As they entered, Jules peered over Egret's shoulder to see the bay was empty save for the smouldering wreck of a shuttle that looked to have crashed inelegantly into the deck, managing to come to a stop just before it hit the back wall. A few bodies were scattered around it and in the middle of them, the static figure of an asari stood tall and calm as she awaited them. If Jules hadn't been able to see her face, she might have thought it was a statue.
Egret set the shuttle down and Jules felt the momentary spike of anticipation that always came when sneaking in to somewhere she shouldn't be. It was an odd mix of unease and excitement that had never gone away for her, no matter how many hostile bases she infiltrated.
"C'mon," she slapped Egret on the shoulder and moved out of the cockpit. The rest of the squad were on their feet by now with Liara standing by the door, her hands hovering over the panel. Jules gave her a nod and the door slid open, revealing Samara.
From the patient look on her face, one might have imagined she was meeting them for nothing more than a friendly reunion, perhaps a lunch date or a shopping trip, "Shepard," she stated politely, "I knew you would come."
"Did you?" Jules mused as she jumped down from the shuttle, "Maybe you could have used your powers of foresight to come up with a plan of escape for me."
"I wouldn't have insulted you by assuming you needed my help. Besides," she cast a glance over to her wrecked shuttle, "the circumstances were somewhat extreme."
Jules' team jumped down behind her and she was aware of them crowding her almost protectively as they gazed curiously at Samara. She could hardly blame them, she and Samara had been trying to kill each other in an arena only a few hours ago.
Liara came up to Jules' side, arms folded as though in defiance as Samara met her eye. Samara nodded at her politely.
"Liara, it is good to see you again."
"Justicar," Liara replied coldly, then she scanned the eerily empty room and the few dead security guards, "you've been busy."
Samara cocked her head, holding Liara's gaze. Jules wouldn't have wanted to be on the receiving end of the scathing look Liara was giving her, but Samara didn't waver.
"I'm assuming you have a plan?" Liara asked after a moment.
Samara inclined her head and turned away, "Follow me."
As they began to move, Jules leaned in to Liara's side, "You said you'd be nice," she murmured.
"I believe I said I would try not to be violent. Oh don't look at me like that Jules, I take offence when people nearly get you killed."
Samara led them over to a screen on the wall. She punched a few of the controls and the interface flickered into a map of the base, showing every level. Jules stepped forward and squinted, frowning at some of the rooms listed.
"Luxury suite, dining room, spa, ballroom? I thought this was some sort of art collection, not a hotel."
"It is both," Samara replied, "and more. This is where Cadeyrn entertains the upper classes."
"The upper classes?" Kyla verified sceptically, "This shithole planet has upper classes?"
"Yes," Samara agreed, "just because Piares is run on gambling and crime that does not mean it doesn't have an elite class. An aristocracy, if you like."
"Made up of who?"
She offered them a light shrug, "Crime lords who work under Cadeyrn, business owners from the upper city. Cadeyrn has spent his years in power showering them with riches and grandeur in return for their loyalty. Now they have as much of a taste for indulgence as he does. It is a culture entirely of Cadeyrn's making."
"And they come here?" Barbet asked, "To do what?"
"Some say they plot to bring down the Thessian Order, or they hide secrets from their people, or even that they are the Order. In truth they likely drink expensive alcohol and brag about their fortunes. While they're here, Cadeyrn shows off the treasures he has plundered from Thessia."
"Including Falere?" Jules said.
Samara looked away, "She is beautiful, charming, and unique. Quite the prize, I should think."
"Unique?" Maia ventured, carefully, "How so?"
"That's not important," Jules cut in, "do you have any idea where she might be," she gestured to the map. The station looked to be so extensive it could take hours to search it all.
"No," Samara replied.
"Great. How did you find out she was even on board?"
"Eisheth told me. She is another gang leader in the city, Cadeyrn's greatest rival and far more dangerous than he has ever been."
"Dangerous how?"
"Cadeyrn cares only for money and trinkets and things that sparkle. He only hurts people if it helps him gain that which he desires. Eisheth enjoys suffering and torture for its own sake, she is a sadist and – in human terms – a psychopath."
"Sounds like a great girl," Barbet muttered dryly, he was glancing around the deserted room, his finger tensed on his trigger like he was expecting trouble. The lack of any security was making Jules twitchy too, it seemed unlikely that the ones Samara had killed would have had no backup.
"Cadeyrn sent me to retrieve a tome that Eisheth stole from his freighter," Samara continued, "I told her she could keep it – and her life – if she told me where to find Falere."
"Don't tell me you kept that bargain," Jules said, "if she's that dangerous I'd have wanted her dead."
Samara tilted her head curiously, "I gave her my word."
"Seriously? You've spent the last six years killing people in Cadeyrn's arena for other people's entertainment and you decide to find your sense of honour when you're negotiating with a murderous psychopath?"
Samara blinked, her expression similar to that of a parent the first time their child is insolent enough to talk back to them, "You have become… harsher than I remember you, my friend."
"You're not exactly the asari I remember either," Jules retorted. She wasn't interested in getting into a debate about moral character right now though so instead she stepped up to the map and sighed, "where would they be keeping her?"
"We could split into groups to search," Maia suggested but Jules shook her head.
"It would still take too long," she turned to Samara, "how much security does this place have?"
"Not enough," Samara replied, "Cadeyrn's love of material possessions has stretched his resources rather thin. He has many treasures and many bases to house them but not enough people to keep them adequately protected. The station has gone into lockdown in response to my presence, the security are all guarding the guests and presumably the most valuable exhibits."
"So, as long as we stay out of their way, they probably won't come looking for us?"
"Probably not," Samara agreed, "Although, I imagine Cadeyrn is sending reinforcements from the surface by now."
Jules frowned, "There must be a control centre or a computer room. Somewhere that controls all the base's functions."
"What about here?" Maia stepped forward and indicated to a greyed out area on one of the decks, "It's a central location and it looks big enough."
Jules nodded, "It's worth a shot."
"What do you plan to do from there?" Samara asked her.
Jules shrugged, "I'm sure I'll have thought of something by the time we get there."
…
It was Liara who broke the lockdown on the door, allowing them to leave the docking bay. The base appeared deserted as they moved through it though they passed dozens of locked doors that could easily have been hiding Cadeyrn's rich guests. Jules had no interest in them, as much as she would have liked to explore, there was no time for it.
The station – much like Cadeyrn's throne room – was an odd take on grandeur. Even the corridors were extravagant, lined with artwork and sparkling chandeliers; but there was a grim undertone to the place, the haphazard feel of a station scavenged and bolted together from the remnants of war. The excessive riches did little to cover it up, in fact, they made it more obvious that Cadeyrn was trying to craft a world that was beyond his reach. This part of the galaxy hadn't recovered enough from the war for needless luxury to have a place here.
At one point Liara paused by one half of a stone tablet that was fixed to the wall. She raised a hand as though to touch it, but then thought better of it and backed away, "I studied this when I was at university," she muttered, "it was in one piece back then, I wonder where the other half is."
"In another one of Cadeyrn's collections, maybe," Jules suggested.
"Or destroyed by the reapers," Liara agreed.
Further on, they passed through a large hall and Cadeyrn hadn't wasted the opportunity to fill the space with statues and sculptures, each in their own display cases. A large, battered stone head lay in four parts in a particularly large glass case and Jules stopped to frown at it.
"Is that Athame's head?" she asked in surprise.
"From the temple where we fought Kai Leng," Liara agreed, coming up beside her, "I'm amazed it survived."
"You'd think Cadeyrn would at least have glued it back together."
They heard a snort from behind them and turned to see Kyla smirking and shaking her head, "What's funny?" Liara asked coldly.
"You two," she replied, "you're as much a part of history as all of this junk. We could put you in one of these display cases: Living Legends of the Reaper War," she framed the air in front of her as though picturing it.
"Don't give Cadeyrn ideas," Jules advised, "from what I've seen of him, he probably would."
Liara grimaced at the idea, but before she could reply she got distracted by another one of the cases, "It can't be," she muttered before pushing between them and bee-lining for an ancient looking ledger on display, "I petitioned the matriarchs over a dozen times to study this and they never allowed it."
"Is it important?" Kyla asked, casting it the most cursory of glances.
Liara frowned back at her, "It's the Castillion Peace Treaty. One of the most important historical discoveries in Thessia's history."
This apparently meant nothing to Kyla who shrugged dismissively, "So a load of regions that don't even exist anymore were at peace once, big deal."
Jules watched Liara bristle and then purposely keep herself calm, "It's not the content that was important, it's the fact it was written in four different ancient asari dialects, two of which had never been translated."
"So you used the two you did know to translate the other two?" Egret asked, coming over to look.
"Exactly," Liara turned away from Kyla to answer her, energised by somebody appearing interested, "that led historians to be able to translate numerous other artefacts that had never been deciphered before. This one discovery allowed us to unlock so many of Ancient Thessia's secrets, including…"
As Liara continued her lecture, Jules wandered over to a large glass window. Rather than looking out onto the stars, it revealed a room beyond it. A large pool took up most of the space but it didn't look like it was for swimming in. It was more like an artificial recreation of a natural environment, complete with rocks, sand and plant life, the kind you would find along a Thessian coastline.
For a moment Jules frowned at the scene, unable to figure out why they would build it here. Then the water rippled and a face emerged. Two large, glittering eyes met hers with interest and blinked for a moment before tentatively moving forwards through the water.
As it neared, the creature drew itself up out of the water, tilting its head curiously as it came to tower over her.
"Oh," Jules breathed, "you have got to be kidding me."
Just as humans had evolved from apes, the asari had evolved from the shae. They were mostly aquatic creatures though they were one of the few species in the known galaxy who could breathe both air and water. Among humans they were generally described as the closest you could ever get to a real life mermaid.
They were bigger than the asari, taller and broader but they had the same elegance. Their faces were large too and their eyes were far too big with wide, black pupils that almost drowned out the glittering blue of their irises where a keen intelligence lurked.
This one had bold, tiger-like patterns across its skin, which was closer to green in colour than blue; but still, the relation to the asari was evident.
The creature placed a hand against the glass, displaying five webbed fingers, not as delicate or well-formed as an asari's but not far off. Just like with apes, the shae were frighteningly familiar in their mannerisms and expressions, so close the asari and yet missing something it was hard to define, some spark of sentience just barely beyond their grasp.
The shae held Jules' gaze as it moved forward again, this time pressing its forehead on the glass like it wanted to touch her. Staring into those keen eyes, it was easy to believe that there was sentience lurking there, locked away behind some missed evolutionary step.
With only an inch of glass separating them, Jules was close enough to see the droplets of water running down the shae's face. Her hide was almost reptilian-looking and seemed far thicker and coarser than Liara's soft skin. As she opened her mouth, Jules saw a row of small, sharp fangs before the creature's breath misted up the glass.
"They are remarkable creatures," Jules jumped as Samara glided up beside her, gazing upon the shae with quiet respect, "Cadeyrn doesn't limit his treasures to material ones. They are prisoners here just like Falere," as she spoke, two more of the creatures emerged from the water. One stayed half-submerged, eyeing them suspiciously while the other ignored them completely, pulling herself out of the pool to lounge on the sand.
"Where the hell did he get them?" Jules asked weakly, she had seen pictures and vids of the creatures, but up close they were so much more breath-taking.
"Thessia, I imagine," Samara answered, rather obviously now Jules thought about it, "it pains me to see them here, though it is gratifying to know they survived the war."
Jules could relate to that, plenty of Earth animals had gone extinct while the Reapers were bombarding the planet. In many ways the ecosystem was still recovering.
"We need to keep moving, Shepard," Samara reminded her.
She would have happily stayed to continue her staring contest with the curious shae, but Samara was right.
"Come on, everyone," she called to the others, "let's go," she pulled herself away from the glass and headed for the door. She paused before she left, glancing back to see the shae was still gazing at her, both hands pressed against her prison.
"The control room is one floor down," Maia was saying when Jules got outside, "the elevator's locked down, it'll be quicker to use the stairs."
The matriarch took the lead. The short time they had wasted in the hall had added a sense of urgency and they moved at a swift jog down the staircase. The corridor they emerged into was lined with more glass windows, these ones showing the underwater section of the shae's pool.
"Oh wow," Egret said, stopping dead to stare as the tiger-striped shae submerged herself to follow them. She was more elegant in the water, moving effortlessly as she stared at them.
"Keep moving," Jules told Egret, taking her by both shoulders and pushing her onwards. The shae swam alongside them for the length of the corridor before she ran out of water and was forced to stop and watch them run past.
"It's just along here," Maia called from the front. They turned a corner and found a large sealed door with 'authorised personnel only' written on it in bold red letters.
"Looks promising," Jules said, nodding to Liara. Liara stepped up to the door controls and set about getting it open. Jules grabbed her shotgun from her back, "Get ready."
But as the doors snapped open, they found the room beyond completely empty. Chairs were kicked back, consoles and workstations had been abandoned and half-finished commands were flashing up on several of the screens.
"Looks like the staff made a run for it," Kyla muttered as they stepped inside, peering into the shadows for any sign of movement.
"Protecting the guests must be more of a priority for them," Maia reasoned.
"Or they're so shit-scared of 'the champion' over there," she nodded to Samara, "that they didn't want to risk sticking around somewhere she was likely to come knocking."
Samara spared Kyla a brief glance but offered her no response.
"We should have access to most of the station's systems from here," Jules stated, "let's see what we can find."
The squad split off to examine the consoles and Jules followed Egret over to the main computer where security feeds were showing empty corridors and rooms. One showed the corridor they had just sprinted down and Jules saw the shae was still lingering in the water, looking down the way they had gone with one hand against the glass.
She was reminded briefly of the first dog she had ever owned back on Mindoir. He would follow her to the end of the path every morning when she left for school and then she would find him still sitting there when she came home, usually with a tennis ball in his mouth in anticipation of his walk.
She found herself smiling wistfully at the distant memory, then she remembered where she was and promptly snapped back into focus.
"Any luck?" she asked Egret who was busy at the console.
"Yes," the young asari replied, frowning as she tapped at the controls, "I've got full access."
"Good," Jules replied, "scramble the lockdown codes so Cadeyrn's men can't get out from wherever they're hiding. Should slow down any reinforcements he sends too."
Egret nodded and Jules turned away, pacing to the centre of the room where she found Liara waiting for her, brow raised expectantly.
"Do you have a plan yet?" she muttered, keeping her voice low so the others wouldn't hear.
Jules hesitated, "I'm working on it," she walked back over to Egret, then back to the centre of the room, then back to Egret, "does this place have a self-destruct?" she asked, not entirely sure where her own mind was going with the idea.
Egret looked at her oddly, "No. Why would it?"
"Good point," Jules conceded. She paced a while more, "Could we create one?" she pressed, "Do something that would blow this place to pieces?"
"We could overload the power core," Barbet suggested from another console, "it looks like a ramshackle old system, probably scavenged from before the war. It wouldn't take much to overload its systems, I could do it from here."
"How long would we have to escape?"
He shrugged, "It'll take about twenty minutes for the power levels to build to the point where it would explode."
Jules nodded thoughtfully, "Do it."
"What? Are you being serious?"
"Yeah," she tossed him a reassuring grin and turned back to Egret, "call Cadeyrn."
"Shepard," she turned to see Samara squinting at her. The justicar seemed to consider objecting, but apparently thought better of it, "I hope you know what you're doing," she said at last.
"Shepard," Cadeyrn's face flickered up on one of the screens. He looked unamused to say the least, his face cold and stoic as he tapped at his chin thoughtfully, "you were so close to evading me. Why walk straight back into one of my bases when you could simply have fled?" his pale eyes flicked over her shoulder and for a moment he faltered, an angry frown marring his features, "Samara." he stated, "What have you done?"
Jules turned to see Samara staring him down blankly, seemingly unwilling to comment. Jules turned back with a smile, "You have something we want, Cadeyrn. I think you know who I'm talking about."
He tilted his head, "What has this to do with you? What has Samara offered you?"
"She doesn't need to offer me anything. She's my friend."
A flash of anger glinted in his eyes and he sat forward, fist clenched at the screen like he thought he could reach through it to throttle her. He managed to compose himself before he spoke but his annoyance was badly disguised, "Falere is under guard," he said tightly, "reinforcements are on their way to the station, why should I hand her over to you?"
"Because if you don't, in twenty minutes the station's power core will overload and the whole of Myriad will be destroyed, including all of your precious treasures. I'd guess it'll take us about five minutes to get back to our shuttle and get clear so that gives you fifteen to get Falere to me. Do that, and I'll stop the overload."
Cadeyrn stared at her, "You're bluffing."
"Am I?" Jules asked innocently.
"You'd never blow the station up with Falere still on board. Samara wouldn't let you."
"She won't be able to stop me," Jules folded her arms, "you saw our fight in the arena. If I hadn't hesitated I could have killed her. You know I let her win."
A cold smile swept across Cadeyrn's face, "And you claim to be her friend?"
"Yeah. But I'm also old, and tired, and sick of dealing with self-righteous pricks like you. So either you hand Falere over or you lose her and every other stolen trinket on this station!" she leaned over Egret and slammed her hand onto the controls, cutting off the transmission. Egret jumped slightly, turning to look wide-eyed at Jules like she was wondering if she had gone mad.
For a moment the rest of the squad stared at her with similar unease until finally Kyla cleared her throat, "So, er… you're bluffing… right?" she asked tentatively.
"Of course I'm bluffing, what do you take me for?" she said, throwing the asari a grin, "How convincing was I?"
"You had me fooled," Barbet drawled from his console, "the core will go critical in twenty, but I won't be able to stop it much past ten minutes."
Jules jogged over to get a look at his screen and nodded, "We'd best hope Cadeyrn makes his mind up quickly then."
"If you have no intention of destroying the station, why overload the core?" Samara asked calmly.
"Because I want Cadeyrn to be able to scan the station and see that we're being serious, once he knows that, my guess is he'll fold."
"And if he doesn't?" Maia inquired.
"Then we'll think of something else," she walked back over to Egret, "did you contact Ereba?"
"Yes," she replied, "she has the ship cloaked nearby."
"A lot of use they'll be to us with no guns," Barbet muttered.
"Yes," Jules agreed, "remind me to do something about that."
The minutes crawled by and Jules filled them with pacing and fidgeting, something she was self-consciously aware of considering the company she was in. Maia, Samara, Liara and even Barbet and Kyla remained stoic and unmoved with Egret being the only other one showing signs of unease as she tapped her fingers lightly on her console.
Just when Jules was becoming pretty sure they were reaching the point-of-no-return deadline, the comm bleeped.
Egret threw an urgent look back at Jules before she answered it and Cadeyrn appeared once more on the screen. He was leaning forward, his elbows resting on his knees. His braids framed his face and his eyes were cold and unforgiving as he stared Jules down through the screen.
"Cancel the overload," he commanded coolly, "now."
Jules blinked, "Where's Falere?"
"She'll be with you imminently."
As he said it, the door behind them opened and Jules spun to see a squad of soldiers enter, guns raised. She and the others reached for their own weapons instinctively but Jules faltered as she saw who was leading them.
A tall, heavy-set turian was at the head of the group with his arm firmly around the throat of the asari he was holding, his gun pressed to her temple.
Jules' first meeting with Falere had been brief but memorable. Jules remembered her possessing a confidence and a dignity that commanded respect, even when she was crying. She had lost none of that dignity even as she struggled for breath in the uncomfortable choke hold.
Out of the corner of her eye she saw Samara make a sharp move but Maia caught her by the arm.
"Cancel the overload," Cadeyrn demanded once more, "or Falere dies."
Jules turned to catch his eye, "If you can't have her no one can?" she asked innocently.
He inclined his head coldly, "You and Samara are the best fighters I've ever had and Falere is a profitable investment, did you think I'd let all three of you just walk away?"
"I'm sure we're all very flattered," Jules muttered. She turned back to the room, options racing through her mind, all of them being dismissed as quickly as they occurred. Her team were all looking to her, weapons at the ready. Barbet's hands were hovering over his console, waiting to be told to abort the overload. Jules hesitated, her eyes lingering on Falere.
"You have ten seconds, Shepard," Cadeyrn chimed softly, "nine… eight… seven… six… five…"
Just as Jules was about to cave in, the decision was taken out of her hands as the turian's gun clattered to the floor and Falere stumbled out of his grasp. For a split-second Jules couldn't work out why, then she noticed the biotic energy rippling around his throat, tightening and constricting until his neck snapped back with a definite crack, leaving his squad mates to stare in horror as he fell to the floor.
For a moment, Jules' eyes fell on Samara; her face was set stoic and determined as her fist was still raised from the attack. The room seemed to freeze, before hell broke loose.
"Shut that off!" Jules yelled at Egret, gesturing to the comm screen where Cadeyrn was now on his feet and staring at the scene. She simultaneously raised her shotgun and fired at the nearest enemy before he could even aim his gun and then dived into cover.
Falere, as it turned out, was far from defenceless and sent a sharp shockwave to knock the guards off their feet before Samara dragged her back out of the line of fire. Jules watched Liara and Kyla picking the remaining guards off in tandem and briefly noted what a good team they seemed to make, despite whatever was going on between them.
The fight was over as swiftly as it had begun, leaving Jules struggling to keep up.
"I see you don't follow my orders anymore," she muttered at Samara as she emerged from her cover and cast a glance at the dead turian. Samara inclined her head but didn't answer.
"Wait, Shepard?" Falere appeared from behind her mother, staring at her in confusion.
"Yeah," Jules tossed her a grin, "I know, it's impossible, but it's really me. I'll explain later, right now we need to get out of here. Liara!" she spun round and found Liara standing behind her as though anticipating her next order, "Take Falere and Samara and the rest of the squad and get them back to the shuttle," she commanded before turning her attention to Barbet whose attention was completely consumed by his console as he seemed to be frantically punching commands into the controls.
She jogged over to join him, "Tell me you can stop the overload," she muttered as she watched the others leave.
"I'm doing my best," he replied.
"Not exactly the answer I was hoping for."
"I know. But like I said, the core was in bad enough shape already, it would probably have overloaded on its own sooner or later."
"That's notreassuring me either," Jules pressed.
Barbet tapped at the controls a moment longer then sat back with an exasperated sigh, "The overload's caused a chain reaction, the systems aren't responding."
Jules rubbed at her forehead. This was the problem with thinking up plans on the spot, there was no time to come up with contingencies, "Can you eject it?" she asked.
"Maybe, but there's no backups, the whole station would lose power, including life support."
"They'll have a few hours before they freeze or suffocate, I'm sure they'll be able to figure something out. Just make sure all the doors between here and the shuttle bay are open first, we don't want to trap ourselves in."
Barbet nodded and leaned forwards again, "Who the hell builds a space station with no backup generators anyway?" he muttered, half to himself.
Jules grimaced, from what she'd seen of this part of space so far, it almost seemed like it had been pieced together by children who didn't know how the galaxy was meant to work in the wake of the war. Without the HTA, the rest of the galaxy might have been in a similar state, she realised grimly.
"Ready?" Barbet asked her; she gave him a nod and he punched in a command. Tentatively, they waited.
There was a clunk somewhere deep within the bowels of the station, the lights flickered as though in an attempt to cling on to life and then died along with every console and screen in the room, leaving an eerie silence in their wake.
In the pitch black, Jules pulled out her torch and patted Barbet on the shoulder, "Let's move."
As instructed, Barbet had opened all the doors between them and the shuttle bay and they moved swiftly through the black corridors. It may have been Jules' imagination but the station already seemed to feel colder as their footsteps echoed off the metal deck.
As they jogged alongside the windows to the shae's tank, she was aware of large, glittering eyes blinking at them through the dark waters, she hoped Cadeyrn's people would find a way to restore the power before the creatures suffered for it.
Jules rounded a corner and almost tripped over the body of a guard. Flashing her torch around she saw he was one of several scattered around the floor, "Looks like the others cleared the way for us," she muttered as she stepped round them and continued.
A brief impact shook the station, making them both stumble as the deck shuddered beneath them, "There goes the core," Barbet muttered, "feels like it was far enough away not to do too much damage."
They broke into a sprint as the docking bay came into sight, they could hear the shuttle's engines powered up, unnaturally loud amidst the silence of the station. As they entered, they saw the hatch was open, the only source of light in the room, and Kyla was leaning out, watching for them.
"Hurry up!" she urged as they approached, waving them in with her shotgun. Jules and Barbet bolted inside and Kyla pulled the hatch shut behind them before banging her fist on the wall to the cockpit, "GO!"
As the floor shifted beneath them, Jules did a mental headcount, "Do we have everyone?" she asked, the question may as well have been rhetorical but Kyla didn't miss a chance at sarcasm.
"No," she said dryly, "I decided to leave half the squad behind. What the hell do you think?"
Jules smiled and slapped her on the arm, "Thanks," she looked over towards Samara and Falere, who were standing in the far corner, shoulder-to-shoulder, "you okay?" she asked Falere. The asari offered her a warm smile and a single nod, "good. We'll catch up later," she turned away and felt the shuttle jerk forwards, knocking her briefly off-balance.
"Hold on!" Egret called from the front, "With the power down I'm going to have to shoot the doors open!"
They heard the impact of the lasers and the ensuing explosions, the shuttle rocked back slightly and then surged forwards.
"A ship with guns," Jules muttered absently, "there's a novelty."
She didn't know whether it was the exhaustion catching up with her, or the adrenaline wearing off, or something else entirely. But as the shuttle soared safely out into space, she found her legs practically giving beneath her and she had to stagger against the wall to remain standing.
"Are you alright?" Liara appeared at her side, hooking an arm under her shoulder to steady her.
"No," Jules muttered, closing her eyes as the realities of the past day hit her all in one, "Jesus, Liara, I nearly blew up a whole space station."
There was a moment's pause and Jules could see the conflict on Liara's face without having to look. Liara's hand moved to rub her gently across her back, "It… wouldn't have been your fault," she lied, making Jules snort a laugh.
"I love you for saying it, but we both know it isn't true. I was making it up as I went along and a lot of people nearly died. They still might."
Liara cast a glance around the shuttle, when she seemed content that no one was watching, she leaned in closer and brushed a kiss past Jules' temple, "You weren't given much of a choice. Samara was the reckless one, not you."
Jules looked over to the far corner where Samara was standing with Falere. She had both hands on her daughter's arms and was speaking to her softly, their foreheads almost touching. Jules sighed, "Can you blame her?" she caught sight of Liara's frown and chuckled, "Don't answer that. You're never going to like her, are you?"
"I'll do my best not to dislike her. So long as she doesn't try to kill you again."
Jules leaned in to kiss her properly, not caring whether the others were watching or not, "Thank you," she mumbled as she pulled away. Her legs had stopped wobbling now; that was something.
It was a moment before Liara spoke again and when she did her voice was different, like she'd been distracted from all current troubles by a more pressing thought.
"Jules," she said, her brow creasing just slightly.
Jules looked at her, matching her frown curiously, "What?"
"How are we going to fit this shuttle in the Janiri's cargo bay?"