Book I - Chapter 15: Saren
Vasir struggled to take in a ragged breath as she activated her Omni-tool to dispense the last unit of medi-gel built into her suit. She absolutely loathed assault drones. The little mechanical flyers were highly resistant to biotics, and hard to hit with a gun. A couple of them, she could handle. But a dozen of them swarming at her all at once? It was only a matter of time before she was flanked. At the last moment, she had managed to charge across the room to get away from the worst of it, but the swarm of drones had shattered her barrier before she could find cover.
It would have been an insulting end for a battle hardened Spectre to be killed by drones, Vasir thought. If she was going to die in battle, it had better be at the hands of a worthy opponent - someone like Shepard. Preferably, with lots of explosions, plus a high speed car chase in there somewhere. The only proper way for her to go was to go out with a bang, not a whimper. Anything but this. Nailed by drones and slowly bleeding out from bullet wounds while the Citadel was facing a full on invasion.
Scowling at the former C-Sec officer who was lying face down in a puddle of his own blood, Vasir wished she had not wasted a unit of medi-gel on the turian earlier when a rocket blasted half of his face off. She could have saved that medi-gel for herself instead. Now she was too injured to move, let alone stop Saren from taking control of the station.
From where she was sitting, Vasir had a perfect view of whatever Saren was doing in the middle of the Council Chamber. Having been a Spectre for almost two hundred years, she had never known there was a master console for the station located right here, hidden in plain sight.
They really tried. Garrus' traps had worked beautifully. The first wave of geth troopers pouring into the Chamber were all obliterated in a matter of minutes. Unfortunately, the traps had worked a little too well. Reinforcements were promptly called in, which included a few rocket launching Primes as well as a squadron of drones in addition to the regular geth shock troops. Saren, the paranoid bird face, narrowly avoided all the traps by conveniently riding on his hovercraft. The explosions did little other than to annoy him. Garrus valiantly attempted to snipe him from a distance, but Saren set three Primes on him as soon as the first shot nicked his shield. After taking down two Primes by himself, the former C-Sec took a rocket to his face before Vasir destroyed the last Prime in between dodging flying turrets dogging her steps. If the poor bastard somehow lived through this, he would never be pretty again.
Speaking of appearance, the rogue Spectre looked positively mutilated. Vasir squinted tirely at Saren, and noticed all the synthetic pieces grafted onto his person. She still remembered Saren to be a young and handsome newbie in the Spectre rank a few decades back. How he had changed. Wincing from the excruciating pain radiating from her torso, she picked up Garrus' discarded sniper rifle with shaky hands and tried but failed to keep the weapon steady.
"I always thought you were the smart one, Vasir. Sit tight and don't try anything. You are already defeated." Saren spoke up quietly, not even turning in Vasir's direction to acknowledge her existence. His voice echoed loudly in the empty Chamber amidst the soft whirring sounds of geth troopers stationed inside the room. "I was so sure you would be the person the Council sent out to catch me when my cover was blown. Never did I think they would send a human after me. A human!" He spat out the word like a curse.
"I get the feeling you don't like Commander Shepard very much." Vasir snarked drily, coughing out blood as she chuckled at the incensed expression on Saren's face.
That got his attention. Saren whirled around and proceeded to rant at his former colleague with an insane glint in his eyes. "She ruined my carefully crafted plan! For twenty years I laboured to save the galaxy from extinction, and she nearly undid all my hard work! The bomb she planted on Virmire almost killed me! But the joke's on her. In hindsight, this setback was a blessing in disguise. Sovereign has used this opportunity to improve me. Made me stronger. Behold! I am the future of our civilizations, the apex of evolution - the perfect blend of organic and synthetic, working in harmony. You'll see. The Reapers are here to save us from ourselves."
"Listen to yourself! You are insane!" Vasir growled in disgust. She could hardly believe this mad turian was going to be the death of them all.
"I am the only one who is seeing clearly. It's the rest of the world that's blind." Saren gestured at the windows looking out the station. "Watch. Sovereign is here. Nothing can stop us now."
Vasir watched in utter despair as Sovereign rammed through several frigates with brute force before cutting a heavy cruiser in half with one shot from its main gun. "Fucking hell!" Vasir grimaced at the following explosions. Each cruiser had an average of three hundred C-Sec officers on board. By her estimate, a quarter of the C-Sec garrison fleet had been destroyed during the few minutes since the ambush. That would be ten thousand dead. Goddess knew how many more were killed right here on the Citadel.
She dared not contemplate how many civilians were being butchered on the station right this moment. There were thirteen million civilians on board the Citadel. Even if they won, which was looking less and less likely by the second, the casualties would be staggering.
The sky darkened as the ward arms completely closed with the Reaper locked inside, perching on top of the tower like a giant insect on a stalk of grass. Short of blasting a hole through the outer hulls and killing millions in the process, they were completely cut off from outside help. No reinforcement could reach the station, not while the entire Citadel garrison was busy fighting off the geth fleet out there. Even if they could use the short-range radio to ask for help, whatever pathetic reinforcements C-Sec could muster under these circumstances had to fight through an entire army of geth guarding the tower to get to the Chamber. This was a job for elite special ops, not soft Presidium patrols who wrote tickets fining tourists for littering...
Wait. Vasir perked up with a slight jolt. Technically, they were not completely isolated. Saren invaded the Citadel through the Conduit, so it stood to reason that Shepard could also board the station through the same backdoor. Vasir herself might be out of the fight, but not all hope was lost. Not yet.
Time to dust off her Goddess-given asari talent and see if she could literally talk her opponent to death.
"I don't understand." Vasir puzzled out loud, sounding genuinely confused. "What do you mean that the Reapers are here to save us from ourselves?"
Saren's mandibles fluttered in a turian equivalent of a satisfied grin. "Look around. Organics are beings of chaos. We need the machines to bring us order. Without the Reapers, we are destined to destroy ourselves with our boundless greed and ambition. There will be no true peace until we submit to the Reaper's rule. All they ask is servitude. People like us, we are useful to them. Submission is much preferable to annihilation, wouldn't you agree?"
"That's it? Peace? That's the best excuse you can come up with to justify your cowardice?" Vasir sneered at Saren's scarred face. The eerie blue glow of synthetic grafts strongly reminded her of those Husks creatures she saw on Virmire. She inwardly wondered just how much of Saren was still inside this misshapen body, and how much of it was replaced by soulless machine. The sight of it almost made Vasir feel sorry for him. Almost.
Saren shrugged off her accusation with a dismissive wave. "What you call bravery is what I call pointless pride. The Protheans were too arrogant to recognize that the only salvation for their survival was to submit and obey their betters. See, this is exactly why I didn't bother to bring the matter forward to the Council. Like the Protheans, they are willing to sacrifice trillions of innocent lives to satisfy their pride. They are politicians. You and I, we are different. We are soldiers, we've seen wars upclose. It's people like us who get to make the hard decisions. We understand what must be done to preserve lives."
Unable to hold back a derisive snort, Vasir easily countered Saren's argument by pointing out an obvious flaw in his logic. "Let's say we submit. And then what? Do you really expect the Reapers to hold up their end of the bargain? For all we know, the Protheans did make the same deal with the Reapers, only for the machines to betray them."
A fleeting look of uncertainty rippled across the rogue Spectre's face before it turned into a scowl. "You know nothing! You cannot begin to comprehend what the Reapers are capable of!"
Vasir had to remind herself that she was trying to stall him by getting him to talk, not making him angry by arguing with him. It was very difficult to resist, though. "You're right. I have no idea what the Reapers want, and I can't imagine what they can do. Help me understand."
"Isn't it obvious?" Saren gestured at the half destroyed Council Chamber with a sweeping hand wave. "The Citadel, the mass relays, the Reapers built them. They were the invisible hands that guided the formation of our civilizations. They are superior, but they are fundamentally different from us. They know organics are too self-absorbed to submit to their benevolent leadership, so they require us to act as their intermediates to reduce the resistance. It is for our own good. You are a Spectre, you should understand..."
Vasir flinched in absolute shock when a glowing stasis bubble encased the rambling turian and cut off his incoherent rant. Following the sudden attack, all the geth inside the Chamber sprang into action and began shooting at the unexpected intruders.
Less than five seconds. Vasir watched in utter disbelief as the first human Spectre flawlessly executed four consecutive biotic charge plus nova combos, ricocheted from one group of enemies to the next, finishing her attack with a final charge at the still trapped turian. She didn't know what Shepard did exactly, perhaps it was the timing of the strike, but her charge destabilized the stasis bubble and caused a massive biotic explosion. This vicious biotic backlash literally tore Saren's body to shreds in various places.
Shepard rolled behind cover, followed up with a barrage of shotgun blasts at the staggered foe, not pausing to allow Saren any breathing room. While the Commander was busy tearing the rogue Spectre apart, the young T'Soni and the quarian girl were hunkered down at the far end of the Chamber, slowly pressing on from two separate routes to carefully pick off geth troopers that had survived Shepard's initial assault.
Faster than Vasir thought possible, Shepard had recovered enough to charge at Saren again. Instead of rapidly expanding her barrier to perform another nova attack, Shepard pulled her glowing fist back and punched the disgraced Spectre so hard, Vasir swore she heard his carapace crack.
A shower of dark blue blood and gore splattered all over Shepard's body, staining the red of her armor a vivid shade of purple. Vasir realized with astonishment mixed in with not some small amount of satisfaction, that Shepard had most likely crushed Saren's heart inside his caved-in chest, if the amount of blood geysering out of his ruined torso was any indication. Not taking any chances, Shepard unloaded three more shotgun shells into the dead turian's skull to pulverize his brain before kicking the blood soaked corpse off the walkway and letting it crash through the glass panel into the lower garden.
In that instance, Vasir came to the unpleasant conclusion that she did not wish to cross Shepard if she enjoyed staying alive. As vexing as it was to admit it, Shepard was the more powerful vanguard than herself was. It hurt her pride to admit this, but, Shepard was the most deadly vanguard Vasir had ever seen. Not even a seasoned krogan battlemaster can match this unstoppable juggernaut of head-butting destruction. Taking into account how ruthless, resourceful, and unrelenting this human had proven to be, Vasir never wanted to be Shepard's enemy.
"Area cleared!" Tali called out.
"Good job, everyone." Shepard grinned charmingly at her squadmates. Even while covered in blood and sweat while stinking of smoke and gore, the broad smile on her face was nothing but genuine and sweet. "Hey, Vasir!" The woman called out to her as she worked over the master console to undo whatever Saren did to takeover the station. "Glad to see you here. Are you injured?"
"I'll live. Can't say the same for your friend Vakarian." Vasir replied with a pained grimace.
Shepard's response was immediate. "Liara, Tali, first aid, ASAP! I'll make sure the stupid thing works." She growled as she stayed close to the console to work over it with her Omni-tool. The ferocious expression on her face told Vasir that she would much rather check on the turian herself if whatever she was doing weren't as important as it apparently was.
Yet another tremor rumbled across the station. The ward arms that were previously locked tight by Saren to cut the garrison off from attacking Sovereign began to open. Communications from priority channels started to pour in over the console all at once. This impossible human had done it. She had unlocked the station and restored communications. She had saved the Citadel.
"... Requesting backup to hold position. C-Sec HQ comm room is secured, but not for long. We're flanked..."
"... Ward level two to six secured. Fire contained in section D-14. Geth pushing in on connection hub…"
"... Evacuation in process. Requesting immediate medical attention…"
"... Shield down to forty percent! We need help! I repeat, the Council is onboard!" Screamed a distinct asari voice over the comm. Vasir recognized the voice. That was one of the highest ranked and most influential people within the asari High Command, the commanding officer of Destiny Ascension, Matriarch Lidanya.
"... Normandy to Commander Shepard. Please respond!"
Shepard quickly touched the console to respond to the hail that demanded her attention by name. "Shepard speaking. Joker, where are you?"
T'Soni and the quarian arrived at Vasir's location and began to perform emergency first aid on the unconscious Garrus. Vasir couldn't quite make out what the quarian was muttering under the bucket, but she had a feeling it was some kind of explesive. There was so much blood, and one side of Garrus' face was a twisted, blackened ruin, but the tough bastard was still breathing.
"I'm sitting in the Andura sector with the Fifth Fleet. Admiral Hackett is asking for your assessment, Commander. Just give us the order. We're ready to move in!" Joker said over the comm. He sounded almost eager.
Vasir held her breath as she scrutinized the first human Spectre with great trepidation. After being mistreated so many times by the Council since before her reluctant appointment to the Spectre rank, one could hardly blame Shepard for prioritizing human lives over the same unhelpful politicians. Hell, she even agreed those stuck-up fools had it coming. See if the Council could deny the existence of Reapers while Sovereign tore the Destiny Ascension in half. Let their gruesome death be a lesson to the next Council what a mistake it was to disregard Shepard's warnings.
So it was a complete surprise to her that the first human Spectre chose to do the exact opposite of common sense without a trace of hesitation. "Save the Council. Protect Destiny Ascension. Once the dreadnaught is safe, regroup and focus fire on the Reaper."
Kneeling next to Vakarian, the quarian girl spoke up. "Garrus is fine, more or less. He has lost some blood, but the timely medi-gel application had stabilized him. I'm never more glad turians have a metallic carapace over their faces. Still, we need to get him to surgery as soon as we can. I'm worried about potential brain damage. With head injuries, you can never be sure."
The young T'Soni held up her Omni-tool and scanned Vasir with a worried frown on her face. "You've lost too much blood. It's not the same as taking a hit from a rocket, but all the bullet wounds add up." She said, her chiding tone sounded awfully close to scolding.
Vasir bare her teeth in an annoyed scowl. This little pureblood was being way too cheeky for her liking. Alas, she was in no position to give the upstart who was only a fraction of her age a proper tongue lashing. The edge of her vision was getting dim, and she felt so faint it was hard to keep her eyes open. A familiar soothing chill glided down her spine. Vasir took a shallow breath, and felt the newly injected dose of medi-gel numb the worse pain around her chest. It wasn't perfect, but at least she didn't feel like she was about to pass out from lack of oxygen.
"Hang in there. We'll take you to a hospital soon. Saren is dead. His plan has failed. And the Alliance is coming in force. Everything is going to be alright." T'Soni reassured her again.
Vasir wanted to tell the smooth-skinned maiden to shut up and leave her alone, but what came out of her mouth was a breathless "thanks" instead. She looked out the windows to stare at the fierce battle outside for a moment before tearing her eyes away. There was no use worrying about other people. T'Soni had it right. Saren's invasion had failed. Since communication was restored, it was a matter of time before reinforcements arrived to relieve them.
And by Athame's tits, was it satisfying to watch Shepard execute Saren! Vasir wished she had been the one to crush his heart and pulverize his brain. A traitor like him deserved a thousand deaths for all the pain and suffering he had caused.
Another harsh tremor shook the station, interrupting Vasir's idle musing. She sat up in alarm as a bolt of visible energy shot through the Chamber, and struck the narrow walkway Shepard was standing on, sending her crashing through the decorative glass panels down to the lower garden. "What's happening?!" Vasir struggled to her feet, craning her neck over the railing to get a better look. What she saw in the lower garden was the stuff of nightmares.
Saren's corpse, still dripping with blood and bits of liquefied brain, got up on its feet. The red lightning from earlier shrouded the dead body, saturated it with writhing tendrils of sinister aura. There was no other way to describe the undead construct: it stank of pure evil. Flesh and bone of the body burnt away as the numerous cybernetic implants absorbed the energy and began to transform this once organic being into a mechanical abomination.
Gagging at the acrid stench of charred meat and melted plastic, Vasir watched, slack jawed, as the lifeless body rapidly being perverted into a hideous husk before her very eyes. There was no doubt. Sovereign did this. This sentient machine had repurposed the dead to serve as its slave soldier.
T'Soni and the quarian both shouted in horror before racing down the stairs to help their Commander fight off the monstrosity. This Saren-Husk was faster and stronger than any enemy Vasir had seen before. In the back of her head, she briefly wondered what an asari husk or a krogan husk might look like before she forcefully shoved the stray thought off her conscious mind with a shudder.
Through the dead Spectre's throat, the Reaper spoke. Its deep, savage inflection had Vasir shiver in revulsion. "I am Sovereign! And this station is MINE!"
Down in the lower garden, Shepard rolled behind cover and fired off a quick throw at the Saren-Husk. She missed. More accurately, the enemy dodged out of the way before it could be snagged by Shepard's biotics. Not pausing for breath, Shepard charged in on the Husk and followed up with a close-range shotgun blast to its face. The brutal combo did not even stun the undead construct. Instead, Saren-Husk shrugged off the attack, grabbed onto Shepard's throat with both talons, and squeezed.
Crimson lightning rolled off Saren-Husk's body, viciously eating into its victim's deteriorating barrier. Shepard clawed at the hands around her neck, but she was not strong enough to pry them off.
Vasir raised Garrus' sniper rifle, aimed, and missed Saren-Husk's head by a whole lot. She vowed to spend more time at the range to polish up her sniping skill as soon as she could. This was just embarrassing.
Shepard's hands shot up and gripped her opponent's forearms. What she did next had Vasir rubbing her eyes in disbelief.
Saren-Husk's grip on Shepard slackened before dropping the human entirely. It doubled over in pain as visible wisps of biotics erupted out of its body as if its blood was boiling in its veins. At the same time, Shepard's barrier began to rapidly repair itself and strengthen with a brilliant layer of diamond hard coating.
Shepard could reave.
Vasir squinted at the Commander with her mouth hanging open. A human of not even thirty years of age had the ability to sling around this incredible variety of biotic powers with such mastery was just… ridiculous. Typical Shepard, though. She had seen the human Spectre use singularity, warp, barrier, stasis, charge, and now she had just pulled off a perfect reave under duress like a fucking justicar. Vasir highly doubted the Alliance standard training program included that particular skill. This would also explain why Shepard did not seem worried about her mediocre barrier. All she needed to do was to reave an enemy to gain the same benefit of damage reduction before charging into battle.
As a powerful biotic, combined with hundreds of years of experience, Vasir herself simply did not have the innate aptitude to perform the same technique in combat situation. It was obvious to her that Shepard not only had dedication to hone her skills, she also had the raw talent for biotics that even asaris would be jealous of. More importantly, she must have had an extremely proficient mentor who saw her potential and carefully cultivated her to blossom as a biotic powerhouse.
With a bolt of clarity, Vasir suddenly realized just how much Shepard had been holding back this whole time: what else was she hiding? She actually felt quite hurt by the deception. Logically, it was a very prudent move on Shepard's part, considering Vasir's own shady connection to the Shadow Broker. But still.
"Shepard!" Young T'Soni yelled as she and the quarian jumped down to the lower garden to join the fray. Her hastily casted stasis was lackluster, but it did buy them all a precious few seconds. "Are you hurt? Talk to me." T'Soni sounded desperate while running her Omni-tool over Shepard to check for any sign of injuries.
"I'm ok!" Shepard quickly reassured the maiden. Her voice sounded a bit hoarse from the chokehold she suffered from earlier. "I was careless. Didn't think he was gonna grab me. Let's see him get out of this one." With a vicious snarl, Shepard lashed out at the frozen target and erected a stasis bubble around him before T'Soni's own stasis wore off. "Fire at will!" She yelled. At her order, the entire squad pulling out their shotguns, and let them rip.
Vasir had to say that it was the most satisfying thing to see the unnatural Reaper construct getting completely shredded by incendiary bullets until there was absolutely nothing left. Letting out a breath she had been subconsciously holding, Vasir couldn't help but sink back down and begin to cackle. The euphoria that accompanied the end of a tough battle was half the reason why she was so giddy. The other half of that could probably be contributed to the medi-gel floating in her system.
"Easy there. Laughing so hard has got to hurt." Shepard made it back to the balcony in a very short time, and was now kneeling next to the unconscious Vakarian with her Omni-tool out.
"Nope. It didn't hurt that much. In fact, I feel great. I might have over-dosed on the medi-gel though." Vasir giggled.
Shepard gave her a wry grin. She was about to reply with some witty remark, when a gigantic piece of ship debris smashed through the windows and crash landed right in the middle of the Council Chamber. The texture and shape of that hunk of broken hull looked nothing like typical turian cruisers, which heavily favoured clean, straight lines.
"Is that…?" T'Soni started.
"Yup. That's a piece of Sovereign's hull. They've done it! Vanguard of our destruction, ha!" Shepard said with a wide smirk on her face. Even though she looked bone tired, her lively green eyes were shining with exhilaration from the battle high. She paused for a brief moment to bask in their hard won victory, before getting a hold of herself. "This is Commander Shepard to C-Sec HQ. Rogue Spectre Saren has been terminated. What's your status?"
"Commander?!" A male human voice replied to the hail. "This is Alenko speaking. It was bad when it started, but we've held on to C-Sec HQ throughout the siege. Alliance ground reinforcements are coming in as we speak. I'm sorry, Commander. We've lost some people."
Vasir could see the muscle along Shepard's jaw jump as she clenched her teeth tightly together. "You and Ashley Ok?" She asked, sounding more tentative than Vasir was used to.
"Yes, ma'am. She's out like a light though. Got a nasty bump on her head. Knocked over by a Juggernaut."
Shepard visibly let out a relieved sigh. "Now we know her head is not as hard as a Juggernaut's ablative armor plating. In any case, good job Lieutenant. Shepard out."
"Why do humans feel the need to crack jokes all the time? That one's not even funny." Vasir complained mildly, more peeved by the sudden need to take a nap than anything.
Shepard knelt down next to her and lightly slap her cheeks to get her attention. "Hey, hey. Stay awake. Damn it. Tali, scout ahead. Watch out for stragglers. Liara, lift Garrus. I'll get Vasir. They need to go in surgery ASAP. I'll call the Normandy for pick up..."
x-x-x
At the end of the day, when she was alone in her cabin reading the list of honored dead who had fallen during the battle of the Citadel, Shepard had to wonder if anything she did made any difference.
She remembered their names. They had been seared into her brain as much as the beacon had marked her soul. Every time she stepped out of the elevator onto the crew deck of the SR-2, they were there, silently judging all her choices, all her mistakes.
It was times like this, Shepard had to remind herself that the list of names on the wall would be noticeably shorter this time around. Every name that did not make the wall was a small victory. Of the twelve marines Kaidan and Ashley led to defend the C-Sec HQ, only five came out alive. She thought the war had prepared her for this, losing people. But the inexplicable time travel had spoilt her into deluding herself that maybe, just maybe, she could save everyone.
How very naive of her.
Still, even though she could not possibly save everyone, her planning had made a difference. Pulling the Consort in for support had paid off a hundred fold. Sha'ira had managed to use her own influence to sway Executor Pallin to hold a station wide evec drill a month before the invasion. This added preparedness was instrumental in shortening C-Sec response time and minimizing civilian panic and confusion. By assigning Kaidan and Ashley to defend the C-Sec HQ and keeping the emergency channel open, civilian casualty had been reduced by twenty percent compared to last time. Translating that to hard number, it was about eight thousand lives saved.
Shepard repeated the mantra that even though she could not save them all, she could save some of them. When the Reapers come in force, people will be slaughtered in the billions. This was the cold, hard, unavoidable reality. It would be endless for her if she fell into the trap of obsessing over every single life lost because of this goddamn war.
The batarians were doomed because they had the Leviathan of Dis in their possession for so many years. What she had Charn working on in the Bahak system was not just to save lives, but to ensure the survival of the batarian race. It was frustrating how their pride also spelt their demise in that they would rather die fighting alone than live fighting alongside other races against a common enemy.
This was only the beginning. Funny how she was working so hard to preserve the batarian race even though she had hated them with a burning passion her whole life. Considering what was to come, it made sense she should not be the only person putting aside her own prejudice and making sacrifices. Krogans and turians had to make nice. The geth and quarians had to stop fighting each other. Salarians had to stop scheming long enough to help out. It didn't matter how pretty they were, even the asaris had to squat in the trenches and break a nail when their homeworld was in flames.
There was still so much that needed to be done, and so little time and resources to do it all. It really pissed her off that she had to put everything aside to deal with this next crisis before she could do anything else.
One more month.
Shepard put down the data pad on the desk and moved toward the med bay. Kaidan joined her on their way over. "I'm almost done with the report. I'll submit it by the end of today."
"Did you get your hands looked at? That burn doesn't look good."
Kaidan scrunched up his face and held up his bandaged hands. "This? Don't worry about it. I'll get it fixed when Dr. Chakwas has time. She's got enough to worry about. I swear, somebody clever needs to invent a better heat management system for firearms. It's obscene how easily geth can overheat our weapons. I have my biotics and Omni-tool to fall back on when my pistol fails. Regular marines are not so lucky."
Shepard raised an eyebrow, amused at his comment. "Maybe something like a detachable heat sink that can be quickly replaced in case of overheat. It's a step backward in that it resembles the bad old days of limited ammunitions, but it's better than having your weapons randomly explode in your hands." And maybe I should put my future knowledge to good use and patent the idea. I certainly had modded enough weapons and handled enough thermal clips in my life to make it work. Better yet, I can always credit the geth for this innovation. Shepard added in her mind. Heh. No one will suspect a thing.
When they entered the med bay, Dr. Chakwas was just finishing up with her last patient. Private Fredricks, like almost every single marine who participated in the battle, was sporting severe burns on his palms. There would have been a few missing fingers to go along with those burns if he hadn't paid attention to the status of his firearm. Shepard's hand twitched in sympathy, remembering the shock and the pain of losing a few digits when she was a sixteen-year-old girl on Mindoir.
"Commander." Ashley greeted her with a grimace. She remained seated on one of the beds with her head held tenderly in both hands. Shepard noticed those hands were heavily bandaged as well. Burns from an overheated rifle, most likely. There were also blotches of painful looking contusions all over her body. Those black eyes would probably take at least a week to fade.
"You look like shit."
Ashley snorted out a laugh before moaning pathetically. "Please don't make me laugh."
Shepard tilted her head. "Well, your head is certainly bloody, but unbowed."
Ashley blinked owlishly at her commanding officer like she just sprout horns. "Invictus. One of my dad's favourite."
Shepard grinned. Of course she remembered. It was one of the last good memories she had about Ashley before the failed coup, before she had to shoot her stubborn friend herself. Just one more reason why she hated Cerberus. "I heard you lost a headbutting contest with a Juggernaut. You need some rack time. Head injury is no joke. I want you to take it easy for a while until our good doctor clears you for active duty. Got it?"
"Got it. And Commander," Ashley lowered her gaze in shame. "I'm sorry. If I had been better, I could have…"
"That's enough." Shepard interrupted. She didn't need Ashley's apology for losing men under her command. "We all knew the risks going in. Don't blame yourself. A lot of people on the Citadel are alive right now because you and your squad did their job admirably. Focus on that."
Nodding solemnly, Ashley quietly replied, "yes, ma'am."
"Humans always want to save everyone. Turians are taught since birth that you can't save everyone. We exploited that during the First Contact War. Thought you've learnt your lesson by now." Garrus wheezed out the dry comment. He was reclining on a bed with the right side of his face heavily bandaged up. It looked just as bad as she remembered when he took a rocket from that gunship on Omega.
Shepard leaned back against the hull with her arms crossed. "I see you've recovered enough to pick a fight."
Garrus gingerly touched the right side of his face with the tip of his talons. "No one would give me a mirror. How bad is it? Be honest."
Smiling fondly at the turian, Shepard replied, "don't worry, Garrus. You're just as ugly as before. Actually, this might be an improvement. I've heard some ladies dig scars. Although those ladies are mostly krogans. Ask Wrex, he'll tell you the same thing."
"Hahaha! Ow. It hurts to laugh. My face is barely holding together as it is. You are a cruel woman, Shepard."
"And you need to learn to duck."
Garrus shrugged nonchalantly. "I'll take your advice into consideration next time a rocket comes toward my face."
Shepard shook her head. "Anyways. Thank you. It was a tough assignment, delaying Saren. You've exceeded my expectation. I'm impressed."
"Now you're making me blush."
"Wait, turians blush?" Ashley piped up.
Garrus made a vague gesture. "Well… Not exactly the same way humans do. The literal translation is 'to make one's faceplates tickle with delight.' There is no human equivalent for that one."
"Huh. I guess not." Ashley conceded, leaning back to the bed in a more comfortable position.
Lying on the last bed at the far end of the med bay, Vasir complained with obvious disdain. "Would you all shut up? Some people need to sleep."
Strolling over to Vasir's bed, Shepard gave her senior colleague a lopsided grin. "Hear that, people? Be quiet. Vasir needs her beauty sleep."
Vasir shot her a glare that could have curdled milk. "You."
"Yes?" Shepard gave Vasir an innocent look.
"I hate you."
Shepard snickered. "You know, you remind me of someone. Does your father happen to be a krogan?"
Vasir pulled her lips back in a deep scowl. "I fucking hate your guts."
"Duly noted," Shepard said amiably, pretending to be oblivious to Vasir's bad mood. It was clear as day to her that the older woman was trying to use anger to hide her embarrassment. Owing other people a debt of gratitude must be a novel experience to the arrogant asari. "But I didn't hear a no. And thank you for all your help. It would have been a lot harder to sneak up on Saren if you haven't distracted him for me. More importantly, you spared me from having to listen to his inane rambling. For that alone, you have my gratitude. I'd never understand why villains always feel the need for a long-winded monologue before the final battle… Now that I think of it, I don't believe I even exchanged a word with Saren in person. Huh. Interesting."
Nope. Saren didn't catch her on Virmire, and he was trapped in a stasis bubble in the Council Chamber. They never got to bicker at all. Not that she was complaining.
Vasir rolled her eyes. "Just drop me off on the Citadel as soon as I can walk. Goddess. You are insufferable."
"I try."
"Commander Shepard." Dr. Chakwas approached her with her Omni-tool out. During the time she spent chatting with the wounded, the doctor had patched up Kaidan's burns in no time. "If you don't mind, it's your turn for a check up."
"I'm fine." Shepard quickly changed her tune upon seeing the disapproving look on the doctor's face. "I mean, I feel fine." She said a bit defensively.
"We'll see." Dr. Chakwas said before running a careful scan over Shepard with a slight frown on her brows. She lingered around Shepard's still sore neck for a few moments longer before putting her tool away. "Small cuts and bruises, mostly the usual post-mission collection of scrapes. Come with me. I'll get you something to reduce the swelling around your neck."
Shepard followed the physician to the med bay office where Liara used to stay. As soon as the door was closed, Dr. Chakwas immediately waved her Omni-tool to seal it shut before whirling around to address Shepard in a stern tone. "If your neck hasn't been reinforced with heavy bone weave, it would have been crushed to pieces. Microscopic cracks on your spine will heal on their own in a few days. Same for the muscle tearings. But please, do be more careful in the future."
"Believe me, Doc. I will definitely heed your advice. This should teach me not to charge in so recklessly. I should've tried something else to soften him up more before I charge in like a blind bull. I was impatient. It could have been much worse." Shepard shuddered, remembering what a Banshee could do to a person in its deadly grasp. Decapitation would have been instantaneous, but death by evisceration would have been a painful, drawn out way to go. Not to mention those biotic succubi ate people's minds for breakfast.
"Here. Keep the area iced." Dr. Chakwas handed her an ice pack from one of the temperature controlled storage crates before adding, "and no alcohol for three days."
"Yes, ma'am."
x-x-x
The Normandy stayed docked on the Citadel for a few more days to assist with the most urgent clean up. Meanwhile, the Alliance Fifth Fleet picked up the slack the decimated Citadel fleet left in the aftermath of the geth invasion and took over much of the regular patrol duties before more ships could be recalled to guard the Citadel space. Shepard's advanced warning to Admiral Hackett had paid off. The Fifth Fleet rode in in strength. So rather than losing eight ships, only three Alliance cruisers were destroyed in the battle - Shenyang, Emden, and Cape Town. Every ship they had saved was one more ship they could use against the Reapers in the coming war.
Shepard's squad understood what was coming even though murmurs of "advanced geth dreadnaught Sovereign" and "theoretical enemy Reapers" had already begun circulating around the Citadel. It seemed the Council wasted no time to start their disinformation campaign to quell dissent and pacify the masses.
Speaking of keeping secrets, Liara had been asking for more details on Operation Coventry, and Shepard could no longer keep dodging her questions. Now that Sovereign was in small pieces scattered across various secret labs each race thought nobody else knew about, it was time to move on to the next phase of the plan.
"I wanted Saren dead, and you not only delivered, you gave me the best fight of my life. You are a good friend, Shepard. It's been a good ride, but I have to go now." Wrex said while giving the Commander a firm handshake.
"I understand. You need to go back to Tuchanka to prepare the krogans for war. No one wants to be caught bare assed when the Reapers show up. Word of advice: if you have to beat all the opposition into submission for them to follow your lead, then do it. We will need this galaxy's toughest warriors on our side to win the war. When the Reapers come, the galaxy will remember why we need the krogans."
Wrex chortled at the comment. "What you're asking would require me to unite all the krogan clans. This would be a monumental feat. You said it like you have no doubt I can pull it off... And you're not joking. Heh heh heh. I know there's a reason I like you."
Shepard grinned at her friend and leaned in to say the next part with a low whisper. "This is your best chance to get what you always wanted - respect from the Council and leverage for the salarians to cough up a genuine cure for the genophage, not the garbage Saren came up with. When the time comes, I'll help you hold the Council's feet to the fire. I'm only offering this to you because I trust you to keep the krogans in line. I would never offer this to any other krogan."
"One hell of a prize you're promising, Shepard."
Shepard casually crossed her arms. "I'm only asking your entire race to bleed at the front line to fight the Reapers. I figure it's a fair exchange."
"When you put it that way." Wrex shook his head in amusement. "I guess this is goodbye, Shepard. Stay alive before I see you again."
Laughing at the unintended joke, Shepard replied, "no promises."
Wrex chuckled as he walked away from the dock.
The next squadmate to leave the crew was Garrus. Although the worse of the wound was covered by a thick padding of synthetic weave to promote healing, it was clear those scars would never fade without extensive cosmetic surgery. Despite the head wound, Garrus was almost back to full health. Apparently turians were a lot sturdier than their willowy build suggested.
"Any plan after this?" Shepard asked, studying the former C-Sec's posture for any hint of pain.
Garrus thought about it for a moment. "Not going back to C-Sec, that's for sure. I've heard about the rumours regarding Sovereign already. If that's the Council's stance on the Reapers, then I'm more than done with them. I guess that means there is no point in getting more Spectre training either. I'm honestly stumped at this point. I don't know. Travel for a bit, perhaps? I need to do some soul searching to figure this out."
Shepard rubbed her chin in thought. "If you don't mind me sticking my nose into your business, I do have a suggestion. You're not going to like it, but I think it's necessary."
"Let's hear it."
"Talk to your father."
Garrus's brows shot up in disbelieve. "Excuse me?"
Shepard put her hands up in a gesture for peace. "Just hear me out. You told me your father was a high ranking career C-Sec investigator. For a strict 'by-the-book' type of guy, I figure he will not be so fast to dismiss all the evidence pointing at an impending Reaper invasion like the Council did. To win this war, we need all the resources, all the allies we can get. Preparation needs to happen yesterday. By the time the Reapers arrive, it will be too late to start stockpiling resources. They are not the kind of enemy you can flank or out maneuver. They don't have colonies for you to bomb, they don't have a supply line to be cut off, and they can convert our dead to be their foot soldiers. We will never be able to outnumber them. Remember how many ships it took to take Sovereign down? And that's just one Reaper. When their number darkens our sky, it will be a massacre."
"Spirits. When you spell it out this way, it sounds completely hopeless."
"Not gonna lie. It's going to be brutal. I wish the Council would pull their heads outta their asses soon enough to start prepping for war. Otherwise..." Shepard let the end of the sentence trail off without finishing it.
Garrus understood. Letting out a long exhale, he nodded gravely at the Commander. "I'll see what I can do. If the Reapers think the turians will just roll over and die without putting up a fight, then they are sadly mistaken."
"One last thing." Shepard stuck out her hand. "It's been an honor, Garrus."
"The honor is all mine, Shepard." Garrus shook her hand. "And don't be a stranger. You let me know if you ever need a friendly sniper rifle by your side. Not saying you're a slouch with a firearm, you're just not me."
King of the bottle-shooter. "You offering to be my guardian angel, Garrus? I'll hold you to it." Shepard teased.
"I'll see you around." Garrus said with a wave, and left the dock to catch the next transport back to Palaven.
Shepard silently apologized to her friends for the manipulation and deception. What she just did to Garrus was extremely unfair. Derailing his future might change his life in ways nobody could predict, but she did it anyway. Telling herself that it was necessary did not make her feel any better about the situation.
T minus twenty-five days.
Shepard counted down the days in her mind for the upteempth time again. She had been doing that a lot since they shot down Sovereign. This was another deception that has been eating at her conscience. Reflectively, Shepard put her hand in her trouser pocket to touch her most recent purchase. Amidst the chaos following the geth invasion, it was actually kind of amazing how many stores managed to stay open for her to find what she was looking for.
She never planned to propose. It just happened. Considering the circumstances, it was a stupid move. Her logical mind might caution restrain, but her heart did what it wanted. "Unfair" could not even begin to describe what she was about to put Liara through.
Jogging back through the Normandy's airlock, Shepard went to Joker to inform him to get ready for take off. She wanted to take the ship to Eden Prime for a high priority pick up before reporting back to Arcturus Station. It might take up to an hour for the dock to clear, considering the sorry state Citadel air control was in after the invasion. In the meantime, Shepard decided to bite the bullet and stop dodging Liara's questions.
It was going to be an extremely unpleasant talk, she suspected.
x-x-x
"Ah, Commander Shepard, it's good to see you… What the hell is that on your face?" Captain Anderson gawked at the bright red handprint plastered on one side of her face.
Shepard scratched her stinging cheek in discomfort. She was just glad Liara decided to slap her instead of warping her through the cabin door. "Had a run in with an angry asari." Shepard mumbled out a vague answer.
Apparently, as a divorced man himself, Anderson was intimately familiar with that particular battle wound. Nodding in understanding, he offered, "medi-gel?"
Shepard politely declined. "No, sir. I'm hoping the sight of it will make me look pathetic enough to garner some sympathy." And if Liara feels sorry for me, maybe she would let me back in our bed sooner rather than later. Getting kicked out of my own cabin on my own ship is sad enough.
"Alright. Your choice." Anderson was having a hard time hiding the knowing smirk on his lips. Even Udina seemed quite amused by Shepard's predicament.
A little while before the dock was cleared for the Normandy to take off, Shepard was called in to answer a summon from the Council. The timing was highly unfortunate, considering she had just received a fresh handprint from her irated fiance. She hadn't even gotten the chance to grovel for forgiveness yet. Liara's fury was truly something to behold. To be honest, Shepard was more than a little terrified by it.
"Commander, thank you for coming so quickly…" Councillor Tevos started with the standard greeting but trailed off when she noticed the vivid red mark on Shepard's cheek. "Is that a handprint?"
Shepard cleared her throat while feigning ignorance. Clearly, no one bought it. "I don't know what you're talking about, ma'am."
Sparatus, that old crusty bird, snickered at her misfortune. To his credit, he did refrain from making a wisecrack. As for Valern, he was content to go with the flow and happily pretended to have taken no notice of the bright red mark on Shepard's freckled cheek.
"In any case," Tevos politely averted her gaze as she continued, "Ambassador, Captain, Commander Shepard. We have gathered here to recognize the enormous contributions of the Alliance forces in the war against Sovereign and the geth."
Shepard stood quietly and listened. All three Councillors heaped on heartfelt praise while expressing gratitude towards the Alliance in general and herself in particular. Hearing all this had reassured her that saving them was the right decision after all. Earning a little goodwill now might go a long way later when she needed their support. This feeling of joyous fluttering in her stomach went away as soon as Udina opened his mouth right after Tevos offered humanity a seat on the Council.
"On behalf of humanity and the Alliance, we thank you for this prestigious honour and humbly accept." The Ambassador said.
Both of her eyebrows shot up towards her hairline in outrage at what he just said. The bastard had the gall to act as if he was the shoo-in for the job! Her ruffled feathers were soothed again when Valern quickly added, "we will need a list of potential candidates to fill humanity's seat on the Council."
Smiling coyly at the Commander, Tevos further supplied, "given all that has happened, I am sure your recommendation will carry a great deal of weight, Commander. Do you support any particular candidate?"
With great satisfaction, Shepard deliberately turned to give Udina a lopsided smirk before answering Tevos' question. "We need someone with the courage to stand up for what he believes in, someone with honour and integrity - a competent leader who inspires loyalty. Captain Anderson embodies all the virtues humanity and the Alliance stand for. You can find no better person for the job."
Udina looked as if he had bitten into a lemon. "Are you sure about this, Commander? The captain is a soldier, not a politician."
"That's the whole point." Shepard gave her mentor a significant look, trusting him to pick up on what was not said. "The Council needs more people with military experience, especially now. The Citadel defense is in tatters and the geth are no longer content with hiding beyond the Perseus Veil. Captain Anderson will be a valuable addition to the Council." She did not bother to bring up the Reapers because it would only hurt her case by doing so.
Tevos seemed to agree. Either that or she did not care much for Udina either. "I think it's an inspired choice. The Council would welcome him with open arms, should he accept."
Anderson did not hesitate. He fully understood that Shepard had recommended him for a very specific reason. Spiting Udina was just a bonus. "I'm honoured, Councillor. As humanity's representative, I'll do everything in my power to help the Council rebuild."
Shepard tuned the Council out after that. Sovereign was dead, the general populace had a taste of war, the Councillors were grateful, and humanity was officially accepted into the big boys' league. Her business on the Citadel was done. Starting now, she had more urgent matters to attend to.
T minus twenty-five days.
x-x-x
A/N: "The Talk" Shepard had with Liara regarding Operation Coventry was intentionally skipped for the same reason why I didn't specify what secret Shepard's mom had told her. These secrets will be revealed in later chapters when the time is right. And yay, Kaidan or Ashley both lived! (For now.) This is officially the end for the first game. (Pose heroically in front of the backdrop of paragon blue light. Cue music. Enter electric guitar. Roll credits. Hit Esc. Export save file.)