Note: I know another song but it fits haha. Let me know if you'd rather I leave them out.
I got five on it (Tethered mix from US) - Michael Abels, Luniz, & Michael Marshall for the fight scene.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter 70: Inconvenient Love
Kal kept walking knowing he didn't have time to help Jack with the Thane situation. With their backs truly against the wall, the Collectors were surely going to accelerate their plans for Zero and he couldn't let that happen. He hadn't come all this way just to lose her to the Collectors when he was this close to saving her. To his surprise, Kai Leng wasn't following him immediately to stay in the argument, maybe his optical sensor couldn't see Kal leaving. The other possibility was that Kal had nothing to do with why Leng was here but, he found that unlikely. Leng seemed far too deliberate with his actions to volunteer to do one thing and then do the opposite when they got to the mission. Luckily, Saren of all people was still walking by his side searching for threats from more Collectors. If Jack told him two years ago he was going to have to rely on the terrorist who tried to kill the entire galaxy for help, he would've thought his cyar'ika snapped under pressure. Yet, here he was, doing exactly that.
Saren was tense as he shot a Collector down the hall who had just started glowing green, "I hope your prepared for when we most likely find the girl dead."
His words stung like a gut punch to Kal. Saren was of course right that it was a possibility, after everything they went through, he would find her on a table like an experiment the Collectors discarded when the fighting started. Hell, it was also just as possible that EDI had been wrong from the beginning and Zero was dead the moment she had been taken off of the Normandy. Kal couldn't force himself to believe that outcome though, at least not yet. EDI had never been wrong before so, he had no reason to think that was going to start now. Plus, Zero was the closest person he was ever going to have to a daughter, if he gave up on her now what did that say about him as a parent? Saren was most certainly just preparing him for the worst case scenario but, he didn't need to hear it. For the past ten hours Kal's mind came up with plenty on his own.
All of the sudden, the ground was shaking again and much more violently this time. The satellite must've activated and was preparing to send or receive whatever signal it was designed to. A part of him knew he should be with Jack right now to make sure that the Collectors didn't get to follow through on their plans, Zero would never be safe if that happened. However, leaving her to die to whatever experiments they had planned for her made him want to be sick. He knew the exact feeling of being at the mercy of a cruel scientist not knowing if you were going to wake up after the next test, or if anyone cared about you enough to help. Besides, Jack had the entire rest of the crew and the Turians to help him out, Kal wasn't going to be able to make up the difference in this scenario.
He chose to ignore the words and instead, shoot another Collector straggler before looking around, "Where's Adrien...?"
Leng appeared from the other end of the hall slowly approaching them, "He volunteered to take the frog back to his ship for medical treatment. It looks like it's just us now."
The smirk gave him chills but, another voice came out of nowhere. "Not quite," Kasumi revealed herself standing right next to them, "I wasn't going to miss the real fireworks show tonight."
She was obviously referring to the fact that he and Leng were going to go to blows by the end of the night. Taking in all the comments and remarks that got them to this moment, it just seemed inevitable the assassin was going to try and kill him. He realized that while Kasumi was being flippant, as was her usual state, she was also here for a much more noble reason. Kasumi still felt like she was responsible for Archangel's eventual collapse since she didn't stay and listen to what the three mercenary leaders had been planning. He personally blamed Cora, and then himself for not seeing the signs in Erash but, she definitely didn't need to know that right now. This was how she felt like she was going to atone for that mistake and Kal had no reason to stop her.
Kal positioned himself on the door to the next room and gave her a nod, "Alright, we get the crew and then we leave with the others. That's the plan, no heroics, no curiosity."
Without waiting for confirmation, Kal kicked down the door watching EDI's ten minute timer tick down quickly. Even though he just said no curiosity, the sight of this room took his breath away. There had to be millions of green glowing cryopods for as far as the eye could see probably stretching around the entire circumference of the station. Each pod had a small tube underneath it all leading to a pod sitting right next to him that wasn't much bigger than he was. His first thought was, what the hell was this place? Quickly followed by, how the hell was he going to find Zero in one of these millions of pods within the next ten minutes? It was an impossible task for an army, let alone just him and three other people, one of which wanted to kill him. He fell to his knees and wanted to scream at how far he was to finding her.
Having actually listened to his advice, Kasumi went around the corner of the central pod. "Kal! Kal, she's still alive! Help me out here!"
He whipped back up to his feet and ran around the corner only for his adrenaline to spike dramatically. There were even more pods connected to the central one and these had the Normandy crew members inside of them. He could tell it was the crew because he saw Zero's terrified face in one pod and Doctor Chakwas in the next pod to her right. Kal was going to assure them everything was going to be ok when Chakwas started to scream and sink out of view with blood splattering across the viewport. If that wasn't enough, the tubing beneath her pod lit up with a green pulse traveling to the main pod. The pod itself had turned Chakwas into an organic paste before giving it to the central pod, and Zero was trapped inside one that seemed identical to the Doctors.
Kal slammed the back of his shotgun into the viewport while Kasumi's hands were running along the sides looking for a release, "Saren! Find a way to open this from that terminal!"
Saren approached it slower than he would've liked, "Opening her pod will most likely open all of the-"
Kal interrupted him knowing hammering against the glass was doing nothing as he watched her terrified face, "JUST DO IT SAREN!" He knew she didn't have much time left.
Leng had a very smug grin on his face as he sat on the side, "Activation code 227: You will stand back and do nothing Saren. Let's watch him squirm as the little girl dies.. Then he'll get to know how I felt on Klendagon."
Kal's desperation kicked in as he realized what was happening, Leng was using the control chip inside Saren's head to stop him from activating the terminal. He wouldn't be able to do anything to free her since he couldn't understand the Prothean language. What was worse was that Jack was too busy dealing with ending the cycle to talk him through the Prothean alphabet in the next thirty seconds. He was going to have to watch helplessly as Zero met the same fate as Chakwas and there was nothing he could do to stop it. Desperation turned into a primal fury as he planned on charging Leng right now. Maybe if he could kill the di'kut fast enough, Saren would come back to his senses and be able to free Zero in time.
Saren had a strange glance on his face like he suddenly understood something, "You think Adrien was...? Oh Harper, you are clever." He lifted something between two fingers, it was the bloody control chip. "I'm free of your orders and can do whatever I want." His talon tapped the release button.
Kal couldn't process either of their surprise before the pod opened and he had to catch a terrified Zero, "Oh.. Oh Keelah, I got you."
Zero was crying in a mix of fear and relief, "You asshole... You came all the way here to save me?! What the fuck were you thinking?"
Kal squeezed her in a hug getting lost to the world for just a few seconds, "Well, saving the galaxy was a bonus but, of course I did..." His helmet ran along the side of her cheek to try and comfort her, "I love you."
Her arms clung to him tightly before she suddenly shouted, "Look out!"
He had to duck out of the way to avoid Saren who was being tossed at him from Leng's biotics in his sword. Kal had to make a choice right now, he could try to outrun the assassin but he was still carrying her. There was no way he would be able to get to the ship in time and he wouldn't be able to fight with his hands full. So, Kal put her down and started shooting in Leng's direction to try and kill him. His gut twisted into knots when Leng just put his hand up and a shield deployed around him to stop the bullets. Great, he had upgrades and was taunting him with a sneer approaching Kal like he had cornered an animal. A new timer appeared on his heads up display; three minutes. Just three minutes to kill Leng and get out with Zero.
Leng thrusted his sword forward but, the hatch from the central chamber flung open knocking the swords path out of the way. Kal tensed when a figure stepped through the pod and it made a chill run down his spine. It's skin was a dark greenish grey reminding him of a Quarian on their death bed. The creature had Turian like exoskeleton around his oval head almost as though it was a crown. His two tiny, beedy, green eyes flashed open and he scanned both of them. Kal and Leng weren't attacking each other and slowly stepping away not sure what they were dealing with here. Kasumi suddenly appeared out of stealth and attempted to stab at the things throat. Kal felt his stomach flip flop when the creature caught her hand with a new orange biotic glow before tossing her through the wall towards the main chamber.
The man stepped out of the pod and rolled his neck around, "Primitives, you have defiled this holy place. I will clense your filth from this temple as I enact my final revenge on the masters..."
Kal was going to try and slink away with Zero but, Saren leaped past him to tackle the thing and push it into the main chamber with Jack and the others. The timer was already down to two minutes and fifty seconds and he was still at the same place where they started. Leng was still standing in front of him as if he was trying to decide what to do at this moment. He still wanted revenge against his family for whatever reason but, did he want to survive afterwards? He stayed completely frozen not daring to turn around and put Leng into the blind spot while he watched the others fight what he assumed was an actual Reaper, or one of it's creators. It's biotic power looked like fire as it danced around his friends and loved ones, they needed him right now but, Zero needed him more. Jack could protect himself but as of right now, Zero was vulnerable not even able to walk at this point.
Leng put his hands on his ear, "Feron, it's time. Meet me on the Normandy with the prisoner and we'll return home.." He proceeded to try and swipe at Kal with his sword.
Kal stepped out of the way trying to send a punch, "Really? You want to do this now?!"
Leng took the punch to the face and let the momentum spin him around and he placed his sword casually behind his back, "Let's see how you do when your the one under pressure."
He threw a punch only for Leng to dodge his entire body to the left ninety degrees to taunt him. A second fist swept through the air as Leng ducked underneath it only to hit him with the handle of his sword in the side. Kal stumbled backwards ever so slightly watching his foe stand back up with the sword behind his back again standing perfectly straight. The smile on Leng's face made a shiver run down his spine, he was in his element treating Kal like he was his student that needed instruction on how to kill. Only two minutes and twenty seconds left, what the hell was he going to do to get out of this? In the other room he could see Jack had jumped on the Reapers back while Saren, Garrus, Tali, and Mordin were struggling to get around the biotic flames. None of them were going to be able to help him right now.
Knowing he had to do this on his own, Kal tensed up and sent a kick to his gut. Leng made a three hundred sixty degree spin to dodge away from the kick only to use a quick slash at his other thigh before pivoting back around to his original stance. Since one of Kal's legs were already pushed forward for the kick, he slid to an unintentional split. Kal grunted pushing himself to his feet from raw determination to protect Zero and sent a back handed elbow. The assassin merely took a few steps backwards on his tip toes like a ballet dancer. His blood was starting to boil from how in control Leng obviously thought he was, what happened to the angry raving lunatic he had fought multiple times before? The red timer ticking down past the two minute mark was enough to make Kal speed up his attacks.
However, again and again Leng made some sort of dodge or twist away from an attack only to punish him for the miss with the edge of the blade. The assassin wasn't going for the kill immediately, letting the cold steel taste the edges of his skin over and over again with each punch into the empty air. He was getting a better appreciation for the phrase 'death by a thousand cuts' had a literal meaning and it was getting harder and harder to get back up to his feet. By the sixth or maybe seventh light cut, Kal knew adrenaline and determination not to be like his father were the only things keeping him going. Out of the corner of his eye, Kal could Zero start to glow in anger with biotics still laying on the ground. She seemed to be building up her rage every time he got hit with the sword. His mind racing about a way to get out of here as the clock ticked down to a minute and forty five seconds.
Zero roared with rage and they both turned their heads to see she was standing due to biotics, "I AM TIRED OF YOUR BULLSHIT!"
She sent a biotic wall in his direction but, Leng was actually grinning, "Thanks darling, I was beginning to think you weren't going to give me the opportunity to do this." His sword caught her biotics and used them to throw her into the main room and used the remainder of the energy to throw Kal against the hull of the open pod, "You better hurry up... We don't have much time."
Kal rose back to his feet as fast as he could and ran through the hole Kasumi made looking for Leng. To his far left, he saw Jack and the others really struggling against the Reaper who was floating in the air and sending wave after wave of biotic energy at them they had to avoid. In the middle of the room, Leng was standing at the terminal in the middle of the room with Zero's wrist in one hand. He was dangling her above a hole in the ground probably created by a grenade that went off. How far would that hole go down? Would she survive a fall if Leng let go? She had used a lot of her biotics in the attempt to take Leng down so she probably wouldn't be able to catch herself. A minute and ten seconds was left, would they even be able to get to the ship in time if they started running right now?
Leng swung her wrist around the hole as though she was like a play thing, "I could just let her go but, I'm going to give you a choice. This terminal is designed to send a signal beyond the galaxy to wake up the Reapers. Let them know it's time for the cycle to continue. So, you can stop me from pushing this button and the Reapers will stay away forever, or you can save your 'daughter.' Five seconds."
Zero was giving him a wildly angry expression, "Don't you fucking dare! You let me go. You know what you have to do."
Time in the room just seemed to slow to a halt trying to decide what to do. He had thought he fully understood why Jack did what he did on Torfan in the aftermath of Luna but, now he was completely grasping it. The rational, logical, answer was to grab Leng's right arm and stop him from calling on the Reapers. It was the one thing he and Jack had been working towards for the past two years, and yet he was watching Zero dangle above the hole. He couldn't imagine seeing her smashed on the ground after who knows how long of a fall Leng was priming her for. His father's voice was in his ears telling him that no singular loss was too great for the greater good. Kal wasn't going to be like his father and everyone Zero ever knew who abandoned her for that greater good. He ran as fast as he could and dove to catch Zero's arm as she started to fall.
Zero's expression was one of full rage glaring up at him, "What the absolute burning hell were you thinking?!"
Leng shook his head and made a tsk noise, "You'll soon find out that all of the Shepard's are extremely predictable." His hand tapped at the central console once.
The fact they only had forty seconds left filled him with dread, they weren't going to be able to get out of here in time. At the very least he was satisfied Leng was going to die here as well without getting the revenge he so desperately fought for. The ground shook violently making him grip at Zero's hand tighter and a bright white light shot out of the Mass Effect drive core out into space. Leng wasn't lying, Kal was sure that light was the signal activating the Reapers. Another cycle had officially begun, and it was his fault not some villain. Not Sovereign, not an indoctrinated Saren, not even Leng really, he was now the only reason the Reapers were coming.
Leng's boots had daggers suddenly jutting out of them to kick him, "Your going to die here and you failed to save anything."
His yelp of pain from that dagger plunging into his side was drown out from an explosion above them revealing a Turian Kodiak shuttle. Adrien had returned and was going to rescue them. Thirty five seconds was now a lot longer than before if all they had to do was get inside the shuttle. The shuttle fired another blast at the Reaper still standing to fight the rest of Jack's team. Another kick made Kal scream knowing the knife landed in his side, it felt like one of his organs had been hit. His muscles wanted to let go of Zero to relieve some of the tension but he just squeezed tighter. Kal would rather die than let her go, he'd lay himself down on a shuttle track if it meant she or Jack would survive.
An invisible force grabbed Leng's sword hilt from behind making his body spin around and send a slash through the air. At first, Kal thought he and Leng had just been seeing things but, a waterfall of blood slid down the invisible shape of a neck and breasts. Kasumi appeared a few seconds later grasping at her neck which was spilling blood all over her chest and started to fall to her knees. She had tried to sneak behind Leng to save them, it just wasn't fast enough. The fact that he had optical sensors instead of just actual eyes must've given him the advantage to see her even when she was in stealth mode. Even though she was surely going to die, she had a smile on her face. Kasumi had atoned for what she felt was a wrong and was now going to rejoin the love of her life in the afterlife.
A biotic blast sent Leng across the room and Jack was grabbing him by the shoulders, only to carry him and Zero to the shuttle. Neither of them were looking at him understanding what he had done to save her. The shuttle had nearly everyone inside including Legion and Joker who must've left the Normandy to get here. Legion even had their Quarian family blanket tucked away under his shoulder, that was probably Rael's doing knowing the cultural significance of it. Saren was standing at the entrance of the shuttle glowing a biotic shield full of a rage. The Turian had to also be angry with him knowing his own sacrifice the first time on the Citadel was thrown out the window because he prioritized Zero above everything else. Feron and Miranda were also missing but, he just assumed they were going back into their work with Cerberus.
Jack shouted roughly, "Saren get in here NOW! Adrien, get us back to your ship before that bomb goes off!"
He was alive holding Zero up while Jack was making sure they both didn't fall over. Kal should be happy that they were going to be ok but, he knew he was going to have to deal with the aftermath of what just happened. All of the fighting, all of the death to stop the Reapers was for nothing. At any moment, the Reaper invasion could begin and the galaxy was totally unprepared for the horrors that waited them.
Note: This definitely may feel like an ending but stay tuned for the epilogue coming this week!