Hope you enjoy the shorter chapter this week. I love you all and don't forget to REVIEW!
POV: Aedon Wynne
The next morning after getting the Queen back we were still on our way to wherever the hell we were going. Shepard said we still had over 12 hours left to go which had me really curious for how far out of the way that we were going. Pushing that aside for now as it wasn't wouldn't help me to think on it I went down the stairs to the Shuttle bay. I got about halfway down before realizing that the Queen was still there and training wasn't going to happen.
Making to turn back around I stopped and decided to go down there anyways and see if the Queen was willing to talk. Who knows when the next opportunity to talk to the literal Last Rachni Queen would present itself to me. So walking down the stairs and exiting that little tunnel I came face to face with the Queen who was staring intently at me.
Neither of us said anything as I walked to the side and grabbed the bench and slid it across the floor to sit it front of her. I don't know how long we'll be so there would be no point in standing the whole time. The whole way though she watched me, her eyes never leaving my body as I moved the bench. Sitting on said bench after it was in place she continued to look at me in silence waiting for me to do something.
"Would you be willing to talk?" I asked after almost a full minute of silence looking at the Queen. She seemed to contemplate it for a moment before nodding her head at me.
"I have… heard things about you… The galaxy speaks about you… fondly and with hate. I wonder… how so many… hate you and how… so many adore you… It is interesting," I smiled and laughed at those words getting an amused look in return from the Queen.
"I piss off a lot of people and I help a lot. It's just how I am; guess I'm just a polarizing person to people who don't know me."
"And what do… you think your people would… say about you?"
"That I'm a stubborn asshole with something wrong upstairs besides my paranoia. But someone who is always reliable to be called upon to get something done."
"Upstairs?" I pointed at my head and she nodded. "I have also… heard you are… religious. Not many… are anymore… Why are you?" I actually needed to think about that for a few moments before opening my mouth to answer the question.
"I've died a good few times the last few years. I had my daughter kidnapped, survived what was the closest thing to a Nuke you can find, forced the Council to listen to the warnings of the Reapers. Killed thousands and mentored the only person in the galaxy with a kill count even close to mine. I could go on but I won't; all those things are actions that never would've been possible without my faith in my God. My faith in him makes me a better person and I hope that when my life does finally end he smiles upon me and my actions."
The Queen silently took in my words contemplating everything that I had said. It looked like she wanted me to elaborate but refrained from asking me to do so. Instead she continued to lie there and continue to think on what I had said. After almost two full minutes of silence she spoke.
"Would you be… willing to tell me more about… your God?" I was shocked into silence for a few moments before nodding my head to the Queen.
I would spend the next two, almost three, hours speaking to her and telling her everything about Christianity. Now, I wasn't any type of emissary for my religion but I did my best. That being said I was brutally honest in everything that I told her in everything that the Bible talks about. From the homicidal and genocidal stuff to the miracles and everything under the sun in the book.
At the end of it all she apparently liked it but I did ask what she liked the most. Surprisingly it was the fact that God was both merciful and wrathful. She even said that from my explanation it seemed that his mercy was only matched by his wrath. That and she said that he reminded her of a parent trying to make sure their kid grew up right. It was hard for me to refute that analysis and it was weird to hear her say it.
"Where can I… learn more?" she asked at the end of the conversation.
"Can you read english?" she nodded her head to my question.
Thinking about it for a few moments I held up a finger and silently asked her to wait a moment. Leaving her I went to my room and grabbed the bible that Thane had given me. I've kept it around since he gave it to me; it was a gift, why not. Either way grabbing it I brought it down and laid it down in front of her. Opening it to the first page her attention went from me to the Bible. After a minute or two one of her antenna reached out and swiped the page. Smiling, I left her and got some breakfast.
As I ate my breakfast I thought about that entire conversation and could only focus on how surreal it was. With everything that I've done and that's happened the past, almost, five years that was just crazy. Never in my life would I have thought that I would be the one to make a solid attempt to turn a once dead race towards God.
Thinking on that what has my life become besides almost pure chaos. Of everything that I've done in these past years that was the only thing that came to mind to describe my life. It wasn't bad though. If anything I was enjoying the journey I was on… it would've been better if more were still alive. Still, I've had one hell of a time and I somehow became a father and a husband to a princess. One who is now a Queen in a sense.
Shaking my head at all those thoughts I focused back on my food and ate. Once I was done I went back to my room and began to meditate again. Instead of focusing on finding that missing piece, which still eluded me, I focused on what Jack's teaching's said. Focusing on the world around me and sending out pulses to watch for everyone. Trying to predict their moves, how they would react to things. It was not a simple thing to learn.
Even though both she and her students have an intrinsic grasp on it the same could not be said for me. Whenever I tried to predict someone's movements I was always late on it. Jack, from the few video's she attached to the file, seemed to know before they even made the move. It was frustrating in a way to be so easily outdone here. It wouldn't be for long though, especially if I ever get long enough a time to dedicate to it.
Whenever we get back to the Citadel I'll seek her out and get her to personally help me. That is if she hasn't already dragged Shepard to a hotel before I can find her. Either way I'll find her and she will teach me. Afterall, what is the purpose of life if you aren't continually trying to learn new things?
Either way once I finished my meditation I went through a mini workout in my room before taking a shower. With that done I went back to sleep and really just waited out all the waiting that we were doing. I slept too long though and apparently missed it when we dropped off the Queen. No one had bothered to wake me.
When I found that out I went down to the hanger to see if she left my bible or not. I had expected her too and was pleasantly surprised when she did not. My bible was gone with her. When I turned to leave I saw Architect standing near the elevator looking at me expectantly.
"I never thought I would see a Rachni Queen. Let alone one that seemed lost in her own thoughts as she read the Bible. I wonder where she got such a thing?" I from the expression on his face the question was completely rhetorical. Not like he was wrong though.
"She asked about how I could stay religious, then asked about my religion. We talked for hours and when she asked if she could learn more I gave her my bible. Didn't expect her to keep it though to be honest. It was a gift from a friend," he nodded his head at that with a smile.
"The Pope really did not miss with you… Come on, I got an extra in my room," he then turned around without bothering to wait for my response. I followed him regardless, I wanted a bible on me if at all possible.
After getting to his room he handed me a bible without preamble. I thanked him and left making my way down to the bay to get a workout in. Two hours later after shooting and working out I made to leave only to get stopped by Grunt who had arrived at the gym. He gave me one of his smiles and gestured with his head towards the ring. Smiling at the Krogan I nodded and we proceeded to fight. Not spar, Grunt didn't spar; he fought and I gave him one.
Without using my biotics to enhance my strength like I could Grunt was far and away the most formidable opponent I've faced in the ring besides Shepard. He didn't have Shepard's knowhow or his finesse but he had strength and determination in spades. He broke out out three holds that would've ended the fight with anyone else. That being said for keeping myself as a base human without all the bullshit I had gotten it was an amazing fight.
One that I eventually won only because of my augmetic hands. If it wasn't for them there was no way that it would've been even close. They allowed me to punch harder and counter some of his moves that just wouldn't have happened with real arms. That being said, with all their improvements to me I still missed my real arm and hand. The sense of touch I had now was still there but it just wasn't the same. The face that it could happen regardless though was a miracle and it was all thanks to Frank and Ceelo.
We fought for close to two hours before we finally ended the fight with me winning three of the five times that we fought. At the end of it all Grunt smiled and told me that I hadn't lost a step and then promptly left. With that done I went back to my room and took a shower preparing to go to sleep but was stopped by a call from Nyreen.
"Yes?" I asked as I answered the call. She looked hesitant and a bit afraid for a moment before actually talking. That alone had me on edge.
"My contacts in Turian intelligence have some news. Don't know if it's good or not but there's a new player in the fold Aedon," now that was cause for concern.
"Who?" at the question Nyreen looked cagey at best and downright frightened at worst.
"They called them Imantata. Hidden in your language. They was active about 30ish years ago for about five years before they just completely disappeared. No one knows anything about them but they were hands down the best hacker in the galaxy. He stole secrets that should've never come to light. Aedon… he's how the Broker got as powerful as they are," that was concerning.
"Any intel on what they're doing now?"
"They're not doing anything besides sharing information with the other species now but you need to be careful. They're probably listening to this call as we speak but whoever they are do not mess with them… And if the Reapers get to them they'll know everything through them. Be careful on what you send through the net from now on," she was… pleading with me. I had no info on whoever this was but I've never seen Nyreen this spooked. I'll listen to her advice.
"Okay, I get it. Thanks Nyreen," she nodded her head and then cut the call.
Shaking my head at that I laid my head on my pillow and passed out. Sleep taking me.
It's been two weeks since dropping off the Rachni Queen. There has been next to nothing for us to do besides dropping Grunt off. We had visited the Citadel once to restock on weapons and fuel but other than there has been nothing for us to do except for wait. Shepard seemed to make some headway with some Alliance project but so far nothing has come of it. I don't know what he had been doing, he didn't involve me.
Either way the past two weeks have been incredibly boring for me. The only thing of note being that Mordin wanted more blood samples from me. Said he wanted to analyze how my body was doing while he waited for the genophage cure tests to go. I didn't really much care, it wasn't any of my concern at the moment. Still, at the moment I was eating in the kitchen of the Normandy as we hovered over Tuchanka.
Finishing up I put my plates away and got a tap on my shoulder. Turning around Shepard was there and he motioned for me to follow him. So I did straight into the Med Bay. Giving him a curious look upon entering he waved it away as if to say that everything was good. Then he looked towards both Dr. Chakwas and Mordin who both got the message and left the room. The Krogan female currently passed out on the table wouldn't hear anything regardless.
"We have two missions. One from the Turians and one from the Krogan," I nodded along as he talked. "And we can't let the Krogan find out about the Turian one."
"Fantastic," I stated releasing a sigh. "So, what's the play then?"
"I'll be dealing with the Turian mission. We're to go get a squad trapped behind Reaper lines. You'll be taking care of the Krogans. Go to these coordinates and restart their ground based orbital artillery. Then put in these codes so that the system recognizes the rest of us as friendlies," again I nodded along to what he was saying.
"What's going on that the Krogans can't find out about the Turians?" Shepard sighed before leaning in to whisper. His own paranoia acting up in case the female wasn't completely asleep. Understandable and respected.
"Turians set up a bomb their after the Rebellions and not just a small one either. According to Victus it could take out a sizeable chunk of the planet. The Krogans find out about this and the alliance is over before it can even begin. That cannot happen."
"I understand sir. Who are you taking with you?"
"Javik, Liara, Garrus and Vega. You got Nif and EDI," at my look of curiosity he immediately understood and explained it to me. "EDI is apparently combat capable and has run a few simpulations; she'll fill the role nicely for you."
"Pushing aside from the fact that an AI is on my team do you have any intel for me on where I'm going besides the fact that it controls the Krogan artillery?" Shepard shook his head.
"We haven't been able to find anything about it besides that in the 30 minutes since I was told of these two missions. You're the first one to know by the way; you'll need to debrief your team while I debrief mine. Officially I'm going down there just to get the Turian team out of there, nothing else," I accepted what he said even if it felt like he was throwing me to the deep end here. He wouldn't do it without reason and he has a pretty good one, we needed this alliance.
"How long do I have until we'll be at my drop off point?"
"You got four hours until then. I'll be briefing my team whenever yours leaves so you have all the time to do so," I nodded my head and walked out of the room.
Going straight back to my room I had to gameplan on how this would go. With all of them coming up blank. There was only so much I could think of if I didn't know what the others were capable of. At least I had a solid idea with Nif, I had partially trained him and he was a Marine. EDI was a complete blank slate though in terms of combat; which had me wondering how exactly to use her.
Sighing to myself I went back to the Med Bay and went passed the returned Dr. Chakwas and Mordin and went straight into the AI core. Upon entering EDI's body powered up from the corner where it sat. She stood up and walked over to me and stared at me with a surprisingly emotional face. Guess she was excited to go on her first mission.
Telling the AI to follow me we went downstairs to the range where I had her fire a variety of guns to find out what she was most efficient in. It was a complete waste of time as she was proficient across the board. Well, waste of time wasn't accurate; she was the best at SMGs and ARs which I made immediate note of.
From there I wanted to see her tech abilities on the range and she was just as proficient as she was with weapons. The only thing that I saw there though that could be improved upon though was that she was just that, proficient. She didn't excel in anything within tech which was confusing for an AI. However, it did open a lot of avenues for me. For someone to be proficient in everything was something that I could most definitely make use of. Added a wide range of abilities that could be used in the field.
Then came hand to hand combat and everything it entailed. I had her fight Nif for this and surprisingly she was lacking. She may have been made of metal with the processing power of an AI but she was just that, a machine. She rarely made adjustments on the fly and stuck to the forms that she had learned from watching and analyzing. In short she would've made martial arts instructors praise her but actual combat people laugh at her.
To put that into something that could be understood I had them fight 10 total spars and it took 45 minutes for them to all end, with rests. Nif won nine of those 10 and the only reason he didn't win them all was because I asked him not to, so that I would see how she would capitalize. Also, completely textbook. Textbook did not convert to actual combat; it helped certainly but you had to be able to adjust on the fly and she didn't seem able to.
Sighing at the end of their last bout I motioned for the both of them to follow me. They both did so without complaint and followed me all the way to the briefing room. We still had about an hour before we hit the drop off point so we had time. Still, this whole situation wasn't ideal and I wasn't happy about it. If I didn't trust Shepard inexplicably I would be throwing a fucking fit about all this. To his face.
Either way, both EDI and Nif sat down in the briefing room somewhat confusedly.
"The three of us have a mission," I stated looking at them both.
"I believe missions are only handed out by the Commander," EDI stated. I stared at her with a blank face trying to convey anything to her. She was a wall though and didn't get the meaning of 'shut up'. Nif did though and didn't say a single word; good man.
"They are and we will be going after the artillery controls on Tuchanka for this mission. We-"
"Why isn't the Commander informing us of this," Again EDI cut in.
"EDI, you speak out of turn again and this will be your last mission," she promptly closed her mouth and sat stock still in her seat at complete attention. Guess that worked and I used it already. Great, I'll have to find more things to stop her in the future.
"As I was saying we will be going on a mission to restart the Tuchanka artillery and orbital defenses. As for Shepard he will be going with the rest of the squad to retrieve Primarch Victus' son behind enemy lines. Their mission is more high profile then ours but he trusts me to get this done. So that is what we are doing. Any questions?" neither raised their hands.
"Good. We leave in an hour. Be ready," and with that I left the room, grabbed my gear and went down to the shuttle where Cortez was already waiting. He was a good man but I desperately missed Pequod. Man brought an assurance to every mission I desperately missed.
Either way after an hour both EDI and Nif showed up and we all boarded the shuttle to take us to the artillery controls. The trip was easy with absolutely no changes and upon landing we all got out in sync. Upon getting out we made a little bit of a perimeter while the shuttle took off. We didn't need to though as there was nothin in the immediate area.
I would eat those words as the moment we started to move forward Cerberus soldiers appeared out of nowhere. As soon as they did I was off from from my position and charging at them with my ax at the ready. I didn't know why they were here or cared why but they were now on my kill list and every sinlge one of them would die. Didn't matter how, as long as they died.
As I charged the soldiers they pelted my shields with shots but I just didn't care. My armor held as did my shields as I charged them and I wanted them to suffer all of the consequences. Which I made them feel in the highest of degrees as I plunged my ax into every available surface. Nif wasn't far behind me as he stabbed everyone that he could get his hands on.
That being said Nif mostly focused on people I had already screwed up with my ax. EDI wasn't much better though as for every single person that Nif missed she made sure that they suffered. Making sure that each stab that she conducted ended with her twisting the knife. Making extra sure that whoever she stabbed would never be able to do anything without assistance for the rest of their life. I approved, especially since it was against Cerberus.
As I charged forward I saw the fear behind the mask of every single Cerberus soldier but I didn't care. They were the ones that put themselves between us and our objective and they were dealt with to the highest degree. Understandably not a single Cerberus soldier was left alive at the end of the fight and we made our way towards the controls.
Once we made it to the controls I began the start up process. About halfway through the process Cerberus soldiers began to land near the area we had started the raid at. Regardless I kept on workin on the Artillery systems The entire system was absolutely ancient so it took longer than I was comfortable with but no one else tried to help me. Which was a comfort in and of itself.
EDI looked like she wanted to help with the start up process but held her tongue, I'm thankful for that. Either way once we started it seemed like the entirety of Cerberus came down on us. However, Nif and EDI stood their ground at the edges of the main entrance and did not budge from their positions. Only one got passed them.
When that singular person got passed them he charged me. Upon his charge I took myself away from the controls and confronted the man with my ax and knife. To say it was a fight would be a diservice to fights in general. I killed him with an ax to the neck and it was pathetically easy. A simple parry and then attack and he was dead and I was back to wroking on on the console to activate the system.
As I continued to work on the machine in front of me they held the line in front of me. They were everything that I would have wanted in a squad and I had to give it to EDI. She learned on the fly. She still wasn't were I wanted her to be but she was eons better then where she was just a few hours prior. Guess that was the effect being an AI had in combat capable situations.
As they continued to fight I continued to upload the codes and eventually everything stopped. I don't know why it did but I got my answer promptly as the artillery system started up and began blasting. Everything that wasn't either Krogan or Krogan associated was subject to being killed and Joker brought no mercy with him. Man killed literally everything in the sky and I have to say, the way he went about it was impressive.
He moved the Normandy like a man possessed. It wasn't meant to do even a quarter of the moves he pulled off while in atmosphere but he did them regardless. I'm sure that he gave all the mechanics and engineers a heart attack but they couldn't stop him. I wouldn't either as everything that he was doing was working. It was like watching the moonlit sonata being played for the first time but with a pilot as the one playing. It was glorious.
Either way once everything was said and done he peeled off with just a shuttle ejecting from the back. We got to watch as the shuttle closed in on us and parked itself right in front of us. When it did we took it as our que that we were about to get off this god forsaken planet. I was completely wrong on that front and I hate myself for even thinking in. Should've known not to tempt the fate of God. Never works out for anyone.
"You need to go and reinforce Shepard! I don't know what's happened but he needs reinforcements. He put in a call for them just a few minutes ago," Cortez shouted at us as we entered the shuttle. I was angry at that but didn't show it and instead nodded my head. Upon seeing that he took us to where Shepard was. Guess the fight was going to get a lot harder now.
That's all that she wrote folks. Hope you enjoyed even though it is a bit of shorter chapter. I wrote something that fit and this was the only thing that did.