Chapter 33: Burning Bright
The air itself was chaos. Biotic energy rippled around him and the staccato rhythm of weapons fire had become almost mundane. Even through his helmet there was a sickening smell of ozone, blood, and smoke. His muscles burned with fatigue, fingers numb from the constant recoil of his assault rifle. And some small part of Thomas Carmichael was actually starting to enjoy it.
Admittedly there was the unabashed terror of their breakneck charge through Omega's dimly lit streets that tempered the experience. The adjutants seemed endless in number. But Miranda and Jack were moving at the fore of the group with a speed that varied between a jog and a full on sprint, tearing through any opposition with raw biotic power while Aria and Nyreen covered the flanks. That left him and Zaeed to provide covering fire. It was a pace that didn't leave much time for fear or doubt.
It was a small mercy in and of itself. While his blood was pumping and his focus was on survival it didn't give him much time to think about the cost of his decision. Few bodies littered the streets that they were moving through… the adjutants were far more sinister than that. The evidence of their victims were the adjutants themselves, some still wearing shreds of workers coveralls or hazard suits. Reminders that the creatures had once been fellow humans, asari, or salarians.
"Sit down!" Zaeed yelled beside him.
The secondary barrel of his worn rifle flared to life and fired a blue tinged bolt, effectively a micro-concussion grenade, that took one of the pursuing adjutants full in the chest. A half-second later the blast sent the creature flying backwards, impacting the heavy steel railing with a crunch before flipping head over feet and tumbling over to its demise. Jack's bellow interrupted any words of praise he might have had for the shot.
"Move your asses!"
"Keep your knickers on," Zaeed growled back, pumping a quick burst into the next closest adjutant and backing through the doorway that Jack was waving them through. "Just cleaning up here."
As soon as they were through the door slammed shut. A biotic glow suffused the frame and there was a groan of tortured metal. He watched as the frame warped. It was one door that wouldn't be opening again anytime soon. A steady thump of the creatures beating fruitlessly against the steel was the only sound other than their heavy breathing for a few long moments. Carmichael slumped back against the wall.
He didn't know how long it was before his pulse slowed enough that he didn't feel like he was on the verge of throwing up. It wasn't long after that that he began to wish they hadn't stopped, though, as the reality of the situation began to intrude. They were running for their lives from hundreds, even thousands, of abominations. And he'd been the one to let them loose into the station. He barely paid attention to the conversation going on over his head.
"That will buy us a few minutes," Nyreen commented. "We're going to run out of ammo before we run out of monsters before long."
"Reaching Petrovsky's command center is our only option. Petrovsky is a pragmatist. If he's lost he'll surrender. Once we have control of Omega's defenses we can turn the main guns against the Cerberus fleet and Alliance forces can storm the station," Miranda stated calmly. "We have the forces available to put down the adjutants."
The turian shook her head doubtfully.
"Assuming there's anyone left to save by the time they get here."
"Omega won't be too much worse off with a few less natives," Jack snapped. "Might want to worry less about the lifespan of the average scum and more about getting out of here alive."
Nyreen's mandibles flared angrily and her talons curled.
"You might not care about anyone but yourself, but there are innocent people on this station."
"Don't give me that bullshit, cuttlebone. I know all about the 'good people' of Omega," the convict replied, rolling her eyes. "The only time I've come to this shithole and someone hasn't tried to rob, rape, or kill me was because I was rolling with Shepard."
"'We don't have time for you birds to debate philosophy," Zaeed cut in.
Miranda nodded.
"Zaeed is right. We have to keep moving."
The pilot groaned inside his helmet, but pushed himself to his feet.
"You're not dead yet," Zaeed said behind him, punctuating his words with a slap that he felt even through his armor.
"I don't know how much longer I can keep up with you guys," Carmichael replied wearily.
It wasn't an exaggeration. The human body could only pump out so much adrenaline, only operate at over a hundred percent for so long. He had the most basic set of military gene modifications, ones that cleared up small lingering genetic defects, processed oxygen a little better, and other tiny improvements. But those small boosts were the only thing that had even gotten him this far.
"You keep up because you goddamn well have to, or you die. No better motivation than that, Kid," the merc countered. "A man gives up, he's dead at that second. Sometimes just takes a little longer for it to catch up."
"I'm not a fucking hard ass mercenary," Carmichael snapped suddenly, the aches and fatigue making him temporarily ignore the voice in the back of his mind that told him mouthing off to a man with Zaeed's reputation was a bad idea.
The reaction was swift and surprising, he found himself slammed hard against the bulkhead with Zaeed's hand on the shoulder of his armor.
"Listen up, you little shit. You want to give up? Then fine, but you're not going to get the rest of us killed. So you can stay here and let those things rip your guts out or you can man up! Because if a man knows he's going to die then he makes it goddamn well mean something!"
Carmichael waved a hand weakly in the direction of the others.
"I'm a pilot. I don't… Whatever this is… I'm not one of you."
Miranda turned and fixed him with a stare, hard and cold. One that brooked no argument, not even a hint of dissent. It was like a bucket of ice water had just been dumped in his armor.
"Today you are."
"Stand, primitives! Stand and fight!"
Dozens of people were screaming, even more were running too fast to make even that much sound. A panicked herd of flesh that ran past as Javik bellowed over his protests. And behind them the unearthly howls that were the source of their fear. One of the screams cut off abruptly.
Omega's dirty streets were even dimmer under the flickering lights and emergency back ups that kicked on and off as the powergrid seemed to go wild. The first warning had been distant sounds of panic. Not long after the first civilians had made it to the Alliance soldiers. Fear had made them barely comprehensible, but not much explanation was needed when more and more came. And the first wave of adjutants had followed after.
"Squads three and seven, secure the right flank and get these people secure!" Vega barked into his comms, vaulting onto the roof of an aircar to get a better view.
He tucked the rifle tight into his shoulder and squeezed the trigger, rounds streaked into the dim light of Omega and struck the nearest adjutant in the chest. The recoil pulled the barrel upwards, tearing into its pale flesh. The soldier brought the weapon back under control and placed the next burst straight into the thing's face. Around him more of the Alliance soldiers rallied, taking up kneeling positions as the panicked civilians began to thin.
"We need to get to a better position, Sir!" one of the men said, leaning into the aircar's fender to take up a firing position.
"No time, civilians can't move as fast as us. We need time for Three and Seven to get them locked down."
"But Sir-"
"These things do not make it past us! Is that understood?" Vega yelled, repeating himself a second later when there wasn't an immediate response. "I said is that understood!"
"Sir, yes, sir!"
Another adjutant leapt down from a nearby catwalk, towards a group of stumbling refugees that had almost made it to their lines, but it never reached the ground. A crackling field of energy stopped it in mid air, followed by a concentrated packet of energy slamming into it from over the soldiers heads. The detonation that followed shredded the adjutant and sent what little remained of it flying back into the darkness.
"You're more like him than I thought, Vega," a voice came from behind him.
"Who, Ma'am?" he asked, glancing over his shoulder.
The Commander had told them all about the timid young archaeologist that had joined his crew during the hunt for Saren. But just like the hot-head inexperienced cop or the shy quarian mechanic the image Liara cast now showed no hint of those old stories. Her armor was stained with ichor, a pistol gripped tightly in her left hand with the right still crackled with biotic power.
"Shepard. I understand now why he likes you. You're just as stubborn and uncompromising."
"I'll take that as a compliment."
"It was," the asari replied, a small, knowing smile crossing her features for a brief second. "Here they come."
The emerged from the darkness in a tide of grey flesh and glowing eyes. A heartbeat later the street was illuminated by a dozen flashes of weapons fire, rounds tearing into the front ranks but barely slowing the oncoming assault.
"I have had enough of these pathetic creatures!" Javik snarled and stepped past the front rank of soldiers.
The prothean had apparently picked up not one, but two of the heavy squad support Revenant machine guns and was apparently long past caring about ammo efficiency. Vega watched in amazement as Javik opened up and held both weapons' climbing barrels down, forcing control on the mechanical equivalent of two raging bulls. A deafening roar of fire joined the already steady hail of bullets.
What had once been an unstoppable tide suddenly broke under the weight of fire. Adjutants riddled bodies began to fall and rounds tore into those behind. Shockwaves of biotic energy followed seconds later and scattered even more with bone shattering force. A few last weapons died down as the last of the adjutants collapsed into a heap.
"See, Javik? Our primitive weapons are useful after all," Vega said.
The warrior looked down at the paired machine guns, barrels cherry red, and tossed the now empty weapons to the ground before pulling the particle rifle from his back.
"They were sufficient."
"Vega, do you copy?" Miranda's voice said suddenly from the comm.
"I copy!" he replied immediately. "What's your status? Everything is going crazy here."
"We were forced to reset the station's power grid. All of Cerberus' barriers are down, the adjutants have free run of the station. We're pushing to Afterlife now. The only way to stop this is to neutralize the General and regain control of the station's mainframe."
"Understood, we've secured our immediate area, trying to get civilians into cover. Do you need support?"
"You can't spare troops or you'll be overrun. Hold position, Vega. The only way this works is if we succeed and the Alliance can land troops. Your men wouldn't be able to make it to us in time."
Vega glanced at the assembled soldiers. She was right, they weren't low on ammo yet but they were already tired. Trying to fight block to block would leave them exhausted. His eyes settled on Liara and the hulking form of a rachi brood warrior. The aliens both looked almost black in the red emergency light.
"Copy that, we'll hold position. But I've got a little help I can send your way. Vega out."
"What is the status of the one you call Miranda?" Javik asked immediately.
"Still alive, but they're outnumbered. Liara, ah… Fury?"
We are ready to serve, Sings-Strength!
"Thanks, big guy. Do you think the two of you can make it through to link up with Miranda's team? A full assault force is going to get bogged down, but two biotics…"
"Will be able to move faster than anyone else," Liara agreed. "Do you have their location?"
Vega nodded and tapped his omni-tool.
"Last transmission came from here."
"Let's go. Ready, Fury?" the asari asked.
We are always ready, Watchful-Singer.
"Nyreen, left flank! Carmichael, suppressive fire rear!"
Miranda extended her hand and squeezed, the biotic energy that she'd wrapped around the nearest adjutant mimicking the physical motion. With another jerk of her hand the creature was slammed against the nearby bulkhead and then hurled into the approaching pack of adjutants.
"Move, Cheerleader!"
Without thinking Miranda rolled to the side just in time to dodge the claws of another adjutant that had ripped through the grating overhead. A blast of biotic energy from Jack ripped it from the ceiling and sent it tumbling after the other creature that Miranda had just dispatched. She spared a brief glance back at the former convict. Of all the people to save her life.
How much longer that life would be was up for debate. The adjutants seemed endless, emerging from every corridor and maintenance duct. Clearly Petrovsky had carefully funneled as many of the things into their path as he could, anticipating their denial of his offer. The man left little to chance. Miranda let out a frustrated yell and sent another wave of biotic energy crashing into the adjutants ahead of them.
"We can't keep this up," Nyreen's flanged voice yelled over the din. "It's still almost a kilometer to Afterlife's level!"
The turian had an M-3 Predator in each hand, placing careful shots into the approaching adjutants from the west corridor. Each round found its way between a creature's eyes or into vulnerable joints, slowing their rush. Even she had to admire Nyreen's level-headedness considering the situation.
"The main power-conduit!" Aria replied.
Nyreen's head snapped to the side briefly.
"That's suicide!"
"Everything is fucking suicide at this point!" Zaeed responded without even looking back, his precious assault rifle bucking in his grip as he laid down fire in methodical bursts.
"How do we get there?" Miranda asked.
"Corridor ahead, then we have to drop straight down. Look for a heavy blast door, yellow markings," the asari explained. "Access code nine nine four three eight."
She nodded. There was no time to wonder what exactly constituted suicide in Nyreen's eyes, they were dead if they stayed where they were for certain. She caught Jack's eyes and jerked her hand harshly to the back.
"Jack, shockwave behind us! Carmichael, Zaeed, take point! Aria and Nyreen will provide a shield. We're pushing through."
To their credit, everyone acted without hesitation. Both men lowered their rifles and spun on their heels, moving to the front while she and Jack took their place. The former convict let out a wild howl and a wave of dark energy rippled across the deckplating with enough force that the metal grating began to twist and heave. Waiting a half-second Miranda followed up with a surge of her own power.
The two fields interacted with predictably explosive results that in such tight confines reduced the pursuing adjutants to little more than gore and sparks. Miranda ignored the heavy wave of fatigue that rolled over her from pushing out so much power so quickly and motioned for Jack to follow. The others were already charging ahead. There was no time to slow down. To her surprise she could hear Jack laughing next to her as they ran, even if it was a rather ragged sound.
"You're more fun when you cut loose instead of being an uptight bitch, you know that?"
Miranda didn't bother replying and merely rolled her eyes. Their push was succeeding, the adjutants being rocked back by the sudden offensive. Within half a minute they had made it to the access hatch. It was as Aria had said: a heavy blast door two meters wide in the floor and marked with bright yellow caution indicators. Carmichael knelt down to jab at the control panel with shaking fingers. He still managed it on the first try.
Without hesitation Aria leapt feet first down into the hole. The others followed, Jack beating her by a few feet. Leaping into a dark hole wasn't Miranda's idea of a good idea but she had to assume that Aria's enlightened self-interested would have prevented her from jumping to her certain death.
She landed with a heavy thump on hard grating after a brief fall, tucking into it and rolling to bleed off her momentum. Overhead the blast door slammed shut. It was even darker here than in the poorly lit streets above and it took a few seconds for Miranda's eyes to adjust. The only illumination seemed to come from an ambient golden glow located somewhere below them.
Once she could see more clearly, the one-time Cerberus rising star sucked in a breath. Barely a meter to her left the metal grating simply stopped and gave way to a wide open expanse that was bathed in yellow light. If her little roll had carried her much farther she would have plunged right into it.
"Where the hell are we?" Carmichael asked shakily.
"Main power conduits, Omega's arteries… these big shafts run through the station's heart," Aria explained. "Not much to look at but unlike everywhere else they're completely sealed off from the rest of the station by hyper-dense alloy."
"Any reason we didn't come down here to start with instead of fighting fucking space zombies for the last hour?" Jack snapped.
Nyreen let out a sound that was somewhere between a hiss and a sigh.
"What Aria neglects to mention is that Omega's power distribution system is plasma based and is literally thousands of years old," the turian said. "The walls and blast doors are so thick because if the line ruptures it's going to flood the entire conduit in ionized plasma."
"I'm no engineer but that seems bad, but also unlikely to be a regular occurrence… right?" Carmichael asked.
This time it was Aria that frowned, which in normal circumstances would have been a nice change from her usual look of smug satisfaction in Miranda's opinion. In this case it was merely worrying. The asari waved a hand up and down the length of what must have been the conduit itself that they were standing on.
"She's right, these things were built before my mother was even alive. Omega isn't the Citadel, we don't have Keepers running around fixing everything. And there have never been Council Hazard and Safety protocols to follow out here. It's… possible that a mass accelerator round or an explosion could penetrate the conduit."
"Possible? If I scratch too hard with my talons I might rupture one of these seams," Nyreen snorted.
"So we're walking on a big goddamn bomb. Great," was Zaeed's only input.
"We're safe from the adjutants at the moment, how close will this get us to Afterlife?" Miranda asked.
"Close," Aria said with a nod in the direction ahead to them. "There's a junction every kilometer or so. If we make it to the next one it should put us only a block from the main plaza in front of Afterlife."
"Then let's move."
After the frantic sprint of the last hour or so, the near silence of the power conduit was almost eerie. A low hum came from the conduit itself but the only other sound was their boots on the metal grating and the sound of their breathing. With each step Miranda did her best to ignore the throbbing in her head and instead try to formulate a plan to finally remove Petrovsky's mad regime.
There weren't very many days that Zaeed truly felt old. A regimen of the best enhancements and supplements that credits could buy and grueling physical training kept him in a form that would be envied by men half his age. But sometimes he was reminded that no man could out run time. Damned if he hadn't been trying, though.
The burning in his lungs and the pain in his knees made this one of those very special days when he felt every one of his six decades even if he refused to show it outwardly. He couldn't help but smirk at the kid trudging along beside him. Greener than hell, but he had talent if he could learn to stomach the work. It was also a little gratifying to note that the kid seemed even more out of breath than he was.
"Fucking hot in this tube," he complained to no one in particular.
The rest of them weren't looking fresh and happy either. Nyreen was a turian, her kind never much showed anything but a man learned to pick up on the signs after enough years fighting and killing their kind. Crest pressed back against the head, mandibles moving in an almost panting motion. And of course there was the Ice Princess. He gave her credit for being near the top of the hardass bitch food chain which was quite the accomplishment considering the kind of women he usually met, but he'd still caught a few stumbling steps as they'd moved in the darkness.
"There, just ahead," Aria said, breaking the long silence that had built up as they walked.
It was a mirror of the way they'd just come. One large blast door overhead with a metal ladder leading up, with a second blast door that obviously headed to the next section of conduit. Miranda pushed back her sweat slicked hair and nodded.
"Form up," she said tiredly.
"Hold your horses, Princess," Zaeed interrupted. "Goddamn monsters haven't found a way in here yet. If you're going to catch your breath now's the time to do it."
"Catch our breath? People are being slaughtered up there!" Nyreen objected.
He shrugged.
"And when one of you four passes out from throwing all those biotics around? One those things tear your lungs out faster than you can blink. That gonna keep those civilians from being slaughtered?"
"Typical mercenary," the turian hissed. "Can't spend money if you're dead, right?"
"You want to be a goddamn martyr you're welcome to give it a go."
"At least I believe in something more than my next credit transfer!"
Zaeed narrowed his one good eye at the turian and snorted.
"If you think being a self-righteous harpy is going to make me feel bad for your bunch of freedom fighters, you've got another thing coming. I'm here because Shepard said that he needed someone that could deal with the worst. So yea, I believe in something… I believe that bloody nut job is the best chance this galaxy has got. Beyond that you can go fuck yourself."
Next to him he heard Miranda exhale in a frustrated sigh.
"Massani is right. Five minutes might be the difference between a fatal mistake and the success of this mission. The hard truth is that this station is the mission, not the people on it. If we save a hundred civilians but lose the war it will be for nothing."
He continued to watch the turian. Clearly an equally furious internal argument was waging behind her eyes, but finally the fight went out of her and her shoulders slumped. Nyreen shook her head and walked past the ladder, leaning her back against the blast door to the next conduit and sliding down the wall into a sitting position.
"What's the point of winning the war if we sacrifice everything along the way?" she asked.
"Long as you're still alive, it ain't over," Jack replied, speaking up for the first time. "Worry about surviving, everything else comes later."
"Everyone take ten, if you've got rations or water now's the time to make use of them," Miranda ordered.
The mercenary suppressed a groan as he eased down to sit on the grated metal. He reached to his belt, producing an energy bar and tearing into the wrapper with his teeth before spitting with plastic out. He took a big bite and began to chew.
Whatever levo-amino lifeform had originally designed the high energy ration bar had clearly been trying to replicate something approaching a chocolate candy bar. They had succeeded only in the barest sense of the word. There was a faint sweetness to the chewy mass, but the texture was a combination of wood glue and uncooked grain with a tackiness that made every bite grip the roof of a man's mouth with amazing tenacity.
"Oh my god this is awful," Carmichael choked next to him, fingers scrabbling at the hip pouch to pull out the squeeze flask of water and taking a desperate gulp.
Zaeed swallowed and slapped the younger man on the back.
"They grow on you. Eat enough of these things, or get your hands on one after you've been hiding in a trench for three damn days, and it'll taste like heaven."
"More like you killed all your taste buds with rot gut years ago, old man," Jack suggested around a mouthful of her own ration bar. "These things taste like pralines and dick."
Of course even as she mocked the convict was rapidly devouring the very item she was disparaging while laying on her back, one hand propping her head up. Jack gave him an arched eyebrow and an amused smirk. In the pulsing yellow glow of the plasma conduits it looked as if her many tattoos were moving on her own. Zaeed laughed quietly to himself. If he was twenty years younger…
"Are they always this… chatty?" Aria asked dryly, looking to Miranda.
The former Cerberus operative shrugged.
"In my experience? Yes. People that serve with Shepard tend to have a rather casual view of life or death situations."
"Told ya he's a bloody nut job. No wonder I like'em," the mercenary agreed.
A few minutes of silence fell after that other than the sounds of plastic wrappers being torn, chewing, and the slosh of water in little plastic flasks. Station full of robot zombie creatures, sitting in a plasma conduit that had to be almost a hundred degrees and it still wasn't the least pleasant meal Zaeed had ever had.
"You know, if I live through this even I'm going to have a hard time believing I was really here," Carmichael said to Zaeed suddenly. "Seems like a screwed up dream."
"Take a scar back with you. Time honored tradition," Zaeed suggested.
"Doesn't sound like fun."
"Nobody said shit about fun, but you'll damn sure remember it every time you look in the mirror."
Carmichael finished his ration bar and threw the crumpled wrapper over the edge into the darkness. When he spoke the tone was more melancholy.
"But how do you ever feel normal again? I'm not sure what the word means now. After you do something like this…"
"Like hitting a button that kills a bunch of people?" he grunted in response.
The younger man flinched as if struck, but nodded.
"Way I look at that sorta shit, you've got a couple options," Zaeed said, ticking off points on his fingers. "You can start drinking, always a classic. Kills you before long though. You can become one of those types like Nyreen over there, always on some kind of goddamn quest to save the little people. Or you can just figure that you're still kicking so life can't be too bad."
"None of those sound great."
"All about how you deal with your shit. Me? I don't usually hang around with groups, lucky if you're not stabbed in the back before the weeks out. Shepard's a different animal. Collects stray crazy like he's some kind of savant. And to top it all off they're all loyal as hell."
"Doesn't that include you too?" Carmichael asked.
The old mercenary chuckled.
"You don't meet many honest people in your life, kid, especially ones that are willing to put their money where their mouth is. That's Shepard. Tells you he's going to do something and he goddamn well does it, even if you don't like it. So yea, that man says he needs something… I figure it's in my best interest to make sure he gets it. Enlightened self-interest."
A groan came from behind them, both turning to see Aria rolling her eyes.
"Goddess…you really have become a sap in your old age. Where is the hardass Zaeed Massani that told me that friends were how a man got himself killed?"
The asari pushed herself up and moved with the kind of grace that only decades of practice could provide. She rested her hands on Carmichael's shoulders, causing him to immediately stiffen. Maybe the kid wasn't a complete idiot. At least he recognized danger when it was right behind him.
"You want the truth, Mr. Carmichael?" she asked, voice rolling like smooth smoke as she continued.
"Death matters when you're the one that might die. For all the rules and laws to 'help the people' that the Council likes to promote, this is a universe of cold hard math. The strong survive, the weak get eaten. Survivors are the ones that have the most money, the most power, and the most influence... or the ones smart enough bet on the right side."
"I… I can't believe that," the pilot said shakily. "Just because someone isn't willing to do anything to get to the top shouldn't mean that they don't matter."
"People matter when they do something to make themselves matter," Aria replied with effortless nonchalance. "You made that decision already. Those people that the adjutants killed weren't helping the war effort, they weren't fighting, building, or supporting your mission. So you sacrificed them to make sure your mission succeeded, because that did matter."
Omega's one-time queen patted the young man on the shoulder and walked away, still speaking.
"You did the math. When it came time to solve the equation you saw which side the balance was on you made the right decision. Casualties are the rounding errors of the calculus of power."
Zaeed didn't say anything, instead just letting the kid sit in silence. He didn't entirely disagree with Aria's assessment, sometimes it did just come down to the numbers. It was why people like him had a job. Kill a dozen, save a hundred. At least that's what he always figured the types who hired him told themselves if the cared at all.
"Nice pep talk," Jack said sardonically.
She moved to stand and then grabbed Carmichael under his arms, yanking the pilot to his feet with a yelp of surprise. Another one came a second later when she slapped him hard on his armored ass.
"Ignore the blue bitch. You just keep doing what you're doing, maybe I'll introduce you to a few of my kids when we get outta here," the convict added. "Vasquez is cute and sure you could score some points with a war story as good as this one. Fuck knows she could use a boyfriend that isn't a crush on one of those fucking tri-vid stars."
"I… uh…"
"I think that's enough downtime," Miranda interrupted sternly, though Zaeed swore he could see a hint of a smirk on her lips in the darkness. "Zaeed, you're on point as usual. Nyreen you're right behind. Jack and Carmichael you've got rearguard."
Everyone began checking weapons, reloading partially spent heatsinks and yanking on armor straps to make sure everything was still in place. None of them looked any fresher than they had before their little break, but faces looked slightly less strained. Best they were going to be able to manage all things considered.
Zaeed moved to the ladder and pulled himself up, rifle hanging from the sling across his chest. He gripped the ladder with one hand and keyed in the code with the other, sparing a quick glance over his shoulder as the blast door's seals hissed open.
"Listen to Jack, kid. Women love the stories, I've got hundreds but you're young. Have to start somewhere and this-"
Pain exploded from his left shoulder and he felt himself falling. The metal grating slammed into his back while a massive weight threatened to crush the air from his lungs. Operating purely on instinct, Zaeed snapped his forward in a vicious headbutt that knocked his assailant backwards until the weight was pressed on his thighs.
"Shut the fucking blast door!" he heard someone scream and the staccato report of a weapon firing.
He didn't have time to pay attention to what was going on around him. The adjutant on top of him drove its claws down in a sweep that tore into his armor and he heard a yell of pain, distantly recognizing it as his own.
"Motherfucker!" Zaeed roared.
In one vicious motion he threw his upper body forward and drove his forehead into the adjutant's face again. His left arm wouldn't move but it didn't matter, with his right he found Jessie's polymer grip and yanked the rifle backwards until it was tucked against his side. No need for muzzle control when your enemy was practically sitting on your chest.
He squeezed down on the trigger and didn't let go. Jessie didn't disappoint, roaring to life and pumping rounds from inches away into the creature's chest. The rifle only felt silent with it gave a mournful bleat and began to hiss with excess heat, by then the adjutant was a riddled mass of flesh that slumped off of him to the side. The mercenary let out a long breath and slumped backwards.
"Zaeed!"
Arms slipped under his back, pushing him back upright. His vision blurred for a second as pain screamed through his left side before clearing. Jack knelt to his right, propping him up while Miranda was on the other side with a glowing omni-tool at the ready.
"Shoulders dislocated," he said through gritted teeth. "Get me up!"
No one argued and he bit back another hiss of pain as the two managed to get him to his feet. Around them two more adjutants lay dead and broken, blue-black ichor splattering the ladder, blast door, and grating around them. He shook his head and moved to the edge of the ladder. And then slammed his shoulder against it.
This time he did cry out but he felt the joint slide back into place, a strange combination of aches and numbness radiating from his shoulder to fingertips. Miranda approached against and keyed something on her tool before extending it towards him.
"Save it!" he snapped.
"It's just omni-gel old man," Jack chided.
"I know what the fuck it is."
Zaeed met Miranda's gaze and held it for a long minute. Realization quickly dawned in her eyes, followed by the briefest moment of what actually looked like sadness before the wall went up again. Oddly it made him smile. The ice queen wasn't frozen all the way through, even for a mercenary like him.
"Look, I think we got the whole 'hardass super soldier thing' down," Carmichael spoke up. "I'm super impressed, you just… relocated your own shoulder. I didn't even know you could do that. But if you don't use some medigel to stop that bleeding-"
"I'll die a few minutes faster," the mercenary cut him off, activating his own omni-tool.
He felt the tiny sting of needles in his thigh and a flood of relief. Not enough to slow him down, especially with the stimulants mixed in, but enough to take the edge off. Enough to give him a few minutes of clear thinking. Closing his eyes for a brief moment Zaeed leaned back against the ladder.
"Did you get a count on how many were up there?" he asked without opening his eyes.
"My omni-tool got off on mapping pulse," Miranda confirmed. "There are… hundreds."
"They were waiting. Knew we were coming," the mercenary grunted. "Now they've got dinner in a convenient box. Just smart enough to be dangerous."
Nyreen spoke for the first time since their previous argument then, voice low and steady.
"The adjutants are predators. I don't know if they're really sapient… they get fixated easily. But they know how to set up an ambush. Know how to go around well defended positions."
"How did they know we'd pop up here?" Jack demanded.
"There's only so many exits from these conduits," Nyreen explained. "This was the next closest one. Half the adjutants in Omega must have congregated up there waiting for us."
"Half, huh?" Zaeed muttered to no one in particular, glancing upwards. "Good a way as any. Been a long time coming."
With a grimace he pushed off the ladder, taking a few painful steps over to Carmichael and met the younger man's gaze. The pilot looked confused as Zaeed stood there, studying him for almost a full minute. Then with a shrug he let the strap to his rifle fall off his shoulder, turned it in his grip, and held out the gun stock first to Carmichael.
"You've got potential, kid. Lot of goddamn potential. Most people lose their heads once the shit hits the fan. Ones that can keep it together when everything is on the line? They're one in a million."
"W-What?" the pilot stammered.
Zaeed growled.
"Take the fucking rifle."
The younger man quickly complied, grabbing the weapon in shaky hands.
"Remember what I told you about the old girl? Jessie's not a slick hotrod, she's a workhorse. Made of stern stuff. Triggers a little light, you'll get used to that. Careful on the long bursts or she'll cook on you."
"Why?" Carmichael said incredulously. "This gun… it… she… you sounded like it was your favorite thing in the universe."
He snorted, and winced as the movement made his side burn like fire.
"Just because you love something doesn't mean you want it to die with you, kid."
"Die? You're Zaeed Massani… you've survived everything…"
"Nobody survives everything."
Zaeed reached down and pulled back the shredded armor at his side. It was slick with blood that dripped down the yellow and gray plating. Three ragged slashes had been ripped almost to the bone and the bleeding edges of the cuts were already turning pallid and gray. When Carmichael still looked bewildered it was Nyreen that spoke up.
"Adjutants reproduce by creating more of their kind from their victims. Their skin is covered in nanites… a few and your body can fight them off. Too many and they reach critical mass and begin to self-replicate faster than you can kill them."
"You either kill'em or you become them," the mercenary summarized.
"What do we do?" Carmichael asked hollowly.
"Miranda's got the plan I'm sure," Zaeed said, glancing at the dark haired woman.
She nodded.
"The next conduit is fully sealed, correct, Aria? It should have another exit a kilometer further down?"
"Correct," the asari agreed. "It's not directly on the same level as Afterlife but it will put us within a sprint of the main courtyard."
All in all it wasn't a complicated plan and he quickly tuned it out. Zaeed knew his part in it all. As much of his life had been spent fighting he found himself oddly… accepting of what was coming. Sixty odd years, half of them spent burning with a hatred that would have been the envy of stars. He'd been the only man left so many times. Maybe it was only right that he was the one staying behind one last time.
It didn't mean he wasn't going to take a whole lot of sons of bitches with him. He did a quick inventory of his remaining gear. Pistol on his hip, plenty of mags. A touch at the small of his back with his good arm told him his little insurance package was still there too. More than a few nights he'd wondered just how it would end. There was comfort in knowing that he'd predicted correctly.
"Zaeed?" Miranda asked.
"I'm ready."
"I've modified the overhead keypad we open the blast door to the next conduit it will trigger an automatic open sequence ninety seconds later."
He smirked.
"Plenty of time, Princess."
The former Cerberus operative paused then, and stopped, extending her hand.
"Mr. Massani. Is there anything you'd like me to..."
He reached out and took it, giving it a firm squeeze.
"Operative Lawson. Nothing too complicated, already sent a packet to your omni-tool that'll help. Take care of those and we'll be even."
"I will."
Aria had no interest in goodbyes other than a curt nod of her own, but he supposed it was more than most could say they'd gotten from the queen of Omega. He was more surprised when Nyreen offered her taloned hand as well. He took it all the same.
"Maybe I was wrong about you, Mr. Massani, or maybe you're just another merc in a bad spot. But my people have always believed that actions reveal the spirit's true nature. Spirits watch over you."
Then only Jack and Carmichael remained, the young pilot still looking uncomfortable.
"I don't feel right holding this gun," the pilot said lamely, voice thick.
"You'll get used to it. Treat her right and she'll have your back. Now shake my goddamn hand, boot."
"It… was an honor? I don't know what else to say," Carmichael replied as the two clasped wrists.
The old mercenary smirked.
"It'll do."
When he joined the others it was only Jack left staring at him. The tattooed biotic's eyes were shiny in the dim light and her voice was tight.
"If you weren't already hurt I'd punch you for being so fucking stupid."
"I made a career out of stupid, girl. It was bound to catch up at some point," he replied.
"What about retirement, beaches on Bekenstein, all the crap?" Jack asked.
"I'd be bored out of my fucking mind on a beach until I drank myself to death or murdered some dumb bastard get making my drink wrong and had to bolt. Time for you to go, girly. You got those kids out there to take care of after all."
Her eyes flashed as he held out his hand. Instead of taking it Zaeed found himself hissing in pain as two slim but amazingly strong arms wrapped around his shoulders. Lips pressed against his cheek for a long second as Jack whispered in his ear.
"I would have rocked your world, old man. Give'em hell."
Jack looked back on last time as Aria keyed in the access code for the blast doors and the team stepped through. As the doors slide closed she smiled at him. Not the mocking grin or vicious smirk. It was simple, barely a flash of teeth. But it warmed him even as he could feel the chill tingling at the tips of his fingers and in his legs.
Above him the keypad began to beep, its countdown starting. He wasted no time, limping back down the conduit in the direction they had originally come from. As he walked he pulled a few flares from his belt, popped them, and dropped them on the grating. The red magnesium fire brightened the long corridor.
He managed to clear three hundred yards when the loud metallic clang rang behind him, the blast door sliding open once more.
With a sigh, Zaeed turned around and sat heavily down on the grating. He pulled the pistol from its holster and sat it in front of him, adding the smaller one from his back next to it. Finally he reached behind him and pulled out a simple, silver cylinder. He depressed the button on the end with his thumb and slapped it down on the grating behind him.
The sounds of heavy bodies hitting the metal grating filled the conduit. Adjutants began to pour into the enclosed space, wasting no time in sprinting towards the injured mercenary. He picked up the first pistol and quickly emptied the magazine. The first four through died and tumbled over the side.
Dozens more followed. He picked up the other pistol, a hefty piece of equipment. Six rounds barked out in rapid succession. Six adjutants slumped lifelessly in the path of the oncoming hordes. Zaeed began to laugh.
"Retirement. Beaches. The fuck would I do on a beach?"
He reloaded the pistol and emptied the magazine again, the adjutants quickly closing the gap despite his precise fire. Three seconds, they'd be on top of him. There had to be close to fifty inside now with more pouring in. The mercenary leveled the pistol once more. Squeeze. One gray head exploded like overripe fruit. Squeeze. Another shot ripped through a knee, sending the creature spinning and crashing to the grating, knocked off the conduit to the open space below.
The nearest adjutant was barely ten meters away now, running at him at full speed. Four more shots and it tumbled into a flesh heap. He tossed the now empty pistol down in front of him.
"Come on, you ugly bastards. Got a present for you! Guess what happens when you combine thermite and a thousand year old metal conduit?"
A hundred bounding adjutants began to howl. The nearest gathered its muscular legs under it and leapt, sailing through the air with talons out stretched. Zaeed smiled. Loud and honest laughter echoing against the monstrous howls.
"Fuck retirement."
Zaeed pressed down on the detonator in his grip, the charge behind him roared as it activated. He gritted his teeth and smiled as the world became white fire.
"And fuck you."
A shudder passed through the grating beneath her feet and instantly the conduit was plunged into darkness. Behind them was a thunderous roaring sound that trailed off in a matter of seconds. In the darkness Miranda briefly closed her eyes and thanked the battle-worn mercenary. Like many of those she had met aboard the Normandy he had proven himself more than his reputation… even in the end.
She reached down and activated her omni-tool, illuminating the conduit in a crisper orange glow than before. The others quickly did the same with varying speed. Carmichael held Zaeed's battered old rifle tightly in one hand, his face set behind the visor of his helmet. One in a million the mercenary had said. Maybe he'd been right.
"Did the blast take out the power for the whole station?" he asked quietly.
Aria shook her head.
"Omega's old, but it was designed to last even if things break down. The system will reroute the plasma flow to secondary conduits and around the damaged area. Everything will be back to normal in minutes… well, except the blast area. That will be seared to slag."
She shot a warning glance at the asari, but Jack spoke up before Miranda could intervene. The response was amazingly restrained considering the source.
"That old man just saved your ass, bitch. If you can't wipe the smug off your face then at least shut the fuck up."
The convict pushed past Aria, heading towards the end of the conduit. Miranda gestured for the others to follow. Time wasn't on their side, especially for arguments and recriminations.
"Let's move," she ordered simply.
They reached the next blast door quickly. The tragedy of the last encounter was still fresh in mind and no chances were taken this time. Carmichael held himself on one side of the ladder high enough to key in the access code… the moment the doors slid open Jack launched herself upwards, wreathed in a biotic glow. Without hesitation Miranda followed, Nyreen and Aria just behind.
No horde of adjutants waited for them here. Half a dozen of the creatures turned in their direction as they emerged only to be quickly torn apart in a furious storm of biotics. Miranda's assumption had been right. The adjutants were clearly intelligent but only within certain bounds. Once the creatures had reached the conclusion of where they were likely to emerge they had swarmed in to lay in wait.
"How far to Afterlife?" Miranda asked.
"This way, five minutes if those were the only adjutants left," Aria replied, already moving in the indicated direction at a run.
Unlike most of Omega, this area had clearly been under Cerberus control. It was still worn and dirty, but there was little clutter and no bodies. Aluminum barricades were scattered around most likely from the adjutants. Lights and power were all in working order. If the lights within the various habitation blocks were any indication the citizens in the area were still alive and well within their cramped apartments.
Miranda almost stumbled in surprise when her comms sprang to life.
"Miranda?" Liara's voice said.
"Copy, where are you?"
"Near Afterlife, we're trying rendezvous with you. There was just a massive explosion a few blocks from here."
The former Cerberus operative grimaced.
"The plasma conduit detonated. Be careful, there could still be a large amount of adjutants in the surrounding area."
"Understood," Liara acknowledged. "We'll meet you in the main plaza."
No other adjutants attacked them as they ran through deserted streets, their armored boots ringing in the suddenly oppressive silence. One more turn brought the main plaza in front of Afterlife into sight. Immediately she spotted two Cerberus troopers take a knee at the double doors leading into the club.
"Carmichael, suppress!"
The young pilot didn't respond verbally, instead simply raising his inherited rifle and snapping off quick bursts as they ran. Rounds screamed and ricocheted off the barricades Cerberus had set up, but it had the desired effect. Both white armored soldiers ducked back into cover.
It was the last mistake they'd make. The biotics crossed the distance rapidly the soldiers found their cover torn away by blasts of crackling azure energy. A burst of rifle fire from Carmichael took one full in the chest while Aria dealt with the second, a biotically enhanced punch impacted with a sickening crunch.
"He has the doors secured with heavy encryption," Nyreen said, kneeling down next to the control panel. "What about the back way in?"
"It will be trapped or even mined. He's a smart son of a bitch," Aria replied with a sneer. "I had these doors installed myself. Two inches of silaris armor and heavy reinforcements on the structure of the frame."
Miranda looked to Nyreen.
"Can you crack the encrypt-"
Her question was interrupted by the crack of gunfire. She dove for cover, as did most of the others. Carmichael didn't have the same automatic instincts, however, and she saw him turn in place to bring his weapon up. She didn't even have time to shout a warning before a round slammed into his upper body and send him tumbling to the ground.
"Kid!" Jack yelled, trying to reach out and grab him before being forced to duck under another hail of fire.
The door frame provided little cover, but it was better than nothing. A dozen Cerberus troops were running into the plaza, weapons raised and firing. Behind the initial wave she saw heavier forces including the hulking mass of an Atlas combat mech and the telltale glimmer of at least two of their cybernetically enhanced snipers. Another trap.
"If we stay here we're dead!" Aria yelled. "Leave the damn pilot and make a run for the western alleyway!"
Miranda glanced at the fallen pilot and made a snap decision.
"Jack, I need a shield!"
The other biotic didn't hesitate, rising and stepping over the fallen Carmichael without a word. Miranda could feel the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end at the sudden rush of power as Jack stood with her arms outstretched. Another volley of fire rained down on their position only to slam into an unyielding wall of energy.
Not wasting any time Miranda closed the distance to the fallen man and slid to one knee. While normally she would have been careful to move a wounded man, they didn't have the time for care. Not if they wanted to live. In one smooth motion she turned Carmichael on his back and held her breath.
"Fuck!"
The cry of pain gave Miranda a surprising sense of relief. Crimson coated her fingertips where she'd grabbed his arm and now she saw why. Around his left shoulder the armor was cracked, warm blood seeping through the fissures where it had shattered under the impact of the sniper's round.
"Hold on!" she snapped, activating her omni-tool to inject medigel directly into the hole in his armor. "Can you move?"
"Miranda!" Jack yelled overhead.
She saw the source of the biotics outburst and her eyes widened. The Atlas mech had entered the courtyard. In an instant that seemed to last for an eternity she watched it turn to bring the muzzle of the rocket launcher on its left arm to bear. A gout of flame burst forth and the explosive hurtled across the open space between them.
Miranda leapt to her feet and stood shoulder to shoulder with Jack, calling up every reserve of energy she had left and shoving it outward. As she did she screamed, every bit of unspoken frustration, disappoint, rage, and pain leaving her all at once. The barrier flared into blinding blue fire.
The impact felt as she'd just slammed into the windshield of a speeding aircar, waves of heat and force washing across her and driving her to her knees. Jack managed little better, dropping down until both of them were leaning shoulder to shoulder, panting. But their hands were still raised. Around them concrete was blackened and smoking, but those behind the barrier were alive and it still flickered weakly as they both struggled to maintain their concentration.
"Like… I said, more fun when you... cut loose," Jack coughed, her face was covered in a fine layer of ash and Miranda suspected she looked much the same.
She sucked in a breath as more small arms fire impacted the shimmer barrier. Sweat rolled down her forehead and clouded her vision.
"Have to move…"
Jack shook her head.
"If I move there's no way I can hold the barrier. Barely… barely keeping it up as it is. Never figured on… kicking it next to you, Cheerleader. Funny."
Your songs are not ended, Caged-Singer! Only those with broken melodies will be silenced here!
The voice boomed not aloud, but in a thunderous melody inside her head. It was like an explosion of orange and red behind her eyes. She blinked as a bright flash of blue energy erupted from the right of their position and Miranda watched as Cerberus troopers were hurled into the air like so much debris.
A massive bulk, almost half the size of the Atlas mech itself, streaked through the air and slammed into the mech's canopy. In a whirl of glimmering chitin and biotic flashes she watched in fascination as the rachni brood warrior tore the machine open like a ripened fruit, ripping out the soft flesh within. Even as the Atlas collapsed backward more explosions tore through the Cerberus ranks.
Liara T'Soni danced between enemy troops with enviable grace, lashing out with a flurry of biotic warps. The soldiers were thrown into complete disarray by the blitzkrieg. Nyreen and Aria quickly took advantage of the situation and launched a counterattack, charging from behind their meager cover in a blaze of fire. In less than a minute what had been a well orchestrated trap had turned into little more than a rout.
With a heavy sigh Miranda finally let go of the power she'd been holding and felt Jack do the same next to her. Both women got unsteadily to their feet as their saviours approached. The large rachni's chitin was pockmarked with bullet impacts and she could see greenish ichor dripping from a few places but if it felt any pain it didn't show it.
We come to aid the Normandy-Hive, Sings-Fury's mental voice sang into their minds.
"Thank you. It was… well timed," Miranda said tiredly and knelt back down to Carmichael. "Are you still with us, Lieutenant?"
The younger pilot had pulled his helmet off and she was able to clearly see the tightness in his muscles from the pain that must have been radiating from his shoulder, but he nodded stoically and managed to get to his knees. Jack grabbed him under his good arm and helped drag him into a standing position. He wavered for a moment but steadying.
"Yes, ma'am."
"The arm?"
"I… can't move it," Carmichael replied with a grimace. "But I can still hold a gun. I'm still with you."
Your melody yet grows, and it has been intertwined with many great songs, Sings-Resolve. You will become a great brood warrior in time.
"Good," Miranda said, a ghost of a smile passing over her face as she saw the man jump when the rachni addressed him directly. "This isn't over yet."
Out of the corner of her eyes she watched Liara approach, glancing around and frowning as she spoke.
"Where is…"
The asari's voice trailed off as she met Miranda's gaze. In answer she simply shook her head sadly. Something flashed in the other woman's eyes and Liara spoke again.
"Is Petrovsky inside?"
"He has Afterlife locked down," Aria answered in her place. "He's turned my defenses against us and probably upgraded them with Cerberus tech."
"Short version: door is locked with heavy tech shit and fucking asari super armor," Jack interjected bitterly.
Nyreen gestured towards the controls.
"I can break the encryption but it will take a few minutes. I know Petrovsky. Every plan has a back up, a contingency. More forces are probably already on the way and we don't have a surprise for them this time. He knows that we won't have time to break in before we're forced to retreat."
"There is one last surprise for the General," Liara said coldly and glanced over at Miranda. "Are you ready to end this?"
Aria interrupted sharply before she could reply, lips curled in anger.
"This is my station, maiden, and if you have a way to get us inside then do it. I've got a score to settle with the General."
"We all do," Miranda added and looked between them all. "But we're nearing the end of our reserves, if Cerberus forces catch us inside Afterlife we won't have a chance. Carmichael, Jack, Nyreen, Sings-Fury… once we get inside can you hold the entrance?"
"I want to be there to rip that son of a bitch's lungs out…" Jack growled, but stopped and took a deep breath. "But I know what I need to do. Fucking Shepard and his fucking responsibility. Go kick the shit out of him."
At that statement Liara held out a hand, palm up.
"Glyph?"
A small holographic image the size of her head appeared in the asari's palm.
"Yes, Doctor T'Soni?" the hologram asked.
"I want this door open. Now."
"Of course."
The blue-white orb streaked to the control panel. Brilliant colors sparkled across its surface as it interacted with the interface and scant seconds later it let out an affirmative beep. A loud clanking sound signaled the inner locking mechanism releasing and the door swished open immediately.
"Task complete."
They moved inside immediately, the rachni in the lead. Carmichael's steps were careful and clearly painful but he held Zaeed's rifle with his one good arm, sling over his shoulder to help hold the weapon in place. Once inside the foyer they took up defensive positions. Miranda nodded to Jack.
"Buy us ten minutes."
"I'll give you five, bitch," the other biotic replied, but there was a smirk on her lips as she said it.
Aria was already stalking purposefully forward and Miranda let her lead the way, following just after with Liara at her side. She exchanged to a silent look with the younger asari, who nodded in return. They knew what had to be done.
The floor of Afterlife was almost completely dark. Anytime someone set foot in a place that was usually filled with people and found it empty there was some part of the mind that was put on edge. That feeling was only strengthened by the pale blue ambient lighting that was the only source of illumination. The process of converting it into something more militarized had clearly begun, with numerous booths and tables having been replaced with desks and consoles.
"Petrovsky!" Aria yelled at the top of her lungs.
A new light came, illuminating the area where Aria had once 'held court' on Omega and clearly silhouetting a broad shouldered male form. Petrovsky's faint accent only confirmed his identity.
"Aria T'Loak. I let you leave Omega once. I offered to do so again. I am afraid I will not offer a third time."
"I'm not interested in your offers, Petrovsky! I'm here to take back what belongs to me!"
"You were a petty tyrant, one that was disposed when it became necessary for the greater good to prevail. Such is the way of your kind. Operative Lawson, Doctor T'Soni… I regret that it has come to this. I believe we could have been allies in different circumstances."
"Enough!" Aria screamed.
The elder asari broke into a run, summoning up biotic energy, but she was stopped cold when something dropped from the ceiling and landed heavily on the stairs in her path. Petrovsky spoke, his voice tired and filled with deep cynicism.
"Adjutants. That name isn't even our own invention, did you know that? Merely a translation of a long dead civilization. We played with technology beyond our understanding and paid a terrible price, but the Illusive Man believed it was necessary for the coming war. Now you see the final product. A blunt instrument for an artless war."
It looked much the same in shape and manner to the other creatures they had already encountered, but it was bulkier, broader. The other adjutants had been built like lean, hungry runners. This monstrosity was more akin to a gorilla, with massive talons and eyes that burned with fury.
The creature gave a guttural roar and swiped at Aria, but the asari quickly threw herself backwards. Landing in a crouch Omega's former queen drew her pistol and emptied the magazine into the massive adjutant. Bullets tore into flesh and rivulets of dark ichor poured down its body. They might have been pebbles for all the creature noticed. When Aria followed up with a warp that took the creature full in the chest only to have it barely notice she felt her eyes widened.
Miranda watched as the thing moved with unnatural speed, charging down the stairs only to overcommit and smash into the bar as Aria sidestepped. Liara had her gun in hand and a biotic glow suffused her open hand.
"I'm afraid this version of the adjutants have been improved significantly compared to the ones that you faced in the streets," Petrovsky said above. "Enhanced regeneration and with the right modifications surprisingly resistant to biotic fields. Amazingly effective against the modern super-weapon that is the biotic soldier."
She glanced around the room, trusting Aria to keep the creature occupied for a precious few seconds. Liara was as close to 'fresh' as any of them but Miranda knew that she had almost exhausted her reserves. Biotics were not a costless ability, much like flexing a muscle but one that reached every inch of the body, it burned energy. And she was barely on her feet. Her eyes settled on a pile of scrap metal.
Willing herself to concentrate she watched as Aria ducked beneath another swing, blasting the creature with a surge of raw energy that staggered it but did little more lasting damage than the initial gunfire had. It howled and lunged towards her once again. Liara fired off a few rounds that were also ignored before looking to Miranda.
"So what do we do, try and overwhelm it?"
"No… that thing is shrugging off gunfire and even if we can take it down with enough blasts it will take just long enough for Petrovsky's reinforcements to arrive," she replied and looked towards the creature. "Aria! Get it to the stairs! Now!"
"What's the plan?" Liara asked without hesitation. "If biotics and guns aren't going to stop it, what will?"
"Physics."
She ran towards the pile of incomplete construction equipment, shoving the metal plating aside until she found what she was looking for: quarter inch rods of steel-alloy. Exactly the kind of material a military commander would use to fortify a hardened insulation.
"I see," Liara said.
Apparently Aria had heard her shouted order as the asari was still slamming power into the massive adjutant, backing away step by step as she led it towards the winding staircase. Once she made it half way up Miranda summoned up the last of her energy and wrapped it around one of the six foot steel lengths.
"Aria, jump!"
The elder asari made a biotically assisted leap, tumbling directly over the adjutant's head as it clawed at the air. Talon tips tore into nothingness scant centimeters from Aria's leg and the thing roared in frustration, trying to turn its bulk on the staircase to follow.
"Now," Miranda hissed and pushed.
Mass times velocity was a simple equation with very complicated possibilities. Such as what happened when one created a biotic field to lower the mass of a two meter long steel rod and then hurtle it at speeds nearing a thousand meters a second before releasing the same biotic field to allow it to retain its velocity while growing in mass.
The result of that calculation impacted the adjutant with a wet crunch just below its right shoulder. Half the rod emerged from the creature's back in an explosive shower of dark ichor and pale flesh that caused the adjutant to stagger and bellow in anguish. Before its howl had even ended the second rod made impact and Liara's aim was better. It caught the thing direct in its sternum and drove it back, impaled on the staircase itself.
Not taking chances they hefted two more of the rods and sent them driving into the adjutant. One pierced its leg while Miranda drove the last directly through its throat and into its skull. It thrashed for a few moments, trying to pull free before finally slumping down… and the eerie blue cybernetic glow went dark in its eyes.
At the foot of the stairs Aria simply threw her head back and laughed. Above the figure of Petrovsky retreated from the light. Miranda gestured towards the opposite staircase that Aria was already headed towards, taking the stairs two at a time. They arrived a few seconds behind the older asari. No Cerberus troops waited with guns drawn. Instead Petrovsky sat behind a desk, elbows leaning on the polished surface with a chess set sitting in front of him.
He looked up and nodded, reaching out and knocking over the white king. He turned to the nearby console and pressed a single button.
"This is General Oleg Petrovsky. Cease all hostilities against Alliance personnel. Authorization sigma, six, six, alpha, nine, one, four, gamma."
With deliberate slowness Petrovsky rose and stood with his hands clasped behind his back.
"Operative Lawson. I surrender myself to you as a prisoner of war. The station is yours. Well played."
Aria crossed the room in an instance, a flash of biotic power lifting the man from his feet and sending him sprawling across the desk. Her hands found his throat and fury contorted the asari's face into something twisted.
"That is the most pathetic thing I've ever heard! You took my station and you think you get to just walk away?"
"I… spared you… Aria…" Petrovsky gasped, struggling against Aria's iron grip. "I… have info… information. Cerberus… Illusive M-Man…"
His voice trailed off as he ran out of air, face darkening red as he tried to shove the asari off. When Miranda spoke it was without raising her voice.
"Let him go, Aria."
The asari's heard snapped in her direction, eyes narrowed.
"Excuse me?"
"Let him go," she repeated. "Petrovsky is our prisoner and has information we need. He'll be dealt with by the Alliance."
Aria released the man's throat and ragged gasps could be heard as Petrovsky sucked in desperate breaths. Omega's queen spoke in a barely controlled snarl.
"You're forgetting our agreement, Lawson. You help me retake Omega, I keep things in order so your Alliance can have a safe port in your war. Omega is retaken. You don't give me orders here."
The former Cerberus operative quirked an eyebrow and slipped her hands behind her back, mirroring Petrovsky's previous stance.
"It wasn't a request, Aria. I've watched you ever since we arrived on this station. For all of your talk about Omega being your kingdom… the only thing you've ever cared about is the power it gave you. Nyreen seems to care more about the actual people living here than their 'queen' ever did."
When the asari stalked forward Miranda didn't flinch, ignoring the crackling energy to wrapped itself around the woman's fists. Behind her she could feel Liara tense and summon power of her own. Aria gave a vicious smile.
"This game is always about power. You climb the ladder or you die at the bottom. So I don't give a fuck about what you think of me. My deal was with Shepard, not you. Now get off my station and maybe after I'm done with Petrovsky I'll let you have him if he's still alive."
"No. That's now how this happens, Aria. Now stand down, or else."
It was Liara that made the statement this time and it caused Aria's eyes to snap over to the other asari.
"Don't try me. I know all about you, little miss T'Soni. I've been doing this longer than you've been alive… and I'll still be here when you're dead and gone. I'm the one who makes the threats. And I know Shepard. He'll stand by his agreement. He might be pissed when I hand over Petrovsky's corpse, but there's nothing he can do about it. He knows it. You know."
Miranda shook her head.
"You apparently don't know as much as you think."
She could tell that the asari saw it coming from the way her eyes widened slightly. The taunt had been a foolish indulgence and if Aria hadn't been fatigued from hours of combat it might have cost Miranda her life. But then arrogance was same downfall that had put Aria barely six inches away from Miranda in the first place.
Perfectly engineered genes gave Miranda Lawson amazing speed and reflexes. In an instant she wrapped her hand around the grip of the slim dagger, drew it from the concealed sheath at her back, and drove it upwards. The asari heart was slightly lower and closer to the center of the chest than a human. But then she'd also learned asari anatomy before she'd been old enough to drive. The blade found its mark.
A choked gasp came from Aria and Miranda felt warm blood gush from the wound and onto her hand as she withdrew the blade. The biotic energy that she had been holding winked out as she collapsed to the floor. In less than ten seconds the queen of Omega was dead. Miranda tossed the dagger onto the ground as Petrovsky, still holding his throat, stared in amazement.
"Thank you…" he began.
"Don't," Miranda snapped. "Because of you good people have died fighting over this station."
"War is an unclean business, Ms. Lawson. I did what I thought best, as did you. It has become increasingly clear that I chose my allegiance poorly. But I am still a soldier and I followed my orders."
Behind her Liara spoke, voice filled with disdain.
"How much blood has been excused with the words 'following orders' in the last thousand years?"
"Too much," Petrovsky agreed, getting to his feet once more. "I do not apologize for my actions, Ms. T'Soni. Only for their necessity."
"Let's go."
Miranda quickly secured the Cerberus general's wrists behind his back, leading him back down the stairs. She glanced over her shoulder at the fallen asari. When there was time she knew she'd spend many an hour thinking about that word. Necessity. And eventually she'd ask herself if everything she too had done in life had truly been because of necessity.
She didn't know if she'd like the answer.
Outside Afterlife they found not only their four fellow squad members but the better part of a company's worth of marines including James Vega, rifle balanced on his shoulder. At the base of the steps Jack sat next to Carmichael who had his good shoulder leaning against the railing while the rachi brood warrior flanked the convict's other side. Vega looked up when they emerged and smiled tiredly at the sight of Petrovsky in binders.
"Mission accomplished?"
Miranda nodded. Two marines took Petrovsky into custody and took him away. The man would likely spend the rest of his life in a cell. But he would live.
"Jack told me about Zaeed," Vega said more quietly. "Can't believe it. But it must have taken out most of the adjutants left on Omega. We barely saw a dozen by the time we made it here."
"Son of a bitch just had to be a hero," Jack growled, hands balled into fists that pressed into the ground.
We share your songs of black and red, Cage-Singer. We are... sorry for the loss of the elder brood warrior.
Jack blinked, jaw clenched so tightly that Miranda could see the muscles quiver. When she spoke her voice was tight and thick.
"Yea… Caged-Singer. Wish I knew what name you'd have given that old bastard."
The brood warrior shuffled slightly in place to focus its too-bright blue eyes on Jack. In an amazingly humanoid gesture it reached down and placed its pedipalps on the tattooed convict's shoulders.
Bright-singers always have names, we merely sing of them to those that cannot hear as we do. His will never be forgotten by the rachni.
Jack blinked.
"What was it?"
Sings-of-Endless-Fire.
After much delay it finally arrives. I'll be updating this on the website later today in an effort to stay on top of things and with my time a little more open now I've managed to begin work on the next chapter already! Some appropriate music for this chapter is one I might have mentioned before but look it up again: Otherwise - Soldiers.
Hope you enjoyed after the long absence and lift a drink to Robin Sachs when you're done.
