Chapter 9: An old enemy
As they entered deeper into the Peak 15 complex, they found themselves at a security outpost. While there was nothing unusual about a security outpost in a place like peak 15. But what was unusual, was the pair of turrets that were pointing the wrong way.
"Why are the turrets pointing at the wrong way?", Liara asked.
"They want to keep their people inside as much as they want to keep others out.", Garrus stated.
"We should be careful.", Jaden added.
After taking an elevator up, they arrived at some kind of cafe. Up the stairs they could see a corridor and a few offices. There were some Geth in the cafe area, which they quickly took out.
The whole place squealed. They prepared for anything.
"This place is in a bad shape.", Ashley commented.
"Let us pray it does not collapse on us.", Jaden added.
At this point Shepard and the others looked at damage. Tables and chairs were thrown all over the place and one of the windows was badly broken, allowing snow to get inside. Shepard wasn't fully convinced that the Geth would have done that. Geth normally shouldn't bother with breaking windows or thrashing up the place. Something else must have done it.
Their suspicions were quickly confirmed, when they saw a monstrous insect-like thing up in the corridor with the offices. The thing let out an unnatural screech, spit acid at the window, then charged at the group. Simultaneously, multiple smaller things ran at the group. These smaller things exploded upon contact with their shields, releasing noxious gas. Jaden lifted the large insect before it could ram the group, then threw one of his energy swords at it, cutting it vertically in half. He then activated his omni-tool and began to scan the thing.
"Shepard.", Wrex started. He sounded alarmed, which was unusual for a Krogan: "Those were Rachni."
"Can't be.", Garrus started "Rachni are extinct. The Krogan made sure of it."
"And the genophage was our reward...", the atmosphere got much more tense.
"Enough.", Jaden interrupted before things got worse. "I would believe Wrex over anyone else when it comes down to Rachni. And...", he displayed his omni-tool, "these are Rachni. The same Rachni that threatened the galaxy over a millennia ago."
"How did the Binary Helix found Rachni DNA or got their hands on live Rachni?", Tali asked.
"That, we are going to find out.", Jaden answered.
They got to another elevator which took them higher. At this point they were contacted by Peak 15's VI, Mira, who seemed to be either broken or operating at a reduced capability. Fortunately, the elevator took them close to the VI core. After clearing the Rachni they found, Shepard activated a backup power source for the VI and Tali got to work at the VI core. Even for Tali, it took some time to get the VI fully operational, but eventually she got it done.
At this point Mira reported the damage that had been done to the facility. The landlines that connected to the subsidiary labs were broken and the main fusion reactor of the Peak 15 was offline.
They decided to split into two groups to tackle both problems simultaneously.
One group consisted of Shepard, Garrus, Liara and Wrex. The other consisted of Ashley, Jaden, Kaidan and Tali.
Shepard decided that they would go and fix the landlines while the others would go to the main reactor.
With her team, Shepard entered the elevator that took them upwards. When they exited, almost instantly they were swarmed by the small Rachni, with a few large Rachni staying behind.
Quickly they opened fire on the swarm. They really didn't want to breathe in that noxious gas.
After they dealt with the swarm, Shepard and Garrus switched to their sniper rifles. With a battle cry, Wrex charged right in and Liara brought up her biotics to lift couple of the Rachni; that allowed Shepard and Garrus to easily snipe them. Once the Rachni were taken care of, they began to fix the landlines. Soon after Mira notified: "Landlines repaired"
With his team, Kaidan entered the other elevator that would them down to the reactor.
They just entered the control room, when Jaden raised his hand and warned: "Geth."
They also heard 'shifting' sounds. "Hoppers", Tali added.
Kaidan and Tali took out their pistols, while Ashley and Jaden took out their snipers.
Almost as soon as they exited the control room, one of those grey-yellow colored Geth, charged at them. Tali quickly disrupted its shields and Ashley brought it down with a clean shot through the head. Immediately afterwards, the hoppers showed up and from upstairs, a huge red Geth opened fire on them. Slightly increasing the output of his weapon, Jaden took aim and fired his Thunderbolt at the huge machine. The lightning burned through it and also arced towards one unfortunate hopper, that was too close, destroying it as well.
"Tali, get to the reactor, we'll cover you", Kaidan ordered.
Tali began to work on the reactor.
Kaidan's use of biotics made the Geth easy targets for Ashley and Jaden.
Just as Jaden fired at another Geth, Shepard contacted Kaidan.
Shepard contacted Kaidan's team; she flinched slightly when the first sound she heard over the comm, was a loud thunder; Jaded had just fired with his Thunderbolt.
She could also hear other sounds of firefighting.
With her ear still ringing she asked: "How's your end? We just fixed the landlines."
"Tali's working on the reactor right now", Kaidan responded. He fired several rounds with his pistol, then added: "Guess you didn't have Geth up there."
"We had Rachni. You going to be okay?"
"Yeh, we're almost done."
"Rendezvous with us at the Mira core when you're done."
"Understood, Commander."
Shepard's group were the first arrive at Mira's core, but Kaidan's group soon followed suit.
Almost as in an anticlimactic display, a pair of Rachni emerged from the grates. Shepard and the others shot one, while Jaden lifted and crushed the other.
They got up to another elevator that took them towards the tram. They decontamination chamber was blocked by another pair of Rachni. In the control room, they activated the plasma vents, which incinerated the Rachni.
Upon reaching the tram, they entered and traveled into Rift Station.
There was only one way forward, through a door into another elevator. As soon as the doors opened, they were greeted by a team of human guards, their weapons pointed at them. The guards quickly lowered their weapons and explained about the situation. After they were attacked by several Rachni, which they quickly took care of.
They decided to go talk with Dr. Cohen at med bay. He offered to give them the access card to the secure labs if they helped him. He and the others had been developing a bio-weapon, when some of the group were exposed to it. He needed them to finish the cure. He had all the schematics ready, he just didn't want to leave his colleagues. Shepard agreed to do so. She, Jaden and Liara made their way to the lab. At this point Jaden turned invisible; he had sensed something odd about one asari they had met upstairs. Shepard and Liara prepared the cure.
Once they finished, a voice said: "Your mission is over, Shepard."
The voice belonged to that one specific asari, she was accompanied by a pair of geth and another asari, a commando.
"So, you work with the matriarch", Shepard said.
"Guess you're not as stupid, after all. Weapons free!", the asari called.
Before they were able to open fire, Liara had already formed a singularity in the middle of the group.
The gravity well lifted them all of the floor, they now floated mid-air helplessly.
Jaden reappeared at this time. The eyes of both asari widened; they realized the danger.
"Thank you." Jaden said to Liara and aimed one his Detonators at the singularity.
He fired several yellow crystals into the singularity, then activated them.
The singularity detonated with a colossal force.
Sounds of shattering bones could be heard when the asari collided with the wall.
The geth were able to recover, but Shepard and Liara shot them before they could retaliate.
The sheer blunt force trauma the asari sustained would be fatal, but not immediately.
Jaden quietly whispered to the asari: "If you knew who we were, you would not have dared to oppose us."
Shepard and the others left the lab, leaving the asari to perish.
They returned to Dr. Cohen who, when questioned, swore he knew nothing about the asari or their plan. As he promised, he gave his access card to Shepard. With the full team, they entered the maintenance tunnels, took out a lone Rachni soldier and arrived at the door that would lead them into the secure labs. And to matriarch Benezia.
"She.. She's in there?", Liara asked nervously.
"Yes.", Jaden said. "Be ready for anything."
They entered.
The large lab area was divided into two floors. The lower level where they stood covered the majority of the lab, with numerous boxes, lockers and other stuff. The upper level which was mostly just one large platform and at the end of the platform, was a tank. Inside it, was an enormous Rachni, had to be a Queen. Next to the tank, stood another figure, an asari. She wore ornate clothing and a headdress. This had to be matriarch Benezia.
"You do not know the privilege of being a mother." the matriarch started. "There is power in creation, to shape a life, turn it towards happiness or despair."
She turned to face them.
"Her children were to be ours", she referred to the Rachni queen. "raised to hunt and slay Saren's enemies."
She noticed Liara
"I won't be moved by sympathy, no matter who you bring into this confrontation."
"Liara's here on her own behalf.", Shepard responded.
"Indeed. What have you told them about me, Liara?"
"What could I say, mother?", Liara's voice was filled with sadness "That you're insane? Evil? Tell them how to kill you?"
"Have you faced an asari commando unit before? Few humans have.", the matriarch asked.
Shepard lowered her head. The matriarch would go that far.
"And just like that, you would kill your own daughter.", Shepard said in disbelief.
"It seems I should have been stricter with her." Benezia responded bluntly.
Benezia brought up her biotic flare. Shepard couldn't move. She was completely frozen. She now understood the power matriarchs possessed. She and the others were completely at the matriarch's mercy. Benezia had placed everyone in the team into stasis.
Everyone except one.
Calmly Jaden walked towards the stairs, unfazed by the biotic force trying to hold him.
"What?! How can you resist my power?", Benezia exclaimed. "I command you to stand still!"
She tried again to freeze Jaden in stasis, to no avail. He had began to walk up the stairs, when he said: "You're going to have to do much.. better.. than that."
He had reached the upper level and stood about ten meters from Benezia.
At this point Benezia brought up all her remaining biotic power in an attempt to finally freeze Jaden.
This attack slowed Jaden down slightly. And more importantly, truly drew his attention.
He then said: "So be it, matriarch.", his voice was cold and unnatural, even for him.
Jaden's voice chilled Shepard to the bone. There was something terrifying about the way he said 'matriarch'.
At this point, she was more afraid of Jaden that she could ever be of Benezia. She is the only one Jaden has told about his true potential.
If Jaden was to unleash all of his power, she was sure Benezia wouldn't stand a chance.
The red energy enveloped Jaden's hands. He held his hands in front of his chest for a moment, then pushed them outwards, sending out a stream of energy towards Benezia.
Benezia did the one thing she could, she gathered all her biotic power and similarly sent out a stream of biotic energy towards Jaden.
At this point Shepard and others were freed, as Benezia focused solely on Jaden.
When the two streams collided, the whole lab quaked violently.
The door on the other side of the lab opened: asari commandos and geth were pouring in.
The biotic power from Benezia created a powerful repulsive field around her.
Similarly, the energy emitted by Jaden super-heated his surroundings.
At this point nothing could approach Benezia or Jaden.
They were locked in with their battle against each other.
Shepard and the others couldn't worry about Jaden or Benezia right now, they had more pressing concerns.
Together the commandos and geth snipers were a force to be reckoned with.
Shepard, Ashley, Garrus and Tali focused on the geth, while Kaidan, Liara and Wrex focused on the commandos.
This battle was the hardest they've ever fought before.
Through the use of combo tactics, such as disrupting shields followed by a sniper round to the head, the number of enemies began to drop.
Similarly, the biotics performed very clever acts, such as pulling a commando from the other side, through the upper level where Benezia and Jaden were still locked in.
The unfortunate commando was literally reduced to ash.
When the last geth fell, Jaden growled: "Enough of this charade." and sent out a pulse of energy that tore through Benezia's defenses and pushed her against the Rachni Queen's tank.
Simultaneously he stopped the flow of his power.
She slowly got up, then defiantly said: "This is not over, Saren is unstoppable, my mind is filled with his light, everything is clear."
"The Rachni didn't cooperate with you", Shepard said "Why should I?"
"I will not betray him, I..", Benezia's demeanor changed entirely. She then quickly said: "You must listen. Saren still whispers in my mind. I can briefly fight his compulsions, but the indoctrination is strong."
Jaden calmly walked next to Benezia and placed his hand on her shoulder. His eyes blinked.
"Jaden?", Shepard asked.
"She is not lying, Shepard.", Jaden responded. "I can delay the corruption that is indoctrination. But not for long. This corruption comes from within."
In a calm tone, he then said to Benezia: "You must tell her everything you know."
Benezia then began to explain, starting with how she could, even if briefly, break free of Saren's control. She then continued with how people aren't themselves near Saren, how they begin to idolize him, to do anything for him. The Sovereign, his flagship, a huge dreadnought with extraordinary power.
"Sovereign isn't like other ships. Where it came from?", Shepard asked.
"I cannot say. But the geth didn't create it. The technology is far older and superior to anything else. At first I thought I could resist the indoctrination, but I was wrong. I became a willing servant to him. He sent me here to find the location of Mu relay, which was lost thousands of years ago."
"How does something like that go 'missing'?"
Benezia told about a star that went supernova, which pushed the relay away from its position. Once the nebula caused by the nova enveloped the relay, at this point it was practically impossible to find it.
"Someone on Noveria found it?"
"The Rachni inhabited that region. They found it. The Rachni queens possess genetic memory. New queens inherit the memories of the previous queens." She looked at the queen.
"This queen had the memory. And I.. took it.. by force."
"You can still redeem yourself", Shepard said. "Give me the location."
"I transcribed the data to an OSD, take it.", She handed the OSD to Shepard.
Liara spoke: "Knowing the coordinates isn't enough, where is he planning to go from there?"
"He wouldn't tell me his destination, but you must find out quickly. I transmitted the coordinates to him before your arrival."
Benezia twitched, once, twice.
"What's happening?", Liara asked, though she already knew.
"We are running out of time", Jaden said, then he looked at Benezia and said: "I am sorry."
"You have to stop me!", she was practically pleading at this point "I.. I c.. can't stop him."
"Mother!", Liara's voice was full of sorrow "Don't leave! Fight him!"
As a last act as herself, Benezia looked directly at Liara, saying: "You always made me proud, Liara."
Benezia was going to bring up her biotics again to attack Shepard and the others. But Jaden, who still had his hand on her shoulder, sapped the biotic power from her.
Unable to attack, the matriarch simply fell against the tank.
"I cannot go on.", Benezia stated. "You will have to stop him, Shepard."
Even though Shepard knew it probably wouldn't work, she went on: "Hold on. We got medi-gel, maybe.."
"No. I'm not myself. I will never be."
Jaden said, with anger in his voice: "From Saren's... or Sovereign's perspective, she has now served her purpose. They have only one thing left for her." He looked at Benezia and added: "We will not forget your sacrifice, Matriarch Benezia."
"Mother...", Liara started.
"Goodnight Little Wing, I will see you again with the dawn." She collapsed. As her last words she said: "No light. They always said there would be...", only silence remained.
Jaden even brought up his omni-tool and scanned her. He shook his head. Benezia was gone.
Liara fell next to Benezia and she finally broke down.
Shepard decided it would be best to let Liara be, even if only for a moment.
She went to look at the Rachni Queen.
Once she got close enough, the Queen screeched at her. She jumped back.
"Wait." Jaden said and placed his hand on the tank. "The Queen can speak through me now."
And not a moment sooner a voice echoed in the lab. It seemed to originate from Jaden, but it wasn't his voice. It was as if he had turned into a loudspeaker.
The Queen then began to tell about herself. How she came to be on Noveria, what was done to her.
When asked why the Rachni were killing people, the Queen told that their connection to her had been severed, which turned them into mindless monsters.
Something like that would be akin to leaving a child in the closet for years.
The Queen asked Shepard to end their suffering. But before that, Shepard would have to decide the Queen's fate.
The tanks around the Queen were filled with acid, potent enough to dissolve anything.
When Shepard asked the others, some were in favor, particularly Wrex. While others, like Liara, who had been able to raise her head to look at the queen, said that the Krogan were allowed to go too far.
Jaden added, with his own voice: "In the end, should it comes to that, every species fights for its survival. She is the last Queen, she would not risk her species in mindless attacks against others."
Both sides had valid points, but Shepard needed to hear from the Queen herself.
"If we free you, will you attack other civilizations?", she asked.
"No. We do not know what happened in the war. We were only an egg. Then we awoke in this place."
"What will you do if we free you?"
"We would seek a hidden place, to teach our children."
Shepard felt like this was too much for her to decide alone, but in a way, she had already decided: "I won't destroy your entire race. You go free."
"You will give us the chance to compose anew? We will remember."
Shepard pressed the button that would release the Queen.
"You must leave quickly", Jaden told the Queen. "This facility will be purged soon."
The Queen left as fast as she could.
"Garrus, Tali, Wrex, get to the hot labs and set off the neutron purge.", Shepard ordered.
They left.
"Rest of us, we need to get to the tram. Liara..?"
"No." Liara wouldn't leave her mother.
"Liara listen.", Jaden started: "We have to. Go."
"No!", she almost yelled, tears still flowing. "I won't leave her! Not in here!"
"Then.. we won't leave her here." Jaden said and lifted Benezia's body of the floor and walked towards the exit that would take them to the tram. That was enough to get Liara to follow them.
At the tram station, they waited for a moment, until Garrus, Tali and Wrex arrived.
"It's done", Tali said.
"Time to go then", Shepard responded.
"Are we taking...?", Tali asked and looked at Benezia's body. But She also didn't want to offend Liara.
"We should return her to the asari government, make sure she gets a proper funeral.", Shepard answered.
"In the end, she was on our side", Jaden added. "And gave her life so we could have a chance."
After very lengthy travel, they finally got back to the Normandy and left Noveria.
Before the meeting, Shepard filed her report for the Council and contacted them.
Their attitude towards her was still sub-par, so again she cut them off.
The meeting was a very quiet, until Ashley broke the silence:
"What's the next step? Head for the Mu relay?"
"No point.", Shepard said "It leads to dozens of different systems, we wouldn't know where to look."
"Now what?", Garrus asked.
"We still have one lead.", Shepard said and explained the private call she had received from the salarian Councillor after the Feros mission. "Virmire."
"But now, I think we all need some time to gather ourselves. Dismissed."
Liara was the first to leave, without saying a word.
Tali expressed her concern: "Should someone go and talk to Liara? She just lost her mother, no one walks away from something like that unscathed."
"I'll go", Shepard said.
"You might be the best person right now.", Jaden remarked. He had quickly noticed that after coming onboard the Normandy, Shepard and Liara had gotten close. And they had gotten closer with each passing mission.
And she did. After knocking, she entered Liara's cabin. Liara slowly walked towards Shepard, who then hugged Liara tightly. Then, Liara let it all out.
Notes
Noveria done.
The standoff between Benezia and Jaden, i kind of tried to make it slightly reminiscent to the standoff between Samara and Morinth in ME2
I found the 'i cant stop him i.. i c... DIE' sequence quite funny but also stupid at the same time. With Jaden having sapped the remaining biotic power, she had served her purpose for Saren and Sovereign.