Chapter 57
Shepard opened up with his pistol, while Tali attacked the geth-Saren with her shotgun and Garrus fired precise bursts with his AR. The many rounds were intercepted by a powerful shield that sprang to life around the body of the ex-Spectre. The lack of effect on the shield was a depressing sight to the three commandoes, who resigned themselves to whittling away at yet another powerful opponent. Too bad I can't just jump on his back and let loose with my shotgun, like I did on Therum. Spike thought to himself with a wry grin. They then went to work like the well-oiled machine they were, covering each other and testing their enemy's defenses with a variety of attacks and from every angle. Saren was proving to be exceptionally fleet-footed, though, causing the trio no small amount of trouble. Every attempt at corralling their wild opponent was unsuccessful, as the team from the Normandy would back Saren into a corner, and then the creature would just jump onto the ceiling or wall, and thus escape the trio's noose.
Fucking pain in the ass motherfucking piece of shit! The commander shouted mentally, continuing to fire at the quick-moving target. Somebody needs to go back in time and bitch-slap the fuck out of Saren for even thinking about letting Sovereign give him the "metal moron" upgrade. Fucking bastard's hopping around like a kid all hopped up on some fucked-up combination of sugar, soda, and crack cocaine. I haven't had this many shots be off-target since basic training. Hell, even then I didn't miss this much. We need to find a way to slow this thing down. I wonder if biotics could have an effect? I should have taken that into account when I was putting together the teams. No use crying over spilled milk now, though.
Barring biotics, there's gotta be another way to put a damper on Frankenstein-Saren's ability to get around so quickly. Sabotage, damping fields, and overloads aren't as effective as they should be, and Tali can't seem to hack the thing. Sovereign's gotta be interfacing with the body or controlling it or something - there's no other explanation for the reanimated corpse's abilities. Inara could probably blow off an arm, maybe even a leg if I got lucky, but I don't think I could get a sight picture clear enough or for long enough to land the shot. Even if that thing does lose a limb, I honestly don't know if that'll slow it down. Up until now, we've been too good at landing head-shots against hoppers to have tested what happens when we turn them into cripples. Note to self: find some geth hopper corpses and give them to Tali to "experiment" with.
It was as though the Saren-geth hybrid had picked up on the tender way in which Shepard's mind said his paramour's name, for the ex-organic suddenly sprang up to the ceiling and then down to land next to the quarian engineer. Before Tali could swing her shotgun around and possibly take advantage of her close proximity to the undead former Council agent, Saren had lashed out with one claw and passed through the quarian's shields and landed a hammer blow to her midsection. Miss Zorah went flying through the air before crashing into the wall with terrific force and falling to the ground, where she lay crumpled-up and motionless.
The likely explanation for Saren/Sovereign's interest in Tali would be that she was interfering with Sovereign's control of his remote pawn; however, in that brief moment of near-panic caused by the attack on his girlfriend, Spike could only think that she was attacked because of how important she was to him on a personal level. And while his rational mind yelled that there was no way for the geth, or either of their leaders, to know about the interspecies relationship, Shepard's primitive side screamed loudly for revenge.
The two enemies launched into motion within milliseconds of each other. The dead Spectre jumped back to the ceiling, and then launched himself to the ground. The still-breathing Spectre began racing towards his enemy, pulling the trigger of his HMW Pistol X as fast as was humanly possible. Saren then sent out a lancing beam of orange light, striking the charging human's weapon and instantly overheating it. With a snarl of disgust, the commander threw the offending tool aside and drew both of his combat knives, and then continued to close the ground between himself and the monstrosity that had dared to attack the woman he was beginning to love.
As the N7 Infiltrator came within three meters of Saren's skeleton, it tensed its artificial muscles and prepared to leap away from the danger presented by more than eighty kilos of angry human warrior. Shepard's eyes narrowed as he tried to gauge which direction the abomination would go. He was putting all his chips on the table in this one moment: if successful, he would be locked in a deadly embrace with his enemy; if unsuccessful, the former turian would be behind the human and have a clear shot at Spike's back.
The two antagonists jumped at exactly the same time, almost as though they had rehearsed the move. Shepard leapt to his right, hoping and praying to every deity that had ever existed that he was correct. For Garrus, standing a dozen meters away and watching his C.O. charge at almost-certain death and then go flying through the air, the moment seemed to take a lifetime, despite being over in nothing more than a few blinks of the eye.
The thing that was once Saren sprang to its left and crashed into the commander, resulting in simultaneous sighs of relief from both of the conscious organics in the room. The two fighters landed in a tangled mess and rolled across the floor until they smacked into a wall. When the roiling motion ended, Shepard was sitting astride his opponent's torso, still wielding both of his combat knives. The knife in his right hand was held in a reverse grip with the edge in, and in his left hand was the other knife being held using the hammer technique. With an inarticulate growl, Spike rammed the left-hand knife up into Saren's shoulder joint, severing the synthetic bicep muscle and jamming the joint itself. That knife also provided an anchor for the human Spectre, keeping him steady atop his prey as Saren writhed and twisted beneath his legs.
Now that he had ensured his superior position, Shepard went to work expressing his anger, frustration, and fear in a manner even Sovereign could understand. The commander's right hand, still holding the knife in a reversed, edge-in grip, began beating what remained of the former Spectre's head and face with malice and fury. With every swing from right to left, Spike delivered a punishing punch that trailed the square-edged back of the knife in its wake. He would then bring his fist back across, leading with the knife's tip and ripping and carving massive furrows into the artificial surface. Each blow was accompanied by an angry, wordless, exultation
It only took a few dozen seconds for what remained above the ex-turian's shoulders to deteriorate to the point that it could scarcely be called a head. With his rage still not sated, Shepard slid his hips further down his captive's body and began attacking the shoulders and upper chest of his enemy. This time, it took nearly a minute for Spike to run out of body parts upon which to vent his feelings.
Some part of Shepard's brain recognized that the body beneath him had stopped squirming, and sent the command to his left arm to remove the knife from Saren's shoulder. The grip on that knife was then changed to mirror the knife that was now dripping synthetic blood onto the ruins of the once-Spectre's torso. An angry sneer adorned Spike's face as he crossed his arms and hooked the knives onto opposite sides of his enemy's sternum. The left-hand knife went into the crux of the fourth rib down and to the right of the center of the chest plate, while the right-hand knife nestled into the left-side joinder of the fifth rib from the top and the breastbone. A surge of adrenaline-fueled strength ran through Shepard's arms, as he pulled the knives down and away. The ribs separated with a resounding "crack!," and Saren's chest was ripped in two pieces - one upper, and one lower. The N7 agent slowly replaced his knives, panting with indescribable emotions at finishing the fight in close quarters. His task complete, Spike stood up and stared down at his fallen foe.
"I think you killed him, Commander." Garrus said from across the room as he jogged towards Tali's still body.
"Probably." The Spectre agreed with a low, dangerous voice. But I'm gonna make gods-damned sure that he's gone for good this time. He thought as stepped up to the side of what remained of Saren's head. The human sharpshooter then lifted up one hardened boot and brought it down onto the dead turian's cranium, which exploded outwards with a sickening crunch. That oughta do it. He thought with a vicious, evil smile.
"Shepard! Get over here!" Garrus called from the other side of the room.
Spike turned away from the mutilated carcass and sprinted across the room. "What is it, Garrus? How bad is Tali hurt?" He demanded when he reached his turian comrade.
The C-Sec agent had his omni-tool active, and was doing a medical scan of the downed quarian. "Doctor Chakwas is much better at this than I am, but Tali's injuries appear to be survivable." He paused as Shepard sank to his knees in relief. "It appears that she has a broken collarbone, two bruised or broken ribs, and a probable concussion. She should be fine, Spike. I believe the Council has an emergency medical kit in one of the little rooms on the side of the Chamber. There might be something in there that we can use to stabilize Tali so we can start moving her towards proper medical care."
Shepard patted his friend on the shoulder, trying to convey the depths of his gratitude. "Thanks, buddy. Do you think you can go look for it? I don't really wanna leave Tali's side right now."
"I understand, Commander." Garrus smiled at his friend, who was holding one of Tali's hands and gently stroking her arm. "I'll be right back."
Shepard nodded his head absent-mindedly, pulling up his own omni-tool's medical program and taking a scan of his girlfriend. He barely noticed when Garrus jogged away, as he was focused instead on making sure he didn't accidentally hurt Tali.
After a few minutes, Joker's shrill voice suddenly broke the comfortable silence. "Shepard! Sovereign's down!"
"That's great, Joker!" The commander responded enthusiastically.
The pilot continued on as though he hadn't heard Spike's reply. "It broke into pieces and some of them are heading right for the Council's Chambers! If you're still there, get out!"
Oh fuck. Shepard thought, and then looked up towards the large window at the top of the Chamber. A massive piece of dark-purple Reaper was looming over the area, and growing larger with each passing second. As he looked around for anything that could help, the commander ran through his options. I can't really move Tali, but it doesn't matter because I wouldn't be able to get us far enough away in time, anyway. Hiding under that collapsed part of the ceiling is probably our best bet. Please don't have any hidden injuries, Tali.
Spike gently picked Tali up and shuffled over to his soon-to-be hidey-hole, trying to balance the need to keep her as still as possible and the need to move quickly. He had just set her down when he heard the smashing of glass as the window exploded inwards. With a grimace he threw himself onto his elbows and knees on top of Tali, holding himself in the air so as not to jostle her. Sorry this isn't romantic at all, Tal. But hopefully we live through this and can try lying together again in a less-dangerous situation. He heard the impact of a mammoth piece of Sovereign hitting the Chamber floor nearby, and closed his eyes. A second later Shepard felt a massive blow to his body, and everything went dark.