Mass Effect : Shepard's Letters
Chapter Four – King is Down…
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"SPIRITS, NO!" Garrus suddenly gasps, his talons frantically trying to bring that image back at the Haptic Gunning Station he is using while EDI is out of commission. Had he really seen it?!
He had not time to do anything about it, Joker cries out in alarm! All bridges's consoles blinked in and out and the Normandy rocked to port violently! While holding himself in position with effort, as the ship spinned, at the side of his field of vision he saw EDI's cybernetic body jolt out her chair in apparent spasms and was now inert, body dangling limp to the side of her chair. They were exposed, no control, for eternity-long seconds…
"EDI?! EDI! TALK TO ME BABY! No…NO… "Destroy" no, not "Destroy…"
"HOLD IT, JOKER! She is the Normandy! If there's any chance she can make it you need to pilot us out!"
And he was the Pilot. Joker's fingers fought his console until getting the Normandy into full manual controls. The Normandy without EDI… Tears run freely on Joker's face, as he manages to get the ship steady. As secondary VIs assume their functions, Garrus has his console glow to life again.
Turians are a race evolved from pack predators, long distance sight was an important asset back in time. Less color definition but greater and faster perception of detail and gray nuances. Natural snipers really. Vakarian had a glimpse of an energy burst down there just seconds ago, before the commotion. While Joker obliviously makes the Normandy spin out the sea of debris, his Alien partner is shaking terribly… Sinking in the idea of having seen once more the death of his best friend.
The shape of a human striking out the Station's hull and being engulfed in the light of an energy blast… He could not imagine how Shepard had summoned the strength to pry a hole at the side of Citadel Station itself! He would doubt even a Krogan could do it barehanded, injured or not! He couldn't fathom even the reason. He heard the discussion with the AI leading the Reapers, before the Geth-like sounds put off any chance to follow the events at the Citadel. A choice to be done, a non-survival one at any aspect, at least to Shepard. Garrus had not dared to think about it. He knew the Commander. The best soldier and leader ever, and friend, his friend would not falter even upon his last sacrifice. He would jump to it as in any mission, if there was a chance to end it once and for all. He had done it before. And just the fact that he got out alive with a smug face each time maybe created a small irrational hope in all his friends' minds that the charm would last forever…
The former detective in him thought about it. Shepard chose none of the options the Catalyst gave him. He had found some trump card to make out a better outcome. But if EDI went down and…
Garrus got view again of the Citadel's surface.
Turians have no biological means to cry as mammalian species. Their culture values duty and personal honor, in general they're seen as a very stoic and stern species.
And yet they could mourn. A Turian soul-piercing howl for the death of a brother is heard through de CIC.
Traynor gasps covering her mouth and Joker punches dangerously his console as they got the same visual.
With everything going on, Garrus had not noticed the sudden stop of all the Geth gibberish at his QEC link to Shepard. And all those at the bridge failed to notice something fundamentally important about the immense fleet of Reaper Dreadnoughts out there in the War Zone…
Not one had shot at them in the last five minutes.
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"NO! No…Shepard! Oh…Goddess!"
Liara sobs painfully at her bed. Her shoulders shaked, her hands at her face. She was a very good information broker. She had feelers not too invasively set at many points of the Normandy's systems. EDI knew but didn't mind. Dr T'Soni was to be trusted, and it was for the best of her functioning as an asset for the mission.
She therefore saw the footage from the Citadel just after Garrus. Independent of the data feeds she was certain about his death even before the Turian. Her delicate hand clasps a tight fist before her chest. She sensed it. Her soul cringes to those memories shared, to the feelings of both their minds and bodies mingling together three years ago. She was alone with just those shards of Shepard's soul to hold. She was lost once more and he wouldn't save her again…
Gliph kept working, oblivious. The VI would make sense of the role played by the Geth on all this. Liara would not think about calling Tali for help on it. She was with her and Garrus as they were picked up back to the Normandy. The quarian's injuries were severe not even taking the suit's extensive rupture into account. The asari maiden had her friend's wavering life signs on one of her continuous video feed screens. And even if they could talk...why do it? Where's the will to do it? How to word such loss…their loss.
If the Geth had any responsibility on this… Ice blue steel flashed on her red crying eyes.
"The Morning War will be nothing compared…"
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On Earth, a Brute falls with its head exploding to bits. Lieutenant Commander Williams puts another thermal to her Javelin automatically. She alternates shots with attention to her comms, and quickly-mouthed prayers. "Damn it, Shepard! Don't go dying on me again…"
At same time, further ahead on the battlefield, Vega manages to put his friend of sorts down behind a barrier made by that crazy chica's students. They were holding line pretty well under heavy fire.
Vega falls exhausted. He had just a hell of a walk…
About one block ahead, Vega had come to put down Marauders with his bare fists and blunt hits from his Mattock as got out of clips. The soldier had his life saved more than once by that tightass Prothean during the fight. Without one word the old bastard put down minions and minions with that fancy energy gun of his, moved like a shark behind the attacking fronts. Vega got pinned by one of that blue screeching bitches. He had no way to avoid the coming biotic blasts when that big stupid bug head surges ahead, green shimmering on a barrier of sorts and trying to call fire to him. The Banshee didn't shoot, she blasted Javik on a charge attack. Both their barriers were down with the impact but the monster had the upper hand and slashed viciously half the face of the Prothean out.
Then Vega was already doing his move. One foot hard on the wreckage putting impulse against a wall and to a kick jump high at the thing's back. Nice they kept the tentacle spiky things! Got a hold and with a nasty twist using his on momentum and the puta was facing backwards and falling limp. His last frag grenade to greet her friends as he rolled to cover and grabbing the fallen Prothean in the nick of a time before Husk stew was served hot!
He looked then at his unconscious colleague, Alien and ugly as hell, but that wasn't the point. Got some cover for his hurt head, and applied medi-gel. It didn't seem to work well. Had to take him out of there. Vega had glanced upon cover and saw enemy reinforcements would be charging soon. He had to move, but dragging the Prothean would hinder him. After a pause he brought to lips his small effigy of the Normandy like his abuela used to with her Virgin Mary's.
"No one gets behind."
And so they got there! Jack had checked on them saying to rest their stupid ugly mugs quiet a bit. That was her being nice. The hot chic…Biotic Specialist was as good as she was nuts. They managed to keep a line to protect the injured behind some of the less damaged structures. Meds from the allied races rushed from one injured soldier to another, as Jack barked her biotic sidekick squad orders to hold the defensive positions.
And then it wasn't enough anymore.
"Destroyer!"
A red ray cut through a building that avalanched debris upon the fortifications ahead.
"RODRIGUEZ, DANTON!"
Those should be her students, Vega saw the refugees fleeing but some got buried under concrete and a cloud of dust.
Then the hairs of his back started to rise under his armor. A blue flaming silhouette of a woman stared ahead.
Those eyes would bring him nightmares if he survived that.
She jumped over her heads with an insane and furious battle cry, her biotics easing her movements to a blur as she…Charged the Destroyer?
Vega shakes himself to senses and tries to get up to his feet. But an iron grip holds him. Four pupils on two yellow eyes tried to focus on him.
"Primitive…Help me to stand…Something is happening. Your Commander did…"
"Did what? What are you talking about?" As the human complies to help the Protean warrior. "What Shepard did?"
"He is winning!"
At the SSV Orizaba:
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Just like Admiral Hackett needed any other bad news…
"What do you mean the Geth are down? I still have them on the Tactical Map!"
The image of Han'Gerrel just stares back unchanged at the link. ("How Shepard can read those guys?") The accented voice of the Admiral sounds as baffled as irritated.
"We don't know, they've stopped dead. Their ships are drifting against enemies and allies. Admiral Xen can't link to them. It's like they had just died or disappeared leaving their fighters empty behind. Believe me, Admiral, those would be greatest news to me any other day then today. If they had turned coats against us they could just had gotten us by surprise any time!"
"Don't know what to think either. Keep me posted any new data. Hackett out"
"How is it going, Captain?"
Captain Hannah Shepard just shakes her head to the tactical screen.
"Those quarians from their Heavy Fleet won't make it without the fast Geth support. That Reaper will get hot on them on two thousand klicks and they're pretty slow ducks over there."
"Will we assist them?"-Hackett asks soberly, he had just talked to Han'Gerrel, and now he seemed about to become another casualty very soon.
"And call to us the fire of one more damned Reaper, putting us on against at least a third attack front?"
The scarred Admiral saw from where came the smirk Commander Shepard reserved specially for moments like those.
"We've just opened fire, Sir."
Hackett chuckled and braced himself for the heavy answer the Reaper would surely be ensuing against them.
Then both officers braced but to the surprise they've just had as the explosion had spread debris ahead at their visuals.
Reaper debris.
The Orizaba had put down the Reaper dreadnought on the first shot…
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As the United fleet discovered to their astonishment and bloodthirsty glee that not only the Reaper fleet had diminished their fire, but that their fucking shields had been just dropped down, on the Citadel's surface, the exposed systems of the Catalyst still burst on eventual fire and energy releases. The clawed desiccated hand of a husk tries to get hold of Commander Shepard's head before its own momentum threw it out the wavering Mass Effect field above and to outer space.
The artificial gravity was out, and soon the shield around would weaken enough that would not hold the bubble of air around him anymore and there would be just vacuüm again outside the Station.
The Commander doesn't care about it. The husks that had crawled and lunged at him all had met their merciful ends floating harmlessly to their last demises. His eyes flickers blue lights but can see no longer. His skin was burnt, revealing the dark artificial weave underneath it. His implants under the scarred face had intermittent light as still electric activity remained at some systems. His body attached to the ground was moving like seaweed, slowly and inert under the zero gravity.
Commander Shepard in his death looked no different from the husks he continuously terminated on the last four years. But at least one with very nice armored automatic magnetic boots…
A King is down...and yet stands.