Hope y'all enjoy the chapter. I had fun writing it. Don't forget to REVIEW. Any and all reviews are welcome.
POV: Aedon Wynne
The trip to Thessia was going to take the better part of about two days. If we were able to go straight to the planet it would've only been about 12 hours but since the Reapers are currently ripping apart Asari space that wasn't really viable for us. Which meant that we had to do the same thing that I did a couple months ago.
Meaning that we had to cut our trip short and come out of our trip outside of Thessia's specific cluster. Almost entirely so that we wouldn't hop in and be surrounded by Reapers. With how the reports have depicted the area just entertaining that idea looked bad. So we went with the smuggler way and stopped our trip just short of the cluster.
From there all we could really do was wait and make sure that we were prepared for the mission. I spent most of my time tinkering with my weapons and armor making sure that they were all set to go. Tali helped do the maintenance on my arms as well to make sure that they were operating at peak performance. Speaking of peak performance by the time we got onto the Normandy after waiting those three days for the politics to do something with the clone I was back to 100%.
A sparring session with Kelli, Nif and Garrus proved that to me beyond a shadow of a doubt. Especially when I took on Kelli and Garrus together and won against the two of them. It was a good fight overall and I honestly got a bit lucky towards the end but it is what it is, I won. Though, to be honest, fighting hand to hand while completely negating my biotics was weird. Like it was stressing my body out for the simple reason of not using the biotics. I didn't want to rely on them though, so I just powered through it.
Moving on after the sparring session I just stayed at the range and shot until I got bored and then went back to my room. Getting a nap in with Tali lying her head on my chest. I ran my hand through her hair and she purred into my chest and we stayed there for hours. I don't know how long as I fell asleep sometime in there. Waking up was a pleasant affair as well with her still on my chest and purring.
Carefully getting myself out of her grip I made my way to the mess hall and got some food for us. It was breakfast chow so we were probably on the home stretch to Thessia at this point. Not like it really mattered to me anyways, whenever Shepard said it was time to go we would be ready to move.
Bringing the food back to my room Tali was already up and sitting against the back of the bed. Her eyes zeroing in on me with an expectant look as I entered the room and she saw the food. Bringing her said food we ate in silence for a little bit before I climbed back in bed and cuddled her. Her food already set off to the side she melted into my arms and we went back to sleep quickly.
I woke up a couple hours later without Tali's warmth in my arms and I won't lie, I was mildly disappointed in that. That disappointment quickly disappeared though as the door opened and Tali stood in the entrance with two trays with lunch chow on them. We exchanged smiles at that and she handed me my tray and we got to eating our meals. We were almost completely finished with them when there was a knock on the door.
Knowing that if it was for the mission it would've just come over the PA system Tali and I exchanged curious looks. Shrugging my shoulders, I stood up and went to the door opening it up to Liara standing there with a silver box in her hands. It was the same one I had seen her with when I had walked in on her and Shepard talking. It piqued my curiosity, so I opened the door a bit for her and allowed her inside.
"I've gone around the Normandy the last couple months and have compiled everyone's… Well, how everyone would like to be remembered if this all goes south. All, however, have stuck with what I said for the most part except to depict them in different lights in some cases."
"Like what?" I asked curiously.
"Garrus wished to also be acknowledged as a Leader instead of just a follower some of my reports showed him as."
"That's not asking much. He's the one that's in charge of Omega when we're there; he's a good leader," Liara nods here head before responding.
"But not on the Normandy. Rarely has he been the first choice past Shepard, that usually falls to you," I nod my head at her reasoning. She didn't go through the whole Omega debacle with him like I had. She wouldn't really know, same with Shepard.
"So, just read over what you got and tell you what I think?" she nodded her head and then handed me the box in her hands.
It opened up to my file immediately and I began to read it. I got about a quarter of the way through the words when the trend started to appear in the writing. Said trend continued all the way through the entirety of the log for me. As much as I wanted to say something about the trend it wasn't exactly wrong about who I was, it just felt weird for it to be put into words. It was also the first time that I realized that what she said was completely right.
That trend being that I was almost the epidemy of a walking contradiction in some cases. Her words being sadistic, vicious, uncompromising, ruthless and extremely lethal being the first half of how she described me. Followed by the other side being loyal, loving, protective, leader, unbiased, and hero. In simple terms she couldn't have written me more polarizing if she actually tried to.
That being said though at the end of the file there was a little blurb that she attributed to Jack of all people. Reading what it said too I couldn't help but laugh because it definitely made sense in my mind for myself. It said: Paladin's are warriors of righteousness and there are only ever two types. The first being where they will be the example for others to follow and the second is where they will make someone the example. Shepard falls under the first category, but Aedon falls firmly under the second category for obvious reasons. – Jack.
"I get where you're coming from Liara. I like it, even with it being completely polarizing when it described me. I haven't exactly given you a reason not to have it like that though," Liara and Tali both nodded their heads which had me looking at Tali curiously. She simply held up her omni-tool, so I assumed she hacked it and read it as well.
"You haven't. At one point the person with the highest bounty in the entire galaxy; highest of all time mind you. A faceless assassin that had over half the CEO's on the Citadel leave, known for brutalizing your victims. Became a hero on Omega, killed Dashi and a lot of Cerberus personnel when they attacked and fought five Reapers, killing four. I can go on, but I think you get the idea pretty clearly. You haven't really made it easy for me to describe you."
"Well, what you have does a pretty good job of it. Keep it how it is."
"Do you want me to add anything to it? Anything at all?" I thought about it for a long few seconds and decided to contradict my statement only seconds prior.
"Make me seem like the one that goes bump in the night. The one that hunts those that deserve it," kinda edgy, not gonna lie but with how I've lived it makes the most sense and fits me the best. At least in my opinion it does. With my words said Liara nodded her head and picked up the box and left leaving Tali and myself alone.
"You know," Tali purred behind me as I felt her snake her arms around my neck and start kissing my neck. "It didn't say how good you were at loving," she put extra emphasis on that last word as she practically purred it out as she started running her hands over my chest. Horny Tali is scary, I wonder if the immunization boosters make her like this during pregnancy. She's mostly off them now, only using them when we go to areas her system hasn't visited like the Citadel. I don't know and right now it wasn't my job to know. I had a horny Quarian to deal with.
About 30 minutes later we were both done and satisfied with each of us dressed and ready for the mission to begin. That being said we still hadn't been given any update by Shepard for when we were going to start so we continued to wait. Getting in another small meal for the both of us and a nice little nap. Don't know what it was about being around Tali but falling asleep with her was the easiest thing in the galaxy to do. I just felt comfortable around her.
Moving along our sleep was interrupted by the PA system going off calling for all ground team members to get to the briefing room. Tali and I shared a look and got up silently grabbing our weapons and then leaving my room for the briefing room. Each of us silent as we made our way there.
Following her out the room to watch her and how she walked it was getting to the point where we would need to have a serious conversation again about her fighting. I know she wants to but she's starting to get in the latter half of the pregnancy now and it will start to affect her mobility soon. It hasn't quite gotten there yet but it wouldn't be long.
Making it to the briefing room I was surprised to see that Tali and myself were the last ones to show up. Taking our seats at the table quickly we stayed silent as Shepard booted up the screen. A couple seconds after we were settled into our seats he started the brief.
"Okay people. You all know the planet and what's going on down there so I won't touch on that. However, there is a type of Reaper force we haven't encountered yet that we will today. There called Banshee's and from what we've been able to find out is that they are the husk version of Ardak Yakshi's so they aren't that numerous.
That being said they are still plentiful and hard to fucking kill. Able to use biotics and teleport short distances, not to mention they can drain you and their fingers are foot long claws. Suffice to say that they are extremely dangerous, do not take them on alone; only Aedon has a chance at surviving that situation. The rest of us mortals will die," that got a few half hearted chuckles out of everyone. "As for Asari in general though they are changed to regular husks just like humans unless they have the gene to be Ardak Yakshi's.
Now, we'll be inserting here on the other side of this bridge where the Asari are dug in the heaviest. From there we'll be pushing across the bridge and making our way to the Temple of Athame. From what the message sent was able to relay we'll find what we're looking for at the temple where there should be a group of scientists holed up and waiting for us. With that in mind the moment we land we'll have about an hour to get to them at best. They have defenses around the temple but they don't know how long they'll be able to hold up and we can't land there, the Reapers control the air at the moment."
"Will we have any type of support from the Asari forces we'll be linking up with before moving on the temple?" Kelli asked Shepard.
"Yes. Commando Battalion Slypher will be supporting us by pushing to the temple from the two main paths to get there. We'll be taking the third, or Route A as I've been told it's called," as he spoke Kelli groaned at the news which resulted in everyone looking at her for an explanation.
"Battalion Slypher are the recruits, candidates that aren't even full fledged commandos. They're more numerous but don't expect normal Commando quality from them. As for Route A, it's not going to be fun at all. It was used for celebrities, politicians and any powerful people who wished to go to the church without being impeded by others. It was also designed with attempted attacks in mind."
"Meaning hallways with no cover, turns that give you no room to check out what's passed it, choke points and good security with failsafes. That sounds absolutely fantastic. And it all has to be bypassed in an hour; how long is the path by the way?" Garrus stated with obvious frustration in his voice.
"It's a little over a kilometer," Kelli responded. "Hallways are only wide enough for maybe five people. We won't have to worry about the Reapers having air superiority though, the path is underground. If we run into a serious element down there though we'll be hard pressed, with it being a tunnel that means no explosives or any biotics beyond Throw's and Pull's," this will be interesting.
"Circumstances don't matter at the moment people," Shepard's voice cut through the building tension in the air. "We have a job to do and this mission is probably the most important in terms of the War we've yet undertaken. You know what's expected."
"So don't screw it up," I finished the thought for Shepard and he noises his head to me. A nod I returned and then he turned the lights of the room back on.
"We drop in the shuttle in 30. Make sure you're geared appropriately. Dismissed."
Get the gear you'll need for this and meet at the shuttle in 20 mikes. We leave in 30 regardless of whether you are on the shuttle or not. Dismissed," and with that everyone left the room to go about their own business and to make sure that they had everything that they would need for the fight.
I, for one, still planned on bringing my explosives. Even with us being underground for the trip you never know when a good ol'fashioned bomb will solve the problem you're presented with. I just hoped that I wouldn't be the only one to realize this because that would be more troublesome than it would be worth. With the explosives I also decided to bring a small mirror I got from Dr. Chakwas along with me; it would allow me to check around corners without exposing myself.
Tabling those thoughts for now Tali and I were the first ones onto the shuttle and got to pick the best seats on the shuttle. They were really all the same but we liked our spot near the entrance for a quick disembark in case we needed it. Either way upon arrival all we could really do after that was wait for the others. Which we did and 30ish minutes later everyone was in the shuttle, the hanger door was lowered and we shot through the opening going straight down into Thessian air space.
Looking outside the shuttle as we hurtled downwards it wasn't a pretty sight. Reapers were pocketed around the entirety of the atmosphere but had yet to fully go in. That didn't really matter though, Thessia, or at least parts of it, was burning. This wasn't just an invasion to subdue and turn the population. It was a blitz to kill them all and then subjugate the dead and the reason hit me like a ton of bricks.
The Asari were by and large the most populace race in the entire galaxy and they've stayed out of the fight. They now had the most people in the galaxy by an extreme margin. By taking both Thessia and the Asari controlled part of the galaxy the Reapers would be back in front. Everything we've done would barely matter with how many soldiers they would gain… We needed to Nuke Thessia and now; reduce the planet to slag.
I felt like a absolute bastard for even thinking about doing it but I didn't see any better option really. It was obvious even at a glance that Thessia and her people didn't have much longer. I don't know how long the Reapers had been planning on taking this section of space but it must've been in the works for months, maybe even years for the Asari defense to fail this horrifically. Even with their incompetent and arrogant leadership it shouldn't have been this bad.
Shaking my head of those thoughts we continued our decent downwards. That being said the closer we got to the planet and the rendezvous point the more those thoughts kept popping up. Getting closer to the planet and flying over the warzone reinforced my thoughts if anything. Especially upon seeing how dominant the Reaper air was compared to the Asari air. The Asari air was fighting for dear life just trying to stay in the air and it seemed like they couldn't even support their people on the ground.
As we flew over everything too I could see bodies strewn about everywhere just left there. From just regular civilians to husks and Asari soldiers, there were bodies everywhere. With the occasional spattering of a separate species in the mix but what always caught my eye were the bodies of the children. It just made me angry to see them like that; a few were even bloated telling me that they had been left for days in the sun already. I pushed the images out of my mind and focused on what was in front of me.
A couple minutes after I was able to do that we landed at the rendezvous point and were immediately approached by an Asari. From the markings on her uniform I assumed her to be the one in charge of everything here… Well, in charge was certainly subjective with how everything looked at the moment. Seemed the Reapers were in charge at the moment.
"Commander Shepard, it's good to see someone like you here," she stated as she walked up to him and extended her hand. Shepard took it and then addressed her.
"How quickly can we move on the temple. We don't have time to waste here ma'am. Every second wasted gets us closer and closer to loosing this war," as he said that I positioned myself behind him and stared down the woman driving his point home. We were not here for pleasantries or political bullshit. We were here for a mission and that was it; she got the message too swallowing a lump in her throat before responding.
"My troops can move in five. We'll be readyto fulfil our role sir."
"You better Asari," Javik spat at the woman. "Your race has spent this war being cowards, make up for it now."
The woman seemed taken aback at the mans Protheans words before she just turned around and stalked away. Couldn't exactly blame Javik for his words at the moment or for the womans reactions but they both would have been better. Especially the timing of it at the moment. The Asari were probably going to try and be heroes now, we didn't need that. We need people who were alive, not heroes who all died.
Shaking my head at it all I went off to the side and waited for Shepard to give out more information on where exactly we were going. We knew we were going to be taking Route A but there wasn't any actual markings for the route and which way to go. So, I waited with Garrus and Tali walking over and standing by me as we all waited.
As we waited those precious few minutes my eyes found Liara and she looked terrible. I could see the tears pinpricking the edge of her eyes and her hands were mildly shaking as she looked around her home planet. I couldn't blame her at all, if this was happening to Omega I can't say I would be functioning any better than her. Still, she needed some support.
Walking over to her I placed a hand on her shoulder trying to calm her down. She flinched at the touch before looking over at me and her eyes told me everything that I needed to know. She was heartbroken at the state of her planet and there was a good chance that she had tried to warn them. Pulling her into a small hug I patted her on the back twice before pulling away and patted her once on the shoulder before walking back to Tali and Garrus. That was about the best she was going to get out of me.
After that was done Liara seemed to be in a better mood but not by a whole lot. Enough to make sure that she was functional though and that's all that mattered at this point for the mission. Either way a couple minutes later, at the five minute mark the Asari had given us, Shepard came over and directed us over to the side where there was a short walkway.
Upon reaching it someone got into our comms and for a moment my paranoia started blaring before the voice spoke. It was the Asari commander from earlier and she simply wished us the best of luck with the mission. Also, she would try and keep in radio contact as best as she could and keep us updated on their progress. She then delivered the best news we've heard all day; they had a combat shuttle and chopper escort waiting in the wings for us when we got what we needed from the temple. With that she cut off the comms and we moved.
Shepard sending me the pathway we would be using so I knew where to go and with that I took point. Javik and Tali with me as they both used shotguns and at the moment I had my Locust out. Had modified it while on Omega so I got 35 shots out of the heat sync instead of the normal 25. Gave me a little more flexibility and more ammo to work with but it still didn't have the stopping power I wanted, it was fast and accurate though so there's that.
Moving forward with both Javik and Tali by my side just a two or so steps behind me I spent every moment looking for anything that could've hinted at a Reaper presence. There was nothing for the first few minutes through the route as we were still outside but there was a couple of times we got to see a Harvester rip an Asari helicopter out of the sky or a helicopter shoot a Harvester down. It was quite obvious the Reapers were winning though.
After those first few minutes though we made it into the tunnel where the route actually started. It was dim with only emergency red lighting lighting the way and that was spotty at best. So I activated the night vision on my helmet and gave the signal for everyone else to do the same not even ten steps into the tunnel.
Walking through the tunnel was a surreal thing as I felt like I was being stalked the whole time. There was no sure sign of it and I'm pretty sure it was just my paranoia going into overdrive but there was no confirmation against it. Well, besides the fact that my pulse was picking up absolutely nothing and I couldn't see anything around or above me. Didn't stop my paranoia from running hot though.
Taking a couple deep breaths as I continued running point I made sure to focus on only my job of being the point man. Flushing everything else out of my mind I moved forward looking for anything that could be an enemy. For first hundred or so yards there was nothing in the tunnel then we started to run into bodies.
All looked like upperclass Asari and definitely a couple of politics in there judging from the commando's around them. Most torn limb from limb as per usual with husks but there were a few that looked drained, like the Banshee was able to do. Not to mention the slender puncture marks like a sword on some of the bodies, definitely a banshee, maybe multiple. Either way, it seemed that they left this area for now as their job finished.
Continuing forward I saw another dead body not long the Banshee ones. This one was missing an arm and half her leg but I recognized her; Ditriyne. The racist Asari concilmember who I had talk to in her car a while ago. Well, can't say I'm sad about her passing but she might have something on her. Motioning for Tali and Javik to cover me and once they did I started patting down her body looking for anything that might be of use.
I did end up finding something in the woman's right pocket, it looked like a small communicator. Standing up with it in hand I gave it to Tali and signalled for her to fall back into the middle of the pack. She nodded and was replaced by Kelli as he went to work on hacking the communicator. We went about another 30 seconds down the tunnel before Tali sent a beep through our comms telling us she had broken into the communicator. A couple seconds later we were all wired into the communication.
"I-is someone there?" a timid voice asked through the communicator. They probably heard us que into the signal.
"Who is this?" Shepard whispered through the comm.
"My name is Caleto. I'm part of the Asari Council," I recognized the name. She was the youngest of their council members and a seemingly decent person. However, she wasn't the mission at the moment and we didn't really have time to spare. That was punctuated by the fact that even as she talked to us we never stopped moving forward.
"Where are you Caleto," it was when Shepard asked that that we got to the first corner in the tunnel.
I let the voices of Caleto and Shepard drown into the background as I grabbed the small mirror I had brought with me. With it angled in front of me just around the corner I looked down the tunnel at what was in front of us and was very happy I did so. There weren't any husks down the hallway but there was a Banshee just walked around and damn was it ugly.
At least eight feet tall as it sort of hovered off the ground with long blade like fingers and a face set in a permanent scowl that looked like it was screaming. Grotesque and mutilated body that couldn't have looked worse if someone tried to make it worse. Not to mention that it was completely naked and not at all appealing. As I continued to watch it though it seemed on a pattern.
It would walk one way with its back to us for about 30 seconds before it would turn around and walk for 30 back towards us. Husks and other Reaper forces weren't like that, those monsters still had something in them and some type of intelligence. If this Banshee was anything to go on then they were little more than robots and needed someone to be commanding them… Maybe that's why the Reapers are all over the atmosphere and not on the planet. They need to actually control the Banshee's and they get a wider range by being in the atmosphere.
There was too many variables at the moment and I didn't know if taking out the Banshee was the right action as it could alert the Reapers of us in the tunnel. Regardless of that though there was only one way for us to go and that was through the Banshee. Sighing I pulled back the mirror back and got out my ax. Looking at Tali I held out my hand to her and she handed me my knife.
Putting both in my left hand I handed the mirror to Kelli and she knew what to do. She placed it in the same spot I have kept it in and I simply waited for the moment to move. I didn't have to wait long as once it's back was to me I stepped out from the corner and tossed my knife at its back.
Teleporting to it the moment it was within arms reach of the Banshee I caught the handle of the blade and swung my ax. The ax buried itself halfway through the neck of the Banshee without the assistance of my biotics and I stabbed where its lightswitch should be with my broken knife. Needless to say, it dropped like a ton of bricks and without a sound as I caught the body and slowly lowered it to the ground.
Ripping my weapons out of the downed Banshee I wiped them off and motioned for the others to move up. They did and I put my ax away and gave the knife back to Tali before bringing my Locust back out and continuing on our way. With a little urgency to our step at the moment because we still had two thirds of the original distance to go.
We made it another couple hundred yards down the tunnel with only one other turn along the way, nothing was there thankfully. As we kept moving though Shepard gave us the order to stop as we neared another checkpoint. At said checkpoint I hacked open the office and walked in, when I did one of the lockers in the room opened up and Caleto stepped out. Her eyes widening upon seeing me.
"No time, move or get left behind," I stated to her and she nodded her head. She followed me out of the room grabbing the dismembered guards discarded AR. I gave her a quick look upon seeing her do that but she simply pulled down her shirt in response to show the tattoo on her collar. A commando tattoo, same battalion as Kelli; wonder if they worked together.
Either way, I nodded to her but regardless of her previous training she was definitely out of practice. At least she wasn't dumb though, she knew when she was outclassed and hid when necessary. She wasn't a hero and that was good for us right now; still she was put at the back of the formation with Garrus. Didn't need her doing anything stupid.
Stepping out of the little cubby I got back to the front of the formation and kept on moving forward. Stopping after a few dozen feet at another corner I grabbed the mirror and looked around the corner again and this time was greeted with about a dozen husks and a Banshee.
Looking back to Shepard I relayed what I had seen and he thought about it for a second before walking up and taking a look for himself. Nodding at the information he looked at Garrus, Tali and Ceelo and motioned for them to move up. Then he pointed to us and we nodded. Putting my Locust away I brought out my hard hitting AR.
Looking to the other three the unspoken message was clear and I held out a hand. Three, two, one, and we popped around the corner with Garrus and myself on a knee with Ceelo and Tali standing behind us. Both Tali and Ceelo sent Incinerate programs down range hitting the Banshee head on and the moment they hit Garrus and I both fired our weapons. Both our shos slamming into and blowing out the head of the Banshee.
With our job done we all jumped back around the corner and let Kelli, Nif, Liara and Shepard replace us. All four of them going full auto and emptying their heat syncs down the hall. The husks never had a chance to do more than really just look at them before they were ripped apart by the barrage of fire.
When it was all said and done Shepard ordered me back to point and I took it without complaint. From there we moved pretty freely throughout the tunnel and didn't come across any more Reaper forces. There were plenty of dead Asari though, Commando or otherwise, and another Asari council member, Corlishi. Her throat was ripped out and it didn't look like it was a quick death.
Leaving the body where it was we continued along the path and like before nothing came up in front of us. Before long we reached the entrance of the hall we stacked up on the entrance and I hit a pulse to check if there was anyone on the other side. In response to the pulse though a clawed hand ripped through the door, grabbed me and pulled me through the entrance.
Lifting me up to their face a Banshee looked me dead in the eyes as they raised their free arm to attack me. I was faster though and shoved my Locust into the Banshee's mouth before holding down the trigger. The rounds blew the back of the Banshee's head out before it could do anything to me. It dropped it as its body dropped but now all of the husks and the two other Banshee's in the temple were looking dead at me. The body of the scientists strewn about, some in multiple pieces.
Deciding to prioritize the biggest threats I dropped the Locust and brought out my AR and ax before unloading on the nearest Banshee. The monster teleporting around the area as it made its way to me before it was a single teleport away. When it disappeared for the final time I knew it would try and appear in front of me to grab me so I dropped my Locust and put my ax into the Halberd form and swung. The ax stuck right at the hip of the Banshee and ripped right through bisecting it.
Putting my ax away I grabbed my AR and opened fire on the closest husk as I saw the last Banshe being burnt to death. For extra measure two more Incinerate programs hit the monster as it was still burning. The rest of us were firing on the husks as they closed in on us but there was enough of a distance between us where only I was actually attacked. All because of that banshee that ripped me through the door.
Only two husks made it to me and one of them got my gun shoved in their mouth before the back of their head was blown out. Dropping the gun as the second one made its way to me I caught its first swipe and deflected the blow before swinging my right arm and connecting with the husks temple. Instantly the husks head was obliterated into a fine mist as my arms sparked fire and electricity. Knew I got a power boost from the eezo deposit on Rannoch but that much and I wasn't even consciously using my biotics. I needed to be careful from now on, especially if I needed someone alive in the future.
Pushing it out of my mind I dropped down and grabbed my AR before leveling it again and firing off two shots at two more husks. That was all I was able to do before the fight was over and everything was quiet. Looking around at everyone my eyes first shot to Tali who was alright but I could tell was far more tired than she should've been for this mission. We will be having that conversation back on the Normandy.
Everyone else seemed relatively fine but that wasn't what I was looking for. I was looking for if anyone had any idea on where the scientists would have that data. Taking the initiative I walked over to one of their dead bodies and started patting it down looking for anything. Garrus and Kelli were the first to follow my lead on this endevor before the others joined in.
After a couple minutes of searching the bodies we found nothing and my eyes found Liara. Silently asking if she had any idea on where the data could be. She simply shrugged her shoulders and I sighed at that my gaze falling on the statue of Athame. When I looked at the statue my eyes widened and I walked up to it. The oldest race with the oldest, if wrong, religion where would the Protheans put something pertaining to the Crucible. In the statue.
Walking up to it, I placed my hand on it and pulsed my biotics but nothing happened. Turning around I pointed at Liara and then back to the statue. She got the idea and walked up placed her hand on the statue before pulsing her biotics. When she did the entire temple started rumbling before a construct very similar to her little Broker helper popped up in front of us. Then it changed into a Prothean.
"Time confirmed, beyond Prothean cycle. Reaper Presence confirmed, cycle of extermination in process… shutting down."
"Don't you fucking dare. We have questions," Liara and Javik both hissed out at the construct.
"What questions?"
"What's the Catalyst for the Crucible? How can we set it off?"
"Doesn't matter. Reapers are the tools of the extinction. Master unknown, process to far along to matter; cycle doomed to fail. Save data for future cycle, help the process like we did. Crucible not long from being ready."
"How is it not ready? The plans were yours," Liara asked the VI.
"No. Plans of many cycles, many plans, many failures; we were just the most recent. And soon your cycle will be too."
"Then we will have them perfected. Now tell us what the Catalyst is," I growled out at VI.
"We will end their threat once and for all. They will not win," Shepard stated following up on my statement.
"They can be trusted," Javik spoke earning the attention of the VI. "They are the best of this cycle."
"I know of you Javik," the VI spoke as it turned to the Prothean. "Your mission was known to me. Do you believe this cycle can succeed?"
"Absolutely."
"Very well. If you have followed the plans for the Crucible I will easily be able to integrate and be- Indoctrinated prescence detected. Activating security protocol."
The VI then turned back into a ball before going to a little platform in front of the statue and disappearing into the platform. All of then collectively turned toward the entrance of the temple. Where Kai Lang stood with four helicopters at his back. All of them with spotlights shining into our faces effectively blinding us.
"And if ain't the Space Weeaboo," I ground out looking at Kai Lang. Who visibly clenched his teeth in anger, most replaced by metal I noticed with a hint of pride at being the one to do that to him.
"There's someone who wants to speak to you," the man then released what looked like a small circle thing. It floated forward for a moment before an image of The Illusive Man appeared. The man got a singular letter of a word out before the circle thing ot destroyed by a shot. Looking back I saw Garrus' gun still smoking and I couldn't help but laugh.
"Who's rude now? Didn't even let the man start his monologue," Garrus just shrugged his shoulders.
"He thought you might do that," Kai Lang sounded almost smug and then the helicopters unloaded their entire arsenal upon us.
I reacted first throwing up the biggest wall I could manage and caught almost all of their ordinance but some of it went above and around me. Shaking the entirety of the temple as it started to come down around us. Firing back the ordinance I caught though I was able to take out two of the helicopters but the damage had been done. Just after I fired off the ordinance I had caught I found Kai dropping something right in front of me and I reacted in an instant throwing up a wall but wasn't the grenade I thought it was. It was a concussive grenade.
When it went off the shockwave went through my body and without my biotics fully active and with it past my shield barrier it hit me with full force. I felt my inside rattle at the force of the blast and I coughed out some blood at that but I wasn't out of the fight just yet. Lang thought I was though and raised his sword to try and stab into my chest but I reacted on pure, feral instinct and threw a punch at his chest.
He reacted just in time to bring his sword up and deploy a sort of shield from his arm. It saved him from getting a hole in the middle of his chest but I eviscerated both his sword and arm. Sending him careening through the air but straight at the console where the VI had been. Recovering faster than should've been possible he reached down with his remaining arm and outstretched it towards the console forcibly ripping the VI out of it.
Once it was in his control he sprinted out the entrance and try as I might I couldn't follow him. My head and body was still swimming from the concussive grenade to follow him and I still had to deal with the incoming ordinance from the helicopters and the falling debris. I did my best but it wasn't enough to give anyone an opening to fire upon Lang as he left.
Hopping onto one of the remaining helicopters he took off with the Reapers keeping well clear of the helicopters. If it wasn't obvious that Cerberus as a whole was indoctrinated before than it was glaringly obvious now. As soon as they left though the temple stopped trying to collapse around us but that just left us with watching Cerberus get away and with the knowledge that we failed… that we might have just lost this war.
"FUCK!" Shepard shouted as he took potshots at the retreating Cerberus Helicopters. When he stopped he called in the extraction.
Looking around at everyone they all looked depressed and down. All except for Tali and Ceelo who if anything looked completely calm. It took me all of a moment to realize why, my wife and mentor hacked the man didn't they. We had to know where he was going from here on out. He'd lead us right back to Timmy.
"You guys did it. Didn't you?" I asked looking at the two best hackers, and combat tech's in the galaxy right now with a smile on my face. Something that caught the eye of everyone else in the group. The spark of hope coming back into their eyes.
"She put the tracker on and made sure it would only activate when he stayed in one relative location for over an hour. I made sure that it was undetectable and would use comm buoys as bounce off points," Ceelo stated and all of us breathed a sigh of relief at his words. All was not lost, but it definitely wasn't looking the best though. Better than it would have been without them however.
"We still failed though and the Reapers have the undeniable advantage now," Shepard ground out before calming himself with a deep breath. "Good job though you two."
That little bit of happiness that we saw in his eyes infected the rest of even more so as we truly knew that we still had a chance. It was immediately dashed though when a familiar fog horn sounded out. Moving to the entrance of the temple we got to see a hundred or more Reapers come down in front of our eyes. All around the city in front of us stetching into the horizon telling us it was happening all around the planet.
To make matters worse when I tried to get in contact with the Slypher commander all I got back was static. The few other channels I was able to get into was just Asari shouting for help or static as well. Nothing good and those close to me overheard the channels I was flipping through and hung their heads. There was no denying it. We might not have outright failed our mission but it wasn't a success and undeniably Thessia has fallen.
Before anything else could happen though the Normandy touched down in front of the temple and the cargo entrance lowered showing a couple of the security team standing there. They immediately began shouting for us to get on and we did so without complaint and as soon as we were all on the ship took off into the sky. As we took off I did wonder about why we were never picked up by the helicopter escort and combat shuttle from the Asari but the answer was glaringly obvious.
Either way as we took off I took Tali back to our room. She walked with a purpose as we made it through the ship but once we got back to our room she collapsed onto the bed completely exhausted. I took off my helmet and placed it on the table before sitting down in my chair and gave her a meaningful look. She saw my look and immediately looked away from me.
"Tali… We need to talk," at my words she turned her whole body away from me and faced the wall. "Tali… Please," I gently put my hand on her shoulder.
She turned around to face me switching the shoulders she was lying on to look at me. Slowly taking her mask off I could see the tears in her eyes as she looked at me. She knew as well as I did what this conversation was going to be about. Opening my mouth to say something I closed it before stripping myself of my armor and told her we needed to take a shower. She nodded along with me and about 20 minutes later we were back in bed freshly showered. Her back snuggled up against my chest.
"Tali," I spoke again in the same voice as before and I felt her tense up against me. "You can't avoid this talk."
"I know," she all but whispered out as she curled in on her self. My hand on her stomach, on my future daughter. "I can still fight though, I can still help. You know it."
"Of course I do Tali," I rubbed her stomach and kissed the back of her neck as I spoke. "But Tali. We went barely over a kilometer today and got into little more than a skirmish and you collapsed onto the bed in exhaustion when we got back… Please Tali, you have to be careful now… for her."
Tali tensed for a moment but then relaxed and nodded her head in agreement at my words. Still she grabbed my hands and removed them from her stomach before she twisted around in bed. Our eyes met for a moment before she leaned forward and put her head against mine and snaked her arms around my body. She held me for a few moments before she slid her forehead off mine and put her face into my collar.
"You are not allowed to die. You understand me Aedon. Not. Allowed," she whispered the words into my collar but but they were said with such authority I couldn't argue with her.
"Yes ma'am," she chuckled a little at my response.
"You thought of any names for her yet?"
"Juniper. Juni for short," Tali paused for a monet upon hearing my words. Pulling away from the crook of my neck she looked at me before giving me a quick peck on the lips.
"If she could see you know she'd be the proudest person in the galaxy," I gave a soft laugh at her words.
"She told me that right before we hit the Broker," my words were soft as I pulled her tighter against my chest. She reciprocated by holding me tighter as well. It wasn't long before we both passed out in the others arms.
What's up everyone. Hope you enjoyed the chapter. I thought about making it a two parts but I didn't really see a way that I could stretch it out without just dragging out and making it have unnecessary stuff. That'll kind of be how it will be for a lot of the chapters. Besides the Cerberus Base and Earth. Earth will end up being 3 parts, possibly 4.