Chapter 23: Dark Avenger
"This is Admiral Ashley Williams of Special Tactics and Recon demanding entry." Ashley ordered. The Citadel was heavily defended, even more so than when Saren made an attempt at an invasion. It seemed like thousands of ship were waiting for the coming battle. But could they hold against the combined might of a Reaper fleet?
Williams? The Citadel controller gasped. But your dead!
Ashley angrily shook her head. "I got better, now let me through!" She shouted, slamming her fist into the monitor.
When the Reapers invaded the Citadel, the joint species fleet the Alliance created was decimated, but managed to fight them back into the Terminus systems. Shepard found out later that they had retreated beyond the Omega four relay. Ashley squeezed the control panel waiting for a response. She was more nervous than she had ever been. For all she knew the were lining up a shot to take them out with.
Ashley was then caught off guard by the gentle hand on her shoulder. She looked over and the hand belonged to Shepard. She was smiling that confident smirk she seemed to have that told you the every thing would work out. Ships guarding the Citadel then cleared a path.
"Permission authorized Spectre. Chancellor Feldmen has requested you land at the Alliance docking bay."
"E.D.I are you detecting any signals that indicate a trap?"
"No Admiral Williams. But a C-sec escort is waiting to intercept you at C-sec academy."
"So are you going to take me to Feldmen in shackles again?" Shepard asked with the air of the characteristic sarcasm that Shepard often spouted when annoyed.
After the Reaper war was over Ashley was promoted to lieutenant and was forced on the Councils committee that found her friend guilty of war crimes committed during the Reaper conflict. In the ten years since the Alliance assigned Ashley to increasingly dangerous missions that eventually made her an Alliance Captain.
The Normandy docked. Ashely and Shepard walked out of airlock to the elevator. Shepard looked around her and took in the site that was the Normandy SR3 in the same dock that the first Normandy. Memories of the Normandy filled her mind as the elevator doors closed. Memories taking out pirates, slavers and landing on Illos came rushing back to her even the SR2, which was always just an imitation to her made her think of the old days.
"So Ash considering this elevator ride is going to be conveniently long... "
"Forgive me if I'm not in the talking mood." Ashley snapped. "I recently got back control of my limbs a few hours ago."
"You were kicking my ass." Shepard lightheartedly answered back. "You hesitated and I took advantage."
"Whatever it takes right?" Ashley bitterly mumbled.
"Exactly!" Shepard answered simply.
Ashley looked at Shepard with a look of disgust."Don't look at me that way Ash." Shepard snapped.
"I've done some terrible things and you've got every right to be mad." Shepard explained. "But every thing I've done has been for the galaxy." She continued.
"Why should I trust you Shepard?"
"Because when I take a vow to protect the galaxy I take it seriously." Shepard answered simply.
"That's the only thing I've kept of old council." She said as the a group of armed C-sec guards pointed weapons at the pair. Ashley shot a glare at her former Commander.
"It's not my fault their pointing guns at us!" Shepard spat. Ashley's glare was unyielding. "Well not this time anyway."
"Chancellor Feldmen has told me to arrest both of you!" A turian C-sec officer barked.
"Obvious trap is obvious!" Shepard groaned. "Who thought it was a good idea to make you a spectre again?"
Ashley ignored Shepard's comment. "What is the meaning of this?" She yelled. " Let us by!" The Spectre demanded.
"Feldmen's just rejected your Spectre status human!" the turian growled. "Now surrender and keep your hands... "
Shepard raised one hand."Say no more officer you want to see my hands well..." Her omni tool flashed, the incineration grenade burst the turian in front into flames and the surrounding C-sec agents caught fire, their screams echoing throughout the academy. "Here you are." Shepard smiled at her handy work for a moment, she looked over at Ashley and landed a left hook on Ashley's jaw that sent her on her back. Shepard sprinted to the elevator leading to the presidium and leaving Williams behind.
Ashley was caught off guard by the punch, but ran after Shepard who was already in the elevator when she came to. She drew her Avenger assault rifle, firing several bursts at the ascending elevator. It was too late. Shepard was gone on her way to Citadel tower and Ashley couldn't stop her.
Feldmen was in Citadel tower, taking a long drag of his cigarette. Looking out at the fleet he created. Things would be going his way now. He'd used his authority to have both Williams and Shepard captured. With the both of them out of the way he could focus on building his attention on the return of the Reapers. The salarian STG reported that his blockade was destroyed and what ever was the cause was heading towards the Citadel. It wasn't an accident that most of those ships happened to be turian and salarian warships.
Feldmen was protecting humanity as he'd always done. After he believed the Reapers destroyed, he thought Shepard wasn't needed anymore, so he had her imprisoned to restore relations with the other races. Pretending to go along with the council had disgusted him. They were everything the old council was.
Humanity was now stronger than ever and he couldn't help but think this was all because of Shepard. The very woman he thought endangered his vision had actually brought it life. "Nostalgic aren't we?"
A voice shouted down the stairs , foot steps growing louder as they got closer. Feldmen knew who this was. It was the woman he'd brought back to life, the woman who destroyed the collector base, the woman he imprisoned and thought to have been in C-sec hands. "Commander Shepard?" He asked, turning around. He took another long drag of his cigarette.
"Now I remember a time when you went by a different name Feldmen. You had a different face as well." Shepard mentioned to her self, so the Chancellor could her it.
"With the right amount of credits you can look like anyone." Feldmen answered venomously. "And with the right drive be anyone."
Shepard shook her head disapprovingly. "It was all too easy to get here. I bet you thought I wouldn't get here alive, so the C-sec agents on the presidium was rather light."
A shock wave jerked Feldmen off his feet, broken glass raining down on him. He looked out and to his horror the Reapers had arrived. Explosions dotted the horizon, the broken bodies of his Citadel fleet floated lifelessly in space. "You always had too much of a big head Blare" Shepard said, getting closer to the Chancellor, who was now paralyzed by fear at seeing his fleet so easily smashed.
"Always thinking about power. I couldn't trust you then and I can't trust you now. " Shepard was standing over Feldmen, her pistol pointed directly at his head. "Not so "Illusive" anymore are you?" She leaned down to whisper in his ear.
Feldmen couldn't talk. Every thing he built was being destroyed and it would be Shepard ending his life. "I see you for the scared little man you are. You wont see the galaxy after this battle." With that she pulled the trigger. Feldmen's body hit the floor. Shepard watched as blood pooled around what was left of the former Chancellors head.
"Neither of us will."
Alarms blared throughout the Citadel. C-sec was busy getting the millions of Civilians on the Citadel to the safe shelters. Several Reapers had already landed on the Ward arms and tore apart buildings, laying waste to the Citadel. People died in the streets at the giant ships destroyed everything around them. The Citadel Fleet was struggling to hold against the Reapers as more of them poured through the nebula.
Debris rained down on the presidium as Ashley took cover behind whats was once the conduit that has now crashed into the bridge leading to Citadel tower. E.D.I called her to let her know about the attack and that Shepard wasn't answering her messages. Vaulted over the wreck and sprinted as fast as she could, dodging debris as it fell.
Ashley looked up and saw in the distance a stray disruptor torpedo came flying in her direction. Without thinking she ran the last stretch to the elevator. The torpedo exploded behind her. The blast sent her flying through the elevator and slamming into the wall. With out doing any thing the elevator started to go up to the council Chamber.
Ashley felt like every bone in her body was broken, blood covered her face. She struggled to get up as the door opened. She limped out of the elevator, barley able to stand as she made her way out of the elevator. She'd dropped her rifle on the way through the elevator and all she had left was her pistol now.
The Citadel was lost and as far as she could tell it was Shepard's fault. Shepard started this by not cooperating with the Council in the first place. She killed alliance soldiers and started a war that left the Citadel open for this attack to even begin. Shepard was going to die by her hand.
She could see Shepard at the control panel now as she continued to struggle up the stairs. She could hardly lift her arm to raise her pistol. She could see Feldmen's corpse laying there in a pool of his own blood. Ashley jumped for cover behind a set of stairs as Shepard whipped around and tossed a grenade at Ashley.
"I'm glad you could make it Ashley." Shepard greeted. "To the final confrontation."
"I'm done trying to reason with you, I'm just going to shoot you!" Ashley yelled.
"Once again Ash you are way too emotional." Shepard answered back in a condescending tone of voice. "You have no idea what I have planned."
"We can't do any thing anymore!" Ashley shouted. She couldn't believe that Shepard thought she could still stop all of this from happening. The Citadel was in flames and Shepard was still playing hero.
"I've got one more trick and it'll work." Shepard said nonchalantly, working towards Ashley. Ashley came out of cover and fired two shots that took down her shields. Before she could pull off a third Shepard flared her omni tool and over heated her pistol.
She clenched her hand in pain. She limped to Shepard as fast as she could and took a sloppy swing at her former Commander that she easily dodged and countered by grabbing her arm as it arched past, twisting it around her back and planting her face firmly against the railing.
"Ash I need you to activate the Citadel mass relay." Shepard ordered, still holding Ashley firmly in place.
Ashley couldn't believe what she was hearing. Opening the Citadel mass relay would lead to dark space and the Reapers were here already and nothing could stop them now. "Are you insane?" Ashley grunted.
"Yes and right now I'm asking you for one last favor."
"I wont do anything unless you start giving me answers!" Ashley yelled struggling to get out of Shepard's hold.
Shepard exhaled heavily and loosened her grip. "Due to the current situation and the ever present phantom of time I can't really tell you much." Shepard let Williams go and walked towards the terminal.
"But I can say that the Reapers have a secrete that is key to their defeat." She said.
"And this secrete is somewhere in dark space right?" Ashley questioned disbelievingly.
"Yes and E.D.I being based partly on Reaper technology will get them to follow me back into dark space." Shepard explained typing on the control panel. "I've sent a message to my fleet and the asari. Their going to be here in the next few minuets."
Shepard typed on her omni tool and after a second Ashley's flared as a data transmission was coming through. "That's a copy of vigil's data file from all those years ago." She said as she walked past Ashley.
"You've got control of this station now Williams."
"So this was the plan the entire time?" Ashley angrily questioned, grabbing Shepard's shoulder and pulling her back.
"I need some one who I can trust to push the button Ash." Shepard explained. "And that person is you." Shepard grunted, jabbing a finger into Ashley's chest.
Shepard turned her head away from Ash. "Could you tell Liara..."
"Aye, Aye skipper now you've got a job to do." Ashley interrupted..
Shepard nodded and both women turned around to do the tasks seemingly forced on them. As Ashley walked to the terminal she she could hear Shepard call for the Normandy to pick her up at the presidium. "What are you thinking Williams?" She thought to her self. "The Reapers can't be stopped, no matter what Shepard thought!"
She was looking down at the control panel. Shepard had trusted her with control of the station and now it was up to her to use it when Shepard signaled. What ever Shepard had planed, she believed it would work. "If Shepard hasn't quit why should you Williams?" Ashley thought to herself. Ashley began typing on the panel, as she did the entire Citadel started to shake.
"E.D.I's just picked up an energy spike coming from the Citadel." Shepard said over her communicator.
"Ok but I don't know what to do next!" Ashley yelled back into her comm.
There was a long pause and then the crack of Ashley's comm going off again. "She says you have to close the ward arms!"
Ashley pushed a few more buttons and then she looked up at the hole in the roof of the tower. The arms were closing. "Ok they're closing now what?" Ashley asked desperately. There was another long pause that sent a chill down Ashley's spine.
"Good bye Ash."
AN/ Here we are people this is the end (the last chapter will be posted sometime later today.) Hazel Shepard's going into the the mysterious beyond and what happens when she arrives I can't really say. (Well I could but I won't)