Setting of the Sun-Finale

Nightmare and Salvation

Shia'va was cursing herself. Why? Why did she have to save what she did to Garrus the other day? She didn't mean it. She was happy living in peace. She was happy just living a normal life for all these years. She was a mom. She went to all her children's plays. She…she loved them so much. And now to know that Vido had gone to this extent to take her life from her, or to try to. No, she had to stop thinking like this. She would save her children. She wouldn't leave them to be taken by this monster. She leaned against cover as Garrus put his hand on her shoulder. She shook herself from her thoughts. "I'm sorry, Garrus. I wasn't ignoring you."

Garrus shook his head. "We'll get them back, Shia. I won't rest until we get our children back."

Another explosion rocked the area as a grenade exploded. Zaeed and Kasumi were doing their best to hold the Suns at bay. "Son of a bitch, where are they coming from? Vido must have been recruiting since Zoyra."

-Elsewhere in New Hiroshima-

One of the Blue Suns asari slammed into a doorway of an office building. Samara walked slowly around a desk, facing off against another asari, her body aglow in biotic energies. The asari had her weapon leveled at Samara. "Those were some of my best soldiers."

"Tell me who ordered the attack on this village." Samara wasn't in much of a mood for compromise. "Tell me what they want and I will leave here peacefully."

"You have no idea what he'll do to me." She had her finger on the trigger ready to fire. "You might kill me, but one of us will take you down, Justicar!"

Samara reached out and threw the merc with a biotic pull, sending her flying into a desk, the force of the impact collapsing the desk itself. Samara walked over and placed her foot on the neck of the merc. "Tell me who ordered the assault on New Hiroshima."

The merc gasped but did manage to get something out. "Go to hell, Justicar."

Samara blinked once, and then looked at the merc. "Find peace in the embrace of the Goddess." She twisted her foot, snapping the neck of the merc. Samara sighed. Getting answers wasn't going to be easy. This Vido Santiago must be much worse than an Ardat-Yakshi if even an asari is afraid of a human. She turns to leave when before Samara stood an Asari commando. The biotics of the newcomer glowing angrily. As Samara prepared for this next fight, she blinked as she watched the commando was pulled into the next room by some unknown force. She caught the blue wisp of biotic energies from a Singularity that was coming from the other room, and then the detonation of that Singularity by a warp field. The commando's body flew through the door of the room she was in, splintering it and out through the wall opposite of the door. From the broken door, a new figure stepped into the room. Samara could only make out the figure but when it turned its head, she saw something that she thought was long dead. "By the Goddess, it can't be."

The four eyes of Harbinger ignited in biotic power. "Where is Shepard?" Harbinger asked Samara.

Samara's body lit up with biotic energies. "You will not reach her, Reaper."

The Quarians filed into the room aiming their weapons at Samara. They would protect their captain at any cost. Harbinger raised his hand and ordered them to lower their weapons. "I can assure you, the person before you does not match the foe you faced long ago, Justicar." His own body began to glow. "I am here to keep Shepard and her family safe." He noticed Samara's willingness to let not him find Shepard. But he was going to have to insist. "Shepard and I had an enemy in common many years ago. When Shepard left Cerberus, my friend and I were the solution to that problem. The Illusive Man implanted my friend and I with memories of two of the Reapers Shepard had fought. He considered it irony. I considered it foolish. I would gladly tell you more but I have a feeling time is not on our side, Justicar."

Samara stood down. "I hear the truth in your words. Shepard is moving towards the school in the center of New Hiroshima. Her children are in danger as are other children." As she moved towards the door out, she stopped and looked back at Harbinger. "If you do anything to try and harm Shepard, I will kill you."

Garrus poked his head around the corner of the building. The school was heavily guarded by Blue Suns. He leaned back and looked at Shia'va. "I count thirty. Ten on the roof, twenty on the ground. No telling how many are inside." Thirty minutes ago, the group had lost contact with Legion. He was most likely overwhelmed by the Suns inside of the school. One Geth against ten Suns wouldn't have been a winning scenario.

"We have to draw them away so we can get inside." Shia'va checked the heat sink in her Mattock. As she moved around Garrus to get a look at what they were up against, a gunship flew overhead.

"Vido. Son of a bitch." Zaeed growled.

Kasumi was watching the movement of the mercs in front of the school. She was seeing a small pattern. "I think I know a way we can thin their numbers a bit, Shep." She smiled. "They'll never see me coming." Kasumi stealthed and made her way to the front of the school. She snuck past a guard and found spare grenade hidden in the bushes. Probably going to be used as an ambush if anyone tried to get in. Sloppy. She grabbed the grenade and moved to a weapons cache just behind a large group of Suns. Placing the grenade at the base of the cache, she 'pulled the pin' to arm to grenade. Kasumi figured she only had no more than five seconds to get out of the blast radius. She quickly ran past two of the guards, knocking one of them over. By the time the stood to figure out what hit them, the grenade detonated, blowing the cache. The resulting explosion sent the larger group of mercs flying in all directions.

The gunship spun around to see the mini crater in the ground. "Messani." Vido cursed.

Garrus knew an opening when he saw it. He took aim at a sniper on the roof and fired his own sniper rifle. By now, the Blue Suns were on full alert. Shia'va didn't see Kasumi. "Garrus, where's Kasumi?"

Zaeed saw Kasumi on the ground not far away. "There!" He pointed to the still form of Kasumi Goto.

Shia'va ran over and pulled her friend to cover as the Suns started to open fire on their position. "Kasumi, say something!" She noticed a shard of metal sticking out of Kasumi's leg. Zaeed and Garrus were keeping the Suns occupied as Shia'va tended Kasumi. She pulled the shard out of Kasumi's leg and used medi-gel to close the wound.

The thief groaned a bit as she started to come to. "Not one of my better ideas." She smiled weakly.

This couldn't get any worse. Shia'va hugged Kasumi tight. Why was this going all wrong? Why couldn't they just leave her family and friends alone? Tears started to form in her eyes. It was like a nightmare that she just couldn't wake up from. She just wanted everything back to normal.

Vido opened the comm in his gunship. "Do you think you can win this, Messani? We have the two little brats. Maybe we can sell them off to the slavers, what do you think?"

Zaeed came out from cover. The Blue Suns had stopped firing long enough so that Vido could talk to Zaeed. He held the assault rifle up and shot out a high pressure gas line.

Vido was wise to that trick and moved the gunship aside. "I'm not going to fall for that one again, Messani." He leveled out the ship and took hold of the firing controls. "I've waited twelve years for this, old man. Kiss your ass goodbye." As Vido was starting to squeeze the trigger, the ship shuttered violently and the alarms screamed in the cockpit.

Zaeed and Garrus watched as a warp field tore through the engine of the gunship. The loss of control sent the ship careening towards their position. They both covered Shia'va and Kasumi to keep the debris from hitting them. Parts of the engine rained down all over the school and many of the mercs had dove off the roof to avoid being hit by the bigger parts.

The gunship crashed into the building behind the group. The wreckage was burning and Vido was trying to get out. Zaeed saw his chance. This was no longer about revenge, but about him trying to kill the two girls he loved like family. He took aim at Vido. The leader of the Blue Suns snarled at Messani. But this time, he wouldn't be getting away. "Burn, you son of a bitch!" Zaeed aimed at the leaking fuel cell and opened fire. The front part of the wreckage exploded, blowing out the back end of the building. Vido Santiago was no more. Zaeed went back to Shia'va, Garrus and Kasumi and collapsed to the ground. "I'm gonna need a stiff drink after this shit." He said with a chuckle. He reached over and placed a hand on Shia'va's shoulder. "Go on. Go get the girls. I'll stay here with Kasumi."

Shia'va looked up at Zaeed. Her eyes were still puffy from crying. She may have been a soldier. But her time as a loving mother and wife had broken some of the mental conditioning. But her weapons skills were still sharp as ever. She nodded and wiped her eyes. "You're right. I'm sorry. I shouldn't be…."

"No one's gonna blame ya, kid. Now go get our girls." Zaeed smiled.

Shia'va nodded and stood up, grabbing her assault rifle. Garrus fell in at her side. This was it. The final battle.

Balak cursed angrily. "Fucking idiot." He watched as Zaeed destroyed Vido's gunship. It wouldn't be long before Shepard got to them. He grabbed Kiyoko by the hair and pulled her back to him, his Predator pistol at her head. Kiyoko screamed as her hair was pulled. She screamed for him to let her go. "Shut up, you fucking brat. The only way any of you are getting out of here is in binds. I know plenty of people that will pay for your sorry asses." He heard gunshots from outside of the door. The other Batarian with Balak grabbed Mikazuki in the same rough manner as Kiyoko was grabbed. He watched as Shepard kicked open the door. Balak fired off two rounds. One dropped Shepard's shields; the other one missed her by only a few inches. Shepard got to cover by the doorframe. "I told you I would find a way to get to you, Shepard."

The sight of seeing guns to her daughters' heads put a fire in Shia'va's eyes. Her children were now threatened with death. She was going to see Balak dead for this. "You have only one chance, Balak. Surrender the children and maybe you'll live long enough to escape this planet." She heard Kiyoko struggle and say something to Balak in Japanese.

Balak pulled her hair tighter. "You know, Shepard, I thought humans were the ugliest things in this galaxy. But I guess I shouldn't have put it past you to come up with something a lot uglier." He leveled the pistol at Kiyoko's head.

Something in Shia'va snapped. Garrus saw it. He himself was trying to remain calm for the children but even this was going too far. He watched as Shia'va was going to try to take a shot at Balak. She had to do something. But as she came into view, she saw he had the gun leveled at Kiyoko's head, she was about to dive back to cover when Balak pointed the gun at her and fired. The bullet tore through her side and sent her against the wall. She dropped her pistol and fell to the ground, her side bleeding badly. Kiyoko and Mikazuki both screamed for their mother. Garrus dropped his gun and knelt as his bondmate's side, trying to stop the bleeding. The two girls were crying, seeing their mother hurt.

Balak laughed. "It's over Shepard. And now, I'm going to end it, permanently. I'm going to take your life away from you as you took our lives away from us. Both on Elysium and the Bahak system. Say goodbye to your children." He pointed the gun at Kiyoko's head for the final time. He heard Shia'va scream 'NO!' and it only made him smile more. As he started to pull the trigger, he felt a strange energy coming in through the windows.

"Batarian. What you have done has garnered the attention of your greaters." The voice echoed through the room. Shia'va's eyes went wide as the voice she heard turned her blood to ice. Even Garrus' mouth fell open hearing the voice of the long dead Reaper. "You have foolishly threatened the life of one who has done you no harm."

Balak brought the gun away from Kiyoko's head. "Show yourself! Whoever you are! Or I swear I'll kill the little bitch!"

The wall just off to Balak's left imploded as it was pulled outside. A shadowy form hovered just outside and entered the room, as it came into view; its body was ignited in biotic energies. Four eyes came to life in the eyeslats of the helmet. "We are Harbinger."

As Balak opened fire on Harbinger, a second biotic field threw the gun from his hand and a Stasis field encapsulated the second Batarian. Mikazuki was free and grabbed her sister's arm trying to pull her away from Balak. She was successful as Balak was also encased in a stasis field. The two girls ran to their mother and father as all four looked back to watch what was about to unfold next.

Both Harbinger and Samara held the Batarian as Samara told the children to run home. After the classroom emptied, it was just the Shepard family, the two Batarians, Harbinger and Samara. "Who ordered the assault on this planet?" Harbinger asked. He was in no mood to tolerate noncompliance.

Balak struggled against the stasis field. "Forget it, I'm not telling you anything, freak."

The other Batarian wasn't getting paid enough for this. "Let me live, and I'll tell you."

Balak turned his head. "SHUT UP YOU IDIOT!"

"Forget it; I'm not getting paid enough to die, Balak." Oddly enough this Batarian seemed to have more sense than Balak. Didn't he already go through this on Asteroid X57?

Harbinger moved towards the other Batarian. "Speak, and you may live."

"Some Turian named Jorum Talid paid us a lot of credits to make sure Shepard was dealt with." He struggled against the stasis field. "He's some big politician on the Citadel. Or was. I don't know the whole story. He contracted us and the Blue Suns. Look. Let me live and I'll even testify that before an Arbitrator or Advocacy."

Harbinger was skeptical. "Why should I believe you, Batarian?"

"Hey, like I said, I'm not getting paid enough to die." If Harbinger learned anything about Batarians, it was that if a situation had gotten bad enough, they were in it to cover their own asses.

"I sense truth in this one's words." Samara replied.

Harbinger walked towards Shepard. She wasn't sure what to make of any of this. But at the same time, she was terrified of this person; this…new incarnation of Harbinger. He knelt down as Kiyoko and Mikazuki stood in front of their mother and father. He removed his helmet. Shepard was shocked that this person was human. His eyes glowing with biotic energy. "Shepard. This assault was against your own family and your home. I can make no judgments as I am part of the Migrant Fleet. But…" He looked back at the two Batarians. "I can act upon your own judgment." He looked at the two children and smiled at them. "I do commend your children. Even scared as they are, they are willing to protect you and your bonded."

Shia'va thought for a moment. She placed her hands on her children and brought them too her. Garrus had finished patching up her wound with medi-gel. But she would need to see a real doctor soon. "Balak won't stop until he can kill me or my family. I couldn't stop him before on Asteroid X57 because he threatened to blow up the hostages. I had to save them. He's a monster and even threatened to kill my children." Shia'va had to wonder if she was speaking as a soldier or a mother. She couldn't decide which. "But if the other is willing to testify…" She was getting tired from the loss of blood.

That was all that Harbinger needed. She was right; Balak was too dangerous to be kept alive. He replaced his helmet and the four eyes ignited in biotic energies once again. "We are the Harbinger of your destruction. I know you will feel this." Using a warp field, Harbinger threw it and detonated the stasis field. Balak had gone flying through the opening of the wall Harbinger originally came through and was impaled upon a part of the destroyed gunship. With that bit of business taken care of, he contacted his strike team who moved up to the room to take the other Batarian into custody. The Quarians had found Legion 'unconscious' in the original classroom where the children were. Shepard was taken to a medical facility to have her wounds checked out.

Shepard awoke the next morning in her bed. Garrus was asleep in the chair and Mikazuki and Kiyoko were sleeping in the bed with her. Shia'va smiled and started to sit up slowly. Her side was still sore and she grabbed it, wincing in pain. Kiyoko was the first to wake up. "Mmm…mama, you shouldn't be getting up. You have to lay still."

Shia'va laid back and smiled. "Yes, dear." She chuckled softly. She noticed Garrus started to wake up, then Mikazuki.

Garrus walked over to her. "Are you alright, my bonded?" He asked worried.

"A little sore, but I'll be alright. What about Kasumi, Zaeed and Samara?" Are they alright? Are the other families alright?" She had a lot of questions and she wanted answers.

Garrus nodded. "Everyone seems to be alright. The others are in the living room resting. Legion is going to need repairs. And the other families are still in shock at what happened. New Tokyo is sending clean-up crews and repair services." He looked towards the door. "Harbinger has been on guard all night and his strike team have been patrolling the area all night as well. Shia, you wouldn't believe his story. I didn't think the Illusive Man was so vile as to do what he did to Harbinger."

Shia'va nodded. "I'll have to talk to him later." She looked at her daughters. "Girls, are you both alright?"

The two girls looked at Shia'va. Their mandibles quivered a bit as they held onto their mother as tight as they dared without hurting her. Tears fell down their mandibles. They didn't cry out loud. But it was still a lot and it took its toll on them.

Shia'va held her children tight; she didn't care how much it hurt. "I am so sorry, my babies. God I am so sorry you had to endure that." She kissed both their heads. Whispering quietly to them in Japanese. Tears falling down her own cheeks.

Garrus sat on the bed and put his arms around his family. He would call Hannah Shepard to come and help take care of the girls. But for right now, he was not going to leave their side. Jorum Talid was going to pay for this.

A/N: More to come. And for those of us in the USA, not even a week and a half till Mass Effect 3! Get ready to fight the Reapers!