Little update, my tablet which I was writing the rough draft of chapter 8 restarted while I was writing and I lost about half of the chapter. I went to be and rewrote it, and I am actually happier now with it than before. I wrote it on the car-ride to a day trip in NYC, and then on the way back I wrote a bunch of chapter 9. So it all worked out! I forgot to mention before that there will be TEN chapters and an epilogue. So we are getting close to the thrilling conclusion!
As I said before, after I submit the ninth chapter I will go back and touch up on the other chapters. Before I had said that you wouldn't need to reread all the "fixed" chapters if you dont want to, but after thinking about it, I STRONGLY recommend rereading the fixed chapters before the final one, I'm going to be adding a lot of extra goodies I think. So do it, it will be almost like watching all the separate superhero movies before going to see the Avengers movie as prep... Same concept. As you guys can guess, with the end of this story so close, this is my number one priority. EVERYTHING ELSE WILL BE PUT ON HOLD UNTIL I FINISH THE FINAL CHAPTER AND FIXING THE OTHER CHAPTERS. :D
I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and that my level of quality has not decreased. NotCras, out!
Liara put her hands on her hips and looked proudly at the Shadow Liar from the top of the steps. Tali was helping so much, first having modified Glyph to be an even greater help, and then helping Liara with organizing everything. Soon others expressed interest in helping Liara, and soon the Shadow Lair became a buzzing hive of the Normandy crew, working together with the sole purpose of getting Shepard back; the one who had brought everyone together in the first place. The only people that weren't working in the Shadow Lair were the ones that could not; essential crew stayed at their posts.
"Liara, can we talk a moment?" A voice asked behind her. Liara turned and saw that it was Shiala. The baby in her womb, Shepard's baby, had grown. Shiala beckoned Liara through the door to the conference room. She waited until it closed before she spoke.
"Liara..." Shiala sighed in hesitation "I want to talk about the baby with you."
Shepard's baby... which should have been mine. Liara crossed her arms. "What about the baby?"
"I don't want to come between you and Shepard... you know, once this is all figured out and done with. So when Shepard is fixed, I'm going to leave the Normandy."
Liara thought a moment. "Where will you go?"
"I don't know... maybe I'll take one of the ships that are going to go back to Thessia, using the mass relays."
"If we fix Shepard, and he finds out that you had a child with him, he will search for you and the baby... It will only cause more drama."
"But that's why I don't want him to find out at all... That's why I'm leaving before he realizes."
Liara put a hand on her shoulder. "Don't do it, we enjoy your company here."
Shiala put her hands on the bulge that was her womb. "Liara, I had always, secretly, wanted a baby with Shepard and now I have that it… I don't want anyone else to get hurt because of it..." She looked down lovingly at where her child was. "Feros taught me the lessons about consequences of your actions and working together." She looked back at Liara. "The baby and I would only be a distraction to the one Shepard really loved, and still loves even like this: you."
Liara smiled and both asari embraced for a short time. Shiala spoke. "I'll stay until you cure Shepard, and then I'll leave."
Liara was going to speak but the door opened. Tali began to make her way out, but stopped when she saw Liara.
"Liara! I was looking for you." She then registered what was going on. "Oh I'll wait."
"Don't worry Tali we were just finishing up anyway." Shiala answered. She motioned to Liara to go. Liara nodded and followed Tali.
"Don't you think it's a little weird that Aria has not responded in any capacity to the messages we sent her? We finally hacked her systems, and she hasn't opened anything in... well in a while."
Liara's face showed her concern. "Any activity inside her systems? It might be able to explain if she's hard at work on something."
Tali shook her head. "Liara, from the records we found, she hasn't accessed her omnitool in months."
Liara was confused. "The queen of omega not using her omnitool? Sounds like something's up."
"Think she could have changed omnitools?"
"No, hers was top of the line, and it's not like a newer, better model came out recently."
Both thought for a moment, and around the same time looked at each other. They had both come to the same conclusion; "Maybe Aria is not the queen any longer." Both said to each other. They hurried to their consoles.
"Uhhh Liara?" Both looked up to see Samantha Traynor looking very concerned at her console. "We have a problem."
"What is it?" Liara answered.
"Well we are getting reports that there are riots going on in London."
"What do they want? More food? More shelter?"
Traynor laughed. "If only it were that simple. They want Shepard as sole leader of the galaxy."
"WHAT?" Liara ran over to Traynor's console. Once she was convinced, she ran into the comm room. "Tali! Get the others and get them suited up. I need to contact Hackett. I think Shepard is putting his plan into motion! Battle stations everyone!"
"Sayn, you are a bloody genius. Have a massive distraction in London to take the eye off the council, leaving the council in Vancouver with less defenses. Absolutely brilliant."
Shepard complimented the salarian at a bar in Vancouver. The bar itself was Blue Suns owned, so they decided to give the staff the day off and use it as a base of operations. Shepard himself wore new armor than what he was accustomed to. Crimson and black details covered his Armax Arsenal Armor. He was armed with a Mattock heavy assault rifle and a paladin heavy pistol. For this mission they were advised not to use powers, as the security would pick up on the dark energy that would be left behind by biotics.
Shepard turned to view the team that he had assembled. Only the best of the best of each merc organization could work with him. They all wore the same colors as Shepard except with reversed roles. Everyone looked like they were part of a 4th merc group. They don't know it yet, but they are. Crimson Shepard, my own organization.
Sayn began to pace. "We should move out."
Shepard nodded. "Alright men, proceed to the first step of the operation."
Guns clicked and were raised. Sayn was facing away, going over plans.
"Shepard, it might be best not to walk the streets with guns out. We'll be suspicious as it is." He mentioned as he went over plans. He then turned and realized what was happening.
"Sayn, it might be best to kill the man who came up with the master plan. Later he might become a liability later... right?"
Sayn dropped to his knees in defeat. "I guess there's no denying the inevitability of death." He muttered. "May yours be as cruel."
Shepard's squad checked their weapons on Sayn. By the time they were done, Sayn was so riddled with holes that in some points you could see right through him. His body fell to the ground. Weapons were concealed and they all loaded onto a truck to be brought to the waste administration building.
Liara hovered the shuttle over the streets of London. Nerves were running high, and the riots of angry refugees in the streets below did nothing to ease them. They could see Alliance soldiers working to establish order, but they only added to the refugee's anger. Whatever Shepard was planning, it was big. This is it, our last chance. Liara gave up on finding a landing spot on the ground and instead opted for a rooftop near Aria's building. We don't know where Shepard might be, but this is our best guess. On the way down the shuttle had displayed the newscasts of what was going on. There was no sign of Shepard anywhere.
Liara landed the shuttle and everyone poured out onto the rooftop. Aria's building was in sight but off into the distance. It had grown in size and looked as if repairs had been started on the outside. She walked over to the edge and yelled to the others over all the noise.
"We don't know where Shepard is, but Aria's building is our best chance!"
Nods of agreement followed.
"We should not hurt any of the refugees; we are only here for Shepard and his plan. Let's move!"
Everyone made their way down the flights of stairs of the building and made it street side. Before the mobs noticed, they all ducked into the London Underground station nearby. They made their way down stairs and into the underground subway.
The whole place was wrecked, as it seemed that the mobs had made their way through there. It was silent, save for the occasional arc of electricity or a malfunctioning warning sign. None of the trains were moving. Liara led the way to one of the cars. She busted open the doors of the nearest tram car and made her way to the engineer's station. She opened the doors and was greeted by a terrible smell.
"Goddess..."
There, slouched over the controls, was the engineer that was driving the train. Liara inspected the body. Instead of being beaten to death, as was customary with an unarmed riot, a bullet hole was present in the back of his head.
With the help of Garrus, she pulled the body out of the seat. Tali sat down and figured the controls. In no time, the train was moving.
Without incident, they made it to the next platform. This platform looked worse than the first. The group walked out of the tram.
"Mind the gap... Mind the gap... Mind the gap... Mind the gap..."
The overhead speakers kept speaking its warning like a broken record. Mind the riots above as well while you're at it. It was EDI that shot the speakers to bring back the silence.
"It brings me pain to see another synthetic in such pain." Everyone gave her weird looks. "That is a joke."
They headed up the stairs and made it to the surface. Aria's building was much closer, and so were the riots. Gunfire was now added to the mixture of sounds.
"The question is, who's firing?" Ashley commented.
"Well I don't want to find out." Garrus replied.
Everyone sprinted the distance to the Aria's building. Upon getting there safely, they burst into the main chamber, guns raised. The room itself was empty except for the couches.
"Check the area!" Liara ordered. Everyone fanned out, searching everything, from the occasional garbage piece, to the lint under the couch pillows. Liara marveled at the emptiness of the building. There's really nothing here… how could this be possible?
"I... I found something."
Everyone looked up to see who had spoken. Tali had her hand raised and was pointing to the floor. They walked to it. There was nothing to see.
"I picked up readings right here... It could be a hidden compartment or something." She activated her omnitool and began working. "Let me see what I can do." After a minute or so, part of the floor lowered and then began pulling away, revealing a ladder. Liara looked at the crew. "This is it." She stated.
The truck finally stopped and the back opened up. Light welcomed the seven men that were sitting inside. Besides Shepard, they were the elite squad that Shepard chose to accompany him to take out the council. Shepard was the first to exit the truck. They were in a large unloading area for dump trucks. He led the way to the main recycler room.
Shepard's squad were not the only ones that were going to the embassy, there was also a battalion of soldiers that would accompany them. Their mission was to take out the ambassadors in the upper building, an equally important position given that they are also politically powerful.
The recycler itself was blown apart, exposing the gigantic shaft that Shepard and his men would use to get to the building. He approached the chief engineer, another salarian, from the back.
"So what's happening?"
"Excuse me sir we are busy at the moment." The salarian turned, and jumped when he realized who he had spoken to. "I'm sorry sir... I didn't realize."
Shepard laughed. "That's only strike one, so don't worry you're still alive."
That did not help the salarian's nerves. "We... we have everything prepared." He began to walk towards the recycler with Shepard following. "Two nights ago our agents sabotaged the filtration units, which is big enough of a problem to shut down the facility. It also justified us blowing a giant hole into the main shaft to get to the filters." Both rounded a corner and Shepard saw the main shaft.
The pipe itself was gigantic, with a radius of around Shepard's height. The hole that the salarian had mentioned was also gigantic as well, being in the upper corner of the pipe and large enough for two people to comfortably enter in simultaneously. Shepard nodded his approval.
"Now is the pipe this large the whole way?"
"Only the part that you care about. Buildings that are along the main shaft have their own smaller pipes that connect the buildings to this shaft. Since the embassy is so big, the main shaft runs underneath the building. Therefore all you need to do is make a hole in the right place and you'll be in the waste management area of the building."
Shepard crossed his arms and smiled. "Thank you." He walked back to the troops, finding an elevated position in the walkways above the recycler to talk to all his troops. Now it's time for the rousing speech I always give before a great battle to the soldiers that have undying loyalty for me. He extended his arms and motioned for the soldiers to quiet down. He cleared his throat and then began his speech. "This is it everyone. The moment we enter that pipe, there's no turning back. In all my years of fighting the reapers, the council never helped, they never lifted a finger. And now once I restored order and defeated the Reapers, they think they are so important and are trying to grab control again. I am being hunted because I am too much of a liability now. I did everything!" Murmurs rose up amongst the soldiers. Shepard raised his hands to quiet them. "And so I say down with them! Make those that chase me the ones who have to run now! FOR THE NEW WORLD ORDER IS UPON US!" Shepard threw his fist into the air.
"FOR ORGANICS! FOR THE ORDER! FOR SHEPARD!"
The congregation shouted, their fists raised.
"MAY WE BE THE PHOENIX THAT RISES FROM THE ASHES!" Shepard added triumphantly.
The crowds began cheering and they headed down to the pipe to enter. The plan had been that the main force would infiltrate the building first and take out the ambassadors above. This would ensure that the council is in the bunker for safety. Of course they would be defended as well, but that would only add to the fun. Shepard thought. Shepard went back to his squad.
"Nice speech there boss."
"It's an honor to be fighting with you."
Shepard nodded thanks. "You men ready to make history?" Smiles answered his question. "Then get ready. Council... here we come."
Liara felt her feet touch ground and she let go of the ladder. The ladder descent was long and Liara surveyed the small room that she was in. The only thing of note was a door. She opened it. On the other side of it there was a scanning device similar to the one that guarded the war room on the Normandy. A soldier that was standing guard stood up at the sight of intruders. Before he could activate any alarms, Liara threw him into stasis and shot him dead. Nothing else reacted to their scuffle, so Liara put away her pistol. She waited as the rest of the squad made it down the ladder.
"Let's move out, there are people down here."
Everyone readied their weapons and Liara hit the door. Gunfire flew out from the other side of the door, and the squad dove to find cover.
"They knew we were coming!" Ashley exclaimed.
Liara took a peek into the next room. It was large and contained a lot of electric equipment, ranging from displays to consoles to other strange looking equipment. Soldiers, curiously all wearing black armor with crimson details were hiding behind anything they could. Turrets were also set up to help deter the squad. Tali hacked the turrets, but they were in such a position that they couldn't get the soldiers.
With patience, the squad was able to take out a majority of the forces and turrets. Soon the soldiers began to fall back and the squad pushed into the room itself. The fighting got more intense as the squad came upon a second line of turrets. Although there were several other doors, the soldiers seem to be concentrating on defending one specific door. Something important must be behind there. Liara motioned to Tali, who hacked into a turret and began unleashing hell upon the soldiers.
"How about hacking your turrets now?" She yelled out excitedly.
This time the soldiers fell quickly. Liara stopped the squad from moving on and gathered them around.
"We don't know what's behind that door, but for all we know it could have something important... I'm thinking some of us should stay here and hack these terminals and while the others go with me past the door."
"Sounds like a plan." Tali replied. She grabbed EDI, and Garrus. "We'll stay here and Liara you take James, Ashley and Javik."
Liara nodded. "Let's go." Her group assumed a breaching position at the door. Ashley punched the door control to open it.
The door opened up into a short, empty hallway. Three pairs of doors stood.
"We should hit each door together instead of splitting up." Ashley suggested.
They moved up to the first door. They breached it and headed inside. They were greeted to a large power cell, apparently powering the whole facility. Nothing living was in the room.
"Liara, it's strange, we are hacking each console, and all we are finding is weather reports for both London and Vancouver." Tali's voice came up on Liara's omnitool.
"Keep checking all the consoles, they must have done a memory wipe." She replied.
They assumed breaching position on the second door. Again they moved in, this time finding an abandoned armory. The room itself was huge, with many bare tables suggesting that the amount of weaponry that it contained was incredibly large. Not all the weapons were used, and the squad made their way to inspect them.
"This is some heavy duty shit right here." James muttered.
"I'll tell you one thing: the sounds of gunfire that we heard while getting to the building does not match any of these weapons. I'd bet my life on it." Ashley told them.
"So then where are these weapons?" Liara scratched her head. "What can they be planning?"
"Whatever it is, something tells me that this cycle is ready to go back to chaos even just a year after defeating the reapers." Javik mentioned.
"Let's try the third door." Liara told the others.
"Third time is the charm isn't it?" Ashley commented. James laughed.
They assumed breaching position on last time outside the third door. Once ready, Ashley again it the door and they rushed in. The room was mostly bare save for a long couch and some consoles. A body lay against the couch, an asari with a revealing stripper outfit. Her legs were bent the wrong way. The asari was shivering and they could hear little mutterings coming from the poor thing. The squad approached the body.
"Is it dead?" James asked. He poked the body with his gun. The asari was startled, jumping up and startling the others. She had a bewildered look in her eyes, her eyes darting at all the people surrounding her. Liara eyed the face closely. Those face markings... they look so familiar...
Liara realized and brought her hand to her mouth. "Aria!"
The asari looked away, ashamed to be recognized. "Don't look at me." She whispered.
Liara did not comply, instead walking up to her and kneeling down. "Who did this to you? Where's Shepard?"
At the sound of Shepard, Aria closed her eyes and looked away. "Don't say that name."
"You mean Shepard?"
"DON'T SAY IT!"
Liara took a step back, astonished at the outburst. "What did he do?"
Aria shook her head. "I have nothing now."
"He must have taken control from her." Ashley theorized. "It's all she knew."
"He did more than that." Aria spat out. Momentarily tears started to fall and she looked away again.
"This is just... loco." James exclaimed. "And too loco for the loco that I know…"
Aria regained herself. "He's not here; he left for Vancouver with his men a day ago."
"What is he doing?" Liara asked.
"He's going to kill the council."
"That's absurd. The council is on the Destiny Ascension." Ashley answered.
"No." Aria shook her head. Liara put a hand to her head in realization.
"The council had to be moved because of a power cell failure. They are in Vancouver." Liara realized.
"Then all this was just to distract us!" James exclaimed.
"We need to get out of here." Ashley yelled, running back to tell the others.
"We need to get you to some help, Aria." Liara began to pick her up. After some trouble, she placed her on the couch. Liara turned to James, who was trying to leave.
"Can you lift her?"
"Sure can." He replied turning back around.
"No. I'm not going back."
Aria sat with a pistol aimed at her head. Liara checked her holster, to see that the pistol was hers, taken off of her person when she helped Aria up.
"There are some things that I've lost that I can never get back." She sighed. "I realized that life, the life I was living before and now this… It's all been terrible."
Liara extended a hand. "Don't do this, we can help you!"
"I have no power over anyone anymore... just over myself." A tear left her eyes. "And I plan to use it." She stated defiantly, a final statement.
BLAM!
Her head jerked from the impact and her body slumped over onto the couch.
"Goddess..." Liara took the pistol back and walked away.
"She wasn't supposed to use her power over herself like that." James muttered. "She... we could have helped her!"
The others ran into the room after hearing the gunshot. Everyone beheld the body that was sprawled out on the couch in a moment of silence.
"We offered her help, but she wouldn't take it." Liara whispered. "Shepard always denied our offers of help…"
"He's not going to do the same thing." Garrus answered.
"Shepard really messed her up didn't he?" Tali remarked. "Poor thing, there was almost no hope for her to get out safely." She looked at Liara. "Even after this do you think that we can save Shepard?"
"Even if there was no hope, Shepard would still try for us. We have got to at least give him the chance." Liara answered as she turned and started the journey back to the shuttle.