A/N: Sorry that it has taken so long to post this chapter! I had been busy with Unnatural Selection, work, vacations, and life in general. The good news - I have started chapter 17 and am going to stay focused on Leviathan for a bit (instead of rotating through my various stories).
Thank you for continuing to read this tale! This is the start of the final story arc and we are heading into some much anticipated action between our heroes and Leviathan!
As always, I love hearing from you - so please review, follow, favorite, and/or PM me!
Special thanks to Bebus for editing my stories and lending your support and guidance to help me create these tales!
Chapter 16: Prelude
Since Lesaro had left to destroy the krogan and Neresa moved to the nesting grounds deep within the trenches of the ocean, Krixo was left to focus on his vision of the future. Gone too were the Reapers and the civilizations that remained after their attack were now ready for his control. Every day that passed, Krixo spent more of his time on the surface, observing his thralls as they stockpiled resources and built a ship fit for the master's new pet.
I will hide no more… My place is among the stars, ruling all and I have discovered the perfect way to this… Shepard.
Lesaro's presence had faded, as had Neresa's but Krixo was oblivious to their absence. He was of a single mind, a single purpose… to control Shepard and through her, take his place as the ruler of the galaxy. The discovery that her mate was pregnant with Shepard's child made it all the sweeter.
I have been denied for so long… eons I have sat in dormancy, watching and waiting. My time has finally come and I can feel it… I can almost taste her power and her strength. Her mind and that of her child are the future of Leviathan. Shepard's daughter will take her place when I am done with her. The innocence and openness of the young, coupled with the lineage of Shepard. My future is secured at last.
Looking at the unconscious form of Liara through the eyes of Aethyta brought a ripple of satisfaction through Krixo. He had not been able to assume control of Liara and had been puzzled as to why his attempts had been thwarted. Ultimately, it did not matter, for it was Shepard that he desired and not her lover.
To have her mate and her progeny... it is only a matter of time before they all arrive. I can feel it… the power… Shepard.
Krixo could feel Aethyta trying to resist his control; her mind was attempting to push him out. The struggle filled him with the desire to possess the asari wholly and to rob her of any feeling of self.
You are mine asari, give in.
Krixo pushed his consciousness deep into Aethyta. He could feel the individual fade, as he took over her mind and body. Using Aethyta's form, he stepped closer to Liara and ran his hand over the swollen, pregnant belly of the asari. He was thrilled to feel the movement of the child within her kick and move in its womb.
You are all mine.
"SSV Liberty to Normandy… this is Commander Tyrell. We stand ready to assist you, Normandy." Tyrell's image displayed on the view screen on the bridge of the Normandy and he offered a crisp salute to the two Commanders before him.
Both women returned the formal greeting, while Williams stepped closer to the display, as if to show her leadership and address Tyrell's image.
Shepard studied Tyrell and deferred to Ashley to make her replies. From the display, he looked to be in his mid-forties and stood at attention as dutifully as Ashley. His uniform was in perfect order and his expression held a severity that made Shepard feel on guard.
"This is Commander Williams and we welcome you, Liberty." Ashley stood stiffly and spoke in a tone that warranted respect. "Commander Shepard and I would like to meet with you and discuss our strategy before we engage whatever is down there."
"Of course, Commander Williams… I am on my way now to dock my shuttle with the Normandy." Tyrell saluted again as his image faded.
Ashley looked to her Comms Officer, "Have them brought to the war room once they have docked."
"Yes Commander."
Nodding, Ashley then looked to Shepard, "We should assemble our teams and meet up. I don't think that the krogan need to be present or involved with the crew of the Liberty. You may brief them once you are deployed to the surface, but limit their information to the ground attack."
"Do you think that's wise, Commander Williams? If they are going to be of help, shouldn't we coordinate everything together?" Shepard did her best to keep any annoyance from her voice; it was a habit that she had found very useful lately.
Ashley's reaction to Shepard's question was quick and decisive; it was obvious that there would be no discussion. "No. You heard Admiral Hackett. The krogan do not need to know about the Liberty and since they will be deployed ground-side with you, they only need to know how they're going to fight Leviathan on that front. Now let's get moving."
Shepard bit her tongue and did not react. I wonder what she'd think if she knew that I was going to brief Tali and Garrus on the Liberty and its use? A slightly devious smile appeared on Shepard's face as she stepped towards the lift.
Williams turned away from Shepard and headed off to speak to her XO, while Shepard pressed a button on her omni-tool, "It's time. Meet me in my quarters."
A crackle from her omni-tool indicated that Tali was about to respond, "Yes, Commander. We have been working on upgrading some of the weapons on Kalros's Vengeance. Ganar Drace seems a bit… eager to engage Leviathan and test out the upgrades."
The thought of a fully charged krogan battlemaster broadened Shepard's smile. "Excellent Tali! Tell Drace to continue the mods and I will brief him soon. There has been a change of plans… but you and Garrus are needed now."
"We are on our way. And Shepard, I think you might enjoy some of the mods."
"I can't wait to use them, Tali. See you soon." Shepard deactivated her omni-tool and found herself outside of the guest quarters that were assigned to her. A rush of mixed emotions washed over her: excitement, concern and annoyance ran through her mind. Damn it Ash… I still don't like the idea of using Reaper tech… You are playing with fire and you should know better.
Liara groggily awoke with a pounding headache. A low hum seemed to be echoing through her auditory canal that added to her nausea and confusion. Liara knew immediately that she was on a ship, but nothing was familiar. Every inch of her body ached, but after a second she noticed a particular pressure on her pregnant belly, and with a startled jolt, her mind screamed out to protect her child. I must get away…
"How are you feeling?" The voice sounded like Aethyta, but lacked any of the warmth or familiarity that it usually contained.
"Father… is that you?" Liara tried to make sense of everything that had happened to her: Arriving on Thessia, seeing her father, hearing that Shepard had been killed and then blackness. The events brought on another wave of nausea. Out of instinct, she reached down and rubbed the growing form of her baby. "Father?"
Aethyta looked at Liara with dull, expressionless eyes. "I am here Liara. Do not be afraid."
The words were empty and Liara immediately knew that Aethyta was not herself. "Where are you taking me and what happened to Shepard?" She inhaled deeply, trying hard not to panic. Looking around the room, Liara could tell that she was not in a cell, but rather quarters on a ship. Seeing Aethyta used as a puppet filled her with sadness and a simmering rage. Father…
"You will be reunited with Shepard soon and you will know the glory and power of Leviathan."
A deep chill ran down Liara's spine at the mention of Leviathan... but with it a glimmer of hope, at the news... that Shepard was at least alive. Looking up at Aethyta, she felt uncomfortably like a specimen under examination by whatever had possessed her father. Liara closed her eyes momentarily and focused her mind on her surroundings and in doing so, was able to tell that she was still wearing her omni-tool and that the field was working. I must be strong… She felt a strong kick from her daughter and rubbed the moving form.
Aethyta stiffened slightly, as if she was listening to something and then turned her attention back to Liara, "We will be arriving soon."
"Where are we?" Liara asked carefully, studying the reaction of the form before her. There was no indication that her father was present. Her eyes held none of the warmth and familiarity that Liara had come to love and her voice was monotone and void of any emotion. It was as if Aethyta were only a shell, and there to serve as a reminder of Leviathan's power.
"You will soon find out… we are looking forward to your company and that of your child."
My child… The words hung in the air, as their meaning sunk in. It wants my daughter… Benezia… No! Acting on instinct, Liara flared her biotics and captured Aethyta in a powerful stasis. She quickly activated her omni-tool and accessed the program that Tali had designed. It is still working… I need to extend the radius of the field. Knowing that she did not have much time, Liara desperately punched in a code and stepped closer to Aethyta.
"Liara?" Aethyta tried to move, but the stasis field stopped her struggling. "We don't have much time." Her voice was little more than a whisper and the elder asari seemed to be struggling to form the words that she needed, but emotion and concern were now coloring Aethyta's tone.
"Father… Are you okay?" Liara hurried to Aethyta's side and released the stasis field, although she was still on guard and kept her biotics flared in case of resistance.
"I feel like shit kiddo… and my head feels like I've been hitting the ryncol, but I'll be okay." Aethyta offered her daughter a slight smile. Aethyta could see the worry on Liara's face and then she remembered the voice that rang out within her and her blood went cold. She saw everything, but she could not control herself or stop the thing that so easily possessed her mind. "Liara… You can't trust me. That thing… it could retake me whenever." Tears started to form in Aethyta's eyes, as she brought her hands to her forehead to help with the pain.
"I have something that can help with that. Give me your omni-tool." Liara reached for Aethyta's arm and grabbed the omni-tool on her wrist, activating it with one smooth motion. Using her own tool, Liara copied the program and keyed it into her father's omni-tool. The program went live, allowing Liara to assess her father's condition. I've never seen her so frightened before. Liara looked up at Aethyta and exhaled. "There… this should work."
"We need to get out of here. Liara… it wants your daughter… it wants Benezia. That fucking thing wants to take control of my granddaughter. I won't let that happen!" With each word, Aethyta felt strength returning to her, fuelled by a furious anger.
Liara's eyes widened, but she had already come to that conclusion. "We will not allow that. Do you know where we are… or what Leviathan is planning?"
Slowly shaking her head, Aethyta looked deeply into her daughter's eyes, "We are on the Destiny Ascension and coming up on 2181 Despoina… where it lives. Leviathan wants to take Shepard, to use you to get at her and then to rule in her form. When it realized that you were pregnant, it also wanted to take Benezia too. Liara… it's so powerful…"
The fear and anger in Aethyta's voice were overwhelming and Liara could not help but to place an arm around her father. "We must escape. I will not be a pawn for it to use." The Shadow Broker in Liara took over, as she thought of various options to thwart Leviathan's plans. "Destiny Ascension has shuttles; we can use one to get away. We need to get out of here before Leviathan sends another of its minions".
"Yes, come on… follow me." Aethyta attempted to shake off her ordeal and to focus instead on getting off Destiny Ascension and getting Liara to safety. She took Liara's hand, allowed her biotics to course through her and led them into the hallway.
An asari commando stood guard at the door, but before she could get off a shot, Liara threw out a singularity to immobilize her. Aethyta charged at the asari and head-butted her into unconsciousness before happily retrieving the fallen commando's weapon.
Both father and daughter hurried away from guest quarters and plotted the most secure route to one of the shuttle bays on Destiny Ascension. Both were on guard and ready to do whatever was needed to make their escape.
"What is the Alliance thinking, Shepard?" Tali's voice rang higher than normal and her hands were busy fumbling her fingertips, in her nervous habit.
"Really, haven't they learned anything?" Garrus was shaking his head and clicking his mandibles. "Do they honestly think that they can control Reaper tech?"
Shepard stood before her friends, arms crossed across her torso, in silent agreement. "I don't know what they are thinking. You both know that I want to beat Leviathan, but using Reaper tech is not the direction that I would've taken. Either way though, Liberty is here and we are about to engage whatever is down there. I can only hope that the Alliance knows what it is doing."
The comms crackled and Ashley's voice stopped the conversation. "Commander Shepard, please come to the war room immediately. We have an unexpected guest and I think that you will want to see this."
Shepard furrowed her brow, "I'm on my way." She then turned her attention back to her friends, "Come on, let's go see what this is all about."
"Right behind you Shepard," Garrus said in his familiar tone and followed both the Commander and Tali out of Shepard's quarters.
"So what is this all about?" Shepard said casually, while she and Garrus and Tali entered the war room. She looked over the room at all that were assembled and was surprised to find Lt. James Vega. This must be really bad if both the Commander and the XO are here for a briefing.
Shepard caught Vega's eye only briefly, as he quickly turned his attention to the view screen. But in that moment, there messages were clear: Shepard's contained sympathy and Vega's held a smoldering rage.
"See for yourself Commander." Ashley pointed to the view screen at the shape of a ship entering the system.
Shepard's attention went to the screen. Her eyes narrowed in on the shape and size of the approaching vessel, as her heart stopped. "Is that the Destiny Ascension?" She already knew the answer to her question, but seemed to need to hear the confirmation.
Ashley placed both hands on her hips and took her position in front of the display, "Yes. What is the flagship of the asari doing here?" Her tone was accusatorial and she looked closely at Shepard, as if she would somehow know the answer.
"Have they spotted us?" Shepard chose to keep the anger out of her voice and instead wanted to fully assess their situation.
"No… both the Normandy and the Liberty have their stealth drives engaged. As far as I can tell, no one knows that either of us are here." The voice was that of Commander Tyrell, who had taken his place next to Ashley. Seeing Tali and Garrus, he raised an eyebrow to demonstrate his suspicion at the pair. "Commander, I was under the impression that you had direct orders from Admiral Hackett that this operation was to be classified and under the Alliance's jurisdiction." He paused and turned his full attention to Shepard. "What are they doing here?"
"I do not need to justify my crew to you… Commander Tyrell. Garrus Vakarian and Admiral Tali'Zorah vas Normandy are valued members of my team and trusted friends." I trust them more than I could ever trust you. Shepard stood defiantly next to her friends, but managed to keep her voice calm and controlled, she was very practiced at keeping her emotions in check. "We should focus on our mission and not on my crew. If Leviathan has control of the Destiny Ascension, then we must assume that it also has infiltrated the asari government."
Sensing that he was not going to win, Tyrell motioned back to the view screen to continue his assessment. "If the Council and the asari are both under Leviathan's influence, then it's only a matter of time before other governments are its pawns as well. We must strike now, before anymore reinforcements arrive." He shook his head, "The thought of engaging both Leviathan and Destiny Ascension does not sit well with me. After witnessing the fire power of the asari flagship and reading the reports about the power of this Leviathan, I do not think that we would stand much of a chance with an all-out, frontal attack. We must rely on stealth, technology and your ground assault Commander Shepard."
"Well I can't argue with that… We are ready to deploy and I think the sooner, the better. We know the plan and what's at stake." Shepard nodded in agreement and looked at her friends, who also seemed eager to get on with the mission.
Williams stepped forward, "We all know our parts to play… so let's go kick some Leviathan ass!"
"I've received word from Tuchanka… the krogan have fought off the turian ground forces and the ones left seem to have broken free of the control of Leviathan." The pilot's voice called over the comms. "We also have confirmation that the Leviathan that had escorted the armada has been destroyed."
A collective victory cry went out through the krogan crew of the Midnight Star.
Aria continued pacing in her quarters, doing her best imitation of a caged animal. "About fucking time!" The words were spit out with a combination of venom, hatred and frustration.
"Aria, we will get to Liara. We know where they are heading and we will be able to intercept the Destiny Ascension." Thea moved swiftly to stand in front of her bondmate, lightly touching her leather-clad arm. She could see the anger that her lover was harboring and knew that Aria was doing her best to keep her biotics in check.
"I have had enough of Leviathan and its intrusion on our lives! I'm going to tear that damned thing apart!" Aria looked at Thea and placed her hand over Thea's; the physical contact made her cease her pacing.
Tevos hated seeing her lover so worked up; it was the one of the few times she worried about Aria, as she was more prone to make decisions that could cause her harm. "We will get her back."
The light strokes of Thea's hand across her arm had a slight calming effect on Aria. The Queen of Omega moved closer to Tevos, placed both of her hands on her lover's waist and pulled her into her arms. "I know we will. I'm still not convinced that you being here is for the best. I would feel better knowing that you were on Omega with Bakara and the krogan." Aria spoke quietly and with affection and then kissed Thea's forehead. "I don't want that thing to hurt you again."
"I know Love… but I need to do this. I was under that thing's control and I can still remember what it was like." Tevos closed her eyes, as the memory of Leviathan's possession came back into her mind. She was glad to be in Aria's arms and felt comfort in her strength. "Aethyta and Liara will need help and I can give it to them."
Fucking Leviathan! Aria's biotics flared slightly, as she held Tevos closer. "I know, and I know that you can kick ass when needed, I just…"
"You are too protective of me." Tevos stepped back and out of Aria's embrace. She balled her hand into a fist and brought it up in front of her torso, allowing the blue glow of her biotics to surround her arm. With a smooth and direct motion, Tevos released a charge of energy at a marble statue of Athame that was centered on a table in the middle of their quarters. As the biotic wave hit, a boom echoed off the walls, while shards of the statue crumbled on top of the scorched table. A light cloud of dust rose from the remains, as the smell of eezo fueled biotics wafted through the air.
Aria smiled at the destruction and then kissed Tevos again. "By the goddess." Sarcasm dripped off of her words, as Aria laughed playfully and took Thea's hand in hers. "You should try that on the rest of the Council."
Studying her work proudly, Tevos returned Aria's smile. "Believe me… I have used much restraint over the years."