So...death or glory eh?
Michael looked up, ahead Sovereign was a massive black growth clutching onto the Citadel tower, how those large yellow eyes hadn't spotted him as he'd fought his way up escaped Michael's understanding. Perhaps he was beneath its notice, or maybe it was too busy with whatever it was doing to the Citadel...Michael didn't much care for either option.
Then he looked back down, grimacing under his visor at the sight.
The window just before his armoured boots was round and maybe eight feet in diameter. Far below it the first chamber of the Council chamber opened up, a circular room with a fountain at its centre. The dead people and ash is a new touch though...I have to bring that up with the decorator.
His eyes moved to the fountain, a Geth Prime had taken up a crouched position behind the railing of it, facing the broken elevator, the massive assault rifle in its hands aiming over the fountain and down the small corridor to the door in case someone climbed up the shaft.
Behind it three Geth troopers stood, their white armour shining as they stood as statues just in front of the stairs leading up to the next room of the Council chamber. Due to the angle Michael couldn't see much farther...but he did see two more troopers at the top of said stairs, one on each flank.
No time to find another way I suppose... Michael shot a worried look up at Sovereign. So...rappelling it is. Grimacing he reached back, opening a compartment in his armour just above the shotgun, finding the standard marine rappelling line with magnetic clamps. I hate rappelling...especially in front of enemies...
Fastening one clamp to the front of his chest Michael checked the winching mechanism before bending down to attach the other clamp to the wall of the Citadel tower, the locks sticking fast with a muted thump.
He took a deep breath...gripping his assault rifle tightly.
Heh, Ashley would love this kind of attack...
A small smile escaped him...and Michael jumped forward.
With a crash the window gave way under his feet, shards of glass surrounding Michael like flickering stars as he fell downwards...and glowing amber as they reflected the light of of his firing assault rifle.
There was an electronic cry of warning...only for the Geth calling it out to fall, its neck coming apart in an explosion of broken machinery. The other two below the stairs looked up, the glow of their eyes growing wider as they saw the massive black shape descend upon them...before one of them crumpled, a shot taking it in the eye.
The last one moved to aim upwards...inly to wail as its right arm came of at the elbow to a concentrated burst, sending it tumbling to the floor in a rapidly growing pool of white blood.
Almost down, Michael saw the Prime rise to its full length practically right beneath him...and kicked out with his right leg, the armoured boot taking the large machine in the chest...
A cry...and the Prime toppled over the railing even as Michael landed on the floor on his right knee, rifle aiming up at the stairs in front of him, tracking the two Geth troopers there as they came running down, pulse rifles firing.
Behind him there was a splash of the Prime falling into the water...even as a quick burst from Michael's rifle tore into the chest of the Geth on the left, the machine stumbling back and into the wall next to it before sliding to a rest.
A flash of his shields...and Michael's aim darted to the other Geth...another quick burst and its head came off, weapon falling from its hands as the machine itself fell to the side, only to slowly roll down the steps of the stairs with a low clicking sound.
There was a low growl...and Michael rose as he turned, unhooking his line...and finding the Prime's hands on the railing as it began to hoist its way up...large eye looking up at Michael with its cold light...
A snort...and Michael stomped his foot down on the railing, striking it just to the right side of the Geth's head, making it look at it in question...before Michael freed his knife from the boot and smashed it into the thing's eye.
There was no wail, no cry, Prime's eye stared upwards, as if seeing the blade stuck in it...then its hands released the railing and the Prime fell back into the water with a splash.
Heh, yeah, she would have loved it...
Michael didn't smile though, his face remaining grim as he moved to grip his rifle with both hands and turned to walked up the stairs. His rifle panned left and right, but found no targets as he ascended the stairs to the second chamber.
The pillars to each side of the large chamber held many shadows...but no Geth, nor Krogan mercenaries, nothing but darkness and silence...so Michael focused on the front.
Ahead there was the small round patch of grass with a couple of rectangular boulders resting in what Michael supposed was to be some sort of aesthetically pleasing manner, he himself thought it odd to bring dirt indoors...
Past that however there was the second set of stairs reaching up to the Council chamber itself... and at the top Michael saw six Geth troopers in twin columns stand, backs facing him as they looked at something outside his vision.
He could see that the wall at the far end had been removed though, that there was nothing but a large window between the chamber and the massive yellow eyes of Sovereign as it glared down at them, like a man looking down at some irritating ants...
Ants bite.
Michael jogged five steps forward, stopped just next to a nearly upright boulder of the garden, pressed his left shoulder against it...and levelled his rifle at the Geth above.
The first Geth on the left fell without a sound, its back torn open. The second began to turn...only for Michael's shots to stitch their way up its side, felling it. The third turned fully...only to get its neck torn open by a hail of bullets from Michael's long burst of fire, it too falling with a loud wail.
Then there was a storm of pulse shots...and Michael ducked back behind the upright boulder, pieces of it coming off with the force of the impacts as the three remaining Geth began to move at him, weapons firing continuously.
Spinning clockwise Michael appeared from the other side of the boulder, putting a quick burst into the right leg of one of the advancing Geth, making it fall forward and down onto the floor with a crunch of a snapping neck.
A spin counter-clockwise...and Michael was back in cover as the two surviving Geth poured shots into his previous position...and then he rushed forth from the right side of the boulder. Ahead there was another boulder lying on its side...and Michael jogged for it in a crouch even as he aimed up, firing a quick burst into the chest of the uppermost Geth and felling it even as the last one corrected its aim.
A shot harmlessly struck his shield...and Michael ducked down behind his cover, more shots smashing into the boulder and the grass behind him as the Geth advanced. Even over the sounds of its shots he could hear its footsteps...
Close.
A grin.
Rising to his full length Michael found the Geth virtually right behind the boulder he'd been covering behind, rifle levelled right at his chest...before he smacked it to his right with his own and fired away at full auto.
The Geth cried out...a pitiful little electronic gasp as dozens of shots tore into its torso, tearing apart plates and internal components alike as the machine stumbled backwards...and then fell onto its back, chest gutted and small sparks flashing from its broken insides.
Michael lowered his rifle, the smoke of the barrel rising up before him even as he craned his neck to look up at Sovereign, feeling a little overwhelmed at the sheer size of it as it glared down at him...
Ahead a single set of stairs was all that stayed between him and confronting both Sovereign and Saren...
I chose this...
Moving round his cover Michael felt his legs move on their own volition as they carried up up the stairs towards his destiny...
I won't fail.
He remembered his words to Tali...and grimaced as he looked up at the massive form of Sovereign.
And I'll...do my utmost to survive.
"Shepard?" Saren stood atop the podium of the Council, and was turning to look at Michael with eyes wide in disbelief as the human walked up the final steps of the stairs. "How...?"
Coming to a stop at the far end of the bridge he'd once walked on, what felt like a lifetime from the little circle ahead where he'd knelt...Michael smirked up at his foe: "Saren...nice mandible." He nodded at the metallic prosthetic, still remembering how it had felt to snap the real one in his hands... "Surrender."
A harsh explosion of what might once had been a laugh escaped Saren, the Turian glowering down at Michael...who calmly looked back. He'd felt such hatred of the Turian after Ashley's death...but now...he understood the choice of the former Spectre, he did...more so then he wanted...Saren had made a choice that in the end was meant to save as many as he could...
A commendable goal...but a poor choice.
Michael couldn't bring himself to hate the man any longer.
He could only feel...sadness.
If only you'd chosen differently...who knows where we would be now?
Saren glared down at Michael, the long silence making the Turian bare his fangs in impatience. "Surrender...?" A slight cock of his head...and Saren grinned wide, his tone...distant: "I have the power of a God at my disposal..."
Michael lowered his rifle, gaze moving up to Sovereign, its evil gaze boring down at him...then back to Saren: "God is it? Tell me, how much control does Sovereign have over you now?" Saren twitched, making Michael narrow his eyes. "Do you even remember why you're helping Sovereign?" Another twitch. "Do you even care?"
A snarl...and Saren leapt off the podium, landing atop the round platform they'd both knelt upon, where they'd both been made into something more...inducted into a brotherhood, united in purpose.
Now...foes.
Saren held no weapon, nothing but something black hidden in his left hand...yet Michael knew the danger of fighting the Turian and warily watched him as he kept his rifle lowered as the Turian growled: "Why do you fight it Shepard? You know you cannot win...you know we're all doomed."
A galaxy aflame...
Screams of a race...billions dying.
Michael shook his head, ordering away the images with surprising ease. "The Protheans were doomed, we're not, we can still fight this, stop Sovereign here and now."
Saren almost seemed to freeze to the spot...then turned his head to glance back at Sovereign as its eyes glowed bright...and when he looked back at him Michael found an unnatural shiver run down his spine. Saren...didn't seem to be there. "We cannot stop the cycle...moments from now the Citadel will activate...and we will die."
And in the background...one of of Sovereign's arms rose...
Michael felt his stomach roll into a knot, yet pressed on: "Saren! Please! There's a fleet just outside the Citadel! We can open the arms and they'll destroy Sovereign!"
Saren's left arm rose...palm up as the Turian looked at the strange black item in his hand. Small white runes glowed along its edges...and Michael found his eyes widen as he realised it resembled the Citadel, a Citadel with its arms closed...
Saren's eyes widened as well as he stared at the thing, but more in wonder than horror, his voice a pained whisper. "It cannot be done...we cannot win..."
"Give it to me." Michael released his left hand's grip on his rifle to reach out, holding his hand out as he caught Saren's eyes, looking into those distant eyes: "I'll open it!"
All that answered him was silence as Saren stared back, eyes so...dim.
And behind the window...Sovereign's raised arm pointed down at Michael, the tip starting to glow red with power...
Dammit... Michael swallowed. Can't beat Saren that quickly, I have to...dammit! "Come on Saren! There's still hope!"
"Hope...?" Saren repeated, the distant look fading as he straightened, a mad glint in his eyes. "Foolish human...there is no hope!" Saren stretched his arms out wide, head tilting back...and laughed.
Mad, dry and dead...laughter...echoing across the hall as Sovereign's weapon powered up to stop its one remaining foe before its victory.
It was horrifying.
His shield and armour are too tough to beat quickly...even with shotgun and close range I'm not sure...I have no weapon to beat him with fast enough! Michael felt cold sweat run down his spine as he stared at Saren, his rifle falling from limp fingers. I have no useful...
He glanced up, staring into the ruby red of Sovereign's power...
...weapon?
A moment of indecisiveness...and then Michael's eyes narrowed at the Reaper.
Nearly falling forward he broke into a run, rushing forward as Sovereign's massive arm tracked him...and straight into Saren.
Coming in at breakneck speed Michael's hands gripped at the Turian's waist, lifting his foe upwards even as the force of the tackle sent them both flying towards the Council's podium.
Saren's laughter turned into a growl...and was then overcome by the sound of breaking glass and a hiss...
Pain!
It lanced through Michael's body as he felt something flash over his head, a heat so intense...he had no word for it.
Then it was gone...and he found his hands slamming into the edge of the podium, both gripping at it for purchase as he found himself hanging of the edge, the glass ceiling to the garden below shattering as something crashed through it.
A grunt...and he managed to pull his right arm upwards, finding the base of the Asari councillor's console to grip onto as he began to pull himself upwards...
A few feet ahead he saw the black miniature Citadel laying on its side...and to its left Saren lay on his stomach...all below his waist nothing but charred flesh still sizzling from the heat that had burnt through him.
"There is..." Michael grunted the words as he pulled himself onto the podium, crawling towards the black item, gripping onto it with tired hands.
"...always..." A gasp...and he held it steady with his right hand as his left moved to pry the arms of the miniature open...and ahead...the Citadel began to open.
"...hope." Michael finished with a grunt, the miniature in his hands now fully opened, the arms of the Citadel close to doing the same, showing a full scale battle in the distance, a battle...and several large shapes moving towards them.
A tired smile stole its way to Michael's lips...as he turned his head to give Saren one last look.
Only to find the Turian alive.
Saren's arms were trembling as they pushed his face off the ground, face stricken with disbelief as he stared out at the scene before them...the dark blue glow in his eyes fading even as he blinked, something akin to a smile appearing on his face as a lone tear escaped his left eye...
A small gasp of relief...and Saren fell back onto the floor, dead.
Rest in peace...
It felt wrong to think it...but Michael couldn't bring himself to be petty.
...Spectre.
His shoulders slumped, weariness tugging at him as he looked back...only to find his eyes widen under the powerful glow of Sovereign's gaze.
It wasn't a sound, but a thought, a dark and brooding sound inside his skull, a familiar voice.
"Shepard..."
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Thank to Abydos Jackson for her amazing ability to stand me.