~Paige~
Wrex and I got ready since John wanted us to go with him while we were on Noveria. Wrex looked at me and I raised an eyebrow at him.
"You're different from some of the humans," he said bluntly. I chuckled.
"You'd be surprised how many times I've heard that, Wrex. I looked human, have the wisdom of an asari, the stubbornness of a krogan, and the pride of a turian. That's what I've heard," I told him. He nodded his large head.
"I can see it. Especially your stubbornness. Hehe, when you're angry, you're definitely like a krogan," he chuckled.
"Something tells me this will be a beautiful friendship, Wrex," I smiled.
"Just don't expect hugs or anything. I don't do them," he said gruffly. I chuckled.
"I expected that. Come on, John's waiting for us," I said to him.
"John?" He asked confused.
"Uh…Commander Shepard. John is his first name," I told him.
"I thought Shepard was his first name. Just like yours is Cameron," he scratched his head. I chuckled a little.
"No. His full name is John Shepard. I'm Paige Cameron. When in the military, people rarely use our first names," she explained. He nodded.
"You humans are confusing," I heard him mutter as we met up with John. John raised an eyebrow at me and I gave him a look that said 'I'll tell you later.' He nodded and we got going. We made our way and soon saw three people…with guns.
"That's far enough," the middle woman said to us.
"We're not here to cause problems," John assured.
"This is an unscheduled arrival. I need your credentials," the same woman told us.
"You first," John said.
"We're the law here. Show some respect," the blond woman told him.
"We will when you will," I told her with narrowed eyes. She glared at me.
"I'm Captain Maeko Matsuo, Elanus Risk Control Services," Matsuo told us.
"I'm a Spectre. My name is Shepard," John told her.
"Load of horsecrap, ma'am," blondie told her.
"I'll show her horsecrap once I'm finished with her," I muttered to myself. Wrex quietly snickered at my comment.
"We will need to confirm that. Also, I must advise you that firearms are not permitted on Noveria. Sergeant Stirling, secure their weapons," Matsuo ordered blondie. We all aimed our guns at them and the turian and Stirling did it back.
"I wouldn't try that if I were you," I glared harshly.
"Stand down. Their house, their rules," John told us.
"Don't come crying to me when they slice your gut open," Wrex said to him.
"Captain Matsuo! Stand down," a woman's voice over the speaker ordered. "We confirmed their identity. Spectres are authorized to carry weapons here, Captain."
"You may proceed, Spectre. I hope the rest of your visit will be less confrontational. Parasini-san will meet you upstairs," Matsuo told us.
"Behave yourself," Stirling said, mainly looking at me. I glared at her before they walked away.
"Anyone else tempted to punch, blondie?" I asked.
"I was tempted just by looking at her," Wrex answered. John chuckled at us and we went upstairs to meet the said person. Once there we saw a woman in a dark pink dress.
"I am Gianna Parasini, assistant to Administrator Anoleis. We apologize for the incident in the docking bay," Parasini told us.
"I appreciate your help," John said.
"You're welcome. You understand our security chief was only doing her job. One of my duties is orientation of new arrivals. Do you have any questions?" Parasini asked.
"Pretty heavy security for such a small port," I noted. John gave a look that showed he agreed.
"The Executive Board does everything in its power to protect the privacy of our client corporations," Parasini explained.
"I can have my investigation hampered," John told her.
"Tread lightly. The Board can bury you in litigation. You'd need an asari lawyer to see the case through," she told him.
"Has anyone unusual passed through here recently?" John asked.
"Unusual? An asari Matriarch passed through a few days ago. Lady Benezia," she answered.
"Saren's flunky? Where?" Wrex asked.
"Can I speak with her?" John asked Parasini.
"Benezia left for the Peak 15 research complex days ago. To the best of my knowledge, she's still there," she answered.
"Could you tell me how to get there?" John asked her.
"You'll need to ask Administrator Anoleis for clearance to leave this port," Parasini told him.
"Where can we find this administrator?" I asked her.
"His office is on the main level. Left at the top of the elevator," she answered.
"Understood. Can we go in now?" John asked.
"Of course. If you need any help, you can ask me at the administrator's office," Parasini told him before leaving.
"If Lady Benezia is here, then it would be wise if we brought Liara along. She would know her mother better than we do," I told John. He nodded.
"I'll get Liara," Wrex said before leaving. After a little bit, Liara joined us. We went to the elevator. We all then went to the administrator's office. There we saw Parasini who let us in. Once in the office we saw a salarian at his desk, Anoleis.
"You will excuse me if I don't stand up. I have no time to entertain refugees from the urban blight called Earth," Anoleis said to us. My right eye twitch a little in annoyance.
"I'm here as a Spectre, not a human. Keep that in mind," John stated, sounded a little annoyed himself.
"Believe me, that is foremost in my mind. This greeting is a courtesy. I will only cooperate as required by the Executive Board. Businesses come here to avoid the second-guessing of galactic law," Anoleis said to him.
"Are you telling me you have no safety protocols?" John asked.
"Don't be ridiculous. Do you think a for-profit company would take no precautions against loss of life and material? Project leads have the final say here. Not meddlesome politicians," Anoleis said.
"Do you do business with Saren?" John asked him.
"Agent Saren? One of your Spectre compatriots? He's a major investor in Binary Helix corporation, which is one of Noveria's backers," Anoleis answered.
"I've heard an asari Matriarch is here. Benezia?" John asked next.
"She arrived a few days ago, accompanied by a personal escort and some cargo. She is up at Peak 15," he answered. The cargo got my attention more.
"What can you tell us about her cargo?" I asked.
"Large, heavy, and sealed. It passed weapons screening. Beyond that it is not our concern," Anoleis answered. There was most likely geth in that cargo.
"What did you mean by 'personal escort'?" John asked.
"The phrase itself-explanatory. Bodyguards attending to the safety of her person. Mainly asari commandos," Anoleis answered.
"Commandos? Don't you find that even a little suspicious?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.
"They followed all our regulations. I had no reason to forbid Lady Benezia from taking them," he told me.
"What brought her out here?" John asked.
"If I knew, I wouldn't be at liberty to say. She came here as Agent Saren's executor. She is here on business for Binary Helix. There were issues at Peak 15 that required Saren's attention," Anoleis answered.
"I'd like to see her immediately," John told him.
"I'm afraid you cannot. Peak 15 is a private facility in the Skadi Mountains. Regardless, there is a blizzard in the area. Shuttles are grounded, and surface access has been cut off," the salarian informed.
"Surface access, you say?"
"Cut off, I said. The roads are not suitable for travel. Don't make an issue of this, Shepard," Anoleis said.
"Just forget about him, Commander. If he won't help us then no one else here will," I told him. John agreed and we left Anoleis' office.
"Mr. Anoleis isn't the only one with a pass to leave Hanshan. You've never worked in the corporate world, have you, Commander? You can't bludgeon through bureaucracy," Parasini said to him.
"So it would seem. I need an alternative," John told her.
"Talk to Lorik Qui'in. You should be able to find him at the hotel bar. Can't say more. Not within earshot of Mr. Anoleis," Parasini told him. I smirked, a new way in. We thanked her and made our way to the hotel bar. Once at the bar, we walked up to a turian.
"Afternoon. Sit down, have a drink. What can I do for you?" Lorik asked.
"Are you Lorik Qui'in? I've heard you might be able to help me," John said to him.
"You are the Spectre that just arrived, are you not? What could an old turian like me possibly help you with?" Lorik asked him.
"I'm trying to find a way into the garage. I have places to go," John answered.
"You need a pass. How fortuitous. I'm the manager of the local Synthetic Insights office. For the moment, at least. Mr. Anoleis closed my office. He claims to be investigating reports of my corruption. The administrator is an interesting man. He has become quite wealthy since he took direct control of rents," Lorik said.
"I sense a connection there," John said.
"Indeed. I require evidence of Anoleis' actions. His hired goons are ransacking my office to find it. I suspect your goal lies outside this port. Mr. Anoleis would be disinclined to let you wander. If you recover the evidence from my office, I will give you my garage pass, as well as a sum of credits," Lorik compromised.
"You have a plan?" John asked.
"I do. However, there is one other-what is that charming human expression? 'Fly in the lotion'? Violence against Mr. Anoleis' thugs may be necessary. He had members of Hanshan's security team searching my offices. He is paying them under the table. Ms. Matsuo is unaware of their outside employment," Lorik informed. I smirked, maybe then I can punch Stirling a good one.
"I'll focus on trying to get your evidence. If I'm lucky, I won't have to fight anyone," John agreed.
"Excellent. Here is my pass to our offices. It will activate the door. The evidence is on my office computer. This OSD contains an encryption key to access it. Slide it into the drive and it will auto execute," Lorik told us. With that, we made our way to the offices. Once at the offices, two security guards were there.
"Freeze! Hanshan security. This office is sealed," the woman said.
"Lorik Qui'in gave me a pass in," John stated.
"Qui'in? Are you working with him? He's under investigation," the woman said.
"Anoleis is paying you to shake this place down. Does Captain Matsuo know you're here?" John asked.
"Hey, I'm not the one who wants Qui'in. Anoleis has a varren up his ass about this guy. How about this? You pretend you didn't see us, we'll pretend we didn't see you," she said before leaving. Unfortunately, there weren't some guards who thought the same. We had to shoot them down. We made our way upstairs and grabbed the evidence we needed. Making our way out of the office, we ran into Stirling and some of her guards.
"I don't think you're supposed to be in here, Shepard," Stirling said.
"You have me at a disadvantage, Miss…?" John asked.
"Oh, now you're going to show some respect? I'm Sergeant Kaira Stirling, Elanus Risk Control Services. Anoleis would throw you offworld for what you did here. I won't. You know what we did to cop killers on my world?" Stirling asked. I raised an eyebrow.
"You're here off-duty, breaking the law while taking bribe money, and you expect us to feel sorry for stopping you? Sorry, hun, not going to happen," I glared placing a hand on my hip.
"I didn't want to fight them. They fired first," John stated.
"Well, I don't need a gun to rip you to pieces," Stirling said. I sighed and used my biotics on her, pinning her to the wall.
"Indeed, neither do I, blondie," I said to her.
"Still no respect," she glared. I glared back with cold eyes.
"I don't give respect to bribe taking bitches," I said before killing her. John and Liara got the other two guards. John looked at me a little amused.
"'Bribe taking bitches'?" He asked. I shrugged.
"She acted like a bitch and took bride money," I said to him. He nodded and we made our way out of the offices. Once out of the elevator, Giana Parasini stood there.
"Commander. There've been reports of noise coming from the Synthetic Insights office. Would you know anything about it?" She asked.
"It's probably Anoleis' thugs ripping the place apart," John answered.
"Smartass, hm? That's fine. I can work with that. Meet me at the hotel for a drink, before you talk to Qui'in. I'll be waiting," she told him before leaving.
"I knew it," I muttered.
"Knew what, Paige?" Liara asked me.
"She's an undercover agent," I stated.
"How do you know?" John asked me.
"I have a knack for sniffing them out," I winked before walking off. I then heard them follow me as we made our way to the hotel. There we saw Parasini.
"Allow me to reintroduce myself. Parasini, Noveria Internal Affairs," Parasini told him. I smirked. Sometimes I amaze myself. John nudged me a little saying I was right.
"Why is an Internal Affairs again here?" John asked her.
"The Executive Board knows about Anoleis' corruption. I've been undercover for six months. I want you to convince Qui'in to testify before the Board. With his evidence, this planet can run profitably again," Parasini answered.
"I need Qui'in's garage pass to complete my mission," John stated.
"You help my investigation, I'll provide whatever you need. Favor for a favor," Parasini told him.
"In the long run, it is better to remove the source of the problem," Liara said.
"We would be helping more people if we did as she asked, Commander," I told him.
"Look, Shepard. I don't like this either. You Spectres play fast and loose with the law. That's bad for business," Parasini said.
"All right. I'll talk to Qui'in and see if I can convince him," John agreed.
"Thank you. You know where I work. Come talk to me once you know if he'll play ball," Parasini said before leaving. We then walked over to Qui'in.
"Always a pleasure, Spectre. Any news on the matter I asked you to look into?" Lorik asked us.
"I finished the job. But an Internal Affairs investigator contacted me. She wants you to testify against Anoleis," John stated.
"Now that you have my property, you want to dictate how I use it? I have no interest in a public spectacle," Qui'in glared.
"Everyone on this station is chafing under Anoleis' extortion. You might end up a hero," John persuaded.
"My employers rely on the goodwill of the Executive Board to work here," Lorik said.
"Actually, the Board is investigating Anoleis. I believe they will be more ticked at him than at you," I told him.
"All right! It is obvious that I cannot dissuade you," he agreed. Now to tell Parasini the good news. We made our way to the administrator's office and saw Parasini.
"Spectre. Have you given anymore consideration to my offer?" Parasini asked.
"It took some persuasion, but Qui'in has agreed to testify," John told her. Parasini sighed in relief.
"That's a world of stress off my back. I'll take the evidence for safe transport. I didn't think you'd help me. Being a Spectre and all. I guess some of you can be all right," she said to him.
"So how about getting me into the garage?" John asked.
"While you were working on Qui'in, I got you a garage pass. Be careful up there. I have an arrest to make. I wish I had time to change into something easy to move in. I hate skirts," Parasini grumbled. I chuckled.
"Hun, I feel your pain," I agreed. Skirts were a pain. She sent a small smile to me before heading to Anoleis' office. They both then came out with Anoleis struggling.
"This is an outrage! I'll see that you never work in this sector again!" Anoleis shouted.
"Yeah, yeah. Get a move on," Parasini told him. John and I shared a smirk as Anoleis came by us.
"You! Shepard! I demand you place this bitch under arrest!" Anoleis told him.
"You have the right to remain silent. I wish to God you'd exercise it. See you around the galaxy, Commander. I owe you a beer," Parasini said walked out with Anoleis.
"Well, now we have a garage to get to," I smiled at John. He sent a smile back and we all got moving. Once at the garage, we showed the guard woman the pass and were granted entry. We walked in and were attacked by geth which we took down. After we finished them off, Captain Matsuo walked in.
"What did you do here, Commander?" She demanded.
"Me? I'm the victim here! The geth attacked us!" He stated.
"Geth? You expect me to-where did they come from?" Matsuo asked.
"That cargo Lady Benezia had was holding geth inside," I told her.
"I do not believe that. We did thorough scans of those. There were no power sources, no element zero masses….If Benezia-sama's containers were packed with these things, there are many more out there," Matsuo said.
"I need numbers, Captain. A dozen? A hundred?" John asked.
"Dozens at least. They are machines. You could pack them tightly. I must go report to the Executive Board. If word gets out about loose geth, there may be an investor panic," Matsuo said before leaving. The three of us got in the Mako and drove up to Peak 15, taking down geth and other geth related machines along the way. We got out of the Mako and made our way in only to be attacked by more geth and a krogan. After they were gone, we opened the door and I raised an eyebrow.
"I wonder why the turrets are facing the wrong way," I mused.
"They want to keep their people in as much as they want to keep others out," Liara told me as we got in the elevator. I nodded. Once we were in a new area, we were attacked by geth that we all shot down. We then looked around cautiously for geth and heard something.
"What the bloody hell was that?" I asked.
"Animals? Wind? This place is in bad shape," Liara said. At least from the sound of her voice, that's what she hoped. I heard screeching and looked over seeing some kind of creature.
"Animal or wind, huh? That does not sound like wind or look like any animal I've ever seen!" I told her as I shot some down with the help of Liara and John. We moved on and soon found a VI system. I rewired it so I could get it to work. It appears we had to find a way to turn the power back on. We gathered all the information we could from the VI before moving on to the roof to turn on the landline. Of course we were attacked by those creatures again as well. After finishing up there, we went to another area where we had to fight geth and turn on the Main Reactor. That was finished and we moved on to the next area, finding a dead salarian along the way. Finally, we boarded a tram that would take us to the next place where hopefully Benezia would be. The Rift Station. We got off the tram and found two elevators, one was locked down so we went into the other. The door opened after we made it up and we saw soldiers.
"Stand down," a man told the other soldiers. He looked at us. "Sorry. We couldn't be sure what was on the tram," he told us.
"Can those things work a train's controls?" John asked.
"Hell if I know. I'm not assuming any-goddamn-thing. Look. You're human, and that's enough that I won't shoot. But I'd like to know who you are," the Captain said.
"My name's Shepard. I'm a Spectre," John told him.
"Huh. I won't look a heavily-armed horse in the mouth. The aliens overran the hot labs last week. Only Han Olar got out, and he ain't all there anymore. The first we knew, the bastards were clawing into my command post. We had a lot more staff then," the Captain told us.
"You were taken by surprise and had civilians to protect. You did a good job, Captain," John said.
"Yeah? Sure as hell doesn't feel like it. The Board sent and asari to clean up the mess. She went to the hot labs yesterday. We haven't heard from her since," the Captain informed.
"I'm not going to let any of your people die," John promised.
"All I can do is hold out here and protect the civilians. There's an emergency elevator out by the trams. This card will let you activate it. It can take you down to the hot labs. Oh, if you need any first-aid, Dr. Cohen's downstairs in the med bay," the Captain told us.
"Well, looks like we've got work to do," I mused.
"Yeah, I hear th-," the Captain was cut off by a screech. "Hell! Man the perimeter!" He ordered his men. Two of those creatures showed up and we shot them down. "Thanks for the help. Every few hours, a group comes up the tram tunnel. It's actually better since we locked down the elevator. I don't know why they keep throwing themselves against our defenses. Even animals should learn not to stick their noses where it hurts," the Captain said to us. We had to agree with that. We left and went to the elevator he suggested which led us up to where the refugees were. We talked with an Asari named Alestia Iallis. She was suspicious to me. We then talked to a Dr. Palon. We gained little information though. Afterwards, we went to the med bay and talked to Dr. Zev Cohan. Turns out the people who were in the quarantine were infected with a toxin from the creatures. If we want to see the notes and equipment, then we have to persuade Captain Ventralis to let us in. Once in, we get the data and everything that's needed, then we can bring it back and make a cure for the people that were infected with the toxin. We said that we would be back and went back to see Captain Ventralis. "Something you need?" Captain Ventralis asked.
"I've heard about the problems in the quarantine lab. I'd like to recover the toxin cure," John told him.
"God. I wish we could help those guys. I really do. But we can't risk contamination now," Captain Ventralis said.
"We're not part of your defense plans. We're consuming extra rations, extra medi-gel…" John said to him.
"Yeah. But you also have extra guns. All right. You want to gamble with your life, you're not under my command. I'll have the guard let you in, but he'll lock the door behind you. He'll run a full scan before he'll let you out. If there are any anomalies, you stay in there," Captain Ventralis warned.
"Those are reasonable precautions," John agreed.
"I'll radio ahead to let the guard know. Good luck," Captain Ventralis said shaking hands with the Commander. We then left to head to the hot labs. Once in the lab, he saw a Volus who looked at us.
"You came to find out about them, didn't you?" He asked.
"You mean those things out there?" I asked him.
"Yes. I'm the only survivor from the hot lab, you know," he answered. So this was Han Olar.
"I need to know more about those things out there," John said to him.
"About the rachni?" Olar asked.
"'Rachni'? I think I've heard about that somewhere," I mused.
"Where did they come from?" John asked Olar.
"They found it in a derelict ship. An egg. Waiting since the last battles. They brought it here-"
"Shut up! God. You want to get us killed?" the human scientist hissed at Olar.
"I don't have any control over who lives or dies here. Do you?" Olar retorted.
"If you're going to be crazy, be the quiet kind," the turian scientist told him.
"Crazy? I'm sane. God, am I sane," Olar said to himself.
"I need to know everything about the rachni," John said to him.
"I told you all I can. We brought the rachni back from the dead. In retrospect, a bad decision," Olar replied.
"I heard you were at the hot labs. How did you make it out alive?" John asked him.
"I killed her," Olar answered.
"'Her'? Who did you kill?" I asked him.
"Doctor Zhonmua. We were going to lunch when the alarms went off. I ran into the tram. And I close the doors. She banged on the window once. Then they sliced her to pieces. Her head came apart like a melon. I close the door. I killed her," Olar said, guilt was obvious in his voice. I frowned feeling sorry for him.
"Tell me what you know. I'll make your survival mean something," John said to him obviously hearing the guilt too.
"You think I want absolution? There is none," Olar sighed.
"Could Matriarch Benezia survive in the hot labs?" John asked.
"It's possible. The specimens were sensitive to biotics," he informed.
"Well, that works well for me and Liara," I mused as we said goodbye to Olar. We walked over to the hot labs were a turian guard waited.
"You're not part of the crew," he stated.
"I have Ventralis' permission to go in there," John told him.
"Yeah, he radioed. He also said you have to prove you're not contaminated to get out. You got a death wish, you should stand watches on the barricade," the turian said before letting us in. Once inside the room, we looked around for everything we would need. We finally found the data that Dr. Cohen needed.
"Your mission ends here, Shepard," we heard. We turned to find Alestia there.
"I had a feeling we couldn't trust her. I should have knocked her out on the spot," I muttered to John. "You're a sleeper agent for Benezia," I stated looking at Alestia.
"I was ordered to eliminate you, should the opportunity arise. And here you are, trapped in this lab. Weapons free!" She ordered two geth and an asari commando. We shot them down and Liara and I used our biotics to help us out. Once they were killed, we walked out to see the guard dead.
"They came out of there," Olar said to us.
"You mean the ge-the inorganics the asari had with her?" John asked him.
"Benezia brought them with her," he answered.
"How can I get into the maintenance area?" John asked needing to know.
"A team lead would have access. Like Dr. Cohen. He's in the medical bay," Olar answered. We thanked him and went back to Dr. Cohen.
"Is that the cure? You did it?" Dr. Cohen asked.
"That asari scientist-the one in the mess hall-she just tried to kill us," John stated.
"Alestia? That's unbe-! I=I don't know much about her. She arrived a month ago. Once of the shareholders pulled strings to get her here," Dr. Cohen said.
"Let me take a wild guess here and say it was a Spectre named Saren," I said to him.
"Yes. I think that was the name. I don't pay attention to the other research teams. Look. The guards. They've been more on edge since you got here. I think they were expecting you. There are more labs in the back. The guards won't even let me back there. Just people with 'clearance'," he told us.
"What about the maintenance area? Do you have access to that?" John asked.
"The maintenance area? Yes, take my pass. But there's just snow back there. Let me see that phial. An extension on Phelps' work? I thought he was on the right track. I can't thank you enough. God. What a cliché. You save their lives, you know that?" The doctor asked.
"Could you spare a few medical packs? They're worth their weight in gold up here," John told him. No doubt that we really need them right now.
"You didn't get these from me. Ventralis wanted them saved for his people. I need to administer this. Thanks again," Dr. Cohen said before getting to work. We left the med bay and made our way to the maintenance area. We had to take down some rachni along the way, but finally made it to the maintenance area. There we saw Benezia.
"You do not know the privilege of being a mother. There is power in creation. To shape a life. Turn it toward happiness or despair," Benezia said looking a rachni. I glared at her. How the hell would she know anything about us? "Her children were to be ours. Raised to hunt and slay Saren's enemies. I won't be moved by sympathy. No matter who you bring into this confrontation," Benezia said looking at Liara.
"Liara's here because she wants to be. Not because I asked her to," John replied.
"Indeed? What have you told him about me, Liara?" Benezia asked.
"What could I say, mother? That you're insane? Evil? Should I explain how to kill you? What could I say?" Liara asked almost looking like she wanted to cry. I grabbed her hand, giving it a squeeze. She squeezed back in thanks before we let go.
"Have you face and an asari commando unit before? Few humans have," Benezia said. I glared at her.
"I can't believe you'd kill your own daughter!" I growled.
"I now realize I should have been stricter with her," Benezia said activating her biotics. She was about to attack until I threw up a biotics shield to protect us. Some asari commandos and geth came in and starts shooting. We shot them down and walked up to Benezia, trapping her in. "This is not over. Saren is unstoppable. My mind is filled with his light. Everything is clear."
"The rachni didn't cooperate with you. Why should I?" John asked.
"I will not betray him. You will-you….You must listen. Saren still whispers in my mind. I can fight his compulsion briefly. But the indoctrination is strong," Benezia said to us.
"Why are you able to break free of his control now?" John asked her suspicious.
"I sealed a part of my mind away from the indoctrination. Saving it for a moment when I could help destroy him. It will not last long," Benezia answered.
"So you could turn on me again," John stated.
"Yes. But it would not be my will, Shepard. People are not themselves around Saren. You come to idolize him. Worship him. You would do anything for him. The key is Sovereign, his flagship. It is a dreadnought of incredible size and its power is extraordinary," Benezia informed
"Sovereign's not like other ships. Where did it come from?" John asked.
"I cannot say. The geth did not build it. Its technology is far more advance than that of any known species. The longer you stay aboard, the more Saren's will seems correct. You sit at his feet and smile as his words pour into you. It is subtle at first. I thought I was strong enough to resist. Instead, I became a willing tool, eager to serve. He sent me here to find the location of the Mu Relay. Its position was lost thousands of years ago," Benezia informed.
"How does something that big go missing?" John asked.
"Four thousand years ago, a star nearby went supernova. The shockwave propelled the relay out of its system, but did not damage it. Its precise vector and speed are impossible to determine. As millennia passed, the nebula created by the nova enveloped the relay. It is difficult to find any cold object in interstellar space. Particularly something swathed in hot dust and radiation," she explained.
"Someone on Noveria found it?" John asked her.
"Two thousand years ago, the rachni inhabited that region of our galaxy. They discovered the relay. The rachni can share memories across generations. Queens inherit the knowledge of their mothers. I took the location of the relay from the queen's mind. I was not gentle," Benezia said looking guilty.
"Why does Saren need the Mu Relay?" John asked.
"He believes it will lead him to the Conduit. I would tell you more if I could, but Saren did not share his counsel with me. I was merely a servant to his cause," she answered.
"You did the rachni find it?" I asked her.
"They searched, patiently. They are territorial creatures, driven to close any possible way into their systems," Benezia told me.
"You can still make it right. Give me the information," John told her.
"I was not myself, but-I should have been stronger. I transcribed the data to an OSD. Take it. Please," Benezia said handing him the OSD.
"Knowing the relay's coordinates is not enough. Do you know where he planned to go from there?" Liara asked.
"Saren wouldn't tell me his destination. But you must find out quickly. I transmitted the coordinates to him before you arrived. You have to stop-me. I can't-his teeth are at my ear. Fingers on my spine. You should-uh, you should-," Benezia struggled for control.
"Mother, I-don't leave! Fight him!" Liara told her desperate.
"You've always made me proud, Liara," Benezia told her. She was quiet for a moment before turning. "-Die!" She started attacking and…we took her down. "I cannot go on. You will have to stop him, Shepard," she told him as she sat there on the ground before standing shakily as she leaned on the railing.
"Hold on. We've medi-gel, maybe we can-!" John tried to help her.
"No. He is still in my mind. I am not entirely myself. I never will be again," Benezia said backing up to a wall.
"Mother…" Liara choked.
"Good night, Little Wing. I will see you again with the dawn," Benezia told her daughter as she slid down. "No light? They always said there would be-ah…" Benezia then died. Liara looked down trying not to cry and I wrapped arm around her shoulders as I led her away a little bit. We heard a screech and turned to see one of the 'dead' asari commandos and John pointing a gun at her. The Asari moved and stood in front of the rachni queen that moved.
"This one. Serves as our voice. We cannot sing. Not in these low spaces. Your musics are colorless," the rachni queen said as we walked over.
"Musics? What?" John asked confused.
"Your way of communicating is strange. Flat. It does not color the air. When we speak, one moves all. We are the mother. We sing for those left behind. The child you thought silenced. We are rachni," the rachni queen said through the asari. John looked at the rachni queen.
"How are you speaking through her?" He asked.
"Our kind sing through touchings of thought. We pluck the strings, and the other understands. She is weak to urging. She has colors we have no names for. But she is ending. Her music is bittersweet. It is beautiful. The children we birthed were stolen from us before they could learn to sing. They are lost to silence. End their suffering. They cannot be saved. They will only cause harm as they are," the rachni queen said to him.
"I don't understand. Why are your children killing people?" John asked.
"These needle-men. They stole our eggs from us. They sought to turn out children into beasts of war. Claws with no songs of their own. Our elders are comfortable with silence. Children know only fear if no one sings to them. Fear has shattered their minds," the rachni queen said.
"I understand. A child left along in a closet until she is sixteen would not be sane," Liara explained. That I had to agree with. No one to guide her would leave her with no sense of right or wrong.
"If you're sure they can't be saved," John said wanting the queen to be sure.
"It is lamentable. But necessary. Do what you must. Before you deal with our child, we stand before you. What will you sing? Will you release us? Are we to fade away once more?" The rachni queen asked.
"They seem genuine, John. She's even asking you to kill her children that would hurt people…I think we should free her," I said to him softly. I know they are strong creatures and can be dangerous, but from what she's told us, I know she wants peace.
"Paige is right. They made a mistake. They let the krogan go too far. This is a chance for us to atone. She has done nothing to us," Liara agreed.
"Your companions hear the truth. You have the power to free us, or return out people to the silence of memory," the rachni queen said to him.
"I won't destroy your entire race. You'll go free," John told her.
"You will give us the chance to compose anew? We will remember. We will sing of your forgiveness to our children," the rachni queen told in grateful. John looked at me and nodded. I smiled and went to the panel to set the rachni free. The cage rose and the asari dropped dead again. The rachni looked at John who nodded for her to go on, she left then. We left next and made our way up to the hot labs where we saw a scientist.
"Are you here to secure the situation?" He asked us.
"How are you holding up?" John asked.
"You must listen to me. If we do not contain our mistake, they will drop bombs from the battlestations. You understand?" The man asked.
"You let these things out?" John asked with narrowed eyes.
"Ehh. I am only following the orders. Binary Helix found an egg. It was on a derelict ship, thousands of years drifting. This was rachni ship. Inside they find many eggs in cryogenic suspension," the scientist told us.
"A thousand-year-old egg hatched?" I asked.
"Yes. Very tough, to be so long frozen. That it survived the centuries-this is miraculous," the doctor said. I raised an eyebrow.
"With how things are going right now, I wouldn't consider this a miracle," I retorted.
"Binary Helix plan to clone rachni. Mass-produce them. Create an army. But when they get here, they find this egg is not a common rachni. It is a queen. After she lays eggs, they move her to Rift Station. They are thinking that without her, they can raise the babies to be obedient," the man told us.
"Hold on. Don't you need a male to get eggs?" John pointed out.
"Queens are born carrying the genetic code of their fathers. Eggs are carried away from the colony to hatch alone. Queens can lay eggs in hours, and have a colony in days. This is how they spread so quickly," he answered.
"Separating them from their mother didn't work," John stated.
"Ehh. This was exactly the wrong thing to do. I am thinking that without a queen, rachni do not develop properly. Her mind is shaping theirs. These rachni are uncontrollable," the man told us.
"Then all we need to do is bring her here," John said.
"No. I am sorry, but this will not work. These rachni are beyond saving. It is a sad thing, but they must be euthanized. I am thinking that a neutron purge must be set off," the scientist told him.
"I'm not familiar with the purge system," John told him.
"It creates bursts of neutron radiation. Kills everything within the station. Things beyond get genetic damage of varying degree," the man explained.
"How do we set off the purge?" John asked.
"Arming controls are nearby. All you do is insert the key. Then I will give Mira destruct co-UH!" A claw stabbed the scientist and we saw a rachni. The scientist was thrown aside and we shot the rachni down. I ran over and grabbed the key we needed, silently saying a prayer as I did so. We then worked on setting off the purge. We used the key and ordered Mira to set off the destruction counter. We had to shoot our way out after we finished setting up the purge. We couldn't kill all the rachni, but made it to the elevator before any of us could get hurt. It was finished and we went to the train back to Peak 15, the drove back to the port to bet back on the Normandy. We changed out of our armor and went to the comm room, taking our seats. Liara wanted to be alone at the moment so she didn't join us.
"What's our next move, Commander? Head the Mu Relay?" Ashely asked.
"The Me Relay could link to dozens of systems. Unless we know exactly where Saren's going, we'd just be wasting our time," John answered.
"The Commander is right. We can't just rush go in blind. We need more information to help us," I agreed.
"What about Liara? She is an expert on the Protheans," Garrus suggested.
"Yeah, right. Her mother was working for Saren. I bet she is, too," Ashley said.
"Benezia helped us in the end. After all, she was being controlled because of Saren and Sovereign. Liara is with us all the way, Ash. You can't just throw accusations like that around," I told her. Ashley sighed knowing I was right.
"This is a tough mission. We're all on edge. Everyone go get some rest. Crew…dismissed!" John told all of us. I smiled at him before going to my room. Once inside, I took a locket out of my shirt. Meeting Benezia while having Liara with us, it brought some memories back to me. I didn't even hear the door open. "Paige?" I heard John asked softly. I closed the locket and looked at him.
"John, what is it you needed?" I asked him.
"I just came to see how you were doing. Are you okay?" He asked taking a seat next to me on the bed. I sighed nodding a little.
"Yeah, just meeting Benezia and talking about mothers…it just brought back some memories," I told him.
"You mean that locket?" He asked looking at it. I opened it and showed him. It was a picture of my one year old daughter Alita. "You have a child?" He asked shocked as he looked at the picture.
"Had," I corrected softly. "We were at a human colony when some batarians attacked. My husband and daughter were killed," I told him. John frowned and wrapped an arm around me.
"I'm sorry for your loss, Paige," he said to me. I gave a small smile.
"It's alright. It was five years ago now. It still hurts, but the pain has gotten better," I replied. I wiped a stray tear away. "Just don't pity me, alright? I got enough of that to last me a life time, maybe even another," I told him.
"You got it," he agreed with a small smile.
"So, where are we heading next?" I asked him.
"Virmire. The Council told me that Saren is there due to some leads. You and Kaidan will be coming along with me," he told me. I nodded.
"Good. Just let me know when we get there," I said to him. He nodded and left after giving my shoulder a squeeze. I then laid down to get some rest.