Caution: The effects of the RED BEAM may vary from the game to the way it is presented in this story. I think that in my story it is actually slightly more ORANGE than RED.
Chapter 123 - Compassion of the Queen
"We've got reports of a strong Reaper force preparing to make one final push," Samantha Traynor urgently announces from the Normandy CIC. "The Hammer command post informs us that the Harbinger has left London to rejoin attack on the Crucible, and it is accompanied by a dozen more Reaper ships!"
"Keelah, oh why is that thing not firing yet!" Lia'Vael exclaims, staring at the Citadel, and the Crucible attached to it, like a tiny glowing spider in the middle of a large web.
"Energy spike from the Crucible power relays detected," EDI reports suddenly, the ancient super-weapon together with the rest of the Citadel slowly beginning to bask in a warning red glow. "Discharge in approximately forty-five seconds."
"Should we... I don't know, be here, when it fires?" Lia'Vael asks, unable to keep a little hint of panic from creeping into her voice, especially as she sees the Harbinger and the other Reapers drawing closer, soon to reach the firing range from which they can begin targeting the Crucible and the Citadel.
As if on cue, Admiral Hackett's orders come loud and clear on the comms. "All fleets except the Alliance First, drop to the safe zone immediately! First Fleet, protect the Crucible at all costs! Everyone else, retreat immediately!"
"I guess that answers our questions," Samantha mutters hurriedly. "Lia, get us out of here, now!"
"On it!" Lia'Vael shouts back, quickly getting the Normandy ready for a short range FTL jump. The last thing she sees before the ship escapes the close proximity of the Crucible, is the red glow around the Citadel intensifying and Harbinger and the other Reapers opening their fire, but the Alliance ships throw themselves in their path again, one last sacrifice before the Crucible is able to discharge the accumulated energy.
For a while, everything is silent and calm. "Well... did it work?" Traynor finally asks, holding her breath.
"Yes, it worked. The Crucible has fired. The energy beam appears to be aimed towards the Charon Relay," EDI reports. "I would extrapolate that it is intended to use the relay system to amplify and discharge the energy through the entire network of relays."
"But what about the Reapers, have they been..." Lia'Vael's question is cut short, as suddenly a strange surge of bright red energy is upon them, rocking the Normandy as it passes through and by them, spreading across the entire Sol System. "Keelah... what was that?"
"I think that wave was supposed to have wiped out the Reapers..." Samantha replies slowly. "Not sure if it worked, I'm trying to raise the fleet command... did it cause any damage to the Normandy, Lia?"
"I'm... uncertain..." Lia'Vael nar Ulnay replies, slowly and hesitantly. "Everything seems fine, however... I have lost control of several systems, and... EDI, could you check whether... uh, EDI?"
Samantha suddenly feels herself gripped by cold fear. "Don't tell me, Lia... EDI appears offline..."
"Yes... EDI is offline. Do you know why?"
"She was created while being heavily based on Reaper code, so... if the Crucible was supposed to destroy the Reapers, it might have not... made the distinction between EDI and... our enemies," Traynor replies slowly, trying hard not to break out in sobs.
"I... I had no idea... oh no, I can't believe this..." Lia'Vael is not doing as good a job at controlling her emotions and Samantha Traynor quickly abandons the CIC, rushing to the bridge, moments later pulling the distraught quarian into her embrace, finally allowing her own tears to fall.
"This is madness, you know that, Garrus?" Tali asks, as they gently edge forward to where according to EDI's reports, Liara and Aria lay injured, the two nearby destroyers still continuing to aim their particle beams at anyone moving towards the Citadel relay.
"Perhaps you should have retreated to safety," EDI nods in agreement. "As I told you before, the destruction of this platform would not equal my non-functionality, unlike if you were to be blasted by the Reaper beam."
"A little pointless to debate about that now," the turian replies, watching the destroyer movement warily. Both sentient machines of destruction have started to move across the battlefield, leaving them trapped in the middle between the two Reapers, and they patiently wait for the giant monstrosities to pass on by before they begin their sprint onwards.
"I believe our friends have been trapped under that tank directly ahead of us," EDI says, pointing ahead.
"Still not getting anything from Liara on the comms," Tali says, shrugging. "At least the life signs are still stable... I hope?"
"They are," EDI replies. "You may wish to look directly above us. I believe the sight might be considered as an... encouraging sign."
"Keelah! The Citadel's arms are opening!" Tali breathes out. "The Admiral has done it! They can dock the Crucible now!"
"Or Shepard has done it... I refuse to believe that she is dead," Garrus says sternly. "Anyway, Tali, have you tried reaching Aria on the comms?"
"I, err, haven't tried, but... uh, could you, Garrus?" Tali asks hesitantly. "She's a little..."
"Oh... scary and intimidating?" Garrus chuckles, watching his lover reply with an embarrassed nod. "It's okay, Tali, I'll handle it," he says, activating the comms. "Aria? Aria, do you copy? This is Archangel, coming to valiantly rescue you!"
The first few sentences that Garrus hears in reply are composed entirely out of swearwords, and he winces just from listening to the long and colorful litany. "Ah, you're alright then, Aria, my dear," he chuckles in reply. "We see the tank you're slacking under, don't worry. What about Liara, is she unconscious? We can't raise her on the comms." There is more buzz on the comms as Aria elaborates, this time using less swearing. "Right, I see. We're on our way as soon as the destroyers move past our position. Just sit tight and don't make a lot of noise." More and more swearing accompanies that last message, Garrus rolling his eyes as he listens to Aria's outbreak. "That was definitely a lot of noise, Aria. See you in five, darling."
"Garrus, do you want to die?" Tali hisses, her posture radiating incredulity. "Speaking with Aria T'Loak like that, are you mad?"
"Eh, I'm sure she won't mind after we've rescued her," Garrus replies, shrugging his shoulders.
After a few more minutes of agonizing waiting, the destroyers finally do move past and they break out of their cover and begin sprinting towards the destroyed tank, Garrus and EDI grabbing a loose piece of the hull and trying to lift the vehicle, while Tali stands by ready to pull the two injured asari from their entrapment under the tank. After a lot of huffing and puffing from Garrus, but mostly due to EDI's actual effort, the tank is slowly lifted off the ground and Tali peers under it, first noticing Aria, curled in a tight little ball, reaching a hand out to the Pirate Queen but finding it batted away angrily. "Get T'Soni out, I can help myself," Aria exclaims, pulling herself out from under the ruined vehicle.
Tali squeezes almost completely under the damaged tank, praying to the ancestors that her friends do not let the vehicle drop, grabbing Liara by her shoulders and beginning to pull her out, slowly, trying not to worsen her friend's considerable injuries. Liara responds to her efforts with a series of groans, eventually being pulled out to safety, but her condition makes for a sad sight, the asari is almost entirely coated in a mix of blood and mud, clearly requiring more serious medical attention than they are able to provide on the spot.
"Spirits, Aria... your face," Garrus manages, looking at the Pirate Queen, the asari remaining to sit on her knees and breathing heavily, trying to gather her bearings and recover her strength. There's a deep scar across the left side of her face, something has cut her and also taken out her eye in the process, her cheek and chin all coated in blood.
"Yes, I'm aware of that. I won't be winning any more Miss Omega contests, that's a given," she snaps back, irritated, then looking up skywards, letting out a small gasp at the sight before her. "What the fuck is going on up there?" she asks, seeing that the Citadel's arms are now opened wide, the entire space station bathed in bright red glow.
"I am receiving constant updates from the fleet command," EDI replies, scanning Liara for injuries, the asari drifting in and out of consciousness as Tali does her best to clean and dress her injuries to prevent any chance of infection. "The Crucible has docked on the Citadel and is ready to be activated."
"Don't like the looks of that glow," Aria mutters, keeping her sole healthy eye at the Citadel, anticipating the moment of the activation of the Prothean super-weapon.
"That red glow certainly looks ominous, but I am more concerned about Liara," Garrus turns towards EDI and Tali.
"I detect multiple complicated fractures and heavy concussion, but there is nothing life-threatening, no internal bleeding," EDI replies. "She needs proper medical care to avoid infection from setting in. Perhaps we will be able to call in the Normandy for extraction if the Crucible performs according to its specification."
Liara groans once more, finally opening her eyes, the asari appears to be in a lot of pain. "...Shepard..." she breathes out only one word.
Garrus and Tali exchange quick glances, nobody responding immediately. "Someone made it to the Citadel and opened its arms, Liara," finally Garrus speaks. "We think it might have been Shepard."
EDI turns her head towards Garrus, and it looks like the AI is about to correct him, but then deciding to remain silent, almost as if she would have finally understood the importance of hope. "Knew... she would..." Liara manages, despite Tali hushing her, trying to tell her not to overexert her strength.
"The Crucible has been protected from the last attack by the Reapers, and it is about to fire," EDI reports tonelessly, as they all abandon what they have been doing, eyes peeled at the Citadel above, even Liara managing to keep her eyes open, quietly praying that Shepard would survive what is to come.
"...what the fuck is that?" Aria gasps as for a moment the whole giant structure glows bright orange, before firing a massive red beam somewhere into the space. "Was that supposed to hit all the Reapers? Lousy aim if you ask me!" she gesticulates wildly at the nearby destroyers, continuing to stroll around as if nothing had happened.
"That beam was aimed at the Charon Relay," EDI explains. "I believe there is also a secondary wave of energy released by the Crucible that is about to reach us... now."
Suddenly everything around them glows bright red, the feeling as if some kind of unperceivable cleansing wave blows by them, but it lasts only a few seconds and then it is gone, moving on, sweeping across the surface of the entire planet. Realizing that he has instinctively taken Tali's hand in his, fearing that this wave would vaporize them all, Garrus releases his lover's hand, turning towards the destroyers and watching them both stagger, unable to walk, ripples of bright red lightning crackling across the surface of the monstrous creatures, before they topple over and collapse unmoving, one of them nearly falling backwards and on top of them.
"Bloody hell, I didn't believe it would work," Aria says, her sole healthy eye blinking in surprise.
"They've done it... spirits, they've done it..." Garrus exclaims, unable to believe his eyes.
While everyone's attention is on watching the destroyers crumbling to the ground lifeless, Liara's eyes are chained on EDI. Their synthetic friend has gone completely silent after the red energy pulse blew by them. Her eyes have closed and while she remains standing upright, there seems to be something wrong with her. "EDI!" Liara lets out a scream as she finally sees the AI's platform slowly toppling forward and collapsing heavily in the mud, unmoving, rendered completely inactive.
"Keelah... EDI, what is wrong with EDI?" Tali gasps, abandoning Liara for a moment and jumping to EDI's side, bringing up her omni-tool to make some quick scans, but they all show the same thing, EDI is offline and unresponsive. "...she was built using the Reaper code, wasn't she? Oh... oh, no... that means the Crucible would have..."
"Destroyed her..." Liara whispers, tears starting to flow across her cheeks freely.
"Perhaps we will find a way to bring her back?" Garrus asks, trying to remain hopeful, but Tali shakes her head.
"I doubt that, Garrus. Her personality matrix was so deeply engrained within the Reaper code that if we did reactivate it, she would retain very few of the traits that... made her the EDI we knew and loved..." she explains, her heart breaking in sorrow as she moves back to sit next to Liara, pulling her asari friend to rest in her lap, soothingly wrapping her arms around Liara.
As they are still overcome by shock and grief of EDI's sudden collapse, Aria lets out a scream of rage and anguish. Knowing that the Pirate Queen clearly would not be so upset over EDI's demise, the others notice that she is still looking skyward, also raising their faces towards the sky, shuddering from the view opening before their eyes. The Citadel is rocking with explosions following the discharge of the Crucible beam, and one of the arms has already shattered into millions of pieces, the whole structure looking as if it is about to come apart.
"No... no, this cannot be happening!" Tali exclaims, horrified. "All those people!"
"Shepard..." Liara manages, shivering frantically. "Get to her... please... save her..."
"For once you have the right idea, T'Soni!" Aria jumps to her feet, shrugging off the pain that grips her damaged frame. "Where the fuck is that relay? I've got to get up there!"
"Are you crazy, Aria? The whole thing is coming apart!" Garrus rises with her, giving the asari an incredulous stare.
"Don't even try to stop me, Vakarian," Aria snarls at him, enraged that he would attempt to stop or discourage her. "I came here with the sole purpose to save those few I care about, and if I give up on them now, this whole venture would have been a complete waste. So stay out of my way, or I swear I am going to give you the beating you deserve for crossing me back on Omega!"
"Go with her, Garrus..." Liara speaks quietly. "Get Shepard out of there... please..."
Garrus hesitates for a moment, but Tali speaks up for him before the turian can reply. "Liara, I need him to remain here with us, we can't abandon you in the state you're in."
"Aria... Aria, you'll look for Shepard too... won't you?" Liara then faces the other asari with a desperate stare. "Please... I beg you..."
"She's not my priority, T'Soni," Aria replies sharply, but then her features soften a little. "But... I will try to do what I can," she adds, throwing another uncomfortable look at the sky above her where the Citadel is still being wracked by explosions, the tip of another arm slowly starting to disintegrate.
"Please..." Liara manages once more, starting to shake in choking sobs, Tali hugging her tighter and Aria withdraws, before anyone can notice the shadow of emotions, sorrow and sympathy, quickly crossing her face, turning around and starting to run towards the relay leading up towards the Citadel.
The experience of being pulled through the relay beam, in a matter of moments finding herself in some dark hallway of the Citadel is not something that Aria T'Loak wishes to repeat. Her stomach is heaving violently, and the sights that open before her eyes do not help when she is already feeling ill, barely keeping herself from vomiting. The chamber she has landed in appears to be filled with corpses of humans, but she does not stop to wonder about their purpose of being here, immediately starting to look for an exit out of the chamber.
The Citadel is still being rocked by violent shakes and explosions, but at least the part of the station she has ended up in appears to be sturdy and undamaged, which does not hold true for the next system of walkways she emerges onto, they are partially collapsed and filled with rubble. While walking and jumping across the obstacles in her way, she attempts to contact Tevos on her omni-tool, but there is no response no matter how many times she tries to get through.
Dark thoughts begin to cloud her head, of Tevos possibly having been in the section of the Citadel that had disintegrated following the explosion or of them all having been killed by the Reaper ground forces that would have tried to seize control of the station after its capture. Aria is desperate to make contact with the councilor, but lacking options of how to reach Tevos, she eventually decides to link into the C-Sec comm channel, hoping that one of her many stolen access codes are still working.
There is some chatter on the channel between several officers, and for a while she simply listens, hoping that perhaps the topic of the Council and therefore Tevos will come up, but they never do mention her. Once or twice, she thinks that she recognizes the voice of that insufferable Commander of the C-Sec. What's his name... Bailey, something? I think. Don't care, really, but if anyone would know about Tevos and the Council, it would be him...
She stops, deciding to risk it, speaking on the comms. "Commander Bailey of the C-Sec, please respond. This is Aria T'Loak, I must speak with you at once."
The chatter on the channel ceases instantly and for several moments there is a deadly silence, until she hears Bailey's voice, the man sounding rather surprised. "Miss T'Loak, it is certainly unexpected to hear your voice on this channel... if I may inquire, how did you get the access codes to tap into C-Sec communications?"
"Is this really your biggest concern right now, Bailey?" she snarls angrily, unwilling to waste time on trivialities. "Also, engage privacy mode, what I have to say is not for everyone to hear."
"I'm sorry, miss T'Loak, but having a private conversation on the C-Sec channel with someone of your chequered reputation... I'm afraid it is quite impossible. If you have something to say, do so quickly before I have locked you out of this channel," comes the frustrating reply.
Aria grinds her teeth, feeling herself backed into the corner. "Fine. Do you know of the whereabouts of the Council, Commander Bailey?"
"Yes, I do, as a matter of fact," Bailey's reply is prompt. "I am currently together with two of them. Councilor Sparatus assisted me in getting Councilor Tevos to the medical facilities on the Level 33 of Tayseri Ward."
Aria feels her body becoming a little numb from fear she is not accustomed to feeling. "Is she going to make it? I'd hate for the asari to get some new councilor, this bitch owes me a lot of favors," she bluffs, hoping to hide her true interest in Tevos' wellbeing.
"She appears to be in a stable condition for now. Unless the Citadel arm housing the Tayseri Ward is destroyed, we should be fine here," Bailey replies. "That said, the explosions have been growing less frequent... I hope that means that the Citadel is safe once again..."
"Thank you for the information, Commander Bailey," she replies, feeling a great weight falling off her shoulders. "Another question, if I may?"
"Err... sure, miss T'Loak," Bailey replies, sounding a little stunned by how cordial she is being.
"Did you happen to encounter two young asari together with Councilor Tevos?" Aria asks, holding her breath for Rila and Falere.
"Yes... yes, as a matter of fact, we did. They assisted us in the councilor's rescue," Bailey replies. "We have been unable to pull any ID on them. Who are they to you, miss T'Loak?"
Damn it, Aria swears inwardly. I have exposed myself too much. But I just had to know, it was killing me inside. Damn that Shepard, with her nonsense that these feelings make you stronger, the shit they do!
Shepard. Suddenly her thoughts are drawn to the human woman who has done so much for her in the short amount of time they have known each other. She remembers Liara's face when she begged for her to find the Commander, her lover, her bondmate. The urgency of needing to get to Tevos and the girls is gone, she knows that they are safe with Bailey. I could try to find and save her, if she's still alive. I... I owe that much to her and T'Soni... they have been... decent to me, even when I hadn't done much to deserve it. They have been... friends.
"Bailey?" she calls out on the comms. "What is the place from which you can open and close the arms of the Citadel? And how can I get there?"
"Citadel Control... why would you want to go there, miss T'Loak?" comes the suspicious reply.
"Because that's where Shepard must have headed," Aria speaks curtly. "I want to save her if I can."
"That's... very noble of you," Bailey sounds part disbelieving, part shocked. "Allow me to check your coordinates in relation to... heh, would you look at that? You're directly under the platform that houses the control cluster. Good luck, miss T'Loak."
"Thanks, Bailey," she summons her last vestiges of politeness, starting to look around and upwards, seeing the platform that Bailey has referred to, but the connecting walkways are a little too high up to attempt a jump. There is a lot of debris, however, also large metal parts and crates, and with creative use of biotic pulls, Aria quickly arranges the rubble to form a wobbly pyramid, running up it and then launching herself in the air as she reaches the top, shooting out her arms and just about managing to catch the edge of the walkway, leading to the control cluster.
Groaning from the effort, Aria T'Loak pulls herself up on the walkway and then without hesitation quickly runs towards the central platform. The asari's breath catches in her chest as she sees three bodies lying there, unmoving. The first one she comes across is the corpse of the Illusive Man, even if she barely recognizes him, features twisted by the Reaper implants and cybernetics. Seething in anger, she treats the corpse to several savage kicks, tossing it over the edge of the platform and somewhere into the depths, a wet squelchy splatter echoing from deep below.
The next body she comes across is the corpse of Admiral David Anderson, multiple shot wounds in his chest and temples, but Aria is not interested in him, moving towards the last of the bodies... and as soon as she lays her eyes on Shepard's frame, her stomach lurches with disgust and revulsion, the Commander looks more like a shapeless lump of bloodied flesh than a human, all soaked in dark, congealing blood, both her hands pressed against her stomach, but failing to stop its contents from escaping, strewn out over what remains of her armor.
Nobody can survive that, not even the great Commander Shepard, Aria thinks to herself, surprised at the feelings of sorrow and regret washing over her, but then... even if she can hardly believe it, she senses the slightest, most infinitesimal movement of Shepard's chest, dropping down next to the human, startled, shocked that she might not be dead yet. Looking for a pulse she has to search long and hard to finally detect a beat, slow and labored, but at least it is there, even if she shudders to guess for how long.
"Bailey, I don't suppose you could get some med squad to my position, immediately?" she butts into the conversations on the C-Sec channel again, pleasantly surprised that Bailey hasn't locked her access codes out yet.
"Not unless you tell me what's going on," Bailey replies.
"I found Shepard," she says plainly. "I'm not sure how much time she has, her injuries look horrific."
"Gods... I'm sending a team out immediately!"
"Tell them to bring a lot of buckets," Aria says grimly, giving Shepard a sympathetic stare. "There's a lot of her spread out across the floor here... talk about being all over the place..."