The rust and yellow hard-packed dirt of the wide plateau cracked and bowed upward, millions of tons of rock punching their way to the surface, driven by an unstoppable juggernaut of black.
At the far end of the plateau, in a small ravine, figures rushed out of a cavern- as tiny as ants in comparison. Tomkah engines started, their roars lost beneath the unending tidal wave of sound that tore the very air apart.
A small krogan gunship, no more significant than a hovering mosquito, buzzed around the pillar now emerging from the mountain of stone and debris it had forced up ahead of it. Dirt spilled from its sides, its black color seeming to swallow all light rather than reflect it. Now a mile high and still slowly rising, the cylindrical monolith reached toward the yellow sky. A lance of green fire suddenly speared from nowhere on its side and sailed toward the krogan ruins. The gunship was caught in its wake, vaporized in an instant into nothingness.
In the lead tomkah, Wrex was shouting into his radio. "Get the clan out of the ruins! Evacuate immediately! Abandon the ruins now!"
Behind him, Ashley grabbed a strut as the heavy vehicle roared up the ravine, fighting for purchase as the ground all around it shook horribly. She could hear heavy rocks ringing hard against the side of the tomkah and wondered how long it would take for one large enough to crush it to come tumbling from the sky.
Around her, the others were fighting to hold on as well- all but Shepard and Liara. The doctor was half sitting on the floor, slumped in the asari's arms. Liara was gripping her tightly. Ashley couldn't tell if Shepard were conscious or not. Her skin had gone pale and gray, eyes hollowed. They were open, staring upward, but did not seem to be seeing them. Her jaw was clenched, her breathing visibly strained, tiny flecks of foam spotting her lips. She looked, in fact, to be having some kind of seizure.
On her neck and the sides of her jaw, Ashley could see strange metal implants. It may have just been her imagination, or all the shaking…but they seemed to be getting bigger.
Garrus, who was braced nearby, had his hand over his the side of his helmet. Blue blood painted one of his arms but he didn't seem to notice it, listening intently to whatever he was hearing over his com. Suddenly he turned toward Liara.
"Our ships are reporting- the black ship is on the move!"
"What? What pilot is aboard?"
"None as far as we know, but it's possible Osco got someone through that archway and back on the ship. It's definitely moving and moving fast, closing in on our coordinates!"
"We have to take it down!" Grunt said. "That thing'll tear us to shreds! Have the turian ships fire on it!"
Liara's eyes shifted, her grip tightening on Shepard. "No," she said quickly. "No- Vakarian, have the turians back off. Have them pull back!"
Grunt looked at her. "If Osco has that ship-"
"That is just it," Liara said, and then looked down at Del. "I am not convinced Osco is the one controlling it."
The black ship cut through space like a drop of oil sliding down ebony marble, visible only by the light that reflected off its polished hull from Tuchanka's hot sun. Behind it, the turian vessels pursued, one cutting a shot across the bow of the alien vessel before Garrus warned them to back away. As they retreated to higher orbit, the black ship cut down through the atmosphere, seeming to flatten and become even more streamlined as it left vacuum for air.
Below, the 'complex' had fully broken free of Tuchanka's surface and was still rising, firing its green lances toward the krogan ruins. Great pillars of smoke were rising from the settlement, smudging the yellows and browns with dark, acrid gray.
A perfect cylinder at least half a mile in diameter and nearly two miles in length, the dreadnaught moved steadily upwards. There was no sign of an eezo field or combustion that was giving it lift, yet up it went, moving faster as it gained height.
Then, the black ship came down.
Yellow light lanced out from it and danced along the hull of the cylinder, carving gouges out of its surface and forcing its attention away from the krogan and distant tomkahs. Two green spears replied, cutting toward the smaller frigate, but it quickly dodged before turning in to the attack again.
More gouges scooped out of the cylinder as the black ship fired, sliding less than four kilometers past the enemy as it struck.
The two vessels had now gained low orbit. Far below, the tomkahs had drawn to a halt, most of their passengers piling out and looking upward toward the battle. Sam stood in the tomkah's open door, Liara and the still 'seizing' Shepard behind her on the floor as she watched the fight.
The cylinder fired again. From this distance, it was a dim green flash. At the same moment, the doctor screamed as if she'd been stabbed, Liara reflexively gripping her in alarm.
"Merah! Sam, what happened?"
"I think the dreadnought managed to hit the black ship, it's…I think it may be…it's coming down!"
The frigate was dropping altitude rapidly, its course weaving, drunken, and far too fast. At first it seemed it was heading right for them, before it listed awkwardly to port. It struck the huge mountain of stone and churned up dirt the cylinder had displaced, the debris tearing along its side and sending it into a spin. It vanished from view moments before the ground shook again, faint and distant.
In Liara's arms, Del suddenly went limp.
"Merah?"
The cylinder had kept on its course, nothing but a faint dark dot now, almost gone from view. Feris turned and rushed back into the tomkah, crouching down beside the Spectre captain.
"The black ship is down, about four miles from here I think-…is she breathing?"
"Y-yes," Liara said shakily. "I have a pulse as well, but she is unconscious. We need to get her to medical attention as quickly as possible. Get Jura here and make sure those turian ships are tracking that dreadnought!"
Feris alerted Jura, stepping just outside the tomkah to talk to Garrus. In only moments, it seemed, the Aswa appeared and moved in for a landing, Liara lifting the limp human woman in her arms and carrying her towards it.
As she reached the infirmary, Chakwas and a now ambulatory Miranda met her at the door, the former blinking in shock at the strange metal implants now spread over Shepard's cheeks. As Liara quickly explained what had happened, the doctor tried a scan.
"I'm getting only static here," Miranda said, looking up from the display. "She's throwing off a lot of interference."
"I will try and adjust," Helen told her, making some modifications before scanning her again. This time the image was clearer, but there was still too much static to make out anything of use. As Helen readjusted yet again, Liara called up to Jura on the comm.
"Get us to the black ship's crash site," she said, then turned as Feris strode in. "Are those turian ships tracking the dreadnought?"
"They've got her on scope," Sam said. "They're staying as far back from it as they can while still keeping her in sight. So far she either doesn't know they are there or doesn't care."
"Given the alien tech, my money is on 'does not care'," Liara replied, then looked back toward Shepard. Chakwas had done a final adjustment and scanned her again. This time, Miranda paled. "My God…"
"What is it?" Liara asked. The Australian transferred the scan results to the overhead display so they could all see them. Chakwas looked grim. Sam frowned.
"What are all those blue lines? It looks like…cobwebs."
"That is the alien tech," Helen said. "It's moved throughout her entire body, penetrated her spinal column and all her major organs. It's completely infiltrated her brain."
"Is it still spreading?" Liara asked. "Can we remove it?"
"I wouldn't know how to begin to try," Chakwas told her. "I wouldn't even dream of it without a team of specialized microsurgeons, and even then we'd be fumbling in the dark."
"I'm tracking the threads now," Miranda said, still working at her console. "They're moving…but they're not spreading further. In fact, they seem to be withdrawing. The lines in her parietal lobe have already reduced by twelve microns."
"Her brain waves are suppressed, but they are consistent with unconsciousness. Her vitals remain strong," Chakwas said. "You said the black ship is what began this infiltration in the first place, trying to integrate her as some kind of pilot or 'main computer'?"
"Yes. I believe it was her actions that guided the black ship to attack the dreadnought," Liara told her.
"Then perhaps when the ship crashed it was damaged heavily enough that the integration is reversing. It…" She squinted at the readouts. "It appears the threads are mending tissue as they withdraw, leaving no damage behind whatsoever. Given the rate of retreat, within four hours all trace of alien tech should be gone from her system."
Liara let out a relieved breath, covering her eyes momentarily before she nodded. "Good. That is good to hear."
"We should probably take samples," Miranda said. "We can easily remove a bit from the external implants on her arms-"
"Only if you can do so safely," Liara said, giving her a look. "There is no telling what will happen if we attempt to tamper with this technology. It seems almost to be alive in its' own right. Helen- do what you need to do, but at the slightest sign of distress or adverse effect, you stop. Am I understood?"
"Of course, Captain."
{Captain, we have reached the crash site of the black ship. I have just put down.} Jura reported, breaking in over the comm. Liara turned, gesturing at Sam to follow her.
"We will be groundside if you need us, Helen," she said, then paused in the door, looking back. Her eyes lingered on Del's face a long moment before she met the medical officer's eyes. "Take care of her."
"With every ounce of my skill, I swear it," Helen said with a nod. Liara turned and left, the N7 on her heels. After they'd gone, Miranda looked at Chakwas.
"She's rather fond of Dr. Shepard, isn't she?"
"So it would seem," Helen replied.
The black ship had come down hard, gouging a trench half a mile long before it had smashed into a ridge of granite rocks and boulders the size of houses. The impact of the cylinder's weapon had cut the vessel deeply along one side, and the sheering forces of its crash landing had finished the job, tearing the frigate in half. Now, its stern lay a hundred yards to the west, scattered twists of black metal littering the ground between the two halves.
There was no smoke, and according to their careful readings, no dangerous radiation. Whatever the alien tech ran on, it did not appear to be eezo.
As they scanned over the wreck, picking carefully toward the larger portion which was belly up against the rocks, Liara noticed sticky puddles of a pale viscous solution had made a thick mud of the krogan desert sand. Crouching beside one puddle, she carefully scanned it.
"Some kind of oil?" Sam asked, hovering over her shoulder. "Coolant maybe?"
"Perhaps," Liara said softly, then looked at the tortured wreck. "Or perhaps it is bleeding."
"Bleeding? So you think it really is alive then? Or…was?"
"The alien hands that forged her were able to create entire biosynthetic copies of human beings, manipulate atomic structure with the faintest electrical impulses of the brain, and integrate a pilot so completely into its computer systems that they quite literally became one. It is no stretch to consider that perhaps the ship itself constitutes some form of artificial life…a living, perhaps feeling body that merely awaits a mind."
She straightened, then turned her head as she heard vehicles. The others were arriving, Sihra and Ashley stepping off a tomkah with Deefa, Wrex, Garrus, Mordin, and a few more krogan.
"Our ships still have the dreadnought on their scopes but she seems to be heading for the relay," Garrus said as he approached. "I've notified the Council and reinforcements are inbound- they'll keep the dreadnought in their sites, see if they can't figure out where she's heading, if nothing else."
"We need to go after her, immediately!" Deefa's voice was edged with anxious tension. "She has Tali and Delphine!"
Liara regarded the young quarian marine. "And we will not let her keep them, but right now the advantage is hers. She outguns us, out-techs us, and for all intents and purposes, she is that ship. Any hard assault on it is almost sure to fail. We need to find out her destination, what her plan is-"
"Her plan? I thought her plan was just to spread the PMD," Ashley said.
"And it is possible that it remains thus. However we are dealing with an alien influence I am not sure even Gellian anticipated. Things may have changed. For now, we still must deal with the PMD…and the cure was being prepared in this very ship. We need to go over this wreckage, see if those tanks survived the crash. If they did, we need to get the PMD vaccine out to the impact zones as quickly as possible, start treating people."
"Well, you can forget about this impact zone," Wrex said, his mood clearly dark. "That dreadnought completely wiped it out…there's just a crater left. Only a handful of my people that were in those ruins escaped- none of them were infected."
"It grieves me to hear that, Wrex," Liara said softly. "Even so, we need to make sure the rest of your people are vaccinated. We cannot risk even one possible source of infection spreading on Tuchanka."
"And more people are dying on Earth," Feris said. "So far it looks like they quarantined 'Frisco in time, but there's always a chance someone got out…or will get out."
"Let us break up into teams to survey the remains of the frigate," Liara said, gesturing the others into groups. "Our priority is to locate those tanks if they are still intact and get them aboard the Aswa. Everything else at the moment is secondary."
Dividing up at her direction, they spread out and moved over the wreckage, scanners lighting up as they each hoped beyond hope that the cure wasn't lost to them forever.
"Here now, be careful," Helen said gently as she helped Shepard to sit up on the biobed. Del was still a bit pale and looked unfocused, but the weird implants that had mapped her cheeks and arms when Liara had carried her in had now gone.
Well, they had mostly gone. A small starburst remained on her wrist, showing no sign of shrinking or fading in the hour after the rest of the alien tech had disappeared. As the last of it had vanished, Shepard's brainwaves had changed from unconsciousness to sleep, her color much improved. She'd woken just a few minutes before, confused but apparently none the worse for wear.
As she sat up, Helen looked at her critically, checking her pupils as Miranda hovered in the background.
"How are you feeling? Dizzy? Nauseous?"
"No, I-I'm ok, I think," Shepard said. "Liara-"
"The Captain will be returning shortly, she's on her way back here from the crash site."
"Crash…?"
Del touched her forehead, a troubled expression coming over her face. Helen lifted her brows in concern as tears welled in her patient's eyes, spilling down her cheeks.
"Doctor? Del, are you all right?"
"Yes, I…I just…i-it was like dying…"
"What do you remember?" Miranda asked, stepping a bit closer. Shepard wiped her cheeks, looking at her.
"I remember the pain…in my arms, my head. It hurt because I was fighting it. It wasn't supposed to hurt, it only hurts if you resist-"
"You're talking about the integration, the implants?" Chakwas said carefully. Shepard nodded, rubbing at her wrist.
"Once I couldn't fight it any more the pain went away. I was too exhausted, I just let it carry me and then…then I was the ship. Beautiful and perfect and…so free, full of colors and life…it…it is very hard to explain. I could hear her- Gellian. I could hear her attacking the krogan, the people on the ground. I went in to stop her, to distract her."
"Yes, and she shot you down," Miranda said.
"It was like being cut in half by fire," Shepard told her, her eyes misting again. "So much pain, and then falling. When I-…when the ship hit the ground it was dying…it felt like I was dying. I-it was me, and we were both dying…"
"There, that's enough," Helen said gently as Del covered her face again. "You're safe now."
"The others? Are the others all right?" Shepard asked. "Did I stop Osco? I-I hurt her, I know I hurt her but…was it enough?"
Helen started to answer, only to break off and turn around as Liara strode in. The asari looked troubled, but Chakwas didn't miss the way the expression cleared slightly when she saw Del sitting there, conscious and unhurt.
For her part, Shepard was a bit more demonstrative, surging off the biobed and flinging her arms around the asari with a sob. "You're all right!"
Liara hugged her tightly, fingers tangling in her hair a moment. "I am just fine, Merah…"
Del colored but didn't pull away, closing her eyes as she buried her face against Liara's shoulder. Finding her body, the memory of her crushed throat- those images were still too fresh in her mind.
What if I had been wrong about the tech being able to fix her? What if I had been just a bit too late?
"We'll…leave you two alone for a bit," Helen said, gesturing to Miranda to leave. As she stepped past, she put a hand on Liara's free shoulder. "She'll be just fine, but she should take it easy for a little while. Don't let her get too worked up."
Then she was gone, the infirmary door sliding shut behind her. Self-consciously, Del took a deep breath and loosened her hold, stepping back a little. "Did we get her?" she asked in a low voice. "Did I hit her hard enough?"
She saw the answer in the asari's sky blue eyes before Liara spoke, and felt her soul wilting a little.
"No. She was able to launch the dreadnought and make it into space. The turians are tracking her now. She appears to be on a course for the Traverse. We have not yet been able to pinpoint her destination or discover her intent."
Shepard lowered her head, and Liara reached up, cupping her cheek gently, her thumb softly brushing the tear tracks away. "No. Do not do that, Merah. It was not your fault. You did all that you could, and you helped to protect us. You did brilliantly."
"You can say that?" Del asked, shame-faced. "Everyone was nearly slaughtered, Osco escaped and…the black ship is lost and…the cure…"
Liara smiled slightly, lifting Shepard's chin. "We were able to recover one of the tanks, intact. We have the PMD vaccine- it is being loaded into the cargo bay as we speak. We are set to rendezvous with the Orizaba within the hour to transfer it and have it taken to Earth. Osco's plague will be stopped, and it is thanks to you."
Del sagged in relief, Liara catching her with an arm around her waist and hugging her close again. Shepard clung to her for several moments, head spinning. "Thank God…thank God, I thought-…"
"You saved trillions of lives, Merah," Liara said softly. "You saved my life. I owe you everything."
"It wasn't me," Shepard said, looking at her again. "You're the hero, Liara. If you hadn't saved me back on Virmire…I-I was just lucky with everything else. Wild guesses that happened to pan out-"
"Well then, I suppose I trust your 'guesses' more than the expertise of a dozen others," Liara told her. "And those 'guesses' are still needed. We may have stopped the plague but we have not yet stopped Osco. I do not know what she is capable of doing with that dreadnought or what her plans might be. You were the only one who knew the true Gellian Osco…and you are the only one to have integrated so completely with this alien technology. You understand both it and Gellian better than anyone else. We are going to hunt her down, Merah- end her. We still need you."
Shifting her hand, she softly brushed her fingers over Del's dark hair, lowering her voice to a whisper. "I still need you. Ok?"
Del's brows knit as she looked unsure. "And…after this is all over?" she asked tentatively. "Will you still need me then?"
Liara searched her eyes a moment, then leaned in close, answering the question with a kiss. After it parted, she held the human woman as tightly as she dared, face turned in toward her hair to hide the heat in her eyes.
"I have a feeling I am going to need you for a very, very long time."
