Chapter 23: The Corpse of a God

Rah felt an odd poking at his mind. It felt akin to Asari torture methods, but the feel of the probing at his mind was dark, tainted by hate, malice, cruelty, and complete disgust. Rah strengthened his mental barriers and lashed out at the the source of whatever it was that probed at his mind. The presence shrank away and left him, for now.

Rah shook his head to clear it of the thoughts. Whatever it was, he didn't want to know the source. For something to reach out and touch him while not in front of him, it made him shudder.

It had been a few days since they had left the Broker's ship. In that time, the Normandy had made it's way to an ancient corpse. A corpse of a Reaper. By all accounts and everything that Shepard had told him, there should have been no reason he'd feel anything other than awe at the sight of it, so this feeling, it was completely unnerving.

Rah made his way into the elevator. He had seen Sovereign up close and personal while fending off the invasion of the Citadel. He wanted to be sure that he knew what it was he'd be fighting sooner rather than later.

When he stepped out of the lift, some of the crew gave him odd looks. While he had been on the ship for over two weeks now, a week of that spent in the medbay, the crew was still unused to his appearance. To them, it was almost like having a guy version of Jack. It didn't help matters at all that he was deadly calm and serious.

Rah strode through the CIC without so much as glancing at the Cerberus crew. When he reached the cockpit, he found Shepard and Garrus standing behind Joker's chair, looking out the forward view ports with interest.

"And I thought spiders were bad." Rah muttered mostly to himself when he spotted what it was that had Shepard's and Garrus' attention.

"Still not over that fear there Carime?" Shepard joked, pointing out that she still remembered an embarrassing incident before he was given his call sign.

"Oi! If you had an irrational fear of those fuckers you'd have screamed like a girl too!" Rah snapped back.

"Short version?" Garrus asked Shepard, a smug smile on his face.

"He woke up the entire barracks one time when he found a spider in bed with him once." Shepard replied and Joker barker in laughter.

"Good to know that the best of the best can become little girls thanks to a spider." Joker quipped, never taking his eyes from his console.

"Sarge, you're going in there right?" Rah asked, motioning to the Reaper's corpse.

"Yeah, bringing Garrus and Jack with me." Shepard replied, tossing a glance over her shoulder at the other N7.

"Be careful in there. I got a bad feeling about this." Rah told her coldly.

"I know. I felt it too." Shepard replied, turning back around.

"So giant metal space octopus. And I thought I saw it all when we fought the Geth." Rah shook his head in disbelief.

The three of them watched on in silence as Joker flew them in closer to the Reaper corpse. Rah's eyes widened when he spotted something on the hull of the Reaper.

"Is that a Geth ship?' Rah asked, pointing it out to the others.

"It is Major Carmine." EDI's voice replied. "I am picking up only one active Geth signal in the Reaper itself."

"Well, now we know what happened to the science teams that Cerberus had in there." Shepard mussed.

"Good riddance." Rah scowled. "Fuckers can all burn in hell."

"And you say this openly on a Cerberus crewed ship." Garrus pointed out.

"Yeah. Not all in Cerberus are bad, yet I have a particular beef with anyone that is in one of the Illusive Man's scumbag teams. I have yet to find anything good come from their work." Rah scowled.

"I've got something that will one shot the Geth for you Sarge." Rah told them. "I'll meet you in the cargo bay with it."

Shepard nodded and Rah turned around, heading back the way he came.


Shepard and Garrus found Jack and Rah waiting for them in the cargo bay. Rah was sitting on his hammock, idly tossing what looked like a grenade up and down in his left hand. Jack was sitting on the floor of the shuttle, her feet planted on the floor of the deck and her shotgun in her lap.

Shepard raised an eyebrow at Jack's appearance. She knew that the woman had taken some time to herself on Illium, and until now, she hadn't wondered what it was she was doing. It seemed like Jack had gone shopping for something more appropriate to wear. While Shepard didn't care if the woman wanted to wear nothing but a harness that covered her nipples and cargo pants, she definitely felt Jack's new look suited her. She wore a leather biker's jacket over a plain black tank top, with dark grey cargo pants and combat boots. Her legs were adorned with over a dozen buckles that seemed to have no real purpose other than to make her look more intimidating. To top it off, she'd found a pair of grey sunglasses.

Jack and Rah both looked up when Shepard and Garrus stepped out of the lift. Jack gave her a curt nod and readjusted her shotgun over her lap. Rah looked up and gave her a large grin.

"Catch.' Rah said, after he tossed her the grenade. Shepard caught it with ease and looked at it with interest.

"EMP grenade. R&D figured it'd be useful to have should the Geth become an issue. Techies rigged it to be on a timer." Rah explained. "Pull the pin, throw and hope to God you're not in range when it pops."

"And the range is?" Shepard asked, looking up to her grinning friend.

"No clue. I just know how to throw it, never needed it yet." Rah shrugged and got off his hammock.

"You ready?" Rah asked, putting on his own sunglasses.

"You're not coming with us." Shepard told Rah plainly.

"I bloody fucking am!" Rah replied with a shit eating grin. "You know just as well as me that if things get hot you'll need a fast and hard evac. You damn well know I can do that with my feet and blindfolded."

"You tell Chakwas I let you do this and it's your hide she gets." Shepard replied, knowing the truth of his words.

"Fox you uploaded yet?" Rah asked, stepping into the shuttle, lightly brushing past Jack as he went. Shepard fought back a grin at seeing Jack watching him move, almost like a lioness stalking a mate.

"Pretty sure that's how we looked." Garrus muttered to he as they walked to the shuttle.

"I don't doubt it." Shepard replied with a smirk and a wink to her mate.

It sounded so weird for her to be calling him that. She knew that Garrus wasn't her boyfriend, he wasn't her lover, he was her mate. If they were ever to be wed/bounded he would then become her husband. The very thought of that as an idea sent warmth spreading through her.

When the four of them were in the shuttle, Shepard closed the door and immediately felt the shuttle jerk into motion. She was nearly thrown against the back wall of the shuttle's passenger area. Shepard glimpsed out to see that the Reaper's corpse was rapidly approaching them already. By the looks of it, they we upside down compared to the Reaper.

"Hold onto your lunches ladies!" Rah cackled and without any other warning, spun the shuttle to be the right orientation.

Shepard flipped her magboots on without a second to spare. Rah's spin had set both Jack and Garrus upside down now. While Garrus could have lived without the sudden change, Jack looked to be enjoying herself. Shepard merely let Rah do his thing and they landed with a smooth and easy approach.

Rah powered down the shuttle and looked back to the three of them.

"Air's breathable. Should be fine as you go in. Fox isn't picking up any life signs, but that doesn't mean much with the Reapers." Rah told them coolly. He pulled a Carnifex out of his pocket and set it on the co-pilot's seat along with a handful of spare clips.

"I'll be here unless you need a fast pick up. Just signal me and I'll come runnin'." Rah told them all and Shepard nodded.

"Stay safe, don't need your guts plastered over the walls." Shepard smirked at him before opening the door to the shuttle.

"That'd be hard to clean." Rah chuckled in reply.

She and Garrus both stepped out. Garrus with his sniper instincts had his Mantis in his hands and was sweeping the air. Shepard turned back to close the door and only caught the tail end of Jack giving Rah a quick and awkward hug. The biotic woman rushed out and left Rah stunned behind. Shepard chuckled at the two of them and closed the door. She could faintly make out a bright red coloring to Jack's ears as the woman hurried away from the shuttle.


"Rah you getting this?" Shepard asked when she looked over the edge of one railing in the Reaper. Below them were hundreds of spikes to turn humans into Husks, some of them still had bodies on them.

"What the fuck?" Rah asked, his voice almost drowned out by the sound of music blasting in the shuttle.

"These those things what the Geth used with Saren and all that?" Rah asked, the music turned down to barely audible now.

"Yeah, I think I know where they were turning all the corpses two years ago now." Shepard shuddered at the memory.

"Still not picking up anything?" Shepard asked, turning to look away from the sight.

"No not…" Rah began but his voice froze.

"Three squads are inbound on your position Sarge." Rah barked. "They are moving fucking fast, the fuck are these things?"

"Life signs?" Shepard asked, spinning around her Scimitar raised. Both Garrus and Jack had done the same, Garrus trading out his Mantis for his Avenger and Jack with her incendiary rounds ready to go.

"No! It's literally three squads of zombies running at you!" Rah replied.

"Aw hell." Rah groaned a moment later.

Shepard would have asked what was going on at his end, but then a loud moaning filled the air. in seconds, Husks swarmed them. Shepard's and Jack's shotgun blasts filled the air along with the steady fire of Garrus' assault rifle.

Both women lit up in their azure glows and sent shockwaves into the mass of husks. The closest any Husk got to them was only an arms reach away before being gunned down.

Only a minute after the creatures entered their sights, the floor was covered in the corpses of the Husks. It felt like years to Shepard, but it was only seconds.

Shepard looked around in surprise when Carnifex fire still rang out around them.

"Rah come in." Shepard barked to her friend.

"Give me a sec." Rah's voice grit out. A second later he roared out and Shepard could feel the air around her change at Rah's biotics exploding.

"What's up?" Rah replied, out of breath after a few heart beats.

"You clear?" Shepard asked, concern in her voice.

"For now yeah. Seems like those things found me. Should be good for a bit. If I'm not I'll relocate." Rah replied.

"Where to?" Garrus asked the N7, his gaze sweeping around them for more hostiles.

"There's a door to in front of you to your left, take that." Rah told them after a moment. They had managed to find a map of what the Cerberus team had explored though. Since then, Rah had been leading them through the Reaper's corpse.

"Let's move it people!" Shepard barked and began leading them the way that Rah pointed out to them.


"Carmine where the hell are you!" Shepard barked into her coms.

Jack blasted another husk to pieces with her shotgun as she covered the retreating backs of Shepard and Garrus. Between the two of them, they were carrying the inactive form of the Geth that had been on the Reaper. It's actions had told Shepard that it'd be a good idea to bring the scrap heap along.

"Right here!' Rah yelled back and the doors to the Mass Effect Core of the Reaper opened. The sounds of some ancient dance music blared from the shuttle, almost loud enough to be teeth rattling.

Jack blasted another Husk away and ran to the waiting shuttle. Shepard and Garrus had just climbed on board and they were only waiting for her.

As soon as Jack climbed in, Rah gunned it. The door hadn't even finished closing, but none the less they were racing through the Reaper corpse. Jack was more than impressed to see that Rah was piloting them through the narrow passages and spaces with only one hand flying over the controls. It almost seemed as if he was moving the shuttle to the music, making the box-like shuttle move around like a professional dancer.

"Not going to make it." Rah snarled to himself, his eyes darting around, looking for an exit.

"Aw hell." Rah snarled and his hands left the controls. "Fox take over."

"The fuck are you doing?!" Jack asked, yelling to be heard over his music. Jack wasn't aware that it happened, but her hand had found it's way to his shoulder.

Rah's hand found hers and squeezed it tight. Jack looked to see that his eyes were closed and his face looked pained.

"Now!" Rah's voice yelled out and his biotics flared to life, encompassing the entire shuttle in his glow.

With that one word, the shuttle raced towards a solid wall at top speed. Jack clung to Rah for dear life as she watched their impending doom.

Fucking idiot! He's going to kill us all! Jack's mind screamed at her. Even with the voice in her head telling her this, she trusted Rah completely with her life.

Rah began laughing hysterically as they approached the wall. Jack looked to him, and the face there was one of an animal, not that of the man that she cared for.

A second later, and they crashed into the hull of the Reaper. It took Jack a moment to realize that they were in the atmosphere of the gas giant the Reaper had been orbiting and not dead. The glow around them faded and yet they still raced towards the Normandy and it to them.

Jack looked down to see Rah out cold, blood streaming freely from his nose. His head rested on her hand that he still gripped.

Almost fearfully, Jack placed her hand on his neck. She let out an unsteady breath at feeling a steady and strong pulse under her fingers.

"Rah I love you!" Shepard laughed out in joy when they were finally in the Normandy and speeding away from the gas giant.

"Rah?" Shepard asked when neither he now Jack responded.

"He's out cold Shepard." Jack replied for him, her voice shaking. With shaking hands, Jack turned off the music that was still blasting from his omni-tool. To her, it felt as if she was turning off his very heartbeat.

"Karin." Shepard sighed out over the comms. "We need you in the cargo bay."

"Who's hurt?' The smooth voice of the matronly doctor asked.

"Carmine." Shepard replied simply. "Biotics overtax."

"Why do you N7's never listen to doctor's orders?" Chakwas sighed. "I'll be down in a minute."

"He'll be alright Jack." Shepard's calming voice spoke to her.

"How can you know?" Jack asked, hiding the tears that she knew that were dripping down her face.

She wasn't concerned that she had nearly lost her life just now, but that Rah had nearly lost his. To her, it seemed like the world would be so much darker without him in it.

"He did something similar on a mission once." Shepard told her, her voice comforting.

"Let Chakwas do her work. He'll be up soon enough." Shepard told her.

After a few more minutes, Jack nodded and left the shuttle.


"Fuck. You." Shepard snarled when she connected to the Illusive Man via QEC.

"Are you sure that it is wise to address your superior in such a tone Commander." The Illusive Man's smug voice replied.

"Like you're my fucking superior." Shepard replied, venom enough to kill a Krogan in her voice. "You sent us in there knowing full well what the fuck it is we'd be up against and you don't fucking tell me!"

"You're acting like a child Shepard." The Illusive Man frowned to her.

"No! Fuck you and fuck your entire existence!" Shepard barked back, her voice silencing him.

"This is the second fucking time that you've sent me into a fucking trap! And a trap that you fucking knew about!" Shepard yelled at him.

"Thanks to you, I have one of the best soldiers in the 'verse in my medbay on the edge of life and death! You put me and my team at risk for no Goddamn reason!" Shepard barked to the silent Illusive Man, not giving him the chance to say anything at all.

"Soon as I am done blowing the Collectors to hell, you're next." Shepard snarled.

When she was finished, Shepard terminated the connection. When the conference table was raised again, she rested her weight on it. Rah had put himself at risk to make sure they all got out of the Reaper alive. He'd done it before on a few missions with her, and he'd likely do it again. Knowing this still didn't make losing the closest thing she had to a real brother any less harsh. The Illusive Man knowing about what happened inside the Reaper, made things even worse.

"Joker." Shepard spoke out softly, knowing that her pilot was listening. "Set a course of Omega. We'll restock before installing the Reaper IFF."

"Yes Shepard." Joker replied. "Doctor Chakwas asked me to let you know that Carmine's lifesigns are stable, he's just unconscious."

"Thanks Joker." Shepard replied in a relief filled sigh. "If anyone needs me, I'll be in my cabin."

"Aye aye." Joker replied before going silent.

Shepard carried her sore body to the lift and up to her quarters. She wasn't just sore physically, but emotionally as well. She wouldn't be able to handle it well if Rah died on her, especially since he'd found a way to start making Jack into a normal person.

She sighed contently when she was finally out of her armor, showered, and in her bed. The only thing that would have made her fall asleep any faster, would have been if Garrus was next to her, purring softly like a cat.


For the second time in almost as many days, Rah woke up to a throbbing pain. This time instead of in his chest, his head was splitting in pain.

"Ow." He moaned out and brought his hand up to his face.

"You fucking idiot!" Jack's harsh voice yelled at him. A moment later the pain in his head intensified a hundred fold.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?!" Jack yelled at him her voice sharp and angry.

I deserved that one. Rah thought to himself feeling his jaw throbbing in pain from where Jack had slugged him.

"Why the fuck would you fly us right at the hull of a fucking Reaper?!" Jack yelled at him. Rah stayed quiet, he could feel her pent up anger rushing out of her with the words that she flung at him.

"Were you trying to kill us?!" Jack yelled at him, this time without as much energy to it.

Rah risked opening his eyes. His gaze immediately settled on Jack's face. He could see the still fresh lines of tears on her face, and the pure agony that he had likely caused her. Rah simply held out his hand to her, as if in offering of apology.

"I knew what I was doing. The only risk that I was taking was with myself." Rah told her softly. Jack took his hand and sat down next to him, her eyes begging him for more.

"I've done things like that before. It also helped to know that the Reaper had been pelted by meteors for billions of years." Rah told her a small smile coming to his lips. "I just wanted to get you out of there safely."

"Why?" Jack asked, her voice soft. "Why are you doing this for me?"

"Because I care about what happens to you." Rah grinned sheepishly to her. He had no qualms in telling her that she was important to him, for all her knew it might make her less reckless knowing that.

"Well fucking stop." Jack snarled to him. She abruptly stood and left him.

"Only so much I can do Jack, and that's not one of them." Rah told her retreating back. Jack paused, but then continued out of the medbay.

Rah let out an exasperated sigh. There was nothing more he could do for that woman. All he could do is be there when she needs him.


A/N: Getting closer to the end of ME2. Will probably only be another chapter before I get into the suicide Mission. Hope you all have enjoyed this chapter and the ones leading up to it!

Please let me know what you thought and thank you all for the continued support!

Until next time!