Sorry it took so long for this update. As you'll see, there was a lot of stuff to get lined up. In the meantime, I've posted a few non-canonical smut shots set in this universe in the story, "Flesh is Weak," so check that out if you're so inclined.
"How much further?", Ashley panted as she smashed down the Maruader hurling itself at her, the omni-blade on her rifle plunging deep into the corrupted turian's chest.
"Why?", Shepard asked, spraying down the last of the Cannibals that had tried to flank them with her sub-machine gun as she replied. "You getting tired there, marine?"
"No, Ma'am," Ashley replied crisply as she withdrew the blade, the last of their foes dealt with for now. "Just curious how much more fun we get to have today."
The other Spectre sounded tired though. They both were. With Garrus injured from the get-go and the lightly armored Miranda better suited to a support role, she and Ashley had been bearing the brunt of the seemingly endless waves of Reaper troops between them and their objective. Shepard's body ached from the shots she'd taken and her armor felt like it weighed a thousand pounds. Still, she would be damned if she'd let either of them give up so close to the end.
"Glad to hear it," she replied with a forced laugh, "Anyway, we're almost there. We just have to clear this corridor and then take elevator to the rendezvous point." And hopefully to Liara. Whatever was screwing up their communications, it had left Shepard unable to check in with her bondmate or the rest of the second team and in the brief pauses between battles she tried to keep her mind from dwelling on how they might be faring.
There was little enough time for such thoughts anyway. From the darkness of the hallway ahead, she heard an all-too-familiar wail, the scream of the Banshee seeming to cut straight into her weary soul. Ahead of it, the lithe, glowing forms of Husks were emerging, and Shepard leveled her sub-machine gun, steeling herself for one more battle.
"Get ready," she barked back to her team-mates, "Looks like we've got a dance or two left before we can call it a night."
They were almost to the elevator, and not a moment too soon, Liara thought. Her head was pounding from the levels of biotic power she'd had to use and her shoulder was still sore from the Ravager blast she hadn't quite dodged. Nor was she the exception. Javik was limping from the Brute's slash to his leg, Vega had a head wound that in spite of the medi-gel hadn't entirely stopped bleeding, and Tali's suit had been torn and patched more than once, threatening the quarian mechanic with infection if they even lived that long.
The elevator to the control chamber was just around the corner, along with the promise of an end to all of this horror. As the team approached the turn though, with Javik and Tali in the lead, and she and James behind them, Liara heard the sound of heavy footsteps. It was only one person, and for a second, the Shadow Broker hoped that perhaps it was a survivor of this hell, but when the figure turned the corner, she realized she couldn't have been more wrong. The creature that stood before them was one that Liara had only seen before in intelligence reports, but she recognized it all the same. It was a Collector.
It was no ordinary Collector though, the creature taller and more regal than most of its kind, and filled with a terrible power. Dark energy oozed from ever nook of its armored carapice and where its eyes should be, there was just a void. It was horribly alien and yet somehow familiar, but it wasn't until it spoke that Liara realized why.
"Prothean." It addressed Javik, but Liara was the one who recognized the voice. It was one that still appeared in her nightmares sometimes, the voice of Sovereign that had come out of the broken shell of Saren aboard the Citadel. "Your race's time has passed," whatever Reaper had possessed this thing boomed, "As has yours."
"Die, abomination!", Javik snarled, a hate filling his four eyes that Liara had never seen there before, but when he raised an arm to unleash his biotics, the creature struck first. From its outstretched claw, it relased a massive pulse of energy that smashed through the prothean's barriers and sent him flying down the stairs and into the blood-drenched garden they had just come from.
Tali reacted next, firing a blast from her shotgun at the Reaper-possessed Collector, but though the shot struck it clean on its chest, the creature barely winced and Liara remembered with growing horror how much firepower it had taken to bring down Saren. Its taloned hand lashed out lightning-quick, catching the quarian it its grip and hurling her like a rag doll across the garden. Swiftly recovering from her shock, Liara extended her biotics, grabbing her friend in a field that cushioned her from the worst of the impact just in the nick of time.
James meanwhile opened fire with his assault rifle, trying to pin the creature down, but its barriers were too strong to be so easily stopped. With a flutter of its wings, it closed the distance with the marine and, ignoring the shots landing along its body, ripped through his armor and pierced his flesh with its claws. James screamed as blood started oozing from the hole in his chest and Liara turned back, unleashing the full force of her biotics against the Collector. Her eyes went dark as she pushed out every drop of energy she could muster and just as it felt like her temples might burst, the monster mercifully staggered backwards, releasing James from its grip.
Now, though, Liara had its full attention. Remembering how Shepard had directed them to fight the thing that had once been Saren, she opted against holding her ground, instead fleeing backwards from the Collector and towards the cover of a low metal wall in the garden. As she ran, she fired off shots from her submachine gun, but they were meant to distract the creature from her team-mates more than to really wound it.
She managed to stay out of reach of its talons, and when it fired a biotic burst at her, the asari leapt, diving behind the wall in time to avoid the full force of its blast. Even still, she could feel the power of its shot, her skin flaring uncomfortably even though layers of wall and biotics and armor.
"Fools!" The creature's voice rang out through the dimly lit garden, pounding in the ears of the battered warriors, trying to eat away at their resolve. "You struggle against the inevitable in vain. Accept your fates."
Liara had no intention of doing that, but as she looked around at the team: James, clutching his ruined chest, Tali and Javik struggling even to stand, she realized that if she didn't come up with a plan, they might not have much of a choice and she and her baby might not have much of a chance.
The elevator doors opened onto the top floor of the Presidium and Shepard led her team out, their gun-lights scanning the darkness for some sign of the other team. There was nothing there though, nothing except more bodies. Humans, asari, turians and more were strewn around the floor like some bloody collage, ripped into enough pieces that they hadn't been able to be reanimated and sent back into battle against their own people.
Trying to stay calm, the Spectre called out for Liara, hoping that her lover was somewhere in the room she couldn't see, but there was no answer to her calls, only her own voice echoing back to her.
"We have to keep moving," Miranda implored her, the operative's hand clutching her side where the Banshee had slashed it, her pain evident even if she woudn't give voice to it.
"I realize that." The bondmate in her wanted to head to the other elevator and take it down, going back along the path that Liara's team was supposed to be on, but that was a luxury Spectres didn't get. Every minute the Crucible wasn't fired, countless good men and women were dying in battle with the Reapers and that had to outweigh four lives, even if one of them was the asari she loved more than anything else, even if that asari was carrying their daughter. Besides, she tried to reassure herself, once the Crucuble fired, the Reaper forces should all be destroyed, including whichever ones might be attacking Liara.
It was eerily silent in the Council chambers and as they made their way up the stairs, Shepard found herself thinking of the day almost three years ago when she'd battled her way up those same steps. It had been Liara and Wrex by her side then, the din of battle all around them as the Geth made their last stand. Now, there was only the sound of their footsteps filling the vast halls and irrationally, she found she missed the distraction.
Reaching the controls Saren had used back then, Shepard inserted the OSD and entered the command sequence required to open the Citadel's arms. Thankfully, the system accepted her Spectre authorization codes without complaint and, turning back to her team, she nodded with relief. "We're in," she told them. "Nothing to do now but wait. Once the Crucible docks, it should open up additional interface options here, but I don't know how long that will take. It's not like anyone's done this before."
"We better not get an error message," Garrus quipped, setting down his Black Widow and prying off an shattered piece of his chestplate so that he could apply medi-gel to the burns beneath it.
"Yeah," Ashley agreed, trying to keep her mind off of the oppressive sense of anticipation she was feeling, "It'd really suck to hear, 'I'm sorry your operation could not be completed as requested. Please contact Alliance technical support branch for assistance.'"
"Hey," Shepard reassured them, "At least this thing wasn't built by the lowest bidder like most government projects." She sighed, resting her hands on her thighs. "It'll work. It has to."
"I would certainly hope so." The words, though, didn't come from any of her team. Instead, striding out of the darkness, flanked by several Phantoms, was the person she least wanted to see right now. It was the Illusive Man, and as he approached, he added, "It really would be a shame to have gone to all this trouble for nothing."
Sorry about the cliff-hanger. (But not really) It shouldn't been too long until the next chapter and in the meantime, let me know what you think of these twists.