Shepard strained until her muscles burned, but whatever the Illusive Man's implants were doing to her, she couldn't so much as speak, let alone lift her submachine gun to fire at him. All she could do was watch as the Cerberus forces engaged her team, thankful at least that the Illusive Man couldn't control more than one person at a time.
One of the Phantoms lunged at Garrus, its sword aiming at the hole in his chest plate. The turian reacted quickly considering his injuries, falling away from the stroke and activating the overload disruptor in his gauntlet. The Phantom's barriers sparked and collapsed and before she could get out of the line of fire, Miranda aimed her pistol and pumped three shots into the center of the ninja's chest, shredding her lithe form.
The operative didn't have a chance to celebrate. One of the Dragoon's whips lashed out, crashing through her barriers and impacting the arm she raised to shield her face. A bone cracked and she dropped to the ground just in time to avoid the other lash as it snapped at her head.
Ashley, meanwhile, scrambled backwards, staying just ahead of the other Phantom chasing her. Behind them, the marine could see the two Nemeses moving towards better covered vantage points in the gardens, but she couldn't worry about them just yet. The monomolecular blade crashed into the deck inches behind her and she whirled, lashing out at the Phantom with the butt of her Javelin. The ninja tumbled back gracefully, avoiding the swing, and raised her gauntlet to fire a deadly burst of energy at Ashley.
Before she could fire though, the marine tossed a grenade at her attacker. The Phantom managed to dance out of the way of the explosive, but it spoiled her shot and moreover, the Dragoon was caught by the edge of its blast radius, hurling the armored warrior through the air and away from Miranda.
He landed with a crash at the bottom of the stairs and as he tried to rise, Garrus leveled his Black Widow and put the full clip of three shots through his helmet, making sure the Cerberus soldier was dead. It was a certainty he paid dearly for. Even as the turian squeezed off the last shot, one of the Nemeses found him. A sniper round shattered what was left of his shoulder guard and pierced his body, his rifle clattering uselessly from his grasp as he fell to the ground, dark blue blood seeped out of his wound.
Watching the turian go down, Miranda forced herself to rise. The arm the Dragoon had hit was hanging uselessly from her side, doubtless broken, but the other one worked well enough. Blinking back the pain, she squeezed off two shots from her pistol. The Nemesis' shields took the brunt of the impact, but she was knocked backwards, preventing her from finishing off Garrus.
"Bloody hell," Miranda muttered as she searched her pockets for another thermal clip. These bastards shouldn't be giving them so much trouble, but their team was half-dead from the Reaper forces they'd slogged through, while their enemies were fresh. The tell-tale red light of the other Nemesis' rifle appeared on her chest and she ducked just in time to avoid the round that whizzed over her head and impacted off of the floor of the Presidium.
Off to her right, she could see Ashley still engaged with the remaining Phantom. The Spectre was hard-pressed, just barely staying ahead of the lethal sword-strokes aimed at her back while not able to get enough distance to squeeze off a clean shot with her Javelin. Suddenly, Ashley spun around and rolled down the stairs, just avoiding the latest blow, but as the Phantom followed, the ninja's body jerked backwards from a pistol shot as Miranda hit her in the chest. Exploiting the opening, Ashley leveled her rifle and quick-fired, not having enough time to scope her target. The powerful round ripped through the Phantom's body, leaving a hole the size of a tennis ball in her chest. Her sword fell from her grasp and her corpse crashed on top of the Spectre, knocking what little breath she had left out of her.
Watching the Phantom fall, a pained little smile crossed Miranda's face. Maybe they were going to get out of this alive after all. With a second's worth of breathing space, she turned her attention to her old master. The Illusive Man was still facing Shepard, his eyes narrowed with concentration as he strained to keep the powerful Spectre under his control. If she could break his hold even for a moment, maybe it would be enough for Shepard to get into the fight.
She let off a shot at the Illusive Man but it stopped short of his body, a powerful barrier of Reaper energy appearing in response. It was enough to get his attention but not to free Shepard and, turning to face Miranda, he reached into his pocket to draw a pistol. The operative gritting her teeth, preparing her biotics for a more powerful strike, but she never got to make it. Ever as the energy gathered, a sniper round struck her good shoulder and she fell onto her back, her pistol sliding from her grasp. She fumbled for the gun, but even as her fingers closed on the warm barrel, she froze. Looming above her was the Illusive Man, a harsh smile on his face as he pulled the trigger.
Ashley tossed the Phantom's corpse off of her just in time to see Miranda's body jerk as the Illusive Man fired twice into her chest, the bullets leaving bloody splatters across her already-red chest. "Son of a bitch!", she screamed, but even as she raised her rifle to the Cerberus leader, her body exploded in pain as one of the Nemeses hit her with a round that broke her shields and cracked two of her ribs. In spite of the fire in her chest, she tried to rise once more, but she got no further than her knees when she felt the hard press of metal against her head.
"Stay down, Lt. Commander." The Illusive Man's voice was filled with cold confidence and across the room, Ashley could see the other Nemesis' sniper sight fixed on Garrus. "It's over."
Joker could hardly believe what he was seeing. A moment ago, Harbinger had been in the process of tearing apart one of the turian dreadnoughts accompanying the Normandy and now it was just sitting there, hovering there in space with its shields down. The pilot's mind flashed back to the Battle of the Citadel three years ago when the same thing had happened to Sovereign, and remembering how brief that window had been, he yelled over the comm, "Everyone focus on that Reaper."
The remaining ships in their fleet opened fire on Harbinger. Lances of energy and flights of missiles slammed into its side, cracking its armor and sending puffs of fire flickering into the void, but even as they pressed the attack, more trouble appeared on the sensors. Several of the smaller Reapers were coming to the aid of their brethren, one of them training its powerful laser on the Normandy. The pilot pulled hard on the helm, rolling the ship out of the way of the first shot and pulling a tight turn to bring her around to return fire.
"Jeff."
Even as he was targeting the Thanix canon on the Reaper, however, he was yanked out of his concentration by the sound of EDI's voice. "Not now," he yelled at the AI, "I'm a little busy trying to keep us from being vaporized."
"Jeff!", she repeated, louder than before, "Behind you!"
Joker turned his head and with no time to spare, he reacted on instinct, hurling himself out of his chair and hitting the deck just before Kelly's spanner waved through the space he'd been occupying. A spike of agony shot through the pilot as he landed, a brittle rib cracking on the hard floor of the ship. He pushed past it. That kind of pain was something he was all too familiar with and his bigger problem was the deranged yeoman with the electric spanner looming above him.
Kelly tried to circle around his chair to get a clear shot at him but Joker kicked it first, sending it spinning into her legs. She stumbled, crashing to deck next to him, and the spanner fell from her grasp and skidded across the floor. Joker lunged for the tool but the yeoman grabbed a hold of his shirt and yanked him backwards. He spun, punching her in the face but wincing as the impact cracked a bone or two in his hand.
Undeterred by her broken nose, Kelly grabbed a hold of Joker's shoulders, forcing his arms down. There was a glazed expression on her face, and when he pleaded, "Kelly, what are you doing?", she didn't even seem to hear him.
Suddenly, the ship shook as one of the Reaper's blasts struck home. The Normandy's upgraded shields and armor absorbed most of the damage but the impact threw Kelly off of Joker. The yeoman's head slammed into one of the command consoles and even as she was recovering, he found the spanner. She leapt back at the pilot and he lunged out with the tool, making contact with her chest and pressing down on the power button. Her body jerked and spasmed from the electric current, and she slumped back down onto the deck, unconscious.
Gasping for breath, Joker pulled himself back into his chair. The instruments indicated the ship had taken some damage to the starboard section and the shields were down to 60%, but otherwise they were still in one piece.
"EDI," he said, "Return control of the helm to me."
"Jeff, I am detecting a number of injuries to your torso and hand. You should go and see Doctor Chakwas while I continue to pilot the Normandy."
"I'll be fine," he insisted. "Besides, if I let you keep flying, I'll have bigger problems than a few cracked ribs." The AI was good, but this was his baby. He'd keep her in the air if it was the last thing he did.
At the summit of the Presidium, the command console was turning bright green, glowing prothean glyphs manifesting on its surface as it interfaced with the Crucible.
"Now, Commander," the Illusive Man told her, his voice eerily calm, "You will use the Crucible to assert control over the Reapers and then release that control to me. If you do not do this, I will kill your friends. If you attempt to use the Crucible for any other purpose, I will kill you. Now, tell me that you understand."
Shepard felt the paralysis in her face release just enough for her to answer. "Kill me?", she protested, "You still need me to control the Reapers."
"And if you refuse to do that, you will be of no further use to me." He glanced down at Miranda's bloody body. Shepard couldn't tell if the operative was still alive, but if even if she was, it was a narrow thing. "And I think you know what happens to those who are no longer useful to me."
She did. This man would kill her, and Ashley, and Garrus without a second thought. And yet, as she thought of her bondmate and the daughter they were going to have, she couldn't do it. She couldn't allow they to live in a galaxy where they, and all of the other non-humans, were reduced to slaves crushed under the whims of this madman. "No," she said, quietly, but with conviction behind every syllable. "You do what you think you have to. No matter what, I won't give you that power."
"We'll see." He pressed his pistol to Ashley's head. The marine flinched slightly at the contact, but Shepard could see the steel in her dark eyes, the willingness to die if that was what it took to stop the Illusive Man. She was ready too. If he killed them, he'd have no choice but to use the Crucible to destroy the Reapers. Someone else could deal with him.
"It's a shame," he said, giving Shepard a final chance to change her mind. "She was a good soldier."
"She still is." The Illusive Man turned at the sound and his attention wavered for a split second, long enough for a massive wave of biotic energy to slam into him, denting his barriers and knocking the gun from his hand. There, standing by the elevator and enveloped in light, was Liara T'Soni.
Shepard had never been happier to see anything else in her life, but there was no time for words. The blast had disrupted the Illusive Man's control over her and as soon as she felt the strength returning to her limbs, she moved, hurling herself down the stairs at him. Her enemy raised his hand, seeking to reestablish his hold, but even as he tried to shake off the biotic attack, she was spraying him down with bullets, her submachine gun tearing through his barriers and keeping him from properly focusing.
In a blur of frantic speed, she hurled herself down the last three steps, smashing into his sternum with an armored knee. He crashed to the ground and she landed on top of her tormentor, her fist making contact with his face. Teeth spilled out of his ruined mouth but despite the damage, he reached up, grabbing the Spectre's shoulders. He had an unnatural strength, and even through her armor, she could feel the pressure as her arms were forced back.
It didn't matter. After all this time, after all the man had done and tried to do to her, the Spectre wasn't going to be deterred now. With a roar, she pressed herself forward, smashing her forehead into his face and shattering his nose. His grip on her arms loosened and she drew one of them back, her omni-blade snapping forth.
For an instant, their eyes locked and in his strange, blue gaze, she saw nothing human. No fear, no regret, not even any pain, and she realized that whatever he'd once been, the unholy combination of Reaper technology and his obsessions had consumed his soul. Without further hesitation, she struck. A single, swift blow from her omni-blade punctured his neck and almost instantly, the light went out of his eyes.
She looked up to see where the Nemeses were, but the rest of the battle was already over. Liara had trapped one of the two snipers in a stasis field and was in the process of shooting her with her pistol, while Ashley had picked off the other one with her Javelin.
As soon as her target fell, Liara was racing towards Shepard, and the Spectre pulled herself back up to her feet to meet her. The asari was clearly injured, running with a limp, blood marring her lovely blue features, but she threw her arms around Shepard as they came together, kissing her face with a desperate energy.
"Thank god you're okay," Shepard whispered to her lover, "When you didn't show up to the rendezvous point, I was so scared."
"I am fine," Liara told her, tears forming in her eyes. "But Shepard, the rest of the team, they… I'm so sorry. Tali was badly injured and Javik and James are dead. You will have to be the one to operate the Crucible."
Reluctantly, she pulled away from Liara. Every moment she didn't activate it, more people were dying and that had to come before her joy and her grief. Of course, she knew now that any of them could use the Crucible, but there was no time to explain that to Liara. Besides, she had been the one who had first discovered the threat of the Reapers on Eden Prime and the one who had led the fight against them these last few brutal years. It felt right that she be the one to finish it.
Her muscles ached as she walked up to the podium, still sore from whatever the Illusive Man had done to them, but she was all right. She could do what she had to, unlike the bloody, battered members of her team lying on the floor of the Presidium, and as she made her way towards the controls, she told her bondmate, "Liara, I don't know how long this will take. Please, look after the others."
As the asari hurried to tend to her wounded teammates, Shepard reached the top of the stairs. The Spectre took hold of the glowing console and as she touched it, a familiar connection opened between the device and her mind . Without words she knew how to use it, and without hesitation, she made her choice, the only choice she could make to end this nightmare once and for all.
Whew, that was a lot of action to write. I hope you found it appropriately tense. Only 2 or 3 chapters left to go in this one, but there's still plenty to cover and lots of final fates to reveal. (Plus more smut, naturally) Hope you're still enjoying it.