Resistance Chapter 34, a mass effect fanfic

Chapter 34 – He Who Fights and Runs Away….

Bau heard the grinding of the stone entrance closing and he knew it wasn't good. Abandoning his search for artifacts, Bau moved to the bank of terminals. His back was to the corridor, but he fought the urge to turn. Instead, in a bid to appear unaware, he calmly closed the download, determined to take whatever data he could with him. His eyes caught the reflection on the screen. His instincts had been right. A yahg.

Lifting his wrist, his fingers hovering over his omnitool, Bau saw the reflection about to strike. He hit his cloak, immensely thankful that Shepard had had the foresight to adjust it back in the tunnel as they'd waited for the others to join them, and spun away, feeling the rush of air from the yahg's fist as it flew through the space Bau left behind and smashed into the terminal instead.

Able to get a good look now, Bau recognised the yahg as the subject from Sur'Kesh. It searched the area for him. He had to hurry before his cloak needed to recharge, but he'd give himself away the moment he opened that door, and he decided that his chances of outrunning a yahg were low.

His environment provided the answer.

Withdrawing a small blade, Bau swiftly severed a nearby electrical cable, then rammed it into a gap in the yahg's armour. It shook violently as the current swarmed through it. Wasting no time, Bau ran up the corridor, hitting the switch to open the door. Once on the other side he immediately sealed it again. Using his blade again, Bau tore off the cover that made up the pressure pad switch, hastily ripping out a wire he hoped would make it inoperable.

The thud of the yahg slamming into the other side of the slab made Bau jump back in surprise that it had recovered so soon, his heart hammering. No matter the thickness of the door, Bau wasn't certain it would hold against the force being thrown at it, and he chose not to be standing there when it gave.

The pure terror in his wife's voice as she screamed his name, sent a chill through Kaidan – one that threatened to shatter him when he saw the exact moment Terra left and the Leviathans took over. This was a waking nightmare.

It was shocking to find himself at the end of her gun as she opened fire, and he and his team were forced to retreat into the passageway they'd come from, pressing themselves up against the walls around the entrance until she stopped firing.

Peering around the edge, Kaidan could see that Coats had also forced Shepard's team into cover.

Everyone was still, weapons in hand, but no-one firing back. How could they? This was Shepard. She was the one person who'd had a positive influence on each and every one of their lives. A woman who had brought them all into her family as though they were blood.

"What do we do!?" Garrus called out.

Kaidan's thoughts raced. He had to knock them out, but how? To his frustration, he had no idea.

Coats stood at Terra's back as though the Leviathans weren't so certain they wouldn't take him out. His cheek rested against hers as he gazed back at Kaidan, wrapping his arms around her in a way that was deliberately intimate.

Kaidan knew the Leviathans were using the previous sexual history between his wife and Coats to manipulate him. It wasn't Coats doing it. Yet despite himself he could feel the rage as Coats' hands slid over her body in a way Terra would never allow, and he had to acknowledge his own possessiveness formed a part of that anger.

"They are using her against you," commented Javik, from beside Kaidan. "Against all of you. I have been in this situation before. Believe me, I know the difficult decision you face. But sentimentality will only get us all killed. She is indoctrinated - a state she would not want. Do what has to be done. It is not a task I relish, but if you cannot, I will."

Kaidan's biotics flared in response, and he pinned Javik to the wall. "You fire on her and you'll be next," he promised, vehemently. "I'm not giving up on her."

"Pendejo," gritted out James, his shotgun gripped tight and in Javik's direction.

"Give us the child," demanded both Coats and Shepard.

Kaidan fought down the nausea at the voice that came from his wife's mouth, and his hand slipped from Javik's armour as he turned to meet her soulless eyes. "That will never happen."

Cruelty and scorn stared back at him. Then Shepard replaced her rifle and withdrew her pistol. Kaidan sucked in a breath as she pointed it up under her chin, the metal digging into skin.

"Shepard is a tool. Nothing more," said Coats. "Her death will not hinder us. Give us the child."

Seeing Terra's finger firmly on the trigger, Kaidan felt helpless, reaching out his hand futilely. "Stop. Please." His jaw clenched painfully, his head pounded with the strain. Inside, he was slowly being crushed, because he couldn't – wouldn't – give them what they wanted, and he had no doubt the Leviathans would fulfil their threat.

He couldn't save Terra.

In a horrible stagnant moment, Kaidan looked at those around him. James' face must have mirrored his own, the man looked so emotionally beaten. Edi looked expectantly back at Kaidan like she was waiting for him to solve this. Inside the room, Garrus was statue-like, staring off at some unseen point, his rifle hanging loosely at his side, all fight gone. Jack… she was curled up on herself, knees into her chest, leaning against the counter she, Garrus and Knox were sheltering behind, a storm of biotics, but her hands were clasped into tight fists that were clamped either side of her head, her eyes squeezed shut, unable to deal with what was coming.

Kaidan's hand dropped uselessly by his side, his shoulders slumping as all hope drained out of him. He was going to have to watch her die. Again. Give us the child. … There was only one answer.

"No." Kaidan's voice rasped from his throat, breaking on its way out with the knowledge it was sealing Terra's fate.

"So be it."

Kaidan couldn't breathe as her finger tightened….

Suddenly, a grenade came flying into the room from the passageway. Bau! But Shepard had seen it coming, twisting away, the pistol forgotten in her hand, and the grenade hit Coats' chest and exploded its contents, knocking him out. Kaidan seized this opportunity, holding his breath so as not to breathe in the gas when he ran forward and sent a biotic wave to knock the gun from Terra's hold. It was ripped from her hand and landed near Knox.

Running out of air, Kaidan quickly yanked on his helmet, but Shepard was moving rapidly towards her team, distancing herself from the gas. When parallel with them she reached for her omnitool. "Jack! Barrier!" Kaidan yelled.

In response, the biotic field surrounded the area Jack, Garrus and Knox were inhabiting, just as Shepard threw an incinerating blast at them. Jack's barrier shielded them, but Shepard had reached the pistol. Knox leapt forward and grappled with her, managing to knock the gun from her hand, but she shoved her head into his nose, breaking it. Following it up with a hard punch to his jaw, Knox was sent stumbling back into Garrus. Releasing her rifle, she unleashed a volley at them, and they had to dive away, her shots sure to be fatal if they found their intended target, though one shot ripped through Knox's leg, and another caught Garrus' shoulder.

Kaidan's heart was tearing apart at the sight of her fighting them.

James, Edi and Bau moved to join him. It seemed Javik had decided that he was going to be the last line of defence as he stood guard at the entrance, and if Shepard got that far, Kaidan knew Javik would pull the trigger.

Then they were ducking as she fired again, and suddenly Edi juddered uncontrollably as she was hit with Shepard's overload program.

"Re- re-rout- re-routing and f- fixing dam- damaged systems," struggled Edi.

Vega reached out to help Garrus with a dazed Knox when the others re-grouped, and immediately got struck with a blast of heat from Shepard. Dropping and rolling in order to douse the flames as he hollered in pain, Vega quickly released medigel into his system, his laboured breathing slowing as the cooling liquid flooded through him. Parts of his armour were either burned away or seriously weakened, the skin on his face reddened by the heat.

Kaidan had to end this…before she killed one of them. It was a small mercy that her cloak was currently of no use to her. "Everybody stay down!" he ordered. "She's mine," he choked out, almost to himself.

Rising up, his barriers at full strength, he ran at her hard and fast, his energy field deflecting the barrage of shots, a half-hearted wave of his biotics knocking her off her feet. She sprang up before he could do anything else, spinning and driving her foot hard into his chest, staggering him and cracking the freshly healed bones, the pain sending bursts of white stars into his vision. Then her omniblade was rushing towards his face, but he managed to bring his forearm up, diverting it away, then used her forward momentum to sweep her legs out. She somehow managed to somersault, returning to her feet, but Kaidan wasn't about to give her time to come back at him, and he barrelled into her before she could turn to face him, using the weight of his body to pin her against a pillar. Still she tried to swing back her arm, but he parried it away easily, instead grabbing it and pinning it up behind her back. Any normal person would be unable to fight back against that kind of incapacity - resisting only caused pain - but this was a Leviathan and it forced her body to do just that. Kaidan could imagine the damage being inflicted to muscle and tendons, even bones, and refusing to let it hurt her any further he released her enough to spin her to face him. Her lovely face stared back at him with nothing but hatred and contempt, and he was in torment as he pressed his whole body against hers, pushing her back into the support post. Yet, still she fought.

Garrus was there then, helping him to still her. Vega and a functional Edi, too. Jack paced nearby with agitation, unable to watch Shepard like this. Knox couldn't take his eyes away from what was playing out, disturbed. Javik was still in the entrance, waiting, unconvinced that this would end in any other way than it had in his own experience. Bau was keeping an eye on Coats.

After all of Kaidan's first fears over Terra being controlled by Cerberus after she came back from the dead, this was like a bad joke.

The veins in her neck bulging, Shepard's face strained upwards, close enough for her lips to brush his as she spoke. "Accept your place. Relinquish your progeny," the Leviathan demanded.

"Never."

"You only prolong the inevitable. We have Shepard. Through her, your spawn will die."

"Damn it, this is a lab! Someone find me something we can use!" Kaidan shouted at the others. Edi released her hold to begin a search, and Knox replaced her, his haunted eyes flicking between Shepard and Kaidan, silently asking for it to stop. Even with four of them holding her, they struggled to pin her. The Leviathans wouldn't let her stop.

Kaidan looked directly into his wife's stolen eyes. "Shepard will have her mind again."

"No. Shepard remains our tool."

"Edi?"

"There is nothing that would not cause her irreparable harm," answered Edi, sounding stressed.

"This is your last chance. The child."

"Go to hell," bit out Kaidan.

"Your continued defiance is impudent. Now you will pay the price. Shepard will be rendered without function."

"Spirits! No!" blurted Garrus.

Panic gripped Kaidan. The Leviathans were about to take her mind completely. The thought of Terra as nothing but a shell was too much to take.

With an anguished roar, he drew back his fist and struck her beautiful face as hard as he could, knocking her out instantly as her head snapped back and smacked into the pillar. Breathing heavily from a mixture of exertion and emotion, Kaidan lifted the lolling head of his unconscious wife, his shaking fingers tracing gently over the place he'd struck her, the skin broken and swelling. He then checked the back of her head, fingers coming away wet with blood. He quickly ran a med-scan, worried he'd done serious damage. Concussion.

But that wasn't all that was wrong. The Leviathans were in there, lurking on the periphery, just waiting to force their way through her darkened mind to surface again and take her from him. Kaidan would do everything he could to prevent them from destroying the wonderful soul that defined who she was.

Garrus clasped his shoulder. "We need to get her out of here."

"I'll take her," James said softly.

"No!" barked Kaidan. "No one else touches her." They all backed away at his fierce gaze, and he moved back enough for Terra's body to slump into him. Ignoring the raging pain in his chest, he lifted her.

"Cortez," radioed Garrus. "Damn it! I forgot about the scrambler."

"I'll grab Coats," said James, "but what about the scientists?"

Kaidan gave them the briefest of glances. Was it even possible to get them out of this situation now? He wished it was – for Terra. He knew she'd insisted on the gas grenades for the very purpose of saving them all. But the plan had been to locate and destroy whatever artifacts were controlling them, allowing them to walk out under their own steam. She'd have held this building until every single one of them were shuttled away to Normandy, safe. But that was no longer an option, and there were too many of them to carry.

"We've little choice. Seal the room behind us. We don't need them waking and causing us problems."

Bau, Garrus, and Knox were ready to lead the way, Kaidan cradling his precious cargo, and Javik falling in behind. James wanted to keep a close eye on the prothean and he quickly hauled Coats across his shoulders. Jack was standing nearby, her breathing fast, just staring after Shepard, and James gripped her clammy hand, pulling her with him as they began to head out, passing Edi who was waiting to disable the door.

"She'll be okay, Bella," he muttered, quietly.

"Don't feed me bullshit, Vega," Jack hushed angrily, yanking her hand free of James'. "We're still on this fucking planet. They're in her head. I can't fight that. Fucking mind shit. Just leave me the fuck alone."

She picked up her pace, pushing past Javik without apology, leaving James sighing heavily.

"What about the mission?" James called out, refocusing, hating to bring it to the fore with Shepard down, but without success, all of this was for nothing.

The artifacts… While Kaidan's mind stuttered, his pace didn't. The mission was fucked as far as he was concerned. It had been a fool's errand, and they'd been outsmarted.

"We've looked. There's nothing here, Vega. Unless you've got a suggestion, I don't see how we can complete it." His eyes were continually battling between the irritatingly blue environment and his wife, his fear of her waking causing him considerable paranoia.

The echoing thumping sounds that travelled down the tunnel had all but Bau alert.

"Ah," Bau remarked. "Now would be the time to explain what I've been up to."

oOo

Joker watched the yahg vehicle go up in flames. "And another one bites the dust," he said, grimly.

They were being hit by several heavy weapon strikes from those on the ground, but the shields deflected the worst of it.

"Shields at 92%," advised Altair.

"They don't give up that's for sure."

The fighting beyond was fierce and unrelenting, but Wrex and those accompanying him were making an impact. Still, it was a bloody affair. For every yahg they engaged, an average of three of their group would die.

Then Wrex seemed to break through, Grunt beside him and he was climbing into an empty tomkah whose previous inhabitants, Joker assumed, had been literally been pulled from their seats sometime at the start of the battle.

"Check your targets," Joker said in an aside to Altair. "We've got a friendly crossing."

"Got him."

Joker was more than happy to know that backup was headed Shepard's way, and he worked to make sure nothing else did.

About to slam the door to the tomkah shut, Wrex was surprised when two salarians jumped inside.

"Mind if we accompany you?" said one.

"Yes. We'd appreciate the lift," said the other.

Wrex frowned at the annoyingly upbeat tones. "Lift? This isn't a cab." Nevertheless, he closed the hatch and banged his fist a couple of times against the hull to signal Grunt drive.

"You're heading for Shepard's location," stated one salarian, holding on to the roof strap as the vehicle accelerated harshly.

"We want to help," explained the other.

"I'm Gardew. This is Cael."

"And you are Urdnot Wrex."

"You don't say. Now tell me something I don't know," grumbled Wrex. He then cursed as the treacherous ground Joker had created sent their vehicle jostling violently, his head bashing into the roof.

"I'm sure we could tell you lots of things you don't know," babbled Cael. "It would be a good distraction. Any specific interests?"

"I do not believe the krogan chief was being sincere," suggested Gardew, registering the deep glare from Wrex.

"Hm. I simply do not understand sarcasm," Cael said, conversationally. "Why not just say what you mean?"

"Yes. The humans in particular are very good at it," observed Gardew.

Growling with irritation, Wrex stood up and went to sit beside Grunt at the front. "Go faster."

"It's to the limit," answered Grunt.

Still able to hear the inane ramblings behind him, Wrex grumbled some more, fixing his gaze on their destination as they passed under the shadow of Normandy.

oOo

"I want a sit-rep. Now," demanded Hackett.

The last of the yahg ships over Parnack had been reduced to debris, but he had no visual on those that had retreated back to the planet.

"Admiral. Turian ship, Kineca, is reporting that all yahg vessels have been disabled, except one," said a crewman.

"Damn it, I want that ship blown from the sky."

"The Kineca is in pursuit, with four other vessels."

"Warn the Normandy. If that yahg ship is still flying with intent, it's likely it has an artifact on board."

"Relaying message, Sir."

Hackett looked back over at his comm specialist, only to receive a shake of the head. Still no contact with Terra. He rubbed his hand over his mouth – the only sign that he was troubled.

"Damn it!" whined Joker as he closed the call. "Altair, switch camera views. Scanners won't be able to pick up that yahg ship, so you've got to get a visual."

"Yes, Sir. But shouldn't we initiate the Pulse Protection?"

"We do that and we'll get bombarded from below, and we need to stay in place or they'll all get across."

"But the pulse-."

"Won't be a problem so long as you spot it coming. That's what I want you to get a visual on. It's like a ripple. All we have to do then is initiate the PPP at the last minute and return to shields a-sap. Then we're only vulnerable for a small window of time."

"Okay. Okay, I'm looking." There was a short pause. "What if I miss it?"

"Do you want to crash to the ground, sit here waiting for the yahg to break through the hull, and be torn limb from limb when they do?"

"No!"

"Then don't miss it."

"Oh my God. Oh my God…." Altair's eyes searched frantically, not daring to even blink. "Just so you know, I'm seriously reconsidering my previous statement about your uplifting speeches."

"You can do it, Altair."

She took a deep breath, exhaling slowly. "That's better."

oOo

"Admiral, two of our pursuing vessels have been destroyed by the yahg ship."

Hackett frowned. This one had learned fast. Three ships remained in pursuit, but he wasn't prepared to take chances. "Send in our interceptors and fighters."

"Aye, aye, Sir."

"And someone get me a damned visual," he commanded.

A proximity alert began sounding, and Joker switched to the rear lower external camera. "Oh shit! Wrex!" he blurted into the comm.

"What is it?"

"The rachni have tunnelled underneath! They're through!"

"Ancestors putrid quads."

That was all Wrex had to say on the matter, and Joker was too busy re-positioning the ship in an attempt to take down as many as he could as they surged up from the ground.

"Pulse!" Altair screamed, slamming on the PPP.

Joker braced himself as they took direct hits from below and one from the yahg ship that appeared into view, ominously black against the grey sky, and he quickly re-engaged the shields.

"We've got hull damage!" reported Altair.

Joker punched off the wailing warning, watching the yahg ship zoom past with impressive deftness, three frigates hot on its tail, each of their shots failing to find their target. "A couple of small breaches. Someone else will handle it. Stay focused. There's a good chance it'll come round again." He hit the comm. Hackett needed to know how bad things had gotten on the ground.

Hackett re-issued orders to the interceptors and fighters: concentrate on the ground forces. There was a small stretch between them and those buildings, and Terra and Kaidan weren't out yet.

"Lieutenant Moreau. As soon as those fighters arrive, I want you in the air. Something tells me that ship's target is Normandy, so join the fight to bring it down."

"Aye, aye, Admiral."

His attention hadn't wandered from the images being fed back from the beacon that had been deployed in the skies of Parnack. It was a damned mess. The rachni, the LDF's…. They'd underestimated the Leviathans; been too damned focused on the formidable yahg instead of considering just what the leviathans themselves could do beyond their pulses. Overall, he was disgusted with himself. They'd beaten a legion of Reapers, yet three Leviathans were thoroughly trouncing them through the simplest of means. His victory over the yahg fleets was long forgotten.

He only hoped this plan hadn't cost him his daughter.

Joker reluctantly lifted the Normandy away as the small support vessels swarmed the site. As much as he disliked being a sitting duck for the yahg ship, he wanted to be right there as the last line of defence for his unit. Yeah, his unit. Down here at ground level, he'd felt exactly that: one of the ground team. He'd always known the vital role he played in missions, but somehow this fight felt different. Normally he was pulling them out of dire situations. Right now, he was also buying them time, keeping the enemy at bay. His actions were protecting his friends, his family, and he was loathe to surrender the task to anyone else. Then he shook his head at himself. "Family... Now you sound like Shepard," he muttered to himself.

"I…didn't say anything," said Altair, beside him.

"No, you didn't," he said, deliberately confusing her.

There was a slight pause, her eyes scanning the screens, unwaveringly. "Okay… Well, they do say there's a fine line between genius and madness."

He huffed in amusement. "Nice comeback, Altair."

"Learning from the best."

"Yes, you are." He picked up their allies on radar. "Got them. Let's offer our unique services."

"Yes, Sir," she smiled.

oOo

The trek through the tunnels felt a helluva lot longer to Kaidan than it had on the way in. His arms ached, his chest was a burning furnace, and the tension was heightened by the continual thumping of the yahg's attempts to break through the door Bau had jammed. Another room, not fully explored. A Reaper... Once Terra and Coats were on the shuttle, he would have to take the rest of the team back to deal with the yahg and finish the mission.

He caught sight of the steps up ahead, illuminated partly in blue then changing to that weak yellow light from above as they rose. At last.

"I have re-established contact with the Normandy," notified Edi. "I will update Commander Moreau on our situation."

"Calling Cortez," announced Garrus.

Kaidan wouldn't be able to relax until Terra was far away from any artifacts, so that pick-up couldn't come soon enough.

They all tensed, weapons ready, as the light at the top of the stairs was blocked by someone in the room above….

"Shepard!?" a voice boomed from above.

"Wrex!" called back Kaidan, relieved, mounting the steps as the krogan peered down. Wrex frowned at the sight of him carrying Shepard but didn't ask. "We have to get Shepard and Coats out of here."

"Not through the front door. We've going to have company soon."

Emerging into the room to see Grunt and the two salarians, Gardew and Cael, guarding the only exit, Kaidan knew things had gone to shit outside as well as in. Going back to that Reaper-inhabited room now, would be suicide.

Steve, rifle in hand, was on his stomach at the crest of the shallow area the shuttle was resting in. He could hear the battle clearly now. He was fairly certain he wouldn't be discovered here, but had decided it prudent to keep an eye out. His omnitool on silent, it pinged in his earpiece and he answered it quickly.

"Cortez, we need you at our position, now," insisted Garrus.

Shoving himself up from the ground, Steve was running back to the shuttle. "I'm there in two."

"Make it less. Shepard's exposed to the Leviathans."

His heart lurched. "Pushing it to the limits. Out."

Steve jumped into the shuttle only to come to a sliding halt. He'd left the shuttle door open…. The huge, vicious-looking creature snarled at him from where it stood in the cockpit area.

"We've got a link, Admiral," called out Hackett's comm specialist. "To General Alenko. Putting it through to you, Sir."

"Alenko-."

"Admiral, the Leviathans got to Shepard, and we couldn't find the artifacts," rushed out Kaidan. "Bau found another room to search, but... Sir, I had to knock her out. They intend to take her mind away! We've got to get her away from here before I can go back!"

It was the worst-case scenario…. Hearing the desperation and pain in his son-in-law's voice, Hackett was in no doubt what he had to do. "Abort the mission. As soon as you're away from there, I'm calling a retreat of the ground forces."

There was a loaded pause from a man whose only uncompleted mission was on Thessia, during the Reaper wars. "Yes, Sir."

"Admiral!" called out a crewman. "The yahg and rachni are breaching those buildings!"

"Kaidan. Get out of there. Now."

"There's only one way out and that's through the door. We'll have to head up; hold out until Cortez reaches us. He's on route. Should be any time now."

"I'll make sure our support vessels keep the heavy fire away from the shuttle. Stay safe," Hackett added, with gravity, like an order he expected carried out, or else.

With the comm link severed, Hackett returned to the screens. It was easier to concentrate on the mayhem depicted there, than to consider the condition of his daughter. He was tempted to send more frigates - bombard the whole stinking mess – but just maybe someone down there would still be able to walk away from the fight when he signalled the retreat.

"Ready as many vessels with shuttles as we have. They're to pull out our troops on my word."

Then he waited… part Admiral, part father.

They looked on as Edi jammed the only exit while Grunt single-handedly heaved the slab back over the tunnel. Unfortunately, there was no way to prevent it being opened again from below, and one thing Kaidan knew for sure was that those yahg and rachni entering the other buildings would head straight for the tunnels. They'd considered trying to bring part of the tunnel down, but the amount of firepower required for the thick stone construction would likely dry them out of heat-sinks, and from the sounds of the gunfire hitting the entranceway, it would be a futile attempt to keep them out.

Rachni…. Kaidan was still having a hard time with that one. It was too unbelievable. Too horribly disappointing. He didn't need to work at imagining what had fared on that battlefield as a result of that turnabout.

Checking Terra's face, he was satisfied she wasn't on the verge of waking, and began leading the way up the first flight of steps. There were no doors from one level to the next – nothing that would hinder their enemies. Only the stairs themselves offered help. It would funnel anyone coming up them.

James followed with Coats, and the others took a stand at the floors below. By the time Kaidan had reached the top floor he had expected to have heard from Cortez.

"Lieutenant. ETA?" The lack of response filled Kaidan with dread, and he instinctively clutched Terra tighter to him. Delay would endanger her…. The sound of stone crumbling into rubble reached his ears.

"They're through!" Grunt hollered up, confirming Kaidan's assumption.

The entrance had given way. Gunfire erupted, and he reluctantly lowered Terra to the ground, laying her beside Coats so he could take up arms with Vega.

"Joker. I can't get hold of Cortez. We need extraction, a-sap."

"Shit! I'm engaged with an enemy ship! I'll be there as soon as! Just hold on!"

It wasn't what he wanted to hear. Feeling completely helpless, Kaidan stood at the top of those stairs next to Vega, tension cramping his muscles, biotics crackling with intensity as he waged an internal battle over his emotions, and fingers white where they gripped the rifle. He had only one thing playing through his mind; wishful words mentally directed at Terra.

Please, don't wake up.

oOo