Omega Chronicles -14- The Geth are coming
The Inanna was docked at her usual spot, her black hull shining under the dim lights of the docking bay. Shepard and Aria were walking to the short bridge that led to her doors, they stopped and stared at each other for a few long moments. The Queen broke the silence.
"I'm not good at good-byes."
The Commander smiled, she took the Asari's hands and drew her closer, their fingers entwined naturally, smoothly, and they squeezed each other gently. Their foreheads touched and they revelled in that intimate gesture.
"Neither am I."
There was a stern look on Aria's face. "If the Geth are involved, there's no telling what kind of trouble you might get into. If things get nasty, fuck the beacon. Just bring your lovely ass back."
Shepard's face shifted so that she replied whispering on the Asari's lips. "As my Queen commands."
Their lips locked in a lingering kiss, their mouths opened to let their tongues dance together, their bodies connecting, their arms encircling each other, holding each other tight.
"Ew. I should have known not to get here on time. Five minutes later and I probably would have avoided seeing this..." Liselle's voice was half teasing, half serious as she was approaching the entrance to the ship, walking behind and around the couple.
They reluctantly broke the kiss, a small smile on their lips. Aria's tone was severe and low. "Go."
Shepard separated from her quite unwillingly and made her way inside at a brisk pace.
"Relan, set a course for the Exodus Cluster".
The Commander's voice was clear through the ship's intercom, as was her pilot's reply.
"Right away, Sir!"
Shepard stared for a short while at the big galaxy map in front of her as the Inanna made her way out of the docking bay and into space, then she headed down to her quarters to have a chance at studying whatever intel she had been given.
Sitting at her table, she put down the padd after memorising everything she could, she leaned back on her chair and her fingers came up to pinch the bridge of her nose. She still harboured some hope that this mission would prove to be easy as pie, but that hope was dwindling fast.
Her door chimed.
"Come in."
She raised her face and saw Liselle walking in, her body hugged by the typical all black light armour of the Asari Commandos. The sway in her hips was nothing short of drool-worthy. The Maiden sat across the table from Shepard and gave her a small smile.
"Liselle. What can I do for you?"
"Actually, as much as it may pain me, I came here because I think I owe you an apology. I have been behaving less than fairly towards you, on the assumption that you were no better than the usual, run-of-the-mill lowlife that tends to gravitate around my mother."
The Commander sat up straight, her ears not really believing what was coming out of the young Asari's lips. She placed her elbows on the table, her hands clasped together, her thumbs loosely supporting her chin, and stared into her purple eyes, waiting.
"I do need to ask you something, though. And I must warn you: if you lie, I will know."
The soldier just nodded in agreement.
"In the time I have been alive I have seen many people coming in and out of my mother's life. Mercs, con artists, criminals, the scum of the galaxy. Every single one of them has tried, in their own way, to take advantage of her, or to get a slice of her power, or to squeeze money out of her. Now, she is indeed the worst, or the best, of them all, but that does not subtract from the fact that she is my mother, and I love her. My question is: do -you- love her, as you claim?"
Shepard's head bowed a little and a small smile opened on her face. She was of course half expecting this kind of question, but it was quite endearing to hear it formulated out loud by Liselle anyway.
Her reply was as genuine as possible. "Liselle. Your mother is my life. There is absolutely nothing I wouldn't do for her. Yes, I love Aria. More than anything."
It was the Maiden's turn to have a small smile on her lips. "Words are fine and dandy, Shepard. I want to believe you, but can you understand my predicament?"
"I certainly do. Let me show you something."
The human got up from her chair, she took off her dark grey top in one quick movement as she was walking the few steps between her and the young Asari.
Liselle's mouth dropped open as she almost shrieked: "Wait! What the heck are you doing?"
Shepard stopped right in front of her, she let her top slide to the floor, only her bra covering her torso. She took Liselle's hand and placed her fingers on top of the scar that was right next to her heart.
"Do you feel this? This is my love for Aria, right here. The bullet was meant for her head. And if you are still not convinced, then please, by all means, meld with me and prod my mind to your heart's content."
The Maiden was nonplussed for a couple of seconds, then she regained her composure. She retracted her hand slowly while evaluating what the human had just shared with her. When she spoke, her voice was somehow softer.
"I see. Nevertheless. I know my mother can certainly fend for herself. But in light of your honesty, let me be just as honest to you. Other people may not notice, but I am her blood, her flesh, we share a connection that goes deeper than just good looks and winning personalities. And I have never seen her in love before. Which means you have the power to potentially hurt her. If you ever do, I will make you regret it."
Shepard extended her open hand, waiting for Liselle to shake it. As the young Asari did so, the soldier replied. "Fair enough. I would do the same, if I were you."
"Good. Now that we understand each other, how about you offer me a cup of coffee and tell me what your favourite music is?" Her smile was open and honest, and Shepard felt relieved as she picked up her long sleeved top and got dressed again.
"No! No! You cannot possibly appreciate the depths of sound of Expel 10 if you've never seen them performing live!" Liselle's laugh was crystalline and contagious as she was discussing the impact of new bands and artists with an amused Shepard.
"Oh, I can appreciate modern music, for sure, but I can also be a bit of an old bat sometimes. And I'm afraid I can be blissfully partial to human music production, myself. Nothing beats some Mozart for a quick energy recharge, or some of Brahms' compositions for a romantic mood, believe me."
They stared at each other for a moment, both smiling.
"Then I guess you will have to educate me at some point, Commander."
"We can start now." Shepard got up and walked to her nightstand, keying in some commands on her room control panel. Beethoven's 6th symphony started playing, the notes filling the air pleasantly.
As the Commander was walking back to the table her door chimed again.
"Looks like it's going to be a crowded cabin. Come in."
Tali walked in with a spring in her step, her eyes fixed on a padd, her voice fast and slightly metallic as usual. "Shepard. I wanted to show you the results of the tests on the new EMP weapon you had the ground crew install before we left. It looks promising, the fluctuations on the energy matrix are minimal and it looks like it's not going to affect us much. We will be dead in the water, so to speak, for just a few seconds every time we fire it, of course, but I was able to override some of the minor systems' routines so that the reboot will be considerably faster than that of any other ship. That I know of, of course."
The Quarian's eyes finally got up from the screen and she noticed that Shepard already had a guest, who was looking at her with curiosity. All of a sudden she was unable to stop a bit of a stutter.
"Oh! I- I am so sorry! I had no- no idea someone was here with you! … Keelah, I can surely manage to make myself look like a fool sometimes, eh?"
The Commander gave her a smile as her hand invited her to sit down with them. "It's ok, you're among friends, so you have nothing to worry about. Tali'Zorah, meet Liselle, the newest addition to our crew. Liselle, this is our Chief Engineer Tali'Zorah."
The young Quarian was quick to make herself at home. "Pleased to meet you, Liselle. I like your markings! You look awfully familiar..."
Liselle tried to take the attention away from herself. "So, an EMP weapon? That's not a bad idea at all."
It was all Tali needed to get back to her technical self.
With the young engineer waiting by the door, in order to stop it from closing, Liselle was making her way out of Shepard's cabin after a pleasant time spent discussing some key points of the upcoming mission, possible strategies, and of course engaging in the most classical battle of 'my weapon is better than your weapon', thankfully all in good spirit. She stopped and turned back towards Shepard, who was a polite enough host to actually walk her guests out.
"Well, that was unexpectedly pleasant, Commander. Thank you." She kissed her on the cheek, her satiny skin gliding against the human's for a long moment, her blue hand coming up to gently stroke Shepard's arm.
The Commander was painfully reminded of just how much she was already missing Aria. She closed her eyes just for a second before replying. "It was my pleasure. Time to get ready, we must be almost there by now."
"Sure. See you in the cargo bay."
As they were making their way to their respective stations, Tali was looking sternly at the beautiful Maiden from behind her visor. Then she couldn't hold it in any longer and she blurted out. "I don't know if you know, but if you don't know someone better tell you, and that someone might as well be me. The Commander is -very much- spoken for. By nonetheless than the Queen of Omega herself. So if I were you I would tread lightly, and far enough from her not to generate any gossip. If you care for your life, that is."
Liselle barely managed to stifle a short snicker. "Oh, is that so? Well, lucky for me I have no interest in her. Not of that nature anyway. But thanks for the heads up, I will definitely follow your advice." She gave the Quarian her best, most innocent smile as they stepped into the elevator that would take them down to the cargo bay and Engineering.
Alone in her cabin, Shepard brought out her old N7 armour. She stared at it for a few long moments, every dent and scratch flooding her with memories of what felt like another life, in another time. She shook herself out of her reverie and put it on before making her way to the cargo bay.
"Shit, Shepard, where did you steal that fine N7 piece?"
Jack was blunt as usual in her comments, as she watched the soldier approaching the small team waiting by the Mako. Garrus was the one to offer a quick explanation in a mockingly conspiratorial tone.
"There's a reason why she's called 'Commander', you know?"
It dawned on the biotic for the first time since she started working on Omega. "You're kidding me. Fuck. She's -really- N7? Fuck. Fuck. Fuck."
The tall Turian was quite amused. "Come on, I believe your vocabulary can come up with something better than that, baldie."
"Stop calling me that, you mutated, overgrown bird."
Liselle seemed to be enjoying the banter while she was checking her SMG one last time before the mission.
Shepard's voice betrayed a hint of affection for her team mates. "I see the love keeps flowing strong and unbridled between you two rascals. Good."
She placed herself in front of them and gave each of them a quick glance. She nodded at her squad and led the way to the cargo bay ramp. No need for long winded speeches. Her voice rang in the intercom. "Relan, we're ready when you are."
The Lystheni pilot was quick to reply. "Approaching drop zone in four. Three. Two." The ramp opened and they got ready for the jump. "One. Mark."
They had been scuttling about on the surface for a short while, dispatching a few very annoying flying drones, when they suddenly spotted an Alliance soldier running away from a few Geth, stumbling, falling, trying hard to stay alive. Shepard's orders were quick: "Garrus, take down the furthest ones. Jack, Liselle, with me."
As the Turian got out his trusted sniper rifle and settled down to find the best shot, the small squad quickly attacked and destroyed the drones that were just about to cut the Alliance soldier's life short. Jack's biotics were still active around her hands and arms as Liselle was helping the soldier up. Shepard was in front of her in a few steps, she put her pistol back at her side. "Are you all right?"
The Alliance soldier quickly stood at attention and saluted her. "Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams, Ma'am."
Shepard couldn't help a small grin, it all seemed so familiar to her. "At ease. Regardless of my armour, I'm not with the military anymore. But I need to know what you know of the situation here."
There was a look of confusion on the Chief's face as she took the time to evaluate her position, a dozen questions bubbling in her mind. Having just witnessed the power this small team was packing, she decided to cooperate.
"I'm not sure how to put this, actually. This doesn't make any sense. The Geth have landed a few hours ago, they have wiped out the entire military garrison and the last I saw of them, they were heading for the dig where a... Prothean something is? I was never privy of the details about it. I don't know what it is." She shook her head as if to rearrange her thoughts before continuing. "This huge black ship, you can see it over there, it has so much power. Not one of us had ever seen anything like it. We were overpowered so easily."
Shepard didn't like any of the things she was hearing. "Can you show us the way to the dig?"
Williams seemed uncertain for a moment. Shepard tried to give her a reason to help them. "Look, Williams, we will get to the dig with or without your help, but I don't like to waste time when there are, apparently, big things at stake. I'll tell you what: you can join us if you want, or you can stay here and I will tell my pilot to send a distress call to the nearest Alliance vessel so that they can come and pick you up."
The Chief pondered her options for a second, but couldn't help asking: "Who are you people anyway?"
"I'm afraid I can't really share that. But rest assured, if you don't try to get in our way we have no interest in harming you, so you can relax."
She gave it all a quick thought. "All right. It's not like I can fight off the Geth by myself anyway. Here, let me send the details of the dig and the train you can use to get there to your omnitool, and if you can make good on letting the Alliance know there's still a living soul waiting for them here, I'd be grateful."
"Not a problem."
As soon as she got the files, Shepard opened her comm to the Inanna and told Relan what to do.
"Good luck, Williams."
"Wait. Can't you at least tell me your name? You just saved my skin after all."
"Name's Shepard." The Commander signalled her team to move on, now they had clear directions to follow. Getting to the beacon would be much easier. She nodded her goodbye to the Chief and moved out.
The Geth were everywhere, it took them far longer than expected to get to the platform where the beacon was standing, propped up like a needle towards Eden Prime's blue sky.
At the moment they were not able to access it yet, though. They were being pinned down by those damn robots. So close and yet so far. Whatever they were, they were well organised. Suddenly they could hear a distinct voice barking orders to them. Shepard turned her head to see Garrus' eyes going wide, his mandibles flaring for an infinite second. The voice couldn't have sounded more Turian.
The Commander left her safe corner to make a run for the metal wall behind which Garrus was standing, picking his targets one by one with scary precision. Liselle lay down some cover fire until she saw the human was safe. Once there she didn't waste any time, crouching down and shooting a drone that was getting a bit too close for comfort. "Vakarian, do you know the guy?"
"Yes. I have no doubts about it." The Turian took a break for a moment, leaving the two biotics to deal with the Geth for the time being. "His name is Saren Arterius, he is a Council Spectre. I have been trying to uncover his dirty affairs for a while. C-Sec never helped, and Executor Pallin least of all. In fact, he couldn't wait for me to make one final mistake so he could get rid of me. But then you came along with a better offer... Funny how these things work out sometimes. Here I am, trying once again to take him down."
Shepard offered him a lop sided grin. "Except this time you have some pretty badass backup. Let's go get him."
She got out of cover and rolled to the nearest crate. Her team followed her lead. They were working smoothly, a perfectly oiled killing machine, it felt like they had been fighting together for a lifetime, Liselle's Warp prepping the drones up for Jack's Shockwave, Garrus taking down the enemies further away from them, Shepard's Carnifex delivering a one shot-one kill performance.
As they got closer to the beacon, the Geth now visibly retreating, they saw a small vessel approaching. Jumping out from behind a metal panel, Saren made a run for it and jumped onto the small protruding platform waiting for him. The Commander stared him down for the few seconds necessary for him to get away, a curse erupting from her lips. "Damn!" She tried firing a few shots at him, but they were easily bounced back by his shields. The ship quickly disappeared from their sight.
She walked towards her Turian friend. "Sorry Garrus, it looks like you will have to catch him some other time."
Behind him, Liselle was observing the beacon, slowly stepping closer to it.
It suddenly started emitting a faint green light, a low hum vibrating from it.
Shepard saw what was happening and didn't think twice. She shoved Garrus to the side and ran to Liselle, pushing her away from the Prothean artefact. She did not have the time to avoid the energy wave that lifted her up and encased her in its power.
A strong current was coursing through her every nerve. A tsunami of images, smells, memories, was overwhelming her. She could feel the metallic taste of blood in her mouth, in her brain, in her every cell. It was too much. Her eyes closed, her mind shut down, she was vaguely aware of a faint explosion somewhere in the distance, then her body fell to the ground, unconscious.
Liselle was quick to get back to her feet, Jack was staring at the scene in a sort of trance, Garrus scrambled to get up, his eyes fixed on Shepard. They had only a second's hesitation as they watched the beacon explode. Then they saw the Commander's body falling to the ground and they were running towards her as one.
"Inanna! We have a medical emergency! Prep MedBay!" The Turian's voice was booming in his comm as his strong arms were picking up the human's body.
Looking up at the sky, the light of day slowly fading in the red sunset, they could see the silhouette of their ship drawing closer.
Her eyelids felt like lead as she was desperately trying to lift them. As dim as the lights in the MedBay were, they were still way too bright and she instinctively brought up her hand to shield her eyes. A low moan escaped her lips, her throat was made of a thousand sharp blades.
"At last. Welcome back, Commander. Took you long enough. Had a half idea you wouldn't make it this time. You appear to be sturdier than you look. Checking vitals... Not bad."
The quick, loud voice of the Salarian was torture to Shepard's ears. As soon as she could focus she recognised him.
"Mordin...?" Her voice sounded as raspy as a Vorcha's, and just as appealing. She coughed out loud a few times as she sat up on the hard bed and tried again. "What are you doing here? Wait... where am I?"
"MedBay. Inanna. Aria told me to come along, I came along. Pay is excellent, food not so much." He brought his comm to his ear. "She's up."
In a few seconds, as the human was still trying to get her bearings, Liselle walked in and rushed to her side. "Hey. You gave us a proper scare there for a minute. How are you feeling?" Her hands were on Shepards' thighs, she stopped just a few inches away from the human, searching her face, a mask of genuine concern on her beautiful features.
The Commander stared back at her, she was still uncertain about how she felt. Everything was confused, her head was heavy and it hurt like Hell, her mouth was dry, her back and her ribs felt like a Krogan had used her as a doormat. "Like the morning after shore leave."
The young Asari wasn't sure what it meant, but it didn't sound good. Shepard went on. "What happened? How long was I out?"
"The beacon... it somehow got activated. We're still trying to figure out why or how. It caught you, grasped you, I don't know. We saw you floating in mid air for a few seconds before it finally exploded and you fell unconscious. That was twenty hours ago." Her soft blue hand came up to swiftly caress the Commander's face in an affectionate gesture before she continued. "Something interesting happened while you were confined here."
"Such as?"
"An Alliance vessel appeared in this system. We were in stealth so they didn't see us. At least we don't think they did. Thing is, it looked exactly like the Inanna... except for the paint job. The name on her side was 'Normandy', ever heard of it?"
"No." It was hard to concentrate, the words of the Asari were difficult to follow. Shepard's head was now spinning wildly. She grabbed the edge of the bed to steady herself, her knuckles white as death, her teeth grinding because of the stabbing pain behind her eyes.
Liselle noticed right away and offered help the only way she knew how. Her eyes turned into small black holes and she was inside the Commander's mind. She wasn't prepared for what was there. Her consciousness got flooded by images that were sliding, changing, flashing too fast for her to make any sense of them. Everything was pain, an inhuman screeching sound was infiltrating every corner of their joined minds.
The maiden got rocked, she felt herself faint and risked falling to the floor. Mordin's quick arms were immediately supporting her and she tried to wriggle free of the meld. Sensing Liselle's panic above the chaos, above the insanity, Shepard focused as hard as she could and used the last of her energy to sever the meld herself, as Aria had taught her long ago. As soon as she was alone in her mind again, she allowed herself to give in. She lost consciousness again, her body collapsed on the bed.
This time it only took a half hour for her to come by. Mordin was letting his medical omnitool hover just above her face when her eyes opened again.
"Better stop this serial fainting. Might hit your head and get seriously injured next time."
"How is Liselle?"
"Fine. Recuperated faster than you."
"Somehow I have a hard time considering this a competition, Mordin." She tried to give him a scolding look, failing miserably, her head still pounding. "We need to get back to Omega. This is bigger than we thought. There's a Spectre involved. And he's commanding the Geth."
She accepted the Salarian's hand and half hopped, half slipped down from the MedBay bed.
She was slowly making her way to the CIC, stopping to steady herself, a hand against the bulkhead, the other grasping her forehead, when she heard Jack's voice behind her.
"You're a fucking stubborn one, aren't you?"
In a few quick steps the biotic was next to the Commander, propping her up, putting the soldier's arm around her shoulders and helping her up the short stairs.
"And you are kinder than you want to appear." Shepard gave her the best smile she could muster at the moment.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Shut up and put a foot in front of the other."
Finally standing at the galaxy map, her hands on the rail to support part of her weight, Shepard opened the comm to the bridge. "Relan, take us home."
"Yes Sir."