Omega Chronicles -22- Into the fire
It took Shepard a few seconds to regain consciousness. As she slowly, painfully came to and her brain reconnected her to reality, her eyes shot open and she frantically looked around. She found what she was looking for right away.
Aria was unconscious, her body twisted in an unnatural position in the back of the Mako.
The Commander got out of the driving chair and dragged herself on her elbows and knees to where her lover was. She was petrified by an insane fear for a moment as she raised her hand to put her fingers on the Asari's neck, looking for a pulse. She held her breath. Then she felt Aria's heartbeat, faint at first, but getting stronger. She exhaled and a smile opened on her face.
Jack's voice broke the dreadful silence inside the toppled vehicle. "Fuck. If we survive this, I'm never letting you drive this fucking piece of metal again, Shepard."
Williams was stirring and stretching, checking for broken bones or other possible wounds. Their ears were still ringing from the sudden, unnatural trip through the Conduit.
Shepard gently caressed the Queen's face. "Aria. Darling. Wake up. We made it. I don't know how, but we made it."
As she saw her open her electric blue eyes, she couldn't help feeling a deep sense of relief. That had been another close call. Too close.
The Asari stared at her as she was getting her bearings, slowly shifting her body to a more comfortable position, and ending up involuntarily rolling to rest against her bondmate. "That relay jump was most unpleasant." She reached with her hand behind Shepard's neck and drew her in for a kiss, very happy to be still alive. As they separated, her eyes bore holes in the human's for a second. "And don't you dare call me 'darling'. Ever again."
The Commander laughed. "Took you long enough to notice. Glad to see you're alright, and your usual self. For a moment I was afraid you might have hit your head a bit too hard."
Aria had a bit of a smug look. "As a few Krogan could testify, my head is sturdier than it looks... 'darling'."
"I think I prefer Commander." The human grinned.
"I think I do too." The Queen let her fingers run through Shepard's hair in an affectionate gesture before pushing herself up on her hands and knees. She started crawling to find an exit. "As delighted as I am in our banter, we need to get a move on."
Williams caught their attention."I think we can get out from here, people." She called for Jack to give her a hand and together they twisted the heavy metal bar that sealed the hatch. With a grinding noise it came loose and they pushed it open.
The acrid stench of smoke was pervading the air. The emergency lights had come up to illuminate the Presidium, or what was left of it. Small and big fires were everywhere, as were the bodies. It was impossible to walk around without stepping in a pool of blood, be it blue, purple or red.
They stopped in front of one of the Citadel VI access points. Avina was spewing automatic data regarding the amount of damage sustained by the structures and buildings and the rising number of casualties of the unforeseen attack. She proved to be useful in giving them information regarding Saren's whereabouts, and she let them know that the Council had been evacuated to the Destiny Ascension.
"Saren's headed for the Council Chambers. Let's go." Shepard's voice was low and menacing. "It's time to put an end to his shenanigans."
They entered the elevator to the Tower.
"Don't let that ship get inside the Citadel!" Executor Pallin's voice was barking orders left and right. What he did not know was that Sovereign was much more powerful than anything they could throw at it at the moment.
The huge Reaper blasted through a couple of Turian cruisers and effortlessly kept its route towards the Citadel Tower, as the arms of the station were slowly closing. Once there, it wrapped itself around the needle-like structure and waited for Saren to grant it access to the manual controls.
With an awful noise of screeching metal, the elevator came to a sudden stop. They were all staggered for a second and almost lost their balance. Realising that they were not going anywhere anymore, the Commander gave the order to suit up and shot the glass side panel so they could step outside. The zero gravity environment required just a few moments for the squad to adapt, then they were on their way.
It was full of Geth. The damned machines seemed to be everywhere, slowing them down way too often for Shepard's taste. Unfortunately this was the only way forward and they had to get rid of the robots in order to proceed.
Jack's and Aria's powers proved to be insanely effective in zero-g, which allowed them to make fast work of the drones. Williams and Shepard were showing off their marksman skills against the few ones that were not being obliterated by the two biotics.
Working together as a well oiled killing machine, they kept climbing the Tower from the outside, only slightly inconvenienced by a few well placed Geth turrets.
They finally reached the Council Chambers.
Alarms were going off all over the place, triggered by the uncontained fires. The sound was hammering in their ears as they were running to the Petitioner's platform. A few Geth tried to put up one last line of defence and were unceremoniously dispatched by the team.
Noticing their presence behind him, Saren punched a few last commands on the Master Control terminal, turned quickly around, and jumped off the ledge.
Shepard made a beeline for the holographic console and tried to ascertain the damage. "Maybe we're still in time. Maybe I can rewrite what he just did. Let me upload the data file Vigil gave us."
She didn't have time to finish her sentence that a low buzzing noise caught their attention. With wide eyes they saw Saren rise above the platform they were standing on and float in mid air on his hoverboard. He carelessly threw a grenade at them and watched in amusement as they scrambled for cover. "Shepard. We meet again. I was almost worried you wouldn't make it in time for the final show." The arrogant tone in Saren's voice was like acid in the human's ears, she felt an instinctive hate towards him, and all that he had come to represent.
Hiding behind a low wall, she didn't miss a beat. "Your show is about to get shut down. For good."
The ex-Spectre laughed. "Really? And how do you think you will be able to do that? Sovereign is already taking control of the Citadel as we speak, there is nothing standing in the way of the Reapers now. And I will make sure of that by killing you and all the useless people you brought with you."
Trying not to get blinded by her rage, Shepard decided it was worth giving him one last chance to see his mistakes. She considered that if she were able to drag him to her side, he would make it that much easier to stop Sovereign in its tracks.
"Saren, listen. It's not too late. There must be a part of you that can still grasp what is going on and what is about to happen. You are effectively promoting the destruction and eventual extinction of all advanced races in the galaxy. Open your eyes! Sovereign has taken you, a once intelligent, proud and fiercely independent individual, and turned you into nothing more than a whining puppet! You are a slave! And slavery and death is all that is going to befall us if you don't help me stop that machine. Think! With your own brain!"
The Turian all but scoffed his reply. "Ha! It was thinking that brought me here today, in the state that I am. After our meeting on Virmire I couldn't stop questioning my own actions, and Sovereign sensed it through the indoctrination. He decided I was too valuable of an ally to lose... and so he implanted me with Reaper technology. Now I don't have the will to question anything anymore. So you can spare me your words, human. They hold no meaning to me."
The Commander didn't let up. "I don't believe you. If they truly didn't touch you, you wouldn't keep talking. You can break free. Just try to remember what it felt like to be in charge of your own self. Don't be such a coward! Fight back!"
There were a few never ending seconds of silence. Then the voice of Saren betrayed a crack in the Reaper's control. "I do remember... and I do realise it is too late for me. I can't fight anymore. But I won't be used like this. Thank you, Shepard."
Before the Commander could do anything, he got his gun out and shot himself. His body fell from the hoverboard and out of their sight, to the level below.
They all gathered around the Master Control terminal. Shepard opened her omnitool and uploaded Vigil's file. They watched with baited breath as the Prothean failsafe worked and they regained control of all the Citadel systems.
Williams was the first to speak. "We need to open the Citadel arms, the fleet can fly in and take care of Sovereign."
A young, metallic, familiar voice came through the now open comm channels. "Commander. The Inanna, the Normandy and the entire Alliance fleet are waiting next to the Relay in the Andura sector. If you open the Relay to the Citadel we can come to the rescue."
"Tali! Damn, it's good to hear your voice." Shepard didn't have time to formulate an answer that a distress call took precedence over the comm line.
"This is Matriarch Lidanya, commanding the Destiny Ascension. We are under heavy attack from the Geth fleet, our shields are failing. This is a mayday to any ship within Citadel space, we need assistance. We have the Council on board. Please respond."
Aria looked at the Commander for a long moment before speaking her mind. "Shepard, I am the first in a long line of people that can't stand the Council and what they represent, and Athame knows I have wanted to blow their asses up more times than I can count. But whether I like it or not they are the backbone of the galactic community and the amalgam that keeps it together. So consider that."
Williams jumped in. "You're not seriously considering sending human ships to certain destruction in favour of a bunch of aliens that have always thought of us as no more than an annoyance, are you?"
Shepard took just a second to deliberate. "This is bigger than just Humanity, Chief." She spoke in her comm, addressing the Inanna. "I'm opening the Citadel Relay. The Destiny Ascension is under attack. Tell the Alliance fleet to fly in and concentrate on protecting it. Then you can take care of Sovereign. And Tali, you and Relan get to fire your beloved Thanix cannon today. Make it count."
The Quarian's voice was serious and focused. "I most certainly will, Shepard. Inanna out."
"Jack, Williams, go and make sure that Saren is dead." Aria closed the distance between her and Shepard as the two humans were making their way to the lower level as she had instructed. She put her shotgun away behind her back and her arms embraced the Commander. Their foreheads touched in a familiar, comforting gesture.
"Now it's up to the fleet. I hope they'll live up to our expectations." Shepard let out a long breath, her tiredness clearly showing. "At least we will have a great view from here."
They smiled and looked outside, waiting to see the ships flying in.
There was a shot from Jack's shotgun, and her voice rang in the dim, smoky room. "He's dead."
The words were still hanging in the air as they all saw red lightning bolts suddenly cracking all around them. The Petitioner's platform came crashing down, Shepard and Aria were plunged to the level below, Jack and Williams got hit by an unexpected explosion and were smashed against the walls.
As they were all scrambling back to their feet, they watched in horror as what used to be Saren was rising up, his flesh burning away under the strain of the Reaper implants. What was left of him turned into a drone, it jumped and hanged from a wall and started raining down every attack it had on them. They barely managed to find cover behind a panel at the end of the room, they quickly tried to evaluate the situation, still uncertain as to what had just happened.
Jack's eyes were wide. "What the fuck is that? I just pumped a shot into his fucking skull! It doesn't get more dead than that!"
Aria's insight was spot on. "That's not Saren anymore. It's just whatever technology Sovereign had implanted him with. I guess it wanted to make sure that its investment would pay off, regardless of the Turian's life or death."
Williams was so angry, it transpired from every syllable she spoke. "Whatever that is, it won't have a long existence. Not on my watch." She sprinted out of cover and started firing away.
Jack threw her biotics at the robot, immediately followed by Aria.
Shepard decided that staying in one place was not a good idea. She started moving around the room, trying not to offer a still target, picking and choosing the best position to shoot at it every few seconds.
The battle was gruesome, and it seemed to never end. Every time they thought they had managed to destroy it, it rose back again to keep fighting. They were all getting tired, but there was a silent understanding that no matter what exertion it took out of them, they were not letting this Reaper thing walk away.
After what felt like an infinity, the drone finally fell on the now half burnt floor with a muted thud, red sparks of energy were sizzling around it and quickly dying. They were all still weary and suspicious. The Commander decided to crawl out of cover and slowly approach it. She kicked it with her boot a few times, her finger on the trigger, ready to fire at the slightest unexpected movement. But it didn't move.
She squatted down right next to it, exhaustion overcoming her entire body, her eyes rose to look out of the huge windows. Behind her, Williams was leaning against the nearest wall, trying to catch her breath; Jack's hands were resting on her knees, supporting her torso as she was bending over and loudly panting.
Aria walked to where Shepard was, she put a hand under her elbow and helped her up, her arm immediately coming around the human's waist, holding her close as they took in the surreal images taking place before them.
Outside, within the confinements of the huge arms of the Citadel, the battle against Sovereign and its Geth fleet was still raging.
They all watched in awe as cannons were firing, ships were exploding, bodies were floating around in grotesque poses and pieces of bulkheads were scattered everywhere. It was a vision of pure madness.
A familiar shape caught their attention as they saw the Inanna speeding by, rising up, turning around in an almost impossible manoeuvre, gaining momentum as it descended again, aiming right for the heart of the Reaper. They saw a light quickly focusing on the mouth of the Thanix cannon, then a shard of energy burst out of their ship and passed Sovereign from side to side. They were blinded by it, they averted their eyes for just a moment, only to raise them back again, in time to see the demise of the huge machine. Its body cut in half, a cluster of explosions blew it into a thousand pieces.
They all exhaled a collective sigh of victory and relief.
It lasted all of three seconds.
Shepard was the first to notice that one of the arms of the Reaper was speeding towards the Tower, to where they were now standing. She pushed Aria away from her and shouted at the top of her lungs. "Run! RUN!"
Her throat was burning with the effort to draw in enough oxygen to keep her legs going, she heard the glass panels behind them shatter in such a loud blast, it made her ears ring. In the blink of an eye, the sound wave of the impact caught up with her, knocking the air out of her, and one short instant later the rubble engulfed her, made her stumble, she fell, she felt an enormous weight pushing her to the floor, the clear sensation of a bone snapping in her left arm, her face being cut along her left eye, her nostrils filled with dust, her eyelids closed and darkness descended on her.
Captain David Anderson had managed to gather some C-Sec officers and some Alliance soldiers, he ordered them to follow him up to the Council Chambers. He was hoping against all hope to find survivors.
He had been hailed by the Inanna at the end of the battle, a young Quarian had brought him up to speed regarding the last known position of Shepard and her squad, which included his Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams. The Engineer had been adamant that at least two of their people were to join the Captain in his search and rescue mission, and after the black ship had docked, in the space of a few minutes a Turian and a seemingly impossibly old Salarian had shown up.
To round the group up, he had been approached by a young, stunningly beautiful Asari earlier, who had introduced herself as a friend and an on and off squad mate of Shepard's. She had told him her name was Liselle and that she was not going to accept a no to her offer of help. He had thought that he could use all the help possible and had welcomed her with a nod of gratitude.
The small workforce made its way across the remains of the Tower, they scattered in all directions and started looking for any signs of life.
Liselle found Jack quivering, almost in a foetal position, in the corner of a wall, her body full of small cuts from the glass that had flown all over the room, a tired and half shocked look in her eyes.
Mordin heard the Asari's call and was at her side in a few quick steps. Strangely enough, he didn't bombard the hurt biotic with words. He simply kneeled down next to her, he scanned her with his omnitool and he seemed relieved by his readings. He applied some medigel generously all over her thankfully superficial wounds. Then he got up to go and help elsewhere.
Liselle's arms wrapped around Jack in a warm embrace and she stayed like that until she felt that she was slowly stopping to tremble. Jack looked at her in disbelief, her voice shaky and unsure. "Liselle... how?"
The young Asari put a soft hand on her lips to silence her in a sweet gesture. "Don't speak, it's ok. Just relax and recuperate." She gave her a quick explanation. "I was already on the Citadel when the attack began. I was here to see the Consort. She's... family. I realised immediately that Saren was behind it all. I hid and fought and killed as many Geth as I could. I was in the Presidium when I saw first Saren, then your Mako materialising out of thin air, but I was too far for you guys to hear or see me. When you came up here to the Chambers and the elevators stopped working, I had no way of joining you. I had to wait for the battle to be over, hoping, praying that it would end in your favour. In our favour. When I saw that the Alliance and C-Sec were making their way up, I took my chances and asked to come along. I guess I still have my charms about me, because that Captain didn't even flinch before accepting." She looked into Jack's eyes for a long moment. "But look at me, talking your ears off. I'm sorry! I'll shut up now. " The smile on her face was lighting up the room.
Jack held her even tighter for a second. "No! No, please, keep talking. You are the only normal thing I have seen or heard in forever. Just keep talking. About anything. About nothing. I don't care. Just stay and talk to me."
Liselle saw the vulnerability cracking through the usually hard shell of the biotic and she was moved deeply. She settled down on the floor in a more comfortable position, drawing Jack's tattered body close to hers, allowing the young biotic to rest her head on her chest, her blue hands caressing her shoulders, her back, her neck in long, soothing strokes. And she talked.
Garrus' voice called out for help from a few yards away. "Over here! Can someone come and help!"
An Alliance soldier quickly ran to where he was already digging, throwing away big and small pieces of rubble. Together they managed to reach Williams. The Chief had a huge bruise on her cheek, a cut on her forehead had just stopped bleeding and there was a thick blood crust on her skin and her hair, she was barely able to stand up as she noticed that one of her ankles was twisted rather badly. She accepted Garrus' hand and allowed him to carefully sustain her weight as they made their way to where the medical team was waiting. She wanted to give him a smile, but her face hurt too much. She tried to talk, her voice raspy and filled with an uncomfortable note of pain. "My knight in shining armour."
The Turian's mandibles flared in the equivalent of a grin. "I have no idea what a knight is, but I did shine my armour appositively to come and rescue you."
Williams felt such a weight falling off her shoulders at that simple joke, she couldn't help a short laugh, that immediately turned into a deep cough. Garrus commented, his voice friendly and low. "Don't strain now. Let the doctors take care of you." He handed her over to a medic and turned back to keep looking around the devastated room.
As he was roaming aimlessly, almost afraid of what else he would find, his eyes fell on a familiar blue gloved hand sticking out from under some debris, in a somewhat dimmer area. He ran to it and started carefully removing chunk after chunk from Aria's body. She batted her eyelashes a few times as she was regaining consciousness.
As he revealed more of her body, he noticed her other arm was extended, as if she was holding on to something. He kept removing bits and pieces from her until he saw what it was. He recognised Shepard's armoured hand right away and he finally shouted as loudly as he could, letting out the breath he had been holding. "I found them! I found them!"
In the space of just a few more seconds, Aria was accepting Mordin's help and sitting up as she was watching the small team while they got rid of all the junk that was crushing the Commander. She made an insane effort to stand up as her lover's mangled body was revealed. She shook Mordin's supporting hand away and her voice resounded menacingly in the stillness of the huge room.
"Nobody touches her."
In reply to that direct, unmistakable, absolute order, the entire group stopped and stood back.
She took the couple of steps that separated her from Shepard's body, she crouched, she gathered her bondmate in her arms and lifted her up. She slowly started making her way out of the Council Chambers, the blue swirls from her biotics creating an eerie cocoon of light around them. She was investing all of her energy into putting one foot in front of the other.
The silence was deafening.
As she was passing in front of Captain Anderson he dared speak, in an open, forward tone. "We have our best medics standing by. We can take care of her."
Aria shot him a look that could have melted rocks. "Nobody. Touches. Her."
He took a step back instinctively.
She walked out.
"Aria, please, please. Let Mordin take a look at her, I beg you!"
In the small medbay on the Inanna, Tali was desperately trying to break through to the Asari, who was stubbornly sitting by the bed where she had laid Shepard's limp body just a few minutes earlier.
Nobody was able to understand what was going on in the Queen's mind, and why she was refusing to let anyone even approach the human with a medical omnitool. Liselle had lost her patience with her, she had given up and had gone back to the Crew's quarters to check on Jack. Garrus and Wrex were nervously pacing outside the medbay, shooting a glance in through the windows every now and again, their faces twisted with concern and worry.
The young Quarian was the only one left besides Mordin, but he wasn't talking and she was starting to despair. "You have to give us a chance. I don't understand. Don't you want to help her?"
Aria turned slowly around to look at her. She suddenly felt like she was carrying the weight of the entire galaxy. In a moment of painful honesty, her eyes turned into black holes and she was in the Engineer's mind.
Tali was taken by surprise and she was confused by the invasion. The Asari didn't seem to care and started talking to her in the privacy of the meld.
'Listen to me. Because I will only say this once. And I expect you to keep it with you until the day you die. If you don't, I will make sure you -do- die.'
The young Quarian found her inner voice and replied quickly. 'Of course. You should know me better than that by now.'
There was a moment of stillness before the Queen spoke again. 'It is this simple: if she is dead, I do not want to know.'
Tali finally understood, it was all clear now. She could feel that Aria was showing only a fraction of the pain she was feeling and she was actually thankful for it. It was already too much to bear.
In the physical world, she walked close to the Queen and she put a hand on her shoulder.
'If she is alive, you are letting her die.'
Aria severed the meld instantly, leaving behind a sharp pain. She got up and stared at Tali for just a few moments, her eyes burning as she was considering her words.
Then her head shifted, and the Asari looked at Mordin, who was standing with his arms crossed just a few meters away, leaning on a table, a look of impatience on his wrinkly face. She addressed him in one breath. "Fine."
That's all he needed. He sprinted to the bed and in a lightning fast move his omnitool was hovering over the human. His voice was low and nervous. "Vitals. Damage. Status." He carefully removed her armour with swift, precise movements, and he reached for his instruments on the low table by his side.
As he was working, the Engineer looked at Aria. "Well, now that we're sure she's alive, why don't we go and let him do what he does best? I'm sure he'll let us know when it is time to be back."
The Queen regaled her with a sneering, formidable look. "Don't push your luck, Tali'Zorah."
The Quarian threw her hands up and made her way out of the medbay walking backwards at a fast pace. "Or, I could be going and you could be staying. That's a much better idea, of course."
Somewhere, in the distance, she felt a warmth on her hand, something other than herself, something from the outside. It was soft and reassuring. She realised it was another hand, holding hers gently.
It was pleasant, and it was in stark contrast with all the messages of sheer suffering coming from other parts of her body. She turned her head and regretted it immediately. The left side of her face was a white hot shard of pain. She moaned, and her throat felt like a carpet of broken glass. She decided she did not have the strength to open her eyes.
As she was drifting back into unconsciousness she heard a song, faint, far. It called her back to the here and now. It was as sweet as the wind ruffling the red and golden leaves on a sunny autumn afternoon. She did not understand the words. The melody was vaguely familiar, from what seemed like a long time ago. She fumbled in her memories to place it. Unexpectedly, she found it. It originally belonged to another voice. It was the lullaby Sha'ira was singing to a small Aria when the Consort had shared a vision with Shepard, using it to tell her who she was and what her ties with the Queen were. Her tired mind revelled in it, feeling cradled and safe. Aria's voice was ever so slightly warmer than her mother's, deeper, more intense but just as graceful. Shepard felt a tear rolling out of her right eye and down her cheek. Aria was there. Aria was alive. That was all that mattered. Soothed by the song of her bondmate, she was easily falling into a deep, much needed sleep. She managed to utter a few words, ignoring the sting in her throat.
"Mh. Love you too."
She felt Aria's hand lifting hers, her lips placing an impossibly soft kiss on her palm, and then her voice continued singing.
She dreamt of mountain tops with gleaming snow, of silver streams cascading down in short waterfalls, of fresh grass fields, old forests and white clouds, and an ancient, elegant city far away, shining against the blue horizon.
And then she dreamt of Aria. And all that was love.