Chapter 26

Race to the Finish!

The chaos of the earlier fight was over by the time Finn and Kyra returned to the cargo bay of the Meridia. Hylia cleaned her katana with one of Auren's dresses as she perched on top of a dead krogan with only one arm. Two other krogan sat against the nearest wall, the first unconscious and the second covered with deep slashes. Both were bound and gagged with what Finn assumed were oyet more of Auren's extra clothes. Several krogan were near Glen as well, seemingly welded to the wall. Some hit the walls with whatever limb wasn't currently attached to the bulkhead, but Glen didn't acknowledge them.

Amber and Azure sat in the corner, the former still fussing over the latter. Finn noted, however, that they were holding hands, and their hushed conversation seemed oddly krogan free considering the condition of the hold. The krogan Amber had rushed lay unconscious in the corner, his limbs twitching every few moments, clearly not a threat anymore.

Jake was standing on the hooded head of Councilor Ghales, whose smug smile was nowhere to be seen. This may have been because of Noir and Scarlet, who stood at either side of the heavy plastic barrel that now pinned the krogan's arms at his sides.

Glen winced as he approached. "That's Crytek plastic, too. They use the stuff in starship shipyards to keep the frame in place until the landing gear is finished."

"Laugh all you want, Cresste." Ghales snapped. "You'll never stop Cerberus."

Rolling his eyes, Finn said, "Did it even occur to you that maybe my reason for coming here had nothing to do with Cerberus? That maybe, just maybe, I was here for another reason?"

"That's impossible." Ghales said flatly. "Of course you came here to deal with them."

"I didn't even know Cerberus was behind what was going on here until one of their assassins tried to stab me. If they had simply stayed in the shadows, I'd never have known." Shaking his head, Finn said, "Now, as much as I'd like to keep you prisoner for my boss, Glen here has been teaching me a bit about the nature of good and evil. When you have one bad guy working with a bigger bad guy, the smaller bad guy is almost always being used."

"What?" Ghales barked.

Glen nodded approvingly. "That's right. Frankly, I could spot it from a mile away. I don't know what you thought you were getting from these Cerberus people, but I'd bet my rune all you'd get is a bullet in your ten-spot." She held her finger to the side of her head and mimicked firing a gun, complete with the 'bshh' sound. "What did he promise you, anyway?"

"Immortality." Said Ghales, only for Glen to start laughing again.

"Cliché to the end."

"What I'm saying," Finn said, "Is that I'm pretty sure I've got all the info I need from you, as I doubt the Illusive Man trusted you with anything about his actual plans."

The glowering look the krogan shot him was all the proof he needed. "So now what? Will you kill me? Strike me down, and-"

"If he says he'll become more powerful than you could imagine, I'm gonna lose it." Glen said, her eyes dancing with laughter.

Chuckling at the dark look on Ghales face, Finn said, "I'm letting you go. We'll be leaving now, and I don't want the extra weight bogging us down. We'll get a little distance from-"

Three loud knocks sounded through the cargo bay. Someone was knocking on the cargo bay doors. That was when Finn realized the firing had stopped.

"Or maybe not. Just in case, everyone should get away from the cargo doors and take cover." He moved to the console. Kyra joined him as he activated the ramp.

"Are you sure about Ghales?" She asked quietly.

"Yeah. Look, this is our only way off the planet, and we're already crowded as it is. If we were in the Ukaroh, I'd toss him in the freezer, but now, I'd rather not carry him around."

"He could send ships after us." She stopped and rubbed her forehead. "Which is probably going to happen anyway, right. Sorry."

"Don't be sorry." He gave her a kiss on the cheek, bringing a small smile to her lips. "Liara will likely give me hell over it. Javik definitely will. C'mon; let's take cover."

They hid behind the console as the cargo doors opened and the ramp extended. Peering over the console, Finn saw Violet and Auren walk up the ramp, rifles in hand.

"Eww." Violet said at the sight of the dismembered krogan corpse. Her gaze turned to the other krogan: those welded to the wall, those bound by dresses, and Councilor Ghales. "Looks like we missed the party."

Auren let out an anguished cry. As she rushed to where piles of her clothes now lay, covered with broken bits of wood, dirt, and in some cases blood, Finn realized that none of her spare wardrobes had survived.

"My dresses." She said mournfully. "All my pretty things, ruined!"

Sighing, Violet said, "Priorities, Auren. Where is Noir?"

"Here." Noir said, standing up from his hiding place with Scarlet. Everyone else left there cover as well.

Violet slung her rifle and said, "Looks like we're all here. Nice work with the krogan."

Her eyes fell on Glen, who was already helping Hylia carry the bound krogan out of the cargo bay.

"Long story." Finn said. "Give me a hand with the Councilor here."

Since his feet were still kicking, the ended up binding them with a strong bit of cable and rolling him out of the cargo bay. The bodies of the other krogan guards lay outside, no doubt ambushed by Violet and Auren while the krogan attempted to reopen the cargo bay.

"I'll make you pay!" Ghales shouted as Finn, Jake, Kyra, and Violet shoved him under a hanar ship.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Jake said, pausing a moment to kick dust in the dizzy krogan's face before hurrying after the others.

Scarlet waited for them in the center of the cargo bay. As Finn approached with the others, he caught a quick glimpse of Amber helping Azure into the lift.

"Azure's going to have a lie-down." Scarlet said, noting his gaze. "After Amber runs a quick bio-scan on her."

"Fair enough." Finn said, "Look we need to get moving; the vault's back in the ruins."

"The ruin in the mountain?" Noir asked, surprised.

"Yup. We were right on top of it. Irony, huh?" Sighing, he said, "Fortunately, it sounds like they're still having trouble up there, so maybe they'll be too busy to notice us."

Scarlet nodded. "I agree. How would you suggest we proceed?"

"Me?" Finn asked, not hiding his surprise. "This is your ship, your treasure. I'm just helping, remember?"

"But you got the Blood of the Krogan! We'd probably be still be stuck in a cell without you!" She stopped and look down at Noir's hand as it held hers.. His cheeks were dark, but he continued to stare at her.

"You are the leader of Siren's Call." He told her. "Just let us know what you need us to do."

Gratitude shone from her eyes as she took Noir's hand in both of hers. "Thank you, Gavin."

"Gavin?" Jake said, laughter in his voice. "Your real name is Gavin?"

Rolling his eyes, Finn gave Jake a small kick in the hind-quarters, making him yip and run away.

"Okay." Scarlet said, "Noir, Kyra, I'd like you to go to the engine room in case anything goes wrong. Violet, I'll need you on sensors. Auren …"

Auren didn't respond; she was still running a despondent hand over her ruined clothes.

"Just keep doing that." Scarlet said, a hint of a smile crossing her face. "Finn, you'll take the helm while Violet handles the sensors. We still need someone to handle weapons."

"I'll take care of it." Eri told her. "It'd be nice to have something meaningful to do for a change."

"Thank you, Eri." She paused for a moment. "That leaves Glen, Jake, and Hylia."

"Oh, don't worry about us." Glen said as she and Hylia tossed out the last bound krogan. "We'll find something to do."

Nodding, Scarlet motioned for the others to follow her. Kyra gave Finn a kiss on the cheek before hurrying after Noir.

As they assumed their positions on the bridge, Scarlet glanced at the panels at her chair and said, "Looks like someone's attacking the fortress from the outside. No registry on the vessels. The krogan are holding them off, but only barely."

"Damn right they are." Grumbled one of the tied up krogan.

Finn glanced at him, frowning. "Violet, would you let Glen and Hylia know we've got two more departing up here?"

"You got it."

As Glen and Hylia entered the bridge and quickly set about removing the krogan, Finn asked, "Any problems?"

"Nope." Glen said. "Well, the armor proved tricky to un-fuse from the wall, so I just removed the krogan."

"It's funny." Hylia commented as they carried the krogan to the lift. "I always thought the quad thing was a joke. This adventure has been quite educational."

Shaking his head, Finn started to ready the ship for launch when an idea came to him.

"Hang on." Finn said, catching everyone's attention. "Let's shake things up a bit."

"Finn?" Scarlet asked.

"The more chaos, the easier it is to slip away, trust me." Finn activated his internal comm and said, "Hey, Boss! You still listening?"

There was only a brief pause before the deep masculine voice replied, "See? I knew you'd make it out easy. How'd you know it was me anyway?"

"Easy. Jake and I spent enough time with the Saints. Since I'm sure Kinsie was recording everything, she'd have plenty of samples to patch together a voice mask that could imitate him. Besides, she's one of the few people who could manage to hack a Kaboume model internal communications link. Isn't that right, Kinsie?"

A sheepish female voice said, "Er, yes. Sorry, Finn."

"Not a problem. Listen, are you attacking a krogan fortress right now?"

"No. Why? We missin' something fun?"

"Oh, not much. We found the location of the League of One's treasure, and I'm guessing the Councilor friend you mentioned is trying to get here first. I figured you'd want to know."

"WHAT? Pierce, get us there, now!"

Finn glanced at his omni-tool in anticipation until the ping registered, giving the Saints his exact location. Smiling, he disabled the ping function and turned off his omni-tool.

"Right," The Boss said, "Thanks for the tip. No helping yourself to the treasure before we get there."

"No promises, Boss." Finn deactivated his comm and nodded at Scarlet. "Okay, ready to go. Shall we launch?"

"Make it so." She said, smiling and shaking her head. "By the Ancestors, you certainly know how to cause a ruckus."

"Oh, just you wait." He said as he brought the flight systems online. "The day is still young."

The Meridia rose from the hanger bay and rocketed into the center of the facility. The battle was just creeping into the fortress, the krogan vessels far too intent on their defense to pay much attention to the Meridia.

"Asari." Scarlet commented. "The ships attacking the krogan are mostly asari."

Finn raised his eyebrow at this, but said nothing. He guided the Merida away from the brunt of the battle, hoping to avoid attracting too much attention. They drew a little fire, mostly from the krogan, but the Meridia's shields kept damage at a minimum.

As they neared the lip of the opening, Violet said, "Incoming vessels, registries all over the place."

"Sounds like the Saints are about to come marching in." Finn said.

Sure enough, the Saints ships, their makes diverse but all vividly purple and gold, descended on the battling asari and krogan ships, raining fire upon them … literally, in some cases.

Now out of the fortress, Finn altered his course and pushed the engines to their maximum.

"Uh, Finn?" Scarlet said, her brow furrowed. "You're going the wrong way."

"I know." Finn told her. "We've got company. Violet?"

"Ten asari vessels and six others, probably the Saints." Violet called out.

"On it." Eri said, turning his attention to the controls.

The Meridia didn't have much in the way of weapons, being designed more for speed than for combat, but it did have a pair of ion cannons. Eri directed this cannons with surprising accuracy; it only took him three shots to nail the first ship with an ion burst, frying its engines and sending it into a downward spiral.

He wasn't the only one firing on the asari, however; doors slid open on the Saints vessels, revealing gang members bearing heavy weaponry, taking out more than a few with everything from bullets and fire to blasts of electricity and exploding octopi. The thump of the dubstep gun could be heard on occasion before an asari ship was blasted into scrap as the beat dropped.

They were in a part of the old city filled with crumbling roads and ancient skyscrapers. Finn wove through the roads and buildings, trying his best to shake off some of the pursuers.

Finn shot the ship through a massive hole in one building and promptly brought the Meridia into a vertical climb, shaking more than a few of the pursuers.

"What's the count?" Finn asked.

"Six ships." Violet paused as Eri let out a loud whoop. "Five ships; three saints, two krogan."

"Okay." Finn muttered. "Let's see them follow this!"

A cluster of roads lay before them. Finn guided the Meridia over and around the roads, sometimes scraping against the ancient concrete before slipping through an opening barely big enough for them. He lost his bearings partly, focusing more on navigating the ruined city than where he was actually going.

"Finn!" Scarlet said, clutching her seat as Finn spun under an overpass.

"I'll shake 'em!" Finn said. Try as he might, however, the Saints hung on his tail. They were firing incacitating weapons now, which left swaths of ice and glowing fields across the ancient ruins they hit.

"Violet, can we use the Reyl emitter?" Scarlet asked, hands gripping the arm wrests of her chair.

"The what?" Finn asked.

"It's a prototype pulse cannon that fires an intense EMP blast surrounding the ship." Scarlet said, "It's how we knocked out the Kalros."

Violet hurried over to Eri's console. After a few moments, she shook her head and said, "Not a chance. Whole circuit was fried the first time we used it. We could fix it, but it'd take hours."

"Don't think we have that long." Eri said.

Finn kept his focus, continuing his mad attempts to shake off the remaining Saints. Unfortunately, they were running out of roads and buildings. Soon, they were out in the open, exposed as the three remaining Saints ships closed in on them.

Just as Finn considered heading through the interlacing web of roads again when energy fire came from apparently nowhere, destroying two of the Saints ships in the first burst and the third as it tried to turn away.

"What was that?" Scarlet asked, the relief in her voice almost overtaken by shock.

Violet returned to her console. "I'm not detecting any … wait! There's a ship! It just appeared next to us!"

Finn glanced up at the view screen and grinned. "Billy!"

The sleek form of the prototype fighter spun once before taking a position beside the Meridia. "Don't worry; I'll cover you the rest of the way."

"Much appreciated!" Finn glanced at the others on deck. "Looks like Billy made the save this time."

"Billy?" Scarlet asked.

Eri leaned forward on his console and said, "Billy's the consciousness of the last of the geth trapped in a …"

He stopped, no doubt noticing the nature of the looks he was getting from Scarlet and Violet. "Y'know what? Never mind. He's just a friend of ours."

"Who happens to be geth." Scarlet said, sounding too tired to be surprised. "Well, that's nice."

"Ain't it, though?" Shaking his head, Finn asked, "Hey, Billy, Where's the Ulasomorf?"

"Dealing with another mission at the moment." Billy told him. "Do not worry; they have things well in hand."

"Well, thanks for the save, man. Follow me, and hopefully we'll have this done with in time for supper."

"Certainly, Finn. For the record, I am glad to find you well."

"As well as ever, Billy." His spirits high, Finn set a course for the mountain ruins and started the Meridia moving toward what he hoped would be the resolution of his little adventure.