Garrus was growing weary of fighting rachni, a thought he never would have believed possible until a few hours earlier. Even more of them had been waiting in the passenger tram station. Now they all sat on the tram as it moved along the track toward the Rift Station. Garrus wished it would move faster, but he was also thankful for a brief reprieve.
He and Shepard sat next to each other on a bench seat at the end of the tram while Tali investigated the software powering the tram to see if she could speed up the progress at all. Liara paced back and forth, but Shepard didn't ask her how she was. It was evident that as they drew closer to a confrontation with the asari Matriarch, Liara was growing restless. She wasn't used to such intense fighting either, which didn't help matters.
Every one of them were covered in rachni blood. It had splattered across Garrus' manidbles, down his armor, on his gloves. It seemed to be everywhere. Shepard got the worst of it after her one-on-one with the first rachni they encountered. It was even caked in her hair, not that she commented or complained. She was pensive as they sat together, staring out the window wordlessly.
"What are you thinking, Shepard?" he asked.
She turned away from the window to look at him. Between the rachni blood caked all over her, the black eye slowly spreading its borders, and the swollen shoulder, she looked terrible. Not to mention exhausted.
"I figure if we can fight rachni, we can take an asari Matriarch, right?" she smiled faintly.
"Maybe we should rest when we get to the Rift Station," Garrus suggested. "None of us expected rachni. We're all a little exhausted."
"We don't have time to rest," Shepard sighed.
"If you don't make time, we definitely don't stand a chance against Benezia. At least let the Station medic check you out," Garrus pleaded.
"If there's anyone even alive and running things, they're going to have their hands full. I appreciate the concern, Garrus, but I've been through worse than a black eye and a dislocated shoulder."
Her words weren't convincing considering the fatigue with which she said them, but he understood where she was coming from. He wouldn't have stood down if he'd been in her shape either: it wasn't the military way.
The tram slowly pulled into the Rift Station, and the four of them made their way out and up to the next floor.
To Garrus' eternal relief, they weren't greeted by more rachni when they reached the next floor. They did, however, find themselves facing five guns pointed at them from a line of humans in armor hiding out behind storage containers that had been flipped onto their sides for cover.
"Stand down!" The human at the center of the line called. His squad brought their weapons down and Shepard moved forward to meet them.
"Thanks for not shooting," she said.
The leader of the group was a short man with a balding head, clad from head to toe in high-tech armor. He looked Shepard up and down. "I see you've already encountered the aliens. We've been fighting them off for days. All of us are running on stims now. But we've still got enough sense to tell you apart from those aliens. I'm Captain Ventralis," he offered his hand and Shepard shook it.
"Where did the…uh…aliens come from?" Shepard asked, careful not to throw the word rachni into the mix. A clever move, Garrus thought.
"They took over the hot labs a few days ago. Han Olar is the only one who made it out. We've kept them out of the Rift Station, but if you came from the Central Station then I guess they've made it that far," Ventralis explained. "Who are you all anyway?"
"Commander Shepard, Council Spectre," Shepard spewed out the prepared line. "Is there an asari Matriarch here at the station with you?"
"She took a crew down to the hot labs a day ago. We haven't seen or heard from her since. Probably got mauled by those aliens," Ventralis shrugged. "I don't have enough men to spare to send any after her."
"How many are left here?" Garrus asked.
"A few other security guards, some of the scientists who weren't in the hot labs when the aliens came, one doctor down in the med bay, and a few civilians. Investors and the like. I'm afraid we're going to run out of food before someone can get to us."
Garrus didn't mention that no one back at Port Hanshan seemed to be aware that Peak 15 was even under attack. The men's morale already seemed low, he didn't want to make it worse.
"We'll help out if we can, but we're here on Council business," Shepard said. "We got the VI system up and running and re-connected the lines"
"The scientists will appreciate it," Ventralis thanked them. "And we'll take all the help we can get. Go on through. I'll radio down to my guards to let them know we let you in."
The group moved past the line of security guards, through a long hallway that led into the main part of the station.
"He doesn't know they're rachni," Tali said when they were out of earshot of the guards. "Maybe he thinks they broke in through the lab. It sounds to me like they broke out of it."
"I agree with Tali," Liara nodded. "If my mother is here working with Saren, she was likely going to monitor the work, not take care of the problem. We should find this Han Olar the captain spoke of, then head down to the hot labs. My mother is undoubtedly still there. She may even be aware of our presence by now."
The hallway opened onto the main station, where the remaining survivors of the rachni attack were clustered together. A doctor was tending to five wounded patients spread out on cots, while scientists clustered together speaking in hushed whispers. A plump volus stood by himself in a corner, away from the group.
"I'm going to ask around about Han Olar," Shepard said. "Wait here and tell me if you overhear anything worthwhile."
Garrus watched her walk away, first to speak to the group of scientists. He, Tali, and Liara hovered near the civilian survivors, just close enough to hear if they said anything that might be relevant to the mission.
"All this fighting," Liara sighed. "You and Shepard must be used to this sort of life, aren't you?"
"Turians are born and bred for the military," Garrus shrugged. "It's just part of life. We always used to joke back on Palaven that the Alliance navy was just a bunch of soft-skinned weaklings. Now that I've seen Shepard fight, I can't see how I ever thought that. That woman's made of steel."
"Like a turian," Tali suggested. "Or so they say."
"I've heard the phrase," Garrus replied dryly. "It's not well-liked amongst turians, but I guess I see why others feel that way about us. The metallic skin doesn't help the reputation. The two of you aren't as accustomed to fighting, are you?"
"Quarians know how to fight," Tali bristled. "We've been at war with the geth for 300 years. We just wage our wars with tech instead of brute force."
'How's that going for you?' Garrus almost asked. He decided Tali wouldn't take kindly to the question and he didn't want to hurt her feelings.
"I've spent the last fifty years reading books and traveling from dig-site to dig-site," Liara said. "There was always some sort of military presence at the dig-sites, so even if there had been danger, I would have had protection. My biotic skills aren't well honed and I only learned how to use a gun for protection in ancient ruins."
"You learned how to fire a gun," Garrus corrected her. "I'll teach you how to actually use it."
"I don't know that Shepard would like us firing guns aboard her ship," Liara hesitated.
"As if Shepard won't be there trying to show me up? We'll practice down in the cargo bay. No one's going to care if a few bullets dent the walls. You need to be able to protect yourself if your biotics fail."
Shepard returned from talking to the scientists.
"Hear anything useful?" Garrus asked.
"The volus is Han Olar. We should go and chat with him, come on."
The volus in question looked nervous as they approached, fidgeting and wringing his hands. Every few seconds a characteristic whhhsssh noise escaped his enviro-suit as he took a breath. Before any of the squad could get a word in, though, the volus spoke.
"You came to find out about them, didn't you?" he asked.
Shepard leaned closer. "What do you know about the rachni?"
"You know what they are?" Whhhsssh.
"We're trained military, of course we know what they are," Garrus interjected. "The question is what they're doing here. Alive and not extinct."
"They found an egg in a derelict ship." Whhhsssh. "It had been lying dormant since the krogan wiped out their race." Whhhsssh. "They brought the egg here to the labs…"
"They cloned an army of rachni from one dormant egg?" Shepard's eyes widened.
"The egg contained a queen…and a queen can lay many eggs," the volus sounded tired. "They wanted us to train them." Whhhsssh. "To control them. We should have known we couldn't. Not even the Protheans could control the rachni."
"Ventralis said you were the only one that escaped the hot labs," Garrus said. "How did you get out?"
A horrible sound issued from within the volus' suit. His body shook. Was he crying? Garrus had never heard a volus cry before. He'd never even considered the possibility that they could.
"I killed Doctor Zhonmua," the volus sobbed. "We were headed to lunch when the alarms went off. I closed the tram doors before she could get in." Whhhsssh. "I saw them…slice her to pieces. Her head…came apart like a melon."
Garrus grimaced at the image.
"I'm sorry that you had to make that choice," Shepard said, typical to the compassionate nature laying beneath her steely surface. "In the heat of the moment, we act on our gut instincts. Sometimes others die as a result. You shouldn't blame yourself for…"
"You think I want absolution!?" The volus screeched. "There is no absolution. I can never unsee what I saw. You need to destroy these creatures. If they're allowed to escape Peak 15…if they manage to gain control of a vessel…"
"I'll do what I can," Shepard assured him.
"Could an asari survive down in the hot labs with the rachni?" Liara burst forward with the question.
The volus turned to look at her. "They were…sensitive to biotics. Perhaps. Not for long though." Whhhsssh.
"Whose idea was it to breed the rachni anyway?" Tali asked.
"We don't ask questions about our funding. We just run the experiments we're told to run. It would have been a great honor if we'd been able to control them. To bring an entire species back from extinction…now we'll go down in history as the worst mistake science ever made."
"Shepard, I've heard enough," Garrus said. "We need to get down to those labs and take care of this problem."
"Agreed. Thank you for your time, Han Olar."
"Good luck, Earth clan." Whhhsssh. "You'll need it."
Shepard didn't have time to rest, though Garrus' concern on the tram had been well founded. Pain was coursing through her shoulder into her neck and ribs, her head was pounding, and the medi-gel was starting to wear off on the wounds on her back. But it was still true she'd faced worse. She could rest when the mission was over and Benezia was taken care of.
She was concerned about Liara as they wound their way through the Rift Station and back down to the entrance to the hot labs, just outside of the tramway. If Benezia was still alive, she was in those labs. Shepard couldn't imagine having to face her own mother in battle, but her mother had been a sweet-natured farmer who wouldn't even kill spiders when they got in the house. It was a far cry from a malevolent and powerful asari biotic.
Captain Ventralis was standing at the entrance to the hot labs when they approached.
"Ventralis," Shepard greeted him. "Let us through. We're here to speak with Matriarch."
Ventralis cocked his gun. "I know. She gave me orders to handle the problem."
"On your six," Garrus called.
Boots sounded against the metal floor as two guards moved in on either side of them. Garrus raised his gun and pointed it, ready to fire. Tali and Liara took a defensive stance, but Shepard didn't reach for her weapon.
"You don't want to do this, Ventralis," she said, raising her hands slowly. "It's going to end badly for you and I don't want to have to hurt you."
"I've got orders!" Ventralis yelled. "We have to follow through."
"And leave those people up there without any sort of defense against the rachni?"
Ventralis' eyes widened. "Rachni? Is that what they are?"
"Hm," Garrus tutted behind Shepard. "What's the human phrase? Guess the cat's out of the basket?"
"Close enough," Shepard replied. "Do you really think you can take down a Council Spectre, a powerful asari biotic, a turian sniper, and a quarian that can hack that gun you're holding faster than you could fire it? And is it worth it to defend someone who's unleashing rachni on the universe again?"
Ventralis had fear in his eyes now. His gun was wavering. He hadn't known that the aliens were rachni, and the thought that they even could be was terrifying him. Gradually, he lowered his gun and stepped aside.
"Stand down," he said, defeated. His men lowered their weapons. "I sure as hell can't beat you," he told Shepard. "But you're walking into your funeral if you go into those labs."
"I'll take my chances," Shepard pushed past him quickly and the rest of her squad followed.
Once past the door, they moved through a series of winding hallways terminating at a door to the main lab. Shepard turned to Liara before opening the door.
"Are you ready?"
Liara's eyes were glistening, but there was also a determined look behind them. "I'm as ready as I could ever be, Shepard. Let's go."
Shepard turned back around and opened the door. Directly in front of them, a set of stairs led up to a balcony overlooking a massive tank housing a rachni queen. She was ten times the size of the rachni soldiers they'd been fighting, trapped inside impenetrable glass, thrashing desperately in a bid to escape.
Watching over the rachni queen from the balcony, an elegant asari stood in a gown made of black silk, a sharp cap covering her head. The look in the asari's eyes was almost one of admiration as she stared down at the rachni queen. She didn't even look up at the squad's approach, though she had most definitely taken notice of them, evident when she spoke.
"There is such power in creation," she said, still gazing fondly at the rachni trapped in its chamber. "To shape a life, to turn it toward happiness or despair. It is a privilege to be a mother. A privilege you do not know or understand, commander Shepard."
"If your view of motherhood is the ability to create and control, I think we have a difference of opinion," Shepard raised her gun. "Why bring the rachni back?"
Benezia turned away from the rachni queen and faced them. Shepard could see Liara in the Matriarch's face, though her face bore signs of age that Liara's did not.
"The queen's children were to be ours. Raised to hunt and slay Saren's enemies."
"But you couldn't control them." Liara stepped forward. "Just as you could not control me, mother. What have you let yourself become?"
"If you hope to move me with sympathy, daughter, you'll find I have none left," Benezia replied coldly.
"Mother, this is not you. I know it isn't. Why are you doing this?"
"Children become petulant when allowed room to make their own decisions." A blue glow enveloped Benezia. She flicked her hand and tossed Liara into the wall with a mass effect field.
"Take care of her," Shepard yelled back to Tali and Garrus, charging at the Matriarch and firing off a round of bullets.
The bullets were easily deflected off of the asari's barrier. She brought Shepard into the air with a mass effect field and suspended her there while several asari commando units moved in from the other side of the room.
Shepard couldn't move, her arms and legs splayed, hand still tightly grasping her weapon. She was completely powerless. She'd been held in mass effect fields by biotics before, mostly during training sessions with Alliance biotics. She was usually quick enough on the field to take cover from any biotic powers. Now all she could do was watch, and wait for the drop.
Garrus ran beneath her, letting off a few rounds from his assault rifle that hit the Matriarch's barrier. Before she could attack him, he ducked and rolled, ramming into one of the asari commandos and toppling down the stairs to fight hand-to-hand.
Tali had helped Liara back to her feet and was now climbing the pipes on the side of the wall to get to higher ground where she could overload the asari's weapons. Shepard felt herself jerked backward as Liara took hold of her with her own mass effect field, struggling to pull her from her mother's grasp.
A nearby asari commando staggered backward as Tali succeeded in overloading her gun. It exploded in her hands and she reeled, which bought Tali enough time to fire off a shot that sent the commando to the ground, dead. Shepard still couldn't move, and the pull of two separate mass effect fields made her feel like her body was going to rip in two at any second. She was going to be really pissed if she managed to die ripped apart by a mass effect field. She'd certainly been through worse to let herself go out like that.
Garrus reappeared at the top of the stairs. He let out a wild noise, subharmonics flanging uncontrollably, and took a running leap at the Matriarch. He deflected off of the Matriarch's barrier, bouncing back into the wall, but the impact had damaged the barrier somewhat, and better yet, it had distracted Benzia long enough for her to loosen her attention on the mass effect field that held Shepard. This gave Liara the upper hand. She yanked Shepard out of her mother's field and set her down gently before turning her attention back to Benezia.
Shepard scrambled up and quickly took down two commandos before firing a sticky grenade at Benezia. It exploded in a dull impact, but her barriers were down then. Like the coward she was, the Matriarch turned and ran up the stairs to get away from Shepard and Liara before they could hurt her. Tali fired off a well-placed shot from her spot on the wall above them, grazing Benezia's leg, which caused her to falter.
Garrus leaped forward, tackling Benezia to the ground with the force of all his weight. The asari knocked him against the wall with a biotic throw and scrambled on all fours to distance herself from him. Shepard fired a shot while she still had a window of opportunity; the bullet shredded through the Matriarch's abdomen and she fell in a heap on the ground, dark purple blood blossoming on her dress where she'd been hit and pooling on the floor beneath her.
Liara rushed to her mother's side, despite herself. Shepard hurried up the stairs and helped Garrus up, giving the two asari some space now that the battle was over. Tali jumped down from the wall and joined them.
"Mother…" Liara's eyes welled with tears.
Benezia lifted a weak hand to cup Liara's cheek. "Listen to me, Liara. While my mind is still free of Saren's grasp. Even now…still…his whispers echo in my mind."
Liara held her hand over her mother's. "What do you mean, mother?"
"He has been using me…" Benezia coughed and purple blood trickled from her mouth. "I was indoctrinated. I couldn't…I couldn't fight him…it is such a terror to be trapped in your own mind. I was powerless to him. A tool for his disposal."
The tears that had been welling in Liara's eyes burst forth in rivulets down her cheeks. She squeezed her mother's hand. "I knew it couldn't be you, mother. I knew. I knew you could never…" she sniffled loudly. "We'll heal you. I have medi-gel. We'll fix you and take you away where Saren's influence can't reach you."
"It's too late for me, Liara. Even if I wasn't dying…Saren would find me anywhere." The light was fading from the Matriarch's eyes.
Shepard's heart ached for Liara. She had been there when her own mother died back on Mindoir, powerless to help her; it was something she wouldn't have wished on her worst enemy. She had to struggle to choke back tears threatening to form in her own eyes. She needed to be strong, for herself and for her squad.
Benezia reached into the folds of her dress and pulled out an OSD. "Give this…give this to Shepard. Data…location of the Mu relay…"
Liara took the OSD with her free hand and held it out to Shepard, not taking her eyes away from her mother. Shepard grabbed it and placed it quickly into her pocket. She was vaguely aware of the Mu Relay: it had been dislodged eons ago after a supernova blast, now more of a myth than anything. No one knew where the relay had dislodged to, only what systems lay beyond it, unreachable with one of half of the relay pair missing.
"I don't know…where Saren was going…once he opens the relay…you must find out. He has the coordinates already. Stop him, Liara, because I could not…" Benezia's eyelids fluttered weakly, the energy quickly fading from her body.
"Mother," Liara wept. "Don't leave. Please…"
Her mother stroked her cheek gently. "You have always made me proud, Liara."
Slowly, her hand slid away from Liara's face and her eyes closed as she fell limp in Liara's arms. Liara lay against her mother's body, clutching desperately at her bloody clothing, her chest heaving with her sobs. Shepard bit her lip, but she couldn't be cold and emotionless about this. How did it separate her from evil like Saren if she forced herself to choke back the emotions that made her who she was?
She stepped forward without a second thought and knelt down next to Liara, placing her hand gently on her back. Liara moved wordlessly against her, pressing her face into Shepard's shoulder, crying so hard that she thought it might make the poor girl sick. All Shepard could do was pat her back and let her cry.
"She loved you with her last breath," Shepard said, hoping it would comfort her friend. "Always remember that."
After a few minutes, Garrus and Tali joined them, placing gentle, comforting hands on Liara's shoulders. She peeled herself off of Shepard, her mother's blood staining the armor on both of them, and stood up. Sniffling loudly, she wiped the remaining tears from her puffy eyes.
"Thank you so much, all of you. Your compassion means so much."
"We still have the rachni to take care of," Garrus said quietly to Shepard as Tali led Liara away from her mother's body.
"Tali. Take Liara back to the Rift Station and wait for us there," Shepard commanded.
"No. I'll stay and fight," Liara insisted.
"Your mother just died, Liara. I'm ordering you to leave. Garrus and I will handle it."
Liara didn't put up much of a fight. She was clearly exhausted, it had been a long and trying day. She let Tali lead her out of the hot labs and away to safety.
Shepard and Garrus stood at the edge of the balcony next to a set of controls for the cage holding the rachni queen. She flailed around inside the all too tiny enclosure. Had this been the only life she had ever known? Trapped in captivity and forced to see her children turned into bloodthirsty slaves? Shepard felt a pang of sorrow for the creature.
"Shepard," Garrus' voice sounded urgent.
She turned and saw Benezia rising up from the floor, but not of her own accord. She seemed to be floating, pulled against the rachni's enclosure with her back to the creature and her dead, empty eyes staring forward at the two soldiers. Shepard was immensely glad she'd sent Liara away.
"This one serves as our voice," Benezia's corpse spoke, but beneath the voice was something foreign, almost like turian subharmonics, but distinctly other. "We cannot sing. Not in these low spaces. Your musics are colorless."
Garrus had his gun trained on the corpse, unsure of what to expect. Shepard watched the corpse speak in stunned silence.
"Shep-ard," it said her name in two sharp distinct syllables. "We are the mother. We sing for those left behind. The children you thought silenced."
It was then that Shepard realized what was happening. The rachni queen below had somehow taken control of Benezia's corpse and was speaking through it. A chill ran down her spine. She motioned for Garrus to stand down, so he holstered his gun and stood warily by her side.
"Shep-ard. You are not in harmony with those who hoped to control us. What will you sing? Will you release us? Are we to fade away once more?"
"Shepard, these controls could release acid into the chamber and kill the queen with the flick of a switch," Garrus said. "…or they can open the chamber and release her. She's asking you to make the choice."
Shepard stared down at the rachni queen, trapped in her chamber. She was still now, her multitude of dark black eyes looking up at the two soldiers. Shepard could see the spark of intelligence in those eyes. This was not just some monster, it was a complex creature, with hopes and desires, relegated to use as a slave. It was a fate Shepard had almost faced when the batarians came to Mindoir.
"Your companion hears the truth," the rachni spoke through Benezia. "You have the power to free us, or return our people to the silence of memory."
"The rachni nearly wiped out the galaxy before, Shepard," Garrus said. "Would you release them to let them do it again?"
"We are not our ancestors," the rachni said. "We would seek a hidden place to teach our children harmony. If they understand, perhaps we would return. Our children here are beyond help. We can no longer sing to them. You must put an end to them, but not us."
Shepard stood by the controls. Could she really live with herself putting an end to an entire species? Even if their extinction had not been her fault the first time, it would be now. Garrus seemed to favor ending things, but he was thinking of things from a military standpoint.
"If she doesn't keep her word…" he started.
"What if she does?" Shepard turned to face him. "I'm supposed to let her die because of what her ancestors did? By that logic, you and I should kill each other too. No, I'm sorry. I can't do it. She's just a slave. She didn't ask for this. I have to trust what she's telling us. If she's lying, then I'll take full responsibility for what happens. But I have to believe that the galaxy is better than this."
Garrus sighed, "I hope you're right."
"We will remember," the rachni queen said. "We will sing of your forgiveness to our children."
Shepard reached forward and hit the button to release the queen. Slowly, the chamber rose up to an opening above. The Matriarch's body fell back against the floor. With one last fleeting glance toward them, the rachni queen disappeared through the new opening in the chamber, free to return to the stars.
"I hope you can forgive me for my decision," she said to Garrus.
"Shepard, I respect the choice you made. I may not agree, but there's no point in always agreeing on everything."
"That's not a very turian attitude." Shepard was surprised. Most turians followed the line of logic that you never questioned a commander's orders, even if you disagreed: you pretended to agree anyway.
"Well, there's a reason I left C-sec. Bad at following orders without question," he shrugged. "Let's get out of here and take care of the remaining rachni. Some of them must still be contained somewhere."
Sure enough, there was a chamber at the back of the hot labs where the remaining rachni could be viewed through a thick glass window. They had been divided on two sides it seemed, and one side had been breached, as evidenced by the shattered glass, the dead scientist, and the multitude of rachni they had already faced in battle. The dead scientist had codes on him for a euthanizing purge, so Shepard carried out the wishes of the rachni queen and input the codes through a Mira terminal at the end of the room. The countdown gave them plenty of time to clear the room, but even from the distance they put between themselves and the rachni, Shepard and Garrus could hear the explosion that ended the queen's tainted children.
"Let's get Liara and Tali and get out of here," Shepard suggested.
"My pleasure," Garrus replied.
"You know, you haven't complained about the cold in several hours now."
"Well, the battle had my heartrate up. But now that you mention it…"
Shepard shoved him playfully as they headed back to the Rift Station. She joked with him, but the truth was she was just as eager to get off of this God forsaken planet and back out on the hunt for Saren.
Washing all the rachni blood off of her wouldn't hurt her feelings either.
A/N: I literally cry every time Benezia says "You have always made me proud Liara" and writing this chapter was no exception! That closes out Noveria. Thanks for the reviews. As always, hope everyone is enjoying it!