Disclaimer: I do not own the Mass Effect games. This story is written with no profit in mind. It isn't for sale or rent.
Chapter 8
=DC=
Part 3
=DC=
29.04.2183 GS
Peak 15
Noveria
Pax System
Horse Head Nebula
"Vakarian, we could have used you back there." Wrex rumbled as soon as the assault team returned from the reactor core.
"I'm still your C-SEC liaison. This means, that no matter if I like it, or not, all-out assault missions are not part of my current job description. In that regard, I've got the news. Four Executives were running Binary-Helix. Saren and Benezia are two of them. The third, if still alive, is supposed to be in charge of this facility. C-SEC found the fourth, one Jun Blau, a Salarian, stuffed into his fridge. If we're to get executive access to the corporation's files, we either need authorization from the other executive. If he's still alive, anyway. Either that or someone has to hack the company's servers." Garrus explained. "That said when we get deeper into the facility and have people to interrogate, and stuff to investigate, I'm your Turian."
"Which is one of the reasons we've got as many CDF marines to work with as we could get our hands on." Vasir pipped up. "You'll have your time to shine soon, Detective. Shepard, you've got tactical command of the troops going in with us. It's by now obvious you know your way around small unit tactics, and I've been mostly acting as a lone operative over the past couple of centuries." The senior Spectre continued.
"And we're running light on junior officers." Shepard nodded at the Turians, who were mostly busy taking care of the casualties, and fixing up their equipment."
"There's that too." Vasir nodded. "VI, status update."
"Communications have been restored. I have limited access to the Hot Labs and other assorted facilities within the Peak 15 complex. Power is back online. Tram access to the complex proper is now available. I'm detecting multiple hostile lifeforms as well as survivors from the Peak 15 personnel. The barracks area is still under local security control."
"The navy is intercepting any communications from here, right?" Garrus asked.
"It should be jamming and intercepting outgoing transmissions that aren't ours." Vasir agreed.
A holographic window opened, revealing a flickering grainy image. The camera it came from was damaged by either acid or a stray shot. A makeshift barricade, backed by turrets, and infantry in white and yellow hardsuits held the line. It was obvious that the primary reason the Rachni failed to overrun them was the huge pile of alien corpses stacked up near to the ceiling, making further advance not feasible. Curiously enough, just like against the CDF, the Rachni didn't even try to pull their corpses away or burrow themselves an alternative entrance. They kept using, or not using, as the case might be, already existing ways to advance.
"Those survivors are going to be our primary target. We need information, witness testimonies, and to secure any remaining data at their location. Once we have better intelligence on the rest of the complex, we'll continue our hunt for Benezia." Shepard decided.
"I'm running maintenance routines. The tram line is green. There are no obstructions." The VI announced.
"Send a couple of drones ahead to check for explosives. After we're sure the path is clear, we're moving in." Shepard noted. "Stack up on ammo and supplies. Assume we might be temporarily cut off from support."
=DC=
In the end, the CDF stacked the first tram cart to go deeper into the facility with heavy firepower and supplies. They were to secure a beach-head on the other side of the monorail, which was the only practical way to the heart of Peak 15.
On arrival, the assault team found traces of combat. There was dried blood, and pieces torn apart, and melted Geth, everywhere. Bullet holes too for that matter. Yet they found no bodies. They quickly disembarked, set up makeshift defensive positions, covered by two heavy mechs. With that done, a quarter of the unit busied itself with stacking supply crates besides a nearby wall, before they sent the cart back.
Soon, the rest of the expeditionary unit arrived, bringing in even more supplies.
"Sergeant Hurst, you and the rest of your platoon will hold this position until either relieved, or the situation becomes untenable. In the latter case, you're pilling into the cart and retreating." Shepard ordered, addressing the senior Turian NCO left in the marine detachment deep within Peak 15. "The rest of us are going to have a heart-to-heart talk with the locals.
They advanced slowly, with flash-forged drones leading the way and followed by a single heavy mech. The two Krogan followed the machines, ready to smash any Rachni that dared show its ugly head. Yet, save for the odd tiny insectoid scurrying across the floor without a visible direction. The CDF unit faced no obstacle in its drive forward. Odd shots and distant screeches were coming from deeper in the facility, where Rachni likely hunted Geth and Benezia. Yet, the security complex the Citadel force approached, remained silent.
Two elevators, and a small stairway, were the only ways up to the security center. A single drone flew forward. It scanned for traps, and on reaching the bottom of the stairs, it used the Rachni corpses there as cover.
"This is Spectre Vasir, leading a detachment of Citadel Defense Forces marines." The Asari announced.
"Is that for real, or is it a fucking Geth trick?" A tired human voice asked.
"I have no bloody idea."
"Show yourself, slowly! If we see a flashlight-head or a tentacle, we'll shoot!" A Turian promised.
"We're coming down, slowly!" Vasir shot back. She went to the front and began descending the stairway, after surrounding herself with a Biotic barrier. She waved to two of the Turian marines to follow her.
"No tentacles, and no flashlight-heads, see?" The Spectre said in a soothing voice when she arrived in front of the wall of Rachni corpses.
"Huh. I thought we'll die down here before help could arrive." The Turian, who was apparently in charge relaxed a bit. "Sergeant Varakis, I'm the ranking survivor of the security force protecting this frozen rock. The commander bought it during the last rush an hour ago." He nodded at a line of sealed body bags left near the door leading deeper into the security section. It was obvious that most of the bodies inside were anything but whole.
"Sergeant, we need to talk with whoever is in charge about how and why you've got a Rachni infestation. A large part of the Citadel Fleet is already en route here to aid in cleaning up this mess. As of yesterday, Noveria has been under martial law." Vasir explained the situation.
"We managed to extract the executive in charge when the Spirits damned bugs went insane. He's inside along with any civies who managed to pull back before most of us got overrun trying to contain the breach in quarantine. They are the ones who may have any real answers. The Commander might have known, but it's a bit hard to talk with your brain splattered by Rachni spikes." The Turian, shrugged, obviously out of fucks as far as confidentiality, or his current employers in general went.
From what Shepard saw up to this point, he couldn't say he blamed the poor bastard.
"Make us a way through, then reinforce this position." Shepard nodded at the wall of dead Rachni. "Vakarian, you're with us. It's time to see the Detective in you shine."
"I can't wait. What's next, Shepard? Are we going to run into ancient killer plants to round up the Rachni menace being back from the abyss?"
"Don't tempt fate, Vakarian."
=DC=
Part 4
=DC=
29.04.2183 GS
Peak 15
Noveria
Pax System
Horse Head Nebula
Almost immediately, it became clear that the surviving Binary-Helix personnel had some interesting ideas about the position they found themselves stuck in. The most talkative of them was a Volus researcher, who obviously suffered from shock and PTSD after a close encounter with the Rachni. As soon as Garrus approached the short alien encased in his dark brown environmental suit, the scientist began rambling about the situation at hand. That earned him dirty looks from many of the remaining survivors.
"Stop that, man! We've all signed non-disclosure agreements! The board will have us roasted if we say anything!" A Turian in form-fitting white lab clothes exclaimed aloud.
At that, Vasir's head snapped in the Turian's direction. She had been busy verbally roasting the only other Asari in the area.
"It seems that you are all operating under certain misconceptions!" When the Spectre spoke, a smile colder than the storm outside stretched her features into something positively deadly. "Binary-Helix is done. Your executives are either dead, or we're hunting them down! C-SEC and any other security agency in Citadel Space are going after your corporation's board members, seeking answers. You fools, not only brought the Rachni back from the dead but lost control of your little experiment. The Council is more than happy to make an example of everyone involved. Any agreements you have with Binary-Helix aren't worth the storage space they're on. And legally, all your asses belong to us!" Vasir declared smugly.
That little rant had the desired effect – all but the Asari researcher, and the Volus, visibly paled and took a step back from the Spectre.
"Now, where were we? You were an innocent brand new researcher brought here just recently, right?" Vasir smiled sweetly at her target. "You need to learn to lie better, sweetie! Now try again and make me believe it!" She demanded harshly and flared her Biotics.
"You were saying, Doctor?" Garrus went back to his interrogation without missing a beat.
"What's the point? We're already damned. Do you think I want absolution or something?" The Volus bleakly demanded.
"That's not my purpose one way or another. Absolution is between you and your priest or priestess. What I want to know is how much of a fuck up exactly we have to clean! That way, more of our people won't end up sliced up, eaten, or melted!" Vakarian offered a fanged smile to the Volus that was anything but reassuring.
Shepard's right hand twitched, and he fought the need to rub his face. He was pretty sure those weren't standard interrogation techniques. Then again, with Spectres involved, little critically important things like personal and legal rights tended to fly out of the nearest airlock. The damned thing is that under the present circumstances, he couldn't really disagree.
Worst-case scenario, they were looking at the resumption of a galactic war at a scale no human had ever experienced, or could properly imagine. Still, understandable or not, necessary or not, the casual disregard of basic laws did leave a bad taste in his mouth. It wasn't because he was sympathetic to the bastards working for Binary-Helix, it was the potential for abusing the sheer power a Spectre had. Just like Saren did.
A few pointed questions led Shepard to a nearby annex. There, he found the senior surviving medical Doctor in the facility, who was busy healing a bunch of wounded with the help of a handful of assistants. All beds were covered with casualties, though some of them had no visible injuries. In contrast, there were a lot of people sitting or laying on the ground, who had run afoul of the Rachni. Their bloody bandages, missing appendages, and the smell of burned flesh were testament to that.
"Huh, you're new! So that's what the commotion was about. Did you bring Mira back online? Without her we had to do everything manually – all the automatic equipment was locked out. We lost good people because of that." The middle-aged Human doctor rambled bitterly. He took a deep breath and nodded at Shepard. "Thank you. However, as you can see, I'm rather busy." He paused. "I'm Dr. Cohen by the way."
"Commander Shepard, Special Tactics and Reconnaissance. I'm obviously working for the Council. We're here to clean up your people's mess. I'll get medics and supplies heading this way ASAP."
"Thank you. I'll get any help can." Cohen nodded and went back to work.
"The Rachni didn't injure all of your patients." Shepard pointed out the obvious.
Cohen flinched, then glanced briefly at the Spectre. "There was a chemical leak when Mira went offline. Some of our people were exposed, yet I don't have access to the necessary materials to synthesize a cure."
If Cohen wasn't so obviously knackered from overwork, his lie might not have been this obvious. Or her was simply that bad of a con artist at the best of times.
"It's over, Dr. Cohen. Binary-Helix is done. There is no point in trying to hide whatever further shit you've all been up to. We're going to find out anyway, and there won't be corporate lawyers descending to help you."
"God damn it! You know about those murderous bugs, right?"
"Everyone who matters knows about the Rachni. The powers that be are far from amused. Binary-Helix is on the chopping block as both a sacrifice and an example." Shepard reasonably pointed out.
"The powers that be, heh, I like that. Let's say our equivalent wanted a bio-weapon able to put down those bugs. However, there was simply no profit in such little horror if it targets a single, nearly extinct species. The executives wanted us to develop it further so it could target other species in a useful way. What we have is an agent that can be applied in a controlled fashion. It won't transmit from person to person, however, it's ideal for area denial, especially if we're talking closed systems like space stations or various habitats in a hostile environment."
"That's why you aren't concerned that everyone in here is infected." Shepard nodded.
He had to take his previous sentiments back. Being a Spectre, and legally being able to get away with murder, suddenly looked like a great feature. John had to briefly struggle with the desire to draw his pistol and shoot Cohen in the head, or simply choke him to death with his bare hands. Fortunately, his training quickly won out, and he pushed those murderous impulses aside.
"What do you need to heal the infected? Are there viable samples of the original weapon targeting the Rachni only?"
Cohen perked up at that.
"The Chief of Security wouldn't get anyone get down in the Hot Labs. There we have the equipment to finish creating a cure, and I have all the relevant data here. There should be samples of the weapon at various stages of development in the labs below. We might get to use it as intended!" Cohen nodded eagerly. "But first, please help me get the cure! Most of those poor bastards had nothing to do with the weapon!"
"I'll see what I can do. Transfer all the necessary data for both the cure and the weapon to my omni-tool." Shepard ordered.
After Shepard had received the data, he summoned the available medics to come in and help with the wounded, while mentioning to be careful about Cohen and the infected.
When he got back to the open area of the barracks, Shepard found out he had missed a bit of commotion. Vasir had the other Asari bound on the floor, complete with a Biotic suppression collar around her neck.
"I come bringing news, and I see I've missed something interesting?" He looked at Vasir.
"She's one of Benezia's Acolytes! I'm sure of it!" Vasir declared. "We'll need to properly interrogate her, after gathering more information about her identity. She won't spill anything useful if we just ask nicely."
"And this isn't the time or place for that." Shepard nodded in understanding.
"What did you get?" Vasir demanded.
"Our hosts have been developing bio-weapons, and I don't mean the Rachni." Shepard filled the rest of the unit on what he learned. "If that thing pans out, it might be the best way to clear this facility. Otherwise, we'll have to clean it up top to bottom the hard way."
"We'll need relevant specialists to check on the bio-weapon before we even think about deploying it ourselves," Vasir noted.
"My thoughts exactly. The only thing I'm suggesting we do about it is secure samples and cure the infected. That is especially important if Dr. Death down there is mistaken, and the thing mutates to transmit from person to person." Shepard pointed out.
"Raiding the Hot Labs for bio-weapons is now on our to-do list then, great!" Garrus groaned. "I found out how they brought the Rachni back. A deep space explorer found a derelict ship from the war. Our Volus friend didn't know whose ship it was. That needs to be investigated as well. Long story short: someone found a viable Queen egg onboard. It somehow found its way here. The local fools hatched it, and somehow lost containment of the Rachni army they've been building for Saren and Benezia. Not that they've ever got to control the Rachni, who were trying to bite off everyone's faces from day one…" Garrus shook his head in obvious exasperation.
"What's the plan now?" Shepard asked.
"We contact the Council first and fill them in. Then go to the Hot Labs as you suggested and raid them for all useful data we can get our hands-on. We'll also make the cure if at all possible, and retrieve samples of the bio-weapon like you suggested. Depending on the resistance we face, we'll decide if it's viable to push any deeper within the facility." Vasir suggested.