I'm Nobody

by free man writer

He didn't have anything when he was born. Just a name and number. But over time, what he had grew. He, with his friends began to understand that there was more to their existence then just their name and number. They will prove that they were meant to be real. To exist. To become something more than just a Nobody. Co-written and created with Jebest4781. Fem Shepard. Now on Ao3.

10. Meeting with the Matriarch

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I'm Nobody Chapter 10: Meeting with the Matriarch

Nothing like a lovely drive to get someone up in the morning.

Or was it night?

It's quite hard to tell when one is driving atop a mountainside where a blizzard is hammering down like a hurricane.

That, and the fact that right now the Mako that was driving up the mountainous slopes of Noveria to their intended destination of Peak 15 was currently being harassed by Geth that stood before their path.

"Am I the only one who thinks it's really cold out there?" Tali asked from within the Mako.

Even though their acquired vehicle had heaters, it hardly made a difference with the walls having a cold touch to them.

"Tali, of course it's cold out there. And it's worse with how damn windy it is."

"Hell, we felt how bad it was out there when Roxas opened the hatch to get on the roof."

Earlier, their sandy blonde teammate went out to help take care of some Heartless along the way while Garrus fired the Mako's guns to destroy the Geth. And he has been staying outside ever since.

But in all honesty when Roxas exited the vehicle and didn't close the hatch quick enough, it felt like torturous hours when the cold air rushed through, chilling them all.

"I swear if he didn't have that damn coat of his, he would probably be dead by now by frostbite."

"This coat is useful." Roxas said from their comms. From outside, he was patting his chest with a satisfactory smile. His hood up right now, cloak billowing in the icy winds.

"Rub it in later." Shepard barked out, veering around a Geth Armature with Garrus shooting at its legs.

Roxas cast a quick Thundara, taking out its shielding leaving it open for Vakarian to take the killshot.

With the head being blown off, the Armature keeled over and fell upon the snowy ground, unmoving.

Eventually, the Mako jostled around all suddenly, rattling everyone inside.

"What the hell was that?" Ashley demanded.

"Snowbank." Shepard answered, still focused on her driving.

"Why didn't you use the micro-thrusters?"

"In case you forgot, we're right next to a damn cliff. I don't plan on sending us flying over the edge."

"Unlike the few times you did in the past." Garrus snidely remarked, glaring at the commander from his position in the Mako.

"What's that? You want gun privileges revoked?"

Garrus only grumbled underneath his breath, refocusing his attention on blasting Geth out of the way.

The others inside the Mako could only hold on to their seats as Shepard drove like a madwoman, actually bashing the Mako into a Geth once or twice. Even rolling over them back and forth for good measure before proceeding onwards.

All the while, snoring was heard coming from the oldest of the group.

Ash's brow twitched as the snoring was rattling the Mako interior just as much as Shepard's driving was. "Okay, I gotta ask."

"Ask what?" Said Liara.

"How the hell does Wrex keep sleeping in here whenever Shepard drives?"

"Haven't we asked this before?" Came Kaidan's response.

"Yes." Ash groused.

"Then why-?"

"Because I'm still waiting for an actual answer, dammit!"

"How much longer until we reach Peak 15?" Tali asked, looking to Shepard.

"Hopefully not much longer. Just need to get across this one bridge and-"

"Oh fucking hell." Garrus said aloud from the gunner seat.

"...Oh fucking hell?" Kaidan repeated, straining himself forward to hopefully look through the window. But with the blizzard outside, it was hard to tell. "Usually when you say that Garrus, it's not good."

"Why are we 'oh fucking' anything?"

"I'm not saying that, I'm just saying…"

"Then why are you saying that? Give me a damn straight answer, Garrus."

It was Roxas who answered over the comms. "He's saying 'Oh fucking hell' because he was the first to spot a giant Heartless right in front of us."

"Oh…" the crew said in unison. "Oooooh…"

"...Oh fucking hell."

"RRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAA!"

"...Shit."

Wrex soon woke up, startled by the sound. "What was that?"

"A giant Heartless."

"Oh fuck."

"Can we stop saying 'Oh fuck' or any variants of it for a while?" Liara pleaded. "I feel we hit a quota or something on this ride so far."

Roxas, all the while, looked on ahead with a fierce expression, taking a moment to analyze the Heartless.

It appears to come from the Wyvern variation of the Heartless, though clearly more suited for this icy environment.

It was a large, draconian creature with predominantly white and light steel blue skin, save for its belly, which is pale green. Its body is rather thin, while its feet are quite large and somewhat resemble clogs with tips that curve upward. The wings seemed rather short and had a rough, jagged appearance. They also seem to be segmented, each segment alternating from white to steel blue.

The tail is long, wide, flat and sports a few short spikes on its sides, as well as a dark grey, zig-zagging stripe near its tip. The forehead sported a large horn that curves upward slightly and like all Heartless, has beady yellow eyes on either side of its head, and the Heartless emblem is on its chest.

An Avalanche.

"How big is it, Roxas?" Shepard asked, driving around the flying Heartless that had spotted them.

"Really big." Roxas stated. "Bigger than the Mako at least."

"Wonderful." Shepard grumbled beneath her breath. "Hold on tightly now, everyone. It's gonna get worse."

"Great." Kaidan said, feeling his body tense up.

The Mako rattled once more, only this time due to the Avalanche's challenging roar.

Roxas gazed upon the Heartless unflinchingly, preparing himself for the battle as the Heartless dive bombed the Mako.

"Shit!" Shepard made a sharp turn with everyone nearly falling out of their seats.

Roxas had to grab onto the Mako Cannon himself as he nearly got thrown off by both the shockwave the Heartless sent out upon impact on the ground and Shepard's driving.

Pointing his Keyblade at the large plume of snow, Roxas readied a fire spell when icicles shot out from the snow. Eyes widening, he narrowly ducked under several, looking up in time to instinctively swat one aside with his Keyblade.

The Avalanche then rose up from the ground, flapping its wings up that sent out gales of wind with icy shards peppering the Mako.

"Are we… slowing down?" Ashley asked in alarm.

"Dammit." Shepard snarled. "Roxas, what's happening out there?"

"The Heartless is practically throwing a blizzard at us."

"Like the spell or-"

"An actual blizzard."

"Great, a blizzard on top of a blizzard."

"Blizzard-ception?"

"Stow it with the jokes, Vakarian. Leave the bad ones with Joker."

Garrus shook his head as he peered down the cannon scope. "Well Roxas ain't lying about the blizzard. From what I can tell, it's flapping so hard it's adding more velocity to the storm outside." More icicles pelted the Mako, sounding more like a really hard hailstorm now. "All the while shooting large ice chunks at us."

Shepard soon swerved a bit more as she saw what was happening to the surrounding pathway through the Mako's window. "And it's forming iceberg-like rocks around us, making my driving much more difficult."

"Well that's just perfect." Ashley groaned out.

Roxas was kneeling atop the Mako, left arm in front of his face to offer some form of protection against the cold, needle-like winds that the Avalanche kept sending out.

The Heartless was constantly attempting to skewer, crush or ice them with large ice hills forming around the Mako.

"Damn bastard." Shepard said, the Mako shaking about violently from every mound of ice it drove over to every turn she had to do in order to save her and the team's hides. "Garrus, will you please-"

"Easier said than done." Garrus shot back, firing at the Avalanche with the Heartless absorbing the shots like a sponge.

"Shepard." Roxas yelled over the harrowing winds. "Get me in close."

Rather than arguing with him, Shepard simply acquiesced with his request, turning the wheel of the Mako and gunning it straight for the large Heartless.

She hoped he had a plan. He was their Heartless expert after all.

Getting in close, Roxas raised his Keyblade, channeling his magic.

"Firaga!"

A giant flaming sphere shot out from the tip of his blade, hurtling straight towards the Avalanche.

Just in time as the Heartless was preparing for a downpour of ice, living up to its namesake.

The fireball struck the Avalanche dead on, stunning and damaging it greatly.

Seeing an opportunity, Roxas crouched upon the Mako and jumped forward.

"Roxas!"

"Let him have at it." Wrex said with a wide grin. "I wanna see him bring this bastard down."

Getting in close, Roxas reared his Keyblade back and struck the Avalanche with a mighty blow that caused its head to whip around…

Followed by the rest of its body with its tail moving around to smack Roxas down.

No. XIII crashed down into the snowy ground, snow and dirt kicking up into the air.

"Oh shit." Garrus said, whirling the cannon around. "Hey ya bastard, chew on this."

He fired a shot that managed to strike the Avalanche's eye which made it flinch and turn its head in the Mako's direction.

The Heartless made a full back spin in the air, descending to the ground and gliding over the snow going straight for the Mako.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck." Garrus kept firing at the Heartless, trying to slow it down as best as he could.

Seeing that it wasn't working, Garrus decided to change up tactics. Getting down from the cannon he simply told Kaidan to hop up to it and went up the top hatch of the Mako.

"Garrus, the hell are you doing?!" Shepard called out to him.

"Doing things the hard way, unfortunately." the Turian detective answered, reaching for his Sniper Rifle.

It had a recent enhancement from Mosh the Moogle aboard the Normandy, the barrel of the rifle already glowing.

Poking out of the top hatch, Garrus trailed his scope against the oncoming Avalanche that drew closer and closer.

Though the driving was erratic and all over the place, Garrus managed to steel himself and focus. He just needed the right moment.

The Avalanche was now no less than a few dozen yards away with its massive frame making up for a great distance.

"Hold, Shepard." Garrus said aloud. "Wait for my mark."

"What?!"

"Just trust me."

Gritting her teeth, Shepard corrected the Mako's course, now driving in a straight line with the Heartless right on their tail.

Once it was a hair's end away from the Mako…

"NOW!" Garrus screamed out.

Shepard made another sharp turn with the Avalanche sailing by them.

Garrus, having charged up a shot, fired a large beam that struck the Avalanche's head. It flinched violently at being hit though it had no time to recover as the beam that struck it burst into a dozen more smaller ones, all of which hit various points of its body.

The Heartless flailed in pain from the assault it recently received, momentarily collapsing onto the ground soon after.

As much as she'd want to gun it and plow through the Heartless, Shepard thought it would be a bad idea at this time. Geth were one thing, but this Heartless before them was more durable than they thought. More so as it rose back up from the ground.

"Damn bastard." Shepard snarled. "Where's Roxas?"

Soon enough from the snow pile a bit away from the Mako, an ethereal green glow could be seen. Wasn't long before Roxas shot out of it and went back to combat the Avalanche once more.

"Wonder if we can get across the bridge all in one piece." Shepard muttered aloud, swerving left and right.

"I figure if we don't take care of that Heartless we could… and still get killed." Garrus remarked, firing his sniper rifle to assist the quickly recovered Roxas. "All we have to do is probably set this Mako on fire and-"

"Oh just shut up with the jokes and shoot!" Liara barked out in cold, utter anger before whirling right at Shepard. "And you! Drive better!"

The others within the vehicle looked at the asari like they were meeting her for the first time. In all honesty they never heard such a tone coming from the sweet, calm and timid asari.

Now… well…

"What she said." Tali added on, quickly overcoming her shock in the process.

Both gunner and driver were silent as the battle ensued outside of their vehicle.

"Uh… yeah, sure okay."

"Whatever you say, doc."

The asari crossed her arms across her chest. "Good."

"...Damn… where the hell did this come from?" Kaidan muttered, still wide eyed.

"I don't know and don't want to find out." Ashley responded.

Wrex merely chuckled.

"Kaidan…"

"Oh, right. Sorry, Liara."

Shaking himself out of his shock, the lieutenant marine fired the Mako's cannon as he continued to assist Roxas and Garrus in taking down the Avalanche.

Spinning and maneuvering through his strikes, Roxas became more and more focused all the while swerving away from the Heartless' assault and the ammunition fired from the Mako's occupants.

It was at this point that an aura of light encompassed Roxas, signifying him reaching his Limit Break.

"This is it!"

In a flurry of swipes, he started cleaving all over the Heartless in rapid succession. Before long, he started spinning in the air as he soon appeared to look like a Buzzsaw of light within the blizzard, carving up the Avalanche's hide in the process.

"It's over!"

And in a manner of moments, the light around him exploded, sending projectiles straight at the Avalanche, colliding and exploding upon impact.

When the last one met its mark, the Avalanche shrieked aloud as it collapsed onto the ground once more. And this time it stayed down for good as it dissolved into wisps of darkness with the captured glowing Heart was released into the stormy skies above.

Roxas felt the light dissipate and he found himself falling down to the ground below when the Mako drove by, with him cleanly landing inside.

He immediately collapsed into an empty seat near Tali with him sighing aloud.

"Nice landing."

He held up a weak thumbs up. "Thanks."

Everyone else chuckled as Shepard drove on ahead before they finally reached Peak 15.

The only problems they had left to take care of were the Geth turrets stationed outside of the garage they were approaching. With Kaidan's well placed shots, the synthetic opposition was taken care of.

Once rolling into the garage, it's occupants couldn't have climbed out of it fast enough.

"Land! Solid, unmoving land!" Tali exclaimed, hugging the metal floor and rubbing her helmet on its surface. "Oh I never knew how much I love you."

"Don't be so over dramatic." Shepard drolled out. "Remember, we will have to go back the same way we came from."

"...Don't make me shoot you with my shotgun." Tali threatened. "I will do it."

Shepard rolled her eyes in response.

She momentarily glanced back to the entrance, recalling the destroyed vehicle that was getting slowly buried by the snowy landscape of the mountain.

Narrowing her eyes, she looked on ahead, pulling out her gun.

"Stay alert people." Jane warned. "We're in enemy territory now."

The group looked at Shepard, seeing how serious she was with them following suit with their own guns drawn.

When the metal door slid open, the team were greeted with the sight of a small contingent of Geth and Krogan present. And they were quickly noticed, soon earning a hail of bullets right at them.

"Of course." Kaidan couldn't help but state aloud, the team moving for cover while firing at their enemies.

The team split off, firing at the Geth and Krogan that appeared to charge in a foolhardy attempt at the squad.

It wasn't much of a challenge, compared to what was faced outside not long ago. Some biotic throws were needed towards the Krogan situated on the balconies above, resulting in them falling down from the large drop with some landing on their heads. With some well-placed shots, said Krogan opposition were quickly killed off.

As for the Geth, Tali's Omni-tool helped out a lot in overloading their systems with the electrical shocks as they were combined with Roxas' Thunder spells.

With the remaining foes in the far off areas, Shepard, Liara and Kaidan used a combined Singularity to pull them off the ground and have them float in the air. From there, Garrus was quick to fire at them with his sniper rifle. Nearly all of them stood no chance with the one-two shots.

When the space was cleared out, the ground team searched for a means to progress further, Ashley soon noticed something.

"Hey Roxas."

"Yeah?"

"You got icicles in your hair."

"Really? Huh…" He muttered, brushing and combing his hair to rid himself of the frozen particles clinging onto his blonde locks.

They no doubt formed as he had no proper head protection from the snow entering his hood.

"Just…. How are you not freezing?!" Ashley exclaimed aloud. "Seriously?!"

"Er…" Roxas rubbed the back of his head. "I said before, the coat… and in the Organization, there was someone named Vexen who used ice powers. I got used to it."

All he got was a flat look from the Gunnery Chief who pulled him in for a noogie, grinding her fist against his head. The young teen could only flail his arms about in an attempt to free himself.

"Ash! C'mon!"

"That's what you get, Roxas."

"But I don't-"

"Alright, knock it off Williams." Jane said with a chortle. "We got a job to do."

No sooner did Shepard say this did they hear and automated voice over the intercoms.

"User alert. All Peak 15 facilities have suffered a great deal of damage. Biohazard materials present throughout the facility. Virtual intelligence user interface, offline."

Shepard glanced over at Kaidan. "That doesn't sound promising."

"We'll probably have to take care of the problem if we want to progress further." Said the lieutenant.

They eventually found the door out of the garage, soon passing the control booth that guarded the entrance to the labs. It was only after did they find quite a surprise.

"Uh… why are the turrets facing the wrong way?" Kaidan asked aloud.

"Looks like they wanna keep whoever is here much as they wanna keep everyone else out." Wrex rumbled

"Quite the bit of a motivation there, don't you think?" Garrus chimed in.

Shepard, though, wasn't so sure. "I don't know." She said. "I get the feeling that they're trying to keep more than just their people in."

"Then what is exactly going on here?"

Kaidan shrugged his shoulders before taking point once they walked past the turrets. And they were thankful they didn't go off when the group was in front of them.

"Who knows for sure, guys."

The team investigated the nearby rooms and upon Roxas' assistance, they pilfered a number of safes and weapons lockers before storing the contents away for when they see Mosh after this mission.

Exiting the last room, they piled into a waiting elevator. Once the door closed, the group subconsciously huddled together to get some warmth from each other.

"Sooner we get off this frozen world, the better." Tali said with a slight shiver, hugging Roxas up close.

"I hear that." Said the Turian.

The elevator stopped with the doors opened to reveal a snowy hallway that had another door at the end. They all stepped out and made their way towards it.

Roxas frowned, as he gazed ahead with the others noticing him not moving.

"You alright, Roxas?" Garrus asked, being the closest to him.

He didn't respond at first, instead keeping his eyes straight ahead before closing them and tilting his head down.

"I feel… Darkness here."

The team at first didn't respond straight away from Roxas's declaration before Shepard grunted.

"Be ready for anything."

The rest silently agreed, holding their weapons just a bit more tightly now.

Stepping forward, the door opened up to reveal Geth awaiting their arrival…

And with them were the Heartless… that weren't fighting them.

Instead, their two most common enemies all turned in their direction.

"Uh oh." Was all Ash managed out until they began firing at the enemies that charged at them.

The Geth and Heartless consisted of Troopers, Shock Troopers, Neo-Shadows, Winterhorns and Wyverns.

Running forward, Roxas immediately went for the flyers as he knew how much of a pain they can be with how they utilized their entire body as a weapon.

"RRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

…

…

…

"What the hell is that?"

They heard the raw, animalistic shriek coming from the pipes overhead, scurrying about.

"Was that an animal? Or perhaps the wind?" Kaidan asked aloud.

"This place is in bad shape with all this snow being present." Ashley pointed out.

"I think that would be putting it lightly."

The shriek then appeared once more.

"Hey, Wrex."

"Yeah?"

"You've seen so much crazy and strange shit in the galaxy, right?" Garrus asked the Krogan beside him. "Any idea what that noise is?"

"No, but I would love to know what the sound of a quiet Turian would be like."

"...You hear that every time you shoot one dead."

"That's dying, Vakarian, there's a difference."

Before either the Krogan or Turian could continue bickering, they heard the shriek once more.

This time it was followed with something else as the Geth and Heartless now diverted their attention elsewhere.

It was then the team saw what the shriek's origin came from.

It was a giant bug that resembled a chimera mixture of a shrimp, an arachnid and some sort of roach. And it's pair of menacing claws were quick to tear apart the synthetics like they were made of paper.

The Heartless proved to be a greater challenge yet the bug seemed unperturbed by the difficulty. If anything, it only increased its ferocity as it tried to literally rip the Heartless apart.

As the team watched the skirmish transpire, the familiar screeching sound was heard to their side, turning to see two more of those bug-like creatures charging straight for them.

Without any prompt, Wrex barreled forward with a roar of his own, colliding headfirst into the closest of the chimera ants. Both combatants fell back with Wrex managing to get on top and with his new hammer, bashed its head in.

"Ew." Tali plainly said, turning to the other insectoid that rounded about on Wrex with its two tendril-like arms up.

The rest of the team gunned it down rather quickly and brutally.

They had to clear out the area a moment afterwards, taking out all the three enemy types with the Krogan of the crew standing over another one of those insectoids.

The Battlemaster was breathing, no, seething heavily with his lower lip twitching erratically.

"Wrex, is something wrong?"

"Yeah, you look… extra angry all of a sudden." Roxas commented the best he could.

"Angry is putting it mildly, runt. I'm furious." Wrex kicked the insectoid's carcass with a snarl. "It's a fucking Rachni!"

Those who knew what that word meant instantly went into denial.

"That's impossible." Garrus declared.

"The Rachni were declared extinct nearly two thousand years ago in the Rachni Wars." Liara added in, agreeing with Garrus' statement. "There's no way that's a Rachni."

"I know what I'm looking at and I'm definitely looking at a Rachni." Said the Krogan. "And now I'm gonna have my answers as to why the hell this is here in the first place!"

"The Rachni." Shepard frowned in intrigue.

"And the Geth and the Heartless." Ashley listed off with a grimace. "We're gonna have our hands full up here, Skipper."

It wasn't long before they heard more shrieks filling the air, making everyone on edge. And right after, more Rachni came out of the surrounding air ducts.

"Shoot them!" Kaidan yelled out, raising his assault rifle and opened fire.

The team didn't have to be told twice as those with firearms complied with the request.

Wrex and Roxas, however, used a more physical approach; swinging their melee weapons around to cleave and bash through the Rachni each and every turn.

As they fought, Wrex spotted one of the Rachni spat something from one of its appendages. It was green and when it stuck his armor, it hissed and melted through.

"Bastards." Wrex growled, hissing as he looked at his hand with a small trail of acid dripping off his armor and soon graced his flesh. Something Roxas saw.

He was about to heal his friend when the Krogan held his hand up to stop him.

"Leave it, kid." Wrex said, voice low while flicking his arm.

"Is that acid?"

"Did you really want to ask that?"

Roxas clamped his mouth shut, Wrex chuckling a moment later which ended rather quickly with him looking again at the Rachni.

Again, he felt his entire body twitch at the sight of them.

The old enemy.

The enemy that threatened the Citadel Council at one point that led to his people's uprising to the galactic stage.

Which eventually led to the near sterilization of his entire race.

Shaking his head, Wrex turned back to the fight that was still ongoing.

Shepard needed some breathing room for her team. "Biotics start throwing! Roxas, spells!" She ordered.

"Which one?" Roxas asked.

"Strongest fire one you got!"

Those called out complied and did their thing in clearing out the space of what remained of the Rachni, Geth and Heartless.

At the end, the snow in the room started to melt away as the smell of cooked gooey innards and synthetic metal wafted in the air.

"Well that's gonna be a pleasant smell." Kaidan huffed out, covering his nose.

"Roxas, would you mind?" Ashley asked politely.

The Nobody casted Aero, summoning a gust of wind to somewhat help disperse the smell, only by little.

Hopefully the same could be said of Wrex's present mood.

"What the fuck are the Rachni doing here?" He demanded.

"Does it look like we know the answer to that?" Garrus asked back.

"Not the time." Said Shepard. Let's focus on moving forward."

Everyone but Wrex agreed. "My question still remains: what the fuck are the Rachni doing here?"

"I don't know, Wrex. But I've got a feeling we'll find the answers very soon."

"I'm afraid to know the exact answers to those questions." Tali muttered out.

"Come on." Shepard waved her arm for them to follow after her. "Let's not dwell here any longer."

The group had to make their way up the stairs while stepping over the burnt Geth and Rachni corpses. Soon enough, they found the next elevator rather quickly and rode it up. Exiting out of it, they walked through the corridor to the next junction.

Looking around to the different points of entry, Garrus grunted. "Well this is annoying."

"Nope." Wrex simply said.

"Nope?"

"Nope." Repeated the Krogan, who raised his shotgun. "What's really annoying is what's coming straight towards us."

The group whirled around to where Wrex was aiming and saw small Rachni creatures scurried straight towards them with Liara letting out a small yelp whilst the others slightly scrambled up with their guns.

Wrex simply stepped forward and literally began stepping on the small Rachni, the others shooting them dead a moment later.

"The hell were those things?"

"Those were Rachni."

"Are you serious? Those were smaller than the ones we just saw!" Kaidan said, gesturing to pulpy mush that was leftover.

"Those looked like insect workers or something." Shepard commented.

"Is there an entire colony of Rachni here?" Garrus asked anxiously.

"Do you really wanna tempt that question like that?" Wrex rhetorically countered, Garrus' mouth clamping shut.

"Oh what next, are we dealing with a Xenomorph scenario?" Ashely joked out.

"Xenomorph?" Roxas asked, with Tali nodding as she thought of the same question.

"Alien." Ashley waved off. "Movie we'll show ya later."

"And what could you describe these Xenomorphs?" Tali inquired.

"To sum it up, the little ones were like the workers we just killed. And the bigger ones went through the vents. And in one of the films, Xenomorph eggs were found frozen with some stupid shmucks unthawing them, making the film problems from the start."

"Uh… what?"

"We'll show you later." Shepard assured her. "Let's keep moving, people. We can't be sitting ducks here."

They went on ahead, checking over the floor they had just arrived at.

Tali was quick to notice what was up ahead. "Hey, Commander." She called out. "Do you see this?"

Jane looked over to see a machine. "I'm seeing but have no idea what it's supposed to be."

"It's a backup power system. Must be for the station mainframe."

Garrus came up to it for a closer inspection. "Damage is not extensive, could be repaired."

"I can help speed things up, Garrus." Tali offered, to which the Turian complied.

"Alright." Shepard nodded before giving out an order. "While they're fixing this, everyone check where these doors go."

Tali's Omni-tool lit up as she examined the system while Garrus started to move the inner workings around. When he felt as things were enough, he gave the Quarian the go ahead to activate it.

Soon enough, they heard an automated voice. "Critical startup error. Intelligence user interface offline. Manual boot required."

"Keelah." Tali swore softly, deactivating her omni-tool.

"Well this is gonna be fun." Garrus muttered out.

"Something wrong?" Shepard asked.

The Quarian/Turian pair stood up with Garrus speaking. "You heard it, commander. We need to manually restart the VI."

"And where can we do that?"

Looking around, Tali spotted a structure at the far end. "I believe the VI core is that way. Will need to get that patched up before we can proceed."

When the group moved over to the VI core, they were soon met with the rest of the team.

"Well, doors won't open. They're offline." Ashley stated.

"The automated voice told us to 'consult the VI'." Said Roxas.

"...Can't you use that Keyblade of yours to open up the doors?" Shepard said slowly.

Roxas opened his mouth before shutting it.

In a second, he turned around and went over to where the offline doors were in order to help take care of their problem.

Shepard chuckled as she looked at an elevator pad within the VI core structure. Seeing as there was only enough for one, she stepped forward and hit the control to descend into the mainframe.

Seeing this, Ashley smirked. "Are you sure you wanna boot up the VI, Skipper?"

Kaidan then joined in on the fun. "I think you and tech don't have the best relationship out there."

As she descended, Shepard glanced back at them. "I can boot up the VI just fine, guys. Just as well as you can clean the dishes after meals."

Ashley groaned. "Are you kidding me? That was a joke."

All she got was Jane's insidious, wicked smirk as she disappeared from their view.

"...I don't think that was a joke, Ashley."

"No shit, Kaidan." Growled the Gunnery Chief before yelling down the hole. "That's an abuse of power, you bitch!"

Garrus and Wrex chuckled while Liara and Tali merely facepalmed.

"At least she didn't write you up for insubordination." Garrus noted. "Only giving you your punishment."

Ashley merely leered at the Turian. "Don't make me shove that sniper rifle up your ass."

"Sorry, but there's already a stick up there."

"Really? And how far up is it?"

Liara merely exhaled a sigh as Ashely and Garrus bantered against each other.

"This is quite the interesting relationship we have here." Tali plainly stated.

Wrex snorted. "Yeup. Just a ragtag team of misfits."

"Why's that?"

The Krogan listed it off. "We got yours truly, a semi-renegade C-Sec detective, a Quarian, a hidden tempered asari, a music star looking marine-"

"What's that about me?" Kaidan inquired.

"Stitch called you an Elvis impersonator."

"...Why?"

"Because of the hair."

Kaidan rolled his eyes before pointing to his combed back hair. "This is because of a biotic discharge."

"Yeah, sure. Whatever helps you sleep well at night, Alenko." Wrex waved off before he continued. "Then we got gun-hoe Williams."

"She doesn't seem that way." Liara pointed out.

"Right… And we got an amnesiac runt and the maverick Spectre."

It was at this point the elevator powered back up, soon raising the commander back up with her head quickly seen. Jane then noticed that everyone seemed to look right at her.

"...What?"

"Oh, nothing." Garrus waved off as he took a moment to crack a joke. "We're just surprised you finished the boot-up so quickly."

"And?"

"You didn't use omni-gel, right?" Kaidan jabbed in.

Shepard looked hurt, affronted even. "You doubt me that much? I'm hurt."

Garrus suddenly laughed. "You just evaded his question, which you answered with another question. Those are classic traits of a lie." The C-Sec detective deduced before pointing an accusing finger right at her. "You used omni-gel, didn't you?!"

The N7 marine rolled her eyes before exhaling an exasperated sigh. "Okay, fine, you're right. I got impatient on the stupid puzzle or whatever down there and threw a whole buttload of omni-gel to get it up and running."

"At least you're admitting it." Ashley said with a smirk.

"And who is the 'bitch' who is giving you double clean up duty?"

The Gunnery Chief shut her mouth with a twitch of her eye while the men present snickered.

Liara gave Ashely a comforting pat on the shoulder with Tali following suit. "There, there."

Shepard chuckled before she went to activate the VI, which soon booted up before them.

"It looks like you wish to restore this facility." The VI spoke, appearance being that of a woman. "Would you like some help?"

"That'd be greatly appreciated." Jane stated. "Who are you, anyway?"

"This system is monitored to respond to the name "Mira". May I ask your name?"

"Commander Shepard." Jane responded. "I work for the Citadel's Special Tactics and Reconnaissance."

"One moment please." Mira said. "Council authority confirmed. You are entitled secure access to all systems."

"Useful." Shepard commented.

"Please note that queries to corporate secrets require privileged access."

"Less useful." Shepard deadpanned. "Shouldn't my Spectre status give me access?"

"Most certainly. You may access me at any holographic interface within Peak 15"

"Good." Shepard nodded. "Then why the privilege access?"

"Privileged access is only available to Binary Helix Exclusives."

"Well, this is probably gonna get us nowhere." Ashley stated, arms crossed in annoyance.

Shepard only nodded, opting to focus on the more serious matter at hand. Mainly, why they came up here to begin with.

"Could you perhaps tell me where Matriarch Benezia is at?"

"Lady Benezia departed on the passenger tramway to the Rift Station subsidiary labs." The VI paused like it was done talking right before it abruptly spoke. "User alert! The tramway system is currently inoperable."

Shepard had a feeling that wasn't the only problem this place had, on top of the opposition presently here.

"What's the damage in this facility?"

"One moment, please. Diagnostics in progress… Critical Failure: Main reactor shut down in accordance with emergency containment procedure. Manual restart required. Critical Failure: Landline connections are disabled. Passenger tram systems are offline. Report complete. Do you have any additional systems status queries?"

"I do actually. Why the hell was the reactor shut down?"

"I'm sorry, but I was offline at the time. Shutdown could occur if reactor breach seems likely, or in the case of catastrophic laboratory containment failure. Emergency guidelines suggest the frigid environment will kill biological contagions. It may also damage mechanical ones."

"Let me guess, we have to fix everything ourselves basically." Wrex's voice was dry, knowing that was more than likely the case.

"Right." Shepard drolled out before addressing Mira once more. "What do I need to get the power back?"

"The valves to the helium-3 fuel line must be opened. This can be done at the controls on the reactor assembly proper."

"And how were the landlines disabled?"

"When emergency protocols were implemented within the Hot Labs, the cabling was automatically ejected."

Not wanting to really know the importance of the landlines, Jane got to the gist of it. "What do we need to do to fix these landlines?"

"The landlines were designed for easy reconnection. The router for the landlines is on the roof of Operations. Simply activate the controls and the hardware will reconnect and reboot automatically."

After that, the VI shut itself off.

"Whoa! What just happened?" Jane asked, holding her hands up. "I didn't touch anything."

Tali had the answer to that. "It looks like Mira is rebooting herself. It's not your fault, Commander."

"Seems your relationship with tech still stands."

Shepard was about to refute Kaidan's statement when Roxas returned.

"Okay, all the doors are unlocked and opened." Reported the Nobody.

"So did they at least open up for you?"

"Some did."

"Some?"

"The others I had to break through while taking care of some Heartless soon after."

Wrex released a bellow of a laugh when hearing that.

"Heh, this is why I love having you around, Roxas." Wrex patted the kids back with enough force to make the boy jolt forward. "You always choose to kick ass first and ask questions later."

Before the others could make a comment on Wrex's "compliment", a set of screeches and skittering was heard.

"Rachni!" Garrus shouted, two large Rachni… soldiers, if they could be given a name, came out from a nearby hallway.

In an instant, rather than wasting time fighting them with their base weapons, the crew unleashed their more upgraded attacks completely annihilating the two Rachni.

"Huh…" Shepard noted. "We should do that more often."

"Where'd these guys even come from?" Tali asked, looking over to the doorway where the Rachni had run out from.

"Mira." Shepard said aloud. "Where's that hallway lead down to?"

"The Main reactor, Commander Shepard." the VI responded.

"Huh, right where we need to go." Shepard stated. "Let's move."

Going down the hallway, they found another elevator waiting for them that took them down to the Main Reactor room.

And naturally, there were Geth and Heartless waiting for them because things can't be simple.

The Normandy crew tore through them with a burning vigor, their coordination showing how far they have come as a team.

As Shepard, Tali and Kaidan went about getting the main reactor back up from the rooftop, the others were waiting for them to finish their task.

Roxas, all the while, nudged one of the Geth with his foot with a small frown adorning his face.

"Something on your mind, Kid?" Wrex asked from a railing he was leaning on.

"Nothing just…" Roxas crossed his arms in thought. "Why are the Geth and the Heartless working together? Haven't we seen them fight each other most of the time?"

"He does have a point." Garrus murmured. "Since when did they become so chummy with each other all of a sudden?"

"Something's up." Ashley stated, feeling a bit nervous now. She hadn't actually taken the time to consider this sudden change in these two adversaries.

For the most part, whenever they encountered the Geth and the Heartless at the same time, the two sides would always clash with each other as much as when they fought the team.

But now they were working together.

What in the world happened?

Eventually, the fuel lines that would help in restarting the trams were fixed.

After dealing with some more Geth, Heartless and Rachni, at long last, the team had access to the trams that would lead them one step closer to Benezia.

They soon found themselves standing in a room with several bodies of Salarians, humans and Asari with a glass panel that held two Rachni waiting for them.

"They look like they're trapped." Garrus noted, keeping a wary eye upon the Rachni in the other room.

Wrex simply stared at them intently, hoping he could just get to them and tear them apart.

"Should we take care of them?" Liara asked tentatively.

"Not really a need to." Shepard said. "This door here leads straight to the tram we need to go to. It's locked but…" She looked over to Roxas. "We have an expert Locksmith on our team."

Hearing his cue, Roxas summoned his Keyblade and pointed it at the locked door, their pathway opening a moment later.

"What about them?" Kaidan asked, gesturing to the two Rachni that were still trapped in the other room.

"Should we leave them?" Tali inquired, looking at the others for answers.

"Honestly…" Ashley grimaced. "I'm not too comfortable about leaving a bunch of bugs that nearly brought down an entire galaxy to its knees."

"Then what should we do?" Liara asked. "They're not doing anything."

"Not yet." Wrex darkly said, eyeing the Rachni with a menacing gaze.

"Do we have to fight them?" Roxas asked, looking up to Shepard who had a slightly conflicted gaze.

They were not attacking nor were they moving at all for the most part. But these Rachni have proven resourceful, using the vents to get around the area. Maybe even use their acid to burn through the door.

"Wrex." Shepard spoke up, not looking to the Krogan. She only saw a slight shift from the corner of her eyes to indicate he was listening. "Take 'em out."

The Battlemaster growled in approval, walking in front of the door that led to them in the direction where the tram would be. Grinding his foot against the ground in a fashion similar to a bull prepping to charge, Wrex barreled forward, using his gravity hammer to smash his way inside.

The Rachni inside whirled about and hissed at him challengingly though it proved futile with how he simply smashed his hammer upon the first one's head, crushing it to a pulp. The other Rachni that remained attempted a charge of its own but was met with the hammer bashing into its neck, the force in which decapitated it.

Once that was taken care of, the team entered the tram that would take them to Benezia.

They soon arrived at the main Binary Helix Facility, finding no enemies awaiting them though they stayed on guard.

The Geth, Heartless and Rachni tended to just pop up wherever by this point.

Better safe than sorry by this point.

Eventually, they found a working elevator that took them further up into the facility with the doors opening to reveal…

"Hold your fire."

A human male behind a series of fortified crates said aloud, multiple rifles lowering upon seeing the crew of the Normandy.

The team walked forward, the human male stepping up to greet them.

"Sorry about that." The man stated. "We couldn't be too sure what was on the tram. I'm Captain Ventralis."

"I'd only be upset if they fired." Jane said good naturedly which got a small smirk out of the captain.

"Glad to hear it." the Captain said. "My men may be hopped up on stims right now but they can tell friend from foe."

"And how would they do that?" Ash asked dryly.

"Two legs good, more than two, bad." Ventralis said plainly. "Or if their eyes are freakishly yellow."

"Heartless." Roxas said aloud, the Captain looking at him.

"... Ok. Is that what they're called?" Ventralis asked before shaking his head. "Wait, who even are you people? Where'd you all come from?"

"I'm Commander Shepard. Spectre." Jane answered.

"Huh, never thought I'd see the day." The Captain said with intrigue. "Well, I ain't gonna turn away from a walking army. Those bug things overran the Hot Labs last week. Only Han Olar got out and he ain't all there anymore. The first we knew, the bastards were clawing into my command post. We had a lot more crew back then."

"You held out." Jane assured. "That's what counts. We're packing fire and steel. If they wanna attack us, it's their funeral."

Ventralis chortled. "Well, you got my support."

"So what are you guys doing down here?" Garrus asked.

"Holding down the fort for the most part till some help arrives." The captain admitted. "The board sent an Asari to take care of the mess but we haven't heard from her since she went up there."

"An asari…" Liara turned to Shepard. "You don't think it's…?"

"Maybe," Said Shepard to the asari doctor before turning back to Ventralis. "We'll get you out of here." Jane assured.

"Appreciate it greatly, Commander." Ventralis said. "We can only keep the civilians safe for so long. There's an emergency elevator out by the trams." He then pulled out a card and held it out for Shepard to take. "This here will help activate it. It'll take you straight down to the Hot Labs. Any first aid? Doctor Cohen's downstairs in the med bay."

"Anything else we should-"

"RRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

All present in the room jolted, Ventralis looking around rapidly.

"Oh hell." The Captain bit out. "Man the perimeter!"

Behind the Normandy team, the vents burst open with Rachni swarming out.

The entire crew threw their weapons up and fired.

Of course, against quite a large number of people with weapons, the Rachni stood no chance.

Liara and Kaidan were quick to throw biotic attacks on their respective sides. As Roxas and Wrex separated to bash away the large insectoids, the others pumped their fair share of enemies full of holes.

Once the situation was over, Roxas decided to check over at the vents as Captain Ventralis spoke aloud.

"Well… that was something." Velantris couldn't help but say upon seeing just how the team effectively steam rolled the Rachni.

"You ain't seen nothing yet." Ashley said with a wide grin, resting her gun on her shoulder.

"Vents should be good for a while." Roxas reported.

Ventralis blinked at the boy. "Really, how?"

The others looked over and saw large blocks of ice forming at where the Rachni exited from earlier.

"...How-?"

"Do you really wanna ask that now?"

Ventralis quickly shook his head. "No, you're right. Just glad that's resolved for the time being."

"Let's move people." Jane said. "Got a lot more work ahead of us, it seems."

The crew wordlessly followed after the Commander, leaving the floor they were just in to travel back down.

Reaching the main hub where the survivors resided took a bit of walking, but it was worth it as they saw a good number of people were still alive. A few security guards were posted at the entrances into the space, otherwise the area was occupied with lab employees. Some, like the Salarian in the far off corner, seemed almost hopeful, but the ground team could still sense the grim atmosphere that hung over them.

These people were survivors of the sporadic attacks by Rachni and even Heartless. And the state of mostly everyone there didn't allow anyone in the team to forget that.

It was from here did Shepard order the team to split up into smaller teams to help find out more information and help those in need.

Heading off down a random corridor, the small team consisting of Roxas, Liara and Tali came into a smaller chamber where they saw a Volus that was standing utterly still.

"Is he even alive?" Liara inquired.

"I think so." Tali responded. "I can hear him breathing, just barely mind you."

"How can you tell?"

"You forget what I'm wearing, right Liara?"

"Oh, right, sorry."

Approaching slowly, Roxas gently spoke to the Volus. "Han Olar?"

The Volus remained quiet. However, he turned his head to the Nobody.

"You came to find out… about them… didn't you?" The Volus said quietly.

"You mean what's going on out there?"

"...Yes. I'm the only… survivor of the Hot Labs… you know."

"We do."

"How did you make it out anyways?" Asked Roxas.

The Volus paused for a few seconds, seemingly gaining the thousand yard stare as his arms drooped.

"I killed her." The Volus said, his voice sounding a bit hollow.

Roxas tilted his head to the side. "Who?" He asked.

"Dr. Zhonmua… we… we were going to lunch… when the alarms went off. I ran to the tram… and I closed the doors. She… She banged on the windows once. Then they… sliced her to pieces." The Volus took a long breath, the breathing apparatus on his hard suit amplified the sound. "Her head came apart like a melon."

Roxas glanced at his two present companions and saw their reactions. Liara's jaw was left hanging with her eyes partially widened. Tali's was a little hard to read, obviously, but he could see the wide eyed look behind the glass panel of her helmet to show her shocked expression.

"I closed the door." Continued the Volus. "I… I killed her."

Roxas soon knelt down to the Volus' level. "I see… I'm… sorry on what happened." He said, placing a hand on the Volus' shoulder, earning a bewildered look in return before Han Olar hung his head as far as his hard suit could allow. "I know I can't make things better with what you went through but-"

The Volus then slapped Roxas' hand away. "You think I want absolution?" He said in one full breath. "There is none for me!"

Roxas didn't react all that much on the act as he continued in stride. "Maybe not, but what you may know could help save others."

"Perhaps."

"Then can you tell us a few things?"

"As best as I could."

"You were in the Hot Labs before things went bad, right?" Roxas saw the Volus nod. "Then did you perhaps see Matriarch Benezia there?"

"I did."

Liara stiffened a little more upon hearing the mention of her mother.

"Could she possibly survive in the Hot Labs?"

"Of course… the specimens there are sensitive to biotics."

Useful information, even if Roxas and the others haven't already figured that one out a while ago.

"Take care of yourself."

"I'll… try…"

Departing from the small chamber, Roxas, Liara and Tali made it back to the main hub where they soon ran into Wrex and Kaidan.

"Any luck on your end?" Kaidan asked.

"Not much, just found the survivor of the Hot Labs and learned what we already knew beforehand. Asides from that, now know where Benezia is at." Came Roxas' response. "You?"

"Met this one doctor in the medical labs." Wrex stated before jabbing a thumb at Kaidan. "Alenko here decided to help him out."

"There were survivors down there suffering from a toxin they were exposed to. I wanted to help Dr. Cohen get the cure for it."

"A bio-weapon, Alenko." Wrex corrected.

"A bio-weapon?" Liara inquired with Tali and Roxas nodding in response. "Whatever for?"

Kaidan then explained the details that the "bio-weapon" is highly infectious but can't pass from one person to another. The example the doctor they spoke to give was "like a bio war attack without a pandemic spread".

"That distinction is unethical." Liara blurted out.

"Most militaries and governments would look the other way if it gives results." Wrex jabbed in.

"At least tell us Dr. Cohen made a cure for this weapon." Said Tali.

"The doc said they were in the final stages of synthesizing an antidote when the quarantine failed when Mira was disconnected." Kaidan informed.

Wrex continued on from there. "And so he offered up our services to go into the Quarantine Labs to get the data needed to finish the cure."

"Can we come?" Roxas inquired.

Wrex shrugged. "If you want, we got the clearance to get into the lab."

"We might not know what we'll find down there."

The others nodded as they joined Kaidan and Wrex on their present goal.

In another area, a squad consisting of Shepard, Ashley and Garrus soon met with another survivor. One who was rattled and guilt ridden beyond despair.

He kept rambling about how it was their fault. How Binary Helix found an egg on a derelict ship that had been adrift for thousands of years.

"My god… did you want the Xenomorphs to fuck you over? Or were you all just that stupid? Did none of you watch Alien? Like, at all?"

Upon hearing these details, almost everyone slowly turned to Ashley.

"What? This is straight up Alien. These idiots walked right into it."

"And didn't we discuss this earlier, Ash?"

"...Yeah..."

The lone man only chuckled with a strained tone. "Looking at it now… you're right."

"Ok…" Jane drawled, giving her Gunnery Chief a flat look before turning back to the survivor. "Mind telling us what happened? You clearly found a Rachni ship."

"Yes." the man leaned forward, clearly distraught over what had happened. "Binary Helix planned on cloning the Rachni. Mass produce and army. But, when they got here, they found out the egg wasn't what they thought it was. It was a queen egg."

Ashley paled upon hearing that. "... Honestly, I was joking earlier and all but Fuck."

"We thought if we separated the eggs from mother, she would be easier to control." The Man rambled on. "But these Rachni… they're completely out of control. Erratic. Dangerous."

"Well that's what ya get when messing with a bunch of savages." Ash commented.

"Savages?" The man repeated, shaking his head. "No, not savages. Rachni are more intelligent. They achieved interspace travel, FTL. They are not animals."

"No, that only makes them even more dangerous." Garrus remarked.

The man only went on. "I am thinking without Rachni Queen, they will not develop properly. She shapes their minds. Without that, these Rachni are uncontrollable."

"Alright." Jane raised her hands to silence him. "I get that you guys messed up and all but what can we do about it?"

"The Neutron Purge." The man stated. "It's the only way to-GAK!"

The group jumped back at the tendril that protruded out from the man's chest and from behind, underneath a vent, a Rachni burst out with several more following after it.

The group reacted instantly, taking the Rachni out with brutal efficiency.

"Shit." Jane murmured, looking over to the dead body of the civilian.

"Hope the others are having a better time than us." Garrus commented, earning nods from both of his human companions.

Inside of the Quarantine Labs, the newly formed group was standing around the large lab as they were inspecting the place. Over on the far end, Kaidan and Tali were presently going through Dr. Cohen's terminal and conversing with the good doctor over an Omni-tool frequency.

It turned out the data they found was partially corrupted due to the abrupt system failure. When reporting this to Dr. Cohen, he was in a state of distraught. Yet Tali pipped in, quickly coming in to help aid in their current situation in order to work through the notes to compose a cure.

After several minutes of discussion, it seemed they finally resolved the issue at hand.

"I think we've got ourselves a match, doctor." Kaidan said as he and Tali looked at the terminal, seeing the results of several small tests with the actual cure finally being made.

"Excellent!" Cheered Dr. Cohen over the comms. "I can finally cure these patients! Thank you both!"

"Thank us once we give you the cure personally." Tali informed him.

Ending the call, the group was about to leave the lab with the cure in hand-

"Your mission ends here."

-when the ground team saw a combined half dozen of Asari and Geth present in the room.

In an instant, the Normandy team whipped out their weapons and quickly aimed at the new arrivals.

"You must be working for Benezia, huh?" Wrex stated in a-matter-of-fact tone.

"Yes." One of the asari replied. "We were ordered to kill Shepard and her team when we got the chance. And that seems a whole lot easier since it's been split up."

"What happened to the guard outside?" Liara asked aloud.

"What do you think?" Wrex plainly said. "They no doubt killed him."

"And you all will die as well."

The Asari and Geth charged right at the group, making them aim their weapons to fight them-

*SWISH*

*SWISH*

*STAB*

*RIP*

-until something beat them to it.

"...Well ain't that just lovely." Kaidan muttered out, seeing the Geth crumble into pieces and the Asari turned into dark wisps with their Hearts being taken.

Before them, a new Heartless appeared and it was rather intimidating.

It was a large, humanoid being covered from head to toe in silver/grey armor. It's legging sport white spikes and steel blue highlights. It's helmet sports two short, white spikes on a long, twisted black antenna. The small opening in the helmet barely exposed it's shadowy face and bright yellow eyes. It's Heartless emblem was shown on each of its shoulder pauldrons. And it's most notable feature are the jagged, light blue, ice blades in place of each of its hands.

A Chill Ripper.

"Oh." Kaidan said aloud. "He's new."

"Yup." Wrex held his gravity hammer tightly in anticipation.

Liara had her Biotics up with Tali's Omni-tool at the ready.

Roxas stood before them, Keyblade ready with the large new Heartless crouching down.

In a surprising burst of speed, the Chill Ripper rocketed forward with Roxas's eyes widening. Gritting his teeth, Roxas swung his Keyblade in time to clash with the Rippers jagged blades.

The two entered into a brief standoff which ended when Kaidan threw a Biotic throw and sent it hurtling back.

The Ripper however dug its hands into the ground and stood strong. It proceeds to rear one of its hands back and swings it horizontally, a wave of ice headed straight for them.

The group dives out of the way, Roxas getting up to his feet and pointing his Keyblade at the Ripper.

"FIRA!"

A large fireball shot out towards the Chill Ripper yet it saw the oncoming attack, crossing its arms in an X shape with its blades glowing.

An ice wall shot up, taking the fireball which melted the ice.

Kaidan and Liara sent out a Biotic warp with the Ripper quite literally spinning out of the way.

Wrex ran forward, brandishing his hammer. Stomping on the ground, he swung his hammer forward which was met by the Chill Rippers bladed hand.

It swatted aside the hammer, the force in which staggered the Krogan.

Wrex's eyes widened, knowing he was wide open. The Heartless proceeded to headbutt Wrex, sending him crashing down on the ground, his body aching with pain.

"Wrex!" Liara called out to him in worry.

"I got him." Tali dashed over to him, pulling out a potion.

Roxas and Kaidan moved forward to keep the attention of the Chill Ripper, the latter utilizing his upgraded weapon.

Charging up his Biotics, he saw as his gun absorbed the blue aura and he fired what was basically a Biotic bomb.

The Biotic sphere that struck the Ripper created a miniature explosion that stumbled their opponent.

Roxas leapt forward, striking the Heartless in the chest which damaged it greatly.

The Chill Ripper, however, still had a lot left to dish out.

Backflipping away, it swung both arms up before striking the ground.

Ice needles began sprouting around it, expanding outwards towards the group.

Liara and Kaidan threw up a dual Biotic barrier that absorbed the impact of the ice needles, the glassy ice shattering when hitting the barrier.

Bringing the barrier down, Tali, having already helped Wrex recover, stepped forward and threw her Omni-Tool arm forward with a string of bolts shooting out and struck the Heartless. It stumbled yet remained standing, still ready to fight.

Roxas dashed forward, jumping up to get momentum in his downward strike.

The Chill Ripper jumped away, the Keyblade striking the ground with Roxas looking up in time to get hit by a retaliatory slash from the Heartless.

"Roxas!" Tali cried out, running to him.

"Bastard." Kaidan gritted out, Biotics flaring up. Throwing out a stasis, he had his weapon absorb his Biotics and fired a scattershot.

The sphere burst in front of the Ripper, the fragments morphing into needles that converged on the Heartless.

It took the damage, staggering slightly yet it cocked its hands back to attack.

Liara reacted quickly, shooting her own weapon, her shots striking the arms and causing it to seize up.

Wrex, having now gotten back to his feet, ran forward and bashed his hammer across the face of the Ripper.

It fell to the ground, slightly struggling to get back up when it was trapped within a stasis sent out by Kaidan.

A moment later, Roxas' Keyblade jabbed itself into its back causing the Ripper to freeze up before slumping down.

Its body faded away with the heart contained inside floating up into the air, fading a moment later.

The team slouched a bit, feeling a feeling of slight exhaustion having dealt with yet another powerful Heartless in the span of a few hours.

Kaidan fell to his bum, breathing heavily as he rubbed his aching head.

"You know… I know we're probably… gonna fight more Heartless…" Alenko said in between breaths. "But can they just… not for a while? Is that… too much… to ask for?"

"Don't worry, we're in the same ship as you are." Tali said, stretching her back.

Reaching into his pocket, Roxas pulled out a few High Ethers and handed them to the three biotics in the room.

"Thank you, Roxas." Liara said with a kind smile.

"Swear these are better than some of the electrolyte drinks for my biotics." Kaidan said, chewing on his as a green glow surrounded him. Even if it didn't exactly help heal his wounds, he felt his biotics go back to normal.

"Least they keep my scars intact." Wrex remarked.

"And that's so important to you, Wrex." Tali quipped, getting a snort out of the Krogan.

"Let's get moving guys." Kaidan said, getting back to his feet. "Unless we want to get our ass's caught off guard again by more Heartless."

The others compiled and made their way out.

Yet before exiting the room, Kaidan's omni-tool went off.

Checking it, he saw it was coming from Dr. Cohen, to which the lieutenant answered.

"Yes?"

"Are you perhaps lost or busy?"

"Not exactly… why?"

"Because I would've expected the cure to come back by now."

"Oh right… about that…"

"Don't tell me it broke."

"No, it's still good, doc. It's just…" Kaidan exhaled a sigh. "Dr. Cohen… about Alesia… did you notice anything odd about her?"

The others present in the room, minus Wrex, looked at Kaidan with a bewildered look on who he was talking about.

"Not that I would think of, why?"

"Because she and several other asari tried to kill us. She worked for Benezia."

"What?" Dr. Cohen asked out of shock. "But that… No… That can't be…"

"You're really surprised on hearing this, huh?" Wrex muttered loud enough for the doctor to hear from the other end.

"Of course I am! She was stationed here a month ago and a lot of us got to know her."

"And do you perhaps know why she was stationed here?"

"All we knew was that it was by the request of a large donor to the labs."

The present ground team members blinked at that.

"Let me guess," Wrex began, clearly not amused. "Saren Arterius."

"I think that was him." Replied Dr. Cohen. "I don't really dwell deep into the work environment gossip, but I… I do remember the donor's name being Turian in nature."

"Right." Kaidan said sharply. "Anyways, the cure's still fine. We'll deliver it to you right away."

"Yes, of course. I await your arrival."

With that the line went dead.

"I hope Shepard is still alive." Liara muttered out as they exited the quarantine labs.

Roxas shook his head. "She's got Garrus and Ashley. If they're being ambushed, they'll live."

"He's right." Wrex grunted out. "We all know she's made of tougher stuff. Her redundant system can help take care of that."

"...Wrex."

"Yeah?"

"Humans don't have redundant systems." Liara informed the Krogan Battlemaster.

"Huh… the more you know."

After dropping off the cure to Dr. Cohen, the group made their way back to the tram station and hopefully figure things out from there.

Once reaching their destination, Roxas, Tali, Wrex, Kaidan and Liara were met with dead guards lying all around with Shepard's team standing over them all.

It was… quite the sight to stumble upon.

"Ok…" Kaidan looked around, unsure of what to make of it all. "Here's a story."

"What happened?" Tali asked in bewilderment.

"Captain was on Benezia's payroll." Ashley started.

"He had orders." Garrus added.

"Shoot to kill. We killed them first." Shepard concluded with the rest of the team simply staring at them.

"Well… I'd like to say we missed the action but we already had our hands full with Heartless." Wrex remarked.

"Big one at that." Liara chipped in.

"So it was an even split?" Garrus asked rhetorically, most of the team nodding in agreement.

"Oh really? And what pray tell made it an even split? I mean we got our asses handed to us by a Heartless just as tall as Wrex."

"We had to take care of a large section filled with nothing but Rachni and initiate a neutron purge all the while running for our lives."

"...Okay I think that sounds fair."

"Alright, now that our measuring contest is done, let's move on." Jane said with an amused smirk. "Do you guys at least have any idea where Benezia is at?"

Roxas was the one to answer. "Yeah, she's currently in the Hot Labs."

"Then that's where we're heading to next."

"Can't wait to have a nice long chat with her."

And with this, nothing else needed to be discussed as they moved through the maintenance area of the station to reach the Hot Labs.

They encountered a small sprinkling of resistance here and there that was quickly brushed aside with the team at long last arriving at their destination.

Upon entry, it was quite easy to spot the lone Asari Matriarch that stood at the top of the staircase, standing before a large containment tube with a particularly gargantuan Rachni.

This must be the queen.

As the team entered the lab, the Asari awaiting their arrival began speaking without turning to them.

As this happened, Liara quickly had her nerves bundled up upon seeing her mother after so many years.

"You do not know the privilege of being a mother." The Matriarch spoke haughtily. Condescendingly even. "There is power in creation. To shape a life. Turn to happiness or despair."

She finally looked to the team. "Her children were to be ours. Raised to hunt and slay Saren's enemies." After a few more seconds of abrupt silence, she shook her head. "I won't be moved by sympathy. No matter who you bring into this." Benezia then gazed at her daughter. "What have you told them of me, Liara?"

"What could I say, mother?" Asked Liara. "That you're insane? Evil? Should I explain how to kill you? What could I say?"

Her last question was practically a plea, but Benezia looked like she didn't hear it at all.

Ashley and Tali could see that Liara's nerves were all bundled up the wrong way. They placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, earning a thankful nod in return.

Shepard saw this and smiled a little in seeing them help their comrade right before readdressing the Matriarch.

"Liara's here because she chose this path." Jane defended her teammate and friend. "We didn't force her into this situation."

"Did you now?" Benezia asked mockingly, acknowledging her daughter. "And what have you told them of me, Liara?"

"What could I say mother?" Liara snapped, feeling her emotions begin to overwhelm her. "That you went insane? That you're evil? How to kill you? Take you down? What can I possibly say to them about you?"

"Have you faced an Asari Commando unit before?" Benezia taunted. "Few humans have."

"I think even fewer have faced the things we've been encountering." Jane snarked back.

"Your Commandos didn't seem to last that long against what we have faced." Tali stressed out.

"Ah yes." Benezia said dismissively. "These dark creatures that have been popping up all over the place. And at the center of it all…" The Matriarch gazed upon Roxas with curious eyes. "A human boy with abilities unlike anything this galaxy had ever seen."

Roxas stared back at her, unflinching.

"Such a young fool." Benezia chided. "To get himself wrapped up in a fight that's beyond him."

In an instant, Roxas' Keyblade appeared with him raising it up towards the Matriarch.

"I'm doing this on my own accord, my choice Benezia." Roxas' expression turned fierce. "These are my friends. And I won't let you walk all over them."

This certainly got the attention of the team with them looking at the boy with bewildered flattery.

"But let me ask you a question." Roxas challenged. "Have you really faced someone like me? Not so many have."

Calling upon his affinity, Light began seeping off Roxas' form with the team realizing the time for talk was over.

A sentiment the Matriarch shared.

Benezia's Biotics flared, the familiar aura having a noticeable change that greatly put off the team. There was the typical purplish-blue glow of the biotics, yet something else overlaid it.

It was as if dark vapors were sizzling off her body as it started to merge with her biotics.

The biotics of the Matriarch were quickly charged, which was released at the group below her.

"Scatter!"

The group dispersed immediately, only feeling the aftershock of the powered biotic blast hitting where they once stood.

A moment later, Asari Commandos followed by Geth entered the room with the team pairing off to take them out.

Shepard with Garrus, Liara with Ash, Kaidan with Wrex and Roxas with Tali.

"Looks like we have our work cut out for us, huh?" Ashley remarked as she tossed an incendiary grenade at the nearby Geth. They tried to move aside, but she opened fire on a few in keeping some in place. Soon after, the explosion went off as the synthetics flailed with the overcharged explosive setting them ablaze.

"Isn't it always?" Liara asked rhetorically, disabling several Geth with Ashley taking them out a moment later.

Roxas was jumping about from Geth to Geth and headed straight for the Commando in the way.

Each Geth he took out was overloaded courtesy of Tali with her unleashing her voltage break (her new name for her Omni-bolts) to destroy the Asari's shields. The Commando stumbled back, slightly shocked by such an attack with her having no time to react by the blur that appeared before her which revealed itself to be Roxas.

In an instant, she felt her rib break and loss of consciousness by the powerful strike Roxas delivered to her midsection with his Keyblade.

She sailed through the air, crashing into several pipes and slumped down, unmoving.

Wrex oversaw this as he bashed a few Geth away, making him chuckle under his breath. "Brutal, but quick."

"Wrex."

"Right, right, sorry." Wrex said, spinning about to destroy another Geth that was thrown in his direction courtesy of Kaidan. "You know, this is rather fun! Keep chucking them at me when ya get the chance!"

Kaidan snorted as he whirled around to deliver another enemy at the Krogan. "Your definition is clearly different from mine." He shouted out.

Garrus was currently utilizing his advanced rifle form, utterly decimating the Geth and Commandos that fired upon them.

He worked in tandem with Commander Shepard, sending multiple Geth floating aimlessly in the air with her Biotics giving the C-sec detectives easy pickings.

The Asari Matriarch simply stood at her platform, watching as her forces were quickly decimated. She kept an eye on her daughter's companions as she tried to aim at them with her biotics, not bothering to move elsewhere in the meantime.

"Okay, seems Benezia is not going anywhere from that platform. Don't know why, nor care right now." Shepard reported to the rest of her team. "Let's try to keep it that way."

No sooner did she say that did more Geth and Commandos entered the room.

Benezia then did something… rather terrifying.

Her eyes glowed with darker wisps beginning to emanate off her form until she was entirely encompassed by it.

"Hey… Liara…"

"Yes, Tali?"

"Do your people… do that?"

"We most certainly do not."

"Oh, good. Then it's just her."

"No!" Roxas cried out, realizing what was happening. He had seen this before.

In his visions.

"She's being consumed by the Darkness!"

"What now?"

"The Heartless!" Roxas exclaimed. "We need to stop her now!"

Shepard turned back to Benezia and her eyes widened.

Benezia looked as though she was in pain.

Her expression was calm yet her complexion was darkening with her beginning to twitch and jolt.

"Roxas." Shepard said. "She's yours."

The Nobody paused, looking to the Commander before turning to Liara, managing to catch her gaze.

She saw the conflicted look on her face before it changed into one of resignation. The silent message conveying for Roxas to do what he must.

With a grim nod, No. XIII had the light around him flare up with the teen jumping straight for Benezia.

The Matriarch raised her hand, erecting a barrier permeated with darkness.

The Keyblade clashed against the shield, momentarily being caught in it.

"I'm surprised that you, my daughter and your companions have survived this long." Said the Matriarch, holding back the Keybearer with all her might. "Many discover they don't live to tell the tale once facing my commandos."

It was at this point that something clicked in his head.

"Why? Why would you want to kill your own daughter?!" Roxas asked out in shock and anger.

"I see now I should have been more stricter with her."

Roxas didn't fully understand the whole concept of parent and child but he felt how twisted and wrong that comment was.

In fact, it rather infuriated him.

Teeth clenched, the light that surrounded him increased in intensity, breaking the hold the darkened barrier had over his Keyblade and dispelling it entirely.

He dashed forward for an attack but Benezia used her Biotics to levitate out of the way.

As their confrontation continued on, the rest of the ground team were facing another wave of enemies.

Roxas was smashing through barrier after barrier that Benezia created, each one being more darker than the last.

She was putting up a good resistance but Roxas' powered up form was slowly breaking through her defenses.

The others were taking out the rest of Benezia's forces which meant Roxas needed to wrap things up here.

Calling upon his latent power once more, Roxas's Keyblade glowed and extended out into a singular tipped light blade.

"You're finished." Roxas declared, unleashing a torrent of swings that destroyed whatever barriers Benezia managed to throw up.

After not being able to keep up no more, Benezia could only watch in anticipation as the first set of blows were upon her.

No. XIII proceeded to strike the Matriarch countless times, every blow becoming stronger and stronger with him thrusting forward and pillars of light exploding off of him.

Eventually, the darkness that surrounded her dispersed with the Matriarch struggling to stay standing.

When peering into her eyes, Roxas saw something rather odd. It was empty at first, but as he looked more intently, Roxas thought he could make out something trying to break through the surface.

This made Roxas pause for a moment, though his weapon was still raised at Liara's mother.

"This is not over," she said. "Saren is unstoppable. My mind is filled with his light. Everything is clear."

"Lady, I've seen the Normandy's bathroom mirrors cleaner than your mind right now." Roxas snapped back. "And last I heard, Saren does not have a good track record with followers."

Benezia focused more on her present opponent. "Your crass attempts at humor will not sway me, child. I will not…"

Roxas quickly grew curious when the Asari Matriarch halted herself. She started to spasm a little before clenching her head.

"You… will…"

Not wanting to take a chance of her doing something surprising, Roxas rushed forward and bashed his Keyblade across her form. She sailed across the way and struck the far off wall, body falling to the floor.

The fighting had come to a halt, the Normandy crew having killed or destroyed the last of Benezia's forces.

They saw Roxas standing before a beaten Benezia with the team quickly joining him just as the Matriarch was coming to.

"How in the hell did she survive that thrashing?!" Ashley asked incredulously.

"The Darkness absorbed it all." Roxas stated.

"I would've thought her being a Matriarch meant she was more durable or something." Kaidan theorized.

"As if." Shepard snorted out.

"Still… you'd think she'd be a goner." Garrus remarked.

"She's about to be." Wrex growled.

"Really Wrex?" Ash deadpanned.

Wrex opened his mouth when he caught sight of a remorseful Liara looking down at her mother.

He quickly clamped his mouth shut as the Matriarch regained her bearings.

"You… will… never get me… to…" Benezia's words were slurred.

When she opened her eyes next, there seemed to be a drastic change to her gaze.

"Please, listen, I don't have time." She rasped out, struggling to even say anything. "I can't fight… the indoctrination, but not for long. It's… It's too strong." She explained.

"Indoctrination?" Kaidan and Ash said at the same time.

"You mean brainwashing?" Garrus concluded with Benezia nodding rapidly.

"Yes, people are not themselves when they are around Saren." Benezia's voice was frantic and terrified. "You come to worship him. Idolize him. Willing to do anything for him."

Shepard narrowed her eyes. "How do we know that this ain't a trick?"

"I… sealed a portion of… my mind away for a chance… to fight indoctrination. But… But I… didn't take into account… with this lurking darkness…"

"It's the Darkness of one's heart." Roxas said with a small frown. "The Darkness that corrupts and consumes all."

"I have seen it recently." Benezia was breathing haggardly. "Everything surrounding Saren is all consuming. I thought I was capable of resisting but… it was a futile effort. The ship… Sovereign. Every minute I spent aboard that vessel was more time that I feel to Saren's will. I was weak, believing myself to be strong."

"What's Saren's endgame?" Garrus asked quickly. "What's he after?"

"The location of the Mu Relay that was lost four thousand years ago." Benezia explained. "Saren believes that relay will help him find the conduit. There is much I wish I was able to tell you but Saren does not counsel me on everything."

"If that's true, then what can you tell us?"

"As much… as I can…" Benezia strained out.

"Then why are you here? What are you doing with the Rachni?"

"Saren sent me… finding the exact location of the Mu Relay after it was lost for four thousand years. The Rachni knew its location as they have access to their genetic memories. And the Queens know what their predecessors know."

Shepard quickly realized things. "You took the information from the queen and gave it to Saren already, didn't you?"

Benezia merely nodded.

"Dammit!"

If Saren had the information already, he had a much bigger lead now to whatever he had in mind with the Conduit.

"I… I can still help you."

"What? How?"

Benezia reached into a small pocket in her dress and pulled out a device. "I put everything I gathered into this prior to sending a copy to Saren, just in case something like this happened."

Shepard took the given device and saw it was an OSD. Pocketing it, she started seeing the Matriarch was getting worse with her breathing.

"What's going on?" She asked, clearly concerned and worried.

"I'm… losing control. I can feel them coming back."

Jane realized the indoctrination and the darkness were coming back in full force now.

"You've gotta fight it!"

"I CAN'T!" Benezia cried out in anguish, looking at her daughter one last time. "Liara…"

"M-Mother?"

The Matriarch pried off her Omni-tool and threw it at her daughter, who quickly caught it in her hands.

"I regret… on not being the best mother for you. I love you, my little wing. And… I always have been proud of you."

"Mother!" Liara cried out, tears quickly forming in her eyes.

In an instant, darkness burst from Benezia's body and completely consumed her now.

"MOTHER!"

"Get back!"

Suddenly appearing in front of them, Roxas held his Keyblade up in a defensive position. Magics flared as a hexagonal barrier surrounded them all, protecting them from the wave of darkness crashing all over the lab.

When it started to die down, the Barrier quickly faded away.

It was at this point did the team see something truly disturbing before them.

What was once a mighty asari matriarch was now replaced with what partially resembled a corpse and that of a Neoshadows. Parts of the gaunt body were bloated due to decay. The surface of the form had several blue lines glowing like a circuit board. The tendrils on the head were lengthened and spread all over the place. The hands now had lengthened razor sharp claws. And the eyes were the signature yellow of a typical Heartless.

"Whoa!" Ashley said aloud in shock, taking in Benezia's new form. "That is… disturbing."

The transformed Benezia hissed which turned into a screeching roar that made everyone's ear drums ring.

"RRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAA!"

"Fucking hell!" Wrex exclaimed. "Like a damn Banshee."

"This is like a damn boss fight in a video game." Kaidan commented. "Always has to have a stronger form."

The Deformed Benezia suddenly appeared right in front of the group, Roxas instinctively throwing his Keyblade up to defend them.

The Banshee merely swung her hand, striking Roxas' blade with a mighty blow that sent him flying back.

"Roxas!" Tali and Ash yelled out at the same time.

"Barriers up." Shepard shouted/ordered, calling upon her Biotics with Liara, Wrex and Kaidan doing the same.

They came up just in time as the Banshee jabbed its elongated hand forward and pressed itself against the combined barriers.

In a scene that defied what they knew about Biotics, Benezia's Banshee Heartless began pushing them back with their feet grinding against the floor.

"What the hell?!" Kaidan shouted out in utter astonishment.

"Of course this would happen." Wrex grumbled. "Nothing is normal anymore." He fired his assault rifle as he tried to back away now, only for the bullets to bounce off against a dark-biotic barrier. "I seem to be longing for it now.

"Biotic wave, now!" Shepard ordered and the four users sent out the shockwave that appeared to stun the Banshee.

When they dove for cover, they were ready to take the Banshee Heartless down.

Only to find her missing.

"Wha-"

"RRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAA!"

The people nearby the scream held their heads as they tried to fight off the pain.

For those not near said scream saw what happened.

"SHE CAN TELEPORT!?"

"TALI!" Ashley cried out as the Banshee raised her hand to strike down the lone Quarian…

When Roxas' glowing form smashed right into the Heartless, causing it to stumble back.

"Get away from her!" Roxas snarled.

The Banshee only hissed back.

"You alright Roxas?" Shepard called out to him.

"I'm fine." Roxas waved off, getting ready to fight the newly created Heartless.

Darkness began swirling around the Banshee, the Heartless preparing for an attack.

Rather than allowing for such a thing to occur, Roxas bolted forward, reeling his Keyblade back to strike.

The Banshee only vanished as soon as Roxas got close to it, reappearing right behind him.

"Shit!" Garrus threw his rifle up and fired at the Heartless which managed to strike it and stun it temporarily.

In an instant, Roxas quickly swerved out of the way and ended up right behind the new Heartless. The instant he was fully behind it, he slammed his Keyblade across it's back and sent it flying.

"Damn, kid's got some moves right there." Wrex chuckled out.

"Less admiring and more helping." Shepard said, running forward. "C'mon, let's save his ass."

Bouncing off the nearby wall, Roxas kept up his assault on the Banshee. It's biotic barrier flared with every hit, more so when a hail of bullets impacted it soon after.

"Damn spongey barrier just won't break!" Ashley growled, not letting up. She switched to her incendiary rounds, trying to whittle the barriers down as quickly as she was able to until the Banshee up and teleported away once more.

The screeching was heard again yet they powered through it, turning in the direction where it stood now and fired their weapons all at once.

Fortunately for them, it's barrier finally broke.

"Let her have it!"

The Biotics threw whatever they had with all their might. Those without kept firing with no stop.

Roxas, meanwhile, was a flurry of motions. The arcs following his Keyblade were lit up as it brightened up most of the darkened lab. It became more apparent when he dashed forward with a large plumb of flames encircling him as they started burning the Banshee Heartless.

In the middle of this combined onslaught, Shepard took notice of a very hesitant Liara.

"Liara!" She called out to the Asari, breaking her out of her daze. "You have to fight her!"

"But-But I can't!"

"Your mother's gone, Liara!" Shepard said. "Look at what she's become. Do you really want this to be what she's remembered for?!"

The Heartless hunched over and seemed to hold itself from pain from the continuing onslaught. Yet that wasn't the case as biotics started surging from within the former Matriarch.

"Oh, no. Look out-!"

"RRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAA!"

An explosion went off, sending anyone near the Banshee flying back some distance away.

Roxas took the majority of the hit as he slammed against the nearby wall hard. He slid off its surface before crumbling to the ground.

Trying to get back up, he was struck by the Banshee once more with a kick before receiving a powered backslap to send him flying once more.

"Come on you bitch!" Wrex roared aloud, rushing to Roxas' aid, wielding his Gravity Hammer.

He swung his hammer, striking the Banshee at her knee.

The Asari Heartless shrieked in pain, reflexively kicking the Krogan away.

Looking back to the Keybearer, the turned Matriarch quickly ensnared Roxas' neck, making him struggle to breath.

Seeing this from nearby, Liara was momentarily scared on what was about to happen to her young friend.

Memories flashed across her gaze of various moments of her journey with him amongst the other ground team members.

Him saving her back on Therum.

Giving her that delectable Sea-Salt Ice Cream for the very first time.

The many meals she ate with him and the rest.

A great Prothean gift given to her after a past mission.

And fighting alongside her when facing various forms of opposition.

And a kind smile with Stitch hanging on his back, who gave a far greater one to her.

Steeling herself, Liara yelled. "Don't you dare lay a finger on him!"

With all her might, she roared and released everything she had in a biotic throw.

The Banshee was sent careening into a wall, her body denting the metal, dropping down a moment later.

"Take it out!" Shepard yelled, the entire crew shooting at the prone Banshee that screamed aloud, flailing about with the constant stream of fire preventing it from teleporting to safety.

It forcefully began getting back up to its feet, despite the seemingly endless barrage when...

"No you don't!"

The Banshee whirled around and it's face was met with the Keyblade striking it. Falling back, it was struck once more with a volley of biotic blasts mixed with a couple of casted Thundagas, electrifying the former Matriarch greatly as it's barriers soon broke apart. Once down, Garrus took fire with his special powered rounds as they ended up with several headshots.

After a few moments of trepidation and silence, the team watched as Darkness surrounded the Banshee, encompassing it entirely.

The large blob of Darkness morphed and bulged until it began shrinking down when it receded entirely to reveal the original body of Benezia.

Gasping, Liara ran straight for her, falling to her knees to check her over.

"Spirits." Garrus rasped out. "I wish we don't deal with something like that ever again."

"You and me both, Turian." Said Wrex.

"Huh…"

"What?"

"Here I thought you would be fine with the challenge."

"I would say otherwise, but that Heartless was a whole league onto itself." Wrex commented.

"No arguments there."

Roxas, Shepard and Tali stood over Liara who was cradling her mother's unmoving form.

"Is she…" Tali asked hesitantly.

Liara only shook her head, pressing her forehead against her mother's cheek, tears streaming down her eyes.

Her Quarian friend kneeled down beside her, placing a comforting arm around her shoulder with Liara weeping now.

Roxas gazed down at his distraught friend, feeling Shepard place her hand upon his own shoulder with him looking up at her.

She had a forlorn look in her eyes, patting his shoulder.

"Loss, Roxas." Jane said in a soft voice. "Loss is never an easy thing to deal with."

He only stared at the Commander, not truly certain on what to say.

It was then did he hear… something.

It was faint before it escalated into a clatter.

Whirling around, Roxas saw Wrex and Garrus drawing their weapons at a lone asari commando that was limping towards them. Liara momentarily broke away from her present position and tried to get ready to get back into a fight.

However, the asari commando simply lurched forward, stumbling past everyone and right towards Shepard.

Jane stepped back, looking at the asari before seeing the bullet holes in the body.

"How the hell are you still alive?"

This got a shiver to momentarily run down the spine of almost everyone in the lab. They indeed took a better look at the commando and realized the asari should be long dead now.

It was then that Asari opened her eyes more as the Rachni queen let out a loud cry from within its containment tube.

Then something else happened.

"This one…" the Asari spoke in an unusual warbled voice, as if two were speaking at once. "Serves as our voice. We cannot sing. Not in these low spaces. Your music's are colorless."

…

"Uh… What?"

"Is… Is that Rachni queen speaking through a corpse?!"

"Oh no. I'm not dealing with anymore zombie shit right here. The Thorian was enough but this…" Kaidan muttered out, his trigger finger started to get a little 'itchy' now.

Garrus curled his mandibles distastefully. The jerky motions of the commando indicated that this wasn't quite natural. He was more than a little creeped out and tempted to join Kaidan's present action with his own weapon. Yet he stayed wary just in case.

"We filled you with enough plasma and fire power to pop a tank." Jane said incredulously.

"This Vessel is at the edge." The Asari stressed out. "Yet she struggles. You cannot see her magnificence. We are breathing on the embers."

"Great, so it's a poet." Ashley dryly quipped.

"We are the mother. We sing for those left behind. The children you thought silenced." The Asari said. "We… are Rachni."

"How are you speaking through this… vessel right now?" Jane asked tentatively.

"Our kind sing through touching of thought. We pluck the strings, and the other understands. She is weak to urging."

"More like already vacant and you quickly took up residency." Garrus chimed in.

The possessed Asari ignored Garrus as she continued. "She has colors we have no names for. But she is ending. Her music is bittersweet. It is beautiful."

The Asari gazed upon them all.

"You are not in harmony with those who hoped to control us."

"Are you talking about who Benezia was working for? Saren and the Reapers?"

"Yes." Confirmed the Rachni queen. What will you sing? Will you release us? Are we to fade away once more?"

"Look." Tali pointed out the containers above the Rachni queen's cell. "Those tanks have acid. Strong enough to kill anything, no matter it's biology. They wouldn't have installed that if they weren't afraid of the consequences of her getting loose."

"We should kill her." Wrex said vehemently. "My people were uplifted for this very task and it's time we see it done. Millions of my ancestors died to put these things down. Don't let them come back."

"Hold on a second, Wrex." Garrus chimed in. "If we kill her, we're sentencing an entire race to death. We should let the Council decide her fate."

"But the Council isn't here." Kaidan pointed out.

"We made a mistake." Liara argued. "We must not repeat the actions of the past."

Shepard stared at it intently.

"Did you have anything to do with killing the science team?" Shepard asked harshly.

"No!" The queen quickly denied. "We were locked away here. The children are beyond our songs. They have been lost to silence. You have silenced them. Freed them from the control of the needle-men who sought to take them and breed them as beasts of war."

The crew was at an impasse as to how to handle this with each one picking a side of taking it out or letting it live.

In that time, the Asari slowly turned its head towards Roxas, eyes widening.

"Y-you…" it whispered, causing the group to turn silent.

"Y-y-you… a-a-are unnatural…." The possessed Asari shakily pointed a finger in the direction of Roxas who blinked at the sudden attention.

The others all turned to him in bewilderment then back to the possessed Asari that was trembling while having her gaze locked firmly upon Roxas'.

Subconsciously, Tali stepped slightly in front of her friend in an almost protective manner.

"What are you talking about?" Shepard asked, an accusatory glint in her eyes. "What does Roxas have to do with this?"

"N-N-N-Nothing." The mind controlled Asari spasmed. "And everything. His existence i-i-is an a-anomaly. He is the nothingness of which that h-he must re-return to."

One question was shared among the team.

What the hell was that supposed to mean?

Roxas, however, was an entirely different matter.

He didn't understand how but this thing… this queen had managed to deduce what he was.

She may have not outright told them who or what he was but he knew.

"Your song is unlike anything we have encountered. It permeates the air and seeps into the fabrics of all songs." The Asari was speaking reverently now. "Your existence… contradicts all and yet you are… the song you portray… is beautiful and tragic."

Roxas was beginning to shift about at the way the Asari was gazing at him.

Something Tali saw.

"What will you do now?" Tali asked defensively.

"You have the power to free us, or return our people to the silence of memory."

Shepard sighed as she scratched her head. "If you're freed, will you attack other races again?"

Wrex, sensing the possibility that the Rachni queen might go free, growled and glared at the human Spectre. "Shepard…" He growled menacingly.

Jane ignored the hammer-wielding Battlemaster for now as she listened to the queen's response.

"No! We- I do not know what happened in the war." The queen replied truthfully. "We only heard discordance, songs the color of oily shadows. We would seek a hidden place to teach our children harmony. If they understand, perhaps we would return."

"Are you a survivor from the war?" Wrex asked next. "Or are you a clone?"

Jane briefly turned to the Krogan with a raised hand, telling the Battlemaster to back down. Wrex growled angrily once again before complying with the request.

"We do not know." Answered the queen. "We were only an egg, hearing Mother cry in our dreams. A tone from space hushed one voice after another. It forced the singers to resonate with its own sour, yellow note." The corpse seemed to shrug in resignation. "Then we awoke in this place. The last echo of those who came out of the singing planet. The sky is silent."

After hearing all this, Shepard released another sigh.

'What to do? What to do?' She pondered.

Garrus suddenly piped in. "Shepard, if you kill her, that's genocide. Do you really want that on your hands?"

Wrex scoffed. "Genocide? You want to see genocide, Vakarian? I'll take you to a Krogan obstetrician's office."

Sensing Shepard's hesitation, the queen queried. "Is our kind so frightening? Would you silence us for the voices of the past?"

"You tell me, you overgrown bug." Wrex snarled. "You're the reason my kind got uplifted only to be euthanized."

After hearing everything, Shepard silently contemplated on what she should do until coming to an answer.

"I won't destroy your race. You'll go free."

Wrex however, didn't like that decision. "Are you stupid? Your people didn't fight these bastards, so maybe you don't get it!"

"Wrex…" Roxas said softly. "If you condemn her to death… wouldn't that be the same as the genophage? Only immediate?"

Liara jumped on what Roxas was suggesting. "Think about it, Wrex. If we let this queen go and if this leads to another war, have you considered that this would make the Council make a certain choice that would be impossible to make now?"

"Yeah, like curing the genophage." Kaidan added.

Wrex became less tense as he pondered on their words. With an exhaled grumble, he spoke. "Alright. I still say it's a stupid fucking choice to make, but I'll make an exception… for now." Wrex moved aside before looking right into Shepard in the eye. "Do what you want. My people will clean up the mess later. Just like we did for the Salarians."

"You will give us the chance to compose anew?" The queen asked hopefully. "We will remember. We will sing of your forgiveness to our children, the one they call Shepard."

Wrex scoffed some more. "Great~ Bugs are writing songs about you. Mark my words. You will regret this."

"The only way we'll ever know if she goes back on her word." Jane remarked. "And I'm pretty sure that a species that is saved from extinction can understand what debt is."

As Shepard was typing away on the console, Roxas thought on what he could possibly contribute in helping the Rachni Queen.

She didn't know where she might end up at once freed from Peak 15 and so will everyone else. But he just didn't know for how long.

For a moment, Roxas wondered if he could perhaps open up a Dark Corridor for the queen to traverse to and end up on some far off uninhabited planet in this galaxy and make do from there.

Yet he realized the queen would have the high risk of the darkness corrupting her, just like what happened thousands of years ago and much recently with her children.

This made him rescind his one idea and let Shepard do her work.

Soon, the container that held the Rachni Queen elevated upwards with the queen gazing down upon them one last time before slowly departing.

Once that was all said and done, Jane turned back to her team.

"Come on. Let's get the hell outta here."

-Scene Cut-

After the events of Peak 15, the team returned to Port Hanshan to return to the Mako prior to heading back to the Normandy where it was presently docked.

Once aboard, Jeff took off while some of the ground team took time to get out of their respective armors before reporting to the ship's comm room to discuss what happened on their recent mission.

As per usual, Shepard stood up to show command while everyone else sat down on their designated seats.

After what happened on Feros, an additional chair was given for Roxas while Stitch occasionally perched himself on a random person's shoulder or lap on each meeting. This time the little blue furred alien was on Liara's shoulder, who tried his best to comfort her as the asari was still quietly grieving for her mother. And sitting next to her was Garrus and Wrex, the latter was still fuming about Shepard releasing the Rachni queen.

On the other side, Kaidan sat along with Ashely, Roxas and Tali.

"So what's our next move, Commander?" Ashley inquired. "The Mu Relay?"

"The Mu Relay could link us to dozens of systems." Shepard said. "Unless we know where Saren's going, we'd be wasting our time."

"So that's a no go for now." Garrus surmised. "Thumbs up asses until then."

"The Commander's right." Said Liara. "We can't rush off blind. We still need to learn about Saren."

"Ok, then what do we do?" Kaidan asked, arms crossed in frustration. "Saren is still out there."

"Most likely keep an ear out for anything."

"What about what happened to Benezia?" Tali brought up hesitantly.

"Spirits, what happened is definitely gonna give me nightmares for a while." Garrus muttered out, hands grasping each other and tightening.

"If that happened to my mother…" Liara silently said. "There is a likely chance Saren may be going through the same thing."

"Of what, the indoctrination or the darkness taking over?"

"From what Benezia said, the Indoctrination is coming from Saren." Alenko pointed out. "So… possibly the Darkness."

"Great… don't know which is worse."

"Liara, did you possibly have a chance to look through your mother's Omni-tool. Perhaps there could've been something she recorded about her time on Saren's ship."

"I will check on it after this." Liara assured.

"Good to hear." Jane nodded approvingly. "Just take your time. You're still on edge with what happened. I won't force you."

Liara gave the Commander an appreciative smile one Jane returned.

The Spectre then turned to someone who hasn't really said anything since the meeting began.

"Roxas?"

The Blond teen looked up to her.

"Everything alright?" Jane asked. "You've been quiet the whole time."

"I'm good. Just… thinking about what happened."

"Wanna share with the rest of the class?"

Roxas tilted his head down, thinking of how the Rachni Queen addressed him directly.

Did… did she know who he was? What he was?

Seeing Roxas not responding, Shepard took a wild guess as to what's on his mind

"Was it about what the Rachni said about you?"

He didn't respond, though the momentary seize up of his body was enough of an answer for Shepard.

"Why is it bothering you?" Shepard asked.

Roxas frowned, thinking on this question.

Why was it bothering him so much?

Suddenly, he felt something swell inside. Something that had been bothering him in the back of his mind for the past few weeks as the days went by.

"I…" Roxas's fists clenched tightly, beginning to shake.

Why did those words bother him? Why was he constantly having those weird visions and dreams? Why did the Organization need him? Why hasn't he gone back to them? Why was he here?

Who even was he?

Why…

Why did the Keyblade choose him?

Noticing his state, Tali was about to reach out to him when…

"I DON'T KNOW!" Roxas roared aloud, causing the entire group to flinch violently as the teen shot up from his seat.

"I DON'T KNOW WHY IT'S BOTHERING ME SO MUCH!" He continued to yell.

"Whoa! Easy there, Roxas-"

"WHY AM I HERE?! HOW DO I EVEN EXIST?! WHY DID THE KEYBLADE CHOOSE ME?! WHAT IS SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN TO ME?!"

The entire team could only stare with some mouths dropping as they had never seen Roxas react in such a manner.

He was normally quiet, reserved though extraordinarily curious about everything.

To see him in such a manner…

"Ro-Roxas?" Tali was nervous and flinched at the way he rounded upon her, eyes ablaze in turmoil.

Upon seeing his friend, his first friend since coming here, react in such a manner it was like a bucket of icy water was thrown on him.

He saw the rest of the Normandy crew share slightly similar expressions, save for Wrex who was gazing at him curiously.

Hanging his head, Roxas wordlessly left the meeting room, leaving a stunned team behind.

They were silent for the most part when…

"Ok…" Garrus said, slowly breaking out of his stupor. "That came out of nowhere."

"What the hell was that about?" Ashley asked in concern.

"Did any of you guys catch what he said?" Alenko inquired.

"How could we have missed that?" Wrex rhetorically asked. "Can still hear the words ringing in my ears."

"What was that about the Keyblade choosing him?" Garrus said in bewilderment.

"What was that about his whole existentialism just now?" Ashley retorted.

"Enough." Jane cut the discussion off with a sharp tone. "We'll talk about this later. Right now, it seems like we could go for a break. We'll talk to Roxas later."

"You sure we should do that?" Liara asked tentatively, Stitch looking up from her shoulder in the direction Roxas walked off to.

"He made that show in front of us." Jane said, head hung down. "That makes it all of our business."

"Though now we're gonna be trailing on thin ice around him for who knows how long."

"Maybe…" Jane said, a bit dejectedly.

"Transmission coming through from the Council, Commander." Joker's voice chimed in. "Should I patch it through?"

"In a sec, Joker." She said before addressing the team. "In the meantime, you guys relax." Shepard exhaled a frustrated sigh. "I gotta deal with the Council now."

Wrex let out a snort. "Have fun with them, Shepard. The Council's going to kick your ass over this. And for once, I won't blame them."

"Yeah… I know." Jane bemoaned.

Just before the group filed out…

"Tali."

The Quarian turned back to see Shepard giving her a knowing look with her momentarily hesitating.

"What makes you think I-"

"Because out of all of us, you're the closest to him. Please, try to see what's wrong. I just don't want things to go south because of whatever happened."

Tali knew she had a point so she could only nod leaving the meeting room a moment later.

Walking through the ship, she sought out Roxas and eventually found him in a lonely corner of the Mako bay.

He had his knees up and arms wrapped around them with his head resting upon them.

Going over to him, she saw him briefly tilt his head and upon seeing the familiar glint of his blue eyes, Tali was unsure of what to do.

"R-Roxas?"

He didn't respond, opting only to turn his head back down.

She didn't know what to say to him.

So, she opted for the next best thing.

Tali slowly sank down next to him and gently laid her head down on his shoulder.

He seized up, body not knowing how to respond before relaxing a moment later.

There they sat for a few seconds until...

"If you want to talk…"

"Not really…"

"Then we don't have to." She said softly. "But please, don't shut us out."

'Don't shut me out.' She thought soon after.

Roxas merely nodded as the silence soon surrounding them.

Alright, so, this was a bit of a big one.

A big confrontation with some crazy shit to happen.

I love the reviews I keep seeing with so many people throwing out suggestions where, not gonna lie, J and I have taken many things into consideration beforehand when setting this story up.

So the crew is starting to get used to fighting the Heartless but things are about to get… weirder to say the least in the next few chapters.

A slew of madness and destiny altering events to come because when dealing with crossovers like these, things never happen the same way twice. Especially when dealing with Mass Effect.

Jebest4781: And honestly, we're gonna have to continually adjust our plans given all these criticism and ideas that keep coming our way as they do prove to be good points.

FMW: Yeah, all we have are just rough outlines for the most part with a majority of these chapters being improvised though there are some that we had decided on from the get-go.

Jeb: Once we get past the essential ME1 events… boy it'll be a doozy with what we have figured out so far. More so once hitting ME2 as that's gonna be a long process. Not gonna lie about that.

FMW: Yeah, ME1 for the most part has been a breeze to go by with us already sort of nearing the end. Don't worry, there's still a lot that's gonna go down in between now and the end of ME1. But it'll still be a cake walk when considering ME2, ME3, the extended content outside, KH2, Dream Drop, tying in Birth By Sleep, mentions of Coded, KH3, Sora's Journey, Riku's Journey, The Organization, the Reapers ALL OF THAT. ON TOP of the FF elements we have planned to come.

Jeb: No doubt about that. So sit tight and enjoy this crazy ride as long as possible.

FMW: Yeah, we plan on making this one of the most unique stories that you could find on this sight. Like J has on his profile with A Song of Fire, Ice and Hearts, we got another one here with this story.

Until then guys.

Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day.