A/N
Hello loyal readers! Thanks for bearing with me so long. I have had no real reprieve from the bad luck I have been through the last few months. Ended up in hospital the other week and then got put on meds that are making my brain slow. So yeah. Life is great.
Anyway, enough sad stuff. The next three chapters are already available on pat-re-on. Just look up Bored Peasant's Written Works. The next chapter after that has already been started and will go there first, as will all releases and updates. I have started getting a bit more artwork and will be putting them on there too if people are wanting to take a look.
Glad to hear that the full auto shotgun generated some nice reviews. And don't worry, while he might share some things, he certainly isn't going to share the best of everything.
FFN is giving problems with email notifications again. Hopefully you are all checking your updates regularly.
Special thanks to Ezoz, Ranger, FallenMetalGod, BuzzGrave, Doglore63, MathTheOriginal and r4p16 for their support. It means a great deal and has helped more than you know over the last few months.
Anyway, on with the story!
…
CHAPTER 37 – NOVERIA PART 3
(Shepard POV)
Jane was just about done with this mission. It hadn't been a particularly long mission, certainly not as long as some of her deployments as an N7, or even as a marine, but she was just done for today.
Oh sure, she knew it was important, but there were some things that she just hated having to deal with. Slackers and people that wouldn't pull their own weight were the first that came to mind. Luckily, she had a hardworking team with plenty of experience, even the doctor, though seeing as how T'soni explained that she would occasionally have to fight off pirates at remote archaeological sites it wasn't actually a surprise. But overall, having a hardworking and skilled team was not something Jane had any gripes about.
Being betrayed by the people you mean to help was an annoyance. Dealing with that mess in the Hot Labs, killing rachni, only to return to the group guarding the exits to find out they were all under Benezia's employ. That was an annoyance. The only reason it wasn't more than that was because none of them were that good at fighting, meaning they weren't really a threat to her team, even the security captain.
Dealing the rachni was an unpleasant surprise. A long thought dead race that had required uplifting a race to win their wars for them, which led to that race fighting another war later that required yet another new race to beat the krogan. Now if the rachni are coming back, does that mean that krogan would need to be brought back to strength again? It was a political quandary. As a Spectre, she was likely to be caught up in the middle of it, whether she wanted to or not.
And that brought in her current biggest headache. Politics.
When she was a soldier, it had been easy; follow orders from higher ups, fight and complete the mission, leave the civilians to the brass. Unfortunately, that was no longer an option. For her, the brass were the civies. Every new location was going to be an interaction with civilians, that she was going to be in charge of coordinating with.
Just dealing with the Council was a necessary annoyance after each mission, but she was at least used to higher ups asking questions about her missions, and even having people be antagonistic against her for one reason or another. But all of them were military. It grated on her a little to be so answerable to civilians and have to deal with them and their little issues so much.
Not that she had a problem with the way they seemed to naturally defer to her. That did make things easier, but then again, that was followed up with betrayal by the security team.
Still, the scientists had been mostly respectful, which she was happy to have. She just didn't like having to play politics so much. Still, having Nielson and Liara around helped to alleviate a lot of the issues that could have come up with dealing with civies. Wrex was a krogan and didn't do 'social', while Alenko was military, just like her.
It made her really appreciate that a good leader is only as good as the team they have with them.
But finally, things had been done. The base had been completely searched, the rachni drones were defeated and now, they had located Benezia, after Liara had identified her little spy in the common room. It was time to end this mission and get back to the Normandy where she could make sense of things.
The group stopped to prepare themselves just outside the door leading to the chamber where Benezia was likely waiting for us. Jane looked at Nielson expectantly, waiting for him to check things out with his SONAR vision or whatever it was. It almost felt like it was cheating but she wasn't going to complain. She could have something like it in more missions than she could count.
"Spectre, I am seeing an asari at the landing at the top of a staircase about thirty metres past the door, standing next to what I am assuming is our rachni queen, which looks like it is in a large container of some kind." He turned his head left and right. "There is a walkway that heads to the right about fifty metres then comes to an intersection that heads to relative left and right. Nothing else is in range at the moment. But seeing as we haven't encountered her commando team, I would assume they are waiting somewhere beyond the range of my scopes.
Jane nodded, accepting the information and took a deep, preparatory breath, adjusting her assault rifle in her hands. Then she reached her hand forward prepared to open the door.
"Wait."
Only to be interrupted by the Australian businessman.
"What?" she angry whispered at him, withdrawing her hand. This better not be for the sake of a chat.
He tilted his head ever so slightly towards T'soni. "I might be able to take her down non-lethally. All I need for you is to keep her talking as long as possible. That way we stand a better chance of finding out from her what Saren is up to and any other important information she might know that we won't if we go in there, guns blazing."
"Why take the risk?" she replied. While her experience against asari was mostly limited to training exercises with commandoes, and the odd slaver, she knew enough that she didn't want to risk having them throwing glowy ball of death and pain at her.
Nielson looked at her for a long moment, before his head twitched slightly towards Liara.
"I don't think that Doctor T'soni needs to see her mother be killed if there is another way to accomplish this mission," he replied.
Jane blinked, then looked at Liara. The blue asari with her looked pale but determined, yet the sad but grateful smile that she gave the billionaire made her think she had peace. Still, it was a way that would probably lead to the Matriarch having hostilities against their little group.
"We can always go loud at any point," Nielson cut into her thoughts. "But it would be a bigger success if we were able to present a living Matriarch Benezia to the Council, and it would probably prevent bigger troubles with the asari later."
Shepard frowned at his points, as they all made sense. Especially the political stuff with the asari, if she needed to work in Republics' space later.
"Fine," she huffed. "What do you need?"
"Like I said," he replied. "I just need you to keep her talking as long as possible. Make it sound like you are interested in her knowledge, as if you are considering converting to her ideology or something. People that have dastardly plans usually love to convince their enemies to join of their own free will. While you are keeping her going, I will try and sneak around, see if I can get behind her to take her out. The longer you can keep her talking, the better chance I have at not being discovered."
Shepard gave a long sigh, letting out some tension. "Alright," she said, bracing herself. "How are you going to sneak around behind her without being noticed?"
While she couldn't see his face with his helmet on, she could just imagine his smug grin as he slowly raised a hand. Then, with a muted white flash, he disappeared from view.
She blinked. Where the hell had he been hiding that piece of tech?
Alenko, Wrex and Liara all gave small grunts or huffs of surprise. "Since when can you do that?" Alenko demanded.
Nielson flashed back into view again, now standing right behind the Alliance biotic. Shepard blinked again. The man was wearing full armour and boots; he should not have been able to move around that silently. Clearly, when he and Torrin said that Nielson was an infiltration specialist he had not been exaggerating.
"None of your business," Nielson said, startling Alenko who hadn't noticed the other human appearing suddenly behind him.
"Don't do that," Alenko bit out, spinning around and stepping back so that he was able to see Nielson properly.
"Anyway," Nielson said, turning back to face her, "now do you trust that I have a chance to make this work?"
Jane considered for a long moment, then finally gave a nod. "Very well," she accepted. "We'll try it your way first. If Benezia discovers you or attacks first then we are to go loud. I would rather us all be alive than lose one of us by taking an unnecessary risk."
Everyone nodded, accepting her order. Nielson moved and stood right in front to the right-hand side of the door, waiting for Jane to open it up. Another muted flash turned the billionaire invisible again.
"Ready whenever you are, Spectre," Nielson's voice whispered open her comm. "If I need to give information, like our missing commando team, I will do so this way."
"Acknowledged," Jane said, mind turning to mission mode. She braced herself, then raised a hand and keyed the door open.
The hissing noise heralded the opening of the door and it was exactly as Nielson described it. There were some blocks or containers of some kind just on the other side of the doorway that the man hadn't mentioned, but sure enough, just beyond them there was a staircase that led up to a platform.
And standing waiting for them at the top of that platform, was an asari matriarch.
There was a palpable feeling of power radiating off the older blue woman, like a force that she exuded. It was slightly intimidating, feeling that power that was likely to be against them.
Still, just because it was against them, doesn't mean Jane was going to fold at the slightest show of opposition.
Still, she had a role to play right now, and combat was not it, not at first anyway.
"You do not know the privilege of being a mother," Benezia said, glaring down at the group. "There is power in creation. To shape a life. Turn it toward happiness, or despair."
Oh great. She was crazy to boot. Even better! Jane could only hope that she would be able to keep her talking long enough. From what she had seen, asari matriarchs loved the sound of their own voices. They could talk all day about whatever vapid topics of self-important nonsense they wanted to peddle like it was the mystery of the universe.
Benezia turned to face the container and Shepard could see the massive rachni sitting behind the safety glass. Jane didn't flinch, but she was glad that she wasn't facing that one directly.
"Her children were to be ours," Benezia continued. "Raised to hunt and slay Saren's enemies."
She turned and walked closer to their group, stopping before the first step on the landing and allowing her to look down on Jane and the others.
"I won't be moved by sympathy," Benezia declared. "No matter who you bring into this confrontation."
"There doesn't need to be a confrontation," Jane spoke up, lifting a calming hand. "We haven't started anything against anyone here. We only ever defended ourselves from the geth and the rachni that attacked us first. If you had ordered them to not attack us first, we could have come to talk to you. We just wanted information. And Liara is here for the same reason; she isn't here because I asked her to. She is here because she wants to be. She wants to understand."
Benezia seemed to blink uncertainly for a moment before her expression cleared. "Understanding the full path is beyond your comprehension," she said firmly. "You are not fit for its embrace."
"Perhaps," Jane replied, refusing to let the matriarch stop talking too soon. If Nielson thought he could end this without a fight, well, the billionaire had earned enough goodwill to give it a shot. "But while we may not understand the full path, what can you tell us? We can't embrace anything without knowing what we are to embrace. We will end up fighting it out of fear, instead of accepting it as truth. Can you tell us anything that we could understand?"
The asari matriarch stared at them imperiously for a long moment. "The light you are seeking can only be found by those whose path is marked by Saren's glory. He will usher in a new age of enlightenment, unshackled by the corruption and chaos that covers the breadth of the galaxy. To accomplish this, the rot and decay must be purged. And we will succeed. We will not be pushed from this path. Not even your low plan of using my daughter will persuade me otherwise."
Liara stepped forward standing next to jane now. "Mother, I don't understand," she cried out, her voice loaded with emotion. Jane could understand why. The younger asari was trying to find out why her mother was basically committing treason. "Why go this path? Why not do it peacefully? You're a respected matriarch and Saren was a well-regarded Spectre. People would listen to you if you only explained it to them. Now the galaxy sees you all as traitors."
Benezia simply gave a single shake of her head. "There are always those who will fight on the side of chaos. No matter the path, the creatures always resist chaos being exterminated to bring order."
Well didn't that sound ominous.
"This isn't chaos!" Liara protested. "These are people's lives, Mother! Millions of beings that you are threatening with your actions. Can't you see that Saren isn't driven by a desire to help? His rage and lies are clear for all to see!"
It was clearly the wrong thing to say. Benezia's face hardened almost instantly, making Jane tense in preparation. "I should have been…"
The sharp cracking buzz of an electrical discharge silenced whatever the old asari might have said. Her body froze, then started shaking, her head twitching towards her right shoulder for several seconds.
Then the discharge cut off and everything went still for a just a moment, before Benezia collapsed on the platform.
"I don't know about you four," Nielson's voice came from his invisible form for a moment before, with a muted flash, he dropped his cloak and reappeared right behind where Benezia had been standing, "but that was about all the crazy I was prepared to listen to today." He bent down and pulled something out of one of his pouches, wrapping it around Benezia's neck.
"What are you doing?" Alenko demanded. "Is that a slave collar?"
Jane felt shock going through her for a moment, before glaring at the Australian.
"Woah," Nielson protested, straightening back up, his hands raised as if to ward Alenko's words away. "Cool your jets there Ranger Rick. It's a biotic dampening collar. I didn't want to risk her waking up and using her biotics against us."
"They are quite common when dealing with asari prisoners," Liara stepped forward, climbing the stairs to approach her mother's body.
"The cute doctor is right!" Nielson called out, making Liara blush, despite everything.
"Now," Nielson continued more serious, "I have a gift for Wrex."
The big krogan straightened up and looked at Nielson questioningly. "What's that?"
Nielson pointed to a few spots around the room. "The delightful matriarch had apparently set up a nice little ambush for us that she never got to trigger," he explained. "There are teams of asari commandos and geth platforms all waiting for a fight. I thought that you might like to… oblige them."
"Ha!" Wrex barked a heavy laugh. "Damn right!" He grabbed the shotgun of his back and marched off to the right.
"Hold up Wrex!" Jane barked.
The big krogan stopped and turned, looking incredulous, like a treat had been stolen from right out from under him. "What?"
Jane shook her head, feeling some amusement bleed through after the tense objective just before. "I'm sure that you are capable, but I think a whole commando team and their geth escort might just be a bit much for you to tangle with on your own."
She toggled the mods on her assault rifle, turning on the disruptor mod in preparation for fighting the geth and asari. After dealing with all the frustrations of the day at Noveria, dealing with the rachni, and with the weirdness of this mission, honestly, she just wanted to go back to basics and shoot something.
"That's why you have a team," she declared.
"You lot go ahead," Nielson spoke up, looking down from where he was running a med scan on the downed matriarch. "I'll take care Benezia. Most kills gets a present."
"I will stay with Mr Nielson," Liara said quickly.
"More enemies for me," Wrex declared eagerly, staring hungrily at the weapon on Nielson's back.
Jane happily concurred, both in the mission and the desired victor's prize. "See you when we are done," she said, already turning towards the walkway, Alenko falling in behind the pair.
Shooting things was so cathartic after tense talking situations. Maybe that was why she was still single?
…
(Brock POV)
While Shepard and Wrex dragged Alenko off to get all murder happy, I kept scanning Benezia to see if I could gather anything from her brain wave function.
To be honest, I wasn't really sure what I was looking at, I could only compare it to generic scans of asari brain scans that were found on the extranet. I could see that there were clear variations from a normal scan but overall, I couldn't really tell what I was seeing, and the scanner in my omnitool certainly wasn't powerful or precise enough to get accurate enough readings. So I just saved them for later study and to share with Chakwas.
I could feel Liara sidle up to me. "How is she?" the younger asari asked.
I looked up at her, seeing the concern that was etched into her face. "She's alive," I said. "She's mostly unharmed too. I hit her with a stun program that will keep her knocked out for a while. I am going to give her a sedative which should keep her under until the Normandy can pick us up and we can give her to Doctor Chakwas. I think it would be safest if we keep her sedated until we get back to the Citadel, unless we can find a way to ensure that we can fix whatever damage is going on in her brain."
Liara shuffled forward, looking down at the unconscious form of her mother. "She looks so peaceful," she whispered. "Almost like I remember her."
In the background, cheerful krogan laughter and weapons fire broke the sombre atmosphere that Liara was projecting. She leaned back and looked at me with a sad smile on her face.
"Mr Nielson," she began.
"Brock," I cut in. "No need for those formalities with me, Doctor."
Her smile warmed up a fraction. "Brock," she corrected herself, "thank you for keeping my mother alive. I know that the mission would likely have ended with her dead but… thank you." She threw her arms around me and gave me a strong hug. "And please call me Liara."
I chuckled and hugged her back. I couldn't feel much through the armour but I still rubbed her back a little as a comforting gesture. "Of course," I murmured next to her ear hole. "I know you needed to be here, but I don't think anyone should be forced to kill their own parent. Especially when other options are available. Hopefully there is a way to rehabilitate her."
I could feel Liara nod on my shoulder before she pulled back. The sounds of shooting in the background had moved to different areas of the platform and the electric scream of a dying geth platform could be heard. I'm positive that I could hear happy laughter from Wrex over the gunfire.
Somehow that made me happy. Go figure.
"Tell me about your mother," I said softly, trying to distract Liara. "How was she when you were growing up?"
Liara looked as if she was staring into the distance, clearly lost in her own memories. "She always wore bright colours," she said. "Yellow was her favourite. She enjoyed listening to music and drinking tea on the balcony, just feeling the sunlight." She looked down at the darkly dressed clothes the older asari wore now. "I don't think I have ever seen her wear clothes like this before. She would never have worn black or dark brown outside of ceremonies if she could help it, and even when she did, it was always a formal gown of some kind. She would never…" she halted, struggling to think of what to say next.
"Never would have had that much of her cleavage on display?" I finished for her with a wry smile that she couldn't see as I was still wearing my helmet.
The blue asari blushed cutely but nodded. "Yes," she conceded. "While she was no prude, she always believed that a certain amount of dignity was required, and to reveal too much was the same as a lack of dignity shown by dancers on Omega."
I gave a huff of amusement. "That sounds exactly like something a stuffy matriarch would say," I said, my tone showing humour that my face couldn't under a helmet.
Her smile lost some of her sadness. "You are not wrong."
The sound of boots on metal heralded the return of Shepard and the others from their literal slaughter-therapy.
"So, who won?" I asked without looking up.
"That would be me," Shepard declared, sounding smug. "As expected."
"Trust a Spectre to steal my kills," Wrex whined.
"It was impressive to see these two compete," Alenko spoke up. "I've heard stories about asari commandoes being unstoppable juggernauts, but they might as well have been untrained scrubs at bootcamp compared to these two."
"Don't short yourself, Lieutenant," Shepard said kindly. "You did well enough."
"Yeah," Wrex said gruffly, his tone filled with amusement. "I'm sure that you grazed a few targets with that pistol of yours. Mighta had one of them duck for cover."
"Yeah," I said, looking up at the sheepishly biotic. "You might want to consider a heavier weapon than an M-3 Predator, Alenko. You come up against someone like Wrex here and you would do more damage spitting at them."
The big alien grunted. "You spit on me, I shoot you in the mouth," he warned.
"Noted," Shepard said, coming down from her combat high. "I'll want that present later, Nielson. Now, I can see that the target is sedated. The question remains, what to do with this?" she trailed off as she turned to stare at the rachni in the container.
"Simple," Wrex growled. "Kill it."
"Now hang on," Alenko objected. "I don't think you can just look at the extinction of the last of a species out of hand."
"What about all of those rachni we fought on the way here?" Wrex demanded. "Clearly, they weren't worried about fighting us. My people fought a war over them. They go again and I don't think you will have enough krogan left to do the job."
I tuned the argument out and considered the options, remembering how things were done in the games. I kinda knew how things would go in the future. Either way, there would be more rachni, either when the reaper captures the queen, or manufactures a new one. Still, I know that this alien should have a chance to speak up.
I stood up, interrupting Liara's defence of a sentient life as the group look at me. "Don't mind me," I said, waving them off. "Keep going, I will be back in a minute."
I walked off down the gangway. It only took a few moments to find a group of deceased commandoes. I looked them over, searching for one that was mostly intact. Seeing one with blood leaking from the armour but otherwise fine, I hauled the corpse over my shoulder and headed back.
My cargo drew the disturbed attention of the waiting group, but I ignored them to walk over and lean the body against the glass of the container.
"Now," I said, straightening up and looking back at the group, "before we make a decision, I thought you should give the lady here a chance to speak for herself."
"What are you talking about?" Shepard asked confused. "What are you playing at, Nielson?"
I just turned to look at the rachni, to see that she was looking at me. I gestured to the corpse lying against the tank. Nothing happened for a long moment, except the rustling of the confused and suspicious people behind me.
Then, finally, the feelers and appendages moved to point at the dead asari. For another long moment, nothing happened.
Then the asari twitched.
Alenko yelped and leapt back into the startled Liara, while Wrex and Shepard both aimed their weapons at the body.
"It's all fine," I said calmly. "Don't shoot. The queen is just establishing a way to make contact that you would understand."
Shepard threw a bewildered look at me while Alenko's face turned into a suspicious glare.
Wrex and Liara though, they turned thoughtful.
The corpse stood up and blinked at us. "The songs of this one have fallen silent," the asari declared. "We must sing our songs through it so you may understand."
"I do believe the rachni queen is using that commando's body as a puppet," Liara said, amazed.
"That's… wrong," Alenko muttered.
"Damn right," Wrex grunted.
I listened as I heard a very familiar story of why the rachni rebelled. Nothing seemed to be changed from the games and I was tempted to just speak both sides of the discussion, even though I didn't. it would raise too many questions and I would either be considered a mind reader, a prophet or a madman.
Honestly, it felt like being a madman was the safest of those options, which was not comforting.
I just listened as the group talked about the benefits of either killing the rachni queen or letting her go. I could see both arguments, though I noted that only Wrex and Liara had very strong opinions. Alenko was in favour of killing but not strongly. Shepard just stood in the middle, considering before she turned to me.
"What do you think, Nielson?" she asked, drawing the attention of the others to me. "You're being pretty quiet over there."
I gave her a smile. "Sometimes I just listen to the ideas of others," I said whimsically. "It's a great way to remember that I don't have to do anything sometimes."
She frowned. "Still, I would like to know your thoughts," she insisted, "And on how it would affect me as a Spectre."
I nodded and took a moment to assemble my thoughts. "As a Spectre, the right to make a call is given to you and the Council won't lambast you for it publicly. You are their agent and like I told you earlier, the Council tends to let Spectres have a lot of leeway. Your ability to make judgement calls was taken into consideration when they were debating your acceptance into the Spectres.
"That said, you will face hard questioning from them as to why you either killed or did not kill the last known rachni queen. Sparatus will want it dead and demand to know why it is alive, though if you go with the dead option, he will still complain for the sake of it. Valern will prefer it to be alive so that he can discretely send STG troops after it for capture and study."
"They wouldn't do that!" Alenko objected, cutting me off.
"Of course they would," Wrex scolded him. "You don't know them like my people do. Those green livered wimps would cut up living children if they thought it would give them a discovery of some kind."
"Enough," Shepard said firmly. "I asked Nielson, who obviously knows more about the Council than we do. I've heard from you, now it's his turn."
I gave her a thankful nod. "Tevos won't stand against you but I can imagine that she will be getting some questions from the Council of Matriarchs on why she didn't censure you for letting it live."
I turned to look at the rachni, noticing that the queen was looking directly at me. "As for killing the queen here, ultimately it is up to you. If a war does come from the rachni, it will likely be long after you and I are dead, though maybe not after Liara's lifetime. And it isn't guaranteed to happen either. Considering the genetic memory they have, they will all remember that they lost, convincingly. Unless something comes along and takes over their mind to make them crazy again. As for Wrex, I actually think it would be a little bit of poetic justice."
The big krogan looked at me with narrowed eyes. "What do you mean?" he demanded.
I shift my head to stare at him. "They uplifted your people to fight a war for them, then they gave you almost the same treatment after it was done. If the rachni came back, maybe they would panic and think they need you again. Or not. They are a stubborn lot."
The krogan grunted but didn't respond. I turned back to Shepard.
"So here's what happens with your options. You kill the rachni, no one will stand against you. Some people will think it is a shame, but you will have to live on with the knowledge that you are the one responsible of the extinction of an entire race, which you will be remembered for, for as long as the Council exists.
"Or you don't kill the rachni, the Council won't stand against you, but you will have some angry people. The rachni remembers the mercy you showed and tries to change, remembers their loss and try to change or remember their loss and seek vengeance. All of those repercussions will likely be long after you are worm food and won't have to worry about it anyway. As long as you can justify your decision rationally, no one will go against you. But you should expect Sparatus to say something either way."
I turned to look at the queen and consider it for a moment longer. "As for me, I don't think I would be able to pull the trigger that condemns an entire race to extinction. Even after everything I've done in the Terminus and Hegemony space, I don't think I could do it to even the batarians."
A long silence followed my statement as everyone considered my explanation. Even the rachni was completely silent, as if it was holding its breath to await Shepards decision.
Finally, a sigh escaped the Spectre's lips. "Ah hell," she spat. "I'm just done with today. Let the thing go and we can just get out of here."
"We will sing songs of your mercy," the zombie asari said. "We shall teach them to our children, and perhaps they will listen."
The zombie collapsed as the rachni queen let go of her control. Shepard moved over to the console and tapped away, letting the insectoid flee.
"For what it's worth," Liara said, "I believe you chose correctly."
"If I didn't, then Nielson was right," Shepard replied. "I'm not likely going to be around long enough to be considered wrong. But I also don't want to be known as the Spectre that killed off the last of a species."
Wrex grunted but stayed silent.
"Let's just get back to the ship," Shepard sighed. "I'm done with this. Wrex, you able to grab the crazy one?"
"Ha! Sure thing. Just don't be surprised if I drop her a few times."
…
A/N Please Review and Follow/Favourite as you please.
That wraps up the Noveria mission. I hope that you all enjoyed it. Clearly I went with the don't kill the rachni and managed to save Benezia. But will that ultimately do anything? We shall see in the future. Who knows what could happen?
Also, someone complained that switching POV's can get confusing at times so I have started writing whose POV it is when I switch to remove confusion. Like it? Don't like it? Let me know.
Until next time!
