The team stood in Shepard's office each one with a slightly more worried face than the last.
"So, let me get this straight…" she said calmly but with a tone that made it clear they were not off the hook. "You started a bar room brawl, employed prostitutes only to get mugged by them, and started a riot at the sports fields? Over the past 4 days?" the team shrank under her gaze. "Did I not say 'behave'?" no one said anything making her sigh. "All of you are on triple latrine duty!" she ordered and no one questioned her decision. "Now out!"
The team quickly left not wanting to face the wrath of the commander. Once they were out Zenna sighed and picked up her pistol and began to work on it. She needed to keep her mind focused on something. She was planning to modify the weapon anyway. Before she could start her terminal bleeped. Turning to it, she activated it and Anderson's face appeared.
"Ahh commander, good to see you up and around," he said with a smile.
"Thanks sir, good to be up and around," Zenna said with a smile. "Had to give my team a dressing down after what they did,"
Anderson just smiled. "Ahh, the consequences of command," his smiled winded as the commander gave him a look that would have shrank a normal person. But given that she was talking to her Captain, he knew how to counter said look.
"Funny," she muttered.
"I'll bet. But onto more serious matters, we have a lead on Benezia," that got her attention. "She's on Noveria,"
"Good, if nothing else we'll be taking out one of Seren's allies," Zenna said. "Send me the location and we'll be on our way,"
"It's sent, and good luck commander," Anderson said before the link closed.
Opening the message, she got the location and mission brief. Smiling she opened a channel to Joker.
"Joker, I'm sending you coordinates for our next mission, let me know when we are an hour out from it," she ordered.
"Understood commander," he said.
"Time to get back to work," she muttered.
OOOOO
The Normandy flew in close to the ice clad planet. Zenna walked up next to Joker as he started his approach.
"Noveria Control, this is the SSV Normandy. Requesting vector and berth," he said over the radio.
The response they got wasn't a friendly one. "Normandy, your arrival was not scheduled. Our defence gird is armed and tracking you. State your business," the control operator said.
Joker glanced at Shepard's unimpressed face. "Citadel business. We have a council Spectre on board," as he said that the Normandy entered the atmosphere into a snowstorm.
"Landing access granted Normandy," the control officer said and sent directions for an open dock. "Be advised. We will be confirming identification on arrival. If confirmation cannot be established, your vessel will be impounded," that made Zenna's eye twitch slightly as Joker moved into an open dock.
"What a fun bunch," Joker said as he docked the Normandy. "I think I'll take my next leave here," that earned him a slap on the head.
"Not on my watch, and not with my ship at risk," she said fiercely before she opened her omni-tool and activated the intercom. "Liara and Ashley, get your gear ready moving out in 10," with that she made her way to get her own equipment.
After the 10-minute mark, the three met up in the airlock and did a final check on their gear while it cycled. As they did Ashley noticed that the commander had replaced her sniper rifle with a box of some kind. But she shrugged and ignored it. It was likely going to be close quarters anyway; such a weapon wasn't needed. It was likely some weapons she was testing out.
The airlock door opened up as they finished their checks. Before they left Zenna looked to Liara who looked a little nervous. She had been informed about her mother being on this planet, and had insisted on coming. But the Commander felt wrong about it. She no one to call family so she had no reference for any kind of hesitation that Liara might have. So Liara would either be a liability or an asset. She may not like the idea, but it was the best way to find where her true loyalties lay.
The tree then left the airlock and walked out onto the main platform. They made their round and close to the entrance where three guard waited for them. Two of them were clearly wolfs, but the other one was different. Instead of two legs, she stood on four with hooves on each leg.
"Oh shit," Ashley muttered as they approached.
"What?" Liara asked.
"Centaur," the hu-hound whispered. "They don't get along with Minotaurs. It's best if we stay back a bit. Look the wolf's have also backed up," Liara looked to the two other security members and they did indeed back up.
They also shared a worried look on their faces as Zenna approached. "Thou will hold here," the female centaur said with an aggressive tone.
"I'm on important business," Zenna said with an equally aggressive tone. "Step aside,"
"This arrival is not sanctioned; I need to see your credentials. If a cow like you has such things,"
"My name, glue source, is Shepard. A council Spectre," the tone was getting a little too fierce for both group's liking.
"I have never heard such vile lies before," she said with a venomous tone. "While checks shall beest hath carried out. Thou needeth to handeth ov'r their weapons. Sargent St'rling," one of the wolves was about to move, but Shepard and the other three moved more quickly bringing their weapons up.
"Try it, I dare you," Ashley warned.
"Would you like the bullets first?" Zenna asked. "Horsecrap face?"
That struck a neve and the Centaur was about to give the order to fire but the inter-comm activated and someone spoke.
"Captain Cenria stand down," the voice said. "We've confirmed their identity, Spectres are authorised to carry weapons," that made both groups lower their weapons.
"You may enter, hefer," Cenria said stepping to one said allowing Shepard and her team walked through the entrance with the minotaur and centaur staring at each other.
They walked up a set of stairs and though a scanner which bleeped. "Don't worry about them," a voice said making the team turn. "Weapon detectors," the one who spoke made Liara's jaw hit the floor.
Much like the centaur or lamia the top half was human but the legs were tentacles. Eight of them in total and she also noticed gills on the side of her neck. She knew human were varied, but this was just outright bizarre. It was like someone took a hannar and merged it with a human. Ansley noticed the look on the Asari's face and just laughed.
"She's a mermaid," the hu-hound said trying contain het laughter. "A Scylla to be exact,"
"Stop staring Liara, it's rude," Zenna said with a smirk and making the Scylla smile as well.
"Sorry about the security. I'm Gianna Parasini, assistant to Administrator Anoleis," she said dropping the smile.
"Yeah, did your Captain piss in her own coffee this morning?" Gianna just shook her head.
Minotaurs and Centaurs rarely get along. Centaurs were proud, noble and stubborn. Minotaurs however were loyal, reliable and hard headed. Culture, philosophy and just general personalities between the two just conflicted between species to the point were having them in the same room will cause problems. Thankfully some of the higher ups have learned to put this aside, but there were always problems between the two species.
"Well I'm not going to go there," the mermaid admitted. "One of my jobs is orientation for new arrivals. Do you have any questions?"
"Has anyone unusual passed through here recently," Zenna asked.
"Define unusual," Gianna said. "Other than that, the only odd person who did pass by was an asari Matriarch. Lady Benezia,"
"She's here?" Liara asked quietly. "Mother,"
"Is it possible to speak to her?" Shepard asked hoping that this mission would be over soon.
"Benezia left for the Peak 15 research complex a few days ago. To my knowlage, she's still there,"
"It's a start. Any idea on how I can get there?"
"You'll need to ask Administrator Anoleis for clearance to leave this port," Gianna said apologetically.
"Here can I find him?"
"His office is at the top level left of the lift,"
Zenna nodded. "Thanks," she said before the three walked off with Liara being silent in a way that made the minotaur be concerned.
OOOOO
After dealing with the problematic Administrator Anoleis the team manged to commandeer a Mako and drive into the cold. But the terrain was as bad as people had said. More than once, due to Zenna's driving and the white out. After driving through the elements, they arrived at Peak 15. As they drove into the garage, they passed an APC outside which was on fire.
"Looks like Benezia had some vehicle troubles," Ashley quipped.
"Ugh, not opening. Bloody cold, ok everyone out," Shepard ordered.
Liara and Ashley nodded and slid their helmets on with Zenna following. Due to her horns she had a special type of helmet that had fibre mesh that covered her horns. This made it easier to put on than just slide them into armour slots. After checking their seals, they opened up the Mako's door and climbed out.
As they emerged from the Mako their shields were battered by the storm, they barely held up against the weather of Noveria. They hurried inside to the airlock. Once inside and the pressure equalised the three of them removed their helmets. The garage door opened revealing a large storage room with several Geth and Krogan who began to fire as the three entered.
"Shit Take cover!" Shepard ordered as she pulled out the box and threw it on top a pile of crates.
The box opened up into a spider like turret and began to fire on the geth.
Smiling, Zenna joined Ashley and Liara behind a truck. The turret kept the krogan and geth busy allowing them to split up. Liara remined behind the truck to support the two. She wasn't experienced in combat outside of using her powers. While this was a good chance to give her more combat experience with and without her biotics. One of the geth units jumped above her and tried to get a shot off. But she reacted quickly and moved out of the way before the shot even hit her.
She then threw a warp ball close to the geth. The gravity around it was gone before a short period of time allowing her to take the spotlight machine out. It fell to the ground with a thud making the others look to her. But by that time, Zenna and Ashley and moved into a better position to take the rest out. As a battlemaster tried to move to a better position, Zenna flanked him and pushed him into a section of cryo tanks. He fell into them, but before he could get up the commander fired a round at one of the tanks.
It exploded turning the Krogan to ice. Another shot ended him, the krogan shattered into a million pieces. Three more enemy's left. Ashley too two of them using her speed and jaws to rip into three of the final few enemies. Once the final geth fell the team regrouped after the commander recovered the turret. But as they did Zenna noticed something on Ashely's face.
"Err Ash, geth blood," she pointed to the side of her mouth.
"Huh," the marine muttered as she whipped out mouth and saw glowing blue liquid on her armour. "Yuk," the then wiped her mouth thoroughly and grabbed a drink from her canteen.
Zenna just smiled at the hu hound before checking her map. "Ok this way," she said leading the squad to a door.
As they approached it, it opened. But something caught them off guard as they looked into the room. Two turrets were faced the door opposite of them.
"Why would they have the turrets facing the other direction?" Liara asked out loud.
"The company probably wanted to keep their employees inside as much as they wanted to keep intruders outside," Ashley replied.
"Or something got out," Zenna thought out loud.
That was an even worse suggestion but either way, the team went into the room next to the hallway and attempted to accessing the console. Power was offline to the terminal. It was worrying to say the least. As Zenna was about to check it she and Ashley looked up to the vents. Both of their ears twitched detecting something.
"You see heard it too, Commander?" Ash asked.
"Yeah something moved through the vent," she replied.
"Geth?" Liara asked wishing that she had similar demi-human abilities.
"No something else," Zenna replied. "More than two legs,"
"Please no tentacle monsters," Ashley muttered which earned a look form the commander.
"You watch too much hentai," she muttered as they walked to a lift.
"Tentacles? Hentai?" the asari asked interested.
"You do not, want to know," Zenna said with a firm voice. "Ever, you look it up, your grip on reality will be warped,"
Liara said nothing about it, but made a mental note about looking it up as they entered the lift. The group rode the elevator up several levels. The hall was filled with snow from an unknown breach in the walls. That made Zenna shiver involuntarily. Minotaurs did not like the cold. While they did have thick skin, but not for the cold. A second set of doors opened which alerted the Geth in the next room. It was a small group of Geth, around four. They tried to open fire, but Zenna pounded one into the floor smashing it.
Liara used a shockwave to scatter them while Ashley finished them off by ripping into one of them and unloading a thermal clip into the other two. Once the last Geth fell, the squeal of metal echoed in the room. Something was coming. The squad formed a circle, waiting for what was to come. Something inside the vent then started to sound something akin growling.
"What is that?" Liara asked out loud.
"Animals? Wind?" Ash suggested. "This place is in bad shape,"
Just then a large insect-like creature burst out of the vents. It was soon followed by a dozen small green insects, and the best part it had tentacles.
"Tentacle monster!" Ash yelled as she just fired her weapon at them. "DIE DIE DIE!"
The green insects exploded when they were shot. With them being in close proximity to each other, it caused a chain reaction. The larger insect was ripped to spreads from all of the micro-explosions. Ashley's weapon just clicked in response, it's thermal clip full of heat. She unloaded an entire clip into the creatures without realising it, and she was still trying to kill the already dead creatures.
Zenna sighed in response and lowered the marine's weapons. Hu-hounds had an odd personality quirk where they would get very excited about something. But that excitement could be anything, from a desire to kill something or wanting to go and see a sports event. It depends on the demi-human question.
"That's enough," Shepard said. "They are dead," Ashley said nothing as she looked at the dead bugs in front of her taking deep breaths. "No more hentai, understand?"
"Yes commander," the marine said with sad dog eyes.
OOOOO
Benezia walked in an elegant manner towards the tank that contained a massive creature, nearly the size of a mako. The Rachni Queen. She was dark purple and was easily three times the size of any of her subjects. Her followers were extremely nervous in presence of the behemoth.
"Lady Benezia!" a commando yelled while running into the room. "I have just received reports of Shepard's team. They are on their way here!"
Benezia sighed quietly. "Send word to our infiltrator at the medical station. She is to be ordered to take her down,"
"Yes, my Lady," The follower went back to her station to relay the orders.
Benezia looked back to the Queen. "Your children were supposed to be the soldiers in Saren's grand army. While the project was a failure, you still may provide us with assistance. Your race knew the location of the Mu relay, which is necessary to find the Conduit which will save us all,"
The Rachni Queen backed away from the Asari Matriarch, mostly in due part to fear.
"Relax, your majesty. Embrace eternity!"
OOOOO
Shepard and the team were close to the lab where the Doctor Cohen said the cure for the quarantine could be made in. Inside there was a lone Volus standing there by himself. He turned around to face the squad as they approached.
"Hello," he said in a very monotonous voice. "You're here for Benezia, I suppose,"
"Yes, we are," Shepard replied. "Are you a survivor from the Hot Labs?"
"Somewhat," he replied. "A part of me died there though. My colleague and I were just going on our lunch when the alarms and they came. We rushed to the tram. I-I killed her," That was a shock to the team. "I got on the tram and closed the door behind me. I watched her head explode like a melon," his voice became more emotional. "She begged to be let in, but I didn't. I just closed the door, I didn't want those creatures coming to rip me apart,"
"I understand," Zenna said as she did understand the problem he faced, kill or be killed. "Do you know what these creatures are?"
"The Rachni?" he asked.
"What?" Liara asked in shock and horror.
"Where did you find Rachni?" Zenna asked with equal concern in her voice.
"We discovered a derelict Rachni vessel and inside was an egg. At first, we wanted to clone the Rachni, but as it turned out, the egg hatched into a Queen, hope to grow an army of them. But they became too wild, feral. We couldn't control them. Now they have over run the facility,"
"That's unsettling," Zenna said.
"Indeed, it is, you are here for the cure yes? The machine is over there," he pointed to a machine across the room.
"Thank you," Ashley said as the others walked over to the machine
Zenna walked up to it and began to start the process. It wasn't a big deal, but was a complicated code in order machine to generate the cure. But when she was done keying in the code it was straight forward from there as it was mostly automotive, leaving just the task of timing the injection sequence. It took 5 minutes for a canister of purple liquid emerged from the machine. Smiling the commander picked it up as the door opened and something walked in. Walking around the machine they then noticed the asari doctor who was waiting in the other room with the survivors standing in the middle of the room flanked by several geth units.
"Looks like some fun," she said grabbing a ball from her belt before walking up to the asari.
"I'm afraid this is as far as you go, Shepard," the Asari agent declared. She had several Geth soldiers standing around her. "You have been an annoyance to Lady Benezia, but your ti-"
"Think fast," Zenna said throwing the ball at the asari.
She caught it with ease and looked at it. "What…" she tried to say but it opened up and millions of vaults of electricity spurted from it and arced from the asari to the geth shutting them down and electrocuting the asari. It killed all of them with one shot. They fell down dead, destroyed.
"You probably could have let her finish her speech, Commander," Ash pointed out.
"I'm not going to give them the time. I'm not interested in villainous speeches, we have a job to do," the minotaur said as she and the other walked out.
OOOOO
Shepard and company entered a large chamber and saw Benezia looking into a tank containing the Rachni Queen.
"You do not know the privilege of being a mother," Benezia said while turning to face Shepard as she and the other two approached. "There is power in creation. To shape a life. Turn it towards happiness or despair," Benezia glanced at the Queen. "Her children were to be ours. Raised to hunt and slay Saren's enemies." Benezia's eyes were drawn to Liara. "I won't be moved by sympathy. No matter who you bring into this confrontation,"
"Liara is here of her own accord," Zenna said to her knowing that this was the moment for the asari to show where her loyalties lay.
"Indeed... What have you told him about me, Liara?" the asari's mother asked.
"What could I say, mother?" Liara yelled at her. "That you're insane? Evil? Should I explain how to kill you? What could I say?" her emotions clearly got the better of her, but that made one thing clear. She wasn't loyal to her mother.
"Have you ever faced an Asari commando unit before, Commander? Few humans have,"
"You would kill your own daughter?" Zenna asked in disbelief.
"I now realize I should have been stricter with you," Benezia casted stasis on Shepard freezing her in place.
That was the wrong move as Ashley dived at the asari aiming for the neck. The attack was sudden enough that the matriarch didn't have time to counter it. It made her back up trying to fight off the blood hungry hu-hound. Liara found this as an opportunity to unlock the stasis from Zenna. By using two warp balls, one can overload stasis. This is what she did and the commander just reacted by pulling out her pistol. She then whistled for Ash to pull away.
The marine slashed the matriachs face before jumping off while the doors in the back of the room opened up releasing Asari Commandos and Geth. The asari just smiled as her forces approached the commander and a shield activated around her. This was good an bad, on the one had she couldn't attack, but it also meant that Shepard and her team couldn't attack as well. But that was a good thing as they focused on the geth and commandos.
"Ash, seek and destroy," Zenna ordered.
Ashley smiled and jumped on top of the thank before letting a howl like a wolf. It made her a target for the asari, but that didn't last long as she pounced onto one of them. In that moment the asari realised how much of a problem the demi-humans turned out to be for the turians. But it didn't last as her neck was ripped out killing her. As Ashley pouched from asari to asari the lead commando made her way up to Zenna and Liara who were occupied taking out the geth units. She moved slowly and sneakily up to the two and was about to strike but a large fist hit her in the face and sent her into a wall.
"Trying to sneak up on a minotaur was a bad idea," Zenna was as she moved in for another punch.
She tried to punch the asari again, but the blue alien moved out of the way before it landed. The commando lead then jumped and kicked the minotaur in the head, but it did little other than making her move to the side. That wasn't the reaction she was expecting, she had fought korgan, geth, asari, turians and salarians. But she had rarely faced a demi human. Especially a minotaur like this. She tried to go in again but this time Shepard grabbed her fist hand and twisted it in such a way that it made her fall to her knees before the commander.
Her arm popped out of it's socket by the shear strength of the minotaur making her cry out.
"This is why the turains lost the first contact war," Zenna said with and intimidating look, "They underestimated us, thought they were fighting one army when they were fighting multiple, you'd do well to remember that," she the slammed her head into the asari's breaking her nose and knocking her out.
As the last soldier fell Benezia's shield also fell. She was about to attack but Liara and Zenna were too fast as they brought up their pistols and fired. The rounds hit her personal shield taking it down before three rounds it her in the chest ad arms sending her to the floor.
"It's over, Benezia," Ashley said from on top of the tank with her assault rifle
"This is not over," the matriarch said as she stood up and covered her bullet wound. "Saren is unstoppable. My mind is filled with his light. Everything is clear,"
At this point she didn't sound coherent to the team. Almost deluded.
"The Rachni didn't cooperate with you, why should I?" Zenna asked not taking her aim or pistol of her.
Benezia looked back at her and then away. "I will not betray him. You will-" she stopped herself and leaned against the terminal station in front of the Rachni tank. "You-" Benezia pushed herself off of the terminal. "You must listen. Saren still whispers in my mind. I can fight his compulsion briefly, but the indoctrination is strong," she sounded totally different now, as if she was trying to fight something.
"Indoctrination?" Liara asked not lowering her smg.
"You don't know what's it's like to be beating on the glass wall as you watch yourself torturing and killing," she said as she approached. "All because of the indoctrination. People are not themselves around Saren. You come to idolize him. Worship him. You would do anything for him. The key is Sovereign, his flagship. It is a dreadnought of incredible size and its power is extraordinary,"
"Where did he get that ship?" Zenna asked.
Ever since she saw it on Eden prime, she had been looking through every ship design out there, and nothing matched up. Even the geth designs had nothing close to it.
"I don't know," Benezia admitted, but there was no way to know if she was telling the truth. "All I do know is that it is not a Geth creation. The ship exerts a force on you. Over time Saren's views become more correct. You sit at his feet and smile as his words pour into you. It is subtle at first. I thought I was strong enough to resist instead I became a willing tool eager to serve. He sent me here to find the location of the Mu relay. Its position was lost thousands of years ago,"
Shepard eyes went to the Queen and widened. "She found it,"
"Yes," she replied. "Two thousand years ago, the Rachni inhabited that region of the galaxy. They discovered the relay. The Rachni can share memories across generations. Queens inherit the knowledge of their mothers. I took the location from the Queen's mind," She added as a further note of regret. "I was not gentle."
"Why does Saren need the Mu relay?" Liara asked.
"He believes it will lead him to the Conduit. I would tell you more if I could, but Saren did not share his council with me. I was merely a servant to his cause,"
"You can still make it right. Give me the information," Zenna said.
"I was not myself. I should have been stronger." Benezia stood and approached the commander.
"I transcribed the location on this OSD. Take it. Please!" she begged practically shoving it into the commander's hands.
"Knowing the relay's coordinates is not enough," Liara said. "Do you know where he was to go from there?"
"Saren wouldn't tell me the destination. But you must find out quickly. I transmitted the information to him before you arrived. You have to stop me-! I ca- I can't-" She was losing control over her will. "His teeth are at my ear! Fingers on my spine! You should- You shoulda-" She screamed. "You should-!"
"Mother!" Liara cried out to her. "I- Don't leave! Fight him!"
Benezia looked to Liara. "You've always made me proud, Liara." She turned away and then turned around to face them. "Die!"
Before anyone else could react Liara pulled the trigger and a burst of bullets hit her mother square on the cheast. Realiseing what she had done she ran up to her mother and began to cradle her.
"I-I cannot go on," she said. "You will have to stop him, Shepard,"
"Hold on, we have medi-gel!" Liara tried to offer. "Maybe we can-"
"No!" she refused. "He is still in my mind. I'm not entirely myself. I will never be myself again,"
"Mother..." Liara muttered.
"Good night, Little Wing. I will see you again with the dawn. No light." There was slight panic in her voice. "They always said there would be a light," and with that Benezia passed away in front of them.
"Mother!" Liara cried as she cradled what was left of her mother.
Zenna said nothing as she walked up to Liara and placed her hand on her shoulder. "Take all the time you need," Liara looked up at her with sad, tear-filled eyes and said, "Thank you,"
With that Shepard looked back to the Queen and started to approach she reached the tank she looked into it at the rare site of a living Rachni Queen.
'What am I going to do with you?' she questioned. 'Your race started a war with the galaxy and the Krogan were used to wipe you out just to stop you. But you're the last of your kind,'
The Rachni Queen turned and roared at him. It made the minotaur jumped back only to bump into one of the ssari commandos that was killed. She drew his pistol and aimed at her. Something was different about her. She sluggishly walked like she was sleep walking. The asari walked to the tank and turned around. As that happened Ash jumped down from the tank and did not take her aim off the asari.
"This one serves as our voice," the Asari said in an odd voice. There was a slight tune to her voice. "We cannot sing. Not in these low spaces. Your musics are colourless,"
"Musics?" Shepard muttered wondering what she meant.
"Your way of communicating is strange. Flat. It does not colour the air. Well, your friends' music does not move the air. Your... voice. I can see colour in it. When we speak, one moves all,"
"This will be a fun conversation," Ash joked which earned her a slap on the back of the head. "Oww,"
"We are the Mother," the Queen declared. "We sing for those left behind. The children you thought silenced. We are Rachni,"
"How are you speaking through her?" Zenna asked as she approached the tank.
"Our kind sing through touching of thought. We pluck the strings and the other understands. She is weak. She has colours we have no names for. But she is ending. Her music is bitter-sweet. You are not in harmony with those ones who wish to control us. They took our children away from us before they could sing and act out violently,"
"Makes sense," Liara commented as she stood after placing her mother in a funeral style pose. "Lock a kid in a closet till they're 16, they are not likely to come out right,"
"They cannot be saved. Sadly, they must be put down," the Queen said in a sad tone.
"If you're sure that they cannot be saved," Ashley muttered.
"It is... lamentable, but it must be done. Before you go... We stand before you. What will you sing? Will you free us? Or are we to fade away once more?" the Queen asked.
"Are you a survivor of your race, or a clone?" Zenna asked wanting to know more before she made a decision.
"We do not know," the Queen admitted. "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. Then we awoke in this place. The last echo of those who came out from the Singing Planet. The sky is silent,"
"If I let you out are you going to try to take revenge on the galaxy?" that was something the commander had to consider, let the Queen go and risk the safety of the galaxy or end her.
"N-No!" the Asari conduit said. "We do not know what happened during the war. We only heard dissonance songs the colour of oily shadows. We will go into hiding and teach our children peace and harmony. Maybe once they understand, then we may return,"
"Millions of my kind died trying to wipe them out, Shepard," Ash mumbled. "Use the acid tanks. That's all I'm going to say,"
"No!" Liara pleaded. "The Council went too far. They deserve a second chance!"
"Your companions hear the truth. You have the power to free us or return us to the silence of memory," the tone in her voice fell as she knew that the minotaur in front of her held her life in her hands.
Would she be despicable for genocide? Just because they existed? She remembered history, about how the rachni attacked ships. What if something made them? She didn't know what to do. But then her mind turned back to how the minotaurs were nearly whipped from existence. There was only a few left before the came back in force with more to offer the world. There really was only one choice to make.
"Alright, I'll free you," Zenna declared.
Ash and Liara said nothing as they both agreed with the commander.
"You will give us the chance to compose anew?" the Queen asked in amazement. "We will remember. We will sing of your forgiveness to our children,"
Shepard approached the terminal and pushed in the command to release the Queen into the Wilds. The Queen looked to Shepard before exiting. Even if she was unable to understand her song, the gesture was obvious.
'Farewell and thank you,'
OOOOO
Back on the Normandy Zenna told Ashley and Liara to take the rest of the day off while she got chewed out by the council for letting the rachni go. Liara took the time to look up this 'hentai' that Zenna had told her not to watch. But her interest was peaked by the way she acted. There was plenty of results, so needing to start somewhere she chose the first one, Bible Black.
Codex:
Centaurs:
Unlike most other demi-human types, centaurs hold themselves in high esteem. Proud, arrogant, noble and stubborn to a fault, they have a long history much like nekomata and hu-hounds. Mostly focused in Europe, they paired themselves up with knights. This is where they became closely associated with nobility and arrogance. A knight would never be separated from their noble steed.
Due to their heritage, they are very traditional and don't like change. It's hard for them to adjust to any kind of change being social, rules, climate and more. This gives them a stubborn streak making them unlikeable to a lot of people.
A common trait that most centaurs share, however is their mutual dislike of minotaurs. They see the bovine demi-humans as little more than barbaric brutes with little to no tact. While the minotaurs view the centaurs as pompous problem makers.
In combat they act as fast attack cavalry with heavy weapons on their backs. Moving and striking at the same time they are a hard foe to take down when you don't have large calibre machine guns. Outside of combat, they mostly serve as teachers and historians due to their love of history.
Mermaids:
Commonly referred to as mer people, are one of the most unusual demi-human groups when compared to the others. They have several types within their main category such as the octopus Scylla. For the most part Mermaids have fish tails and gills on their neck which makes it hard for them to move around. This is why they use cybernetic leg attachments on their waits. But some types, such as the Scylla, can use their tentacles to navigate without the use of cybernetics.
Playful and informative Mermaids are very pleasant to have around and have a conversation with. In combat, they have little use outside of sea battles as they are used as saboteurs and recon specialists. Outside of combat, they are fine actors, actresses and musicians. Some of their music is said to be heavenly.