A/N: *strolls in after 2.5 years* It's been a hot minute, hasn't it? Either way, I'm not dead and this fic isn't abandoned, I'm just slow! Please enjoy the next chapter, though I'll warn you, it's not beta-read and it's been years since I played, so I hope I haven't forgotten anything major. Have fun! (And I still don't own Mass Effect, just playing in their sandbox)
They climbed into the shuttle and Nick gestured for Javik to take a seat across from her. His expression could only be characterized as a sneer but he followed her request either way. Liara seemed star-struck, tracking every movement the prothean made, clearly trying hard to contain her curiosity. Kaidan was tracking him as well but for more cautionary reasons, just as she was.
Well, Nick had to admit strapping in, if she'd spent all her life studying an extinct culture and suddenly encountered a survivor she'd probably be bursting with questions, too. She herself planned to remain wary and keep an eye on the prothean. She kept her face schooled in a neutral expression; one that she usually wore in meetings with higher-ups she didn't know.
She glanced at her ground team, getting a thumbs up from both Kaidan and Liara, and thumping her fist against the bulkhead twice—the go ahead signal for Cortez.
Apart from the hum of the engine, the ride back to the Normandy was quiet.
#
Kaidan stood for a moment, just watching Nick and Liara escort the prothean—Javik, he reminded himself—out of the shuttle bay with a security detail. He let out a slow breath before turning to the weapon's table and picking up his rifle, disassembling it with practiced moves before wiping it down with gun oil.
"How'd it go?" Garrus' two-tonal voice carried over from the elevator just as Kaidan finished cleaning up the table.
"It went, " he replied laconically.
Garrus stepped next to him, "What's this I hear about finding a prothean?"
"Mmh," Kaidan hummed, putting the gun oil in its place and wiping the table clean. "A real live and talking prothean. Goes by Javik." He turned, tossing the dirty rag into the bin.
"Well shit, I bet Liara's having a field day."
Kaidan huffed a laugh, gathering his weapons and stowing them away, "You could say that. Though I get the feeling he's not what she expected. He's rather, ah, abrasive."
"Like Wrex in the beginning?"
"Much worse."
Garrus chortled. "I find that hard to believe." He paused. "And Nick?"
Kaidan grimaced, thinking about the stiff line of her shoulders as she marched Javik away, "You know how she is."
Garrus let out a slow breath, "Yeah."
They went to the elevator together, both Steve and James joining them. All turned to face Kaidan when his stomach growled loudly. He grinned lopsidedly and shrugged. It had been a long day and the fight had burned plenty of calories.
"Biotics," Garrus muttered loudly, shaking his head, and Kaidan gave him a small shove under the snickering of the others. He peeled off toward his locker to grab toiletries and a towel and headed toward the showers.
Kaidan kept his shower brief—it was more to rinse off the sweat before changing into a clean set of BDUs than having to really scrub down. Apart from that, he really wanted to eat.
Briefly checking his omnitool once he was dressed, he made his way to the galley, chucking the underarmor into the laundry chute on his way out.
#
The war effort marched on, supply runs and emergency extractions becoming daily routine even as they continued their way to Lesuss—the request from asari high command having been upgraded to "urgent"—as quickly as the Reapers and Cerberus allowed.
Javik continued to be prickly but Nick had talked a few times over the past days and overall his points were reasonable but she wasn't quite ready to have him join in combat just yet. Also it was amusing to watch him rile up Liara.
Arrae left a foul taste in Nick's mouth. Sure, the mission had gone well—they'd managed to evacuate the scientists–and seeing Jacob had been mostly good. Mostly. But some of the things Jacob said rubbed her the wrong way.
She shrugged them off, no sense lingering on them, and prepared to do her usual rounds after returning to the Normandy, seeking to speak to her shore squad, and found Kaidan in the crew quarters chatting with one of the marines. The marine—Lopez—excused themselves and Kaidan nodded at one of the empty seats. As soon as the corporal left, his face took a thoughtful turn, frown forming between his brows.
"Those scientists," he started, slowly revolving the mug in his hands, "they were good people."
Nick nodded, not sure what else to say, and dropped into the chair next to him.
"How many people like that worked for Cerberus, thinking they were doing good while—" he broke off, waving it aside. "Either way, they're as safe as you can be, at the moment. Not that that's saying much." He looked over, catching her eye,
She huffed. "Yeah, that's for sure. Shit's real." She rubbed her face with both hands, groaning softly. "We're on course for the Asari monastery on Lesuss now. You heard of Ardat-Yakshi?"
Kaidan hummed an affirmative. "They're like Asari sex vampires, right? Suck the life out of their, uh, partners during the mind meld? You mentioned having to deal with one during your Cerberus stint."
"Simplified, but yeah, that would be them."
"And this monastery has to do with them how?"
She gave him a look. "It's an Ardat-Yakshi monastery. Apparently asari high command lost contact with it some time ago and want some assistance figuring out what the issue is. That's all the information we have so far. They sent the missive before we headed to Eden Prime but they've upgraded it to urgent in the mean time."
Kaidan hummed an affirmative, "I remember you mentioning it." He took a swig of coffee. "What's our ETA?"
"EDI," Nick said, "what's our ETA to Lesuss?"
" ETA is twenty-five hours ," came the prompt reply.
"Have we heard from Samara?"
" There has been no correspondence from the Justicar, Shepard. "
"Thank you, EDI, that was all. Shepard out." She turned her attention back to Kaidan. "So, we have roughly a day. I hope that Samara gets back to me before that. I'd sent her an inquiry as soon as I got the mission brief from Thessia. Either way, I wanted to give you a heads-up." She snagged his mug and sniffed at it, debating whether to steal a swallow or not. She lowered her voice, "You coming up for dinner later on?"
The corner of Kaidan's mouth twitched. "I think I can do that."
"Yeah?" She propped her chin on her hands.
"Mhm. Just dinner? Or did you accumulate a report backlog again and need help slogging through it?" He smirked at her.
Nick rolled her eyes at him, bumping her elbow against his. "That was one time. It's not a backlog yet but I guess you could help me stay on top of things? I'll make it up to you."
"Are you propositioning me, Captain?" Kaidan purred.
"I might be," Nick replied nonchalantly. "Is it working?"
"It might be."
#
Samara's reply was short. A simple "I will meet you there." that popped up in her messages just as she was suiting up. Nick frowned briefly at the brevity. She had hoped to get a little more insight on the situation before getting boots on the ground but if Samara planned to be there, well. An in-person sitrep was always good.
"Well, looks like we'll be seeing Samara on site," she informed Kaidan and Liara.
"Oh! Will the Justicar be fighting with us?" Liara asked, looking up from her gear.
Nick shrugged, checking her mag before slamming it back into its slot. "I have no idea. All Samara said was that she'll be meeting us there. Might be a good thing but I'm not getting my hopes up. It might just be for an info-dump."
"I can also give you plenty of information, Shepard," Liara pointed out.
"You already gave me all the info you had, yes," Nick retorted drily. "But I think a Justicar might have some more insight, no? This being her wheelhouse and all." She stepped closer to Kaidan without another word, her back turned to him. It took no further prompting for him to check if her gear was secure.
"All good," he said softly, squeezing her shoulder.
Nick nodded curtly and made a circling motion with her hand to repay the favor, watching James step up to Liara to double-check her equipment out of the corner of her eye.
#
The monastery lay nestled on a plateau between the high tops of a mountain range, snow-covered tips surrounding it on all sides. It looked beautiful. Serene, even. There was no one to meet them on the platform when Cortez dropped them off but there was a shuttle on the platform, engine still warm. But there was no other sign anyone was there; apart from the howling wind everything seemed eerily quiet. Nick scanned the area before motioning toward the door.
Darkness met them when the door slid open.
They made their way through the maintenance shaft as silently as possible, the clanging of their boots loud on the metal grates in the surrounding silence nonetheless, and further into the building. Signs of combat were visible throughout—score marks from blaster burns, upended plants and furniture, dead bodies of asari commandos—but now everything seemed abandoned.
A distant blood-curdling screech filled the air. Nick froze, the other two behind her mirroring her. Maybe not quite abandoned, then.
"What was that ?" Kaidan asked under his breath.
"No idea," Nick replied just as quietly. She had never heard anything quite like it. "Whatever it was, it was too close for my taste."
"And not friendly."
"No. Definitely not friendly."
They moved on, gingerly making their way through dark halls only illuminated by their flashlights, and stumbled across another body, a data pad clutched in its hand.
"This was the commando's captain," Liara pointed out, skimming over the data pad after easing it from the dead asari's grip before passing it on to Kaidan. "It seems they gave their lives fighting Reapers."
Nick met Kaidan's gaze before glancing at Liara, "The message from asari high command said nothing about Reapers, go figure."
"Maybe they didn't know?" he suggested. "Or didn't find it necessary to elaborate, given—" He made a wide sweeping movement with one arm.
"Surely they would have said something if they'd known!" Liara put in.
Nick shrugged, "Doesn't really matter now, does it? Either way, not sure what the Reapers want with an out-of-the-way asari monastery but if they're trying to take it, it can't be anything good. I don't know about you, but I don't think reaperfied asari sex vampires are something we want." The very thought was terrifying if anyone asked her.
Kaidan huffed a cheerless laugh, "Yeah, no." He tapped the data pad, skimming over it quickly. "There's a nav point location for a bomb in the Great Hall."
"Guess that's where we're headed then."
#
The eery screeches grew more frequent and louder the further they moved through the empty halls.
"I really don't want to know what's making those sounds," Liara pointed out, stepping onto a high walkway winding down to another hall.
Nick nodded sharply before signaling everyone to quiet down. Below they heard a thud followed by the sound of soft footfalls. A wry smile appeared on her face when she saw the source of that particular noise.
"I almost thought you weren't coming," Samara said in lieu of a greeting.
"Good to see you, too, Samara," Nick replied. "You were here fast."
Samara gave a sad smile. "I was already on my way. Two of my daughters are here. I…have to try to save them."
Nick hummed thoughtfully, "You think they can give us more insight at what the Reapers want?"
"Perhaps," Samara conceded. Another shriek tore through the air. "Either way, our time is up, we must move on. I will try to lure these creatures away while you finish your mission."
#
They found the source for the unholy screeching soon enough: a terrifying creature, easily eight foot tall with razor-sharp teeth, long, spiny, clawed fingers, bloated belly, and a disconcerting resemblance to asari in its features. It wasn't difficult to discern what had happened.
Nick scrambled to escape landing in the grasp of one of these monsters when it suddenly appeared in front of her, rolling out of the way at the last second as it closed the distance between them in the blink of an eye. Her heart pounded in her chest. They were fucking fast . A streak of blue whizzed by her ear, throwing the banshee back, and she wasted no taking it down, unloading her clip into it. She reloaded and threw a quick glance at Kaidan, wanting to give him a thumbs up as a thank you for the save but he was already focused on the next target.
"This used to be a person, an asari!" Liara cried out indignantly, crouching behind a planter after Throwing back another of these creatures. "What have the Reapers done!"
"The same thing they've done to humans and turians and batarians," Nick pointed out, giving her a sharp look before wordlessly moving on. She pushed down the annoyance running through her at Liara's words. As if the Reapers hadn't started turning humans to husks three years ago already and were now doing the same thing with turians and any species they got their grubby hands on.
#
They met Samara again not much later, speaking to another asari whom she introduced as her youngest daughter, Falere.
"They have Rila!" Falere cried, letting out a high sob. "Those monsters took her to the Great Hall."
"That's where the bomb site is, right?" Nick asked Kaidan to confirm.
"Yeah, according to the commando's info."
"A bomb?" Falere's voice pitched even higher. "Aren't you here to save us?"
"If we can," Shepard amended. "But chances are that we're going to have to set off that bomb anyway."
#
As deserted as the monastery appeared when they first arrived, that changed the closer they got to the great hall, Cannibals and Marauders and the one or other Banshee looking to stop them.
"They really don't want us getting there!" Kaidan called, Reaving the Banshee and two Cannibals caught in Liara's Singularity, biotics dancing over his body like blue flames.
"Wonder why!" Nick called back, chucking a grenade at more enemy forces that made the mistake of being too close together. She grit her teeth as more showed up, firing another four-shot burst at a Cannibal. She ejected the clip and popped in a new one before it had hit the ground. Slowly but surely they made their way through the antechamber to the elevator leading to the great hall.
Rila was unconscious when they found her, propped against the bomb, Falere desperately trying to rouse her.
"Look for a detonator," Shepard ordered, watching Falere's frantic tries to wake Rila before wandering over to the corpse of another commando. "One of the commandos must have had one."
She no sooner uttered those words when a high-pierced screech rang through the Great Hall.
"Shit!" Shepard hissed through her teeth, dropping into cover and firing at a Banshee. She grit her teeth. There were three of those bitches and perhaps a dozen of Husks. This wasn't going to be easy. It would be up to her, Kaidan, and Liara to take care of the tangos while Samara kept a protective barrier over her daughters.
She fired a burst at a Husk, sending it tumbling into a Banshee. It didn't buy much time but at least she managed to reload and reposition before firing another salvo at the banshee.
Nick shot a quick glance at Falere and Samara standing guard over Rila's body before turning her attention back to their opponents. The unmistakable burnt ozone smell of biotics filled the air, always reminding her of hot summer air after a close lightning strike. She cocked her shotgun, leaning briefly out of cover, and fired three quick shots at a Banshee bearing down on Liara. Ejecting the empty clip and slotting a new one was done even before the twisted creature turned toward her with a horrifying shriek.
Sounds of combat drifted her way from the other side of the room, the sizzle of biotics and a sharp explosion a sure sign that Kaidan and Liara had joined forces against at least one opponent.
Peeking around her cover, she pulled a grenade from its pouch. Distantly she thought it was a good thing there were only Husks accompanying the Banshees and not Marauders or Cannibals, and lobbed a grenade.
Time was a strange thing during combat, moving incredibly fast while seemingly stretching like taffy, but eventually no more reaper forces followed for the moment. Reinforcements weren't far off, though, leaving them only limited time. Already the tell-tale shrieking grew closer. Nick snagged a detonator lying beside a dead asari commando and jogged over to the others. Kaidan was already crouched next to the bomb, inspecting it, while the four asari appeared to be in a debate. Or rather, Rila and Falere were in a debate.
"We've gotta move fast," Nick said, closing the remaining distance. "I give us five minutes tops before this place is crawling with more of those things."
"Go," Rila rasped, ignoring her sister's protests. She locked eyes with Shepard. "Take Falere with you and get to safety." She nodded toward the bomb. "I'll deal with our poor twisted sisters and the bomb."
Nick didn't reply immediately. Instead, she turned to Kaidan, speaking in a low voice. "How big do you think the damage of this payload'll be? This complete wing?"
Kaidan frowned, eyebrows pinched as he thought the question over. "Probably." He glanced around, eyes flitting over pillars and windows. "Possibly. It's placed in a strange place, off to the side like this, not close to any supporting structure. But it's…sizable."
Nick hummed, agreeing with his statement. It didn't look much smaller than the bomb they'd set off on Virmire, and that had leveled an entire compley and then some. Granted, this was not a nuclear bomb. "Less structural and more physical damage, maybe."
He gave a short nod.
Nick turned back to Rila, weighing the detonator in her hand before giving it to the asari. "I'm sorry we couldn't get here earlier."
"You got here in time to stop them from turning me into one of these creatures," the ardat-yakshi said. "That's enough for me." She looked at her mother and sister. "You know it's too late for me. We can't be sure whatever they did doesn't turn me into one of those eventually, I'm too injured to heal without medical aid or maybe even with and I can't leave here. Let me do this," she said imploringly.
Samara nodded slowly. "I'm proud of you, Rila. I'm proud of you both," she added, looking at Falere.
"Okay," Nick said. "Let's get moving."
#
The elevator ride was nearly silent apart from Falere's sobs. They heard the first enemies approaching just as the doors slid shut and it had taken both Samara and Liara to hold Falere back from trying to get out of the elevator. Now Nick just hoped they would all be out of the elevator before Rila detonated the bomb. As soon as the doors slid open in the upper level, they sprinted out, running flat out to get as far away as possible.
A loud boom sounded through the air just as they reached the maintenance shaft leading back to the shuttle. The floor shook under their feet.
Outside, Samara drew a deep breath, clearly bracing herself for something. Foreboding filled Nick. "Rila," Samara said, "a ardat-yakshi can't live outside a monastery that no longer exists. There is only one way for you to live if I want to ophold my oath as a Justicar." She drew her pistol, weighing it in her hands before bringing it up to her temple.
"Samara, what the fuck!" Nick exclaimed, wrestling the Justicar's arms behind her back. "Are you fucking kidding me? This has to be the stupidest thing you've ever done."
"There's no other way to save Falere," Samara grit out through her teeth, struggling against Nick's hold. "Let go."
"By throwing your life away? Bullshit."
"I'm not killing my last daughter," Samara snarled, trying to twist around.
"Mother, you won't have to," Falere said shakily. "I'm not leaving. This is my home . And if the Reapers return, they won't take me alive, I promise."
The tension bled out of Samara's body and Nick released her arms, stepping back as the Justicar drew herself to her full height. "Then the Code permits you to remain here, as you are." She looked at Nick. "Thank you, Shepard. If you need help in your fight, you know how to contact me."
"You could stay and help Falere rebuild her home."
Samara shook her head. "No, we must stop these Reapers. Otherwise it doesn't matter if we rebuild her home or not."
"That's for sure."
"In that case, I will speak to Falere and then join your forces, if you'll have me."
Nick smiled. "I'm not going to say no to that offer. I look forward to fighting with you again." Giving a short nod, she turned and activated her comm. "All done here, ready for exfil."
Cortez's voice crackled over the comm unit, "On my way, Captain. I'll just follow the smoke."
#
The thrum of the Kodiak's engine was loud in the silence of the shuttle.
They were all exhausted. The mission had been successful enough but still the mood was downcast. Sure, the monastery was still mostly standing and they had saved Falere and gained Samara's assistance in the war effort but it felt hollow nonetheless. Nick couldn't help but wonder how many lives could have been saved, if Asari Command had been more specific in their request for aid. Then again, what would have happened to the scientists on Arrae if she'd taken the Normandy to Lesuss first?
Well, there was nothing for it. It was done now.
"Well," Kaidan said, breaking the silence, his voice rough, "that sure was a shitshow. Quick thinking with Samara, stopping her like that. What kind of code is that that makes putting a gun to her head in front of her child sound like a good idea? Good thing that Falere seems to have a solid head on her shoulders."
Nick sighed, rubbing her eyes, "You can say that again. Speaking of, how's your head feel?"
"Better now that I don't have that infernal noise in my ears. That screeching is not something I need to experience anytime soon again. My implant is still tingling." Kaidan shuddered. Fucking banshees; he really hoped they wouldn't have too many run-ins with them.
Nick gave him a sharp look, worry tugging the corners of her mouth downward. "Let Chakwas check you over once we're back aboard."
"Will do, Cap." His omnitool pinged with an incoming message. He flicked it open and smiled, happy to see Ash was still alive and kicking. "Ash," he said, answering Nick's unasked question before reading the message and grimacing. "Her unit is being redeployed to Earth."
Nick echoed his grimace. "Finger's crossed they don't land in the thick of it."
They shared another look, both knowing that that was very unlikely.