Chapter 6.
As my life flashes by I now realize what really was important to me all this time, and how I am going to miss her...
It has been two weeks since their last mission, the team spend most of the time doing various assignments they received from Admiral Hackett. Saren went into hiding and the council send infiltrator teams into the traverse in order to find him, one team got lucky, or perhaps unlucky, since the last communication received from it was a distress call. Shepard was immediately dispatched to the team's last known location.
John had a bad feeling, from the very moment the Normandy entered the atmosphere of the planet. He did not waste any time, the Mako was prepared and his squad locked and loaded.
"Get ready, this will be a rough ride." he said and looked at the krogan mercenary sitting on his left.
"It's always a rough ride when you drive Shepard." Wrex quipped.
"Hey! I'm a great driver!" John replied, feigned anger.
"That coming from a man who thought that driving off a cliff was a good idea." Garrus commented.
"It was a good idea at the time." Shepard replied ironically.
"Yeah, if only that happened once." Garrus replied.
After a short pause all three were laughing, tension ran high and this was an outlet.
"Drop point in 30 seconds Commander!" Joker's voice resonated in the comm.
"Just bring us in nice and clean Joker."
"I always do Commander."
The cargo bay doors opened and Mako launched out of the ship, nose-diving towards the ground, Shepard pulled the steering toward himself, the front thrusters began to work, followed shortly by the back thrusters, stabilizing the Mako. The ground was still coming up fast, John launched the thrusters to maximum, as well as flipping the mass effect core generator, the vehicle slowed down and landed into shallow water, sending out small tidal waves away from it. The LZ was clear, no Geth in sight.
"Commander, we are detecting AA batteries near the last transmission of the infiltrator team, if we are to land there, you will have to clear them." Joker spoke in the comm.
"We're on it Joker." John replied and hit the accelerator pedal.
"What do you mean we're stuck?" Ashley was fuming, "Don't you have a contingency plan for this sort of thing?"
"We do, and that was sending out a transmission for reinforcements. Now we just have to sit back and wait for them." said a young salarian captain by the name of Kirrahe.
"Sorry to break it to you captain, but we are the reinforcements." Kaidan replied.
"What? Didn't the council get our transmission?" the salarian captain replied.
"The only thing they received was a distress call, so they sent us to investigate." John replied.
"Investigating is what my team has been doing here, and now half of it is gone."
"What did you find?" John asked, looking over the remaining forces of the salarian infiltrator team.
"This complex is a krogan breeding facility." Kirrahe replied.
"How is that possible? Wrex asked, walking up to Kirrahe.
"Saren found a cure for the genophage, this cloning and breeding facility will give him an army of krogan and then he will be unstoppable. We need to destroy it."
Wrex came in closer, staring down the salarian.
Kirrahe held the krogan's stare and added, "We will not repeat the past mistake."
Wrex leaned forward, causing the salarian to back off, and growled "We are not a mistake!", he turned around and walked off a few yards.
"Is he going to be a problem? We've got enough problems as it is." Kirrahe asked Shepard.
"I'll talk to him." John replied, following Wrex with his eyes, keeping him in sight.
"We are working on a plan right now, it is almost complete just give us a few minutes."
John nodded and turned around, Ashley and Kaidan did as well, "Are you going to talk to Wrex Commander?" Ashley asked.
"Yes, but be ready for anything, Wrex and I are friends, but survival of his whole race is on the line, who knows how he will act." said Shepard and began to walk towards Wrex.
Shepard walked up to Wrex, who was shooting his shotgun in the water, he turned around and walked up closer to Shepard.
"This isn't right Shepard! My people are dying! If Saren has a cure for them then we can't lose this opportunity. Help me out here Shepard, the line between friend and foe is quickly disappearing."
"We can't let Saren gain this advantage Wrex." John replied calmly.
Wrex raised his shotgun, pinning it against Shepard's chest. "So this is it huh? We came all this way for it to end like this?"
"Wrex. These aren't your people, Saren won't give you the genophage cure, he will use you to his means and then dispose of you when you have exhausted your usefulness." John said calmly.
There were a few seconds of tense silence as Wrex was thinking over Shepard's words, finally Wrex lowered his weapon. "You're right. We've been a tool of the council once before and I don't want that to repeat. But you must promise me Shepard, Saren will pay for what he did here."
"I promise."
John turned around and walked a few feet before making a sigh of relief. He walked up to Kirrahe who was overlooking their conversation from the distance. "I've never seen a human subdue a krogan without raising an arm before, actually, I don't think I've ever seen anyone do that." he smiled, but it was brief "We have a plan Shepard, we are going to split up, my team will make a frontal assault on the facility, while you and your "shadow team" infiltrate the facility from the other side and take out the AA batteries, then the Normandy will bring in our ship's drive core, that we have converted into a nuclear weapon, and arm it at the facility's reactor."
"A frontal assault? Your men will all get killed out there." John argued.
"The risk is high and that is what's making it hard of me to ask you next, we need one of your squad to help lead the troops into the assault."
"I volunteer." said Ashley.
"With all due respect chief, I think I should go." Kaidan replied.
"Why is it when somebody says "with all due respect", they really just mean "kiss my ass"?" Ashley quipped angrily.
John turned around, looking at both the soldier and the biotic, they were both his friends and making this choice wasn't easy.
"Take Ashley, she's a front line soldier with experience in command." John replied. "The rest, get ready we are about to move out."
John was looking at the beacon, it looked just like the one on Eden Prime. Shepard walked in front of the beacon, as it powered up he felt the same kinetic lift as from the one on Eden Prime, the beacon powered up and the stream of information poured into Shepard's head, images of death and destruction, much more vivid then before, however the amount of information overbearing. As soon as the beacon released John he could barely stand, his head was throbbing again, thoughts and images of the beacon mixed up together. Shepard knelled down and put his hands to his temples, forcing himself to talk, "Give me a minute..."
"Shepard we better start moving soon, I don't think Kirrahe's men will hold out much longer." said Garrus, checking the date on a nearby console. "The Geth have them cornered."
Liara walked up and placed her hand on Shepard's forehead, strangely some of the throbbing went away, his thoughts were clear again, John stood up.
"It's a little trick the asari can use, feeling better?" she asked smiling.
"Asari sure are an amazing race, Liara." John replied with a grin, "We better go, this facility still needs to be blown up."
The three returned to the elevator, going back to the upper platform. As they stepped off, John noticed a strange hologram above the main console, "Hold on, I think Saren left something important here."
The squad walked up to the main console, the hologram lit up brightly, revealing its full form, filling up most of the room.
"This… is not good." Garrus said quietly
A dreadful voice resonated in the whole chamber. "You are not Saren."
"What is that? Some kind of VI interface?" Garrus asked looking over the gigantic hologram.
The hologram replied, "Rudimentary creatures of blood and flesh, you touch my mind, fumbling in ignorance, incapable of understanding."
Garrus backed off a bit from the console, "I don't think this is a VI..."
John stepped closer to the hologram as it continued its speech, "There is a realm of existence so far beyond your own you cannot even imagine it. I am beyond your comprehension. I am Sovereign."
Another look over the whole hologram told Shepard enough, "it" was Sovereign, Saren's flagship. But if it speaks, then it's sentient, "Sovereign isn't just some Reaper ship Saren found. It's an actual Reaper!"
Sovereign responded, "Reaper? A label created by the Protheans to give voice to their destruction. In the end, what they chose to call us is irrelevant. We simply... are."
"The Protheans vanished over 50,000 years ago. You couldn't have been there, it's impossible!" Garrus asked.
"Organic life is nothing but a genetic mutation, an accident. Your lives are measured in years and decades. You wither and die. We are eternal, the pinnacle of evolution and existence. Before us, you are nothing. Your extinction is inevitable. We are the end of everything." the machine's ramblings were starting to irritate Shepard.
"Whatever your plan is, it's going to fail. I'll make sure of that."
There was a screeching sound, strangely it was almost like laughter, but cold and merciless, metallic and lifeless, "Confidence born of ignorance. The cycle cannot be broken."
Liara looked at Shepard "Cycle?" and then back at the Sovereign, puzzled "What cycle?"
The machine responded, "The pattern has repeated itself more times than you can fathom. Organic civilizations rise, evolve, advance, and at the apex of their glory they are extinguished. The Protheans were not the first. They did not create the Citadel. They did not forge the mass relays. They mere found them, the legacy of my kind."
"Why would you construct the mass relays and leave them for someone else to find?" John quipped.
"Your civilization is based on the technology of the mass relays. Our technology. By using it, your society develops along the paths we desire. We impose order on the chaos of organic life. You exist because we allow it, and you will end because we demand it."
Liara gasped, "They're harvesting us! Letting us advance to the level they need, then wiping us out!"
Anger was starting to get the better of John, "What do you want from us? Slaves, resources?"
"My kind transcends your very understanding. We are each a nation, independent, free of all weakness. You cannot grasp the nature of our existence."
John had to find out how the Reapers came to be, he doubted that Sovereign would just tell him, but it was worth a shot, "Where did you come from? Who built you?"
"We have no beginning. We have no end. We are infinite. Millions of years after your civilization has been eradicated and forgotten, we will endure."
"He's stuck in a loop or something, endless ramblings." Shepard thought, "Where are the rest of the Reapers? Are you the last of your kind?"
However Sovereign would not budge, "We are legion. The time of our return is coming. Our numbers will darken the sky of every world. You cannot escape your doom."
John had enough of this, "You're not even alive! Not really. You're just a machine, and machines can be broken!"
That seemed to do the trick, the mechanical claws on the hologram began to move rapidly, the glow from the hologram was pulsing now, and Shepard felt a chill crawl down his spine.
Sovereign roared, "Your words are as empty as your future. I am the Vanguard of your destruction. This exchange is over..."
The console exploded sending glass shrapnel everywhere as it overloaded, the chamber was quiet again.
"Uhm, Commander? We got trouble!" Joker's voice came through the comm.
"Lay it on me Joker, I love bad news." Shepard replied, full of irony.
"That ship Sovereign? It's moving! I don't know what you did down there but that thing just pulled a turn that would shear any of our ships in half! It's coming your way, and its coming hard! You need to wrap things up in there fast!" Joker replied.
"This console has been disabled, orders Commander?" Garrus asked.
"We'll head for the breeding facility, time to blow this place to hell." Shepard replied heading back to the elevator.
Virmire was hell, Shepard's greatest fears confirmed, as he had to make an impossible choice between two people he cared about. Both Ashley and Kaidan were good friends of his, and the pain of losing a comrade to circumstances that he was unable to prevent, it was like Akuze all over again.
Shepard chose Kaidan to stay. Ashley took the loss pretty hard, the three of them were on this mission since Eden Prime, sticking up for each other, and just like that, Kaiden was gone. John wished he would never have to make a choice like this again. The guilt tore at him from the inside and there wasn't much he could do about it. Back on Akuze, he promised himself that he would do better, that he would not lose people under his command, yet first it was Jenkins, and now Kaiden.
There was no time to dwell on this, Normandy has landed on the Citadel. Under the orders from the Council, Shepard was to meet Ambassador Donnel Udina as well as the Council itself in the Presidium, so he Liara and Ashley left the Normandy.
John quickly realized that the meeting was a set up, Normandy was grounded, Saren was still on the loose and Shepard was taken off the mission.
"You can't be serious! Saren is on his way to the Conduit right now, and you won't send in the fleet?" John was enraged, but tried his best to keep his composure.
"Ilos is located in the Terminus systems, if we send in the fleet it will start an all out war." Spoke the salarian councilor.
"Then send in the Normandy!" Shepard was nearly yelling now.
"You have done enough Shepard, let the politicians handle it now." quipped Udina.
"You bastard you set us up!" Ashley yelled out.
"You and your crew are dismissed Commander." Udina said calmly, showing that there is nothing left to talk about.
Shepard and his team left for the Normandy. The frustration was high, now the whole crew was informed, but nobody left the ship in case something urgent came up.
John didn't know what to do with himself, he was in the mess hall, walking back and forth, trying to think of a way out, but he couldn't. He walked up to his personal locker and tried to open it, however he kept entering the wrong combination and the lock wouldn't open. In frustration he punched the locker then turned and leaned against it, slowly scooting to the floor, powerless.
Liara walked out from around the corner, she was standing there for a few minutes now, watching Shepard, she was hesitating weather to talk to him or not, she was afraid that she might not say the right things to him, that her awkwardness might get in the way, but she couldn't just let him sit there by himself. She had to tell him something, anything to make him feel better.
"John, I cannot believe they did this to you, I am so sorry."
John looked at Liara and sighed, "It's not your fault."
"It's not right! You did everything they asked and more! Nobody else could have done what you did. The Council owes you everything, Everything! Instead they strip you of your command and ground the Normandy." Liara was furious with the Council.
"I don't care if they ground me, but they refused to go after Saren, if they don't stop him from finding the Conduit we are all dead!" John answered grimly.
"Perhaps we could appeal, and get them to reverse their decision?" Liara replied.
"I pushed them as hard as I could!" John fumed, "They wouldn't budge." He said calming down.
"So you're going to walk away, you will just give up and doom the entire galaxy to extinction?" Liara tried to nudge John a bit to snap him out of it, and it paid off. John raised his head and looked at Liara, his eyes were now once more glowing with confidence.
"We lost the battle, not the war, I'll figure something out."
"I believe in you Shepard, I am with you every step of the way." said Liara with a smile and gave Shepard her hand to help him get up. John grabbed the small asari hand gently and pulled it, getting up from the floor. However the force was enough to throw Liara off balance, she leaned forward, her hands were now on Shepard's chest, their faces right next to each other. This is the closest they have ever been to each other, the heat of each other's breath intensified the moment. They looked into each other's eyes and moved closer, their lips nearly touching.
"Sorry to interrupt Commander, got a message from Captain Anderson." Joker's voice resonated in the com system.
Both Liara and Shepard's faces changed color, John's was red and Liara's was purple. They moved away from each other, the moment was ruined.
John shook his head in disbelief and then added out loud in frustration "Are you spying on us Joker?"
"No sir, just knew you were on the ship and figured I'd pass the message on." Joker's voice sounded sweet and innocent. "The captain said to meet him at Flux, that club down in the wards."
"You should probably go meet with him." said Liara and quickly started walking towards the med bay doors, her face still purple.
John let out a few expletives and left for his quarters to get ready.
There is almost no oxygen left now, my mind is fading away, yet I can still see images of my life go by, and again as if time stops to show me one last important moment...
John couldn't fall asleep, it was pointless to try, so many things happened in the last 20 hours that he would need a triple dose of sedative just to calm down. Finding out where the Conduit is, hijacking Normandy from the Citadel and now going to their certain death to Ilos, it's times like these that John considers a change in career, "Saving the galaxy is hard work!" His thoughts are interrupted as he hears the hissing sound of the door opening. John doesn't even have to turn around to know who came in.
"Shepard" Liara said, her voice trembling slightly.
"I am glad you decided to stop by Liara." John turned around and walked up to her.
"Shepard, I've been thinking of what we are about to face, and if we are going to come back alive." she looked at him with her sapphire eyes, and he started to melt. "And I've been thinking about us, and what you mean to me." she looked at him, awaiting his reaction, and it did not disappoint.
"Liara, you mean everything to me." John answered without hesitation.
Liara came closer and pressed herself against him, she raised her head a bit higher, their lips met and locked in a passionate kiss.
Shepard broke the kiss and looked at her "Liara, we don't have to do this, not unless you're ready."
"John, there is nothing else that I ever wanted more in my life than this!" They hugged each other, sharing another kiss.
Liara wrapped her arms around Shepard's neck as he wrapped his around her torso, hugging each other while still locked in a kiss. As their lips departed from each other Liara gasped, as Shepard reached down towards her behind. She bit her lower lip, and leaned on John, whispering gently in his ear "Embrace Eternity."
A familiar feeling picked up John mind and plunged it into Liara's mind, he watched as a galaxy of images surrounded him, Liara mind was spinning rapidly, compared to the last few melds that they shared. The center of the spinning Galaxy beckoned Shepard, he started to move towards it, somehow he could sense Liara doing the same in his mind. At last, he reached the center, in front of him was a mirror, however instead of his own reflection, he saw Liara. John raised his arm and placed his had on the mirror, Liara did the same, he pressed his arm against it and it started to sink, however there was no feeling of worry or terror, only tranquility, John did not try to fight it, his arm sank into the mirror and John's face reached the mirror, he plunged it into it. Their minds met and exploded in a Big Bang of feeling and emotions, it was indescribable, John felt every cell of Liara's body, heard her every thought, felt each feeling, it was fascinating. There was no stopping it now, the sexual desire was multiplied a hundred times, their passion eclipsed as they stripped and fell on to the bed, and as Liara climbed on top of Shepard, their connection became both mental and physical, the young couple drowned in pleasure.
After several hours of making love to each other, they lay still in bed exhausted both physically and mentally, none of them were saying anything, both were just enjoying the euphoria of the meld and the physical contact. Liara's head was resting on John's chest, she was listening to his heartbeat, she said it calmed her down and gave her strength. John moved his arm and stroked her head crest a bit, running his fingers along its length, he stopped at the end and rubbed one of the tips. Liara moaned with pleasure and opened her eyes, she turned her head and looked at John. What a wonderful thing the meld is, the minds are synchronized, in tune, they are one, they share thoughts and feelings, the meld brings two people closer to each other unlike anything else. John understood now why it is so important for an asari to choose their bond mate carefully. Liara already knew what he was about to say, but he had to say it out loud, and she needed to hear it from him.
"I love you Liara T'Soni." he said and looked at her, she had tears running down her cheeks and she was smiling, she was happy, and if they die tomorrow there will be no regrets. She pulled herself higher and they shared another kissed. As their lips released each other, she answered "I love you too Shepard."
"15 minutes ETA Commander." boomed Joker's voice in the comm. system.
"It's time to make Saren pay for his crimes." John looked at Liara, "Whatever happens, we will face it together."
Liara nodded "I'm ready Shepard."
Whatever the dangers were on Ilos, they were ready to face them...
Everything is going dark, there is no oxygen left, I am sorry everyone, I love you Liara...