Out For Karma: Mass Effect

[Book One] Chapter 23: Battle of the Citadel

Chapter 23: Battle of the Citadel

“How are we doing?” Rick asked Anderson while looking down the fountain of the presidium through the window of the flat he was currently renting.

“The fifth fleet will arrive in a few hours. On the ground I have eight thousand men and women under my command.”

“And I hired two thousand mercs which makes ten thousand total.”

“Two thousand?!”

“All the money I earned from the alliance is gone but that’s alright I’ll make sure the council repay every credit.”

“We’re as ready as we can be.”

“I ordered the merc to be in the lower wards.”

“With my men at the presidium and the upper wards that would be a pincer attack should they arrive at the middle, well thought.”

“Since we don’t know exactly where Saren and the geths will appear I thought it would be the best course of action.That would imply that she failed. I don’t want to doubt her but… Saren is slippery and is ahead.”

“If she can’t stop him reaching the conduit, she’ll follow him. She won’t give up.”

“No, she won’t. She’s a soldier now, she’s ready. Can’t believe it’s thanks to Udina.”

“Life is unpredictable.”

“That’s true. I realize it now more than ever.”

“What do you mean?”

“When I left the Alliance systems for the Terminus ones I never intended to go back. I did, to live a peaceful life. And now? I’m about to fight in a war for the survival of every organic in the galaxy. Making plans and strategies that should they fail would spell our doom.”

“Why did you leave in the first place? Shepard never found more from you. Was your situation that bad? You could have gotten help.”

“She never found out more because she didn’t ask but to be fair I wouldn’t have answered her.”

Her. Does he mean he would have answered someone else?

“And yes it was that bad. No father, my birth-giver was a whore; more interested in sleeping with men to further her career and couldn’t stand to even look at me because I was born a biotic. Just like every other kid on the ships. Looking at me like I was some freak. Some kind of leper. A mistake from mother nature. With that, add a sister whose goal was to follow the steps of her parents and enlisted at the first opportunity, abandoning me behind… I had nothing and no one, I couldn’t get help; why would I have stayed?”

Anderson learned a lot from what he just heard and by reading between the lines.

He had no father yet his sister had two parents. A bastard child from his mother’s affair? A mistake made during a tryst to get a favor or a promotion perhaps? He’s from a military family, that’s obvious since his sister enlisted just like her parents and is a spacer. No wonder he couldn’t get help if his mother was a high ranking officer. She could have stopped anything he tried. His dislike of the alliance is not unjustified.

“Why the Terminus? Why not the traverse?”

“Too close to Alliance space and for freedom. Nobody cares what and who you are or where you come from in the Terminus and the only law there, is the law of the strong. Not the laws of some politicians making them for their own interests and can get away with impunity when they break them. In the Terminus, as long as you’re strong or close to someone strong, you’re safe and you strive.”

Rick stopped his explanation and turned around.

“It’s been three days. It’s too long. Had she succeeded she would have sent you a message.”

“I agree. The longer we wait, the more we’ll be getting caught actually unprepared. I think we need to take the position now and hold it as long as we can until Saren arrives.”

“We go in with a small squad? And once in control we make the rest take their positions?”

“Yes, divided into teams of four or five. And once the council is under our care, deploy the troops.”

Anderson made a call to tell his men to be at the ready and that the plan would begin. Meanwhile Rick opened a crate and pulled out two Colossus armor. At the sight the captain whistled.

“Impressive.”

“So you’ll be easy to spot, and intimidate.”

“Will I be able to keep it?”

“Eh, why not. I’ll send the bill to the council too.”

From the second crate he pulled out all types of weapons.

“That’s…”

“Spectre only.”

“How did you get that?”

“Oh, you know, some bit of hacking here, some bit of hacking there and oops a cargo was misplaced and no record of it even existing in the first place. Seriously, the cyber security of the citadel is a joke. Except for the archives and the control of the station.”

Anderson just shook his head with an amused smile and put his armor on.

It’s really a shame we can’t recruit him.

____________________________________________________________

Fifteen minutes later the both of them along with ten men were riding the council’s tower’s elevator. Everyone was where they should be or on their way to be. They were near the top when they saw on the ground level something they didn’t expect.

“It’s starting! Everyone, you know what to do!” yelled Anderson into his communication device to everyone under his command.

“GOD DAMMIT! I’m a freaking retard!” Rick yelled.

“That’s alright, we still have time!” the captain replied seeing with his own eyes geths arriving from the famous Relay monument of the presidium.

“How could I miss this! It was right in front of me this whole time!”

Putting his hand on Rick’s shoulder to calm him down Anderson gave him some supportive words.

“No one could do what you did. Uncover Sovereign and Saren’s plan, the attack, their means, their goal. Everything. You missed one single thing that we are prepared to deal with.”

“You don’t understand. It’s like… Resolving the hardest mathematical equation in the galaxy and failing when someone asks you what’s the result of 1+1.”

“Sometimes, things are so obvious that we overlook them. Mistake happens”

“It will cost lives.”

“You knew it was impossible to save everyone.”

Rick sighed in acknowledgement, looking down at the geths flooding the place and firing on anything organic. As the elevator stopped and its door opened they rushed towards the council location. A team stayed near the elevator and secured the point of access.

Their appearance didn’t please the councilor one bit.

“What’s the meaning of this?” Asked the asari.

“Is the Alliance tempting a coup? With only that many men?” the turian councilor laughed.

“No you fucking retard! We’re here to save everyone’s ass. Saren found the conduit and used it to attack the Citadel. Geths are flooding the presidium.”

“Nonsense, we would have…”

He was interrupted by an emergency call from the c-sec chief telling the councilors about the situation.

"You were saying?"

"We need to evacuate! Get on the Ascension and…"

*BANG*

The turian’s momentum suddenly stopped and he fell to the ground, dead. A hole in his head. Everyone looked at the source of the gunshot and saw Rick with his hand raised, a gun in it.

“Oh shit. The turian councilor got done in by the geths.” He replied in a neutral voice and tone.

“That wasn’t the plan!” whispered Anderson loudly.

“No plan survives first contact with the enemy.” he whispered back before addressing the council.

“Good, I have your attention now. I’ll be brief…. YOU ARE THE FUCKING COUNCIL! Everyone looks up to you to guide them. Now more than ever and you want to flee?! Eleven million people are depending on you, you cannot not be here leading them. But since your past decisions are why we’re in deep shit now, you’re TEMPORARILY not in charge anymore. Hoodie!” he said pointing his finger at the salarian councilor.

“Get in contact with the ambassadors of every species, with every union chief, any civilian group that has a leader you can get in touch with. Your job is to make sure the civilians are in a safe place. Coordinate with those leaders to save the most people possible. Gorgeous!” This time he addressed the asari.

“Time for you to pull out your commando leather from your closet.”

“I haven’t fought since I ended my training, centuries ago!” she quickly said.

“I’m not asking you to fight, I’m asking you to look the part of a commander leading the fighters. They need to think someone who knows what they’re doing is in charge. Anderson, here, is already leading ten thousand men, but he can’t do it alone; he needs help. Your job is to help him coordinate the c-sec and his men. He’ll tell you more once you’re in a secure location but you’ll see it’s easy.”

“What are you going to do?” Asked Anderson.

“Close the Citadel, booby trap the entrance to this place and wait for Saren to come.”

“I’ll leave the squad with you.”

“No. The council needs to be safe; they need to be protected now more than ever. We lose them and the order will turn to shit really fast even if you’re the one truly in control. They are the figureheads that we need.”

“You can’t fight Saren alone, he won’t be!”

“Then take one team, I’ll keep the other. The priority is to limit the geths expansion, then to close in towards the Relay monument and find a way to close it. I hope Hackett is here soon because the geth fleet will certainly be.”

Anderson nodded and took with him the five soldiers around, he went to the councilors and anyone present who was not armed followed him without discussion. They left through one of the side doors of the hall and took several elevators. In less than fifteen minutes they were at the C-sec academy. They had encountered a small group of geths twice but they were dispatched pretty quickly.

They were currently in a secure room, and were joined by the c-sec executor.

“Where is councilor Sparatus?”

“He fell to a geth assassin.” Replied the asari councilor.

“Dammit.”

“What’s the situation, executor?” the salarian leader asked.

“Not good. Geth are everywhere in the presidium and are beginning to go down the wards. Half of my men are trying to hold them back and the other half are leading the civilians to safety. We’re not completely overrun yet thanks to the alliance forces.”

“I have them separated in the same fashion, one group fighting the geth one group protecting the civilians. I ordered the ones fighting to push back hard. We must reach the Relay monument and shut it down, that’s where the geths are coming from.”

“Isn’t there any way to bypass the geths? Create a diversion while a small team makes his way stealthily to the monument?”

Both Anderson and the executor looked surprised at the asari councilor. That was an excellent idea.

“I may not have fought since my training days but I’m a politician, being sneaky and stabbing in the back is mandatory for the job. Almost an art.”

“The sewers system perhaps?” the salarian proposed.

“Good idea. Some of my officers know the layout of the presidium sewers well; they could guide some of your men for an assault, captain.”

“I’ll contact squads made for stealth & recon and tell them to get here as fast as possible.”

“Executor I need a terminal to contact any leader figures on the Citadel and coordinate with them the evacuation of the civilians towards safe places along the part of c-sec agents assigned to that task.”

“We will need to create a precise map of the citadel if we want to keep track of everything happening, what we have now is not detailed enough.” said the asari.

Anderson flared his omni-tool and displayed a very detailed map on the large table they were standing around.

“Where did you get that?” asked the Executor.

“Avina. She apparently gives you one if you ask her.”

“Really?” asked the salarian in surprise.

“Yes. It was Wald that discovered that.”

“Wald?”

“The man who put everyone’s asses in gear.” replied the captain.

Quickly they marked the map with everything they knew about. Geths positions, civilians, c-sec and alliance members. More officers came into the room and began to help as the surface was too big to be dealt with by four people who were dealing with reports from everywhere. The work was quickly divided in a more sustainable way making the coordination easier.

“Who’s that man?” asked the asari councilor between two reports.

“Who?”

“This Wald.”

“He’s a very pissed off and smart as hell survivor of Eden Prime.” answered Anderson.

“How does a simple colonist end up leading the defense of the citadel?”

“When I say he’s smart as hell, that’s the understatement of the millennium. I quickly noticed his talent and skills and assigned him to commander Shepard when he played you, the council. He’s the one that uncovered Saren's whole plan, what the conduit was and its purpose. He knew that the attack would come from the inside first. We’ve been preparing and planning for three days. To be frank, without him here we may have been already doomed.”

“What do you mean he played the council?” asked the executor.

“When we had our proof of Saren’s treason, Ambassador Udina wanted the council to send the fleet.”

“Yes, and we declined.”

“Wald knew you would and we still did it on purpose. With the Terminus systems so close there was no way you would allow it, but we went with it because the objective was for Shepard to become a spectre, giving the chance to the Alliance to go after Saren with the council’s blessing.”

“He presented us with an unreasonable choice that he knew we would decline just so we would be more open to a more reasonable one, that would both satisfy the alliance and avoid any political feud.” the Salarian explained.

“That was smart. He did play us.” the asari commented.

“You said he uncovered Saren’s plan, would you mind explaining that part, Captain and why we were not warned instead of… what happened back in the tower?” asked the salarian.

“This will take some time.”

____________________________________________________________

Meanwhile Rick and the five soldiers with him had planted explosives to the most used doors of the council hall. They were all behind some cover and were waiting for the geths. He had earlier closed the arms of the Citadel, which would pose a big problem to Saren and Sovereign as the latter would not be able to activate the Relay if he was locked outside. That also meant that Saren would redouble his efforts to get here as fast as he could.

“You know if you want to go, now is your chance because we’re probably all going to die.” he said to the men with him.

“We’re old, kid. All five of us fought in the first contact war.”

“All retired.”

“But we still have some fight in us.”

“Better to die with a gun in my hand than in my bed.”

“And better us than some youngster with his whole life ahead of him. On that note, you’re the one that should go, kid.”

“Perhaps. But it’s personal. That fucker burned my home and my family and I’m going to make him pay.”

“Ah vengeance! I understand.”

“I feel nostalgic now.”

“Nothing better than good old revenge.”

The conversation stopped when an explosion happened further down the hall. Every man gripped their weapon tighter, waiting for the enemy to get closer and unleashed a hell of fire upon them.

____________________________________________________________

C-sec officers were bringing more and more monitors into the room. The purpose was to have in real time a visual of the area of the Citadel from surveillance cameras that had been installed by the teams out there. That had been Rick’s idea, to have a better and faster understanding of what was going on but with the change of plan, the control room they were going to use was now useless. They were not everywhere. Most were on the presidium as that was where Saren’s goal was, but there were a few in all parts of the wards to still have some visual update. The Citadel was way too big to cover it all that’s why the idea of surveillance cameras had been abandoned long ago. Too many cameras and people were needed to keep an eye on things and be effective. But the few in place were a blessing and helped tremendously with the coordination of the Citadel forces against the Geths or to simply keep an eye on what the latter were doing instead of waiting for a report or not from a team.

“If what you said is true, Captain; Humanity may have a second spectre sooner than expected.” said the salarian councilor.

“I wouldn’t count on that.” replied Anderson.

“Pray tell us why? He has every quality needed; his mind alone qualifies him for review, along with his decisiveness.” the asari counterpart chimed him.

“From Shepard’s reports he’s not fond of authority. He will do what he wants regardless of the council’s orders. Or perhaps despite it.”

“How did the commander work with him then?”

“I have no idea, councilor Tevos. She never went into details and was quite frustrated with him. You’ll have to ask her.”

At that moment an officer turned around from the monitors and warned them that the Citadel was opening. At the same time, Tevos received a call from the defense fleet reporting that geths ships were coming.

“Saren succeeded.” noted the Executor.

“Yes, but I wouldn’t count Wald out yet. He’s always many steps ahead, I’m sure he had thought of that eventuality and prepared accordingly. Councilor Tevos, please tell the defense fleet to avoid the gigantic ship coming with the geth fleet and instead focus on the other smaller ones.”

“Why?”

“Wald’s idea. If that ship is really an actual reaper we will need more than just the defense fleet to take him down. The Alliance’s fifth fleet will be here soon, making the odds greater. Every ship counts at that point and we can’t lose them in a stupid move.”

“I can’t believe that they really exist. There are no traces of them, and it’s been fifty thousand years since the prothean extinction.” the salarian said more in dejection than refusal.

“The devil’s greatest trick was to make you think it doesn’t exist.” replied Anderson.

“Pardon?”

“It’s a quote from a very old human movie that Wald told me about when we were discussing the situation. The reapers wipe almost all traces of their existence so we, organic, would not believe in their existence, making things easier for them as we would not be prepared. A trick that seems to work since it’s been going on for millions of years.”

“We’re talking about a galaxy scale here, that’s an impossible thing to do.”

“I agree on that, councilor Valern. Proofs are out there, but it’s not known because the species discovering it keep it secret, reaper technology is beyond advanced after all. Like the leviathan of Dis.”

“You think the dead being the Batarians actually found is a reaper?” asked Tevos.

“Wald does and that’s good enough for me. Leviathan aside though, during the numerous missions Shepard did since she became a spectre, she encountered numerous artifacts of unknown origin and technologically advanced, way beyond anything known. The clues were there but so sparse and scattered around the galaxy. Since nobody actually searched for and connected them, the connection to the reapers’ existence was never found.”

Tevos nodded and gave the defense fleet their new orders.

____________________________________________________________

The fleet had been warned with enough time to clear a path when Sovereign came among the geths fleet. The one poor cruiser that had still been in the way was crushed against the reaper like a bug on the windshield of a car on the highway. 

While Sovereign landed on the Council tower unobstructed, the geths ship that came with it weren’t. With the focus of the defense fleet on the latter, destruction to the Citadel was minimized. They were not going to win easily but they would put up a good fight; gaining time for the fifth fleet to arrive and help. Things were going well.

Or so they thought until the Citadel began to close again trapping everyone in.

____________________________________________________________

“Why close the arms again?” the executor asked.

“Either because it’s needed to activate the relay or because Sovereign is vulnerable while it’s activating it. That way he’s protected.” replied Tevos.

“We need someone to reach that tower and open the…”

“Councilors!” a c-sec officer called out.

Turning to the officer they listened to what he had to say. He pointed to a monitor and displayed it on the holographic table in the middle of the room. It showed a Mako crashing against the sidewall of a building a few feet away from the Relay monument which under everyone’s eyes shut off. The small infiltration team they had sent were still on their way to it.

“Shepard!” Anderson exclaimed.

“Quick! Get us in contact with the commander!” the executor ordered.

“And order the men to push back the geth, we must take back the monument! We can’t let the geths activate it again!” said Tevos.

____________________________________________________________

“Ugh… That was the worst.” said Ashley as she caught her bearing getting out of the turned over Mako.

“Shepard, you’re not allowed to drive anymore. I’m putting in an official request.” Kaidan chimed in.

Shepard was about to retort when Geth appeared from behind a building and started shooting at them. The situation was not good, the rest of the team was still exiting the mako. In other words they were caught with their pants down. Luck was on their side however as the synthetics were flanked from an alliance team that came out of nowhere. Getting a better look she saw more and more soldiers coming from the ground.

The geths dispatched, the troop took a defensive position around the Relay monument while what seems to be the leader approached her.

“Commander, Captain Anderson wants to talk to you.” said the woman tossing her an earpiece she immediately put on.

“Shepard? Can you hear me?”

“I do, Anderson. I’m not gonna lie, it's good to hear your voice.”

“Likewise but that kind of talk is for later we’re pressed by time.”

“I know, we tried to stop Saren but…”

“We know, he’s in the Council Tower. You need to get there ASAP. I’ll brief you on the way.”

Helping the few members still stuck in the mako, she assigned Ashley, Kaidan and Garrus to help the team protecting the monument while she’d make way to the tower with the rest of the team.

____________________________________________________________

“Where are you, sir?” Shepard asked while shooting in the head a geth on her way.

“In a secure room at the C-sec academy with Councilor Tevos, Valern and Executor Palin and some officers. We’re coordinating the Citadel defenses.”

“Already?!”

“Rick found out Saren’s plan. The alliance has been preparing since you left. When the geths attacked we were more or less ready to act. C-sec followed our lead.” That information surprisingly didn’t surprise Shepard one bit.

“How is it going?”

“Not as good as we hoped and planned but better than expected. We limited the geths advanced to the top of upper wards. The troops on the presidium were trying to divert their attention so an infiltration team could disable the Relay monument. They are now trying to cut through to protect it at all cost, we don’t want more geths coming in.”

“There is no need, when we took the conduit the energy alimenting it was nearly depleted, we were just in time before it closed.”

“Good to know, we’ll redirect the troops on the geths then.”

“What about Saren and Sovereign?”

“Saren is in the control room, that's where the commands to open the citadel are. Sovereign is sitting on the top of the tower trying to activate the Citadel. It’s a…”

“Mass Relay, I know, we met a prothean VI on Ilos, it filled us in on many things.”

“Then you know we can’t let it succeed in his endeavor. Hackett and the fifth fleet just came in but are stuck outside the Citadel. We need those arms opened, Shepard. The defense fleet is too small to take Sovereign down on its own and is busy taking on the geths ships, limiting the destruction on the Citadel.”

“Understood. I have to say I’m surprised the council went along quickly.”

“They were not left with much of a choice. The turian councilor was… done in by the geths." The tone he used when he talked about the councilor was suspicious. A thought crossed her mind prompting her to ask reluctantly.

“You mean Rick, right?”

“The geths, Shepard. The geths.” He may have repeated that a thousand times more, all she would hear every time was “yes”.

“Where is he anyway?”

“He stayed behind in the Tower to delay Saren as long as possible. We haven’t been in contact since.”

“I see.” Shepard said, fear gripping her heart.

“I believe he’s still alive but he definitely needs help.”

“We’re nearly there, we’re at the elevator.”

“Then good luck.”

“Thank you.” she replied as the team made their way upwards.

“What did he do this time?” asked a curious Tali.

“Something utterly stupid.” answered the redhead.

“Well of course he did, it’s Rick we’re talking about but in detail?”

“He killed the turian councilor to get the rest of the council moving their asses and stay behind to stop Saren.”

“Keelah.”

“Goddess.”

“Hahahahahaha.”

Wrex couldn’t help it and laughed hard when he heard that.

“He killed the representative of the species with the biggest army of the galaxy just to get the council moving. This is hilarious and ballsy. If I didn’t know he was human I would have thought he was a krogan because he has a big quad.”

“That’s not a laughing matter, Wrex! The turian will want his head.” Tali interjected.

“They will shut up once they know that it saved the Citadel.” the krogan replied.

“Actually, the official stance on this is that the geths are responsible.” shared Shepard.

“The council is protecting him then, that means the turian councilor did something that would have painted the council in a bad way.” Liara explained.

“You know, I’m not even mad. The councilor was an ass anyway.”

At two thirds of the way the elevator stopped. With no other way, they broke the window and made their way up to the tower as its exterior was in the void of space. Looking up, or rather forward, they saw the top of the council chamber explode.

“Not good.”

“Shepard, look!” Wrex said, pointing to the pile of debris now floating around.

Looking up she didn’t understand what Wrex was trying to show her until she saw a body with a familiar helmet among the debris.

“No!” Liara yelled.

“Saren is going to pay for that!” Shepard proclaimed going faster, her worry replaced by a burning rage.

She wasn’t the only one who felt that way. From the shy and awkward Liara to the battle loving Wrex; they all wanted to hurt Saren the worst way possible. If the geths on their way had a small chance to stop them before, they certainly had none now. The team was mowing them down faster than a beggar jumped on a lost credit chit. The only way the geths could be destroyed faster was if they did it themselves.

Arriving at the top of the tower they found a hatch leading inside. To their surprise the council hall was pressurized despite the giant hole onto the wall on the right side. Having a better look they saw a kinetic barrier patching it, keeping the air inside. They were shocked by the state of the room; multiple dozens of destroyed geths were laying on the floor, among them were five bodies of Alliance soldiers.

“Goddess…”

“I can’t believe they held for so long against so many and were only six.” commented Tali.

“Were they krogans, songs would be written about them.”

“They bought us as much time as possible, let’s not waste it.” Shepard said, taking the lead towards Saren’s location.

____________________________________________________________

“Sir, mercs finally reached the upper wards, they are taking over the alliance and c-sec troops. The former are on the way to assist the ones in the presidium, the latter are taking care of the wounded.” An officer reported.

“Good. The tables are turning.” nodded Palin.

“Councilor Valern, I have a report of the civilian situation. Most were brought into shelter on the presidium, the ones who weren’t were led to the wards. As for the wards, the upper ones had some casualties but the majority fled toward lower parts.”

“That’s great. Send a message to c-sec, the wounded are to be transported to the middle and lower wards. Public hospitals are full, they are authorized to requisition the private clinics.”

“Understood, councilor.”

“Any news from our fleet?” Tevos asked.

“They are taking heavy losses but are giving as hard as they take.They are holding on for now but won’t for long.” replied a third officer from the side.

“Shepard needs to hur…” she began to say but was interrupted by a fourth officer.

“The arms are opening!”

“She did it! Contact the fifth fleet! Tell them to focus on Sovereign. With a bit of luck the geths would flee if we kill their “god”.” Anderson ordered.

“Yes, sir!”

____________________________________________________________

“It’s finally over. The alliance fleet will take care of Sovereign.” Shepard said, sitting down to rest. This was a victory, they had finally stopped Saren and without him to help the reaper above their heads, the invasion was stopped.

The turian has been a tough son of bitch, flying around on his platform while the geths with him attacked from the ground. It was Virmire all over again. But this time there were fewer geths. By a lot. Thanks to Rick and the five alliance soldiers. Thinking of her team’s troublemaker, her friend, she couldn’t help but feel bitter. She had left for Ilos without him. She knew it was to be that way when the authorization came in and he wasn’t on board. In fact she knew when he told her to go no matter what. She could have used him well on Ilos. To fight the geths, to talk to Vigil, the protheans VI they found. They would not have lost so much time. They even may have caught up to Saren and stopped him from using the conduit. But she left him behind by his own design. He prepared the Citadel to resist the assault the best he could. Protecting the civilians, pushing the council to act and cooperate, holding back the wave of geths delaying Saren. Now… The only thing left of him was the mark of his lips on the side of Tali’s visor made with Liara’s lipstick. The team had laughed good naturedly when they saw it and while she had been embarrassed the quarian kept it as a reminder of who she considered her best friend.

God! How will I tell Ashley he’s gone? She’d be devastated.

“Shepard!” Wrex yelled.

Turning her head to see what the krogan wanted, she saw him in a battle stance, shotgun in hand pointed to Saren’s body.

“What the…” she said standing up looking at what was happening.

Red lightning coursed through the dead turian’s body making it convulse. The whole chamber had red lightning cursing through, actually, somehow making it shake.

“What’s happening?!” wondered Tali aloud.

“I don’t know but be on your guard.” the redhead answered.

Suddenly Saren’s body stood up and began to change. What seems to be metal bones began to grow out of the flesh which was also melting at the same time.

“You told me he was dead!”

“I shot him in the head!” Liara replied to the commander.

All flesh was gone, leaving only a metallic skeleton behind. It was a very hideous thing, with glowing red eyes and with no jaw.

“I AM SOVEREIGN! AND THIS STATION IS…”

It didn’t have the opportunity to finish what it was saying as a blue blur connected with his back, putting it face down on the ground followed by a deluge of shotgun rounds to the head completely obliterating it. The team was dumb founded. It was Liara who reacted first by running while yelling a name.

“RICK!”

She tackled him hard into a deathly hug and the man had to use all the strength of his legs to not fall backwards.

“HOW?!” Shepard yelled

“Did you human play with krogan DNA? Because only a krogan could have survived what he went through.”

“Who cares?! My idiot is alive!” yelled Tali who went on to join the hug.

____________________________________________________________

“I want that reaper down! No matter the cost! We cannot let it bring its friends here!” ordered Hackett to both fleets. The council’s one had retreated from the fight with the geths ships and only left behind a few cruisers to block them. With the firepower deployed against it, Sovereign could do nothing and was torn apart, pieces of him flying everywhere.

____________________________________________________________

“““YES!!!””” yelled in victory most of the people in the center of commands at the c-sec academy.

Anderson let out a sigh of relief. Despite the odds, despite the entire galaxy against them a small crew had saved the day. 

He was proud of Shepard. Of who she was. Of the soldier she became. After Elysium he had kept a close eye on her, he had seen the almost unlimited, raw and untapped potential she had and wanted to have her under his wing to nurture it. He believed that she would succeed where he had failed. Becoming a spectre, the spearhead, the symbol of humanity to every species out there. When she had reported her own mother after what she had done on Torfan, he didn’t believe anymore. He knew without any doubt. He requested to have her under his command, something which Hackett was more than pleased to do as it was getting her out of reach from her mother. He, too, had noticed her potential. And in the end, she had proved them right. It didn’t go as he had planned though. He knew she was ready to become a spectre before Eden Prime but had not yet reached her full potential. She needed something to push her hard for that to happen. And that push came from a man named Rick Wald. He hadn’t expected it, honestly. But when Gunnery Chief Williams and Lieutenant Alenko gave him their reports on what happened he became curious. Even more so after talking with the man a bit. It was only after Udina told him that he was to step down as commanding officer of the Normandy that he saw an opportunity. The man was ruthless, very pragmatic and of a remarkable intelligence, borderline terrifying. Everything that Shepard needed. He saw the positive results with each report from the commander. Not only for her, but surprisingly also for him. He was more social, more open to others. A contrast to what Williams said about him. Rick Wald was Shepard’s counterpart. They completed each other, influencing each other in a good way. It was perfect. When Shepard left for Ilos without him it was the proof he had waited to see. That she was finally the soldier she was meant to be. On the other hand Rick organized the defense of the station, prioritizing the safety of the citizens. That was a result of his interactions with Shepard. Wald had shown little care to people not close to him if none at all, having no problem getting rid of anyone in his way. He was different now. More caring in a way. One thing was certain, the council was right; he would make a good spectre. And in a team with Shepard? No one could stop them.

He sincerely hoped they would stick together.

____________________________________________________________

Rick was looking through the hole he had been blasted through in silence. He had escaped Liara and Tali clutched pretending it hurt with his broken ribs, which was probably true, and asked for a moment alone. With his own eyes he watched intently the alliance fleet firing shot after shot above him.

“How do you feel?” came Shepard’s voice from the side.

“... Feel? I don’t know. Perhaps…Empty? Killing this asshole was cathartic, I won’t lie but…”

“It’s not enough?”

“No, he was just a pawn. The one responsible, one of them, is up there and I can’t do anything to it.”

They suddenly felt the tower shake and a few seconds later they saw Sovereign falling in front of them.

“They’re still out there. You’ll have your chance.” She said putting her hand on his shoulder in comfort.

They kept looking with silent satisfaction at the reaper exploding from all parts, sending pieces of him everywhere. One of them right into their position.

“RUN!!!”

____________________________________________________________

“The reaper has been destroyed, it’s confirmed! The geth are… Oh no!” exclaimed an officer looking through a monitor.

“What is it?!” asked Palin.

“One of its legs and other smaller parts crashed onto the top of the Tower!”

“Dammit! Send a team to assess the situation. With a medic. We can’t lose her.” Anderson ordered leaving the room.

“What about the geths? Are they retreating?” Tevos inquired.

“They are, councilor.”

“Good. Tell the defense fleet to dock the most damaged ship first, the one still okay to keep watch just in case. Do the same for the Alliance’s fleet.”

“Find anyone with a modicum of medical training that is free and send them to those docks. They must be ready to deal with any wounded.” Valern added.

“Any c-sec agent is to assist the transport of the wounded to the nearest hospital or clinic.” ordered Palin.

____________________________________________________________

With no one to escort and no geth on the way, the trip had been far shorter for Anderson. He arrived just in time to join a small team that was going up the tower. Arriving at the top he was welcomed by a worse sight than Shepard’s team had. The geths were everywhere on the ground but black metallic spires were stuck on almost every wall. Cautiously walking, gun in hand in case one of the synthetics was still operating, he went towards the giant leg stuck into the council’s chamber ground. He looked around trying to find a glimpse of his protegee or any member of her team. From the corner of his eyes he saw something moved. In one breath he and the team with him had their weapons raised, ready to open fire.

“Help!” said a very feminine voice.

The team went into action and got closer. As one they pushed the metallic debris aside revealing an asari and a quarian. From behind them they saw rubble moving and a krogan extracting himself out of them.

“Are you alright? Is Shepard with you?” Anderson asked Liara.

“She was with Rick over the hole. They were the closest to that debris’ impact.”

Helping her get out of her situation he went towards the place she had indicated. This area was the worst in terms of destruction. He took a moment to look around and found them. They were lying on the ground. Shepard on her back covered by Rick on top of her.

“Shepard!”

“An..derson.”

Rushing to them he signaled the team he had found them. Making his way over them she saw her trying to push away Rick who seemed unresponsive.

“Will you stop moving and touching me already!”

“You’re heavy! And you’re the one touching me by crushing me!”

“Do you think I like having you against me like that?”

“Since you’re not moving, yes!”

“I can’t move because I don’t have any strength left! I would otherwise!”

“Then you should not have tried to protect me!”

“I was trying to use you as a meat shield! Because of my broken ribs I failed!”

Anderson couldn’t help himself. He laughed at them. The situation was so ridiculous. They had just survived an army of geths, Saren and a part of Sovereign falling on top of them and here they were, bickering like an old married couple, among debris, rubble and reaper parts. He wasn’t the only one laughing. Liara by his side was too.

“This is not an unusual occurrence I gather?”

“No. Generally their arguments… There is more anger and it’s more explosive.”

“We have a betting pool in place for when they will finally snap.” Wrex, who had joined with Tali, said.

“Really? About what?” the captain asked.

“If Shepard shoots him and sends him to the med-bay or if they resolve that in bed.” answered the quarian.

That made Anderson laugh even harder.

“Can someone get me off that bitch? Please!”

“Who are you calling a bitch?!”

“You of course! Do you see me laying on someone else Miss I let my huge sex toys right out in the open!”

“I didn’t! It was in my room, on my bed, asshole!”

The rescue team, Anderson and the Normandy team, kept on watching with amusement and interest at the improvised comedic duo before their eyes.

“God! If I stay on you any longer I’m going…. WHY ARE YOU PUSHING YOUR SAGGY TITS INTO MY FACE?!”

“I’m trying to get out from under you!  And they do not sag! This is the closest you’ll ever be to the greatest tits in the Galaxy!”

“LIARA’S MOM’S ARE BIGGER!”

“Hey!” yelled Liara in protest.

“I think we watched enough.” Anderson said, walking towards the two but with an amused grin still on his face.

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