Mass Effect - A Hero Rises Ch. 18

Book 1, Chapter 18 -- Showdown with Saren

*****

The Mako was little more than a wreck. Two wheels were missing; another was barely hanging on. It was crumped front and rear. It was upside down. The engine didn't fire. It was dead. After we'd all clambered out, Garrus took a moment to himself, resting a hand against what was now it's roof, muttering to himself. Little wonder the turian took it hard considering he'd worked on it constantly.

Remarkably, despite some bumps and bruises, we'd all survived the journey. No-one except Garrus was sad to see the end of the Mako. I was a little disappointed as the machine proven a reliable workhorse, and to be honest, the thought of driving it around the Citadel had proven amusing.

After a check of weapons, armour, and ensuring my squad was okay, I ordered us to move. The destruction around us was already mind-boggling. We could hear plenty of gunfire and screaming in the distance. Finding an Avina VI nearby, I figured asking that a few questions might help. While it wasn't full of information, it told us the Council had evacuated to the Destiny Ascension and that the Citadel was now in defensive mode, all systems engaged.

Soon as our conversation finished, we were set upon by geth units. And, to be honest, that was the story of our next couple of hours. In addition to geth, there were husks and also krogan, Wrex taking joy in taking on fellow battle-masters. Fires raged around us, sirens wailed and, if we looked up, we could see fleets moving into place, I assumed to stop Sovereign. We made it to the elevator leading up to the Council chambers after mowing down more geth, though our ascent was halted as the elevator grinded to a halt.

So I ordered helmets on, mag boots switched on, and we'd do it the hard way. Stepping out onto the side of the elevator shaft wasn't something I thought I'd be doing waking up earlier that morning. Then again, I hadn't thought I'd cross space in a Mako through a Prothean built mass relay, so the day was full of surprises.

The geth were waiting again, and this is where my biotic colleagues came to the fore. Though we could still shoot them, Liara and Shiala took delight in simply lifting them and simply watching them float away into space. Quite a few geth went sailing over our heads harmlessly. Even the larger geth units, like the Primes and Juggernauts, were susceptible to simple biotic attacks such as those. The krogan were left for Wrex, our giant colleague effectively demanding they be left for him to deal with. Ashley and I assisted where required, but there was no doubt Wrex took great joy in pitting his wits against fellow warriors like himself.

Eventually I couldn't be sure where we were exactly, simply moving ahead and battling whatever was in our way. The fact we kept meeting geth and krogan to kill suggested we were walking in the right direction, and the further we progressed, the heavier the enemy presence. None of us had a clue where Saren was, but I figured he was near the master control unit Vigil had told us about, and putting two and two together, it was no doubt somewhere in the Council chamber.

Shiala was the first one to go down. Not dead, but she was definitely injured and out of the fight. Looking across my team, I knew we couldn't just leave her behind. I had no idea if the Normandy was close. We'd tried our radios but all we received was static, Garrus suggesting Saren would have blocked our communication.

"I can keep up," Shiala stated through gritted teeth. Liara slapped some medi-gel on the wound, but even that didn't seem to work. Her commando leathers were torn up completely.

"Are you sure?" I asked.

"I'm not being left behind, Shepard. And I'm not planning on dying just yet."

"Okay... Keep in front of Garrus. If you fall behind him, you'll have to fall back to a safer area. We can't get spread out."

She nodded, face grim. I knew she was in immense pain but now was not the time for empathy. The mission was the most important thing.

Turning and leading, the next few geth paid the price for wounding one of my colleagues. We were facing ever more enormous geth units, figuring Saren would have ordered these to remain behind to be one of the final lines of defence. A couple of geth dropships proved to be a real nuisance. Noticing inactive turrets nearby, I had Tali get those working, Ashley and I defending her as the little quarian got to work. She had two working in quick succession, the turrets firing enough to chase one of the dropships away. After getting all four working, the second dropship simply exploded under fire. The wreckage collapsed onto the side of the Citadel, wiping out many more geth units.

We ran into more turrets after moving only a couple of hundred metres, but these ones were not friendly, firing upon us immediately. A blast landed near Garrus, sending him end over end. I heard him cry out though added quickly he was fine, just slapping medi-gel onto a wound. He got to his feet but was clearly hobbling. I ordered him into cover before asking Tali to start hacking anything geth. As she got to work, the rest of us focused on the geth first before we'd worry about the turrets.

I'll admit, this was probably the hardest part of any mission. Even Virmire hadn't proven as death-defying. More than once, a shot from one of the turrets came too close for comfort, but once Tali somehow managed to hack one of them, we slowly whittled down geth numbers before she hacked a second turret, with our two hacked turrets firing at the others. Ours blew up first, but a few grenades finished off the others quickly.

We were now all exhausted, and in addition to Garrus and Shiala, all of us except Tali were now covering minor wounds, covered in dirt, blood and sweat. After taking down another pair of krogan, Wrex taking a major wound for his troubles, doing nothing more than fuelling his blood rage, which he thankfully managed to keep a lid on, a check of the schematics suggested a nearby hatch was our way into the Council chamber.

Slipping inside quietly, the level of destruction equalled that we'd seen on the Presidium below us. Fires raged as the sirens were almost deafening in the confined space. Making it to the courtyard, a few geth units seemed to be the last line of defence. We took those out as quickly and as quietly as possible before moving towards the podium I'd last stood on when the Council had tried and almost succeeded in grounding me.

Saren was busy doing something but seemed to sense our presence, immediately disappearing for a moment before dodging out of cover on that hover-board he'd been riding on Virmire, throwing a grenade in our direction. We split up as it exploded behind us.

"I was afraid you wouldn't make it in time, Shepard."

I wasn't sure if he was being condescending, sarcastic or actually rather serious. I glanced around cover to see him standing rather still on his hover-board, pistol aimed in my direction. Remaining in cover, I looked around to see everyone was okay behind cover. Shiala met my eyes and I could see she was in agony. "You okay?" I mouthed. She grimaced but nodded. She was stronger than I could ever give her credit for. I found Garrus and knew him leaping into cover would have hurt. He met my eyes and simply nodded.

"Killing geth takes time, Saren. Shame you had such useless allies."

"You've lost, you know that, don't you? In a few minutes, Sovereign will have full control of all the Citadel's systems. They relay will open. The Reapers will return."

I chanced a peek. Surprisingly, he didn't fire. He was now more metal than turian. He hadn't looked completely turian the first time I'd seen him but the changes since Virmire were obvious. "I'm not done yet, Saren. Either get out of my way or be destroyed before I stop the Reapers."

Glancing around, I noticed one or two get ready to move. Wrex stood but Saren fired quickly, forcing the krogan back down. He roared with disapproval. "Shepard," he growled.

"Working on it," I muttered. Chancing another peek, Saren was focused on me again.

"You survived our encounter on Virmire, Shepard. I'll give you credit for that. But I've changed since them. Improved. Sovereign has upgraded me." My laughter rang around the chamber. What an absolutely fucking idiot. I told him that as well. He didn't approve, firing near my position, though all that made me do was crouch a little smaller, hearing mass effect rounds whistle past my ear. "In a way, I suppose I should thank you, Shepard. After Virmire, I could stop thinking about what you said. About Sovereign manipulating me. About indoctrination. And, I'll admit, the doubts began to eat away at me. Yet Sovereign sensed my hesitation. I was implanted to strengthen my resolve. And now my doubts are gone. I believe in Sovereign completely. I understand that the Reapers need organics. Join us, and Sovereign will find a place for you, too."

"Vigil spoke of this," Liara hissed quietly, "Those who were indoctrinated were used during the slaughter, then left to die afterwards." I met her eyes and nodded. I wasn't going to listen to his devil for much longer anyway.

"Jesus fucking Christ, Saren, how can you not see that with the implants you're simply a slave to Sovereign? You're being controlled by the Reapers. You don't have any choice."

"No, no, no, Shepard. You're once again failing to understand. The relationship is symbiotic. Organic and machine intertwined, a union of flesh and steel. The strength of both, the weaknesses of neither. I am a vision of the future, Shepard. The evolution of all organic life. This is our destiny. Join Sovereign and experience a true rebirth."

I glanced at Liara. "Vigil?" I mouthed. She nodded immediately. Might as well let him know the full truth. "We spoke to Vigil on Ilos too, Saren. Learned a few home truths that perhaps Sovereign hasn't told you about. The Reapers don't just use organics; they indoctrinate them to further their cause. They devour everything that makes us... us, then discard us like tomorrows garbage. As soon as their conquest is complete, you'll be case aside. A mindless husk, left to wither and die like all those you turned your back on."

"I had no choice!" Saren cried, and I knew my words were getting to him, "You saw the visions, Shepard. Yet I saw them much earlier than you, and I've lived with it every day since. But you saw what happened to the Protheans, and think of how much stronger they were than us. It is either surrender or death, Shepard. There are no other options."

"You forgot the third option, Saren. We fight. We fight until we do die, or until we win. Yet you took the cowards way out. You turned your back on the galaxy, your people, the Council, the Spectres. You surrendered before the fight had even begun. You quit before you'd even gained a sweat. You'll go down in history as nothing but a traitor and a fucking coward, Saren. So fuck you. Fuck the Reapers. And fuck anyone who gets in my way."

I stood up out of cover and stepped forward, rifle hanging to my side. I met his eyes and somehow, I don't know how, but my words were working. I could see the conflict in him. Sovereign was powerful, but to his credit, Saren was fighting whatever was in his mind. He collapsed to his knees as he cried out in pain. He met my eyes again and, for the first time, they were clear. Like meeting the eyes of my turian friend, Garrus Vakarian. "Shepard... He's too powerful..." he moaned, holding his head in his hands.

I stepped forward, realising I was on the verge of ending it. "You know what to do, Saren. Make your last act heroic. I've read your file. Sure, you've done some nasty shit in your life, but you've also done what was right numerous times. What will the cost be this time? One life? Or the trillions of innocents?"

He cried out again, pain no doubt surging through his body. It was obvious Sovereign was nearly in full control of the turian, just like Benezia had been under the control of him and Sovereign. But there was a small window into his mind, just enough that was alive enough to communicate with me. He looked up, his eyes still clear. Meeting mine, he nodded. I took the pistol from my holster and stepped forward, handing it to him. "You know what to do, Saren. I'll ensure everyone knows what you did at this moment. But..."

"I know, Shepard. But thank you."

"You're still a bastard though."

The bark of a laugh reminded me of Garrus. Completely turian. "You were a worthy opponent, Shepard." He met my eyes. "And I am sincere. At this moment, I die free." And with those words, he put the pistol to his chin and blew his brains out. I watched the blue blood spatter before his body collapsed to the bottom of the hover-board, which then tipped and dropped his body far below us.

Walking to the same master control unit he'd been working at, I uploaded the data file and took control of all systems. The first thing to do was unblock communication and open the arms of the Citadel. I knew Sovereign was close by, but after my last communication with the Normandy, I was confident Joker would now surely be close enough to have joined up with an Alliance fleet.

Opening the communications channel, we heard a mayday from the Destiny Ascension. They had the Council on board, but they were also in trouble. Their engines were dead. Shields were failing. They were easy prey for the geth that hovered nearby.

"Normandy to Citadel. Normandy to the Citadel. Please tell me that's you, Commander."

"Who else would it be, Joker?"

"We caught that distress call, Commander. I'm sitting here in the Adura sector with the entire Arcturus fleet. We can save the Ascension. Just unlock the relays around the Citadel and we'll send the cavalry in!"

Everyone gave an opinion. Wrex suggested sacrificing the Council. Surprisingly, Garrus agreed, though the pragmatic course would be to save the entire fleet for Sovereign. Liara and a now flagging Shiala agreed on saving the Council. Ashley actually agreed, seeing the bigger picture if we let them die. Tali admitted she didn't care about the Council but suggested saving them would be politically expedient. I almost smirked.

I glanced over my team. "There are ten thousand souls on the Destiny Ascension, not just the lives of the three councillors. We can save the ship while keeping enough in reserve to take down Sovereign. And Tali is right. Politically, it will be a good move for humanity. But it's also the right thing to do."

"It's your show, Shepard," Wrex muttered. He probably didn't really care, but I knew would have had no love for the Council. Garrus agreed, admitting it was probably the right but not most pragmatic course. He was thinking like a turian. Victory, whatever the cost. I could see his point, most of the time, but this time, doing the right thing was best.

"Joker, this is Commander Shepard. Send word out. Save the Destiny Ascension."

"Aye-aye, Commander. We will be through the relay in two minutes."

"Hope we get thanks for this, Commander," Ashley muttered. I knew what she meant, meeting her eye and nodding.

We were now bystanders, comm lines opened as we could hear the arrival of the fleet. "Alliance ships move in. Save the Destiny Ascension!"

Hackett knew as well as I did that a lot of men and women were going to die saving it. But I knew, in my heart, it was the right thing. Part of me knew that letting the ship burn was the best option. But ten thousand people were on that ship. And the Destiny Ascension itself was a magnificent craft. Keeping the ship intact was a smart move.

"Commander, we're picking up reinforcements!"

"It's the Alliance! Thank the Goddess!"

Over the radios, we could hear the fight. There was no doubt the Alliance paid a heavy price to save the ship. But the geth took a battering in addition. It was a short, sharp fight, lasting no more than half an hour. We heard more than one mayday during that time, and I knew we'd lost ships. Ashley met my eyes more than once. At heart, she knew I'd made the right call, but hearing our fellow men and women in uniform dying... Even the hardest of hearts would not always understand.

"Destiny Ascension, you are all clear. Repeat, you are all clear. Withdraw to the rallying point, you will have cover."

"Thank you, Alliance. Thank you, Commander Shepard. We will withdraw. May the Goddess be with you." I recognised the voice immediately. Councillor Tevos. I now had an ally on the Council. In fact, I probably had three simply because I'd saved them.

"The Citadel's opening. All ships, this is a direct order from Admiral Hackett. Move in! Concentrate on Sovereign!"

Even in the tower where we were, with Sovereign sat above us, we could actually hear the fight outside. We heard more than one radio call, of people screaming, of people dying. I hung my head, wondering if I'd made the right choice. I felt a hand on both shoulders, glancing to see Ashley to one side, Liara to the other. I wondered if my choice had just cost us victory.

Looking down, that's when I noticed Saren lying there. "Wrex, Garrus, Ashley. Make sure he's dead." I didn't hear anything until a couple of gunshots echoed around the chamber.

"Yeah, he's dead now," Wrex grumbled. I had no doubt he took pleasure in putting a few bullets in the body of the turian.

Then something happened. The entire chamber seemed to shake. Looking down, the body of Saren seemed to transform, glowing red electrical currents sweeping through his body. Before I could move nor say anything, the platform I was standing on gave way, sending me arse over head onto the ground below. I managed to regain my footing quickly, and the thing that stood before me was no longer Saren. The turian was now well and truly dead. Whatever stood before me... was more machine than organic.

"I am Sovereign! And this station is mine!"

"Like hell it is!" I roared, opening up immediately as the body of Saren or whatever it was leapt out of the way faster than imagined. Everyone was quickly into cover, those above joining us where we were. "Kill this fucking thing!"

Biotics, tech attacks, bullets. Everything opened up. But Sovereign, as it was clearly now directing Saren, the turian no longer in control, was incredibly strong. Tali went down first, hearing Ashley cry out. I ignored everything, my eyes and my rifle aimed only for the enemy. Garrus went down again, this time taking a shot into his chest. He yelled out he was okay, but was out of the fight. Our numbers were dwindling, but we somehow, we were also gaining the upper hand. My two biotic colleagues worked wonders as Wrex got in close, almost hand to hand combat with the body of the turian.

"Fuck you, turian fucking cunt," Wrex roared. I almost laughed in appreciation at the use of his curses. Learned from me, obviously.

"Sovereign's too strong! We have to pull back!"

"Negative! This is our only chance!" I didn't believe, but thank god for Admiral Hackett. "Take that monster down, no matter the cost!"

Then the body of Sovereign seemed to change again. "Liara!"

"Shepard?!"

"Is it possible Sovereign has somehow transferred itself into Saren?"

I glanced to see her look. More red electrical current. "Yes, Shepard. No doubt Sovereign believes defeating us here will mean victory. Beat us, it can open the relays, then the cycle will begin."

"Well, I think killing it here and now would be best, right?"

We stepped out of cover, even those of us injured, and we simply laid waste to it. It was clearly no longer Saren. It was an indoctrinated monster. It might have had speed. It might have had power, as whatever it fired in our direction, I certainly didn't want to be shot by it. But we had the numbers, and we were pretty pissed off. And we were definitely not going to let the cunt win.