Spectre Bk 01 Ch 06

A/N - Australian / British standard English. There is a good chance of reading the following: lots of profanity, characters drinking, typos, and bad grammar at times.

Proofreading and editing suggestions provided by OhDave1. Any mistakes are still mine.

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Shepard faces down an asari matriarch at Peak 15

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It felt wrong. Smelled wrong. Looked wrong. And I think it was the silence that sent a chill up the spine, that feeling that crawls up the back of your neck. Nervous tension filled the air, or at least I could feel it coming from others. I ordered them to take a breath and say loose. The last I needed was for them to tense up should things go sideways.

Lights continued to flicker like a scene out of a horror film. A robotic voice continued to provide information of the damage that Peak 15 has sustained. Liara murmured her concern for her mother, wondering quietly to herself what she was up to and hoping that even if she was doing something stupid that she was okay. I think she still believed that her mother could be saved. I still wasn't sure if I was just going to put her down or at least try and reason with her.

The security entrance had provided little detail of events that had taken place. What had many of us concerned was the fact that machine gun turrets which would usually be facing visitors were facing the other way.

"Well, that's just adding to the list of concerns," Ashley muttered as we walked by.

The silence continued as we approached an elevator. We crammed on, quickly checked over our weapons, before the doors opened and we stepped out onto another level. The geth were lying in wait and we quickly put them down, working as an effective team. Once we'd eliminated the enemy, we took a look at our surroundings and figured we were in a cafeteria. The long benches and chairs plus kitchen gave it away.

"Where is everyone?" Kaidan asked, "And where are the bodies if the geth attacked?"

"They probably came with Lady Benezia," Tali replied, "She somehow got them through security at Port Hanshan."

We were about to move out when we heard another sound. It wasn't anything particularly terrifying though I knew we were curious. Before we knew it, the sound ended and there were animalistic growls, our team swinging around to see some sort of... something towards us. I just gave an order to open fire as more of them moved towards us. They were ugly, spat acid, and when they died, their blood bubbled on the ground.

"This smells wrong, Shepard," Wrex stated, and I could see he was getting restless, "Smells wrong."

"You have an idea what they are, big guy?"

"No... Well... No, I don't want to say it, because if they are what I have an inkling... Then something is fucked up here, Shepard."

I just called them monsters from then on out and we found a lot of the fuckers waiting for us going forward. We left plenty of them on the ground, finding they were quite susceptible to biotic attacks, Liara and Kaidan making our lives easier by throwing and lifting them so they were easier targets for the rest of us.

We also checked for information while moving around, hoping to find something that would tell us what was going on. It hadn't been easy going and a couple of my teammates did lose their shields for long enough that they needed to find cover. One version of the monster we found had long tentacles that suggested that we keep our distance. That's when Liara and Kaidan came in handy.

Another elevator led to what looked like the core of the station. A gaggle of little monsters came charging towards us, my assault rifle ringing in the confines of the elevator. The little bodies bubbled and steamed away once they were dead.

"Okay, I'm going to put it bluntly. This is totally fucked, Shepard. What the fuck are these things?" Ashley exclaimed.

"I don't know but I think we're all here to find out. You're right. This is fucked."

The next couple of hours were spent fixing the station so we could continue as the damage sustained meant that trying to move on was impossible. Communication had been cut off from the rest of the Noveria so that needed to be fixed. The reactor was offline. We needed that for power. Then the VI (Virtual Intelligence, called Mira) mentioned something about contamination. It was more of those monsters that needed dealing with. That's when we found our first bodies. A whole pile of them. Humans. Asari. Salarian. Turian.

"Goddess," Liara whispered before she turned away. So did many of the others.

Ashley and I crouched near them to check wounds and any identifying marks. It was a grisly scene. Even Garrus, who had perhaps seen similar things during his years as a cop, didn't come too close.

"Shepard," Ashley whispered, "What the fuck is going on here?"

"Don't know, Ash," I whispered back, "I intend to find out. What has me worried is that I think Wrex has an idea of what these things are, but I think even the big krogan is terrified. And that just leaves me wondering what the fuck they are."

"I've never seen anything like them."

"Me neither."

There was nothing else we could do. I genuinely felt sorry for them. I had no idea what they'd been up to on Peak 15, but the way they'd died must have been horrific, their last moments of lives spent in terror. The only way forward now was taking a tram from what was signposted as Central Station, and the tram would take us somewhere called Rift Station.

During the tram ride over, most of my team took a seat and remained silent with their thoughts. I sat next to Liara as she leaned against me, wrapping an arm around her. She wasn't distracted but I knew that what might have happened would lay in the back of her mind.

"I've never seen anything like that before, Shepard. It was horrible," she said softly, "I'm used to finding dry bones and long-lost artefacts on a dig site. Not... Not all of this."

"Not going to give up on me, are you, Doctor T'Soni?"

She heard the use of humour in my tone. "Never. It's just... It's all so new. I guess it'll take some getting used to."

"I'm used to things like that. What I saw on Torfan... It's fair to say that it hardened me so that even the most horrific things that one could see wouldn't bother me. Elysium was bad enough. Saw enough during that, but Torfan was a whole other magnitude of horrific."

"I'll be okay, Shepard. I'll just need a good rest when we get back to the ship. I'm not used to using my biotics so much."

"I think we're all going to need that. Before this tram stopped, your mother. I will try and take her down. I want Saren. Your mother can be dealt with... I hope without anyone dying."

"Thank you, Shepard."

She managed a slight smile when I met her eyes before I stood up and issued a couple of orders for our arrival. I had no idea what to expect, figuring that some of those monsters and perhaps more geth would be waiting for us to arrive. But when we stepped off the tram, we were greeted with silence again. Certainly no sign of anything that I'd call an enemy. But no humans or others who might have been residents of the station.

There was yet another elevator ride before we finally found survivors. It was a rudimentary barricade behind which stood three humans. They were ready to start shooting at us before realising that we were probably there to help them.

"Who the hell are you guys?" the man in charge asked.

"Commander Shepard. Council Spectre. And you are?"

"Captain Ventralis. I'll admit that we're glad to see you, Commander. I'm sure you've already realised the shower of shit that we've found ourselves in."

"What's the situation?"

"We've been on lockdown for at least a week. Everything seemed to be going well the, bam, these monsters show up out of nowhere and just start killing anything in their way. We've already lost a lot of good people. We're low on supplies. Hungry. Tired. And most of those who survived are at their wit's end."

"We'll do what we can. Has an asari matriarch come through here in the past week or more?"

"Yeah, she's in the Hot Labs. I can give you a pass to go in if you'd like."

Before we could leave, the barricade came in handy as more of those monsters attacked. The noise in such tight confines was deafening as every weapon from my team lit up. The monsters didn't stand a chance, turning back towards Ventralis once the fight was over to see he was ashen-faced.

"Jesus, you lot don't fuck around," he muttered.

"Anything else we should know before we head inside?"

"No. Just that I don't think getting to the asari matriarch will be easy. She sealed herself away and no one has been able to get inside since."

I'd seen people under stress suffering from the warning signs of a full-blown case of PTSD and most of the survivors in the mess hall were well on their way to that. There was a mix of species though most of the survivors were human. The fact that most of them were jittery wasn't a real surprise. The only one who seemed cool, calm and collected was an asari. Although she appeared okay, she was surprisingly blunt with me, verging on rude. I thought she would have had information for me, and when I asked her about Lady Benezia, I think she told me to fuck off, just not using those exact words.

It was obvious that these people needed help though, so although I was urgent to move on and find Benezia, if I could help these people before then, I figured Benezia wasn't going anywhere. It was obvious that once people realised that help was at hand the relief that swept through the survivors was palpable. Unfortunately, most of the people we spoke to didn't really have all that much information to give us. I figured as much.

We were investigating a quarantined lab when I heard the door open behind us and then lock. Sharing a glance with a couple of my squad members, I turned around with my rifle in hand to see the asari we'd met upstairs flanked by a couple of other people.

"Lady Benezia was expecting your arrival, Commander," she said, "And she ordered your death should you be stupid enough to come here."

"Asari commando," Liara whispered.

"She'll be disappointed to know that you're alongside this human, Doctor," the asari said, looking directly at Liara.

"She's made her choices. So have I."

She might have been a commando, but the sheer firepower and weight of number meant that she was dead in seconds. Walking back outside into the mess hall, there were a few glances in our direction as I approached a scientist who had been talking to the asari. When I explained what just happened, I think he was worried that I would blame him.

"I don't know her, I swear!" he insisted though the tone was of fear, "She's barely been here a month."

"She arrived here before Lady Benezia?" I asked.

"Yes! Yes! The documentation that arrived with her said that it was at the behest of one of our investors."

"And who is that?" I asked though I already knew the answer.

"Saren Arterius."

I shared a look with all my squad members. "Just how much influence does this turian have, Commander?" Kaidan wondered aloud.

"I think the media might be interested to know that a rogue Spectre is an investor in Binary Helix. I'm sure that I'm not the only one to have read reports of the years of the sort of shit this company gets up to."

"The research we do here is vitally important, Commander," the scientist explained, "Here, we can do our research without the sort of constraints that exist in Council space."

"Yet I bet it's that same research that unleashed whatever those fucking monsters were across the station and led to who knows how many deaths," Ashley retorted.

There was more work to be done, including heading downstairs to find another scientist. That wasn't the concern. What sent a chill through all of us was what we could see outside the windows in a cave below us. Thousands upon thousands of those monsters.

"We need to kill them, Shepard. We cannot let these things get out," Wrex exclaimed. The fact he was so restless may have concerned others, but it was that same feeling that he instinctively knew what they were but simply couldn't admit it. Made me wonder what he was thinking.

The scientist appeared out of it while sitting on his chair, as if he was injured or on drugs. His eyes only cleared when he noticed our arrival. And it was while questioning him that came the startling revelation.

"We found a drifting rachni ship. It must have been doing so for over a thousand years. And on it, they found an egg. A perfect rachni egg. The company... They planned to clone the rachni and turn them into an obedient army. Imagine an army of rachni marching across the galaxy. Whoever had such an army would have been unstoppable."

"Idiots!" Wrex shouted, and I noticed the shotgun pointed at the scientist, "My people spent nearly two centuries making sure those fuckers were extinct. You weren't around to see the chaos and destruction they brought about."

"Yes. Yes. We know all about that. But what you don't realise is that the egg... The egg was a queen. A rachni queen! So instead of cloning, the decision was taken that we would take her children instead. Not a good idea. Not good at all. The children... They were driven insane because of the separation. We could not control them. And now... Now we can only hope that they do not escape."

"How do we kill those down there?"

"Instruct Mira to perform a neutron purge. It is the only way. They will all die. A pity. So much research for nothing."

As soon as the scientist gave me the code to activate the purge, Wrex shot him. While there was a cry of surprise from others, I found that I didn't give a shit, walking towards the console nearby and keyed the code. There was a countdown and we hurried back to the elevator. It was while we were ascending that the elevator was rocked by the explosion.

"I want to kill them all, Shepard," Wrex growled, "Every single one of these idiots. They have no idea what they've done."

"None of us were around. Humans, I mean. But it looks like it wasn't just humans stupid enough to do this."

"If there's a queen here, Shepard, you have to kill it."

"I'll see..."

Walking out into the mess hall again, I felt every pair of eyes upon us and the fear had returned. They were no longer scared of the monsters. They were scared of us. I have no doubt they would have felt the explosion below their feet. They would know that we'd now put two and two together or even been told the truth. I walked towards the scientist that I'd spoken to before and loomed over him. He cowered back, probably fearful that I was going to hit him.

"Lady Benezia. Where is she?" His hand was shaking as he pointed towards a door that had been locked earlier. "Who unlocked it?"

"Ventralis... He's figured out that you know the truth... He was told to delay you for as long as possible, kill you if you find out too much."

"Where is he now?"

"On a tram back to Central Station and probably trying to secure passage of Noveria as quickly as possible."

I wasn't worried about Ventralis. The door towards the Secure Lab opened when I keyed the console. Before we entered the lab itself, I stopped and glanced over my team. My eyes met Liara's last. There was a mixture of determination and fear.

"I think we're going to find two things in there. One will be Lady Benezia. I will be honest. I don't want her dead. I want her taken in so we can interrogate her. She will no doubt be fully aware of Saren's plans. Two will be the rachni queen. Wrex suggests that I kill her. I'm not willing to make that decision yet." I met the eyes of the krogan. "That was two thousand years ago. I know it's almost ingrained in you to hate them. I have a fresh perspective. Understand?"

"Don't like it but I understand, Shepard," he replied, "And I'll go with your decision. I just hope we don't live to regret it if you do let her live. But... I follow your lead."

We were all carrying weapons when we walked into the Secure Lab. Benezia was waiting for us on a nearby platform. She was... She was intimidating. One could almost feel the aura of her power. She was tall. Moved with grace and ease. And she was absolutely beautiful. I'd never encountered an asari matriarch. Shai'ra and Councillor Tevos were still in their matron phase.

A glance towards a holding area next to her showed some sort of creature which could only be the rachni queen. Her eyes drifted towards it as well.

"Men will never understand what it is like to create life," she said, placing a hand on her stomach, "To carry it within you for months. To feel it grow and develop." She then gestured to the holding cell. "But to create other life is just as wonderful. She has provided so much life for us."

I figured that I might as well just be blunt. "Where is Saren, Lady Benezia?"

"Out of your reach, Commander. He searches for the Conduit. Once he has that, all it will take is one final step before it will allow for the return of the Reapers." She turned towards me; her eyes boring into mine. "You have seen the visions, Commander. You know they cannot be stopped. The Protheans, with all their apparent might, could not stop them. What chance do we have?"

"And the queen? What have you done to her?"

"She has provided Saren with the army he needs. Convincing the geth to join our cause was rather easy. It was quite pathetic how susceptible they were in believing in the benevolence of the Reapers. As for the rachni, we just needed an army to crush our enemies."

"Your army is now dead, Lady Benezia."

"True although we have made contingency plans. You are more formidable than either of us gave credit." Her eyes then fell upon her daughter. "Do not think that I will simply stand aside because you brought my daughter with you. And I will not hesitate should it come to pass."

"I don't wish to see you die, Mother, but what you are doing... How could you..."

A blue glow surrounded Benezia and I knew she was getting ready to attack. Before she could strike, I raised my weapon and put bullets through both of her shoulders to incapacitate her. She cried out, stumbled backwards, and then chaos descended as geth and asari flooded into the lab.

"Cover your mother!" I shouted at Liara as the rest of us got to work. The asari were tough as their biotics were powerful. Tali helped take care of the geth, hearing her almost giggling with glee as she used her technical prowess first before putting them down with a shotgun. Wrex was pissed off and it showed, ending up in between a pair of asari and practically throwing them around. One of the asari ended up crashing into the wall, hearing her neck snap before she slumped to the ground.

It was a short, sharp battle. Kaidan was nursing a wound on his arm that he solved with medi-gel. Garrus had scuffed armour as he was getting up close and personal. Ashley had a face of thunder while Wrex seemed to have worked off some of his anger about the rachni in dealing with the asari.

Liara was covering her mother with her sidearm, Benezia having dragged herself back against the cell. Above her sat the rachni queen. Getting down on a knee in front of Benezia, I removed her head covering and she didn't look as intimidating. When her eyes raised to mine, she looked... scared. And I knew she was also in pain. The wounds in her shoulder were bleeding. Depending on what happened next, I'd make sure that we'd help her.

I pressed against one of the wounds and made her cry out. I heard Liara gasp. "I don't think you are you, Lady Benezia," I stated, "Something is going on here. To fall under the spell of that piece of shit? No, I think we need to talk." I pressed again and again until she whimpered and almost passed out. I let go and waited for her to raise her eyes to mine again. They were clear and a real reminder of her daughter. "That's better. Lady Benezia, I'm Commander Shepard."