Hell or High Water 2.2

Hell or High Water 2.2

…

Commissioned by Sivantic

Wordcount: 2500

…

I awoke with Wrex looming over me.

“Kid’s alive. Just thought you all should know.” My vision was blurry and it was difficult to breathe. I reached for my face and found what I was looking for. A pinprick on my neck administered the stimulants I needed. Fatigue faded away and was replaced by pain. I rose. “Huh. You humans are tougher than I thought.”

“We’re not. Rorschach’s just crazy.” William’s voice carried her usual scowl, but it was tired. I looked her way and found her armor covered fractures and punctured at certain places. There was a large patch on her right side. The memory of her getting struck by a powerful rifle round and enduring it came to the forefront of my mind. She was tough. “He’s gone through at least three illegal forms of gene therapy.”

I scanned the Rachni queen’s containment chamber.

It was a battleground filled with bodies. Rachni soldiers and workers covered the floor. Geth Troopers and Asari Commandos lay side by side. The Geth were melted, their armor and servos undone by acid, while the Asari Commandos suffered greater trauma. The Rachni’s biotic caste were skilled at overcoming barriers so that their lesser caste could attack the enemy. The Geth could endure them with their Barriers and Armor, but the Asari’s light armor melted and left their bodies little protection.

Most of the Asari were nothing more than puddles on the ground. Their bodies were broken down and destroyed by the Rachi’s acid or rent by their claws. Some had blank faces while others died with a scream on their lips. A few were lucky. They died of sudden trauma while others were melted or torn apart.

Amidst the battlefield, I found Shepard.

She kneeled before Benezia, who lay against the terminal that determined the fate of the Rachi Queen. Her gun was beside her and the electrified cuffs I’d made were not on the Asari Matriarch’s wrists. Anger nearly filled me, until I realized that the Matriarch was dying with a bullet wound to her stomach and was lying in a pool of her own blood.

What little anger I felt faded when my face locked onto her lips and translated the Thessian she spoke.

“Saren’s ship has a way to control minds. I thought I could resist it, but I fell to its power. You mustn’t allow anyone aboard that ship or they will become Saren’s tools.” Shepard listened intently while I walked forward. I began recording Benezia’s words, while enduring the pain writhing across my body. The Medigel stung and it was difficult to walk, but I had gone through worse with a body far less capable. “You told me that you have one of my Commandos with you? You must kill her. She is trained in subterfuge and is committed to Saren’s plans. She will do everything in her power to destroy anyone who opposes him. Grant her mercy by destroying what she has become.”

“Never been asked by a Matriarch to mercy kill one of her commandos. First time for everything, I suppose.” Wrex grunted and attempted to be casual, but the words had caught him off guard. His reptilian gaze drifted over the many dead bodies in the chamber. “It’s your call though, Shepard.”

I expected Williams to speak up against the idea, but she seemed shaken by the words too.

“We could leave her here on Noveria instead of bringing her along. I’m not a fan of a sleeper agent and commando wrecking her way through Alliance Intelligence.” Williams hesitated before speaking, but she made her thoughts on the matter clear. “But, Wrex is right. It’s your call commander.”

“We don’t execute prisoners. We’ll tell the Alliance to put her in maximum security and study her head for whatever Saren did.” Shepard stood up and met Benezia’s pained gaze at her decision, but did not back down. Was it a mercy to allow an obsessed creature to live in the stead of a proud warrior? All I knew was that, no matter what, the commando was a criminal that should die and Shepard knew that was my thoughts on the matter. I didn’t say a word. “Benezia, if there’s anything else you can tell us before you pass on… please do so.”

The Matriarch struggled for a moment, before looking upon us all.

“Saren must be stopped at any cost. He cannot be allowed to win. He must die no matter the price.” The Matriarch’s life faded away before the four of us. We watched her pass away. Her countenance grew slack.  Regret filled her features and concern for the future radiated from her. Did she redeem herself? I did not know. But I felt no urge to make sure that she died. “Tell Liara… I’m sorry.”

With her final words, she begged her child for forgiveness and faded away.

Only for a something to take her body and speak with her voice.

…

The Rachni spoke to us through Benezia by taking control of her body after her consciousness faded away.

It begged for its life and spoke of something which provoked its ancestors to war.

Wrex spoke against sparing it. He spoke of how his people gave their lives to defeat the Rachni and destroy them to the last.

Williams agreed with him. She told Shepard that it wasn’t worth the risk and the Rachni were a threat to the entire galaxy.

Finally, Shepard looked to me, as I stayed silent while she spoke with the Queen.

I told her my piece.

“Children are free of the crimes of their parents. This Rachni is innocent and a victim of the corporations that took her children and wished to make soldiers.” I spoke my piece on the matter after considering its past. What its ancestors did mattered not to me. Only the fact that it could not contact its children, which caused them to do so much harm. This was proven, upon my request, when she pointed out that none of the children we led into this battle harmed us and almost fought with us. “If this Queen chooses the path of her people once took, then we kill her. Not before, especially when all of this was not her fault.”

I presented Shepard with the logs from the terminals within the room that wasn’t meant to exist. Binary Helix was thorough in their testing and manipulation of the Rachni. They treated the sentient being like it was nothing more than a machine meant to create soldiers. From her they took eggs, hatched them, and made them into predators stuck in cages and meant to be deployed to deny vast swathes of land. Natural cannon fodder and biotic warriors that worked together with utmost ease. That was the product that Binary Helix sought… and the Rachni Queen was their victim.

I will bury them after this mission and reveal all that they did.

Those who funded them and supported them would lose their investments, which was a small price to pay for what they funded.

The executives and officers of the company, with their golden parachutes, will find their landings far, far more terrible.

Still, in the moment, Shepard’s decision meant everything.

She considered all our points… and after a moment’s hesitation… released the Rachni Queen with stern promise.

“If you’ve lied to us, if you decide to wage war against the galaxy, I’ll dedicate my life to finding you and killing you. Don’t make me regret this.”

Shepard’s words mollified Wrex and Williams, even though the former grunted about his people potentially being forced to fight against the Rachni once again and the latter wondered aloud about humanity’s chances against the species.

But I offered Shepard my support with a decisive nod.

She was more than I expected.

But still too much like Daniel.

Too trusting.

I landed a dart upon the Rachni queen to track her just in case.

The dart’s program could be shared with the entire galaxy with ease, which could cast a wide net even with its planetary limits, should the worst come to pass.

Unlike Shepard, I didn’t intend to warn the Rachni Queen that I was coming after her if all our fears rang true.

I’ll just kill her.

…

Shepard approached me after her meeting with the council.

“The Council’s using the evidence you’ve gathered to investigate Binary Helix. There have a lot of hoops to go through, since Noveria’s a corporate planet, but they’ll get put through the ringer.” Shepard spoke to me more casually this time. Was it because of our latest mission? Did our battles together lower her guard around me? “How are you? You went down hard. I thought that you died.”

“The Asari Commandos were very skilled. I underestimated them and their preparation.” They had powerful scanners on their weapons. Experimental ones made by no discernable manufacturer. I had one on the maintenance table before me and I was taking it apart. I was growing increasingly sure of myself as I took it apart. “They were working with the Geth and had their weapons improved. Expect the same for everyone Saren employs.”

A frown crossed Shepard’s face.

“I’ve requisitioned better gear with the funds we’ve managed to get. Most of what the Alliance can spare is just going into Normandy’s fuel and maintenance costs, so if you have any suggestions to level the playing field, I’m all ears.” The N7 Graduate crossed her arms and stared at me. I paused in my work. The question was a complex one. The Geth were a rapidly adapting foe that developed countermeasures against their enemies, while sharing information with one another.

“Jamming systems. Electronic warfare. Decoys. More firepower. Better armor. Get everything you can. There’s no silver bullet.” I told Shepard the truth. We couldn’t compare in terms of technological advancement, refinement, and production. All we could hope to do was get the best that we could and employ all of it. “Bring everything you can to bare. Bring more firepower on each target. Be aggressive. Don’t hold back. Fight fast and hard. Stop them from breaking the galaxy.”

“Do you think that they can do that? Just one species in the Perseus Veil?”

“Look at what humanity has achieved, Shepard, and we need more than they do and fight with one another. They’re machines dedicated to a single task. They will not stop. They will advance. They will crush everything in their path.” It was evident from the first Geth we encountered and the latest we fought. In a span of weeks, they were becoming more warlike, developing their tactics, and becoming stronger. “Their space platforms will advance as quickly as their ground platforms. Their fleets will be made without ceasing. They can mine anywhere and don’t need the same supplies as organics.”

If the Citadel and the rest of the galaxy had to fight the Geth, then they needed to unite and fight together. Every fleet needed to come upon the Geth’s system and destroy them, if the Geth’s goal was to destroy us.

I saw myself in them, in their drive, and in their ceaseless advancement in pursue of their purpose.

They were strong.

Shepard didn’t speak for a few moments, before nodding decisively.

“I’ll tell the Council what I can and pull some strings on the Alliance. Send me the information you’ve gathered on the Geth and outline their improvements. That should light a fire in everyone’s asses.” Shepard paid no heed to the monumental challenge that she faced. Tensions were high all across the galaxy. Every nation jockeyed for power and influence. Even in the Alliance, there were different polities and parties with other ideas and goals. Nonetheless, she looked forward and walked with determination. “I’ll see you later, Rorschach.”

I wondered how she would’ve dealt with Ozymandias, if she were there in the Artic with myself and Daniel. Could she have done anything to stop his mad plan to

“Goodbye, Shepard.”

She left me to my work.

…

Kaiden Alenko approached me cautiously.

The biotic had kept away from me since we first met. I didn’t know why that changed, but I met his gaze.

“Rorschach. Good morning.”

“Lieutenant Alenko.” I gave him a nod and faced him. He looked at my face and winced. What did he see at that moment? I checked. I found the diagram and compared it to others. Many with traumatic pasts saw it as a man screaming at them. “Hrrm.”

“…Dr. Chakwas told me to bring you these and administer them. We’ve finished your labs and a few of the gene therapies you’ve gone through have some things that need to be patched up.” He came forward and laid the small bag on the table. Injectors appeared one after another. Each one clearly labelled. They were the gene therapies offered to Alliance Marines, but they had company. Supplements. Malnourishment treatments. “You’re not coming on the next mission of Feros, so this is a good time to recover and fix yourself up.”

“Got it.” I reached for the first injector only to have Alenko take hold of my hand. His casual mask was replaced by a stern visage. “Hrrm?”

“The risk of nerve damage is too high when self-applying and they need to be applied to several locations. Not just one. You need me.” The words were curt and simple. He was brokering no argument. I respected that. He didn’t want to be here, but he was out of duty. I accepted that. “If you have a problem—”

“I don’t. Do it.” I began the process of removing my skin and giving him access to my torso. Shepard insisted on a daily bath, so Alenko did not wince as Mouse did when I revealed the weakness beneath my true self. Still, Alenko was surprised by what he saw. The scars. The results of training. All of it didn’t reflect what he thought of me. A mad child better off in a clinic. “Hurry.”

“…Alright. I got it.” He approached and I allowed him to apply the various treatments. Pinches of pain. The hiss of application. It was different from the syringes and the pain I endured taking what I could in the Citadel’s alleys. They were imperfect treatments, but they gave me the edge I needed without harming me. I took them without hesitation knowing that. “You know that you’re crazy, right?”

He went suddenly silent at those words.

They’d slipped out of his mouth.

But I had an answer for him.

“Standing by and doing nothing is true madness.” I offered him my thoughts and beliefs, as my weakness was reshaped once again. What lay beneath my mask and my skin was only human. Weak. Incapable. With my face and my skin, I became something stronger. Something that can fight. “I’m not crazy, Kaiden Alenko. Everyone else just doesn’t care.”