Jane Shepard
“Keep those throws coming Liara! We need to hold this position!”
“Trying that! They just don’t stop coming.”
“AH HA HA HA!”
“Wrex! Stay focused, one slip up and we’ll be overrun.”
“Dammit, I’m clearing a line, Shiala cover me for a moment.”
“I’ll do it but how exactly do you plan on doing that?”
“Just trust him, Garrus this better work.”
“Just one second. Okay got it.”
All other sounds of gunfire and the swarm of creatures are suddenly and violently drowned out by the deafening crack of Garrus’ rifle. The weapon, nearly as long as he is tall, and with a barrel twice the diameter of any rifle Jane had seen before let out round after round, only the slightest of pauses between each.
Each round tore down the hallway, splattering the creatures the rounds passed through with little sign of slowing, clearing large groups at once. For the first time, there appears to be a lull in the swarm. They still advance, crawling across the walls, the floors, and ceilings, but where before there was barely any metal of Peak 15’s structure visible beneath the swarm, now the infrastructure was recognizable.
“We’re making a dent, don’t let up, keep up the attack!” Jane cried out, the sound of her pistol never abating as she continued firing as many shots as she could, she would need to talk to Jenkins about getting her shotgun swapped to slugs because the lack of range on her favorite weapon was beginning to be a problem. The oncoming alarm of her weapon overheating was drowned out by another voice.
“I’ve detected a structural weak point commander. Tear out the plating at this location.” Beta’s voice echoed in her helmet as a piece of the wall below a section of the coming bugs was highlighted. Jane was relying on him to restart the generators for the facility, but she appreciated him taking a moment to assist their defense.
It took only a quick gesture of her hand and a moment of effort before the section of metal plating was torn loose from the wall clattering down the hall and crushing a few of the bugs in its path.
“Garrus put a round from the FUBAR in that opening. Asari, shields now.” Jane realized, perhaps a moment too late what Beta had planned, but at this point, there was no option but to listen. Garrus didn’t hesitate in firing where ordered, and thankfully Shiala and Liara were just as quick on the uptake. They shoved their arms forward a shimmering blue shield forming at the entrance to the hall.
It formed just in time to stop the wall of fire that flooded the hall. Wrex and Jane both took a step back, fear of fire taking precedence for a moment before they realized the heat and flames were held back by the barrier. The fire roared for a few moments, during which everyone aside from the two Asari took a moment to catch their breath and prepare. Shiala and Liara were both focused on maintaining the barrier as the inferno raged on the other side.
An intercom can be heard crackling to life as a voice calls out.
“Fuel line b-breach detected. Iso-Isolating line. Activating F-fire suppression. Have a ni-nice day.” The voice echoed through the halls, the slight static from the communication system’s poor condition causing it to stutter as it spoke.
In coordination with the announcement, Jane watched as the fire retreated and a mist descended from small nozzles that had been hidden in the ceiling. With the fire gone the hallway was fully visible once more. There were audible sighs of relief as there were no signs of living enemies left behind. Merely scorched and twitching corpses. With the horde gone the damage that they had done was more visible, the scratches and claw marks that lined the walls and ceilings where they had crawled in what felt like a neverending horde.
The shield dropped as the two Asari finally let it go, the exhaustion from the effort of maintaining it clear. Liara fell to a knee, breathing heavily as she did so her inexperience marking the difference between her and Shiala. Shiala allowed her arms to drop and only had to take a moment to steady herself from the exertion.
“Well done you two. The barrier was a good save.” Jane nodded at the two as Shiala helped Liara stand.
“Of course Shepard, although in the future a little more warning would be appreciated.”
“Yeah, no shit. Tell that AI to make plans a little more detailed than ‘barrier’ in the future.” The difference in Liara and Shiala’s attitudes was clear as the latter was much more comfortable giving direct criticism.
“I apologize but the situation required immediate action. If any of the lifeforms had gotten through the hall there is a 72.3% chance you would have been overwhelmed. It would have made my job reactivating these generators much more difficult.” Beta’s response is sobering, and has Jane wonder the same thing she has since they encountered those things.
“What the hell are these things?” Jane’s question is one they are all asking. They had been fighting for hours since they got to Peak 15, the facility had appeared abandoned at first. Sadly that was incorrect.
She wasn’t sure about changing her mind at the last moment to bring Wrex instead of Tali, but after everything, she thought it was the right call. Against this kind of swarming enemy, Wrex was in his element. Right in the thick of it having them clash against his armor and his weapons. While Tali might have helped with the repairs to the facility that this VI they were going through there were just so many enemies to deal with that the extra firepower was important. Besides Beta had been huge in leading the repairs. They had already fixed the communications relay on the roof, and this reactor was the last stop before they could access the labs where Benezia was assumed to be hiding.
“Beta we are here to fix the reactor, I hope that fuel line wasn’t important,” Garrus asked the question as he packed his rifle back onto his shoulder, a gift he had gotten from Jenkins before they left for the peak.
“It’s simply an overflow line in case of excess fuel, it’s kept under pressure but wasn’t necessary for our repairs. You are welcome by the way.” Beta’s growing sarcasm was both endearing and grating as hell depending on how well you responded to sarcasm. Thankfully no one on Jane’s team had problems with a little bit of attitude.
“Yes yes, we are all very thankful for your help. Just a little more concerned with where these bugs keep coming from and what they are!” Shiala shouted as she finished putting away her weapons and leaned up against the wall, watching the entrance to the reactor that had been swarmed.
“These creatures are much more numerous than the geth that were guarding the entrances here, but individually they aren’t that much more dangerous. I haven't heard anything about a lifeform like this before.” Liara went and leaned on the wall next to Shiala, leaning in to silently ask a few questions. Shiala responded not looking annoyed by the questioning and more relieved by the chance to be distracted.
“Well, I had heard of something like these things, but… That shouldn’t be possible.” Wrex was cleaning his shotgun, seated on a small bench in the reactor room, watching the same entrance as he did so.
“What is it? Any intel that helps us fight these things would be nice.” Garrus had his arms crossed as he watched Wrex looking for an answer. Everyone’s conversation or thoughts were interrupted as they looked to Krogan for an answer to the threats they faced.
Wrex sighed as he looked forward down the hall that still had burning bodies lying across the floor. “They behave and look almost exactly like my people’s stories of the Rachni.”
Wrex’s answer is greeted with silence. Shiala was the first to break it.
“How in the goddess could it be the Rachni? Aren’t your people responsible for making them extinct?” Shiala steps forward as she speaks, Liara following behind in her shadow.
“How should I know? Every report we have says we wiped them out, I’m just saying they seem pretty damn similar.” Wrex seemed annoyed by the targeted questioning but otherwise answered plainly.
“Okay. And what can we do with that information? If these things are the Rachni-”
“They can’t be the Rachni, everyone agrees they were wiped out. They have to be something else.” Shiala interrupted once more, earning a look from Garrus who had been asking the question.
“Everyone also agreed the Reapers weren’t real. Even if they aren’t Rachni, knowing something similar can’t hurt given we have zero actual information. Speculation is the best we have until we get more information. So Wrex, what do you know?” Jane shut down Shiala’s outburst. The Asari seemed to trust the Council’s opinion the vast majority of the time, which surprised Jane to learn. She thought Shiala was more of an independent soul, but her trust in the Council’s decisions was more than any other member of Jane’s crew.
Shiala scowled for just a moment before nodding, leaning back against the wall. Even if she trusted the Council more than the members of this crew, Shiala couldn’t deny the existence of Reapers, which the Council seemed adamant to do.
“Well, the Rachni were pretty much immune to most toxins and could survive in a much larger range of environments than most races. They have a hive mind and are ruled by queens who organize and manage the masses. Even then their intelligence is pretty simple, swarm tactics are about as complicated as they get, although the closer you get to the queens the smarter the hive behaves. They don’t seem to have any biotic capabilities and dislike fire and explosives.” Wrex repeated the information with a clinical distance, as though he was remembering information read from a book, and not the strength of a race that nearly threatened the galaxy at one point.
“Most things dislike fire and explosives.” Beta’s hologram reappeared above Jane’s wrist, as he spoke. “The reactor repair is nearly complete, however, I felt it was important to inform you that despite our repairs to the communication system there appears to be an external jammer somewhere in the base. A signal has been broadcast that was unable to leave the perimeter of the site.”
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
Beta didn’t wait for the question Jane was about to ask, and instead began playing the audio file immediately.
“This is Captain Ventralis of Peak 15 security. There has been a breach of site security. Specimens are loose and hostile. We require immediate backup, I repeat, immediate backup.” The voice on the other end then fades out slightly, as though he’s speaking to someone else. “Set that message to loop, they need me back at the barricade. Hopefully, that gets through, if not we just have to last long enough for the board to realize something's wrong.”
As the message ends everyone is silent for a moment. Jane feels that dread, that similar sensation she felt months ago on Akuze. Under attack by some enemy, she can’t fight and that won’t stop, hoping blindly that they could last long enough for her to get out of there. In the end, she was the only person who got out alive.
“Where are they?” Her question was what broke the silence.
“The signal was sent from a terminal in the transit station, between us and the hot labs.” Beta’s answer is what Jane hoped for, quick and concise.
“It’s on the way then. Let’s go.” She waved them forward, switching to her shotgun as she moved towards the exit hall. Whether it was her tone or the coldness with which she moved toward the objective, no one questioned her order. They fell silently into line, Wrex alongside her, Garrus and Liara behind and Shiala taking up the rear.
Rather pointedly, no one asked the question that might have been the most pressing, and in a decision that showed he was learning to read the room, Beta did not elaborate on how long that message had been on loop.
His shotgun was larger than hers, a rather beastly-looking thing Jenkins had supposedly designed. It was as rough and crude as she expected something made in someone’s cabin to be, but the way it performed had her very interested in getting to try it.
“Are you prepared for what we are going to find there?” Wrex’s voice was low, barely more than a whisper. Just audible over the sound of their squad moving down the halls back towards where the elevators were located. There were no more living bugs on that path, but the evidence of their previous fight through this area remained.
“I’m aware of what we may find.” Jane considered herself a realist. If these bugs had anything to with the matriarch, and she was certain that was the case, then these guards had likely been on the defense for days. If there were any survivors, it was uncertain what state they would be in.
“As long as you aren’t expecting a welcome party. If these things are the Rachni… they aren’t stupid. They’ll stop with rush tactics if that fails enough times and try something different. They have numbers and patience to learn.” Jane personally didn’t like the nihilism in Wrex’s tone, but Jane quickly realized what he was doing.
“There’s only so much you can do.” Wrex’s words echo with Jane for a moment, and she turns to spare a glance at the Krogan as they walk. He doesn’t look at her, his gaze instead focuses on the path ahead of them.
“Is that what you tell yourself?” Jane’s response is as quiet as Wrex’s was, and even though the Krogan doesn’t stop moving, he flinches just ever so slightly at her words.
“What is that supposed to mean?” There was the barest hint of anger in his tone, but Jane can see it in Wrex now. That weight that sits on his shoulders with every task he does.
“Is that what you tell yourself when you see your people suffer? When you see how the Krogan ruins themselves.” At this point Wrex stops walking, bringing the entire team to a halt. He turns to glare directly at Jane.
“Careful Shepard. You’re on dangerous ground.” Wrex’s rage was visible now, his eyes narrowed and his grip on his shotgun tightened.
“It’s not an insult Wrex, I’m asking you. Does saying there's only so much you can do make it hurt any less? Sure, there’s a limit to what I can do. But that won’t stop me from doing EVERYTHING I can.” Jane doesn’t back down, keeping her gaze on Wrex steady, her weapon stowed safely at her side. She wasn’t going to fight Wrex on this, but she saw there was a clear difference in how they thought, and she had a feeling that Wrex’s line of thinking wasn’t something that was helping him.
“I’ll tell you this Wrex, the only way I sleep at night is by knowing I did everything I could. Whether or not it mattered isn’t the point. Trying. That’s the point. Trying to save everyone.” Jane turned away, continuing her walk forward.
“...” Wrex took a moment before moving to follow alongside Jane once more. “That’s hopelessly naive.”
“Maybe. But I’d rather be naive than fatalistic. We’re more than just soldiers and mercenaries now Wrex. We are up against an enemy from myths. We have to be better than we were before.” Wrex is silent and Jane’s response, glancing between her and the weapon in his hands.
“Heh… you sound like the kid.” Jane can’t help but chuckle herself at the answer. She suppose her words bear some similarity to what Jenkins had said to her before. The first time they spoke. He thought she could be a hero. Jane still didn’t know if that was who she was, but she could see now that it was worth trying. The galaxy had plenty of soldiers. Heroes are what would be needed.
“Well, sometimes he has the right idea. Sometimes.” Jane and Wrex shared a look at the thought of their engineer's antics. They could only imagine what kind of mess he was managing to get himself into while dealing with this mess.
Their conversation stops as they reach the elevators, a set of three all along a wall in a central complex. The lights were finally on and appeared to function now that the relay and reactor had been repaired, and it only highlighted the carnage from when they had first come through here. Broken Geth bodies stood close to the exterior access of Peak 15 and had been the first line of defense they smashed through. The rest of the lobby had a smattering of bug corpses littering it. It was where they had first encountered the creatures, disorganized but numerous and ruthlessly motivated.
The elevators themselves weren’t large, designed for scientific transport as opposed to large resource transportation. That was likely done through the actual tram station below. Where the guards were hopefully still playing defense.
“We should split elevators. Stagger our departures slightly so we can have the second group ambush in case there is enemy activity.”
“And so only a few of us get shot by any potentially trigger-happy security?” Garrus’ question got a couple of chuckles from the group, well everyone except for Liara. Perhaps it was the potential proximity to her mother or her lack of direct combat experience but she seemed much more tense than anyone else. That was enough to make up her mind.
“Shiala, you're with me. Wrex, Liara, Garrus. Take the second elevator. Give it thirty seconds and follow us. Should be enough time for us to clear a space or convince any survivors not to shoot.” Jane kept hopeful that it would be survivors they found.
“Yes, commander!” A series of responses echo in the room and Shiala steps up beside Jane. With a nod, they turn and enter one of the elevators. Jane's last view as the doors close is of the other three members of her team moving to the next elevator.
The elevator lurches as it begins to move. Jane looks up at the number that ever so slowly begins to tick by. Curse the slow elevators of Council space.
“So, wanted me by your side then Commander?” Shiala was the one who broke the silence, a look on her face Jane wasn’t quite certain she recognized.
“Your biotics will let you defend yourself better than the others could, and security will react less aggressively to an Asari and a Human woman as opposed to a Krogan or a Turian.” Jane keeps her answer short. Her trust for the Commando beside her went about as far as rescuing the matriarch, and that was it. Aside from that she didn’t think Shiala was all that invested in their mission or goal. Her general attitude of indifference only exasperated that feeling.
“For my defense? You don’t seem too fond of defensive barriers, were you planning on dodging any potential enemy fire, or hiding behind me?” Shiala smirks at her comment, causing Jane no small degree of annoyance. She did not like being talked down to.
“I have my methods of protection.” Jane looks down at her wrist, clenching her fist and causing a large shield to appear on her arm. Jenkins Tech Shield. She returns Shiala’s smirk back at her, expecting her to be surprised. Instead, she sees that same look she had earlier, the one Jane couldn’t quite place.
“Ah, of course. Jenkins. Did he make that after the Thorian? I imagine he would have used it during that fight if he could have.” For one of the first time since she spoke with Shiala her words and tone sounded genuine. As though she was actually curious about the situation and interested in the answer. The shift caught Jane by such surprise she didn’t even think as she responded.
“Yeah, he finished it just before we stopped at the Luna base. It’s effective.” Shiala just nodded at Jane’s answer, as though she expected nothing less.
“He continues to impress. Hey, I don’t suppose you have any issues with fraternization on your team do you?”
“... I’m sorry what?” Another shift, again catching Jane completely off guard.
“Fraternization? I know some Commanders and militaries are against their soldiers engaging in such activities. I figured I should know if you are one of them?” Shiala was entirely casual as she spoke, leaning against the back of the elevator as it lowered to their destination, remarkably slowly.
“What? I… I mean I guess not. Everyone on the ship are adults so as long as they consent and it causes no friction with the mission then I don’t have any issue with it.” Jane was surprised by the question but she had heard what soldiers would say about Asari in their maiden phases. How they tended to be a little more flippant with these sorts of relationships.
It’s not as though the thought of such things had completely avoided Jane’s mind, and those moments of downtime traveling between each location certainly had her thinking about some of the members of her crew she had been getting to know. Garrus, Kaidan. Jenkins, hell even the few conversations she had with Liara had her thinking about how she would have enjoyed getting to know the woman in a different situation. But given the situation they were in such things seemed presumptuous. The mission had to come first, and after she could think about such things. If Shiala was less interested in waiting and her partner was willing then it didn’t matter to Jane. Although she was curious as to who Shiala would even be interested in, it wasn’t like anyone on the ship trusted her that much.
“Ah good. I was worried making a pass at the Corporal would get me in some sort of trouble, but given all the competition I’d rather not wait on it.” Shiala’s answer, for the third time, since they got on this elevator has left Jane floundering.
Did Shiala just say she was interested in Jenkins? Jenkins. Her engineer Jenkins. And did she imply she wasn’t the only one? Jane’s first thought is to question who else this could be. Her second thought is why she is even concerned by such a thing. If people have an interest in Jenkins that’s between them and him. It’s not Jane's concern. Besides, there’s no way Jenkins would go for someone like Shiala. She almost certainly wasn’t his type. Not that Jane knew his type, but she was certain that Shiala wasn’t it.
“Do what you want Shiala, as long as you don’t interfere with the mission or harm my team then I don’t have a problem with it. But if I find out you hurt any of my team, or that you sabotaged this mission for some alternative goal, then no ties to the council will protect you from me.” Jane levels the best of her threatening glares for a moment, pushing as much menace forward as she could. She had done what she could to welcome and accept Shiala as a necessity on the team, but right here, in this moment, she wanted to make it clear that her acceptance went hand in hand with her cooperation.
“Of course. I’ve said before we want the same thing, Commander. Rescue the matriarch and stop Saren. I have no interest in causing problems with that mission.” Shiala’s words still carried her previous apathetic tone, no real change had been made as far as that was concerned. However, Jane was a soldier, and more than that she was N7. Special forces. She was trained to notice details about people that others missed.
Things like how Shiala’s stance stiffened ever so slightly, and how her eyes focused much more closely on Jane and her movements. It seems Jane’s threat had the effect she wanted. Shiala was at the very least more wary of the human Commander. That was the best Jane could ask for.
“As long as we understand-” Jane’s response is cut off as she hears a familiar sound. The faint echo of gunfire gets ever so slowly louder and louder as the elevator nears its destination. Jane readies her shotgun, pulling it into her hands as Shiala steps forward, energy gathering around her off-hand as she draws a pistol in the other.
“Well, at least gunfire means survivors.” Shiala doesn’t even look at Jane as she speaks, her view maintained on the elevator door as the sounds of combat grew closer.
“Let’s hope they're not too overwhelmed. When that door opens I want you to focus your barrier just outside the elevator. We’ll clear the space in front of the elevators, and once the rest of our team joins us we’ll make our way to the survivors and reinforce them.”
“Yes, Commander.” Shiala simply nods in response to Jane's order, her weapons and skills ready.
There is a lurch as the elevator stops at its destination. There is a moment of delay, a moment where the tension builds as the doors remain sealed. Then, without any fanfare or presentation, the door slides open and all hell breaks loose once more.