Never Fade Away: To Hell and Back (ch. 65) (Patreon)

Sorry for missing yesterday -- I spent all of Monday thinking that it was Sunday until I started to get the chapters prepped for 'Monday.'

...

“This is insane. This is actually insane,” So Mi uttered, looking around the spaceship for a convenient exit. Something that had been unthinkable about thirty seconds earlier. After years of her body slowly betraying her, parts burning out under the intense strain of channeling the Blackwall, So Mi was convinced that there was nothing she wouldn't do to live. They said that death revealed who you really were and it revealed to her that she was a coward that didn't want to die.

“Which part?” L questioned, sounding perfectly at ease with the madness. “I'm used to this kind of thing, so you're going to need to be more specific.” As he spoke, he plugged himself into the ships systems and even with a cursory glance at the specs, the ship was monstrously capable. Not next gen, or five generations of tech down the line. More like a hundred.

As much as her body was chrome and steel, So MI still felt fear. “Umm… all of it, I think. I think all of it is insane,” she admitted, her gaze settling on the back of L's head as she rode in the passenger seat. So Mi had known about L since the start -- Arasaka had been scrambling in the shadows to get their tech in L back before one of their competition got ahold of it. He had been on the radar, but nothing special.

Then he went and bloodied Militech's nose by stealing Jack. Myers had some choice words over that, but it was a minor setback in her game plans.

Then L set the whole fucking world on fire.

It was then that So Mi knew that he was her ticket to freedom. To saving her life and breaking the chains that bound her wings. It took a lot of work to get to this point -- subtly pushing Myers towards a soft approach, defragging her systems from the kill switches that Myers had installed to keep her loyal. Or to deny her body to enemy hands. It was months of work, of tedious effort, all for this moment and now she was reconsidering the entire thing because she failed to consider one simple factor.

L was fucking insane.

“You don't need to worry about anything. They won't even know you're there,” L replied, the system check going green and So Mi looked through the video feeds. The stars were all around, and Earth was a million miles behind them as a pale blue dot.

“That's not the part I'm worried about,” So Mi said, not entirely certain if it was a lie or not. There wasn't anything she wasn't willing to do for her own survival. Already, she had killed and betrayed. The NUSA, when it found out what she did… well, she could add destabilizing governments on the list because the NUSA would be picking up the pieces of itself before it could look for her.

So Mi saw L warm up something called the ‘Grav Drive’ that was calculating various routes to a destination… 50,000 light years away. “Yeah, it is,” L replied and So Mi felt a stab of something where her heart was supposed to be. “It's going to be fine. I made some upgrades to the ship and I'm going to be drawing all the attention to myself. If you do everything right, then you'll be done and back on the ship before anyone knows that you're there. Brace,” L warned and So Mi gripped the arms of her chair.

She felt a burst of acceleration but that was it. “Are we-”

“We're moving faster than light. We’ll arrive in an hour,” L said, sounding certain of it. He turned around in his chair before he reached down and presented her with a case. “That's your part of the job. You do it, and you'll have a body printed out for you. I already brought back Johnny, so you can verify that it works.”

So Mi took the case in her hands, feeling her non-existent guts churning. There was nothing that she wouldn't do to survive. There were no lines that she wouldn't cross. But this was more than she expected. This… this was almost too much. “Are you sure you actually want to go through with this?” So Mi questioned, as if she was the one that needed to convince him. “This is… a lot more than unleashing some daemons on the extranet. If we do this… they might not ever recover.”

“They will,” L replied, certain of it. “It'll take about a century, but they'll recover. By that time, if they do look at Earth for some revenge, it'll be far too late.”

To that, So Mi was forced to swallow her nerves before she looked down at the case in her hands. Opening it, she saw that it was a datashard within. A simple and unassuming appearance for what it contained. “You're sure about that? Earth will be lucky if it manages to survive the end of the decade, much less make it another century.” Doubts. She had so many doubts right at the finish line. She just needed to swallow them, do the job, and then she was free. She could live her life.

“I'm sure,” L replied, and he sounded so certain that she found it hard to doubt him. “Things on Earth are already in motion. They just need some time. This will give them the time that they need.” As he spoke, L almost sounded wistful. Longing for a future that had yet to come.

Was he talking about the Alliance? He certainly had a lot higher hopes for it than So Mi did. Myers was leveraging her position to make the NUSA the head of the Alliance, using the resources that L gave them access to and by virtue of the fact that the NUSA was so worthless that the Turians mostly hadn't bothered with them. Which, by default, made them one of the last nations standing, with full strength to boot.

But that wouldn't last forever. Eventually, Europe or Asia or Africa would realize that they were being led by the nose by a third world nation with delusions of grandeur and former glories. So Mi gave it a decade before the house of cards came crumbling down, and that was being generous.

“If you say so,” So Mi hedged, still uncertain as she prepared herself to bring an alien civilization to its knees.

Because, in her hands, was the Blackwall… waiting to be unleashed upon the galaxy itself.

…

“The matter is far beyond merely relocating a few patrol ships for a special mission. We tried it your way, and now there are thousands of dead -- my people dead,” Councilor Brutcus growled, a fist striking the table.

Tevos always thought he had a short temper, but given that they had been in deliberation for the better part of twenty hours, his temper had a far longer fuse than she expected. “We understand your position, Brutcus, but the reason we decided on a quiet but firm approach are still valid,” she replied, her tone soothing but firm.

“The circumstances have changed. That was when we were under the impression that we could bombard and starve them into submission. We've lost the punitive fleet. The single greatest military disaster since the Krogan Rebellions and it was done by a single man. And you want to give him time?!” Brutcus thundered from across the table, and Tevos did take a moment to acknowledge that his points were valid.

Their impasse came to an issue of short term vs long term thinking. As was always the case when dealing with shorter lived species. It wasn't their fault. Things were simply different when you knew you would see the results of your choices a few hundred years down the line.

“We have waged a covert war upon a primitive species,” Tevos stated, reminding him of the facts. “We did so because we would control the narrative. If we commit to a full mobilization, it will incite panic across the galaxy. It will make us look weak, because a single planet was capable of repelling a fleet and an army -- a partial fleet, true, but that's not what the articles will say.”

It had been a carefully calculated decision. Activating relays was illegal, but mass relays weren't strictly nessecary for expansion. There were plenty of stars outside systems with mass relays that were easily within range of their ships. Star systems that could, in theory, support life. When they found intelligent life in those systems, the ultimate goal was for them to join the Council races and find a place in the galactic community.

Humanity, from the moment that they were found, proved to be a unique case. A race that met all the criteria for a species facing an apocalyptic disaster, indicating that they required uplifting to prevent their species from going extinct. Already, they had nearly destroyed themselves with artificial intelligence. Yet, they possessed unique and powerful technology that had dangerous potential should they ever integrate. They recklessly opened dozens of mass relays, yet, lawfully, the Council had no legal claim to the space and it rightfully belonged to humanity.

Tevos had taken the long view for humanity. Perhaps they would destroy themselves -- and it seemed quite likely that would be the case. However, if they didn't? Then in a mere two hundred years, provided that humanity willingly joined the Citadel, they would dominate the political landscape due to having access to vast resources, as they would control a galactic arm almost to themselves.

If humanity remained independent? Assuming their technological curve continued as it was, then in a mere five hundred years, humanity could become the greatest threat to the citadel since the Krogan Rebellions.

It had been a cold decision, but a necessary one. Humanity was too large of a potential threat to leave alone while being just weak enough to be handled quietly. A punitive fleet. An army of specially chosen soldiers. An unfortunate ally in Arasaka, which would provide the Council with samples of their technology for their own production while stagnating humanity's. The timeline put the invasion at six months to fully conquer humanity, and turn them into a Turian client race. Then, in a few centuries, when their violent and tumultuous history had been forgotten, they would be allowed the potential to become a full member of the Citadel.

It had all been planned out.

Then a single human threw all their plans into disarray.

“Perhaps there is a compromise to be found,” Councilor Girant offered. “The Batarians have been particularly troublesome as of late. We state that a large scale military training exercise is happening in the area. We siphon troops and ships off the exercise to deal with the humans while, publicly, we appear to be taking a strong stance against the Batarians.” It was a sound political strategy, Tevos thought. The Batarians would disapprove, but the race was useful when drumming up political clout.

Councilor Brutcus lowered his head, “No. No more hiding. I refuse to send more men into a meat grinder because it is not politically convenient to-” he growled, and the discussion would loop once more if it wasn't from an alert by their security team.

It had taken some political capital to justify having an Asari Justicar take over her personal security, but after the threat L delivered, it seemed prudent.

And justified when Justicar Samara entered the Council chambers, “Councilors -- an unidentified ship has been detected flying towards the Citadel,” she informed. The Matriarch brought up her omni tool to display a video feed and Tevos felt fear race down her spine.

“How can he possibly be here already?” She heard someone say, and it took a moment to realize that it had been her.

It was Councilor Girant that spoke, sounding absolutely enraptured to see the very same ship that had destroyed a fleet without any difficulty flying directly towards them. “Fascinating. Can't be mass relays -- travel time too long even on assumption of immediate departure after destroying punitive fleet! Other methods of faster than light travel? Possible. Probable. Technology much more advanced-”

“We need to evacuate,” Tevos interjected, standing up. “You heard what he said. He's declared war on us,” Tevos explained and the fear was a bitter taste in her mouth. Samara was at her side in a moment and as she went to pull up her omni-tool, Tevos noticed that her hands were starting to tremble.

Councilor Brutcus let out a bitter laugh, “It seems like he decided that we weren't worth the time to build up his own forces. Go. I have never turned my sight from the enemy, and I will not die a coward.” He dismissed her, striding forward and Tevos felt a flash of irritation. The Turians were useful as the strong arm of the Council, but too stubborn and unyielding in face of changing realities.

The reality was that they were in danger. A far off war suddenly didn't seem so far away anymore.

At the very least, Councilor Girant saw sense and he was joined by a squad of STG's most elite soldiers. “Opportunity presents itself. We are L's target. Could lure him into trap? Unprepared, however. Didn't anticipate his swift arrival. Still, possible. Defeat him here and Humans will be defeated.” He muttered as much to himself as he did her as they took an express car to an evac point.

Tevos barely heard him, her eyes were glued to her omni-tool -- watching as Councilor Brutcus issued orders with the full authority of the Council, sending out ships and drones while he prepared the Citadel for urban combat. She watched as L's ship flew closer and closer until it was in range to engage with the Citadel. Her heart leapt to her throat when she saw the barrel glow a bright red before a thin beam raced forward, cutting through everything in its way, and that included the Citadel.

It was just her imagination, she knew, when she felt the Citadel shudder. The Citadel was far too large for such vibrations to travel through, but her heart still pounded as she got alerts that the dockyard had been hit. Then, to her immense horror, L’s ship sailed right through the hole that it had made and entered the citadel itself.

“Councilor Tevos,” Samara said, her tone firm but kind. “Take a breath. Nothing will happen to you. I swear it,” she said and it was only then that Tevos realized how heavy her breathing had gotten. The fear was electrifying and all consuming. Especially when Tevos looked beyond Samara to see the Citadel in all of its glory -- the towering buildings on each wing of the station, the flow of flying vehicles, of which they were just another in a flow of constant traffic.

And she saw L's ship leaving a trail of green particles. He was close. He was so dreadfully, maddeningly close.

Then he did the most frightening thing that Tevos could think of. He got out of his ship, jumping onto a hoverboard that spewed the same green particles, before the ship took off in the opposite direction of him. A distraction, Tevos realized.

Because L was heading straight for them like he knew exactly where they were.

“Faster. Go faster!” Tevos commanded, the carefully crafted mask that she cultivated over centuries suffering a fatal crack. At her command, the shuttle car abandoned any pretenses that it was just another car in the express lane. Tevos held on to her seat at the sudden burst of acceleration, and through the video feeds, she saw L immediately giving chase.

“Possible leaks in intel?” Councilor Girant questioned as the shuttle began taking evasive maneuvers while three other shuttle cars joined the chase, running interference. They fired upon L and she looked upon his face -- his dark hair swept back by the wind, his face set in a neutral, almost indifferent expression, while his oversized yellow coat fluttered behind him. And she knew.

Tevos knew it in her bones they weren't going to escape even before he took aim with a gun and fired upon a shuttle. It struck with such force that the armor plating crumpled like paper before a following explosion that couldn't have been from the reactor. Black smoke trailed after the shuttle car that began to fall with the remaining cars covering the sudden gap in their formation.

Tevos had a death grip on her harness as the shuttle car weaved around buildings, but her attention was focused solely on her omni-tool. It was for that reason she got the notification that Councilor Brutcus had been killed by L's ship.

And that a broadcast was being made. It hijacked all feeds, and outside of the shuttle car, Tevos saw it taking over the hologram feeds. And what they showed was war.

Fire. Rubble. Humans on their hands and knees while a squad of Turians faced them down before opening fire.

“I am a human. A species from the planet Earth. For the past several months, your Council has been waging an illegal covert war against my planet. They have bombarded our cities into rubble. They have slaughtered prisoners of war. They have participated in the murder of children.” L's voice rang out across the Citadel, and as he spoke, the video feed shifted to display a grotesque example.

Out of everything he could have possibly done, Tevos wished he had just killed them. “We have to shut the broadcast down-” she was cut off by a hard bank as L destroyed on of their guard shuttle cars.

He was giving the most one sided version of the war to their people. Painting his species as the victims, completely heedless to the fact that the reason that prisoners of war were killed was because they attempted to escape or rebel. That the reason that children were being killed was because humans put military grade ordnance in their prosthetics and sent them against the Turian military.

As far as politics went, it was a kill shot.

No one cared about the truth. The truth was whatever story they heard first and L was painting a damning picture of their actions.

“I am not here to make war upon the races of the Citadel. I hold you no ill will for the contemptible actions of your leaders, for you were ignorant of their actions.” As he spoke, more flashes of grotesque corpses were shown -- piles of bodies, men and women lined up against a wall and shot, a human child wandering through the dust, covered in blood and crying loudly. The videos were so perfect that Tevos was almost certain that they were altered in some way. “I am here to hold your leaders accountable for their actions. They decided to commit a wholesale massacre of my people in the hopes of robbing us of our independence as a free species of the galaxy. They did so from a distance. Where our lives were merely numbers on a report.”

Tevos saw that the broadcast was spreading. People across the extranet were tapping into the broadcast. They were well past the point of containment. At best, they could do some damage control but Tevos knew that even if she lived, her political career was done for. She and Girant would make all too convenient sacrifices to hoist the public’s ire upon.

“I understand that there are those of you that have a duty to defend your corrupt leaders. And to you, I sincerely apologize, because you will not stop me,” the broadcast finished before going on a loop. The statement seemed to be punctuated by an explosion as another one of the shuttle cars went down, leaving them with a lone guard. Tevos watched the video feed as L weaved around bullets and traffic, closing in on them like an unrelenting predator.

It was Councilor Girant that voiced her thoughts, “Escape increasingly unlikely. How unfortunate,” he noted in his traditional Salarian tone. “Steps to mitigate fallout from broadcast prudent. Disastrous long term consequences should we allow him control of narrative.”

Tevos knew that he was right. But any semblance of a plan fled from her mind the very instant that their last guard shuttle was blown out of the sky, leaving them exposed. And L was closing in. It was a bitter irony that all of her long term plans suddenly seemed pointless when a very real short term problem was about to kill her.

“Brace-” Samara warned a split second before the shuttle car bucked, perking Tevos one way before she found the car in freefall. But, only for a moment. Biotic energy flowed around Samara, catching the shuttle in its field, which she used to guide the ship down instead of letting it crash in free fall. Only it was then that a thin red beam punched through the armor of the shuttle and passed through Samara’s chest.

The Justicar collapsed, an STG agent rushing forward to apply a stimulant and a medical patch to Samara, who struggled to maintain the mass effect field. Her control slipped and Tevos only found out when the shuttle clipped a building and she found herself spinning uncontrollably. She closed her eyes, held her breath, as she waited for the violent ride to be over.

It was with a thunderous crash and a violent stop that it did.

Tevos didn't recall going unconscious, but she couldn't quite recall how she was suddenly upside down while strapped into her chair. The scent of smoke woke her up and she opened her eyes to find that she had blood flowing over one of them. Reaching up, she touched the wound, feeling a flash of pain while blue blood marked her fingers. With one eye open, she looked around to see that the STG agents were dead from the crash.

Councilor Girant was impaled by a shard of metal that had erupted through his back.

“Councilor… Tevos… are you…?” Samara gasped out, forcing herself to stand. She managed to survive the crash, but not without injury. All the same, she stood, looking to Tevos, who struggled to speak. Her body ached from the restraints. Gingerly, Samara undid them, and Tevos used her biotics to catch her fall. It had been decades since she last used them for anything more than moving a cup to her hand, she recalled. “The human will be waiting for us outside of the shuttle. I will be a distraction while you use the time to escape.”

Samara's voice was focused and even. Despite the situation, Tevos found herself jealous -- she wished she could remain so calm in the face of what she could only describe as certain death. She managed a small nod, holding some of her injured ribs. Despite Samara’s injuries, she still grabbed hold of the metal bulkhead door with her biotics and with a yank of her hand, the metal crumpled.

Just as she said, there stood L. He didn't seem surprised that they had lived. He had simply been waiting for them.

“Your daughter is on Omega,” L said, looking at Samara, who for a moment, froze.

“What-” she started and faster than Tevos could blink, three bullets struck Samara in the chest and abdomen. Samara fell to the ground and L barely gave her a second look as he approached.

“She really is. If you get some medical attention in the next ten minutes, you'll catch her there,” L stated, his gaze never leaving Tevos.

The thought of fighting him never entered her mind. She held up her hands -- a human gesture of surrender as her mind raced for anything that would keep her alive. “I-I’m more useful as a hostage,” she pointed out. She was still one of the leaders of the Citadel, however short of a time she had left. “I-”

“I know,” L said, leveling a gun at her. “But I'm not here to accept any surrenders.”

As he spoke, all around him, the holograms that displayed his message suddenly glitched out. They glowed an ominous red filled with static filled red data that scrolled downward, seemingly framing themselves around L like a mantle.

“What did you just do?” Tevos asked, and L tilted his head as the Citadel, the thirty mile long space station shuddering underneath whatever he did. All around her, the lights of the city began to dim, and only the blood red scrolling text seemed to illuminate the station, dying everything red.

L offered her an empty smile, “What would be the point of telling you?” He asked her…

Tevos had just enough time to start to beg before everything went black.