Chapter Text
“Find anything we can use on this mission, Liara?” Shepard asked as she held onto the personnel strap above her. She was still not entirely happy that Grunt had been unable to accompany them. He had remained on the Citadel and was being treated for that 'bug bite' on the hospital level. No one had thought to inform the commander.
“I did, but... I now understand why High Commander wanted to hide the information.” Liara looked up at her from her seat an unreadable expression on her face. “We're heading to an Ardat-Yakshi Monastery.”
“Ardat-Yakshi? Like Morinth?” Shepard asked as she recalled Samara's eldest daughter. She remembered how dangerous that woman had been. A whole monastery of them... how much worse might this be if the Reapers are already here?
Liara looked away before continuing. “Morinth chose to be a killer. These Ardat-Yakshi isolated themselves to avoid that. But it doesn't mean they're harmless. Their urge to feed can be powerful. That's why High Command sent in commandos to investigate the monastery's distress signal.”
“So what does Asari High Command want us to do?” Garrus asked sounding highly skeptical of their reasons for being there. His sub-harmonics seemed to be saying so much more than his spoken words.
Shepard knew there was more in his tones than he was saying. The longer she was with him, the more she picked up on those tones. She was beginning to suspect her cybernetics were enhancing her hearing to detect those sub-harmonic frequencies. One day soon, she would have to put that theory to the test.
“If there was a chance the Ardat-Yakshi could break loose, the commandos were to purge the monastery.” Liara answered his question coolly.
“Purge? You mean destroy?” Shepard speculated.
“Would they really do that to their own people?” Garrus asked a little shocked.
Liara glanced between the two of them. “Yes. They would've brought heavy explosives with them for just such a scenario.”
“Morinth was dangerous, but are the Ardat-Yakshi this big of a threat?” Shepard tilted her head to the side as she asked.
“Morinth was just hitting her stride. Ardat-Yakshi who kill leave behind astronomical body counts. It's why they can never be free... and why they're such a great source of shame to the asari.” Liara paused, leaning forward a fraction. Her face could have been cast in stone when she continued. “Asari High Command will never risk a single Ardat-Yakshi getting loose.”
“Can't really blame them for being cautious.” Garrus commented, his eyes locked to Shepard.
Grudgingly, she nodded. She thought there was a good chance they would be forced to blow the monastery. “We'll see how this plays out. I'm not wiping out another colony without a damn good reason.”
“Any idea who sent the distress call?” Garrus asked.
“I have an idea, but we'll find out for sure soon enough.” Shepard stated as she readied her pistol. She expected this to be another of those long hard missions with some new nightmare around the next corner.
The moment the shuttle was low enough, she was out the hatch. The architecture was the first thing to strike her. Beautiful though it was, it somehow reminded her of the Citadel. She supposed there was a good reason for that. The asari had been the first to discover the station, after all. The shuttle took off as they gained safe distance. She watched Garrus draw near a conveyance sitting near the monastery's entrance. He touched the frame of his visor near the lens a couple of times and glanced back at her.
“My visor's IR says this shuttle's warm.” he speculated as he stepped away from the car. “Recent visitor?”
“Let's hope they're friendly.” Shepard nodded as she headed for the sealed entrance.
“Elevator's disabled.” Liara stated the obvious as the main doors opened under Shepard's touch.
Garrus stepped forward and braced his hands on either side of the door looking the elevator shaft up and down. His visor was clearly scanning for traps. “Did they disable it to prevent entry... or escape?”
Looking his way as he backed up from the edge, Shepard asked. “Anything?”
“Looks clear.” he said, glancing her way before hopping over to the platform at the back of the shaft.
“You make that look so easy.” Shepard grumbled at her turian before following him.
“Apex predator, evolved to run down prey under harsh conditions... What can I say?” he snarked with a shrug as he made sure she managed the jump without toppling off backwards.
“Uh-huh...” Shepard smiled at him as she headed for the ladder.
Liara landed on the metal scaffolding with a hard thump and Garrus steadied her. Shepard grabbed the top of the ladder and pivoted to slide down it. She hit the next level of metal grating solidly and kicked on her flashlight. The scream that wailed up at her from below nearly froze her blood in her veins.
“That sound...” Liara said quietly as she joined the commander, looking around almost wildly.
“Sounds like more than one of them out there.” Garrus commented as his larger feet hit the grating with a rattling thud.
The turian scanned the darkened room outside the elevator shaft with his visor before hopping over to the floor beyond. He stepped to the side and waited for his bondmate and the asari to join him. The moment she made the jump, Shepard moved off to her left. Her flashlight panned slowly over the area before her as she walked along cautiously. The rattle of something rolling across the floor froze her in place.
“What was that?” Liara squeaked.
“Crap... That was me, sorry.” Garrus whispered as he stopped the glass rolling across the floor with a foot.
Shepard's tiny thrill of fear turned to a half-open mouthed smile at him as she rolled her eyes and let out a breath. Her grumble was almost a relieved laugh. “Have I told you lately you have some big feet?”
“Hmmm... not lately, but... I don't hear you complaining about the benefits of 'big feet'.” he snarked.
“God save me from conceited turians.” Shepard breathed as she entered the pitch black room before her.
The room looked like a kind of dorm room, or had before someone had completely torn it apart. Shelving units were pulled over on top of each other, all manner of debris littered the floor and one of the bunks was shoved against the far wall at an odd angle. Beyond a single pistol clip, there was nothing much of interest in that room save the wreckage.
Doubling back, Shepard headed for the darker outlines of a long table and chairs. Her flashlight lit them as she moved closer. Garrus and Liara fanned out to examine a few things around the big room. Among the debris on the table, there was a single intact data pad. When she hit the message button a recording began. Someone chattering excitedly about a copy of Vaenia that had been smuggled in.
“Sounds like movie night was interrupted.” Garrus commented as he stopped at her shoulder.
“Seems so.” Shepard agreed as she moved off around the table.
There was an announcement wall on the other side of the table. She meant to have a look at that. Shining her flashlight across it, she read the notice on the board. Matriarch Gallae sounded like a tyrant. The whole place was designed to keep the Ardat-Yakshi isolated, but if she knew anything about isolation, it was that perpetual isolation never worked for long.
The screams came again, closer this time, as she moved off toward another doorway. She closed her eyes at the implications. They did not sound like the screams of someone being tortured and killed. Those were the screams of an animal frustrated that its prey was out of reach. And we're the prey. Of that, Shepard had no doubts.
The sound of Garrus' grumble drew her back out of the room and she headed for his tall, bulky form. She drew up short at the sight illuminated by his flashlight beam; a Ravager. He nearly snarled the words as he examined the carcass. “Reapers. Looks like we know why the commando teams went silent.”
“This monastery's out of the way. What do the Reapers want with Ardat-Yakshi?” the answer to the question was something Shepard almost dreaded finding. She had an idea, but refused to examine it too closely. Her eyes caught the flash of light from Liara's direction and she noticed the data pad. “Anything useful?”
“The bomb is in the Great Hall. The floorplan is marked with a NavPoint.” Liara answered.
“At least it's no surprise nuke on Tuchanka, but the commandos want this place gone pretty badly.” Garrus said, still sounding a little salty over the bomb that had been hidden on the krogan homeworld for over a thousand years.
In many ways, Shepard could not blame him. His societal rank within the Hierarchy should have made him privy to that information. Looking over the markings he had asked her to add to his face, she knew he was pretty high up that ranking system. Praetor... I really don't know what that rank really means for him... or for me as his bondmate.
“This place is a lost cause if it's already crawlin' with Reapers.” Shaking herself out of that line of thought, she looked toward the unevenly closed door they were facing with a frown. Walking forward, she flicked the safety off her pistol. “Let's get to the Great Hall...”
Shepard looked around the short corridor as they headed for the door. It was obvious that door was not going to open. Her flashlight panned to the right and highlighted another door on the other side of a planter in far worse condition. When she panned to the left, she saw what might be their only way out of the room. She vaulted over the planter and headed for it. After a couple of taps on the holo-lock and a hissing sound, the door slid open.
It opened on a walkway with a towering wall of glass facing them. She stepped toward that glass and looked out on courtyard of some type. Under different circumstances she would have considered it beautiful, perhaps peaceful. Right now, it looked like just so many more places for Reaper-spawn to hide. With so much light pouring in even through the snow storm brewing outside, there was no more need for the flashlights. She clicked hers off and tucked it into a pouch at her hip.
Looking down the corridor to her left, she realized the door down there was going to be a no-go. The holo-lock was completely inactive, meaning the door was inaccessible. The one on her right looked much more promising even if it was locked down. She locked eyes with Garrus and nodded. He took the silent request up without hesitation and jogged forward to begin working on a bypass for the lock. She and Liara continued to scan the corridor for obvious threats.
Not many places to hide here, but... The thought trailed off as the door opened before the skillful turian. Shepard took point and stepped out onto a balcony of sorts. It overlooked a larger room that sported a stunning view of that courtyard. She heard it before she saw it, a Cannibal and a biotic blast. Her eyes darted toward the source.
“Very good. I almost didn't hear you.” Samara said calmly as she stepped over the Cannibal's corpse.
“Samara?” Shepard asked, stowing her pistol in its holster. Another sound just beyond the woman drew her attention and her eyes widened as the other asari kicked the Cannibal's corpse. “Nana?”
“It has been some time, Shepard. You are a most welcome sight. The corruption here runs deep.” Samara said formally.
“Uh, goddess! Cut the cryptically formal crap, Sam!” Nana growled at the woman and earned a glare in response.
“What brings two Justicars out here?” Garrus asked as he stepped forward and braced his hand son the railing.
“Two of my daughters have lived here for centuries, Garrus. I've come for them.” Samara looked back up at the turian and answered.
“Our daughters, girl. You never seem to remember.... I had a little somethin' to do with that.” Nana snapped at her quietly. She was just loud enough that Shepard and her team heard her, however.
“Unfortunately, the Reapers had already infested this place by the time I – we... arrived.” Samara corrected herself as she glanced at Nana who had finally stopped beside her.
“You've got to be kidding me...” Garrus sighed softly and rubbed his plated brow as it clearly struck him what Nana had just said.
“Are your other daughters just as dangerous as Morinth?” Shepard did not miss a beat. She would ask Nana about her role in all this once they had a moment.
“My girls aren't dangerous, Shepard, dear. Rila has been a hall warden for decades and Falere... That dear child has always been an artist.” Nana overrode anything Samara had been about to say.
Samara narrowed her eyes at Nana before returning her attention to Shepard. “They have followed the monastery's rules since they arrived. Neither has shown any inclination toward violence.”
“And you're here to save them...” Shepard stated suspiciously as she paced a few steps along the railing.
When Samara bowed her head, it was all too clear what she meant to do. “They are my responsibility and it is one I cannot abandon even as our galaxy crumbles.”
“You said you meant to ensure our girls weren't taken by the Reapers...” Nana stepped in front of the taller asari and glared up at her.
“And I meant it, Natearus, by any means necessary.” Samara said coldly.
“We'll team up. Maybe your daughters can tell us hit this place.” Shepard suggested.
Samara turned and headed for the other side of the room, presumably a door. She spoke as she walked. “I suspect they will have much to tell us. It has been centuries since I last saw them.”
“And who's fault is that?” Nana barked at the taller woman's retreating form.
“We're out of time.” Samara glanced back over her shoulder at them all as the scream of... something... came again. She enveloped herself in biotic power and stomped off toward a door near the foot of the balcony. “We'll meet again. I will draw these creatures off.”
“Like hell you will alone, Sam!” Nana barked and started toward her.
“Go with Shepard, Tear... please...” Samara almost sounded as if she were begging the other asari before she turned and stormed off.
Shepard watched the other storm off as Nana stood her ground with balled fists. Biotic energy glowed around her as well. To the commander, it felt like angry energy.
“We might have to blow this place, after all.” Garrus said quietly as he drew up beside her.
“I know.” Shepard acknowledged. She was still chewing hard on the idea that Nana had once been Samara's mate. Two of the Ardat-Yakshi living at the monastery where Nana's daughters. She wondered if Morinth had been her daughter as well. Could there be others? Will I be forced to kill more of my foster mother's children? God, what am I supposed to do with that?