Mass Effect: Another Time, Another Place

Chapter 25: Noveria: Game Over, Man! Game Over!

Summary:

Now that Benezia is defeated, and the fight is over, the squad need to decide what to do with the Rachni Queen. However, Wyatt has some unique insight on the Queen and her race... Once that is dealt with, the rogue Rachni must still be killed before they can escape Peak 15, or they overrun the Peak completely. Wyatt and Tali head down to the Hot Labs to finish them off once and for all. On the way back, Tali explains about her arachnophobia to Wyatt and they found they've been dug out and make their way back onto the Normandy.

Chapter 25:

Liara held Shepard tight and began crying into him. He held her tight and I nodded to him to take her. He began to walk out, Tali staying with me and Garrus securing the area. I sighed and looked down. "Wyatt? Are you okay?" Tali asked me.

I shook my head to take my thoughts back. "I had to do it... I just hope Liara can forgive me." I spoke worried I'd made her hate me forever.

Tali nodded. "She will." she assured me.

I let out a single laugh of disbelief. "I killed her mum right in front of her, brutalised her with CQC and then shot her three times in the chest at point blank range." I stated coldly.

Tali was briefly taken aback, but just held me tightly. "I know... She will forgive you. You had no choice." she whispered soothingly.

I then let her go and turned to the containment box. "Now... What about you?" I asked... That music again... "What? No, I'm not here to kill you... At least, that wasn't my original intent..." I spoke suspiciously.

Tali stood in front of me then. "Wyatt? Who are you talking to?" she asked me.

I turned to her in confusion. "The Queen. She's talking to me. Can't you hear her? Her song?" I asked Tali. She shook her head slowly. "It's... Hauntingly beautiful. Much like her." I commented, putting a hand on the glass... As I did, I noticed movement. The Queen spread her mouth things, a low roar sounding out and I jumped back I spun around and saw one of the Commandos riddled with bullets moving! "Zombies?! fuck that!" I exclaimed and pointed my gun. I heard the song again... "Shepard! Garrus! Liara! Come 'ere..." I requested they all came running and saw the corpse...

It then spoke. "Only one of you can hear the song..." she spoke through the corpse. "One of you hears the Rachni. The others... Do not." she spoke stuttering. "We cannot sing how we want. Not in these low spaces. Your musics are colourless." she told us.

Shepard turned his head to me then as I put my gun away, still uneasy. "Wyatt?" he asked me.

I answered him then. "It's the Queen, Shepard." I told him. "I can... Hear the songs... The colours of them in my mind. It's amazing." I admitted to him. "They don't usually communicate via speech. To them it's... Base. Colourless." I explained to him. "They have a hive mind of sorts, so one-hears-all sort of thing. Imagine having companions all your life... Then being left alone suddenly, how empty it would feel. It's akin to that." I explained as best I could.

He looked confused then. "How do you know?" he asked.

My face contorted for a second. "Psycho Mantis... When he tried to invade my mind, he left an imprint of his abilities. I don't like using it, and I'm not as naturally proficient as he was. But with the Queen it's... Different. She's welcoming. She wants company in the songs, the music." I said to him. "She soothes that part of me. Nurtures it." I explained to him.

She then continued. "We are the mother. We sing for those left behind. The children you thought silenced." she explained who she was as we turned back to her. "We are Rachni." she stated proudly.

Shepard went over to the glass to talk to the Queen directly. "How are you speaking through her?" he asked the Queen.

"It is as your companion, Warwick says. We pluck the musical strings in this one, and it understands. She is weak to urging." she told Shepard.