Mass Effect: Another Time, Another Place

Chapter 38: Citadel Showdown: One Last Fight

Summary:

Now Saren is dead, the crew has decided to save the Council. Now the arms are open, Sovereign is exposed to the might of the Alliance Arcturus Fleet and the surviving Council Fleet combined. However, even with their efforts combined, they still struggle against Sovereign. Being fooled before by an enemy he thought dead, Wyatt gets proof positive that Saren is indeed dead... However, Sovereign has one last card to play against the squad... Once that card is played, the crew find some debris falling toward the tower, quickly scattering to avoid it.

Chapter 38:

:Third Person POV - Citadel Space:

Joker instantly grinned as the Normandy entered the fray... This was gonna be fun! "Hell, Joker... Is that you?" came a voice he recognised.

He grinned even wider at that. "No, just some other equally amazing pilot is flying the Normandy, yeah of course it's me! Who else?" he asked with a laugh.

He heard a laugh on the other end. "Damn. I heard you got court-martialled twice for stealing the Normandy!" his friend exclaimed.

Joker shrugged as he easily evaded some Geth fighter fire. "Well Hector, when you're as good as I am, but also just as crippled, you gotta prove your worth. No one'll take you seriously otherwise." he stated nonchalantly as he destroyed two Geth fighters with ease. "Looks like I'll be pullin' your ass outta the fire again though."

Hector just tutted over the comm. "As I remember it, I was the one who stopped you from breaking your arm when our instructor called you a crippled maggot and you tried to hit him." Hector stated.

Joker grumbled at that. "Yeah, well... He deserved it." he mumbled a bit in response, to the amusement of Hector... "Destiny Ascension you are all clear, I repeat, all clear." he gave the confirmation to the ship..

Hackett then went on the comm again. "The Citadel's opening! All ships move in! Concentrate on Sovereign!" he ordered them.

:Wyatt's POV - Citadel Control Room:

I stepped forwards and peered down at Saren's apparently lifeless body... But I've been tricked before. Shepard turned to us. "Make sure he's dead." he decided, agreeing with my own silent assessment.

I nodded and patted Tali's arm with the back of my hand quickly as I backed up and turned. We headed down, jumping into the garden area and I pulled my pistol, firing rounds into his head... "Fuck you, fuck you, fuck you and finally, fuck you." I said a fuck you with each bullet I fired. Tali then did a medical scan on him to be sure. "He's dead." we both said in unison.

Suddenly... The Tower began to shake... We saw some kind of red electricity pour into the tower emanating from Sovereign. It hit Saren's body and he was engulfed in it, twitching and writhing and making a horrible sound like it was stimulating his vocal chords... Suddenly, there was an explosion from him, and Tali and I were knocked back. The podium above us collapsed and Shepard and Liara came tumbling down into the area as well.

Saren began to stand, wailing another horrifying cry... He... It spread it's arms and looked up, it's organic parts being burned away... It threw it's arm out, a synthetic one replacing it... The same with the other arm... It's feet were... Almost webbed... Geth-like. Tali and I shakily stood. As we saw the Saren... Synthetic thing. a metal ribcage, the upper jaw of it's head the only part remaining and other tubes and wires running through it... It had spindly limbs, like The Fear almost.

We all recovered and stood fully, seeing it crouch and leap at the wall... "Spider-Saren!" I exclaimed in warning.

It then spoke... "I am Sovereign... And this station is MINE!" it exclaimed to us. I quickly threw a grenade disruptor style at it, disabling it's shields...