Leaving the elevator we looked around noticing that the security guys were gone which was strange, so we moved towards where the survivors were and after the door opened we were met with guns aimed at us.
Y/N: Didn't expect this.
???: I'm sorry about this, commander's. We've got orders from Benezia. Open fire!
Quickly we took out our guns and fired back as I specifically aimed for the captain, and killed him before he got into cover, then we had to deal with three more guards and I lifted one from the ground and shot her as Shepard and Liara dealt with the other two.
Shepard: Come on, lets get going.
Y/N: Yes, ma'am.
We walked to the room where the security was still on with two drones still active, but with a grenade or two the drones weren't a problem. Into the next room more guards were waiting for us as we got into cover, but Liara used singularity and all the guards started to float around making them easy targets for us.
We kept dealing with the guards that got in our way until we got to an elevator which took us down and looked through the door to our left and in a bigger room up some stairs was Benezia.
Benezia: You do not know the privilege of being a mother. There is power in creation. To shape life. Turn it toward happiness of despair. Her children will be ours. Raised to hunt and slay Saren's enemies. I won't be moved by sympathy. No matter who you bring into this confrontation.
Shepard: Liara's here because she wants to be. Not because I asked her to.
Benezia: Indeed? What have you told her about me, Liara?
Liara: What could I say, mother? That you're insane? Evil? Should I explain how to kill you? What could I say?
Benezia: Have you faced an asari commando unit before? Few humans have.
Y/N: I survived a bunch of thresher maws, does that count?
Shepard sighed as she pat me on the back.
Y/N: What? Did I ruin a mood?
Shepard: Just keep quiet for a minute. And you, I can't believe you'd kill your own daughter.
Benezia: I now realize I should have been stricter with her. As you should be with him.
She then used stasis on us as more asari rushed into the room and when they got into position we were free, and quickly used lift on one of them as we focused fire on the one walking down the stairs. When the asari died the other one fell to the ground and we quickly finished her off, but Benezia was behind a shield and summoned geth and we went to deal with them.
After we killed them pretty easily more kept coming in waves until finally Benezia dropped her shield after using it for to long.
Benezia: This is not over. Saren is unstoppable. My mind is filled with his light. Everything is clear.
Shepard: The rachni didn't cooperate with you. Why should I?
Benezia: I will not betray him. You will-- You... You must listen. Saren still whispers in my mind. I can fight his compulsions. Briefly. But the indoctrination is strong.
Y/N: How do we know that you're not tricking us right now?
Benezia: I sealed a part of my mind away from the indoctrination. Saving it for a moment when I could help destroy him. It will not last long.
Shepard: So you can turn on us again.
Benezia: Yes. But it would not be my will, Commander's. People are not themselves around Saren. You came to idolize him. Worship him. You would do anything for him. The key is Sovereign, his flagship. It is a dreadnought of incredible size and its power is extraordinary.
Y/N: Sovereign isn't like other ships is it. Where did it come from?
Benezia: I cannot say. The geth did not build it. Its technology is far more advanced than that of any known species. The longer you stay aboard, the more Saren's will seems correct. You sit at his feet and smile as his words pour into you. It is subtle at first. I thought I was strong enough to resist it. Instead, I became a willing tool, eager to serve. He sent me here to find the location of the Mu Relay. Its position was lost thousands of years ago.
Shepard: How does something that big go missing?
Benezia: Four thousand years ago, a star nearby went supernova. The shockwave propelled the relay out of its system, but did not damage it. Its precise vector and speed are impossible to determine. As millennia passed, the nebula created by the nova enveloped the relay. It is difficult to find any cold object in interstellar space. Particularly something swathed in hot dust and radiation.
Y/N: Unless something was old enough to witness where it went.
Shepard seemed shocked that I said that and I looked at her.
Y/N: What?
Shepard: I'm just surprised you said something smart instead of something idiotic.
Y/N: Oh haha.
Benezia: L/N is right. Two thousand years ago, the rachni inhabited that region of our galaxy. They discovered the relay. The rachni can share memories across generations. Queens inherit the knowledge of their mothers. I took the location of the relay from the queen's mind. I was not gentle.
Shepard: You can still make it right. Give me the information.
Benezia: I wan not myself, but-- I should have been stronger. I transcribed the data to an OSD. Take it. Please.
She walked over and handed Shepard the OSD as Liara spoke next.
Liara: Knowing the relay's coordinates is not enough. Do you know where he planned to go from there?
Benezia: Saren wouldn't tell me his destination. But you must find out quickly. I transmitted the coordinates to him before you arrived. You have to stop-- me. I can't-- His teeth are at my ear. Fingers on my spine. You should-- Uh, you should-
Liara: Mother!, I-- Don't leave! Fight him!
Benezia: You've always made me proud, Liara. Die!
She turned around facing us and quickly we moved out of the way as she fired, but she had not cover as the fight was quickly over.
Benezia: I cannot go on. You have to stop him, Shepard.
Shepard: Hold on. We've got medi-gel, maybe we can-
Benezia: No. He is still in my minds. I am not entirely myself. I never will be again.
Liara: Mother...
Benezia: Good night, Little Wing. I will see you again with the dawn.
As she passed I walked over to the rachni queen with Shepard.
Y/N: So that's the rachni queen?
Shepard: Yeah... That's her.
Y/N: What do we do with her?
Shepard: I don't kno-
It suddenly screeched at us and we jumped back bumping into a dead asari that we killed as it walked over to the queen and faced us.
Rachni Queen: This one. Serves as our voice. we cannot sing. Not in these low spaces. Your musics are colorless.
Shepard: Musics? What?
Rachni Queen: Your way of communicating is strange. Flat. It does not color the air. When we speak, one moves all. We are the mother. We sing for those left behind. The children you thought silenced. We are rachni.
Shepard: How are you speaking through her?
Rachni Queen: Our kind sing through touchings of thought. We pluck the strings, and the other understands. She is weak to urging. She has colors we have no names for. But she is ending. Her music is bittersweet. It is beautiful. You are not in harmony with those who hoped to control us. What will you sing? Will you release us? Are we to fade away once more?
Liara: They made a mistake. They let the Krogan go too far. This is a chance for is to atone. She has done nothing to us.
Y/N: The tanks are filled with acid. If she didn't listen they would have dissolved her.
Rachni Queen: Your companions hear the truth. You have the power to free us, or return our people to the silence of memory.
Shepard: If I let you live, would you attack other races again?
Rachni Queen: No. We-- I do not know what happened in the war. We only heard discordance, songs the color of oily shadows. We would seek a hidden place to teach our children harmony. If they understand, perhaps we would return.
Y/N: What about the rachni in the labs? Could you have calmed them?
Rachni Queen: No. Our minds are not as yours. We can only learn to sing in harmony. Without a mother, children are lost to silence. You should not sing of them in grey and violet. We would have stilled them ourselves.
Y/N: Shepard... We should give them a chance.
Shepard: You've read my mind. You'll go free.
Rachni Queen: You will give us the chance to compose anew? We will remember. We will sing of your forgiveness to our children.
Going to the computer I made sure that the Queen was freed and the tube was lifted and after she stared at us for a second she left.
Y/N: ... The council is going to throw a fit.
Shepard: Yeah... I'll tell them you released her.
Y/N: Wait what?
Shepard: You technically did release her.
Y/N: But wait... Wait.
She walked with a smirk as Liara smiled leaving me dumbfounded, and we headed back to the Normandy where we set up the meeting.
Ashley: What's our next move, Commander Shepard? Head for the Mu Relay?
Shepard: The Mu Relay could link to dozens of systems. Unless we know exactly where Saren's going, we'd just be wasting out time.
Liara: Commander Shepard is right. We cannot rush off blind. We still need to learn more about Saren.
Ashley: Who put you in charge? Did the commander Shepard resign when I wasn't looking?
Y/N: Last time I checked we're still on the same team, Williams. She's only trying to help.
Ashley: Sorry, Commander's.
Shepard: This is a tough mission. We're all on edge. Everyone go get some rest. Crew... Dismissed!
Y/N: W-wait we should take a fe-
Joker: Noveria report is away, Commander Shepard. You want me to patch you through to the council?
Y/N: N-
Shepard: Patch them through, Joker.
She had a smirk on her face while facing me and everyone quickly left besides me and Shepard.
Joker: Setting the link up now, commander.
Tevos: Is this report accurate, Commander Shepard? You found rachni on Noveria?
Sparatus: And commander L/N released the queen! Do you have any idea what he's done? How many generations until they overrun the galaxy?
Y/N: This queen's different. She understand why her race was wiped out, and she'll teach her children harmony.
Sparatus: I hope you're right, L/N. Our children's children will pay the price if you're not.
Tevos: We'll be waiting for your next report, Commander's.
As the link went off we were alone.
Y/N: I thought it was going to be a yelling match.
Shepard: Honestly, me too. I'm kind of disappointed.
Y/N: Anyway I'll be in the cockpit if you need me.
Heading over to Joker I sat down in a seat beside him.
Joker: Boy am I glad to be off Noveria. I don't know which was worse: the cold or the corporations. One will freeze your balls off, the other will sell 'em out from under you. With all due respect, Commander.
Y/N: If you can't decide then its both, and both is worse.
Joker: Got that right. When are you gonna admit to Shepard?
Y/N: A-admit what?
Joker: It's pretty obvious you know... Everyone talks about it.
I just groaned before getting comfy.
Y/N: Wake me when I'm needed.
Joker: Alright. Don't you have a bed for that. Oh wait you and Shepard share a room.
Y/N: I am now sleeping.