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...
It didn't like that... It then growled and pounced at me. I ducked, but grabbed it's exposed metallic ribcage as it passed and threw it over me as hard as I could, slamming it into the wall hard enough to leave a sizable dent. It recovered quickly but was clearly damaged. It managed to swipe my feet out from under me and pinned me to the ground, using some kind of EMP ability to lock my armour. Tali then blasted it with her shotgun, taking a chunk of it's ribcage off. It howled and was about to go for her, but Liara Lifted it and then Threw it at the wall, making another dent. As it was down, Shepard stood on it's arms and opened fire. It took some bullets before raising it's legs wrapping them around Shepard in a... Weird display of dexterity, and threw him off...
I looked up as I began to get up, seeing the fleet struggling with Sovereign... "Sovereign's too strong! We have to pull back!" exclaimed one Admiral.
Luckily Hackett countered that. "Negative! This is our only chance! Take that monster down, no matter the cost!" he ordered the fleet...
Spider-Saren had recovered and regenerated it's shields... Tali quickly overrode and took them back down. Liara used Stasis and he froze in place temporarily. "Hurry!" she exclaimed struggling to hold him. Shepard used the distraction and leapt on it's back and shoved his pistol into the back of it's head, firing into it. Liara couldn't hold it any longer. Saren flipped backwards, and Shepard fell to the ground hard. It landed next to Tali and backhanded her hard, sending her a few feet away. It turned and rushed Liara, pushing her into the wall as she managed to get another Biotic kick in, dazing it when I finally was able to get back up.
Uh oh. It sprinted and lunged for me, this time going low. Before I could move, it managed to pin me and roared at my face as I held its arms at bay with my own... I gave it the Liverpool kiss, a headbutt, and it shook it's head... I then grabbed it's upper arm and yanked, dislocating it. Thinking quickly, I grabbed my knife from its holster and shoved it through the things' upper jaw. It did a backflip, attempting a retreat, but Tali hit it with her shotgun, taking its arm off. Shepard then sprayed it's other arm with his rifle, shredding it. Liara yelled out, picking it up and smashing it onto the rock in the middle of the garden, harder than I'd ever seen.
We must have severed something important as it then turned bright red and disintegrated into nothing... Just ashes... I took a heavy breath. "I think... This time... It's dead." I nodded surely as I picked up my knife from the black dust that was left... I felt my nose trickling blood and I think I had a mild concussion... I leapt up onto the podium walkway that acted as a ramp back up to the Council Chambers. I helped the others and we stood there, turning to the window... Sovereign had fallen from the Tower. It was vulnerable.
Joker and Hackett realised this instantly. "It's shields are down! Now's our chance!" Joker exclaimed on the comm.
Hackett then confirmed the order. "Hit it with everything we've got." he stated.
Joker and the other fighter pilots moved above Sovereign to drop their ordinance on them... "Hard on my flank! We're going in!" Joker exclaimed and took a dive, firing at Sovereign and punching through it's middle with his attack as the others did the same...
I cheered at that. "Whoo! It's a goner!" I exclaimed happily... Then realised where the debris was headed...
We all froze for a second as one of Sovereign's tentacle things came flying toward us... "Go!" Exclaimed Shepard as we bolted, the debris crashing into the tower...
...
:Third person POV:
As Anderson and Corporal Jackson, a medic, trawled through Sovereign's wreckage in the Tower to find the Commanders and their squad, they were beginning to lose hope... Suddenly: "Captain Anderson! We've found them! They're over here!" he exclaimed, moving a pieces of debris aside.
The Captain quickly made his way over and crouched into the wreckage, finding Tali and Liara, safe and sound. He smiled at that. "Take it easy, girls... It's over. You're safe now." he nodded to them. "Where are the Commanders? Where are Wyatt and John?" he asked...
Both girls looked at each other, then to Anderson, shook their heads and then turned to the massive wreckage behind them... He cast his gaze up, seeing what they saw... He blinked, not quite believing it... Jackson picked Liara up and Anderson helped Tali to her feet.
Tali gazed back, tears stinging her eyes as she forced herself to turn away, beginning to limp out of the Tower... They heard clattering then, and all eyes turned back to the wreckage... Anderson saw something move and they all turned back as they noticed where he was looking. Liara and Tali turned to each other again, wide-eyed... John and Wyatt then suddenly appeared, standing atop a piece of Sovereign triumphantly.
Wyatt grabbed John's hand and raised it in the air, blood trickling from the side of his mouth with a few gashes on his face as he grinned. "The Courage!" He exclaimed, a kind of otherwordly echo to his voice. "FOXHOUND! AWOOOOOO!!!!!" he cheered and raised his head, howling into the air as loud as he could. Tali shook her head at him, tears of happiness pouring down her face as he and John helped each other down, limping over to them, smiles on their faces despite their painful looking wounds. She put her arm around him so they could support each other, with Liara and John doing the same. Wyatt turned his head then. "Tali... I love you. Will you... be my girlfriend?" he asked her suddenly, although he grimaced at the phrasing. Girlfriend sounded so... immature.
She smirked at that. "No." She stated and everyone was shocked... "I'm not looking for a 'boyfriend'... But a bondmate." she stated, no longer shy to ask him.
He turned to her, a smile on his face. "Me too." he admitted, leaning his head on hers as they all went to get medical attention...