Chapter Text
There was something incredibly satisfying about lighting a bunch of alien bugs on fire.
Kara knew that the laugh that came out of her as the flames spread was probably best described as maniacal, and she couldn’t bring herself to care. She was having way too much fun, and that was probably yet another sign that there was something deeply wrong with her --
She shoved that thought away as she had all of the other times it had come up and switched off the flamethrower. Smoking, crispy bodies littered the area around them as Ash and Vega lowered their weapons too.
Vega said something that Kara didn’t understand but was probably an oath of some kind. “Damn, Thrace, you are scary with that thing.”
“You should see me in a Cylon raider,” Kara quipped, scanning to see if any more rachni were going to come skittering out from the shadows. “What now?”
“Move on and keep trying to get back to Shepard,” Ash said. “What else?”
They fell into formation without discussing it, Vega and his shotgun at the front, Ash and her assault rifle at the back, and Kara in the middle, able to pivot to either direction as needed. The caves did not get any less dark and creepy as they went forward. Kara really hoped there was some way out other than backtracking and trying to get up the unimaginably steep cliff. The krogan company had come down here, so there had to be, but they’d gotten lost and who knew how big the tunnels were --
She was on the verge of spiraling, and she made herself take deep breaths. There was something about the rachni, about this situation, that was making her more anxious than she should have been. She hated not being able to put her finger on it.
“The rachni,” Kara said into the gloom. “They were around how long ago? Hundreds of years?”
“About two thousand, if I’m remembering it right,” Ash replied. “The asari and the salarians had found the relays, oh, a few hundred years before that. The salarians uplifted the krogan to help them fight the rachni. That, uh, backfired a bit.”
“Putting it mildly,” Kara said, remembering snatches of conversation on the Normandy about the krogan genophage. “Two thousand years, then they come back.”
“Reapers have been gone for fifty thousand,” Vega put in.
Kara shook her head. There was still something bothering her about the rachni, the timing, the -- something . The frustration she’d felt earlier, that had been temporarily satiated with the copious spreading of fire, started to come back.
Vega held up a hand to halt them as they approached a more open area. Their pace slowed to a crawl as they crouched and looked around.
“Yep, more ahead,” Vega said. “Quite a bit of distance between us and them. Maybe if we charge, we can get there fast--”
His words were cut off by a thunderous boom and a fast-moving blue projectile, followed by two more booms and projectiles. The shrieks and groans of husks filled the air as they ran forward in their typical suicidal charge.
Kara dropped the flamethrower and brought out the new shotgun she’d, ahem, acquired from the krogan. The Claymore was even heavier than the Katana, but she hoped that Vega’s assessment of it was correct.
“Okay, so, we’ve got ranged and up close,” she yelled.
“You two handle the up close,” Ash said, trading her assault rifle for a sniper rifle. “I’ll take out the -- whatever those things are, as long as you keep the husks off me.”
“Can do,” Kara said, looking at Vega to confirm. At his nod, they moved together, breaking out of cover long enough to close the distance with the husks. More booms and blue projectiles. They apparently shot three at a time.
The first blast of her new Claymore took out the midsections of three husks charging at her. The gun only held one shell, and she ejected the empty clip as fast as possible before shooting again. She had to be faster than she’d ever been before with her ammo while still maintaining enough accuracy to keep the husks from overwhelming them. Her veins seemed to be humming with energy as she fell into a rhythm, the booms of the rachni and the Claymore shotguns overlapping.
It was almost a shock to realize there were no more enemies in front of her when she heard Ash yell “Clear!” from behind them.
“Clear,” Kara agreed as she jogged back to meet Ash. “Bets on whether we’ll find any krogan alive down here?”
“Not taking that bet,” Ash said, waving her rifle at the rachni bodies. “These things are nasty. Let’s keep moving.”
True to Kara’s almost-prediction, they found another body of a krogan scout with an unused Firestorm. She pounced on it gleefully, ignoring the snickers and comments about her love for fire from the other two. They headed up a ramp and found several more spore pods that Kara promptly dispatched.
Kara quickly burned all the other pods and webbing, and then had a moment of sheer panic in which to regret her haste as the ceiling collapsed behind them. When the dirt and dust had settled, she met Vega and Ash’s glares with a half-hearted shrug that carried no trace of repentance. “Not like we were going back that way anyway,” she protested.
Ash rolled her eyes, then motioned for Kara to lead the way.
It was amazing how quickly the small, somewhat cramped room of the AI Core had come to feel comfortable to Caprica. She sat on a bench, the cold air bringing goosebumps to the exposed skin of her belly as Mordin Solus ran his omni-tool over it.
Caprica couldn’t help but think of the creature -- person -- on the other side of the door, in the Infirmary. The krogan who was only referred to as “Eve” didn’t speak much to anyone, except Urdnot Wrex; even then, half the conversation was her telling Wrex that she could make her own decisions, thank you very much.
“ Fascinating .” The salarian doctor imbued the word with layers of meaning. “Need to study more of the differences between human and Cylon. Know that Dr. Chakwas has begun looking at mitochondrial DNA. Vanity project. Understand the significance to … erm, Colonials. This matter, much closer to my own interests. How far along? Any idea? No visible signs of pregnancy. Length of previously confirmed Cylon pregnancy? Athena? Possible to get her medical records? No, no compatibility with our technology. Not for this. Interview with her or Doctor… Cottle?”
Caprica opened her mouth to try to start answering his questions, but Mordin just kept talking. “Assume roughly parallel with human gestation. In that case … three months. Yes. End of first trimester. Certain symptoms should be alleviating, if they were present. Nausea? Fatigue? No? Hm. Perhaps something to do with Cylon physiology. Cannot readily tell the difference. Fascinating . Would never have known. See no reason you should not be able to carry to term. Theoretically. Need to figure out what was preventing you. Can run tests for major genetic disorders, recessives, see if this child has any of them. Shouldn’t take long with current facilities. Although, would those be the same as population of Earth origin? Mitochondrial DNA suggests split of several thousand years, but impossible to know exact difference without more data. As for the rest…” he inhaled sharply, as though to replace all of his oxygen at once. “Wait and see.”
“I can arrange to send you the records of … previous failed pregnancies,” Caprica said, after trying to think about what would actually be useful to tell him. She was no doctor; like most Cylons save for the Fours, her technical expertise was in computer networks. “The next time we rendezvous back with Fifth Fleet. As well as whatever Dr. Cottle had for Athena.”
“Good. Good. Sample of child’s DNA would not go amiss either. Can compare, see where the differences are. Might give some insight into how to support this one.”
“And your work on the genophage?”
Mordin shrugged. “Genophage keyed to krogan DNA. Distinct evolutionary path. Many differences from humans. Upright bipedal, similarities largely end there. Krogan system complex, genophage equally so. But, point taken. Possibly some insights. Fertility and lack thereof, yes, parallel situation.” He looked around as though to make sure they were alone, then said quietly, “Father of child?”
“On Galactica. He doesn’t know.”
“Suggest telling him. Sample of his DNA would also help.”
If she intended to bear this child, she couldn’t keep it from Saul for much longer. She found herself nodding. “I’ll … when we get there, I’ll see him. Tell him.”
Mordin nodded, his expression unexpectedly compassionate. “Each child is amazing. Unique. Even if they do not make it. Probability of that exact egg being fertilized by that exact sperm astronomical. Impossible to calculate. Worth celebrating. Regardless of how far child makes it.” He paused and looked at her, compassion still in those large eyes. “Want to see?”
“See?”
“The child.” Without waiting for an answer, he did something with his omni-tool, and a hologram appeared on top of it. A fetus. There were no distinguishing features, nothing to say that it was different from any other fetus. She put her hand on her belly for what felt like the thousandth time.
“Your child,” Mordin said quietly. “Listen.” He pressed another button, and the sound of a heartbeat filled the air. The rapid thrum-thrum-thrum brought unexpected tears to Caprica’s eyes. Her child. Living inside of her. Growing larger every day.
Impossible. A miracle. Yet the proof was there in front of her, visually and audibly. What would they think, all of the other Cylons, when they found out?
Kara came through the latest small passage to the sound of gunfire. Ahead, on the other side of a large chasm, were Shepard, Liara, Garrus, and Aralakh company. They appeared to be holding position in front of a large number of ravagers.
“Need a hand?” Kara called.
Shepard was the only one who turned to look at them. “Something’s blocking us from moving forward,” she said, motioning to the area behind them. “We’ve been doing fine so far, but they just keep coming. Yes, we could use a hand.”
“On it!” Ash said, brushing past Kara to start shooting at the webbing in front of them. “One of those power nodes,” she called a few seconds later.
Kara had been watching the krogan company, fascinated by their sheer bulk. Just after Ash’s words, Kara saw Grunt charge forward, grab a ravager that had been about to take out one of his soldiers, and then shout “I! AM! KROGAN!!!” as he pitched it into the chasm.
“They grow up so fast, don’t they,” Liara said, which earned a chuckle from Garrus and a playful arm swat from Shepard.
Kara moved to catch up with Ash, finding the other woman methodically chipping away at the barrier around the power node, Vega right beside her.
The barrier behind Shepard’s group slid down and they all came through, hopping down a small ledge to join Kara, Vega, and Ash. “Made it in one piece, I see,” Garrus said.
“More or less,” Ashley said. “If you ever need anything toasted, Kara’s the one for it. She’s been making good use of those Firestorms your scouts left, Grunt. Haven’t found any alive yet, unfortunately.”
Grunt made a displeased sound, as did the other members of Aralakh Company. “At least you’re avenging them,” he said. He glanced back the way they came, then back to the rest of the group. “The rachni have backed off for now, but they can smell our wounds. Any worthy enemy would regroup and finish us. Soon.”
“We have to be close,” Shepard said. “I’d bet those barriers were protecting whatever’s down that passage.”
Grunt nodded. “We’ll dig in here, kill anything that moves, buy you some time.”
Shepard grinned and slapped him on the shoulder. “Good luck, Grunt.”
“I don’t need luck,” Grunt said with a deep chuckle. “I have ammo .”
“I like him,” Kara said to Ash as the six of them headed further into the passage.
Ash gave her a flat stare, then shook her head. “Nope. Not putting that thought out into the world.”
“Oh, now you have to tell me,” Kara said.
“You sounded the same way right after your little walk of shame with Oraka,” Ash said. “You realize that krogan have four balls?”
“They what? ”
“As much as I enjoy having to bleach my ears,” Shepard said, “we need to focus on what’s ahead. Kara, I want to see what you can do with that flamethrower.” She grinned as she handed a fresh Firestorm over. “I’d hate to deprive you of all the fun you’ve clearly been having.”
“Aye aye,” Kara said, taking the Firestorm and making short work of all the gestation pods and the swarmers they produced. After they were burned away, the only way forward was a narrow passage that they crawled through one at a time.
“Is that the queen?” Liara asked. Kara, who had been right behind her, stared at the towering figure on the other side of the vast chamber. It certainly looked like it could be the rachni queen everyone kept talking about - same basic shape as the other rachni, but much, much larger.
“Grunt,” Shepard said on her omni-tool, “we’ve located the central chamber.”
“Good! We’ve got your back, Shepard.”
The six of them hopped down another ledge into the main area -- and almost as soon as they did, more of the Reaper barriers started to pop up in front of them, blocking their path.
“We need to find the node,” Liara said.
“Up there.” Garrus looked to Shepard, who gave him a nod, and he dispatched it in a few quick shots. Some of the barriers retracted, and they were immediately hit with a wave of husks.
Vega stepped forward with his Claymore, shredding the first wave before they had a chance to get too far. Kara hastily swapped to her own Claymore and joined him. As soon as a cannibal showed its ugly head, it was lifted into the air by Liara.
“This is a good setup,” Shepard said. “Vega and Kara in the front, Liara with me, Ash and Garrus in the back on sniper duty. Got it?”
She got a chorus of agreements as they settled in to take on the Reaper forces. When they were clear, Shepard signaled them to move forward through the shallow pools of electric blue water to the node they could see on the other side. Vega was slightly quicker than Kara and, once again, made short work of it.
No barriers went down within their view, and Shepard growled. “Have to be back on the other side,” she said, waving them forward. “Hate having to retrace my steps like this.”
There were more ravagers with the group this time, making progress slow - Kara thought she could easily grow to hate the sound of their triple booms. When that was sorted, Kara and Vega ran forward into the space that had previously been blocked by barriers, the other four not far behind.
These husks seemed to be harder to take down, until one of the snipers took out a weird piece of tech that Kara hadn’t registered up to that point. Then she went back to dispatching them with just two well-placed blasts of her Claymore. Shepard ran forward when the coast was clear and took out the third node.
“Why are there so many of them?” Kara asked as yet another wave of husks, cannibals, and ravagers came forward.
“This is the Reaper strategy,” Liara said. “Take the numbers that we might have had and turn them against us.”
Kara felt sick at the idea. Oh, it wasn’t the first time it had been brought up, but right now it felt a good deal more visceral, down in this frakking creepy cave with a million creepy aliens. She wondered how many more times she was going to have that feeling before this was over.
Finally, finally , the wave ended, and Grunt spoke through Shepard’s omni-tool to say that the rachni were backing off -- but that they still needed to finish the job.
One final node, and they were facing the rachni queen.
The queen was several times larger than when Shepard had last seen her, on Noveria, right before Shepard had let her go. The face was as unsettling as it had been before, and Shepard was glad that she’d never had a problem with arachnophobia.
Just like in Noveria, the queen appeared to need an outside voice to communicate with them. The corpse of a krogan scout opened its mouth and began to speak.
“Si…lence…”
“What the FRAK?” Kara yelled. Shepard sighed and motioned to her to be quiet, for all the good it would do. Besides her, she heard Liara trying to explain about the rachni queen needing to borrow a body to speak.
“The .. maddening sour note has ceased.”
Not just one dead krogan, but all of them that Shepard could see in the area spoke about the Reapers having taken the rachni to use for their forces.
“I let you go on Noveria,” Shepard said. “You promised not to interfere anymore. The rachni were supposed to disappear.”
“Wait,” Kara said, stepping forward. Shepard instinctively put out an arm, but the other woman shrugged it off. “Why do … Why do I know you?”
What? It was Shepard’s turn to be confused. She turned to look at Kara. There was something deeply unsettling about the look on her face. Shepard summoned her combat drone right behind Kara. She didn’t know what was about to happen, but it was likely nothing good.
Familiarity.
Recognition.
Connection.
The words came from Kara’s mouth, but they didn’t belong to her.
“Another sour note. We were not there, but we remember. A world full of humans. We destroyed it.”
Kara was in space, looking down on a planet from a great distance. Kobol. She had been here. Stood on that soil. Seen the ruins. Found the Arrow of Apollo.
There were no ruins, not in this vision. The planet was alive, thriving, vibrant . Then, without warning, the ships appeared. The feeling of deja vu was almost a physical knot in her gut as she bore witness to the destruction of Kobol.
Sorrow.
Regret.
Pleading.
“We had no choice.”
“Get OUT of my frakking HEAD!” Kara fumbled for her gun, but her hands didn’t seem to work. “What am I seeing? You’re the ones that destroyed Kobol? How is that possible?”
“The machines came. They heard our song. Their shriek of sour notes drowned us out.”
“It was still YOU!” Kara’s hands finally found purchase on her Claymore, and she lifted it up.
“Kara, don’t!” Shepard’s hand closed on her arm. “She’s the last of her kind.”
“She’s controlled by the Reapers, like the others were at Kobol! She can’t be trusted!”
Kara’s mouth began to move again. “We hear the machines--”
“NO!” Kara yelled, and tried to pull the trigger. A jolt of pain went through her body, and she slumped to the ground.
She’s going to be so pissed, Shepard thought, recalling her combat drone and taking several deep breaths to steady herself.
“Why did you talk through her?” she asked. “And what did she -- no. I’ll ask her later.”
It was the krogan bodies that spoke the rachni’s reply. “Her body resonates at a frequency closer to ours than any other here. We do not know why. It was easy to slip into her body to speak. Too easy. We should have remembered how unsettling other species find it.”
“Okay, chalk that up to yet another weird thing about Kara Thrace,” Shepard said. She had to keep on track. “So… you’re free from Reaper control now?”
“Remove this last shackle and we are free.” The giant head of the rachni queen swerved to indicate one final reaper node nearby.
“ The children return! They will destroy us all! Release us!”
Shepard swore as Grunt reported a lot of movement. She only had a split second to decide. “Ashley, Vega. Fall back to Aralakh as fast as you can, help them clear a path for the queen.” She looked over to Garrus. “Grab Kara and go with them. Hopefully once she’s out of the range of the queen you can revive her and she can help.”
“I don’t like leaving you with only one person for backup,” Garrus said.
“Take it out of Kara’s hide when we’re safe. Please, Garrus, there’s no time.”
“Aye, Commander,” Garrus said, bending to pick up the unconscious Kara before following Ashley and Vega out.
Shepard fired three careful shots at the Reaper node and watched as the massive queen moved up and away.