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Echoes of the Past	By : ArcadiaJones Category: +M through R > Mass Effect Views: 6854 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or ideas of Mass Effect. I am not making any money writing this story.

Chapter List
- 1-Ransom
- 2-Ambush
- 3-Hunt
- 4-Memories
- 5-Hunt
- 6-Rescue
- 7-Escape
- 8-Healing
- 5
- 6
- 7
Chapter Six
Rescue

True to his word, Garrus arrived barely three minutes later. He and Tali moved quickly, catching up with Thane. They moved carefully around the warehouse complex, formulating a plan of action as they went.

“Tali, we need you to get the doors open. I have no doubt that they’ll have some sort of security set up. Thane—“

“I will move through the vents. The sooner we find Shepard, the sooner we know she’s all right.”

Garrus sighed. “Very well. Then the two of us will try to provide a distraction for you. We should be able to get the majority of the mercs drawn our way. Just move fast. If we get overwhelmed, I don’t know how long we’ll be able to hold them off.”

Thane nodded his agreement. “I will find Shepard and get back to you as swiftly as I can.”

“Good. Shore party to Normandy, do you copy?”

“Loud and clear, Garrus,” Joker answered.

“When I give the word, can you get a shuttle down here to pick us up? We’ll probably be under heavy fire.”

“No problem-o. Getting a lock on your location now.”

Garrus nodded to Thane, who returned the gesture. With another nod to Tali, the pair was off, leaving the drell alone to begin his mission. Reverently, Thane folded his hands together, bowing his head over them as he murmured a silent prayer.

“Amonkira, Lord of Hunters, grant me steady aim and swift step. Kalahira, Lady of Oceans, grant me peace in the afterlife if I fall. Arashu, my goddess…please protect her.”

Thane waited in the air ducts, listening for the first bursts of gunfire that would mark Garrus and Tali’s diversion. He knew that as soon as the shooting started, he would have to wait about a minute for most of the guards to run outside; beyond that, he would hold back no longer. Anyone who still remained in the facility would fall to him.

The first shots were fired, and he began the countdown. Beneath him, the sound of frantic footsteps rushing through the halls. If he looked down, he could see the tops of several heads moving past. At least ten mercs had run past him; there was no telling how many more would be mobilizing from other areas of the facility. Thane just hoped that his teammates could hold their own long enough for him to find Shepard.

Three…two…one…

Thane kicked the screen out of the vent beneath him, slipping down into the hall. With a swift move, he had his pistol in hand and he was jogging through the halls. The biotic link was pulsing now, leading him through the winding corridors. At every corner, he paused just long enough to peer down the next passage and make sure there was no ambush waiting. But it looked as if Garrus’s plan had worked, because the halls were empty.

The link was throbbing now, and as Thane paused by another corner—peering down the next hall—he spotted a pair of batarian guards standing outside a sealed iron door. They looked around nervously, shifting their assault rifles from hand to hand. He pressed his back against the wall, heart pounding. There was no doubt in his mind that Shepard was behind that door. The link was practically scalding his mind.

“I wish the boss would just hurry up,” one of the guards muttered. “What happens if someone gets in and he’s still in there having fun? Is human pussy really worth dying for?”

It was like time had stopped, leaving him suspended in air that was suddenly as thick as the nameless soup Rupert Gardner made down in the mess hall. He had suspected of course—it was a normal tactic of kidnappers, of course—but hearing it…knowing that just behind that door, she was…

Something snapped inside him, and Thane’s legs were moving on their own. With slow, deadly efficiency, he began walking down the hall. Dark energy pulsed around the edges of his body, glowing in his narrowed eyes. His soul was no longer present; only his body. In spite of everything, Thane had re-entered his battle-sleep, and there was no mercy for those who got in his way.

The batarian guards looked up as he approached, shock apparent in all eight eyes. Before they could bring their rifles to bear, Thane let loose a powerful biotic attack. It manifested itself into a singularity right between the pair, drawing them in and crushing them in seconds. Even though it was a quick death, it was also immeasurably painful: folding them over again and again so they could fit into the tiny black hole at the center of the field.

Thane didn’t blink as he walked past the bloody mush that was their remains.

Shepard closed her eyes tight, trying to send her mind anywhere else but that little room. She was no longer hanging, but that was the only good thing. In fact, she almost wished she were, because then at least she would be further out of his reach. Anu’ok’s touch was like that of a slug, defiling and slimy. She wasn’t sure how long she had been trapped in here, but he had barely left her side for longer than a couple hours at a time. Sometimes he would bring in others to whip or beat her until she blacked out; other times he would come in alone. Both were torture, but it was the latter she feared the most.

Anu’ok ran his hands down her ravaged flesh, taking some kind of sick pleasure in the dried blood and swollen scabs that covered her bare skin. There was no part of her body that didn’t hurt, no part of her soul that wasn’t crying out for revenge. But without some medigel, she could barely move. The bone in her shin was still shattered, her shoulder still dislocated. If she tried to struggle, Anu’ok was there with a vicious slap which was enough to keep the commander of the Normandy placated. The only thing keeping Shepard’s will in once piece was the constant image she had of this asshole trying to fuck with her when she was healed. Smashing his face in…gouging out those stupid eyes…cutting off those disgusting hands…and above all…

She gasped as Anu’ok finally reached his destination. If there had been any left, tears would be escaping her eyes as his fingers stroked her. But no matter how hard he tried, he could not arouse her. Shepard was immune to him, and that infuriated the merc leader.

“If you just cooperate a little, this would be so much easier on you,” he purred, using one finger to penetrate her. “The more you continue this silly rebellion, the more painful it will be…” To accentuate his point, Anu’ok used his sharp claw to draw a line of blood, deep inside.

Shepard bit her bottom lip to keep from crying out; but she had resorted to this so often that her lip—cut to shreds and swollen—gave way and she couldn’t stop a pitiful sound from escaping her lips. Anu’ok smiled devilishly.

“That’s more like it. Say my name, Shepard. Say my name, and I’ll end it quickly.”

With every last ounce of strength and will, Shepard lifted her head shakily from the ground, her “good” eye burning with such an intense hatred that Anu’ok actually thought for a second that he might burst into flames.

“Go…fuck…yourself,” she slurred, and then flopped back down, all resistance gone.

Angrily, Anu’ok wrapped his free hand around her throat, squeezing her windpipe. Shepard began to gag, but could not lift her arms to stop him. She did her best to send her mind away; after all, if he killed her now, at least she wouldn’t have to feel him ever again. The torture would end.

In front of them, the sound of something exploding inward drowned out Shepard’s helpless choking. Anu’ok’s grip loosened as he rose partway, looking up in bewilderment at the door. Surprise turned to recognition, and then smugness.

“I wondered when you would show up, Thane,” he hissed, rising to his feet. The batarian was naked and unashamed, his body splattered with his victim’s blood. “But you are too late.”

The drell reached a hand out, and biotic energy clamped down on the batarian’s throat, lifting him several feet into the air. Anu’ok spluttered against the hold, still looking down at Thane with an intense hatred.

“You…can kill me…but that…won’t change what’s passed! I’ve…taken your woman…you…bastard!”

Thane didn’t look over at Shepard’s pathetic form—not yet. As soon as he looked, he was sure he would lose control. This batarian had to come first. With a flick of his wrist, he send the bastard flying into the far wall. Anu’ok’s body struck the concrete with a meaty crunch and Thane was satisfied that at least a few bones had broken. He approached the batarian swiftly, pointing his pistol at the man’s legs. Anu’ok tried to plead for mercy—then only screamed as the bullets shattered his bones. Thane lifted the gun to the batarian’s brow and—

“THANE!”

The hoarse cry took both men off-guard, drawing their attention to the bloody mess of a body that was Jane Shepard. Somehow she had managed to lift herself up, though her sides were heaving and her left arm hung useless. Panting, she lifted her hazel eyes to Thane, though he could only see one through all the blood, bruise, and matted hair.

“I…told…you…” she rasped, “…that…he’s…mine…”

“Siha…” he murmured, his heart now truly broken into jagged pieces that pierced his soul.

“Get…me…some fucking…medigel…and then…get…the fuck…out…of…my…way…”

There was a part of Shepard that tried to berate her for her callous attitude, but she was in no mood to listen. After all that had happened, she wasn’t going to let him take this from her. Anu’ok was hers and that was that. Shepard hadn’t suffered through hours of endless torture to be denied her revenge.

As Thane’s soul re-entered his body, he relented, lowering his gun. He moved to Shepard’s side, visibly wincing at her deplorable state. She was covered in open, infected wounds; her breasts were almost completely purple, lacerated here and there by someone’s angry claws; her…Thane stopped himself from looking any further. Shepard was relying on him to allow her this revenge, and if he was to keep his promise, he just couldn’t look any more.

Tenderly, he applied several packs of medigel. They could only do so much to heal her external wounds, let alone the internal. But for Shepard it was like basking in the sun. Energy flooded her veins, and though she knew it would be short-lived, it didn’t matter. All she needed was enough time to rip Anu’ok’s heart out.

“Help me up,” she murmured, and Thane complied, slinging her arm over his shoulders. She was so weak and beaten…his guilt consumed him.

Shepard took his pistol and, using him as a crutch, hobbled over to the incapacitated batarian. Anu’ok looked up at her, tears streaming from his eyes.

“P-please don’t kill me!” he whined piteously. “It was only fair! T-Thane took my father, my brother! It was only justice!”

Thane tensed up, wanting to pounce on the man, but Shepard stopped him. Feebly, she pushed him away, standing unsteadily on one foot. With her right arm, she lifted the pistol so that the cross-hairs pointed right in the center of his four eyes. Even weak and shaky as she was, Shepard was still a good shot. Thane hovered close by, fearing that she might topple over at any second.

“If what you did…was justice,” she rasped, hatred in every facet of her voice, “then it is my justice…to watch you die.”

Anu’ok blubbered something unintelligible. Shepard just shook her head.

“You’re pathetic…without all your little bodyguards, all you can do is cry like a little bitch. But don’t worry, Anu’ok…this isn’t the last time we’ll see each other.”

The batarian looked up, hope now replacing the fear.

“We’ll meet again…in Hell.”

Her finger squeezed the trigger, and his head exploded like a cantaloupe. Brain matter splattered the walls, skull fragments scattering about the room. Shepard watched it all impassively, moving only to wipe a bit of gore from her cheek. When the corpse stopped twitching and finally slumped over, she smiled—and fell.

Thane caught her, gently easing the beaten woman to the floor in his arms. He pushed back some hair from her good eye, gazing down at her ruined face in agony. She looked up at him wearily.

“Is Kolyat safe?”

Thane stared down at her, not quite registering what she had just asked. Her body was broken, her mind probably even more so. And yet here she was, still thinking of him, of his son. Tears spilling from his eyes, Thane gently wrapped his arms around her torso and pulled her close, burying his face in her neck.

“Kolyat is fine. He’s at home, safe.”

She smiled. “Good. That bastard wouldn’t tell me anything.”

His shoulders wracking with silent sobs, Thane pulled her even closer. Shepard winced at the discomfort the hold caused her, but said nothing. It felt good to have his arms around her once more.

“I’m so sorry, siha. This was all my fault. I thought that I had killed them all…I should have been more thorough. I’m so sorry…”

Shepard weakly wrapped her good arm around his neck, making a soft shushing sound to quiet him.

“I don’t want to hear that,” she murmured. “If you start blaming yourself, then all you’re doing is condoning his actions.”

His eyes widened in shock. “Never! I would—“

“Shut up.”

It was a soft command, but he obeyed instantly as if she had shouted. Shepard smiled meekly up at him, her shaky right hand trying to cup his cheek. Thane caught it and held it close, gently kissing the dry, blood-crusted palm.

“Let’s go home, okay? I’m…tired.”

“Of course, siha.”
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Echoes of the Past