Never Fade Away: My Lullaby For You (ch. 61) (Patreon)

“L… take them out,” Kaiden said as soon as I delivered the news that I had a bead on Arasaka's location. “We have everything locked down on Earth. Smasher was only a problem because we didn't know about him- about them. David's in for repairs and we'll start picking them off when he's done. You handle Arasaka and make sure they can't throw more our way.”

It was strange to get ordered around, but in this case, Kaiden and I were in agreement. “Are you planning another offensive?” I asked, finding myself torn. I didn't like the idea of not being there when there was a fight happening.

“The NUSA is planning one. They want to ‘liberate’ Europe and strike at Japan while they're at it,” Kaiden confirmed and I could practically hear the air quotes. It was too early to tell if Myers was making good on her promises, but I saw the ambition in her actions. It was a lot harder to remove an army after it landed on your shores and liberated the lands from a foreign invader.

I doubted that the NUSA had what it took to conquer Europe, but I knew Myers wanted a return to the days where Europe was second in power to the USA. Especially when the countries of Europe were as weak as they had ever been.

“There's an offer on the table to join, and I think I'm going to take it. Can't speak for anyone else, but I don't want the Turians finding friends in our backyard when their reinforcements show up,” Kaiden continued. “So, do what you do best, L. Kill them all, and kill them for good.”

I closed my eyes, feeling a strong breeze wash over where I was standing on top of Arasaka Tower. The Swordfish was floating behind me, and I gazed off in the direction that all the others had traveled in. Then I let out a breath, “Don't get yourself killed,” I told him.

Kaiden laughed, “I'm not the one I'm worried about.” With that, he ended the call and I continued to gaze out in the direction he was in.

Then I turned away to find Becca leaning against the Swordfish, her arms crossed with her weapons of choice strapped to her. She offered a lopsided grin, “We doing this?”

“Yeah, we are. Saburo Arasaka dies today,” I decided, determined to will the desire into being. I strode to the Swordfish, jumping inside with Becca getting in alongside me. She wouldn't let me run this mission solo, and I knew she was itching for some action. I felt a thrill of excitement run through me as the cockpit closed and the Swordfish hummed to life. Running through a quick systems check, the GN Drive fired to life, spewing orange particles that lifted the ship up.

Setting a course for Jupiter, my ship shot off into the sky. The Grav Drive wasn't required for in-system travel, though it would probably be faster. Still, at full throttle in a straight uninterrupted path, it wouldn't take more than an hour to reach Jupiter. The delay suited me perfectly as I brought up the map that Yorinobu had left behind. Over my shoulder, Becca peered at it.

“The eye of the storm, huh?” Becca noted as that was where the final point indicated. Either Yorinobu hadn't moved beyond that point, or the signal was interrupted by the storm on Jupiter.

“The Great Red Spot,” I agreed. As far as rat holes to hide in, I had to admit, it wasn't a bad one. I didn't think Arasaka would be able to survive there -- the temperature was on average over two thousand degrees fahrenheit, the storm itself that had lasted centuries by this point and would last for centuries more, was beset by winds rushing at over five hundred miles an hour. Not to mention that the Red Spot was three times larger than Earth. It was a real needle in the haystack.

I wasn't entirely sure how they managed to survive in the perpetual storm. Just entering the storm should have been an insurmountable challenge for them, much less establishing themselves inside of it.

“Can we reach them?” Becca questioned and I nodded.

“It'll be a rough ride, but we can,” I confirmed as the Swordfish left Earth's atmosphere and started to pick up speed. The thing that unsettled me the most was that Arasaka apparently had the same capability. Unless they had been majorly holding out on the world in terms of tech… their ability to survive in such extreme environments was a recent development.

My grip tightened on the controls as I grit my teeth. “We need to be cautious. I'm sure Arasaka has something up their sleeves to surprise us,” I said, uncertain what that could be. V said that Arasaka had a functioning prototype of my ability but no control over what it got. But V wasn't exactly a reliable source of information, and I was forced to wonder if the project was a little further along than she had said. Or was aware of.

Becca thumped me on the shoulder, “L, we'll handle it. No matter what,” she reassured me and my grip lessened on the controls as we steadily made our way to Jupiter. There was no Turian fleet to worry about, and there wouldn't be for some time, which left us free to make our approach. We sailed away from Earth, closing in on Mars, and before long we were beyond the red dusty planet.

I caught glimpses of the civilization on Mars as we went by -- the lights that managed to shine despite the distance. There were a handful of cites on Mars, and to my knowledge, all of them were owned by the super rich. I wasn't entirely sure what had happened to them since the invasion began… and I honestly didn't care to find out. Especially now, when I was so close to putting Saburo Arasaka down for good.

It was as we passed by Mars that we got a ping -- a signal bouncing off our systems. And, to my immense surprise, I recognized it.

“What's that beepin’?” Becca asked as I hesitated.

“An IFF,” I answered, a friend tugging at my lips. “From V,” I added, leaning back into my seat. I recognized the signal and I knew it belonged to her. We were still following her path past Mars, so she must have left it behind. The IFF came with security clearance and an encoded note.

‘Dock 3. Stealth engaged.’

“That's a good thing right? You trust her?” Becca asked, content to leave it in my hands even as I heard Johnny snort in the back of my mind, making his opinion clear.

I couldn't help but snort myself. “Not a chance,” I answered without a shred of hesitation. “V looks out for number one and number one alone. So… whether or not she’s legit depends on whether she feels like I'm going to win. The IFF… it could slip us into the base.”

“Or be a trap. Especially since she knows we're following her trail. Fucking corpos,” Becca sighed and I found myself agreeing with her whole heartedly.

“Fucking corpos,” I nodded. I was a little torn. V hadn't stolen one of my GN Drives, though I knew she had the opportunity to. She’d helped cover my tracks, and the tracks of the others. And she had made her stance pretty known back in the Afterlife -- that she was going to be on the winning side. She had helped me, but I couldn't bring myself to actually trust her to any meaningful degree.

But, I could trust her own self interest. By now, after everything, killing me wasn't a sure thing, even with the advantage of a trap. V was at a crossroads where she had to pick the side she thought was going to win.

Arasaka and the Council…

Or me.

“We'll give her an inch and see if she tries to take a mile,” I decided, copying the code from the IFF to mimic its frequency. With that, I engaged stealth mode, my ship becoming invisible except for the orange particles in our wake.

We passed through the asteroid field, following along with the path that V had made, just in case she left anything else behind. She hadn't, and it felt like entirely too long and all too quickly that the Swordfish began to descend straight toward the Red Spot. I took in a slow breath, reducing our speed, as we were rapidly pulled into Jupiter's gravity well. The GN Particles established our own gravity, but the winds began to pick up even in the upper atmosphere.

“Here we go,” I said, taking us lower into the Red Spot and instantly my sensors started going crazy. The temp gauge began to rise rapidly, the ship shuddering in the face of hundred mile winds that increased in speed the lower we went. Buthe Swordfish was holding itself together because of the extreme defenses that I had installed.

My vision went red across the board, the noxious red gas blinding my sensors and cameras. Becca reached up to squeeze my shoulder as I maintained the descent pattern that V had made. Even with all the Swordfish’s defenses, I started getting hit with alerts due to the temperature as it tried to melt my ship's armor. It wouldn't manage it, but I had a suspicion that I would need to install a cooling system when I replaced the outermost layer.

Maintaining the descent path-

My eyes narrowed when I caught a glimpse of something through the racing harsh winds filled with molten slag that bounced off my shields and armor. Shifting ever so slightly, I didn't risk a full scan out of fear of alerting whatever it was… but I slowly crept forward and the shape of it began to clear.

Behind me, Becca let out a whistle as we looked upon Arasaka's secret base. It was a massive complex that appeared to be wreathed in fire, supported by four satellite buildings that seemed to keep it aloft. In terms of sheer size, it was the size of two megabuildings back in Night City, just laid out rather than up. I didn't see much in the way of structural weaknesses, beyond perhaps the satellite buildings that were arranged in a square formation, connected from beneath. I did, however, spy the docks -- massive bulkhead doors with the numbers between 1 and 13 etched into them.

“Just blow it the fuck up, L,” I heard Johnny say as I pivoted to Dock 3. A ping hit my system, the IFF pinging back as friendly. I assumed. Either way, the large bulkhead doors began to creep open as the flickering fiery shield parted. A gravity well caught my ship, bringing me in and I allowed it, scoping out the interior as I considered simply pulling the trigger and blowing a hole in the base.

However, I held off when I saw that the docking bay was empty except for a single person. V.

I watched her as the doors closed behind us and I noticed that there was some kind of barrier that kept out the winds and slag until they did. The Swordfish touched down and I took a breath before popping open the cockpit. Instantly, my gaze went to V, who stood with her arms crossed -- my optics didn't detect anyone else in the room, but that was hardly proof that this wasn't a trap.

“You decided to trust me,” V spoke up as Becca and I got out of the Swordfish, the spaceship becoming invisible once we were out.

“Was that a mistake?” I asked, cocking an eyebrow as I took off my aviators.

“No. Just surprised,” V admitted with a small shrug as I came to a stop in front of her.

I pursed my lips, “You killed Yorinobu.” It wasn't a question and V didn't deny it.

She nodded, “He asked me to. Orders were to bring him back dead if I couldn't manage it alive… and he had no intentions of coming back alive. I figured he had a bug on him or something, and he knew I would know and lead you to Arasaka's home away from home.” V explained, and my lips thinned. I didn't like it.

V reached into her suit jacket and handed me a case. Flipping it open, I saw a face mask. “Put that on, and grab a uniform. They'll let you move through the base and, this,” she said, flicking me a data packet, “Is security clearance. Highest level.” I gave the packet a quick inspection and found nothing to hint that it was bugged in some way. That being said, it was entirely possible that using it would trip a security flag.

“Don't trust her, L. This shit has trap written all over it,” Johnny voiced.

V looked to Becca, “I figured you were going to do this solo, so I didn't prepare an extra disguise. But… this works. I'm guessing you want to get the kids out before you blow this place to hell?” V questioned and my gaze snapped up from the vaguely translucent face mask to her.

The kids. The kids that Arasaka stole to create another me. Children that they killed by the thousands in the name of progress. “They're here?” I questioned, and that changed things. I assumed that Saburo would have spread things out in case I came looking, but if everything was here… his position had to be a lot less secure than I had anticipated.

V nodded, “There's a thousand left in total. They're deeper in the facility, but… with the right timing, we can probably get them out.”

I looked to Becca to find that she was already nodding, “I can handle some brats. You go kill your arch-nemesis and Smasher again while you're at it,” she said, reaching up to my sleeve, pulling me down to kiss me on the cheek. It was a small thing, but I felt the tension ease out of me ever so slightly as V blinked, faintly surprised by the display of affection.

I started to get undressed, and V spoke up when I grabbed the offered uniform. “L, something you need to know about Saburo… he's the kind of bastard that'll flip the board if he can't win. So, if he's not trying to… then you haven't.” It was a vague warning but I nodded anyway, accepting it.

I got dressed in a rather uncomfortable suit that felt far too restrictive for my taste. However, when I put on the face mask, syncing it with my OS, my appearance changed entirely. The lightly tanned, vaguely ill looking face I had gotten used to seeing was replaced with a fair skinned red head that looked nothing like me. Actually, I vaguely looked like V.

“It's one of my spares for field work,” V answered. “Militech is behind the curve, but their special ops has some goodies worth taking. Now, go kill my boss,” V instructed and I glanced at Becca one last time to see her nodding in agreement.

“Fuck it. Let's kill him.” Even Johnny agreed as I left the dock to find sterile hallways that reminded me entirely too much of the Orphanage. It was tempting to reach out to the systems of the base, just to see if I could hack into them to give myself a little assurance, but I didn't dare to. My Skeleton Key and Lock had improved, but I had no interest in testing them against the AIs that I knew lurked in the systems.

Which left me following a marked out path that V had provided me. There, I would either find a trap or Saburo. I was still in contact with Becca, so if she was attacked, I would know. She and V, provided that this wasn't a trap, would rescue the kids that were stolen from their homes and experimented on. Slaughtered for a prototype.

I clenched my jaw as I stalked through the halls, doors opening and closing for me as they seemed to ping off my access code. There were others in the halls, on occasions -- men and women walking with purpose. If it was a trap, then the rank and file didn't seem to be in on it. They didn't even give me a glance as I walked deeper into the facility.

It wasn't really set up like a military base, I noticed. There were security measures, sure, but nothing particularly heavy. Either they were confident in their hiding place, or they had something up their sleeves. Or both, I suppose.

The path led me to a final bulkhead door and when it opened, I was struck by a very different sight than the sterile walls -- dead center of the fortress was a park of some sort. In neat rows, cherry blossom trees grew along a path leading to a zen garden. The ceiling was an artificial sky, showing some slow drifting clouds and I heard the irritating tweeting of birds. Off to one side, near the zen garden, was a small pond that had fish in it. In short, it was a small sliver of paradise in hell.

I continued on, undaunted, my gaze landing on an old man sitting on a stone bench, gazing at the garden, looking…

Tired.

He leaned on a cane, gazing at the swirls drawn into the soft sand before him, seemingly unaware of my presence as I approached. At least until he spoke, “I see,” Saburo uttered, more to himself than to me. “My son's death was more than a final act of spite. He led you to me… hm.” It was a strange thing, but Saburo almost sounded proud.

I came to a stop, taking off the translucent mask and revealing my face. Saburo looked up at me with steady dark eyes, his expression blank. “Despite everything you did, you managed to turn your son into a great man.”

“He was a fool, blind to the future. One that betrayed my trust more than once… but I was wrong about him. I thought he had no spine, and he used his death to deliver me mine,” Saburo said, and… he accepted that too easily. V's warning was fresh in my mind. “Perhaps there was some of me in him after all.”

My prosthetic hand shifted into a gun, leveling it at Saburo, who didn't balk. “You could have been great, Shepard-san,” he said, a biting undercurrent to his words. “You alone had the power to shape humanity's future, yet you do nothing with it. You only destroy when you could create. That power… it should have belonged to me. I alone have the vision to raise humanity to its rightful place in the galaxy.”

I clenched my jaw, “Spare me the melodram-” I said, getting ready to put him down then and there, but he continued.

“Earth does not have the capacity to stand against the Citadel. It would have taken a few centuries, but we would have escaped the Turian’s grip. We could have infiltrated their alien society, catapulted ourselves to the level of their Council… instead, humanity shall forever live under the boot of the Council,” he uttered darkly, an accusation in his voice.

I couldn't help it. I laughed. His eyes narrowed, his lips twisting into a frown because he didn't get it, so I told him. “You're full of shit and you're lying to yourself. You don't want to uplift humanity or anything like that -- you just want to be the boot rather than the Council,” I told him bluntly. “It's about power. It's always been about power. If it's any consolation, the Council will be seeing you in hell soon enough.”

A defiant glint entered Saburo’s dark eyes, “I-”

I didn't have it in me to stomach any more. The barrels in my wrist flashed, blood red lasers striking him in the chest with physical force. Saburo made a noise of surprise before falling over the bench unceremoniously. Taking a step forward, I fired into him a dozen more times before a reaction happened and his body disintegrated into ash.

Saburo Arasaka was dead. And I felt…

It felt like the world should have changed. Like some great evil had been vanquished.

Instead, the only thing that happened was an alarm went off.

“Self destruct sequence initiated. All Arasaka personnel, please vacate to the nearest evacuation ship in an orderly fashion. Countdown to self destruction -- five minutes.”

“Ahh… what a bastard,” I muttered, giving the pile of ash and melted cybernetics a glance. My gaze lingered for a moment longer than it should have before I turned away from him.

“That felt a little too easy,” Johnny remarked as I grabbed the GBM and primed it to .0001 of its output.

“If Smasher came back with the Relic, I'm sure Saburo has a ghost in a box with his name on it,” I said, taking aim at the floor, down in the general direction of Becca. “I'll double tap just to make sure he's gone for good. Maybe make sure that Smasher is too while I'm at it,” I said, pulling the trigger and my arm snapped back as the blood red beam tore through the floors like they were barely there. At least, initially.

The armor plating was thick, and with a wide surface, the beam packed a little less punch, but it was still enough to open up a direct path down to Becca and V. I took a step off the edge of the steaming red hole as I spoke, “We'll get the others out first, and double back for Saburo's ghost.” I fell down the hole, dropping a good six hundred feet before my hoverboard popped out to catch my fall.

The calm calculated air of the base vanished as people panicked -- either because of the self destruction notice, or because I just shot through a bunch of floors. So, the panic was justified, really. Landing lightly on the ground, I pinged off of Becca's systems to find that she was behind a bulkhead door. Striding towards it, I saw-

My heart seized in my chest as an all too familiar sight greeted me. It was like I stepped foot in the Orphanage once more -- the layout was almost identical, and there was a sea of faces huddled up for safety across from V and Becca, both who seemed increasingly distressed that the kids weren't following them. My heart clenched painfully when I saw that the kids were young. Too young. The oldest looked to be eight.

I was almost glad that Saburo had a ghost to kill. I wanted the pleasure of killing him again.

I wetted my lips, striding forward and Becca only then noticed me. “L, they're scared. And they don't get that this place is about to be blown to hell-”

“Self destruction in T-minus four minutes.”

Becca grimaced as the intercom spoke out. Time was ticking. I pursed my lips, my gaze searching the sea of faces and… how many times did I dream for something like this to happen when I was in their place? I was older when I started to dream. Old enough to realize that my friends were going to die. That I was going to die. That it was only a matter of time. So, I would dream of someone rescuing us. Freeing us from that place and whisking us away to a world we scarcely understood.

What would I have wanted that person to say?

I came to a stop before the cowering children, the oldest of them protecting the youngest, and I smiled. “No one is ever going to hurt any of you again. I promise,” I swore, my gaze settling on the leader of the children. The eldest. Pale skin, dark brown hair and blue eyes.

His gaze flickered down to my offered hand, his eyes filled with distrust. So, even as the clock ticked down, I continued. “I was in your shoes once. I escaped a place a lot like this one -- doctors experimenting on me. My friends. And how some of them never came back. They stole my family from me. They stole my name too. But I got out and I'm going to make sure you get out-”

“You'll stop them?” The boy whispered, nearly lost in the blaring alarm and the cowering children he placed himself between. “All of them?”

I clenched my jaw and I nodded, “All of them.”

“You'll save everyone?” He asked, and I closed my eyes.

When I opened them, I nodded once more, “I'll save everyone.”

The boy still hesitated, but his guard was dropping. “What's your name?” To that, I gave a wane smile.

“John. My name is John Shepard,” I told him and the boy smiled ever so slightly.

“Zaeed Massani,” Zaeed introduced himself with a smile, taking my hand.

“Let's get you all out of here, Zaeed.”