Capítulo 98: 81 – Priority: Race Against Time (1)
When Tevos woke up, after she had fainted in the battle against Saren, one hour had passed since the Geth and the Reapers left the planet.
The Asari quickly got up and prepared to continue fighting when she noticed the sounds. There was no more screaming or gunshots.
The realization made the Asari relax, even if just a little, and she looked around the place where she was at. It was a tent, roughly made, with all the other Asari Matriarchs, all of which were still out.
' It seems I'm one of the first to wake up.'
'' Ease.'' A familiar voice said to her. '' You took quite the beating.''
Tevos looked at Samara, who was acting as a lookout in this tent. They had known each other for years, '' Saren... he was different. He was stronger than normal.''
'' Like he was modified, right?'' Samael said as he entered the tent. Samara had informed him minutes ago that Tevos showed signs of waking, and he came here to check. After all, he had done many things in these last hours, things she might not like.
Tevos nodded at what Samael said and before she could say anything more, he continued, '' That's because he is. The Reapers must have done something to him.''
Even though Saren was a Spectre, the best of the best, his opponents were Matriarchs, so it wasn't normal that he won against multiple of them. Plus, he survived Samael's full power punch with only a few broken bones.
'' Your eye.'' Tevos kept Samael's comments in her mind and commented on his appearance.
Samael touched the left side of his face, '' A small price ... it could have been worse.'' He then made a pained expression as he looked at Tevos, '' You won't like what I'm about to say.''
Samara looked quite down, so Tevos knew their situation wasn't good, '' Hit me with it.''
Samael started, '' The temple and the beacon were destroyed, 1 million civilian casualties confirmed and many more missing, their fate unknown.''
Most likely turned into husks, but no need to say that now.
Tevos sighed in defeat, '' Anything else?''
This time, Samael had a forced smile on his face, '' I may or may not have told everyone in the galaxy about the Reapers. Sure, we could've covered what happened here as a Geth attack, but with what I did, they can't hide anymore.''
'' How did the public react?'' While Tevos was sad about what happened on her planet, she knew that she couldn't stop to mourn now. Things were too complicated for that.
'' Hard to say, as it has been only a few hours since they know. But fear seems to be the safest bet.''
Tevos got up and started to walk around. Even though she had most of the galaxy power at her hand, as she was the Council, she didn't know what to do with it. Rather, there was so much to do that she didn't know where to start.
As Tevos was lost in her own thoughts, Samael, who had accompanied her, said, '' Start small.''
Tevos broke her train of thought and looked at Samael, '' Sorry?''
Samael explained, '' You're in a position of power and have a lot of responsibilities on your shoulders. So, start small. Help here on Thessia before thinking about the whole galaxy.''
Samael was saying this from a place of experience, He had, in past cycles, garnered powers to control the galaxy, but with that, came a lot of problems he didn't like. So, he adopted a carefree attitude in the face of it all.
While it's nice to have powers, you have to know how to deal with the adversities that come with it. Tevos was a Councilour for a long time, but it was the first time she had all its power in her hand, so it was normal she was lost.
Tevos looked around her planet, now destroyed. She calmed down a little and looked at Samael, '' You have wisdom that doesn't match your age... I'll do as you say. Help her for a few hours then deal with the rest.''
'' Good. When you finish here, come to see me. We still have a lot to discuss.'' Samael wasn't lying. There's really a lot to talk about, not only about the restoration of Thessia but how to deal with Sovereign.
With that, Samael left Tevos with Samara and returned to the thing he was doing before coming here.
Tevos looked at Samara, '' Where can I help?'' She wasn't there as a councilor, nor a Matriarch, but as an Asari. She would do whatever she could, dirty her hands, to help.
Samara had the same mentality as her, '' There's a lot of people still missing, so we need to look around, everywhere. The Headmaster and the rest of the Ardat-Yakshi were already helping, but it's far from the numbers we need.''
Tevos was surprised by the information she heard, '' That Headmaster appearance in public?... No, it makes sense. The planet needs help.'' Even though she had a little bit of rejection when the subject was the Ardat-Yakshi, now was not the time to think about those things.
Samara said while walking towards the mess, '' The Ardat-Yakshi made a deal with LD. I can't say what, but it's beneficial to everyone.''
Tevos said nothing about that but was glad that was the case. She looked at the tent where the rest of the Matriachr were, '' What if they wake up?''
Samara touched her omni tool a few times, '' I just sent someone to look over them. Before this, Samael had asked for me to wait for you to wake up, call him, then go to help.''
Clare, Dr.Chakwas, and the Asari doctors did their best to wake up the Matriarchs first, Tevos and Benezia being the priority. Benezia woke up a few minutes ago, and now Tevos did the same. The other Matriarchs also received medical attention, but that was it.
'' Good. Now, let's help.''
Tevos and Samara walked the now destroyed Thessia, helping where they could. They used their powers to lift things, to see if there were any survivors below destroyed buildings and such.
They weren't alone in their quest, as a lot of Asari and some of Shepard and Samael's crew were helping too.
'' I FOUND ONE!'' Kasumi, who had woken up after being beaten by Saren, was with Keiji. Both had just found a survivor.
Tevos rushed to the location of the scream and saw a survivor amidst a lot of bodies.
'' ... It seems they protected her with their bodies.'' Kasumi said as she passed the unconscious Aasri to Tevos, '' Take her to the doctors.''
There were no ranks here, only survivors. Tevos didn't mind one bit being ordered around. '' Leave it to me.''
Samara accompanied Tevos, as both went to the doctor area. They passed close to various devices, destroyed, that transformed others into Husks.
'' ... Destroy more thoroughly, please.'' Tevos said that to Samara, who said nothing and used her biotic powers to reduce the device to dust.
'' Thank you.''
'' Don't mention it. It's only right... Samael said that a single piece of this could indoctrinate others, so there is no reason to risk it.''
Tevos and Samara dropped the survivor off at the doctors' and joined the fray once more.
There is still a lot to be done, but the Asari people would not fall just because of one attack. Sure, they were beaten, but not entirely defeated.
They would avenge their dead sisters, one way or another.
WITH SAMAEL
After he left Tevos, Samael returned to the place he was previously. It was an unknown location, also in ruins. In said place, there was a tent, with a Geth inside.
With this Geth, who was injured, there was EDI, RR, and Tali. Said Geth was the one who was helping the Asari fight the other Geth. He was injured in the battle and one member of Samael's crew rescued him.
RR and EDI were there because in a sense both were 'big sisters' of the machine, while Tali was there because she loved studying the Geth as a whole.
'' How is it?'' Samael asked as he sat down. Mentally, he was far from okay and was doing his best to stay composed for now, and physically he was ok, minus his missing eyes. Still, he finally had time to sit down, even if for a few seconds.
'' The machine had 'woken' up since you left. He explained a few things regarding what had happened.'' Tali said that as she checked Samael's condition.
Samael thanked Tali and said, '' What did he say?''
Before anyone else could respond, the Geth said, '' Many moons ago, my people received a visit from what we consider a God.''
'' A Reaper.''
To Samael's affirmation, the Geth nodded, '' Yes, a Reaper. This Reaper came to us, and promised paradise and many other things, in exchange for loyalty. Some believed right away and joined the cause, others didn't.... those that didn't were chased away. I was one of them.''
'' Even though they chased us away, we could not see the rest of us die in a meaningless way. So this unity followed them, tracking and keeping an eye out on what they were doing.''
'' That's how we came to this planet. This unity didn't know their true motive upon arriving but seeing what they were doing, even though they were the same as this unity, I could not allow it to continue. That's why I fought and got injured.''
Samael could see the machine's stomach was hit, the same as the right arm. He could already picture the enchantments he could do to it, '' ... I believe you.''
RR, EDI, and Tali looked at Samael with surprise. They thought he would be more untrustworthy of a Geth after today.
Samael looked offended, '' WHAT? I'm quite the magnanimous person, you see.''
Tali smirked at that, while both AIs shook their head. Slowly but surely, they were getting back to normal after the battle.
'' Thank you.'' The Geth thanked the human in front of him. He didn't know if he was in its position if he would take the same route.
'' Do you have a name? I can't call you machine.'' Samael inquired, clearly knowing the next part.
'' I don't but this unity researched quite a bit before arriving at a fitting name. Legion, Legion is my name.'' The machine looked quite proud of it.
'' Legion, huh? Have you thought about working for me?'' Samael was dirigt to the point.
Even Legion was taken off guard. This action didn't make sense to him, '' Why would you allow a Geth to work with you?''
'' You are not just a Geth, you are you. A Geth that fought against others to protect organic life, without anyone asking you to. That alone is a praise very few machines could receive.''
'' Besides, this would also protect you from the public warth... at least mitigate it the best we could.''
Samael knew from the beginning that the Geth as a whole, just like the Krogan but more strongly, was seen as a plague by the galaxy population. He had considered that in his plan, and how to make the galaxy accept Legion and the rest of them later on.
But now, clearly, that plan would not work anymore. Everyone saw the Geth attacking Thessia, and no one would be crazy enough to trust one... except him.
Legion didn't have much more to say, '' ... I will join your cause.''
'' Good. In this case, we will upgrade your body, if you don't mind. And study you for a bit, if you also don't mind.''
Legion felt this day was getting stranger and stranger.
---
Samael had left the tent after confirming everything was in order with Legion, giving both RR and Tali a kiss, and encouraging EDI.
He was going to see Liara... honestly, when he had her unconscious body in his arms not long ago, he almost lost control. Good thing RR didn't allow anyone to approach him in that state, otherwise even he didn't know how he would react.
Samael might appear calm, but he was far from it.
With a heavy heart, he went to Liara's location. She was with her mother, who was the first matriarch who had woken up, even before Tevos. Both were also helping where they could.
Samael arrived at the location, which just happened to be the now-destroyed temple. He still hasn't spoken to her ever since she woke up, as he was busy and honesty still out of it. His mental state only recently got better.
Seeing Liara at a distance, safe and sound, made Samael relax immediately. He approached her slowly but Liara noticed him.
'' Samael.'' Liara ran to him under the watchful gaze of her mother and the others around her but she didn't care. She embraced him, '' I heard you're injured! I wanted to go see you but -''
Samael interrupted her with a light kiss, '' It's ok, I'm ok.'' He then hugged her with strength, almost like he was afraid she would disappear at any moment.
Liara said nothing more and embraced him back with the same emotion.
COUGH
Benezia broke the reunion with a fake cough, '' Now that you both know you were ok, can you help here?''
''Gladly.'' Samael and Liara broke the hug and joined the helping hands.
Only a few hours had passed since the Geth and the Reapers left but the rescue efforts on the planet were going full speed.
For better or for worse, the concentrated attack of the Geth on the planet was in the locations around the Temple and the beacon, so the places where they had to search for survivors were limited.
The problem was the sheer number of people in the place. Even with everyone who could still move, helping with the rescue effort, it was a difficult process.
Still, everyone was doing their best to help, and many survivors were found, along with many Geth devices being destroyed.
The reconstruction didn't even begin, but things were already complicated. Even more so if you take into account the fact the Reaper was still out there, doing god knows what.
---
While Thessia wasn't resting and everyone on the planet helping, the other governments were doing almost the same. Some were preparing their forces for war, others were prepared to flee. To where, even they didn't know.
The only consensus was that the Reapers existence had ignited their will to act.
And while everyone else was doing their things, the Reaper was also moving towards its goal. Now, hours later after the useful attack, He was just waiting to gain more numbers before he acted once again.
Sovereign had ordered others to completely change Saren into what he thought was a suitable being, and then he would act to call the rest of his army.
The day to do that was getting closer.
PENSAMENTOS DOS CRIADORES 
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Pop0 Thanks for the support! The next chapter will be the last one spent on Thessia, then we will go to battle once more.
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