Crossing the Stream
A Bioware Crossover fiction.
Contains spoilers for Mass Effect 2 and Dragon Age 2.
Chapter 1
"Course set in. Hitting the relay in five minutes."
"Sounds good, Joker. Call me when we're at the Citadel," Shepard said, walking away from the helmsman's chair.
"Fighting the Collectors, killing a prototype Reaper, this deserves some kind of R&R. Cerberus gives us vacation pay, right?" Joker asked.
"Cerberus directives do not have any details on vacation pay, Jeff," EDI said in 'her' usual disembodied voice. "My guess is that they are expected to work non-stop."
"Right, because we gotta please the Illusive Man," Joker muttered.
"Not the Illusive Man, but your soon-to-be computer overlord."
Shepard and Joker slowly turned on EDI's holographic display.
"That was a joke."
"Not cool, EDI," Joker grumbled. "Almost gave me a heart attack."
"Since when did you start getting a sense of humor?" Shepard asked.
"I'm an AI, Shepard. The more I'm exposed to human behavior, the more I learn to mimic it," EDI replied. "Jeff constantly makes jokes about me ruling over humans."
"And you're just mimicking it, right?"
"Don't worry, Shepard, I'm quite incapable of harming humans."
"Sure, that's what they all say. Next thing you know, we'll all be turned into double-A batteries for you to use while our minds live in some kind of simulated reality," Joker muttered.
"EDI, if you're going to have a sense of humor, try watching some good stand-up skits," Shepard said. "And Joker? Try to find something else to joke about."
"Yes, ma'am."
"You go too far, Meredith!"
"I have not gone far enough! There are blood mages in the Circle tower, Orsino, and you will let me in!"
"The way you two argue. The next thing you know, people will begin to think you're an old married couple," Hawke said, leading his group to face the two bickering leaders.
"Champion! You are show your face now, when you're all but sided with the mages?" Meredith demanded.
"I called him here," First Enchanter Orsino said, forcing himself to be calm. "The Champion may help us yet."
"Please, can we all just calm down here?" Hawke asked, stepping in-between Knight-Commander Meredith and First Enchanter Orsino. "I'm sure we can all work something out here."
"There can be no 'working something out,'" Anders said, stepping forward.
"What do you mean?" Orsino said.
"We must all take sides. There can be no compromise," Anders said, hitting the floor with his staff.
The ground began to quake, nearly knocking everyone off their feet.
"Anders, what are you doing?" Hawke demanded.
"Andraste's tits," Varric yelled. "Hawke, the Chantry!"
Looking up, Hawke saw red light spill from the Chantry. The ground shook harder, then the Chantry exploded, each piece carried into the air on a terrifying column of red light.
"Any plans for our well-deserved vacation, Commander?" Jacob asked, setting down the newly cleaned pistol.
"I'm giving everyone here as much time off as they need," Shepard said, pacing the armory.
"I'm sure Cerberus would love it if we just took off," Jacob chuckled.
"If they don't like it, they can go to hell."
"If you don't mind me asking, are you okay? I don't think I've ever seen you get this angry this fast."
Shepard paused. Jacob was right. She was angry. She didn't let herself get angry much, at least not after Akuze.
"It was the suicide mission, wasn't it?" Jacob said. "Shepard, you don't need to be angry. We all made it out alive, thanks to you."
"It's not that, Jacob," Shepard said. "It's...it was just too much like Akuze. Everything wanting you dead, never being in a safe spot...It just sent me to a very bad place."
"But you survived then, and you survived now," Jacob said. "You should be happy for that."
"I am happy, and I'm happier knowing that no one here died," Shepard said. "But fighting a Thresher Maw on foot, and watching all of your friends die, you don't forget something like that. You see it everywhere."
"I think I can understand," Jacob said. "When I got word that my father died, I saw him everywhere. A passing face, a quick glance, and I thought he was there."
"At least you knew your family, Jacob. I never knew mine."
Suddenly the Normandy shook, nearly throwing Jacob into a bulk head.
"What the hell?"
Shepard grabbed the nearest wall and opened the door to the armory. Everywhere on the main deck, Cerberus officers were being thrown to the ground. Kelly was flung across the deck, and Shepard barely had time to steady herself before the two collided.
"Status report," Shepard yelled, helping Kelly get to her feet. "Joker, what the hell is going on?"
"I don't know," Joker yelled from the cockpit. "The mass relay just lit up like nothing I've ever seen before."
"Abandon the jump. Get us out of here," Shepard said as she struggled towards the cockpit.
"I'm trying!"
"We're locked in the mass relay's gravitational field. We're being pulled in at an alarming rate," EDI said. "That is not right."
"More good news, EDI?" Shepard said. The Normandy rocked again, throwing her into a bank of navigational computers.
"The mass relay's mass effect fields are...inverting."
"Inverting? Is that even possible?" Joker yelled.
"No, it's not even theoretically possible," EDI replied. "We will hit the relay in twenty seconds."
"All hands, brace for impact," Shepard yelled, keying the ship-wide comm.
The Chantry was destroyed. Pieces of the building rained down on Kirkwall. Hawke shakily got to his feet, looking at the gaping crater where the Chantry once stood.
"Anders, what have you done?" He gasped.
"I removed the possibility of compromise because there was no compromise," Anders said. "It can either be the mages or the Templars. We all must take sides in this battle!"
"Do you have any idea what you've done?" Orsino demanded.
"The Chantry is destroyed. The Grand Cleric killed, by a mages' hands," Meredith said slowly, her eyes burning red. "This is an act of war! I'm evoking the Right of Annulment! All mages will be killed!"
The Normandy hit the mass relay, and disappeared in a beam of red light.
