Two hours have passed since Shepard's return from his first alternate universe. A large fleet of New Republic ships had now gathered over the planet which upon further inspection by EDI and the crew of the Normandy, found that strangely the planet wasn't named and there was barely any information on it, except for local wildlife and what the surface was like. Probably because of the surface and dangerous storms that popped up randomly was why there may never have been any sort of deeper exploration and interest in the planet; thus the crew decided to give it the codename "Planet X" for now since this was going to be where their new Coalition force was going to start gathering for safety from the Reapers. Until the time of which they would finally launch their assault on Earth.
Onboard the Normandy most of the crew was still in awe at the ships of their new allies from another universe, the size of them outclassed anything any of the races had, even the Asari's Destiny Ascension, and the weapons that could be seen on them definitely looked menacing, and powerful. Shepard's wounds were tended to by Doctor Chakwas and he was back up in no time. While his team and Luke's friends talked amongst each other down in the hangar getting to know each other a little bit as well as the respective universes, Shepard knew that he had to inform Anderson, Hackett, the Council, and the rest of the leaders of the other races about the new development and hope that they would hold off the attack and start gathering here. After all, not only was this going to increase their numbers, but it was also going to increase their chances of surviving long enough to recapture the Citadel, attach the Crucible to it, and then activate it. Hell, with a big enough force they could launch a full scale invasion on the entire planet itself instead of just England, preventing the Reapers from focusing their forces on just one place.
And if there was anything else to go by, then considering the power and skill of just one hero, Shepard could only imagine what all these other heroes were like, not to mention the tech and weapons they and their armies could bring to the battle as well.
From the Cockpit of the Normandy...
"Man those are some big ships there. Can only wonder what kind of stuff they have." Joker says as he stares at the fleet of New Republic, consisting of two Executor-class Star Dreadnoughts, a couple of MC80 Home One type Star Cruisers and Viscount-class Star Defenders, and many other types of strange looking ships as they hover around the planet.
"Well to be precise many of those ships are armed with large amounts of Turbolaser Cannons, Ion Cannons and many other armaments of their own that make them quite deadly in combat." a robotic voice says from behind Joker and EDI who both turn around to see a strange, humanoid gold mech and a small blue and white trashcan looking mech.
"And who are you supposed to be?" Joker asks with a raised eyebrow.
"Oh my apologies sir. My name is C-3P0 human-cyborg relations. And this is my travelling companion R2-D2. We are personal droids of Master Skywalker and merely came onto this vessel with Miss Leia when she travelled back to this from one of our own, out of curiosity." the droid identified as C-3P0 says
As for the R2 droid, all Joker and EDI get from him is a few beeps and a turning of his head from side to side.
"Droids huh? Guess that's what they call you in your universe instead of Mechs?" Joker says.
"Actually sir the word Mech does exist in our universe, though it is only for combat vehicles and not us robots, as you seem to think." C-3P0 corrects.
"Robots, Mechs, almost the same thing. So what kind of "droid" are you exactly?" Joker asks.
"I am a Protocol Droid sir. I am programmed primarily for etiquette and protocol, and am fluent in over six million forms of communication. R2 here is an astromech droid and was designed to work in and around space vessels as a diagnostic and repair unit. However there are many other things that he can do but it is a lot to explain so I will simply leave it at that" C-3P0 answers as he then looks at EDI "Oh my, I'm sorry miss but I did not see you there I must say are you a...mech as they are called here?" C-3P0 asks.
"Actually I am an AI which stands for Artificial Intelligence, in case that word does not exist in your universe. My name is EDI, this is merely a Synthetic body that I use to travel with Commander Shepard and the others to assist them in battle while also helping maintain the ship which would technically also be my main body." EDI says
"An Artificial Intelligence with both a synthetic body for combat, and who can also control a ship at the same time? Oh my word, that is a lot. I must say I look forward to learning much more about your universe during our stay here." C-3P0 says as then R2 beeps a few times seemingly in agreement.
"Yeah well, gonna have to wait on that. All the marvels of our universe are kind of under attack if not already destroyed by the Reapers. Speaking of which, I wonder how the Commander's doing." Joker says.
In the Communications Room…
Shepard and Luke stand before the holographic forms of Admiral's Anderson and Hackett, Urdnot Wrex, and the Citadel Councilors as Shepard has just finished explaining the current situation to them.
"That's...a lot to take in Shepard. And this time, I do mean a lot." Hackett says.
"No kidding, you lost me just at Alternate Universes. Maybe even sooner." Wrex says.
"This certainly is a lot to say at the most Commander. But can we really trust this, Minerva woman of what she said?" Turian Councilor Sparatus asks.
"Councilor this time I have proof right here next to me. And if that isn't enough, I got more proof in the hangar bay of the Normandy and outside hovering over the planet right now." Shepard says.
"What your Commander speaks of is the truth sir. I have seen it myself." Luke speaks up.
"You can't deny the facts that are right here in front of us Sparatus. Shepard speaks the truth and has enough evidence to say otherwise." Salarian Councilor Valern says.
"Commander, what you have discovered can greatly change the tide of this war back into our favor. Even with the Crucible we still do not know how it works and what will happen when it is activated. Having more allies to call upon to join us in this fight would be very helpful, especially to invade the Citadel so we can retake it and combine it with the weapon. And, if we need a larger force to continue the fight with the Reapers should the Crucible work in a different way, or not at all, we may at least have this Coalition force as our backup strategy." Asari Councilor Tevos says.
"That's if the Reapers don't attack the other universes. If they do…" Shepard says.
"Then all may truly be lost." Tevos says lowering her head and closing her eyes.
"But Commander I must ask, you were lucky to get sent to Luke's universe...but how exactly do you plan on getting to these other universes? You said the device that brought you to his was only a two time thing, bringing you there, and then bringing you, him, and the New Republic forces here." Hackett asks.
Shepard and Luke exchange looks at one another "We…" Shepard says as the two then look back at the leaders "Don't exactly know how. It's safe to say she was very cryptic when it came to some of the things she said. Such as that. The only hint she gave us was that we wouldn't be alone on this journey, and that he would be there to guide us. Whoever he is."
Hackett along with the Councilors exchange looks with one another before looking back at the two heroes "We're gonna need a lot more to go by then just that Shepard. We don't have time for some goose hunt searching for a single individual that may not even exist in our, never thought I'd be saying this, universe. Anderson and the Resistance won't be able to hold out for much longer at this rate, unless this person steps forward to reveal himself to us, we might just have to go with the New Republic forces and launch our attack." Hackett says.
"Hackett's right Shepard, I don't know how much longer we can last down here. The most I can see us doing is a few more weeks, and if we're lucky one more month. But any longer and we're not going to be here by the time you get this new Coalition force together." Anderson says
"Just give us a little bit more time, if nothing comes up in the next few hours we'll launch our attack with what we got. If however we do find a way to travel to these alternate universes I will let you all know, and we can go through with this new plan. After that we'll spend one or two weeks at the most traveling to these alternate universes gathering what forces we can. Once that time's up, we'll launch the attack to retake the Citadel so the Crucible can be activated." Shepard quickly says.
Hackett and the leaders exchange looks again, all of them nodding their heads in agreement one at a time before looking back forward "Fine then, you got a few hours Shepard to find out how this whole thing's going to work. Until then, the least the rest of us can do is send word to our fleets and allies about this new development, and get them to Planet X so they can finally have a safe haven from the Reapers. Hackett out." Hackett says as he along with Anderson, the Council, and Wrex's holograms disappear.
Shepard sighs "That could've gone better."
"Use to this sort of thing?" Luke asks.
"You have no idea." Shepard replies "Come on, let's go see how our friends are doing." he says to Luke as they turn and begin making their way towards the elevator.
Down in the Hangar...
"Wow, that's...a lot to take in. And somehow with what's happening, I feel like we're gonna be saying and hearing that a lot." Ashley says as her and the rest of the team listen to the story about Leia, Han and Chewbacca's universe.
"These Jedi sound pretty powerful. They would definitely make some good allies, but you said that the majority of them were wiped out a long time ago?" Tali says.
"That's correct. Luke is the only Jedi now, or the only known one at least. There's speculation that there were some Jedi who survived the purge and went into hiding. Many of them would be killed by the Empire later on during their reign over the galaxy, but we believe that there may still be more of them out there. They just haven't come forward yet. Luke had hoped to begin to rebuild the Order when, well all this happened." Leia explains.
"Good thing this Emperor guy and his Empire got what they deserved. At least the Jedi who died can rest easy now knowing that you guys are going to bring peace and justice back to the galaxy and rebuild the Jedi." Garrus says.
"Yeah if only that were the full case. Unfortunately there are still Imperial Remnants hiding out there in our galaxy, making strikes every now and then. As long as they're around, the fight still goes on. Though I guess we can be glad that the majority of their forces as well as their head honchos are dealt with, and with most of the galaxy at our back this time. Maybe this fight won't last much longer." Han says as Chewbacca roars, seemingly in agreement with him.
"So~, you really understand what your Wookie friend says?" James asks since he found it a little hard to believe anyone could completely understand some roars, grunts, and whatever other animal-like sounds he made.
"Yeah, once you get to know him and everything it gets easy to understand." Han replies.
"Hmph, these Wookies are obviously a very primitive species if they have yet to understand how to speak correctly. Using grunts, groans, growls and roaring as their language." Javik says with his arms crossed. This gets an angered roar from Chewbacca as a response.
"Whoa, hey now there's no need for name calling." Han says putting his hand in front of Chewie while eyeing Javik a bit annoyed by that.
"Sorry about him, he sort of just woke up from a fifty thousand year long nap." Tali says slapping his shoulder finding his statement uncalled for. Javik snarls at her for that but is ignored.
"What interests me the most is this Force you mentioned. Especially how the Jedi use it. Most of its abilities sound quite similar to our Biotics, especially how only certain people possess it." Liara says finding this part the most interesting in the tales of the Jedi.
Just then the elevator door opens up as Shepard and Luke walk out from it.
"How'd it go Shepard?" Ashley asks.
"Well they believed me obviously. They're going to send word out to our fleets and current allies about the new situation, and to start gathering their forces here to they can be safe from the Reapers." Shepard says.
"So in which case the battle for Earth is going to have to wait a little bit longer?" James asks.
"Unfortunately yes. But if it means getting a bigger force and some powerful allies that can help even the odds, maybe even change them into our favor for once. It might just be worth it." Shepard says.
"Hey I think it's a good plan. With the state all our forces are in from the Reapers, I think it's a good idea to gather more allies to help out in the fight. Plus, if those ships out there and their troops are packing some better ordnance then us to take on the Reapers, then definitely the more the merrier." Garrus says.
"But don't forget that Minerva said the Reapers were going to start launching their attack on the Multiverse soon. If they really do have a way and they've just been holding back until we were dealt with, once they notice what's going on they're gonna work even harder to make sure we can't gather any allies." Tali reminds the group.
"Indeed, and that will prove to be a problem. If they have managed to acquire a way to travel to alternate universes, the people in those universes are going to be caught off guard. Not only by their sudden appearance, but the Reapers will probably hit the more advanced races fast, hard, and with high numbers, making them take heavy losses before they can mount any successful defense. And for the universes who might not have the technology to fight back effectively, they won't last long when the Reapers invade and will immediately be forced into a fight for survival. Our list of allies, and maybe even heroes will go down." Liara says.
"Which is why we need to hurry up." Ashley says before looking back at Shepard "So Skip, what's the plan?" Ashley asks
"Well…" Shepard straightens himself as he crosses his arms "First we need to find a way to travel to these other universes since...well the way I got to Luke's universe and back doesn't work anymore. So I don't suppose anyone remembers Minerva mentioning how we're to do that?" Shepard asks.
Everyone in the room remains silent...
"Ah~, Loco that kinda puts a dink in our plans." James speaks up.
"Hold on, this Minerva lady told you about these Alternate Universes and to collect these heroes and armies from them. And she didn't tell you how to get to them?" Han asks in disbelief with a raised eyebrow.
"The only clue she left us was the mentioning of some guy who's supposed to be our guide across the multiverse. Who he is, and where he's located, no idea. Didn't even give us a name." Shepard replies.
"Unfortunately she did not mention anything about that in my vision, so I won't be of much help either." Luke says.
"We don't need to start scouring our Galaxy for one guy do we?" Tali asks less than reluctant to have to do such a thing.
"Let's hope not. It's a wild goose chase at that point. We have no clue on what this person looks like, his name, we got nothing to help us if we're supposed to find someone. Let alone if they're alive or not." Garrus says stating the facts.
"So in which case, we're back to square one." Ashley says.
"Unless we find our means of travel in the next few hours, we're gonna have to work with what we got and launch our attack on the Earth, and just hope for the best." Shepard says just as EDI's synthetic body arrives to join the group in the conversation.
Suddenly without warning, a strange noise begins reverberating throughout the Hangar catching both groups attention.
"Uh~, I don't remember the engines ever making a noise like that before." James says.
"That is because they don't." EDI speaks up.
"What's that?!" Tali shouts pointing towards the hangar bay door as everyone turns to see something begin to materialize in the middle of the floor.
After a few seconds the strange object fully materializes, showing itself to be...a tall wooden blue box with the words Police Public Call Box written on it.
Both Shepard's team and Luke's group look at the strange Police Box that has fully materialized in the middle of the hangar. Everyone on edge since it, or whatever was inside could potentially be dangerous.
"Okay…where did that just come from?" Garrus questions, crouched a little as he points at the box with both index fingers.
"Hold on, that's an old 1960's era London Police Box. People back then used this thing to call the police when a crime or something went down. These things came up when I was doing a history project in school on the city." Ashley says recognizing it.
"Okay, still doesn't explain what a 1960's Police Box is doing appearing out of nowhere in the middle Normandy." James says.
Just then the doors to the Police Box open up, as a man with dark brown back-combed hair with a little part of it at the front in a messy spike, wearing a buttoned up blue suit with red pinstripes and pants, a blue collared shirt beneath with a red tie, and red Converse all Stars; walks out keeping his back to the group before closing the door and locking it.
"Ah~ finally!" the Doctor says with an eager look on his face as he looks up at his TARDIS "Good job girl, you did wonderful getting me here. Now, all I have to hope for is that I arrived at the right time and place." The Doctor finishes, turning around to find an M-3 Predator Pistol being pointed right at his face.
"Listen pal, you have five seconds to tell me who you are, how you got onboard and what you're doing on here." Shepard states. Behind him the rest of his teammates have pulled out and aimed their guns at the strange man, even Han and Chewbacca have their respective blasters out while Luke and Leia stand ready to jump in should something happen.
"You know..." the Doctor begins to speak in his, or at least this regeneration's, usual Estuary English accent "It isn't really polite to point guns at people you don't even know. I mean don't you think that if you point it at someone who just wants to be peaceful you're putting yourself off as hostile to them? And by doing that you might make that peaceful person go all aggressive and everything thinking you're a threat when it all could've been avoided had you just not drawn your gun and pointed it at them in the first place." as the Doctor continues his rambling some of the others can't help but exchange confused looks at one another as to why this guy was just talking away even with a gun pointed at his head.
"Honestly what is it with people and pointing guns at other people whenever they ask them questions? Can't you just ask the person nicely who they are without the need to point weapons at one another? Even if they are complete strangers who just randomly appeared in the middle of a military ship from a strange blue box while in the middle of a war and, you know what I can see why this is happening now." The Doctor says.
"One…" Shepard starts the countdown.
"Alright! Alright. Calm down there Commander no need to go shooting the only guy who can help you out." The Doctor says.
"Wait, what?" Shepard says lowering his gun a little upon hearing that, confused by what he just said.
"I'm the Doctor nice to finally meet you Commander Shepard, and of course the rest of your amazing team!" the Doctor says with a wide smile on his face looking past Shepard at the rest of his teammates who are also a bit taken aback by what he said. "Well the team during the Reaper Wars obviously, the rest of your friends are somewhere else or…yeah not going to go there. But anyways, Ashley Williams, James Vega, Garrus Vakarian, Liara T'Soni, EDI, Tali'zorah vas Normandy and of course the fifty-thousand year old placed in stasis Prothean Javik! It is such an honor to meet all of you."
"The Doctor?" James questions as he and the others including Shepard, Han, and Chewie begin lowering their weapons seeing that this man didn't look like he was a threat.
"Doctor Who?" Tali asks.
"Just the Doctor, nothing more, nothing less. AH! So you did already get the first group of heroes, and it's Luke Skywalker, his sister, and his friends. Oh that's brilliant, very brilliant. Does that mean the Rebellion is here, no wait judging by your looks they'd be the New Republic now which is even better considering the numbers needed if we're gonna take on the Reapers and everything." The Doctor says.
Shepard, Luke, and everyone else is taken aback by this strange man's talkative and easygoing like manner.
"So~ your name is just…the Doctor?" Garrus asks.
"Yes. Just the Doctor." The Doctor replies with a nod.
"The Doctor? No first or last name to call you by instead?" Javik asks.
"Correct. So, if you're going to call me, call me Doctor." The Doctor says again with his wide smile still present.
"What kind of name is the Doctor, Doc?" James asks.
"Okay no, don't call me Doc." the Doctor says turning his face serious and waving his right index finger side to side "I don't really like it, don't know why, just don't. Doesn't have that…ring to it." The Doctor says putting his hand back in his pocket as he seemed to be thinking about tilting his head to the side while looking up at the ceiling.
"Alright then, Doctor…you seem to know who we are, and how is that so?" Shepard asks.
"Plus you said something about not shooting the only guy who can help us out?" Garrus points out as well.
"Of course I do, one of the perks of being a Time Lord. Being able to know a lot of famous people, even getting the chance to meet them. Though, some do seem to have a bad grudge for me…don't know why." The Doctor says.
"Time Lord?" Liara says putting her index and thumb to her chin, feeling like she heard that title somewhere before.
"They called themselves, the Time Lords." Minerva says to the group.
Liara's eyes widen in shock remembering now "Wait a minute!" she says catching everyone's attention "You're from the race that helped the Multiverse back when the Reapers first attacked it?" Liara says, the others now remembering back to what Minerva said about the Time Lords.
"That's right." the Doctor says.
"Wait, so you know-"
"Minerva." the Doctor says cutting off Shepard's question "Yes I do. After all, if it wasn't for her I wouldn't be here now. Well…in terms of I wouldn't be here talking to you cause I wouldn't of known when to come. I wasn't in any death danger or anything like that, though I was chased by some of Queen Elizabeth's guards…again." The Doctor says.
A Couple Minutes Ago…
"Really now, has it already been fifty-thousand years? I had almost forgotten about the whole thing. So, its time...Minerva?" The Doctor says as the lady of the First Civilization appears before him. "I mean then again you being here means someone woke your astral body up from its deep slumber. Never tried that but how does an astral body feel compared to your physical body?" The Doctor says.
"If it means helping the inhabitants of the Multiverse undo the mistakes of my people, I will gladly sacrifice my physical body to live on as nothing but a spirit. As for my purpose being here, yes, the signal you helped me create attracted the Commander and his team at the precise moment you'd knew they'd be there. I explained everything to them, and already sent the Commander to gather his first allies from another universe. But of course, if he is to gather more heroes and their armies, he is going to need your help." Minerva says.
"Well that's pretty obvious. Last I checked no one else has a spaceship that can travel through space and time. The most anyone's gotten closest to is breaking the barriers of time with an old DeLorean, oh and that time traveling Train which I feel like we're going to run in on this journey. The Train not the DeLorean." The Doctor says.
"Remember Doctor, this mission is not going to be easy. The Reapers have already begun their invasion in other universes. The Commander cannot afford to lose any of the heroes." Minerva says.
"And at the same time he can't gather all of them. After all, the Multiverse is never ending, even I haven't explored all the universes yet. But don't worry, I've prepared for this moment. I've already picked out the universes with the heroes that I think the Commander will find most helpful…and most likely will be able to convince to join alongside him. The one that little device sent him too should be one of them, I hope..." The Doctor says.
"Just be careful yourself Doctor, I have a feeling that the Commander may still need your assistance at the end of all of this." Minerva says.
"Well that's pretty obvious. Without me the energy wave from the Crucible won't be able to reach the other universes. I'll need to use my device to open up portals to every single Universe where the Reapers are, that way they're hit by it too." The Doctor says.
"Indeed, I wish you luck Doctor. You and the Commander are going to need it." Minerva says as she disappears from his sight.
"Alright then, setting destination to the Hangar Bay of the Normandy SR-2." the Doctor says as he begins setting the coordinates, stopping before flipping the switch "Why do I have a feeling they're going to be pointing guns at me when I come out?" he wonders aloud before pulling the lever.
Present Time…
"So you're the guy who's supposed to help us with gathering all these heroes and armies from across the Multiverse?" James asks.
"Yep, that's me. The Doctor reporting for duty and awaiting to recruit some Heroes, and their armies. Commander Shepard!" The Doctor says with his hands still in his pocket.
"An~d, how are you going to do that?" Tali asks.
"Same way I got onboard your ship of course." The Doctor answers moving aside to look at his TARDIS making the others look to.
"Wait, that blue box of yours? You're kidding right?" Garrus questions now really confused.
"The Police Box?" Ashley asks trying to fully clarify if what he was saying was right.
"Ah. It may look like a Police Box…" The Doctor looks back at the group "Mostly because its camouflaging circuitry has been damaged for a really, really, really…really long time." he looks back up at the TARDIS "Never got around to fixing it, I really like the way it looks though." Looks back at Shepard and the others "But, it's actually my spaceship that can travel through time and space." The Doctor finishes.
"Spaceship?" All the heroes say at the same time, even Chewie makes a groaning noise seemingly asking the same thing, confused by that statement as they couldn't really take that box for being a ship seriously.
"Yes, the TARDIS. Time and Relative Dimension in Space, this girl here's been my means of transportation all over the Multiverse, but mostly time, for a very, very, very…very long time." The Doctor says.
"You cannot expect us to believe you're fitting an army inside that piece of junk, let alone just us." Javik states.
"Well now that's a little bit uncalled for. I haven't said anything mean about the Normandy now have I?" The Doctor retorts feeling offended. "Reckon she is a really nice ship I'll give you that. Honestly I wouldn't mind traveling throughout time and space in this big beauty." the Doctor says looking around a little before turning back to the group. "But back to the point at hand ever heard the saying "Never judge a book by its cover"? Well, place it in this situation. Looks can be deceiving. Allons-y!" The Doctor says turning around to unlock the TARDIS doors as he then open them up.
The Doctor takes a step inside, but doesn't hear any footsteps behind him making him turn around to see all of the heroes staring at him confused "That means "let's go" in French." The Doctor says walking seemingly deeper into the Police Box.
Shepard and the others are a bit unsure about this, but decide to trust him after everything he's said as they walk over to the TARDIS. Shepard and Luke look at each other before taking their first steps into the supposed to be spaceship, the others stop and wait outside a couple of seconds to see if the two have to force themselves out of the box due to it being cramped in there. But when they don't. The two teams walk, still cautiously, into the TARDIS…and lose their breathes in complete shock and awe.
"Holy shit!" James yells.
Before their eyes, was the inside of the TARDIS, or at least the console room which was massive, circular, and "coral" themed. With golden walls that curved upwards like the inside of a dome and small hexagonal impressions on them. A red-tiled ramp leads from the doors to a hexagonal platform on which a second, circular platform sits on. Six coral pillars arranged in a hexagonal pattern that met with the top of the time rotor at the room's ceiling stand tall on the first platform, some black wires could be seen dangling from beside the pillars to the time rotor. The room itself was dimly lit, illuminated by the glow of green light from the time rotor column which sat in the center of the second platform leading down into the control console of the TARDIS, and the lights in the hexagons on the walls.
"It's…so…" Tali was completely at a loss for words.
"Let me guess, bigger on the inside than the outside. That's everyone's reactions when they see this." The Doctor says finishing off Tali's sentence as he stands at the TARDIS control console with his back to it.
"I can see why." Leia says looking around.
Han and James not believing what they see, both rush outside and back up a few feet looking at the outside of the TARDIS. They both then check the sides and rear to see if perhaps the rest of it could be cloaked, but find nothing as they both walk back in.
"Alright…" James begins nodding his head slowly and continuously while looking back around "I'm impressed."
"Yeah, what soldier boy here said." Han says agreeing with him while also still looking around in a state of shock.
"This…this isn't even physically possible. How can this be?" Liara asks.
"To put it simple, my race is very advance in terms of technology. Well space and time traveling technology anyways, we're alright with a whole lot of other tech stuff. No one else has this capability, unless there's magic involved then that's a different story." The Doctor says.
"Well, this makes our ships techs look disappointing." Garrus says.
"Exactly how big is this ship?" EDI asks.
"As big as she wants to be. Behind every door deeper in the TARDIS, is what you want it to be…or what she wants it to be." The Doctor says.
"Okay you keep on saying she, is the TARDIS like controlled by an AI or something like ours?" Ashley asks.
"Not an AI, but a Matrix. Pretty like the TARDIS's hard drive, except this hard drive gives the TARDIS a soul slash consciousness." the Doctor says like it was nothing.
"So~, it is alive?" Tali asks.
"Yep." the Doctor replies nonchalantly.
"Not advanced my ass." Ashley quietly says to herself.
"Amazing…" Liara says.
"I concur." EDI says.
"So what, if I wanted say…a pool. And I just walked up to some random door, a giant pool would appear behind it?" Ashley asks.
"Maybe even a hot tub or slide if you felt like it." The Doctor says.
"A library on everything?" Liara asks.
"Already got one, just stay away from the restricted section that's all I ask of you." The Doctor says getting a little serious at the last part.
"Shooting range?" Garrus asks.
"Guns aren't my thing, but if you want it. You'll have it." The Doctor says shrugging his shoulders.
"So Doctor, this TARDIS of yours is what's going to bring us to all of these alternate universes so we can recruit the heroes and their armies to fight alongside us?" Shepard asks.
"Exactly!" The Doctor exclaims. "Though…" the Doctor takes in a deep breath and releases it "This isn't going to be easy. Not only would you need to convince these heroes of abandoning their universe to fight in yours, and convince their armies to send the majority of their forces here as well. But…you're gonna have to fight the Reapers themselves again to find them." The Doctor says, the cheerful tone disappearing.
"The Reapers?" Shepard asks.
"You remember right? Minerva telling you that the Reapers were going to start launching their assault on the multiverse to grow their numbers so they could have wiped you out at Earth. Well, they've started. And as we speak the Reapers either continue their assaults, or begin invading new universes." The Doctor says as he flips a switch without turning to face the console. A holographic video image appearing above the entrance to the TARDIS as everyone turns and looks at it.
The screen then begins showing scenes of mass destruction in what the heroes could only guess were other universes; buildings crumbling, smoke rising into the skies as fires cover entire cities, lighting up the night skies in some universes, all of them, the terrified screams of people are heard as Reaper Capital Ships and Destroyers are seen walking through the cities or descending down on them laying waste to everything and everyone in their path. Reaper Husks appear from the fires rushing or firing after the inhabitants of each universe. Seeing this shocks and horrifies Luke and his friends, seeing just how powerful and dangerous the Reapers seem to be; while seeing this angers Shepard and his team, their states of sorrow, shock, and horror had already passed since they were used to seeing the destruction the Reapers wrought on their respective worlds. And now seeing the Reapers causing more death and destruction elsewhere, on people who had no clue what they were dealing with and who shouldn't have needed to be faced with such a threat in the first place.
"It's begun." The Doctor says.
The screen then switches to a quite familiar looking planet, to Luke and his group anyways "Coruscant? Wait, that's our universe!" Leia says. The blue portal leading to Shepard's universe can be seen above the planet where a few more New Republic ships wait to come through, when suddenly a red portal opens up and Reaper ships come flying out of it towards the planet.
"The Reapers!" Shepard says.
"I wouldn't worry about that, if that portal works the way it should the Anti-Reaper barrier will keep the Reapers from breaching the portal, let alone invade the planet. But I also feel like the minute the Reapers notice, they're gonna know something's up." the Doctor says, as sure enough as the Reapers close in towards Coruscant. Strange blue lightning bolts shoot out from the portal, impacting into two Reaper Capital ships and a single Destroyer, destroying all three immediately as the rest of the Reaper ships steer off course away from the planet. Seeing this causes major relief to the group seeing that the Anti-Reaper barrier seemed to work, which meant it would work just fine when connecting the other universes to theirs. It also made Luke and the others relieved seeing Coruscant become safe from the Reapers since with the population on the planet being in the trillions, there would've been a lot of casualties.
"So…this is going to be happening across the entire Multiverse?" Shepard asks.
"Yes. The Multiverse is never ending as far as I know, that means that the Reapers will have a never ending supply of troops ready to send at every new alternate universe they come across. Their tech may be weak considered to many other universes, but with the numbers, they just might win out in the end. After all, people like us can only fight on for so long until we need time to rest and recover, whereas they don't. And to make matters worse, as Minerva told you they're no longer targeting only advanced races. They've begun attacking any and all races, advanced or primitive. Unfortunately I'm seeing it now, billions of lives are going to be lost by the time this is all over, but we don't do anything, we're looking at trillions, and on, and on...and on." The Doctor says with a serious look in his eye. After all, knowing that so many people were going to die, and that there was nothing he could do that could lessen the numbers or stop it more quicker...it didn't sit well with him one bit.
"No one's' safe from the Reapers this time. But…if they do that…and if the Multiverse isn't never ending as you think then—"
"There won't be any life left across the Multiverse." The Doctor says finishing James thought. "Your current forces aren't enough Shepard. It would've sufficed if things were normal, if the Reapers had never gained access to the Multiverse, things would've been close still yes but in the end you would've won no matter what. But now that things are different, it's time for your universe to go with the change. If you can gather a bigger force of Heroes and Armies from across the multiverse, you will have a better chance of succeeding, even if the Reapers increase their numbers. That's why I'm here, I want to help you stop these Reapers. To save the lives of every living thing across the Multiverse, no matter what." The Doctor says.
"Plus, I'm pretty much the only one who can help you on this thing." the Doctor adds in.
"But Doctor, what makes you think the heroes and their armies are going to join us and abandon their home universes? Gathering our galaxy together was difficult in on itself with everyone having their own agendas in trying to defend their homes from the Reapers, and these are people who at least know us. But for us, total strangers to suddenly appear before these people either during an attack or before, asking for them to abandon their home universe and join us back in our own and fight here while their own people are dying back home? Even if we tell them about the Crucible, we still don't know how to activate it even with the Citadel, and if it'll even work which will drive them away even more seeing it as a foolish errand to abandon their people and come to our aid when our super weapon might not even work. That's if we can even convince them to trust us since again we're strangers to them, appearing either during an attack or before, they might take us for the enemy and try to kill us or think we're trying to weaken their defenses and again, try and kill us." Shepard says.
"That's why me and Minerva picked you for this mission Shepard. No other hero could have done such a thing, you on the other hand. Are a different story. Not many other heroes out there I know of who can hold their own in a fight and still have a way with words, it's worked here hasn't it? You were able to gather together an entire galaxy of different races, some of whom even had grudges against another race. But you were able to convince them, to put those grudges aside and work side by side of each other, to fight together as brothers and sisters in arms, to forget the past and work together to make a future. Well, now use those words of yours to gather a multiverse of armies together. Use those words and convince the leaders of these armies, that by fighting beside you they'd gain a lot more than fighting by themselves. You said so yourself you have the means of destroying the Reapers, well guess what, it's the only means that any of these other universes currently have of surviving, 'cause brute force isn't going to win against the Reapers that's for sure. By joining forces with the people of your universe, they increase the odds of helping you to activate the Crucible to save their universes...As for the heroes…" The Doctor flips another switch.
Turning off the video and closing the doors as the entire room darkens up leaving only a few softly lit lights on up above the heroes. As then a large collage of different pictures appear on the walls and begin circling around the heroes, each row in different directions either to the left or the right slowly as the Heroes are drawn to them. Each picture shows a different varying size group of either humans, humanoid animals, strange looking creatures, or aliens, some with a mixture of different species; some pictures only show a single person, some show duos, others show small groups, and others show massive groups of people.
"…Every one of them, there's a reason why they were granted such a title, even if they don't know it. Because they want to protect everything and everyone. Just like you and your friends Commander. They don't focus on just one specific person, or group of people, every single one of these people before you, they fight to protect everyone equally, never placing one life above the rest. Use that cause, and they will be willing to fight beside you. If the armies can't see it, they will at least, because they'll place their lives on the line if it means saving everyone and everything they love and care for." The Doctor says.
As everyone is taken aback in awe of the many different looking people, some who even looked like they were just children! Shepard finds himself drawn to many of the pictures as he recognizes the people on them from his vision, especially a few certain ones that seemed to draw his attention even more than the others for some reason. The boy with the "Keyblade" as he for some reason found that word coming to his mind to describe the strange weapon, the boy with the pink hair who could breathe and control fire and the girl with golden blonde hair who wielded golden keys, the anthropomorphic Lion who wielded a sword and the white feathered eagle who wielded a double-sided axe, the white, black, and pink armored and two red spandex wearing men, the anthropomorphic Panda and Tiger, and finally the massive green and black armored man with a gold visor on his helmet. Seeing these people the images of them from his vision come flashing through his head one by one.
"Wait a minute...I've seen some of these people...are these—"
"Yes they are Shepard. Before all of you! Are but a "few" of the Heroes of the Multiverse! People who have defied all the odds, faced many dangerous threats and have stared death in the face on multiple occasions. All to protect everything that they love and care for." The Doctor says.
"Amazing…there's…there's so many of them." Liara says.
"All of these people…they could help us?" Tali asks.
"Don't underestimate any of them. Some of them may look weak, Some may not even have powers compared to others. But all of them are strong in their own ways. If you were to unite all of them together, then you would be an unbeatable force. Not even the Reapers would be able to defeat you." The Doctor says.
"But…even with all of these people. Can we really defeat the Reapers?" Shepard asks looking back at the Doctor.
"You don't need to beat them remember, they just need to be held off until the Citadel can be retaken, and the Crucible activated." The Doctor says.
Shepard looks back up at the collage of Heroes. Just going based off what he saw in his vision, he just got this feeling that many, if not all these Heroes really were strong in their own way. Hell, many of them were probably stronger than him and his team from what he saw. If they were to fight alongside the ground forces, then the Coalition just might be able to last long enough until the Crucible can be activated, even if the Reapers sent reinforcements.
"So Shepard, what do you say?" The Doctor asks knocking him out of his thought.
Shepard looks at the Doctor, his friends turn towards him to see what his answer will be.
"So guys…what do you say? One last mission before we save the Galaxy?" Shepard asks turning to look at them with a smirk.
"Shepard, I think you should rephrase that to "before we save the Multiverse". But either way, you know there can't be a Shepard without a Vakarian." Garrus says.
"Come on Shepard. You seriously expect us to just leave all the fun to you. Count us in!" Ashley states in a determined voice.
"Saving our galaxy, alright. But saving the Multiverse…man this is just got HUGE. I'm in for the fun!" James says slamming his fist into his palm.
"A chance to explore the great unknown and learn a large amount of new things. You know I can't pass that opportunity up." Liara says.
"Fighting across the Multiverse while making some new friends along the way who can help us kick Reaper butt. Sounds like a good time to me." Tali says.
"Hm, this should be an interesting experience. Seeing new worlds perhaps, and seeing what the people of these other universes are like." Javik says with his arms crossed.
"By doing this I can agree that our odds of success have just went up to fifty percent. Instead of the five percent before." EDI says.
"Well Doctor. Looks like we've come to an agreement." Shepard says.
"Fantastic! Never thought I'd be saying that again." the Doctor says, the last part more to himself. "Now then, I'll give you some time to gather what you need for the mission, and to inform your leaders about well obviously the changes. But let's not dilly-dally you hear."
Shepard and his team pack all the equipment they know they're going to need into the TARDIS, they would probably take an occasional supply run back to the Normandy if necessary, and if need be they would also return for a little bit of rest and recovery. After all, they had a feeling that what they were about to do was going to push their limits to the max, and that they were going to need to work extra hard then they already have been. Along the way they found out just how massive the TARDIS was when they went deeper into the place. While this is happening Luke takes it upon himself to explain the situation to Joker and the crew as well as to Hackett, Anderson, Wrex, and the Council who are glad of the situation to say at most.
Inside the TARDIS...
"Man he wasn't kidding just how big this place is!" James nearly shouts, amazed by the rest of the TARDIS, or what was probably just a small portion of it.
"I'm surprised none of us got lost inside this thing." Tali says.
"One of the beauties of the TARDIS. Unless she wanted you to be lost, no matter where you go, you'll always arrive at where you want to or have to be." The Doctor says from the control console.
"So Doctor, where are we off to first?" Shepard asks walking into the TARDIS with Ashley and EDI behind him as the doors close behind them.
"Alright, well now with all these heroes we need to find...Hm~. Ah! I know just the heroes to start with." The Doctor says as he flips the lever starting up the TARDIS's engines.
The TARDIS then disappears from the Normandy hangar bay, its first destination unknown. For Shepard and his team the final part of their journey was about to begin. Their mission this time...to unite all the Heroes and their Armies from across the Multiverse so that they may finally rid not just Shepard's universe, but all of them from the Reapers, once and for all.
"So Doctor where are we going exactly?" Shepard asks walking by him.
"The first heroes we are about to recruit, well let's just say that in this universe there are only two of them. But let's just say one of them, if we can get him to join us not just as allies, but on this mission as well. He'll prove to be a big help to us rescuing and recruiting the other Heroes." The Doctor says as he stares at his screen which shows the image of the man in bulky green armor standing back to back with a humanoid lizard. The one that drew Shepard's attention before.
Meanwhile in one of the Alternate Universes...
The Earth is seen as many space stations hover above the planet, along with a large fleet of spaceships that seem to act as the space defense force of the planet. All of a sudden a large red portal appears far away from the Earth, but still in sight of the fleet as out from them a large fleet of Reapers come flying out towards the Earth.
Inside the stations and ships the alarm systems blare to life warning those aboard of the incoming danger. Meanwhile on one particular ship that easily outsizes all the others with the words UNSC Infinity written on both sides of it, a human male with brown flatted to the right hair, wearing a gray military almost navy-like suit with the rank of Captain sewed on both his upper arms, stands on the bridge in front of the holotank table as he spots the Reapers and seems to be taken aback by their sudden appearance.
"Captain Lasky sir unidentified contacts heading this way! And they don't look friendly!" a male crewman yells.
"Send word to the Earth we got unidentified hostile contacts heading our way, I want everyone at their stations now!" Captain Lasky shouts with urgency as he looks at everyone.
"Sir, the ships have opened fire on us. Their firing some type of unknown energy weapon!" a female crewmember yells.
"Get the warning to the Earth now! All UNSC and Swords of Sanghelios ships have permission to return fire immediately at these things!" Lasky continues shouting.
Down on Earth...
In a massive, and tall tower-like building with the words UNSC on it...
A man wearing a large bulky green suit of armor stares out the windows of the building into the sky as the alarms sound off all around him. His face covered his shadows, the man turns and walks over to a nearby table where his helmet with the golden plated visor sits. The man picks it up and places it on, the locks on the helmet hissing as they lock into place as John-117, the Master Chief raises his head forward ready for battle.