"I am Dulcea," she said, "Master Warrior of Phaedos."
Her declaration echoed in the air. Garrus spoke from his position from his perch; she showed no sign of attacking. "Is that supposed to mean something?"
"It means I am one of the few left in the galaxy with the means to help you," Dulcea said.
"And why are you suddenly helping us when you were ready to kill us earlier?" Shepard asked.
She crossed her arms over her chest, narrowing her green eyes. Dulcea met her eyes and held her gaze steady for a long moment. "All will be explained soon," she said finally. "We must reach our destination by nightf-."
"No, I really think it'll be explained now," Shepard said. "Why did you attack us?"
"And what of Dr. DiMarco?" Liara asked.
Dulcea closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "The research he conducted here destroyed him in the end."
Shepard heard Garrus mutter as he approached their position, "Like we haven't seen that before."
"So you're admitting to it?" Tali asked, waving her shotgun at the cloaked woman. The golden collar of Tali's suit splashed color against the dusty earth.
Dulcea didn't blink once, looking slightly down her nose at the quarian. The corner of her mouth twitched down. "The Great Power has no place for those with greed in their hearts. His demise was his own fault."
Shepard pursed her lips. "The Great Power? Sounds ominous."
Dulcea inclined her head. "Perhaps. Not in the way the way you think." She shot Shepard an assessing gaze. She eyed her up and down where she stood, hand on her shotgun. Her red armor gleamed in the sunlight. "You question everything, and do not follow others lightly. An admirable quality in a leader. There's a reason they follow you."
"You avoided my question. Why did you attack?" Shepard's strident tone brooked no argument.
The green-garbed woman gazed off in the distance. "For eons, beings from all over the universe have sought the Power to bend it to their will." She turned to look each of them in the eyes. "Many have tried for it and failed. Even now, you can see their bones littering the ground. Phaedos has its protectors. Should it come to those unworthy, the universe as you know it would cease to exist. Consider the destructive power of the reapers. Imagine something a dozen, no, a hundred times more powerful in the hands of those unscrupulous. "
"Fair enough," Shepard acknowledged. "But what is it?"
"I will tell of it as we travel. Night will fall soon, and we have no time. Millions die as we speak." With that, she began to run towards the monolith in the distance and away from the prefabs.
Shepard fired off a quick, static filled comm to Joker, giving him a sitrep and letting him know they'd be staying for the night. She also gave instructions for a secondary marine team to peruse the prefabs for evidence. The strange woman told the truth, or a version of it. It certainly corroborated with the evidence they had on hand. They had no other choice but to take her on faith for now. She eyed the green-cloaked woman speculatively as they ran, Shepard keeping pace just slightly behind her easily enough.
From what EDI had been able to glean from the observation station records, DiMarco had mentioned some thing that could be the answer to the Reapers, a backup in case the Crucible didn't work out. He hadn't said it in as many words, but "powerful" and "answer to the reapers" had made it through, and what Dulcea said had confirmed it. Just the promise of anything to end the Reaper War was enough to make Shepard follow this woman. She'd done more on less information. Besides, she'd been far gentler than Grunt.
They traveled for a long time. Shepard and her team fell into an easy rhythm. They covered a lot of ground. Shepard observed that the scans of the planet told nothing of the truth, nor did the scouting parties. Phaedos was alive. The very ground they ran on breathed with the wind. Shepard felt more than saw the strange animals moving around them. Even odder, her multi-species crew blended seamlessly into the scenery rather than intruding upon it. Not like the prefabs. The stark white buildings seemed to work against the environment.
The wind curled the stray hairs that had fallen out of her ponytail around her face. She imagined this was how her ancestors had felt back on Earth, when it was new and primal, and the cities hadn't covered nearly every seeming square inch. The wild feeling invigorated her in a way she hadn't felt since...She shook her head to clear it, but the memories clawed at her mind.
The reason her parents had left earth before her birth, looking for a new life amongst the stars. The memory rose up before she could stop it: her parents' farm in the country, the sounds of the community helping. "Pioneers. Like our forefathers," her father had said, dusting his hands from the barn raising, his coarse brown coveralls dirty and a bit of hay sticking out of his mouth. Like something out of an old vid, Shepard remembered, the green smells of hay and the hint of horse sweat doubling with screams and hellfire and smoke.
She heard voices, tuning back in to the conversation. "...but I don't get it. You're saying this guy from Earth had access to it?" James asked, sweat pouring down his thick neck, his breath a little uneven, one eyebrow raised.
Dulcea picked up speed, her gait a graceful lope. Her green cloak fanned out behind her. "Yes, Zordon was a very dear friend of mine, but he wasn't from Earth. He called Eltar his home."
"And he was supposed to be one of the Guardians of the Earth, even though he was an alien?"
"Yes. It is not that strange. Earth is very well known amongst a select few."
"I don't understand," Liara said. "The former...information broker I worked for had nothing in his files about this. Nothing about this technology, or Earth, or any of it. Why not? And why is Earth at the center of this? There are untold systems with untold new aliens. Why not there?"
"You're assuming that the Power doesn't exist there. Doctor, have you ever heard of Kerovia? Aquitar? Sirus? Inquiris? Even Eltar before I had mentioned it?" Dulcea asked.
"No," Liara said.
"They all had access to it at some point in their history."
"But if so, then why haven't we heard of them? From what you've said, they all had FTL capability."
"Yes. They had FTL capability at one time."
"But what happened?" Tali asked.
"A being named Master Vile, and later, the Machine Empire. But I must say no more, for we are here." Dulcea pointed to some stairs.
James's eyes widened, and he looked at Shepard eagerly. She gave him the Alliance hand signal for "scout ahead," and he took off, taking the worn stairs two and three at a time. "Whoa!" James said from in front of Shepard, looking out over the vista spread below him. "Lola, look at that!"
The view was indeed impressive, Shepard thought. They stood in the middle of an ancient promenade, surrounded by the ruins of what looked like a temple. Over the shattered stone bannisters of the balcony, she saw the vast continental forest described in the reports. At the center, closer than ever before, stood the monolith.
"By the Goddess!" breathed Liara.
"It is pretty," Shepard begrudged. She turned to Dulcea. "Now why have you brought us here?"
"You are unlike any Rangers that have come here before."
"James and I are Systems Alliance Navy, not Rangers. That's Army." Shepard said.
"No, Power Rangers," Dulcea said, face calm
"Power Rangers?" said Garrus. "That just sounds so...nonthreatening." His mandibles twitched. "And unhelpful."
"Not to mention kind of lame," James muttered.
Shepard just shook her head. "But what are they?"
Dulcea ignored them, continuing on. "Power Rangers are Elite soldiers that command the Power of the Morphing Grid."
"Which is?" Tali asked. "You've said that, but you haven't even come close to explaining what it really is."
"Tali's right," Shepard said. "And this Morphing Grid came about how?" Shepard asked.
"It just is. It is a source of life. Millenia ago, Zordon and a being known as Ninjor found it in their quest to forever defeat evil. It is in the background of every planet, every dimension. All you need is access."
"So you're here to what, give us access?" Garrus asked.
"No." Dulcea said. "I am here to help you gain as such. But there is something you must do for me first."
"Life is a negotiation," Shepard muttered.
"Indeed. Whoever told you that was wise."
"Mordin. He was a friend," Shepard said.
"A good one. I cannot leave the confines of the Ninjetti lands. This promenade marks the terminus of my travels." She gestured outward with a wide sweep of her hand. "Were I to head any closer to the Neola Jungle I would break the trans-dimensional warp the Ninjetti placed over me to guide those who came after, and I would age until I became as dust."
"Ah, so it's not just the Doc that looks good for her age," James said, smirking.
"James," Liara said, shooting him a look.
"What?" he asked.
"So get to the point," Shepard said.
"The Power here was used once before, before the flow of time shattered," Dulcea said. "Earth's guardians were destroyed before they could find an alternate power source to connect to the morphing grid. After they perished, a crystal was put into my safekeeping, but it unfortunately never made it to the temple. Until these past few weeks, Phaedos was safe enough. Now I cannot trust it will remain so."
"Let me guess: You want us to retrieve it for you," Shepard said.
"I do. In a show of good faith, the power you seek lies within the monolith. It will surely help you retrieve the crystal."
"You called us Rangers," Garrus pointed out. "We don't have this 'power' yet."
"I did," Dulcea inclined her head.
"But I don't understand," Liara said. "How can you go from fighting us to knowing we're these so-called 'Rangers?'"
"Until your Shepard spoke. I did not," Dulcea said, voice solemn. "Your spirits called to me." The sunset shone upon her tense form. As she spoke, the weight of years came to her eyes. "The past has shattered, the future remains unclear. I see but four paths leading to the ether. It does not bode well."
"Huh?" James said.
"Four sounds similar to death in some of the old earth languages," Shepard said. "I didn't realize it was a galactic constant. Like owls, apparently."
"Kufuros are not quite owls, but there is indeed much that binds us together."
"Our spirits 'called' to you?" Shepard asked.
"That is what I said."
"Is it some kind of Prothean thing, or...?"
"It is a talent of my people. Now look to the horizon," Dulcea intoned.
Shepard gazed out. The last sliver of the sun sunk below the mountains in the distance. The air stilled, and not a sound rose above her breathing. "Close your eyes," Dulcea commanded. Shepard did. The whoosh and crackle of a fire sounded in her ears.
"The end of day is a time of change, a time when the barriers of dark and light grow thin. You have all experienced much, but each battle has made you stronger. The galaxy needs that strength." Shepard jumped as the sound of wind chimes carried through the temple. She heard the sound of drums. "Apart, each of you is fearsome. Together, however, you are unstoppable. These bonds have forged the strongest weapon the galaxy has ever seen. Never before has the galaxy been so united in its effort against evil.
"But never has the threat been so dire. All of you hear the call within."
She felt a bright red light surge within her. The sound of a gong; Shepard growled. It reverberated through her body as her eyes flashed open. Her yellow irises burned as she gazed at the welcoming night with perfect eyesight. She looked down. Her armor gleamed a brighter red, but to the right she still saw her N7 designation. To her left, however-and it was hard to see from that angle-she saw what looked like the black stylized figure of a great spotted cat, claws out and teeth bared. "I don't think that's regulation," she muttered. A golden emblem of a catlike creature with long whiskers and a narrow, unearthly face adorned the snap that connected her hip plates to her central chest piece armor.
"Swift and Powerful. Shepard, you are the red leopard that stalks the steppes and forests of Mindoir."
The red leopard, so named after their superficial resemblance to the extinct earth animal. They had long legs and thick fur and angular faces and poisonous spines down their backs.
"Strong and Aggressive. James, you are the mighty tiger that prowls the last jungles of Earth."
His armor had changed as well to accommodate the white outline of a tiger, much like her leopard. It had darkened to a deep black. A matching golden emblem had appeared on his belt as well.
"Agile and Balanced. Liara, you are the graceful bak'sita that dwells in the boundaries of the air and seas of Thessia."
Shepard had seen those in galactic zoos. They were analogous to birds; their crests and the bright blue-white color of their feathers resembled the asari. They had bendy necks and long spindly legs. As with Shepard, one appeared in black wrapped around the left side of her armor. It looked like it carried over around her side and back as well. She too received an emblem.
"Cunning and Patient. Garrus, you are the proud shatha, fierce hunter of Palaven."
Shepard didn't know what that was. She'd heard it mentioned before. She couldn't remember where, though. From the outline on Garrus, it looked like a thickly armored serpent with with several sets of legs and far too many eyes and teeth.
"Versatile and Adaptable. Tali'Zorah, you are the indomitable Rayya that controls the skies of Rannoch."
Shepard recalled seeing something large in the distance while on Rannoch, but the figure on Tali's exosuit looked like an honest-to-God dragon.
"I thought they were just legends," Tali said quietly.
"They are not," Dulcea said. "Each of you has a spirit that calls to your planet. For some the connections are stronger than others," her eyes flicked to Tali, "But all will serve you well in this time of need."
"That's some kind of weird hoodoo," James said.
"It is merely a taste of what awaits at the monolith. Your animals will guide you and protect you as you make the journey, for your technology will not work beyond the temple. I will go and prepare. You should as well. This is not a journey made lightly."
"Magical paint jobs. Huh." Shepard lay down as James called first watch. "We best rest up before tomorrow."
"I don't know," Liara chewed at her lip. "Is this something we should take time doing?"
"I say why not?" Garrus called from his position leaned against a rock. "What do we have to lose?"
"Nothing really, and a lot to gain, if this alleged 'Power' is as powerful as she says it is. I mean, my eyes did something freaky. I can see in the dark even better now than after Cerberus. Anybody else have weird side effects?" Shepard asked.
"My fever's gone," Tali spoke up. "It's been a couple of weeks since the Geth first started running acclimatization programs in my suit. It's been low-grade, nothing that would affect work. I feel I could take my suit off. I feel...I don't know if strong is the right word."
"I'm craving a New York strip, rare," James scratched his stomach. "Anyone else?" He looked around the camp. "No, just me?" He shrugged. "I got the weird night vision too."
Garrus had his visor cradled in his talons and his eyes closed. "I can sorta sense where you are. Your body heat. Even without looking, or my visor. I can sense her, as well." He gestured off in the distance. "She's at least several dozen meters away."
Shepard turned her head. "Liara?"
Liara pursed her lips. "I am not sure. I do not feel any different."
"Well, get back to us on that. Rest up, people; we got a long way to go tomorrow."
Bit of a gap, but I wanted to see how Super Megaforce was going to go before I continued. Don't worry, this is just a bit of a buildup. Things start happening next chapter.