Chapter 4
A.N. I am going to explain some things brought up by Kevin, an anomalous reviewer.
1. Alliance's ineffectiveness against the Reapers.
As it is explained in the game, the Reapers can speed through the mass relays without having to leave forces behind to guard supply lines, because they don't have supply lines. So, they simply sped through full force straight to Earth, so the Alliance couldn't detect them until they were right on top of them, at which point it is too late to mount any real preparations.
2. The Alliance only took down one Reaper.
One? ONE!? I have described, in detail, SEVERAL Reapers biting the dust. I don't know what you were reading, Kevin, but if that's what you got out of it, it wasn't "And We Shall Overcome".
3. Why are the races of the galaxy still making fighters? They are useless against Reapers.
The Reapers have their own fighters, the Oculus drones. If the militaries stopped making fighters, than the Reaper Oculi would overwhelm the anti-fighter GAURDIAN lasers of the capital ships, and destroy them. Thus, the forces of the galaxy need fighters of their own. Also, it is said in the Codex that fighters can eventually wear down and kill a Reaper destroyer.
4. Why not make a class of ship specifically designed to fight Reapers?
Well…..
Shepard began marching toward the elevator, intending to get to one of the nearby consuls and try to contact Admiral Hackett to find out exactly what was going on. He didn't even notice anything else. Ashley was inspecting her assault rifle at a workbench nearby, while Tali was walking beside him, trying to get his attention, and failing.
Also coming up behind him was James Vega. "What the hell is going on," the lieutenant asked. "Where's Anderson? Where are we going?" When Shepard ignored him, he raised his voice and yelled, "HEY!"
Finally turning to him, John said simply, "We're leaving," before continuing on his way.
"Leaving," Vega spluttered, unable to believe what he just heard.
"Anderson wants us to go to the Citadel," Shepard explained, struggling to keep his frayed temper in check, "and get the other galactic militaries to help."
"Bullshit," James said. "He wouldn't order us to leave!"
"Well, he did," Tali spoke up. "I was there."
"We don't have a choice, Lieutenant," John cut in before James could reply to Tali. "Without help, this war is already over."
"Well you can forget it," James declared. "You can just drop me off someplace, 'cause I ain't leav-"
"ENOUGH!" Shepard's temper finally broke completely. "You think I LIKE this, James? Don't you think I'd rather stay and fight?" Turning back to the consul he had arrived at, he said, "We're going to the Citadel. If you want out, you can catch a ride back from there." Waving his arms in exasperation, James started marching away.
Half a second later, Joker called over the ship's intercom. "Commander, you there?"
"What's up, Joker," John asked.
"I've got an emergency call coming in for you. From Admiral Hackett."
How convenient.
"Patch it through, Joker," Shepard said immediately.
Looking down at the consul, John saw an image of Admiral Steven Hackett materialized on the screen, albeit with a heavy amount of static.
"Shepard," the Admiral said through the interference, "….sustained heavy losses. …Reaper force….overwhelming. There's no way to beat them just with what we have."
"Anderson has already ordered me to the Citadel to talk with the Council, Admiral," Shepard replied.
"First, I need….go to the Prothean Archives on Mars,….fore we lose control of the system."
Snapping a salute, Shepard said, "Yes, sir!"
Continuing, Hackett said, "….been researching the Archives…..Dr. T'Soni."
Liara? Shepard thought, confused. Liara T'Soni, an asari Prothean archeologist and extremely powerful biotic, was another member of his crew during his hunt for Saren three years ago, and had since taken over as the Shadow Broker, the galaxy's most powerful information broker. She was supposed to be at the Broker's hidden ship on Hagalaz. He didn't know why she would be on Mars.
"She may have….way to stop the Reapers," Hackett continued. "May be…ONLY way to stop them. …..in contact soon. Hackett out."
The video cut off.
"Joker," Shepard called into the air, knowing the helmsman was listening. "Set a course for the Mars archives."
"Mars," Joker asked, confused, though he immediately followed with, "Roger that." Immediately, one of the shuttles in the hanger began to move into launching position. John began walking up to the armor and weapon lockers.
"This is loco!" Vega whispered.
"Why Mars," Ashley asked. "What does he think we'll find there?"
"And why is Liara there," Tali inquired.
"I don't know," John said. "But if it helps us win this war, we need it." Lifting up the chest piece to a set of N7 marine armor, Shepard ordered, "Grab your gear."
oo-00-oo
Once the Normandy reached Mars, and the group had finally finished armoring and arming themselves, they climbed into the shuttle. James Vega took the controls as the ship's hanger opened; the shuttle flew out and began entering the Martian atmosphere.
"I've been trying to reach Mars on secure channels," Joker said over the radio. "No one's answering."
"Any sign of Reaper activity?" Shepard asked.
"Negative."
"EDI," Shepard inquired, referring to the Normandy's built in Artificial Intelligence.
"The base is still online," the female-voiced AI responded. "It is possible that the inhabitants were evacuated."
"We'll know soon enough," John declared. "Be ready for anything, Joker."
"Roger that," the helmsman acknowledged. "Normandy out."
After a few more minutes, James began slowing the shuttle down, eventually started hovering, and finally lowered the shuttle to the ground. The James, Ashley and John all put on sealed helmets to protect themselves from the thin, hostile atmosphere of Mars. Tali was already wearing a sealed environmental suit, due to quarians having extremely weak immune systems; if her people did not wear the suits at all times, they would easily develop massive illnesses and infections within hours.
"There's still no contact from the base," James explained as he finished sealing his heavy armor. "But we've got a massive storm headed our way."
"How long before it hits," John asked.
"Half an hour, tops. After that we're going to have trouble keeping up coms with the Normandy."
"Understood," Shepard said, as the shuttle doors opened and the group stepped out. Each of them pulled weapons from the magnetic clamps on their backs; Shepard, Vega, and Ashley all used assault rifles, while Tali wielded a shotgun.
Walking towards a ledge that led down to a path to the Alliance outpost, they spotted the sandstorm, which was several miles high, and extended as far as the eye could see in each direction. Bolts of red lightning flashed at regular intervals across the entire front.
"Damn," James cursed. "That's a HUGH storm!"
"Come on, Lieutenant," Ashley admonished. "For Mars, this isn't that bad."
"I'm afraid I'm with James on this one," Tali murmured.
"I'm more worried about the war back on Earth," Ashley shot back. "Or the fact that no one here is reporting in."
Continuing on ward, the group eventually reached ledge, and jumped down to the road below. Looking to the right, Shepard saw the body of an Alliance soldiers leaning against a nearby pile of crates.
"Over here," he said, pointing out the body. Running up to the corpse, Ashley began scanning it with her Omni-tool. Spotting a Mantis sniper rifle nearby, John picked it up, collapsed it, and stuck it onto another magnetic clamp on his back.
Her scan completed, Ashley stood up, turned to Shepard and said, "Alliance. Sergeant Reeves. It doesn't look like he put up a fight."
"Something is not right here," James commented.
"Just keep a low profile until we know what's going on," Shepard ordered.
The four continued along the trail towards the outpost. Halfway to a bend in the road, however, the unmistakable sound of a gunshot rang out. John immediately sprinted towards a large boulder. Taking cover behind the enormous rock, he peeked out to see what was going on. Upon seeing the scene before him, his eyes widened with shock.
There were two hostages on the ground before him. One was kneeling, his hands on his head. The other was lying on the ground, clearly the person who had just been shot. The two were surrounded by soldiers wearing heavy armor.
Armor with Cerberus logos painted on them.
The Cerberus trooper standing in front of the hostage inspected his weapon with what appeared to be a detached interest. Then, he pointed the weapon at the final hostage, and pulled the trigger. Blood and brains blasted out of the hostage's helmet, before he fell to the ground.
"Holy shit!" James hissed. "They're executing them!"
Thank you, Captain Obvious, John thought bitterly. Without a word, he pulled out a fragmentation grenade, primed it, and threw it into the center of the group.
The Cerberus troopers barely had time to flinch before the bomb exploded, wiping out the entire group.
Then, two more troopers ran out from behind a nearby vehicle, and began advancing toward their positions.
"Who's there," the lead soldier called. "We are taking control of this facility; drop your weapons and come out with your hands on your heads; you will not be harmed if you don't resist."
"Yeah, right," Shepard heard Tali mutter.
"Everybody pop out now, and show these jokers just what their dealing with," Shepard ordered.
"I said, come out now," the Cerberus trooper repeated. "I will not ask again."
John waited half a second, then rolled out next to a piece of deployable cover, and aimed his M-8 directly at the leading Cerberus soldier; Tali did the same with her shotgun, while Ashley and James pointed their weapons at the second trooper.
"Oh crap," the subordinate trooper deadpanned.
They all opened fire at the same time. Shepard poured eight rounds into the trooper's abdomen and lower chest before Tali finished him with a shotgun blast to the head and neck, sending the soldier sprawling on the ground. The second seemed to dance under the impact of Ashley's and James's combined assault; finally, he fell, his body riddled with no less than twenty bullets.
Moving forward, the four warriors searched the vehicles, confirming that there were no more soldiers lying in wait.
"Those guys were Cerberus, weren't they?" James asked.
"Sure looked like it," John replied.
"It's definitely them," Tali spoke up, scanning one of the trooper's helmets with her Omni-tool. "These soldiers' communicators are using encryption that is unique to Cerberus."
"What is Cerberus doing on Mars," Ashley asked.
"Good question," Shepard responded.
"You don't know?" Ashley asked, seemingly surprised by Shepard's ignorance.
"I'm not with them anymore Ashley; why would I know why they're here?" Shepard snapped, not a little angry at the barely veiled accusation.
"That wasn't what I was saying, John," Ashley said.
"It's Commander Shepard to you, Williams," John snarled. "And no, that was what you were saying. Move out!" he ordered before the Lieutenant-Commander could respond.
Walking past Tali as he marched toward the Alliance base, Shepard took a good look at the quarian's body language. Most found the quarians hard to read, due to the fact that every inch of them was covered by their suits and visors, but Shepard had months of practical experience to hone his already excellent character-judging skills; it was obvious to him that Tali's helmet was hiding the biggest smirk the quarian had ever worn.
Coming up to the end of the trail, Shepard saw several armored vehicles with Cerberus logos on them. Immediately taking cover, he came under fire from other Cerberus troopers. Calibrating his assault rifle to fire incendiary rounds, he opened fire at the enemy soldiers. A trio of rounds hit the lead trooper in the helmet, setting the man's head alight. Normally, in the near-nonexistent Martian atmosphere, the fire would have been snuffed immediately, but the severed tubes that supplied the trooper with air caused the fire to burn long and hot, cooking the man's head inside of the helmet.
Shepard ducked behind his cover just as two Cerberus troopers opened fire at him. Looking back, he saw Tali activate her Omni-tool and hit the soldiers with a blast of electricity. At first it seemed to do nothing, and the troopers redirected their aim to fire at the quarian. But when they pulled their triggers, the weapons' alarms went off; Tali had hacked the weapons' built in computer to trick them into thinking the weapons were overheating. Now defenseless, the soldiers were easy prey for Tali, who cut them down with two blasts from her shotgun.
Spotting another Cerberus soldier taking cover behind one of their vehicles, Shepard fired a concussive shell at the enemy. Upon hitting the trooper, it exploded with enough force send the soldier sprawling. He attempted to rise, but James came around the vehicle from the other side, placed his own shotgun against the trooper's helmet, and pulled the trigger.
While this happened, Shepard began heading toward the entrance, scanning for a new threat. As he passed a nearby vehicle, he caught something on his peripheral vision, and immediately swayed back.
A Cerberus soldier swung an electrified baton at him, barely missing. Expecting to hit his target, the soldier was thrown off balance when he missed completely, and his momentum sent him down on one knee. Activating his Omni-blade, John drove the diamond-hard, searing hot blade into the trooper's side. The Cerberus soldier shrieked in agony. Pulling the knife out of the man's body, Shepard lifted his arm over his head, and brought it down on the enemy soldier's neck, decapitating him. Deactivating the weapon, he rejoined the other three.
"It doesn't look like they came here in force," James commented.
"Yeah," John replied. "Just a few vehicles."
"Kinda suggests they had help," Ashley added. "From the inside."
Giving the woman what could only be described as 'a look', John snarled, "Seems likely," before turning towards the entrance to the base. Upon reaching it, he saw that it was a large elevator. Once all four of them were on board, he went up to the control consul, and began punching buttons to get the machinery to descend. Then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw Ashley approaching him.
"I need a straight answer, Shepard," the Lieutenant-Commander said without preamble.
John, now seriously pissed with his ex's blind belief that he was just chomping at the bit to stab them all in the back and rejoin the terrorists, punched the final command, sending the elevator down, before turning and saying bluntly, "It would help if you asked the question first, you know."
"Do you know anything about this?" she demanded. "What is Cerberus do-"
She was interrupted as Tali grabbed her by the shoulder, shoved her back, brought their faces less than an inch apart, and snarled, "Listen to me, you backstabbing, emotion-twisting, two-faced bosh'tet; if you insinuate that John is behind this one more time, I will stick me shotgun up your ass, and pull the trigger until it goes 'click'!"
Ashley backed up slightly, startled by the normally collected and calm quarian's ire. James whistled softly in the background.
Stepping forward, John placed a hand on Tali's shoulder. Looking her in the eyes, he communicated what he wanted with just a look. Making her understand is my battle, not yours. Nodding, Tali backed away.
Turning back to Ashley, he asked, "Why do you think I know what's going on?"
"You worked for them," she said, as though that was all that needed to be said. "How am I supposed to believe that you cut all ties?"
Crossing his arms, John snapped, "How about the firefight we JUST WENT THROUGH? How about that I that the Illusive Man sent me to retrieve data that proved they were experimenting on rachni, I sent it to the Alliance instead? How about the fact that when the Illusive Man ordered me to preserve the Collector Base, I told him to shove it? How about all of those things, huh?"
"They rebuilt you from scratch," Ashley insisted. "They gave you a ship, resources…"
Marching up to her, Shepard shouted, "LET ME BE ABSOLUTELY CLEAR, WILLIAMS; I HAVE HAD NO CONTACT WITH CERBERUS SINCE I DESTROYED THE COLLECTOR BASE! I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THEY ARE DOING HERE OR WHAT THEY WANT! AND I HAVE DONE NOTHING TO WARRANT SUCH DISTRUST AND PETTYNESS FROM YOU!"
"Commander Shepard has been under constant surveillance since he came back to Earth," James finally spoke up. "There's no way they've communicated since."
"And the firewalls the Alliance slapped on his terminals were so thick and advanced, even I couldn't get a message to him," Tali commented.
Turning back John, Ashley said, "Sorry, Shepard. It's just-"
She was cut off as the elevator finally came to a stop, and the room pressurized. Tapping their helmets, the human's breathing apparatuses flattened and shifted back into the main part of the helmet, leaving their faces open.
Looking the woman in the eye, John finished the conversation by saying, "Ashley, if you want to hate Cerberus, fine; they have more than earned your hatred. But I am DONE explaining myself to you." And with that he turned around and waited as the elevator lifted up a short way as the ceiling opened, revealing a spacious room, filled with crates and docking equipment. Walking out into the main area, he thought, Why I wasted my time and energy on this woman when my soul mate was mere feet away, I will never know.
"Shepard," Ashley began, but was cut off as a series of clanking sounds rang out above them. Immediately grabbing their weapons and diving into cover, the four began scanning the room for the source of the racket. It immediately became clear that the noise was emanating from the air ducts. Gunshots added to the clanging from the tubes, giving testament to a desperate chase through the ducts.
Suddenly, the grating at the end of one of the ducts was kicked off, and Liara T'Soni jumped from the duct, and down to the floor below. She immediately sprinted away from the tubing, from which two Cerberus troopers began clambering out. Suddenly, her hand began glowing with dark blue energy, which she flung at the soldiers.
A singularity, a miniature black hole, snapped into existence right between the Cerberus soldiers. While not large or powerful enough to suck the terrorist soldiers into it, it did yank them off their feet and begin spinning them around in the air, leaving them helpless. Breathing a sigh of relief, Liara pulled a handgun off of her hip, aimed at the soldiers traipsing through the air, and shot both of them in the chest, ending the singularity an instant latter. The two Cerberus soldiers fell to the floor, groaning and thrashing in pain. Walking toward them, Liara looked at them with a look of pure hatred and disgust. Then, she aimed her pistol at the trooper nearest to her, and shot him in the head twice to finish him off. She did the same for the second.
Seeing the situation was well in hand, Shepard collapsed and holstered his weapon, and stepped forward to great his old friend. James Vega however, who had never seen the asari before, approached with his assault rifle trained on her. Pushing the weapon down, John said, "Easy there, Lieutenant; she's with us."
Turning to the newcomers, Liara appeared relieved to see her old friends. "Shepard! Thank the goddess you're alive."
"Likewise, Liara," John replied.
"Shepard, I…" Liara paused, unsure of how to continue. "I'm sorry about Earth."
"Yeah," Ashley cut in. "It was difficult to leave."
"I'm sorry, Ashley," Liara said. Looking past the two of them, Liara said, "Good to see you too, Tali."
"Thank you, Liara," the quarian replied.
"Well," Liara said, now changing the subject, "I'm certainly glad you all came, but what are you doing here?"
"Hackett ordered us to," Shepard explained. "He said you may have found a way to defeat the Reapers."
"I have," Liara confirmed, walking toward a nearby window that overlooked the rest of the base.
"Hallelujah!" James exclaimed. "Some answers. Finally."
"I've discovered the blueprints for a Prothean warship," Liara revealed. "A warship of enormous size and power."
"Just how big and powerful are we talking about here, Liara?" Tali asked.
Looking at her with the most serious look Shepard had ever seen her wear, Liara said, "One of these vessels would be to the Reapers what Sovereign was to the Citadel fleets three years ago."
"Here on Mars?" Shepard couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"In the Prothean Archives, yes," Liara confirmed.
"We've known about the archives for decades," Shepard said. "Why come here now?"
"Process of elimination, mixed with a little desperation. When you destroyed the Alpha Relay, you delayed the Reapers several months. But after that you were under investigation. I knew I had to do something. Hackett knew too, so he asked me to use my Shadow Broker resources to find anything that would help give us an edge." Liara gestured to the Alliance base, and then continued. "My search brought me here. Hackett got me access to the Archives, and kept me updated on your status." She paused, looking rather guilty, before saying, "I meant to visit you, but…"
Shepard dismissed the statement with a wave of his hand, saying, "I was under house arrest, and you had important work to do. I understand. Now where are these blueprints you mentioned?"
"They're still in the Archives, just across that tramway," Liara explained, pointing to the transportation hub out the window. "That's assuming Cerberus hasn't locked it down yet."
"What do they want here?" Shepard asked.
"They want what I'm here for. What we're all here for," Liara explained.
"Of course," John cursed. "Anything as powerful as Liara is describing is something that the Illusive Man would never rest until he got his hands on it."
"So it's a race to the Archives, then," James crowed.
Then the room shook. Looking up at the second floor, Shepard saw sparks shooting out of the crack in the doorway thereupon; Cerberus was burning through the door. Pulling his M-8 into his hands, he called, "We have company."
"Finally," James whispered, arming himself at the same time.
Looking at the Lieutenant, Shepard said, "Not this time, James."
"What?" James blanched.
"Get back to the shuttle," John explained. "If Cerberus beats us to the Archives, I need you covering the exits."
"But…"
Another quake rocked the room.
"NOW, Lieutenant," Shepard ordered.
With a final look of disapproval, James stepped onto the elevator, and activated his breathing apparatus. At the same time, John hit a series of buttons on the control consul, sending the elevator back to the surface. Slowly, the elevator lowered back down to prepare to return to the entrance.
"Shepard!" John heard Tali call. "Cerberus is almost through the door! Get in cover, NOW!"
oo-00-oo
….that was my plan from the beginning.
Also, I have heard of Bioware's planned "extension" of the endings. While I am cautiously optimistic about the announcement, I believe that it will just not cut it; Mass Effect 3's endings are so abysmally bad, they really need to just scrap everything past Anderson's final words, maybe everything past Shepard getting hit by Harbinger's attack, and start from scratch.
Regardless of what happens, though, I will write this story until the end, because this is MY Mass Effect; I it will go where I wish it to go.