Mass Dragon Effect 1: Shadows of the Past
Chapter 4: Morning Signs
Disclaimer: I do not own Mass Effect or Dragon Age, great RPGs I worry yet hope Bioware will keep up with their storytelling.
Beta Reader: Albert
Last Update: 12/25/2018
Location: Exodus Cluster/Asgard System/CSS Normandy/Deck 3
Human Date: February 4, 2183
Nightmares, that is how Jane Shepard describes the sensation as dark images appeared in her mind. Images she could not make out clearly, though it was enough to sicken her and make her fearful even after all her years of fighting from one battle to the next. However, through all the carnage and phycological screams in her nightmares, Jane could hear a few words that were repeated over and over again. Words she could not make out or recall easily as the world bled away to a sterile medical room filled with blinking lights and holographic interfaces. Jane groaned as she recognized she was in the CSS Normandy's medical bay and she had finally awakened from her nightmare.
A fact someone else noticed as a woman yelled out, "Doctor, Doctor Chakwas, I think the Commander is waking up."
"No, she has woken up," Jane groaned as she rose up to the side of her bed with a throbbing headache that slowly dissipated as a friendly face showed up in her line of sight.
"You had us worried Sheppard. How are you felling Jane?" Dr. Karin Chakwas asked as she examined her with a medical version of an omni-tool.
"Minor headaches," Jane answered with a small smile. "Nothing too serious, how long was I out?"
"About six hours," Chakwas replied. "Something must have happened to the Beacon."
"It was my fault ma'am," said the newcomer as she came into the light to reveal that the woman was Ashley Williams, still wearing her armor filled with grime from the planet below. "When I got close to the Beacon, it activated and dragged me towards it. If I were not so clumsy, you wouldn't have had to save me."
Jane looked at the downtrodden lieutenant as she got out of her bed and put a hand on Ashley's shoulder, "You had no way of controlling it, Ash. It wasn't your fault."
Ashley looked into her superior's eye, and all the self-pity washed away as she straightens up to give a thankful smile while Dr. Chakwas took over the conversation again. "Physically you're fine, though I do worry about a concussion."
The doctor then walked over to a screen and had it display Jane's images as Jane took a closer look. All looked normal for someone in REM sleep, except for the part Dr. Chakwas had highlighted, "As you can see, there was an unusually high amount of beta waves, which is similar to someone entering the Fade if they were a powerful Magician or had to use the Dream Machine. However, since you're a psychic knight and you lacked a similar machine, I have to assume the Beacon downloaded information directly into your brain. Can you describe what you saw?"
Jane leaned back as she muttered out loud, "I'm not sure. I remember seeing death, destruction, but all of it is blurry. As if the images were out of focus and distorted. There were also words, but none of them made any sense to me, and I have difficulty recalling them."
"Hm… this needs to go into my report, and we may need to take more detailed scans," Chakwas muttered, as she took notes and deep scans. She was taking her last note when the door opened behind her as three figures stepped in. "Ah, Admiral Anderson, Captain Shepard, and Lieutenant Commander Velanna," the doctor acknowledged them as her armored guests stepped in.
They were guarding a very stem Anderson wearing not his uniform, but a vested uniform. Jane was curious why Anderson was wearing his armor but did not get a chance to ask, as the Admiral went straight to talk business with Dr. Chakwas, "How is our patient doing?"
"Besides the readings, I told you about, she is going to be fine. Though I am concerned about how the psychological effects from the visions downloaded into her mind will affect her," the doctor explained while John Shepard looked at his omni-tool.
"I understand your concerns. Please submit this to High Command and please don't discuss this with the rest of the crew. Wait until High Command decides if the information should be classified or not," John told the good doctor, who nodded in response as she was familiar with the routine.
"Will do Captain."
"Good, now can we speak to the Commander in private?" Anderson asked in a demanding tone that left no room for misunderstanding of his intent.
One Ashley recognized as an order as she saluted her superior officer, "We'll do sir. I will head to the hanger to prep for our guest."
"And I'll join her to make sure the awakening operation goes smoothly," Chakwas added before the two left, leaving the commanding officers alone.
It did not take long for John to let his stance slip a bit as he asked the million-credit question, "Are you alright Jane?"
"I'm fine John, just trying to make sense of everything," Jane told her brother as she walked around. "How bad is it on Eden Prime?"
"Pretty bad Jane, casualties were high. Over three million civilians were killed, along with two hundred thousand soldiers and three Geth Server Nodes were destroyed," Anderson told the Commander. "Combined with the loss of Eden Prime's entire defense fleet and the severe damage to the space station, Eden Prime's whole defense network is crippled. The Fifth Fleet is staying in orbit until High Command can send in a new defensive force and technicians to repair the defenses."
"The only good news is that it could have been worst if General Martock did not rally the troops in time. It was made only slightly better since our forces have a confirmed kill count of over a million and a half darkspawn and the destruction of a dozen darkspawn ships with an additional untold number of darkspawn," John pointed out.
"Still, too many died," Jane noted quietly before she asked the million-credit question. "How did they get past our RCF's system patrols?"
"CID and CNIS (Confederation Navy Investigation Service) are looking into it. According to CID, they found Salarian's STG bugs used by them and the Council's SPECTRES to spy on us. They sent a few computer viruses to gather our own intelligence before they disconnected them. Meanwhile, CNIS is running their own investigation in the heart of Council space and Eden Prime to see if they can find any more evidence of Saren's involvement."
"You mean to say it was the Council's own paranoia that led to this attack?" Jane asked in shock.
"Looks like it, sis," John stated with a shrug.
A shrug that caused Jane to groan as she switched subjects, "I take it that Ash-Lieutenant First Class Williams is going to be assigned to us."
"I've read her record and felt she would make a fine member of the ground team. Especially since she is an N6 like Lieutenant Alenko and an extraordinary marksman," John pointed to his sister.
"Ash is a good soldier, she deserves it," Jane stated with conviction as Anderson spoke up.
"Lieutenant Alenko, Trex, and Legion-VII seemed to agree with you when I asked their opinion of Lieutenant Williams. It is why I had her transferred to the First Battalion."
Jane nodded along as she turned to face her superiors to do what other soldiers often have done after a battle like the Battle for Eden Prime. Questioned the future, "So, what's next?"
"I won't lie to you, things are bad," Anderson admitted. "Nihlus is dead, the Beacon was destroyed, and we're about to bring them one of the possibly many pieces of evidence against Saren. Something the three Councilors on the Council will not be willing to readily admit, as they will actively deny that one of their elite is a traitor. I just have to hope the Ghosting Crystal of Nihlus along with any other evidence we gather will be enough. Combined with the darkspawn returning as an interstellar army and a galactic threat, this could get very bloody, very quickly. Especially since SPECTRE Saren hates the Confederation, and loathes humans."
"Is it really that bad?" Jane asked.
"Its worst then that Jane," Anderson sighed. "A lot of aliens outside of the Confederation think our mutually built government that includes the Krogans, Quarians, and Geth is really just us building an army to take over the galaxy. Most won't do anything about it, but Saren is an extremist. He sabotaged a joint mission and caused a massive amount of casualties in an attempt to discredit me."
"Why?" Jane asked in horror as Anderson sighed.
"He has personal reasons to hate us, and we have reasons to hate his family. His father was the leader that led the Turian fleet we destroyed over Shaanxi during the Human Turian War. His brother, who officially had been declared missing in action, had actually committed suicide after our forces found him committing espionage within our territory without the consent of the Council or the Turians. This attack must be personal."
"Maybe not," John stated as he stretched his neck. "If it were personal, he would have used that giant warship on the planet. We recovered black boxes that indicated it destroyed the defense force and damaged the space station in orbit with one shot. The warship could have destroyed the colony from orbit without revealing the darkspawn or that Saren was their leader. No, he was after the Beacon, which means he knew something valuable was in it."
Anderson nodded in acceptance, "I feared that was the case." The Rear Admiral then turned to Jane to ask his question, "The doctor suggested that the Beacon downloaded something in your mind. Can you remember anything you saw?"
"I'm not sure how I can describe it," Jane admitted. "It was blurry, but I could make out explosions, death, and destruction. I don't know who exactly their victims were, but I think their killers were machines."
"This needs to be reported to High Command, the President and to the Council," Anderson told his officers.
"And tell them what, that the Commander had dreams of death after being put through hell?" John asked when Velanna stepped up for the first time.
"We may be able to show the Council and our superiors what the Beacon downloaded into Jane and maybe even focus the images for the Commander."
"How Lieutenant Commander?" John asked.
"Through the Dream Machine we have in the back," Velanna suggested. "I can enter through the Fade through mediation and assist Jane with my demon to access what the Beacon had put into Jane's mind while the device records it."
Jane nodded in acceptance, "It could work, though I've never been to the Fade. Never had to deal with demons either thanks to the implant I got at a young age." Jane then cracked a smile as she added, "If I didn't have to worry about the prospects of viewing those dark thoughts with clarity, I would be jumping in excitement."
"Hm," Rear Admiral stated, as he thought it over. Scratching his chin until he came to a decision, "Alright, Velanna, help Jane in recovering those visions the Beacon gave her. If it looks like it will be too dangerous, discontinue it. I consider her a lot more important than whatever the Beacon downloaded into her head."
"You got it, Anderson," Jane nodded with a bright smile as Anderson nodded in acceptance.
"Very good, Cortona will keep watch over you as Chakwas is going to have to handle our new guests," Anderson told the Commander, who looked back with confusion.
"What guests?" Jane asked in confusion.
"Some people that seemed to be in the wrong place at the wrong time," John told his sister before the Captain and Admiral left the two Commanders to their own devices.
Location: Exodus Cluster/Asgard System/CSS Normandy/Deck 5: Hanger Bay
Human Date: February 4, 2183
At the bottom of the ship, a large number of the crew were preparing for the worst as they stood around six pods John had picked up from Eden Prime. The entire ground team was there with additional security forces in position led by the one who felt she had the most to prove. Ashley Williams, the newest recruit to First Battalion who felt like she had a lot to prove, especially after watching her whole team die on Eden Prime. Therefore, she quickly took advantage of the weapons offered to her by switching her semi-automatic M-96 Matlock assault rifle for what many called an assault/sniper rifle hybrid, the M-99 Saber. A more extended, heavier version of the M-96 Matlock that had a lower fire rate over its higher ranger and power. The perfect weapon for a marksman as she readied herself for battle while her fellow human lieutenant tried to calm her down.
"Hold your horses Lt," Kaidan said as he tried to sooth Ashley's mind. "We don't know if they are going to be hostile yet."
Ashley responded with a glare, "That may be so, but we can't afford to be caught exposed again like… like E-Eden Prime. I would rather be safe than sorry that we didn't stop a hostile from killing someone else because we were too lax."
Kaidan frowned, but accepted her caution as he got into position as well while Adams worked over a computer console hot-wired into the device as his former engineer assistant, Tali, helped in making the connections. Confident the pods were now compatible with Confederation's technology, he developed a small smile as he watched the Admiral and Captain walk towards him.
"Captain Sheppard, Admiral Anderson, the pods are stable and ready to be opened any time we wish. However, I recommend waking them up one at a time to be safe. It also gives you time to access the pod's databank information… which includes personal information on the subjects listed by name." Tali reported.
"How?" John asked.
"I think the pods are equipped with neural implants that interprets the subject's minds over several weeks. I'm uploading the files now," Lieutenant Commander Greg Adams reported as Sarah employed a specialized omni-tool used by communication officers to help in translations.
"With this information, I can align the communicator's translator program to their language. As soon as they wake up, we'll be able to communicate with them through our omni-tools."
"Good, then let's not waste any more time," John stated, as the ship's doctor looked ready to protest.
"Captain, I still recommend against waking them up now!" Dr. Chakwas stated as she performed another neural scan. "In fact, I suggest we wait until we come to a proper hospital before trying."
"Would it be dangerous for us to wake them up this early?" John asked as he looked at the sleeping human, elves and qunari.
"They'll probably be fine. A bit dehydrated but physical fine," Dr. Chakwas admitted. "However, if something goes wrong, we may not have the facilities to save them, even if we're a few hours travel to one that is not overflowing with patients."
"Understood Doctor, but we can't afford to wait," John stated as he studied the six subjects. "High Command said we have two hours to gather any more information on the subject before we are forced to go to the heart of Council Space, the Citadel. And this is one piece of information we can't afford to miss out on."
"I agree with the young Captain," stated Supreme Commander Urdnot, Wrex. "These pyjaks are from the darkspawn's homeworld and were captured by Saren. If we are lucky, then they heard his entire plan, and it will make my trip to the Citadel worth my time. So, the risks out weight the potential troubles we'll face."
"Wake them up now! We can't afford to let them sleep a minute longer!" John ordered the doctor, who looked at Anderson for confirmation.
One Anderson gave as he supported the new Captain of the CSS Normandy, "It's the Captain's choice and his first command of this ship, for better or worst. I hope you're willing to take on the risk of such decisions," Anderson stated and questioned, as he looked right at a confident John.
"I am," John stated with conviction.
"Very well Captain Shepard. We're beginning the awakening sequence, ETA five minutes," Chief Engineer Adams reported.
Tali nodded in agreement, as she nervously monitored the connections while John looked on, just as his sister was working on changing the galaxy, as they knew it.
Location: Exodus Cluster/Asgard System/CSS Normandy/Deck 3: Medical Bay
Human Date: February 4, 2083
In the back of the medical bay onboard of the CSS Normandy is a small room designed to hold medical supplies and a special chair. A comfortable inclined chair that was connected to a wired helmet that seemed to glow green when used. It was device illegal for most citizens of the galaxy and one a few buys. It is useful for non-implanted mages to dream, research, a general search engine for the military, and to help recover memories. It is a device designed to enter into the mysterious dream world known as the Fade.
"So, this is the Simulated Fade Sleep Machine, aka the Dream Machine?" Jane asked with a raised eyebrow. "It looks like something a nerd put together for a science fiction convention."
"I guess… I haven't noticed," Velanna mumbled.
"I have, and I thought it adds to the quirks found in the world of geeks and nerds," Cortona stated from her holographic interface. "Are you ready to step into my parlor?"
Jane sighed as she lay back on the inclined chair as she put on her helmet while Velanna sat Indian style as she spoke quietly to Jane, "The device will pull you into the Fade where my demon and I will be waiting to guide you. That is if it's all right with you?"
"It is, thanks to you," Jane stated with a small smile.
"See you on the other side," Velanna smiled before she closed her eyes, and with a swirl of black and white magic, as they entered the Fade.
Seeing her friend making the trip, Jane followed. She closed her eyes, as instructed by Cortona before she pulled a switch. A green light began to swirl around her as she was drawn to her mind. She went deeper and deeper into her subconscious, pulling up faint memories and dreams. That was until Jane finally emerged into the floating, distorted world of green, brown, and black. For the first time in her life, Jane was in the Fade, and she looked around in wonder.
It was a world of constant movement as land masses floated as far as the eye could see. It was a world without the optical illusions of a static world instead of a world continually moving. It was a world that seemed apparent, and yet it was more unreal than a world filled with illusion. It was a fantasy world that seemed to be within her reach as she watched the world ripple through her movements.
She felt she could do anything with just a thought as she voiced out loud, "This is so cool."
"Oh, you haven't seen anything of the Fade yet," answered a beautiful voice that echoed across the green void.
Jane whirled around to see Velanna being held in a seductive embrace by a beautiful creature tethered to her. A tall, curvy creature that Jane recognized from reports she read about Velanna. A creature that wore the elf's face had purplish-white skin, long curved horns, and was almost completely bare skinned.
"So, you're the desire demon, Angle?" Jane asked as the demon chuckled in response.
"Yes, I am the desire demon attached to cute little Velanna to see what it means to be mortal. And I must say, it would be more exciting if she just let out more than she does," the demon said she tried to loosen the girl's clothing with no luck as Velanna kept pushing the demon's hands away.
"Could you please stop that, it's embarrassing," Velanna stammered out with a blush as radiant as the sun.
Angle pouted as she let go of Velanna, "As you desire." Angle then flew up and around Jane, as she sang out, "Now that you are here, shall we head out or do you have a question to ask us? Like how often my host is getting it on with her Captain, among other things," Angle suggested much to Velanna's embarrassment and anger she tried to contain to keep her emotions from exploding like a volcano. And one that Janae wanted to avoid.
"Um… I don't want to hear how much action my brother gets. Though I am curious about the name," Jane stated with a tilt of her head.
"Very well, my name is Angle for I like being ironic, if nothing else," Angle stated acrostically as she took note of an angry Velanna. Not wanting to cause her host to be too angry with her, she had quickly stated, "So, shall we head out to see what the Beacon put in your head, or just float here for a while."
"Yes, let's go," Velanna strained as she slowly let out her anger.
"Alright," Jane said with an unsure tone. "What do I do?"
"Nothing," the two beings tethered together replied as they moved to either side of Jane. "Just let us take you in the flow."
Jane nodded in acceptance as she let the two take her down memory lane, seeing glimpses of her past. From parts that she loved, like the first time she saw a planet from the space. To parts that hurt her, like the day her mother told her that her father died trying to save the outer colony world named Mindoir. Velanna gave a squeeze of reassurance when they finally met the memories alien to her. It was the memories that the Beacon had put into her mind, and it was a jumbled mess.
The desire demon, Angle moved close to the mess to give some words of wisdom, "Their memories are incomplete, corrupted like fragmented data. You may not be able to see everything, and since they are alien, you may not understand most of it, but I'll try to clear it up as much as I can."
"Do it, I need to understand," Jane told the demon, who nodded in acceptance with Velanna.
The paired souls soon got to work as the images began to become defragmented in her mind, to Velanna's horror and Angle's fascination. Not that it mattered to Jane as she was memorized by the results. She did not even hear Cortona report that she was recording her memories. All she could think was the images of death played before her as it quickly became evident that the jumbled images were worlds being destroyed.
Through the corrupted fragments, she saw many different types of worlds, cities and even ships destroyed by things crowded in shadows. She saw synthetics and organic beings massacred by horrific monsters. All the while, planets' names were displayed as they watched the destruction. The victims were called 'Protheans,' and the destroyers were called 'Reapers.' The scene repeated over and over until finally, she reached a planet so fragmented she could not tell what it was. But the word 'Conduit' came through before the squid-like ship similar to Saren's ship appeared in front of her, forcing the three to jump back in shock as the image faded into her memory.
The desire demon Angle was the first to regain her bearing as she stated, "Well, that certainly got my heart beating. I think we just saw an empire fall to a galactic scale massacre."
"I… I have to agree," Velanna stammered in shock.
"And that ship on Eden Prime is somehow tied to this Conduit and whatever these Reapers are," Jane said with a headache.
"But what does it all mean?" Velanna asked her commander. "And how do they all fit together?"
"I don't know. I am not an expert on extinct empires. Regardless, this needs to be reported to High Command… We need to stop it from happening," Jane blurted out as though it was forced on her.
"Then let us awaken," Velanna stated before she turned to Angel. "Thank you for the aid and service."
"Think nothing of it, my child, as I'm here to serve," the demon smiled before she faded out of view, leaving the two 'mortals' alone, which Velanna wasted no time.
She turned to Jane, speaking an incantation as the Fade swirled around her. The world spun around her as she approached the realm of reality. It would not be long before she opened her eyes into the blinding lights of the waking world. Without a moment to waste, she pushed off her helmet as Velanna opened her eyes. The elven woman rose from the ground as Jane jumped out of the chair, ready to face the world.
"Tell me you've got everything Cortona?" Jane asked as she landed on her feet.
"Yes, I did. It's recorded into the databanks, ready to be accessed and downloaded by your command," Cortona reported to her superior, who nodded.
"Save it for now. We'll show it to our superiors later once we get a complete picture of everything."
Cortona was about to acknowledge when Eliza's frantic voice reported over the comms, "All hands, security alert. Captain John Sheppard was attacked by one of the aliens in stasis. Assume he is hostile. All crewmembers are ordered to stay at their post while security forces converge into the hanger bay to subdue the alien. Repeat..."
Jane did not need a moment to curse as she went to a personal locker for weaponry. She quickly found her weapons and armor and picked up her two melee weapons and her M-77 Paladin Pistol, the only items she could equip herself with at a moment's notice. With her weapons secured on her person, she turned to Velanna to state, "Let's get to the hanger and lend a helping hand. We can't have your boyfriend have all the fun."
"Aye Commander," the woman saluted before the two rushed off to the hanger bay to a situation that resolved itself a few minutes earlier.
Location: Exodus Cluster/Asgard System/CSS Normandy/Deck 5: Hanger Bay
Human Date: February 4, 2183
It took over twenty minutes to wake five of the ships new 'guests.' Starting with one Leliana, a redheaded, pale-eyed beauty in priestly robes. She was, in fact, a human that was an initiate to the priesthood of a monolithic god similar to Earth's Christianity. She was also one quite skilled with a silver tongue as she helped others have better wake up experience then she had.
Recall: Exodus Cluster/Asgard System/CSS Normandy/Deck 5: Hanger Bay
Human Date: February 4, 2183
Darkness, oh how it brings dread was what Leliana thought as she remembered how it came to be. She was with a large group of templars (mage hunters), priestess and initiates like her who represented the Chantry. A religion focused on the one true God, the Maker. Her group's purpose was to meet with a nomadic clan of elves known as the Dalish Elves to form a sort of alliance due to the increased threat of the darkspawn over the last thirty years. All the while looking for ways to convert them from their Polynomial gods, the Creators, to the Maker and to deal with what Leliana would quote from the Revered Mother part of the mission, 'Heretics.'
Therefore, they were meeting with the representatives of the Dalish Elves, and she was striking up a conversation with one of the mages, a bubbling black-haired girl named Merrill. She found the pale-eyed girl with hair braided into several different strands to be a joy. The girl's naïve wonder was refreshing to Leliana. However, that naivety came crashing down when the earth shook and opened up for the darkspawn. They were running away from something, but from what did not matter at the moment as they attacked them anyway. With her trusted bow, she fought back with the Dalish warriors and templars.
They were winning, until they met a threat in the form of a swarm of insects that covered them, freezing them into a world of darkness. She could not see the hands as cold as their souls as they lifted her up. She could not even squirm as she heard growling, a predatory voice state, "These subjects will make proper test subjects. Take them away for storage; the darkspawn will need them for my army."
That was the last thing Leliana heard before she was put into something like an organic cocoon, entrapping her within something fluid. All she remembered were soulless yellow eyes as she entered into a world without dreams, light or darkness. A world of nothingness that Leliana could not forget as her eyes fluttered open to an entirely new, alien world.
It was a world of metal and lights so strange they seemed more magical than magic. She felt her heartbeat bounce off the scale as an older woman with silver hair and clothing made of finer material than most nobles had come into view. She spoke comforting words as she calmed her distressed patient, "Hello, my name is Doctor Chakwas, a healer if you will, and you're aboard the CSS Normandy. May I have your name?"
The woman, unsure if this 'Doctor' could be trusted, threw caution to the wind as she answered the older woman, "I'm Leliana, a Lay Sister of the Chantry," as she tried to raise herself out of the pod.
Only to feel sick as Chakwas helped her up, "Take it slowly, you've been in cryostasis for several months and…"
"Cryo what?" Leliana asked, confused by this 'Doctor's' term.
"It means the pod put you in a deep sleep for a long time," Dr. Chakwas explained to her patient as another voice advised caution.
"Doctor, I suggest you step back. We have no idea how people so primitive will react to what most would call the modern times."
Feeling insulted, Leliana looked up to see who called her primitive to get the shock of her life as she pointed at the crew with a shaking hand, starring at the geth, krogans and the single quarian. "Where am I? What is this place?"
"You're aboard the CSS Normandy, a Confederation Alliance of Worlds warship," spoke a man that approached her. "I'm Captain John Sheppard, commander of this ship with Rear Admiral Anderson."
"A ship? A ship from where? The Fade?" Leliana asked in shock.
"The Fade?" Anderson asked with interest while Leliana babbled on.
"How else can you explain a ship made of more metal than the whole battalion of Chivalry from Orlesian? Along with blinking, magical lights, walking, talking mechanical golems, and beast that would make the qunari look tiny."
"Ha-ha-ha," laughed one of the krogans she later would find out was the leader of the Krogans: Urdnot, Wrex. "Glad to see we are still the biggest badass in the galaxy!"
Leliana could not take much more as she slumped, "I think I need to lie down."
"None of that," Dr. Chakwas advised as she helped the woman up. "After being… asleep for so long, your body needs time to adjust itself. Besides, I may need your help in calming down the others."
"Others?" Leliana asked she turned to the other pods to see five more, including one with a small, petite elf with black hair tied into a braid.
"Merrill!" Leliana called out as she rushed towards the pod with a burst of speed that she did not know she could produce. It did not take her long to reach the sleeping woman. Concerned, Leliana turned to the crew to ask, "What did you do to her?"
"Nothing, she and the others were put into a cryosleep," Dr. Chakwas explained.
Leliana then looked at the other pods, trying to see if she recognized any of them and found none were familiar, "Is this all of us."
"No," replied the mechanical being she later knows as Legion-VII. "There are ninety-three more units on the Primary Colony World known as Eden Prime. An additional nine hundred units were killed before allied units shot down the ship at Eden Prime world."
Leliana looked down sadly, thinking of the people who had died when she picked up what Legion-VII said, "World? Do you mean I am not on Thedas?"
"Thedas! Ha, so that's where you from, good to know where we are going darkspawn hunting!" laughed the second krogan, Trex while Chakwas took over.
"Technical you're between worlds right now, but in a sense, your right," Chakwas told the young woman.
"Why am I here?" Leliana had asked as she tried desperately to wrap her mind around the subject.
"We need information," John stated bluntly. "We need to know who took you and who helped Saren rise an army of darkspawn that just recently attacked Eden Prime. Finding your world and eliminating the darkspawn would be at this point, the icing on the cake."
"Darkspawn is here on other worlds, and someone is controlling them, but how?" Leliana asked a tall man she thought was from the Ander Fields named Anderson came to speak in a deep tone filled with wisdom.
"Let's just say that we live in a world with such advanced technology, it seems like magic, and someone is using it to control them," Anderson attempted to explain to the lost woman. "I know, this is a lot to take in, but we need your help to stop a madman from killing any more of our people."
Leliana bit her lip as she looked at the people in the pods, trying to decide what to do before she nodded in agreement, "Okay, I'll help you wake them up, but I recommend you wake the qunari last. I've… never met one but I heard their people are like an avalanche, and one it took four Exalted Marches to beat back in their war of conquest."
"Are my people that violent?" asked the single qunari female, Sarah, who Leliana just noticed.
"You have a qunari serving on your ship? How?" Leliana asked in shock.
"Let's just saw the Confederation is very accepting of members of our multi-species alliance," John explained to the young woman. "Now let's wake your friends so we can explain everything all at once," John ordered as Chakwas went to Merrill to begin the process.
She activated her glowing omni-tool, shocking Leliana further as she asked, "Are you a mage."
Chakwas just smiled, as she stated, "No, I was not born with any special abilities."
"Then how are you…?" Leliana tailed off as Chakwas gave her a simple answer.
"Let us just say some tools will be explained later. Now let's wake up your friends."
End Recall
Merrill was the first to awake, and the others followed similar reactions to Leliana, though a bit calmer thanks to her and later Merrill. The first to awaken following Merrill was a human with the dwarf gene, named Varric. A surface dwarf merchant who had light, auburn hair, burly chest left open from his brown jacket and an unshaven face without a beard. He wore a golden earring and coat that screamed classy storyteller, unlike the next person that awakened that appeared to be a rebel. Anders was a tall mage that was all too happy to appease his host when they revealed they did not know what a 'Templar' was. The rebel with a short, light brown slick ponytail revels in their acceptance of him, as the smirk appeared on his thin, unshaven square chin. A smirk that was not nearly as smug as an elf with a messy, dirty blond-haired elf named Zevran. An elf Leliana recognized as an assassin for a planet's organization called the Crows, due to his tattoos. The tattoo man was handled with great caution as they moved onto their final guest, the qunari that databanks said his name was Sten.
"Alright, Doctor, I want you to stay back for now, in case the subject is as dangerous as our guest indicated," John advised the doctor, who scolded but obeyed his orders all the same as she stepped away from the pod as it activated.
"Trust me, my friend, a qunari is as dangerous as they are tall," the elf, Zevran stated as he eyed the room, especially the young, female qunari.
"We'll see," John ordered as Tali reported the pod was beginning to open up.
With a loud swoosh, the front of the cocoon opened like a self-moving puzzle, showing the giant within. The man named Sten was a tall man with long, white braided hair with a stern face even as he slept. He was a powerful man with one noticeable feature that he lacked compared to other known qunari, horns. Something Sarah noticed as she studied every ounce the first male qunari she had ever seen. She found her face warming up as John came in close, followed closely by Legion-VII and Trex. All the while, Ashley watched over the other guests with her new gun with her biotic friend, Kaidan.
They waited for the sound of a hiss as the qunari slowly opened his eyes; taking in the world around him as he slowly rose up. He continued to examine the room until John stepped into view, ready to fight at a moment's notice. The purple-eyed qunari examined John, as he growled, "Where am I human?"
"You are aboard my ship, the Normandy, on which you currently are a guest after we rescued you," John told the qunari as he rose up to his feet. This beast of a man did not seem to feel the effects of being in cryosleep for months.
John recognized the strong man as the qunari looked to his side and noticed something was missing, "Where is my sword?"
"We took it away from you as it is standard procedure when we are conducting first contact with unknown factions," John told the qunari, who looked enraged.
"Return my sword, now!" the qunari growled at John, trying to intimidate him.
John was about to refuse the man when Leliana spoke up behind him, "Please give it to him. From the books I read, qunari warriors consider their sword as a part of their soul. To be without it, well, their life is considered forfeit."
John looked at Leliana before he turned toward a container that held their 'guest's' weapons. All of them were tagged and ready to be returned if they proved to be non-hostile, or in this case, for peace. John picked up the sword to hand the sword back to the qunari who immediately calmed him down. That was until John quietly commented, "It's not like it's much of a threat with something so primitive."
Leliana could not express her horror in time as the statement sent Sten in a berserker mood as he raised his sword high to strike at John. John only had a brief warning before he raised his arm in defense. Sten expected to cleaved the man's arm in half, but that was not so. Instead, he was shocked to see a blue shield protect John for a few seconds before its collapse. Giving the soldier sufficient time to provide the pod groups' second surprise as John fired off a biotic push to send Sten stumbling back. He stared at the human; not paying attention to the 'magical' voice as it reported he had attacked the human.
"So, you are a mage?" Sten asked the human.
"No, I am not," John stated as his two trusted men, Legion-VII and Trex stood next to him, their weapons ready to fight a qunari whose rage began to boil.
"Don't lie to me!" Sten yelled as he rushed towards John with his sword raised high, only to feel that it was blown out of his hands by a loud bang.
With great shock, Sten turned to see the second giant creature, Wrex, who had blasted his sword away with his shotgun. Sten glared at the scared krogan as he stated, "Oh, you got fire in your heart, I'll give you that. But I am also disappointed that you don't seem to realize how much shit you're in right now."
Sten looked at the krogan, then back to the three soldiers in front of him, as he soaked in the images with great focus. He looked past the second krogan to examine the humans that surrounded him and the machine (geth) with a glowing right arm. Magic or what the qunari had perceived as magic unnerved him, for he was always taught magic is evil. And such thinking was forcing him to decide whether he should fight to the death or not. He did not realize that if John and Legion-VII could not stun him, he would be blown away before he made a step. All the while, the others from Thedas looked at each other nervously.
"This is not going to end well. With the all the magic these people fling\ around, I don't think our tall friend is going to surrender without a fight," commented the elf, Zevran as he mentally absorbs everything in the room, including the guards that moved closer towards them.
As opposed to the tall blond man Anders who stated, "That was no magic."
"Are you sure blondie, it seems like the entire room is very 'magical,'" commented the dwarf, Varric.
"Yes," Anders answered with a twitched in his eye. "I can sense magic, but it's not in this room. Whatever this is, it is not magic."
"Maybe it's beyond magic, like how pretty-pretty butterflies are beyond those wormy caterpillars," Merrill pointed as she spoke in a wildish accent.
"It is beyond something, but according to the healer, it is something explainable. She said this is all advanced technology from an advanced society," Leliana pointed as she looked at Chakwas being held back by the ship's security.
"Well regardless how advanced they think they are. They're going have to put the qunari down unless something drastic happens," Zevran commented when something drastic walked pass him.
No longer willing on just stand on the sidelines, Operations Chief Sarah Sinclair made a choice as she moved to confront Sten. She hoped to establish a peaceful dialogue, which was only possible by getting close to the qunari. She did not get far when Kaidan noticed her and moved to intercept, "Whoa Sarah, don't get any closer. We don't need you to get close enough to become a hostage for him to use."
"But sir, I think I can talk him down," Sarah explained to Kaidan as his fellow lieutenant spoke up.
"Not worth the risk of putting our communication specialist in harm's way," Ashley Williams pointed out.
"I disagree, ma'am," Sarah stated. "We know nothing about my people. All of us taken in by the CAW were too young to remember. He could provide valuable information about my race and maybe help calm the others we left on Eden Prime down when we wake them. It's worth the risk."
Kaidan nodded in agreement, as he turned to Ashley to state, "She has a point."
Ashley sighed in acceptance as she stated, "Fine, but if he so much as takes a hostile step towards you, I will put three bullets into his chest. I am not about to lose another soldier. Understood?"
"Yes ma'am," Sarah saluted as she approached Sten's line of sight.
Meanwhile, the qunari was still weighing his option when he heard movement coming towards him with a steady step. Curious, he turned to see his surprise, a female qunari walking towards him. Sten stared at the woman as he heard another voice yell out, "Operation Chief Sinclair, what are you doing?"
"I am hoping to end this without any bloodshed Admiral. Please give me a chance?" Sarah pleaded with Anderson as he stood, pointed his M96 Mattock at Sten.
The Admiral sighed as he stated, "Okay and good luck."
Sarah nodded as she faced the qunari who stated, "Who are you and why are you with these humans and creatures around me? Are you Tal-Vashoth?"
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Sarah told the warrior who looked disturbed.
"How do you not know the Tal-Vashoth? All qunari across Thedas should know what a Tal-Vashoth is," Sten practically yelled at Sarah, who looked as steady as a rock due to her training.
"Because I was raised by humans and we are very far from your homeworld. In fact, we are in the space between worlds right now," Sarah told the man who raised an eyebrow.
"Explain," Sten demanded as Sarah looked for a thoughtful answer.
"As I learned at a young age, seeing is believing. And I think there is only one way to explain it is to show you," Sarah sighed as she turned towards her commanders. "Sir, can we show them what it means to be a galactic civilization?"
The Admiral and Captain looked at each other; trying to decide whose decision, it was when Anderson gave a nod of encouragement to John to make the right choice. John did not disappoint, "Eliza, erect a barrier between the hanger door, and open the door. Joker, back us up and get a good view of the planet below us."
"You got it, sir," Joker acknowledged over the comm.
And Eliza followed up with, "On it, Captain," before she worked her magic.
It was that moment Sten would reevaluate his whole view of the universe when he heard the sound of moving metal behind. He turned to see that the hanger door behind him and open to reveal the galaxy to him and the citizens of Thedas. For his very eyes a content of Eden Prime three thousand kilometers away from the planet. His eyes never wavered from the green world as he asked a straightforward question, "What is this?"
"That is Eden Prime, a colony world for the Human Systems Alliance and the Krogan Clan Alliance, both members of the Confederation Alliance of Worlds," Sarah explained to the disturbed. "The planet is one of the hundreds of planets we control, with a population of over three hundred million humans and five hundred million krogans. And this is not even the most populated planet found in Confederation Space."
A fact that was embedded into the qunari's head as he stared at the rotating world before him. A world that was getting smaller as the foreign human, Anders gasped, "We're moving away from the planet."
"Yes, we are," Kaidan had told their guest with a smile bringing the others out of their thoughts as the elevators behind them opened to allow Jane, Velanna and a squad of soldiers behind them. They were ready to fight as Sarah closed the gap between her and Sten.
"We're not your enemy Sten, and if you help us, we can help you, but first you have to trust us," Sarah begged the man who looked at the younger qunari before he put his greatsword up.
"I will comply, but don't think I will trust people using such magic willing," Sten stated as he crossed his arms.
"This isn't magic, or your understanding of such things, for the only mages in our group is my sister and my second in command, Velanna," John stated as he pointed to Jane and Velanna. The latter gives a big cheesy grin and smile while the other gave a nervous wave as some of the elves in the Thedas's group stared in shock.
"Then how are you able to do all this?" Sten asked in shock.
"Very advanced technology," Sarah answered for her Captain.
Sten looked up confused as he started, "Explain?" and Anderson was the one to provide the qunari the answer.
"Think about it this way. Say, if you journeyed back in time to see your ancestors at a time before they had even developed a tool. Then ponder what they would think of a man with armor that protects him from most blows, a bow, and arrow that can kill targets beyond their reach, and a sword stronger than the improvised weapon they could find in the woods. They would think you used magic, just as you thought we did."
Sten raised an eyebrow to the Admiral as he asked, "How is this possible?"
"We can do more than that!" Jane yelled as directed the soldiers to leave. "Come to the Mess Hall, and we'll give you the basics of the twenty-second century."
Location: Exodus Cluster/Asgard System/CSS Normandy/Deck 3
Human Date: February 5, 2183
In the center of the ship's bow was a large room known as the Mess Hall. An open facility connected to close doors like the crew quarters, the elevator, the restrooms, and sickbay. Although the people of Thedas did not know that as they sat around a metal table, enjoying a good meal produced from the Mess Hall's open kitchen that had enough supplies to feed an army several times over. Food was slowly chewed up as they assimilated basic information given by Admiral Anderson, Captain John Sheppard, Commander Jane Sheppard, Lieutenant Commander Velanna O'Connell, and Chief Operation Officer Sarah Sinclair, all of whom were in dress uniforms, despite Jane's grumbling. They learned about the Milky Way Galaxy, the various spacefaring species and their powers, basic information on current technology, and how to use the codex to gain even more information on their own. Just in time for Joker to report that they were cleared to leave the system.
"So, the stars in the sky are more extensive than anyone has thought, and I am the first dwarf from Kirkwall to see the beauty found among the stars," Varric stated with a small laugh while Anders smiled.
"Personally, I think it's great that mages have basic rights in the galaxy. The Chantry can learn a thing or two."
"Foolish," Sten added while Anders continued talking.
"I am very interested in biotics, and the studies were done on both biotics and mages. This could answer a lot of questions."
"I am more interested in these implants that make you immune to possession. If we had such things, people would be less fearful of mages for they cannot be possessed," Merrill added with a sparkle in her eye.
Sparkles Leliana dashed by adding, "Maybe, if you take away the ability to use Blood Magic."
"What's Blood Magic?" Jane asked out of curiosity.
"You don't know what Blood Magic is?" asked Anders in shock, while nearly every Confederation crewmember presented a blank face. Almost everyone except an elf that looked scared.
"I do..." Velanna answered with a raised hand. "It's a power that uses blood to do terrible things like kill, torture, control and drain targets."
"So basically, the three Harry Potter's forbidden curses rolled into one," Jane stated as John raised an eyebrow at the compressing.
"Harry what?" Zevran asked the group as he waited for an answer.
"A popular series of fictional books about magic before mages existed on our world," Jane explained to the ship's guest.
"Often the best source of information is a story. It's more enthralling then reality," Varric laughed as Sarah shook her head.
"Maybe to you, but to me, fiction is still fiction," Sarah pointed.
"Much like Blood Magic is… to us. I don't think anyone in the Confederation can use blood magic due to the implants that keep us from being possessed by demons. It enhanced some of our powers and limits others," Velanna added with the nervous pitch as everyone stares at her.
"Hm, maybe you people are not as foolish as I thought," Sten added as he looked at the crew with a raised eyebrow.
However, before anyone can speak, John growled at the small talk, "Enough with the questions, we need information on who attacked us. Can you help us?"
The six in the room looked at each other before Varric spoke first, "I'm sorry Shepard, but I couldn't remember seeing anything when my brother's caravan was attacked by the darkspawn before we were swarmed by insects."
"Same with me and my vanguard as we were scouting out a blood mage from the Tevinter Imperium," Sten reported while the Normandy Crew looked increasingly depressed.
A facet Anderson added to by saying, "That is what happened to me as well. I thought it was karma getting back at me from running away from the Circle. Although when I now think about, it was probably the blond elf that was there with me."
"What can I say," Zevran answered with a shrugged. "I was just returning from a… a mission when I met him in some empty road when we were swamped by the bugs," Zevran quickly added.
"The same thing happened to me and Merrill at the meeting spot between Chantry and the Dalish Elves," Leliana added with Merrill nodding agreement.
Nodding with the others in despair, just before the young bubbling girl brought the crew hope, "Yep and the only other thing I remember was the odd voice ordering us into those pods."
"Yes, I heard a similar voice ordering us into those… stasis pods, right?" Sten asked, and the crew nodded as Anderson looked thoughtful.
"Can you describe this voice?" Anderson asked.
"Um… it made a deep tenor echo that seemed to be also high in pitch," Sten noted with Merrill and Leliana nodded along while the other looked confused.
"Really, mine sounded like a high-class woman," Varric added with a smirk joined by Anders and Zevran.
"Well, I don't know about the woman, but from your description, the other could be turian," Anderson said with a thoughtful expression. "Eliza, please play a voice log of the last time me and Saren mixed words."
"Aye-aye Admiral," Eliza replied over the comms before a recording of a voice was played.
"You don't know how lucky you are Anderson. Just don't think it will hold out for you. For the next time that you interfere with my mission will be your last, human. Saren out."
And with a click, Saren had hung up on the recording, and the three members had a name of the man that captured them. "That's him, that the one. I'm sure of it," Leliana stated with glee as Anderson smiled.
"Got you, you son of a bitch," Anderson stated as he held up the Ghosting Crystal that held Nihlus last thoughts. "With this crystal and evidence supporting our case, we've finally got Saren in a place the Council can't push under the rug. I'm finally going to get that bastard."
"Sir, what about the woman?" Sarah asked the four members.
"We'll find out who she is later. Right now, we have a chance to strip Saren of his rank as a SPECTRE, and we should take it," John stated with conviction as the members of Thedas looked unsure.
"What about us?" Anders asked for the group.
"For now, you come with us to our Embassy on the Citadel to act as a witness and decide your fate for later," John told the six members that reluctantly agreed.
The crew was just about to settle when Joker said over their comms, "Attention all hands we are about to hit the Mass Relay in this system. If you want an up-close view of Citadel, I suggest you get to a window now."
Anderson nodded as he rose up, "I believe this meeting is adjourned. If you want to see the Citadel, I suggest you get to the cockpit. Especially you Captain, Commander. I want you to make sure Joker doesn't take any detours."
Jane smiled as she practically jumped out of her chair, "Alright then, come on you lot, this is a sight no nubby should miss."
Six followed, unsure how spectacular this 'Citadel' had to be as Sten asked, "Do we have to take the elevators?"
Jane laughed as she pulled them into the elevator as everyone but Anderson followed her. Soon the elevator closed its doors and raced to the top.
Location: Exodus Cluster/Asgard System/CSS Normandy/Deck 1
Human Date: February 5, 2183
It had been an odd experience for the people from Thedas, as they looked in wonder at all the glowing consoles, as the people manning their consoles studied them as the majority made their way to the cockpit. Only Sarah went the opposite direction as she went to the back room to work. They soon headed to the cockpit where Ashley, Kaidan, Trex Legion-VII, and Tali, all of them without weapons and in the human cases in uniforms, with Ashley having red stripes to indicate she was a soldier type of officer instead of a tech, biotic, or mage type.
Jane practically ran up to them with a warm smile as she stated, "Hey guys, didn't expect to see you here."
"Well, I was off duty, and I've never seen the Citadel, so I wanted to take a look," Tali answered with a nervous smile while the other nodded along, except Legion-VII who just shrugged.
"Same here," Velanna whispered loud enough for Joker to hear as he types the final bit of the coordinates.
"Then you arrive just in time for we're about to hit the Relay," Joker smiled as he flew in close to the Relay just before in blinding light, it was propelled through the network to their destination, the Serpent Nebula.
A gassy, purple nebula, the Serpent Nebula was a series of gasses that span several light-years. Treacherous to navigate, the nebula would be a dangerous place to go through if it had not been thoroughly explored. And through that exploration, the crew of the CSS Normandy knew where to go to make a beeline through the gasses to an open patch within the nebula known as the Serpents' Window. It was an open field of the face created by a Mass Effect generator coming from a massive space station that was tens of thousands of years old. The enormous station was known as the Citadel.
"Do these wonders never cease to amaze?" Varric asked in awe as he assimilated every piece of it.
It was a massive ringed station with five long arms, making it appear to be giant starfish that can close itself into the shape of a flower bud if necessary. All the while, it was being protected by a fleet of various warships that came in all shapes and sizes. The computer was quickly laying out the classes, most being turian. Warships with long bodies and wings in the aft portion of the ship resembling birds of prey.
Not that most of them noticed as they soaked in the Citadel until Ashley yelled out, "Look at the size of that thing!"
"I know, this space station is impressive my lady friend," Zevran stated with a smile as Ashley shook her head.
"Not the station, the ship," Ashley stated as she pointed to the largest ship she had ever seen.
Over two kilometers long and wide, it was monstrous and resembled a four-point star, with an oval center and a glowing 'eye.' She was a monster of a ship, and the crew could not count the number of guns along the hull. A well-recognized ship as Kaidan exclaimed, "That's the Destiny Accession, the Flagship of the Citadel Defense Fleet."
"That's their flagship?" Anders asked while Sten looked at it with a raised eyebrow.
"It is an impressive ship," Sten added while their pilot scoffed.
"Size isn't everything," Joker said offhand.
"Are you jealous, little man?" Trex laughed while Joker smiled.
"I'm just saying you need firepower too."
"That ship is more than a match for anything allied units can produce," Legion-VII corrected Joker. "The Destiny Ascension and her sister ship, the Thessia Rose, is a larger, more powerful version of the current Asari dreadnaught. Compared to our Unity Class Dreadnaughts, the ship is twenty percent faster and at least two or more times powerful in other areas such as weapons, shields, and armor. Combined with the use of kinetic and practical plasma weapons means she can engage a large fleet on her own. "
"Is that analysis including the rumor that the ship is equipped with the Asari's new upscale PPCs, which are said to be several magnitudes more powerful than our own dreadnaughts?" Jane asked with a raised eyebrow.
"I do not base calculations off rumors," Legion-VII corrected.
"Well I don't think the rumors matter as the cannons on the ship look like they can tear through any ship's barrier in the fleet," Ashley pointed out.
"Good thing they're our allies," Kaidan said as Joker gave a small smile as he came in close.
Then with a click, Joker opened a transmission as he flew pass dozens of ships with showmanship and expert skill, "Citadel Control, this is the CSS Normandy, requesting permission to dock."
"Standby for clearance, Normandy," Citadel Control reported, and after a brief pause, Joker heard additional instructions. "Permission granted, transferring to Confederation Command."
Joker smiled as he acknowledged his orders, "Roger, Normandy out."
Just before the CSS Normandy made a steep turn towards the docking rings, and in few seconds, the ship made it through the force field into a giant hanger. Where the vessel made its descent into one of the bays as the morning clamps attached to the vessel, holding it in place. Joker just smirked as he stated, "We've made it."
"Yes, we did by the Maker," Leliana prayed as the crew planned to disembark.
Finally done, and it took far longer than I liked to write out this chapter. I had to rewrite the chapter several times, and combined with a limited of free hours, it dragged on. Well, enjoy the story and please review on which of the Dragon Age characters can be left on the Citadel. I am not going to use all of them and want to hear which of the six you like the least; it can be more than one.
Also, for reviews, if you ask the question, please note I only answer through PM. Therefore, if you leave a review as a guest without an account, I will not respond to them. Just to let you know.
Author Note
A) I have been getting some questions on why the Confederation is not the dominant power over the Council due to having the Geth and Krogans. Well for one, the krogans still have to deal with a birth survival rate of one out of fifty. The second is explained in a new codex entry Geth: Population Limit found in the Sentient Species section, which limits the number of geth. Also added a new codex of Manufacturing Rights found in the Codex Weapons and Equipment.