A/N : I have gained someone who is willing to look over my story with a better eye for detail than I am. So from this point out the story should read better, and in general provide more detail into the scenes. As always tell me what you think.
"Captain Shepard, Councilor Anderson wishes to speak with you" EDI's mechanical voice boomed in the CIC.
Shepard stood over the observation pedestal and was standing over the galactic map, eying a data pad in his hands.
"Thank you EDI" Shepard responded, not taking his eyes off of the data pad in his hands. After a short while, he ran his finger over the pad, deactivated it, and headed towards the conference room.
Making the few twists and turns he had to make, he entered the conference room. In the momentary silence, he let out a small sigh. He spread his arms wide and looked at himself in the suit, mentally groaning.
'How am I going to explain this! I can already hear Udina saying something along the lines of Political Shit Storm.' Not long after finishing the thought, Councilor Anderson appeared and replaced the image of the Normandy on the table.
He wore his political garb, standing with the authority his position demanded. He was right for the job, but Shepard knew he hated being behind a desk instead of in the field.
"Captain Shepard," Anderson spoke in a casual tone. Shepard groaned. Taking one last look at himself, he approached the projector. Anderson was going to continue as he saw Shepard step into view, but abruptly paused after seeing Shepard flicker into full view, his suit still on. "Why are you still wearing that suit?" Anderson asked, a quizzical expression taking up his face.
"Long story. The short version is my immune system has been compromised due to picking up an artifact on Rannoch." Shepard responded, discomfort in his voice. He was unconsciously rubbing the back of his neck. "Mordin has more details about it, I can forward his findings to you but my immune system isn't why you contacted me is it?"
Anderson was going to ask about the suit right away but decided it would be approached at a later time. There were things to attend to.
He continued to speak with Shepard, though uneasy, "No, it isn't. We can discuss the specifics later, but for now we have to discuss a certain former employer of yours."
Shepard was glad he dropped the suit subject, but the subject of the Illusive Man only brought up another bad feeling to him. "The Illusive Man? I hope you don't plan on working with him." He responded to Anderson, crossing his arms.
"I am trying to convince the councilors against it." Anderson admitted. He observed Shepard's reaction, which wasn't much. The visor blocked any facial emotions and expressions. "Believe me Shepard, I don't like it any more then you do, and I'm the human member of the council, but in these times can we really be too picky? You have alliances with some of the most questionable races in the galaxy. The Rachni, Geth, Quarians are all races we don't fully tru-"
"With all due respect Anderson," Shepard cut in, a hint of annoyance in his voice, "When I forge alliances I see a lot of qualities most people look over. What concerns me is the fact you are willing to work with a known terrorist organization. While I was forced to work with them, you pushed me away along with everyone else. When I finally left them and provided sufficient evidence that I no longer work with them, you want to work with them. I am sorry Councilor, that just doesn't not add up."
"What do you want me to do Shepard?" Anderson asked him, rubbing his eyes in frustration. "You of all people should know that we need all the help we can get."
"I wouldn't work with Cerberus." Shepard advised, uncrossing his arms, "They may help but I wouldn't be surprised if they backstabbed everyone after the war. But I know that if the council is already working with Cerberus than there isn't much I can do about it. All I can request is that you keep all of my movements hidden from him."
"Your concern is noted Shepard." Anderson responded in a low yet serious tone. "I will do the best I can to keep your movements hidden from Cerberus. But there is only so much I can do."
"Councilor, I am going to paraphrase what was said to me before." Shepard spoke lightly and crossed his arms once more. "I hope that your dealings with Cerberus are short lived and don't backfire." He left it at that, a small silence becoming his only result.
They looked at each other, Shepard looking at Anderson and Anderson trying to figure out a response. Before he could give one, Shepard spoke calmly, "I have to go. Good bye Councilor."
"Good bye Shepard," Anderson responded in a soft tone. "And good luck."
Shepard kept what eye contact he could on the figure of the fading Anderson. Anderson turned around before he completely faded and left Shepard completely alone in the conference room. Shepard sighed in a mix of frustration and relief. He wasn't fully anticipating what would happen with Cerberus but he knew that there wasn't much he could do at the moment. After taking a few minutes to collect himself he headed back towards the CIC.
…
7 Hours Later - Landing on Illos
Shepard, Tali, Garrus, and Kal disembarked from the Kodiak. This time the landing was smoother instead of being dropped from the Normandy in the Mako at high speeds. With no threat to get to the conduit within a time frame, Shepard looked around and took in the sights of Illos around him clearly. Prothean ruins where overgrown with the local flora, Geth terminals were scattered, most of them broken and non-functional. Taking in a deep breath, he starts walking towards where he encountered Vigil.
They passed the all too familiar debris of geth armatures and troopers. Shepard felt memories course through him as he stepped past and over the synthetic bodies. He wondered how Legion would have reacted, but the thoughts were interrupted as the synthetic soldier itself spoke through his comm.
"Shepard-Captain, we have detected a mobile platform that will suit the needs you require. This platform is 300 yards east of your position."
Shepard looked over to the direction specified by the synthetic and nodded to himself. "Thank you Legion." Shepard replied as he started towards the motionless platform that Legion mentioned.
"Shepard, do you really think you should activate it?" Tali asked, voicing her concern on activating a heretic geth platform.
"Legion told me it won't attack during the startup phase and during the time it takes to download the new run times." Shepard replied, recalling the events that occurred before he set foot on the Prothean planet. He left it at that as he stepped closer to the Geth that was offline.
Shepard brought up his Omni-Tool and executed the reactivation command provided by Legion. Everyone slightly jumped as the offline geth started jerking and its dull light flashed a vibrant red. It released a crackle not unlike that heard from most geth and its body stiffened as if it were called to attention.
After a tense minute, the unit attempted to locate an FTL comm buoy so it may update its runtimes and share its memory with the other Geth. After the Geth updated itself the flashlight turned from red to blue and a slight stuttering sound was heard as it attempted communications with any other units in the area. After a few more minutes, the platform seemed fully operational, its flashlight moving back and forth, observing the four organic life forms in front of it. Shepard punched in Legions comm link to give it another update. His action of waving his hand over the now-conscious Geth made it take a step to him. It made the four friends raise their weapons, Shepard raising his pistol in one hand, the other still raised to the geth.
"Legion, is the platform in front of me friendly or hostile." Shepard asked, unsure if the update Legion provided had done its job.
"Shepard-Captain, the unit has marked you a friendly." Legions synthetic voice assured him. "It will accept voice commands, and if the platform doesn't understand it will converse with us to facilitate communication with you."
Shepard lowered his weapon, the only person that didn't do so right off the bat was Kal`Regeer. After an uneasy pause, Kal eventually lowered his weapon, though he kept it high enough as to quickly be able to shoot it if it tried anything 'funny'.
Eventually, Shepard broke the silence, commanding the team to continue to their objective. They followed In a single file line, with Shepard in front and Kal in the back, right behind the geth.
The team followed Shepard, who seemed to be on auto pilot as he made his way to Vigil's location. They eventually came to the familiar sight as to where Vigil had stopped them with a light-based wall. Shepard lead the to the small room that had the elevator in it. As they entered the elevator, everything seemed so quiet and eerie. There were no Geth shooting rockets at him, no hum of background electrical noise, nothing. It was silent, for Shepard it was too silent. The elevator came to a stop.
Pushing forward, they found Vigil's holographic terminal. Garrus and Kal relaxed themselves, knowing that Shepard and Tali would be the ones to attempt to bring the ancient VI back to 'life'. The geth merely watched them as they reached the terminal. Shepard and Tali nodded at each other and went to work.
After a few minutes of attempting to get it working Shepard gave up. Not only was it almost impossible to bring the thing back online, but the place was dead with no power at all for activation. He looked around at all of the stasis pods that before had a light blue ring shinning was now dull indicating that all power was lost.
Shepard, still in front of the console, heard a banging noise from the other side. After a few seconds the noise came back but in higher volume, bringing the attention of everyone in the ruined room. Curious, Shepard stepped around the console with the rest of the team slowly joining him. He walked up to the railing and grabbed it to give him support. He peered over railings and tried to get a better look at whatever was causing the noise. In an instant, the railing vanished and he fell through giving a surprised shout.
"Shepard!" Tali yelled as he fell through the railing and vanishing from sight. She ran up to the railing Shepard had fallen through and grabbed a hold of the railing in the same spot. 'Solid?' she thought to herself.
She tried the railings, shaking them. Still nothing. She tried what she could to see what had made them do what they did. She checked the railings, ran her Omni-tool over it, and checked the spots where they connected to each other. She tried a variety of things while her two friends looked at her as she tried everything she could. The only thing that was on her mind was,
'What happened to Shepard?'
~Location - Unknown~
Shepard looked around himself as he tried mapping out the new environment. It was a room exactly like the one he was in just a moment ago.
Shepard spotted the same railing he held onto before he fell through to wherever he was. He ran to the railing and put his hand on it, hoping it would return him to where he once was. Nothing happened. It was like a one way transporter, taking him one place but unable to return to where he once stood. Raising his hand to the comm unit on the side of his helmet, he started calling out to his team.
"Tali? Kal? Garrus? Someone respond" He repeated it a few times, but all he got in return was static.
~Back at Vigils Location~
Garrus walked up to Tali after her thirteenth failed attempt. She was moving back and forth in worry and stopped as he placed a hand on her shoulder.
"He will be fine," Garrus assured her, trying to comfort her while she tried to gather her thoughts about what had just happened.
~Back to Shepard's Location~
Shepard tried one more time before finally giving up on their signals. Frustrated, he tried to reach Joker.
"Joker, Come in." Shepard said with a slight sense of anger in his voice, again still nothing in return just static. He tried a few times before cursing aloud, his voice echoing throughout the room.
"Damn it" Shepard shouted. He looked around and tried to make out more of the room. He was shocked to discover that a path way that continued farther than what it appeared. It wasn't what he was hoping for, but it would have to do.
Taking out his hand cannon, he started walking down the path. It wasn't the best of catwalks, foliage and some broken pieces here and there, but there wasn't much choice in the sense of direction. He kept his mind clear and his weapon ready for any hostile, not that he would find anything still alive aside from his team but you can never be too sure.
After a short walk and a few uneasy turns Shepard found himself standing in front of what appeared to be a large set of blast doors. He groaned at the new obstacle.
'With no power and no heavy weapons other than the Reaper Beam Weapon how am I supposed to open this door' he thought to himself as he approached it.
As he drew nearer to the door, it sensed him and a gentle hum sprang to life as the doors slide open. Shepard jerked back in surprise but calmed quickly became calm at seeing a small room with a few terminals along the walls. Shepard walked in cautiously sweeping his side arm side to side making sure that the room was indeed clear.
~Back to Vigils Location~
Tali stood still, but was slightly trembling. The thought of losing him once more was starting to invade her mind. She knew he wouldn't die just like that, but the possibility was there…
She stopped her negative thinking. He was alive. She knew he was. Turning towards the exit, she turned her head to Garrus.
"We should head back to the surface and see if we can restore power here to find out what is going on" Tali said to Garrus her voice crackling through the translator.
Even the Geth that was with them followed as they headed towards the elevator. Briefly after they boarded, Tali stood looking out at Vigils terminal before pressing the button to ascend to ground level.
She kept her gaze on where he disappeared until the doors closed completely and started ascending.
~Shepard's Location - Unknown~
He gaze the small room an uneasy look. It looked even more ancient then the room he found Vigil in. He eyed the room one last time before finally lowering his weapon and giving a sigh of relief.
'It appears safe enough.' Shepard assured himself.
Walking up to the terminal, it activated on his arrival. The device was damaged slightly but still functioned rather perfectly. A screen appeared, a few slots in the holographic board being seen. He wasn't sure if it was what he was looking for, but he went to work anyways. Punching in a few codes from his memory that were implanted from the device on Rannoch, a voice was heard throughout the room.
"I sense no taint of indoctrination on you. You are here because you spoke with Vigil, am I correct?" The voice reverberated through the small room.
"Who are you?" Shepard shot back, looking at the miniature window that appeared on the terminal, a small line that vibrated every time the voice spoke.
"Who I am is not important. What is, is the fact that you are here. The codes you entered where lost long ago on a planet we determined that would be evolved enough for the inevitable battle against the Reapers." The mysterious voice answered in a quiet undertone.
"You are not from that planet, but your immune system is degraded, forcing you to look like them. When the time comes, you and the others from that planet will be healed. But what you seek as has been removed."
"How do you know what they look like?" Shepard asked quizzically. So many questioned needed to be asked and answered. How had they come to know of the Quarians and their imprisonments into the suits? "And how do you know what I am seeking?"
"We knew that the Quarians, as you call them, would have weak immune systems when we left the device. Their planet is free from most of the biologic pathogens that encourage immune system development. Since you are here in one of their environment suites then someone else has activated the device and knows our secret against the ones we call Reapers." The mysterious voice continued quietly
"You're telling me facts that I already knew before I got here. If the device is not here then where is it? And what is the secret against the Reapers you are talking about?" Shepard asked getting agitated about being reiterated facts he already knew.
"The device is not here." the voice explained. "It was taken during my stasis. The only thing I can offer you is the location of the remaining device that you must acquire. Hopefully it will have the necessary data to locate the device taken from here. What it leads to is a weapon that we developed that would kill the Reapers. But that is all I know about it, as other top scientists on a world similar to this created it."
He was going to ask where it was, but forgot it instantly as he remembered it saying 'during my stasis'. His curiosity got the better of him. "What do you mean stasis? I thought all the Protheans where dead?"
"A mistakable understanding. My thoughts where uploaded before I died after you visited with Vigil. It was determined that you would return seeking the device. When I realized it was missing I started a data mine of all available terminals on this planet to hopefully have enough information for when you arrived. Doing so has used up the last remaining power." the voice explained once more. Shepard noticed the screen as it became brighter and then became more dimmed. Even now, it was using what extremely little power it had just to talk to him. "After you leave I will cease to exist." It spoke as though is knew what he was thinking. "But before you go please take a copy of my thoughts and data I found with you."
"We can run auxiliary power to keep you functional." Shepard tried. A somewhat living Prothean… Such a discovery would eclipse everything the Galactic races have so far found. Such a discovery could also help fend off the Reapers.
"Do not attempt it" the voice spoke softly. "I am of a species long thought dead. I am not meant to exist outside of this terminal let alone this planet. This is where I was born, where I saw my friends killed, where I witnessed the destruction of my people and now where I will join them. Leave me be, human. I have nothing left here, but there are people waiting for me on the other side…." The voice became silent and solemn.
A mere second later, a small part of the terminal opened and ejected an OSD. Shepard looked at it, then at the terminal screen.
"You cannot go back the way you came." the voice spoke once more. "Your team has returned to the surface and they are trying to locate you." It gave a slight pause and Shepard saw a set of doors hissing open at the far side of the room.
"Beyond those doors is an elevator that will bring you close to your team." the being explained. "When you get there you will be able to contact them." Shepard thanked the being and walked to the door. The voice silently thanked him for respecting its wishes and sealed the door behind Shepard.
…
Reaching the surface, Shepard raised his hand to the comm link on the side of his helmet once more. "Tali? Garrus? Come in" Shepard sppoke, looking around at the orange sky. In an instant he had a reply, the voice was slightly agitated but he knew who it was.
"Shepard! What happened I thought we lost you again!" He jerked his head at the volume of the worried voice. It was Tali that had responded. He was sure that she had kept an open channel to respond to him should he try and contact anyone. It made him smile.
"I missed you too." he responded, smiling. He looked around and gave her his coordinates. "I'm not far from where we landed when we went after Saren. Try and get a lock on my position and we will return to the Normandy for debriefing."
"What about the Geth? He is still following us?" Tali asked hoping that they wouldn't bring another Geth on board
"He will come with us and we will talk to Legion about his fate." Shepard responded.
…
In the room Shepard had left, the terminal's lights were becoming dimmer and dimmer. The being awaited its eventual death and thought of Shepard.
'He will succeed…' the being thought to itself.
The Prothean waited a small while before giving a small chuckle. It started singing a lullaby in its native tongue. The voice rang through the ruins of Illos and made small droplets of water land into the streams.
It finished the song the same time as it slowly shut down. The last of the Protheans was gone and joined its friends and family in piece. Shepard would defeat the Reapers. It gave the Prothean peace as the fact rang through its last virtual breaths…