With the Rachni Queen gone, there was still much to be done at Rift Station. Shepard called in a full evacuation team, and Captain Matsuo was there in a few hours with a full complement of ERCS officers, and official confirmation of Shepard's Spectre status for Captain Ventralis and the rest of Binary Helix guards. Shepard also insisted, in true Paragon form, to fetch the cure for Dr. Cohen's poisoned team. Alestia Iallis, the asari commando in disguise, tried to stop us, with the remainder of the geth units.
She was unsuccessful.
Apparently, the Rachni had borne off all their fallen. Not a single Rachni body could be seen in the entire facility. Captain Matsuo assumed when she got there that the damage to the facility was inflicted by the geth, and none of the Binary Helix personnel contradicted her. And neither did Shepard. Yaroslev Tartakovsky (the guy who usually gets skewered by the rachni in the game) was ready to testify, but Shepard convinced him not to start a panic. She did tell him, however, to discreetly send a full report directly to the Citadel Council. The volus scientist Han Olar's ramblings were passed off as a common civilian reaction to combat.
All personnel evacuated (and the elcor merchant Petozi expressing "With overwhelming gratitude and heart-felt enthusiasm: Thank you, Shepard"), and the blizzard cleared, we were saved the long ride back to Port Hanshan by the Normandy coming directly to Rift Station. We were also not the only ones onboard: 13 combat body bags, including Matriarch Benezia, were lined up in our cargo bay. We set course back to the Citadel, to turn their bodies over to the Asari government for burial.
The Council de-briefing? I won't bore you with the full details, but suffice to say that went about as well as you might imagine: Sparatus basically gave Shepard hell for unleashing a "parasitic Horde" on the galaxy, Valern lamented the lost "research value" of releasing the Queen, and Tevos actually praising Shepard for her open-mindedness and "avoidance of genocide." Pretty much a repeat of the Thorian conversation, and the re-iterated promise of a private audience with me upon our arrival at the Citadel.
I made my way down to the cargo bay. On the far side, I saw Liara kneeling beside one of the bags. I made my way across the bay to her side. She did not turn at my approach, not even when I was standing directly beside her. I silently knelt down.
"I have wronged you, Liara T'Soni."
Liara turned slowly to me. Her eyes were swollen, and tear-streaks ran down both sides of her cheeks. I continued, my voice full of sorrow.
"You have given me… everything. Without you, I would still be slumbering in a coffin on Therum. And I have repaid you by taking something most precious to your heart. My soul is grieved, to cause you such sorrow."
Liara slowly shook her head.
"Oh, Ko'le…."
She slowly leaned against me, her crest resting on my shoulder.
"You have taken nothing from me. My mother made her own decisions. She was strong, and always saw the good in people. What happened to her… was not your fault. If anything, you have given her back to me. You gave us a final moment together, and for that, I will always be grateful."
"At least the last words she said to you were ones of love." Wrex's voice, instead of booming out as usual, was soft and… almost gentle? His thundering bulk came over to us, and (clumsily) knelt down on both knees on the other side of Liara.
"My father's last words to me was a curse," he said, looking down at the Matriarch's body in front of us. "Damning me for betraying my people and their way of life." His eyebrow-ridges were furrowed, and anger and pain were in his voice.
"I'm sorry, Wrex," Liara said, reaching out and touching his shoulder.
"No need to be sorry," Wrex said. "He was right. I did betray his way of life. But the damn fool's 'way of life' led only to death and destruction for all my people. We needed to stick together, as krogan. With the genophage eradicating our people's numbers, we couldn't afford to bicker with the other clans. But Jarrod and the rest of the fools the followed him were too blind to see that. So it ended, with my dagger plunged into his chest, and curse for his eldest son on his lips."
"I remember when my dad died," Ashley said, joining our little group. "It was peaceful, surrounded by his loved ones, and it still hurt. Hell, it still does." She stood behind Liara, putting her hands on her shoulders. "If you ever need anything… I'm…. I'm here."
"Thank you, Ashley," Liara said tearfully, squeezing one of Ashley's hands with her own.
"A virus swept through the Fleet about 5 years ago," Tali said, her own voice full of sorrow. "My mother… my mother was among the ones who… didn't make it. I'm… so sorry, Liara. I'm so… sorry."
She knelt down between me and Liara, wrapping her arms around the asari. Her shoulders shook with emotions, and she quietly sobbed in her helmet. Liara wrapped her own arms around her in return, fresh tears running down her face. Ashley's eyes were closed and her hands folded in front of her.
"Ave Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum.
Benedicta tu in mulieribus,
et benedictus fructus ventris tui, Iesus.
Sancta Maria, Mater Dei,
ora pro nobis peccatoribus,
nunc, et in hora mortis nostrae. Amen."
I started at her words. I knew Ashley had talked about "believing in God" in ME1, but had honestly never given it much more thought. Never thought of her as a Catholic girl, but now everything about her makes so much more sense.
"Beautiful prayer."
Garrus was now joining the ever-growing circle. He stood respectfully on the outskirts of the group.
"It's to one of your human goddesses, right?"
I could see Ashley physically biting back the full Catholic explanation of the Virgin Mary, but what she said was simply,
"It's to the Mother of God. Not exactly a goddess."
"It's beautiful," I said.
"Thank you," Liara echoed.
Looking around, I couldn't help but marvel at this beautiful sight: a krogan, a turian, a quarian, and two humans kneeling around an asari, comforting one another in a time of pain. All we needed was….
"It's at times like these that I know exactly why I chose this crew."
Shepard.
All eyes turned to see our fearless leader stepping off the elevator with Kaiden close behind. I stood and stepped aside as she joined our circle, as did Wrex. Shepard stood at Liara's side.
"There will be those who call Benezia a traitor, or say that she was weak," she said, putting a hand on Liara's shoulder. "Those of us gathered here today know that to be false. Benezia believed in people, and sought to turn all around her to good. She went to Saren with the best of intentions: to influence him, and set him back on the right path. What she encountered… no one could have foreseen, and no one could have resisted. And what's more: she never gave up. She never stopped fighting. If each of us could learn by her example, we would be… better people."
Liara stood, and hugged Shepard. Shepard held her for a moment, slowly rocking back and forth. I turned and slowly walked away. I went into the engine room, taking the sight of the mass effect drive core.
"What do you think?" Engineer Adams stood beside me.
"It's… impressive. The size of the drive-core in such a small ship."
"She's the pride of the Alliance fleet," Adams said, glowing with pride. "With her speed, agility, weapons, and her stealth system, she can take on just about any class of ship. I'd even give her good odds against the Destiny Ascension. Oh, that's the flagship of the Citadel Fleet," he added, seeing my quizzical look.
"What were your ships like back in your day?"
"They were mostly old," I explained. "War had been going on for three centuries by the time I was born. The shipyards had long since been destroyed. Replacement parts had to be salvaged from derelict ships. We would often have to decide between having three ships in… acceptable condition, or one ship in good condition."
"Sounds a lot like the Migrant Fleet," Adams said.
"So Tali and I have said. I would like to visit these quarians, and their Migrant Fleet."
We talked starships for a while longer, with him obviously going into less detail on the stealth system as he did in the game with Shepard. Soon I left the engine room and went to return to my bunk. The central cargo bay was now mostly empty: Shepard and Liara were nowhere to be seen. Garrus and Tali were underneath the Mako, tweaking something or another. Wrex was standing at the weapons table, modifying his newly-acquired Scimitar shotgun. I thought it was strange that I didn't see Ashley, and then remembered that this is not a game where the NPCs are locked in place on the ship.
I returned to my bunk, and booted up Mira. I started tweaking with her different protocols, first of all removing all traces of Binary Helix firewalls and corporate by-laws dictating her responses and behaviors. For what I had planned, I was going to need some help.
"Good morning, Mira. How are you?"
"This VI assistant is not programmed to respond to that question. Please re-word your inquiry and try again."
This might be more difficult than I thought…
The few hours I spent working on the program yielded very little in practical results, as Ko'le was unfamiliar with this particular coding language and Kevin was hopelessly lost. I could hack systems, download, and upload, but for some reason I couldn't code… My re-writes of the geth were raw data over-writing geth identify-friend-foe protocols. This was fine and precise work, delicate in nature. Brute force simply wouldn't do here.
As I worked on Mira, the door chime rang on my door. I closed the program.
"Enter." I said.
The door opened to reveal Ashley again, sober this time. I turned to face her.
"What can I do for you, Ashley Williams?"
"Heeey…. Do you have a minute?" she asked, standing somewhat awkwardly at the door.
"Of course, come in," I answered. She paused for a moment, then stepped into the room, the door closing behind her.
"Sooooo," she began. "I kinda…woke up here… in your cabin. Before we got to Noveria, I mean. Aaaaand I also… have no clue how I got here. Did we… did I…. I didn't do or say anything stupid, did I?"
"Not at all, Gunnery Sergeant," I reassured. "You rang, you came in, and then you collapsed on the bed. I didn't see any need to relocate you, so I covered you with the sheet and left you to sleep here."
A look of intense relief washed over Ashley's face and she put her head in her hands as she sat down on the bed.
"Ohthankgod. I mean… Not that you're not… I mean not that I wouldn't… I just shouldn't drink. That's the bottom line here. I say and do the stupidest things, and then I wake up with the wrong guy, and then I've gotta tell James that we're just friends, and it didn't mean anything… Sorry, I'm rambling," she said, seeing my raised eyebrow. She took a deep breath.
"Thank you… for being a gentleman. Other guys might have… not everyone would have… Thanks."
"I am a Seneschal of Protea, Sergeant," I said, nodding. "If I decide to make love to anyone, it will not be while they are inebriated. Nor will it be someone to whom I am still a stranger."
"Riiight," Ashley said, blushing hotly at my answer. "Well, I just wanted to say… thanks. I'll leave you alone now." She got up and the door opened.
"Sergeant Williams?"
She turned back to me.
"You told me of your grandfather," I lied. "He was…. A great warrior, by your description. I would have liked to have met him. And I think he would have been just as proud of you as your father was."
I know, that's not exactly the truth, but I need to put explanations of how I know things. A drunken conversation with Ashley (that she doesn't remember) would go a long way. Ashley is the one who gives you the scuttlebutt of the ship in the game, anyway.
She looked confused, then she was angry, then she was… taken aback. "Thanks…" she said, and opened her mouth to say something else, but the automatic doors closed.
Damn.
I went back to my largely unsuccessful attempts to rewrite Mira from a corporate directory into a personal assistant. Slightly frustrated, I laid down on the cot and closed my eyes.
Maybe I can ask Tali to help me. On second thought, since I technically stole the data, maybe I shouldn't get her involved…
Sleep overcame me before I could find an answer.
50,000 YEARS AGO
"Have we identified the vessel?" Urush turns from the helm to the viewscreen. The wreckage floats off our bow.
"Definitely Prothean," one of the crew answers. "It is registered as the Ut'tar: Cyclone-class scout ship. There are blast marks consistent with Reaper fire on their stern section."
"They were running," I saw quietly to Urush. He nods in agreement.
"Is that what destroyed them?"
"No, general. The damage is consistent with making an uncalculated jump to star-speed. Without the failsafe protocols, the deceleration process would have depleted their power reserves and warped the hull."
"They had no time…" Urush says quietly. "Life signs?"
I turn to the Bio-scanner. "None, general," I answer. "Faint power reading still active on the bridge compartment."
Urush strokes his chin, deep in thought. Then, his eyes steel. A decision has been made.
"Ko'le, take a party over to the ship to investigate. Bring back any data or parts that might be useful. Engineering needs new power control coils, and we daren't risk traveling back to Lilienfal for them. Navigation crews, make the calculations for jump-speed. Gunners, set your scanners for cyclical long-range scans. It could be a trap, my friend," he adds, quietly, to me. "At the first sign of Reaper activity, we must depart."
I nod, saluting in reply. I make my way to the gangplank, five troopers in tow.
"Ko'le?" the voice of Dranen Thurn, the ship's Magi, comes over the con.
"Honored Magi," I acknowledge.
"Be on the lookout for any medical equipment. Any nanite infusions or bio-cultures would be invaluable."
"Acknowledged." I turn and nod to the other five soldiers. We bring our weapons to the ready as the doors open. We board the ship, splitting off into teams of three. The bridge is a wreck. Life Support is negligible, and the barely-floating debris around us shows that the artificial-gravity drive is failing. Three crewmen lie on the floor, their faces serenely calm. The captain still sits at the helm, head bowed, a piece of debris impaling him to the chair. A memory shard is still clutched in his hand. I take it from his hand.
"BIOLOCKED MESSAGE FOR GENERAL OF THE ROBBIDIR FLEET" is the message that flashes across my eyes when I touch the shard. My other team reports in, and I activate my comms.
"Boarding Party to Bridge."
"This is the Bridge, go ahead."
"Four Protheans have gone unto the Father, General. The ship's armory is empty, and the ship's weapons systems are depleted. We have three crates of bio-cultures and nanites. Nothing salvageable in engineering outside of a few service-generators: the ship is too heavily damaged. There is also a memory shard the captain clutched in his hands. It is bio-locked for the general of the Robbidir Fleet."
"Acknowledged, Boarding Party. Return to ship."
As the doors close behind back on our own ship, our helmets disengage. I make my way back to the bridge. Magi Thurn stands at Urush's left side, and I take my place on his right.
"The memory shard?" he inquires, holding out his hand.
"My lord," I say, placing the shard in his hand. The bio-lock disengages, bringing the shard to life. A projection flashes on, revealing a tall Prothean in resplendent ornate battle armor.
"To General Kopral Robbidir, this is Emperor Xalek of the Prothean Empire."
Urush Robbidir instantly bows the knee before the image of the Emperor. The rest of the crew on the bridge follows suit.
"If thou art reading this message, then the Captain of my Guard, Ruthan Kidesh, has been successful in his mission to find thy fleet. Even as I speak, the Reapers are assaulting my fortress on Wel'ttir IV. My two beloved daughters have fallen in battle and my son…. Is no more."
The sorrow on his face and the anger in his voice makes plain the unspoken word: Indoctrinated. Every crewman on the bridge has lost someone to the same fate.
"Alas, that these evil days should be mine," the Emperor's message continues. "After three centuries of war, the Keldir Line, the House of my father, and his father before him, has failed. Upon the completion of this message, I intend to take what warriors remain unto me and charge. Victory is beyond expectation or hope, but we shall make the harvest of this world a costly one for our foes. However, I will not leave my people leaderless and divided. The Law of the Cosmic Imperative places thy house as one of the few surviving fleets of mine domain. By its accords, upon my death, the mantle of Emperor of the Prothean Remnants falls to thee, General Robbidir. Lead our people to victory, Emperor Robbidir. Sing my Name-Song at the Great Remembering. Xalek… out."
The armored figure salutes, and then the message ends, and utter silence falls upon us all. We remain bowed, all of us, unsure of what to do next. Then Magi Thurn rises slowly, turning to face Urush.
"Rise, Urush Robbidir," he intones. "Rise as Emperor of the Imperial Remnant."
"Magi," Urush stammers, "This message was meant for my father…"
"As was leadership of this fleet, my son," Thurn replies. "But your father has gone unto the Great Father, and so his generalship, and now the throne, falls to you. Arise."
Urush slowly stands, facing the Magi. The Magi raises his staff above his head.
"The Emperor. Is. Dead!" he shouts.
"EeRAH!" We all shout, the Prothean cry of remembrance and mourning.
"LONG. LIVE. OUR EMPEROR!"
"HAIL! HAIL! HAIL!" We stand to our feet, saluting Urush Robbidir, Emperor of the Prothean Remnant. He holds up his hands.
"Honor Xalek! Honor Ruthan Kidesh and the crew of the Ut'tar, who gave their lives to fulfill his last command!"
"HAIL!" comes the cry.
"Gunners, lock weapons upon the Ut'tar. We shall give our brethren the honored burial they have so gallantly earned."
The Dauntless' weapons *hum* to life, and then blast away. Without shields, the remains of the Ut'tar are blasted apart like tissue paper.
"EeRAH!" cries the assembled crew, saluting our fallen brethren one last time.
"Helm, lay in a course for Ha'lal," orders Urush. The bridge returns to its normal bustle, as crewmen return to their stations and their tasks. Urush sinks back down in his chair, his forehead coming to rest in the palm of his right hand.
"I tell thee truly, Ko'le," he says wearily to me. "Of all the things I thought would happen this morning, this was not among them. Now the task of leading our scattered peoples fall to me. I am Emperor now, but of what?"
"The strongest of bonds may be broken, if taken one strand at a time, my lord," I reply. "We have survived. We must determine who among the Great Houses still stands, and what forces remain to us, before any task may be undertaken."
Urush nods in answer. There is a long silence before he answers.
"Perhaps the time has come for a new Empire…"
PRESENT DAY
"KO'LE?"
The sound of the intercom awakens me, and I lurch forward, hand instinctively going to my back. It takes me a moment to re-discover where I am.
"Yes, Commander?" I answer, finally.
"We are coming into the Citadel. I thought… you might like to see it."
"On my way."
I get up, picking up my armor lying on the desk. I place it at the small of my back and re-engage it. Walking down the hallways, armor wrapping around my feet and shoulders, makes me feel like a Transformer.
Wonder if that's possible in this Universe? Talk about an upgrade for the geth….
My thought-ramblings were interrupted by the elevator doors opening, revealing Shepard, Ashley, and Kaiden all waiting for me outside the elevator.
"Shepard."
"Hey, Ko'le. Sorry if I woke you up, but I didn't want you to miss your first sight of the Citadel."
"My thanks," I answer.
We walk forward to the pilot's cabin, stars still wheeling by us in blurs in a kaleidoscope of motion. Then, suddenly, there was a sudden *WUMPH* and Citadel lay before us in all its glory.
Ok, I knew that the Citadel was big. I had played through the games literally about 6 times. But none of the games prepared me for the sheer size of the Citadel.
IT. WAS. MASSIVE. . My jaw dropped and my eyes went wide. I gripped the top of Joker's chair, and bent down to get a better view. I was then acutely aware that my three companions were staring at me, rather than the view, and kinda felt like they were waiting on me to do a trick.
"It's… it's real…" My voice was an awed whisper.
"Indeed it is," Kaiden answered. "The Citadel: heart of Council Space. Folks from all over the galaxy make their home here: more than 13 million of them."
"13 million? On a single space station?" I asked, perhaps exaggerating my incredulity.
"Citadel Control, this is SSV Normandy, requesting permission to land," Joker spoke into the headset.
"Standby for clearance, Normandy," came the reply, followed by a short pause. "Clearance granted. You may begin your approach. Transferring you to an Alliance operator."
"Roger, Citadel Control. Normandy out. Alliance Tower, do you copy?"
"We copy you, Normandy. You are cleared for Docking Bay E24. Welcome back, Normandy."
We made our way in, passing dozens of starships coming in and out. With the same hiss of the game, we were docked at the Citadel.
Fighting back my internal geek-out, I joined my crewmates at the gangplank.
"Pressley?" said Shepard.
"Yes, ma'am, 24-hour shore leave for all hands, to be done in shifts. Subject to the requirements of the service."
Shepard smiled.
"Well done, Mr. Pressley. Carry on."
"Yes, ma'am!"
The pride on the Navigator's face was transparent as he returned his commander's stiff salute.
The doors opened to show several figures waiting for us. I recognized Udina's signature white and tan suit, even at this distance. One of the other figures was an Asari, and the other one was…
Holy Shit.
"Captain Anderson!" Shepard snapped to attention, and threw up a crisp military salute.
"At ease, Commander," Keith David's magnificent voice answered, only now belonging to arguably the ultimate badass of the Mass Effect Universe: David Edward Anderson. He now turned to me.
"You must be Ko'le: the Prothean that's got everyone all hot and bothered."
"Anderson…" Udina's voice was one of general irritation, rather than actual displeasure.
"Ambassador Udina," Shepard said, with a respectful nod of her head.
"Shepard, I must say, your instatement as Spectre has been one of the greatest achievements humanity has accomplished in over a decade. There's requests from news agencies all across the galaxy for an interview with you."
"Just doing my duty, Ambassador," Shepard replied modestly. "You've given me a fine ship, and I have a fine crew."
"And you've done it well," continued Udina. "Saving colonies, resurrecting extinct species, and bringing a criminal to justice. There's no telling how much damage Benezia could have done if left unchecked."
"And it is that that unfortunate business that brings me here, Ambassador," the asari was saying, stepping forward.
"Oh… yes, quite," Udina replied, reassuming a mantle of gravitas. "Commander Shepard, this is Irissa, chief aide to the Asari Councilor's office."
Irissa: She's the one who replaces Tevos if she dies on the Destiny Ascension….
"Ma'am," Shepard acknowledged.
"Commander," replied Irissa in kind. "On behalf of the government of Thessia, I am here formally request the transfer of the remains of Matriarch Benezia, and those of her handmaidens."
"Didn't think they'd send someone so high up the food chain," I heard Kaiden whisper to Ashley behind me.
"Criminal or no, she was a Matriarch of one of the Great Houses of Thessia, Lieutenant Alenko," Irissa replied, gazing pointedly at Kaiden, who looked slightly startled at her sense of hearing. "We will bear her home to Thessia and there lay her to rest with honor."
"Permission granted. A Marine honor guard is waiting at the Normandy's docking bay. We await only your word, Ma'am," Shepard answered graciously.
Irissa's harsh gaze softened, somewhat. "Thank you, Commander," she said, with a bow of her head. She turned to make her way down to the Normandy's service gangplank, connected to the docking bay. Shepard nodded at Kaiden and Ashley, who moved quickly to accompany her.
"Now that that unpleasantness is over, allow me to formally greet you, Mr. Ko'le," Udina said, stepping forward towards me. "The report Commander Shepard sent us staggers imagination, but I for one am very proud to greet another resident of Earth, albeit removed 50,000 years."
"I will be sure to lodge a change of address form, Ambassador," I said, extending a hand. Anderson chuckled at that, as did Udina, who shook my hand warmly. "And my name is simply 'Ko'le.' In formal occasion, my title is Seneschal Ko'le."
Curious. No trace of deception or deceit in his eyes. Just the weight of the burden of his office…
"Donnell Udina, Ambassador of the Systems Alliance," he introduced. "This is…"
"Captain David Edward Anderson," I said, extending my hand to him as well. "I've been trying to catch up on 50,000 years of history. Your name appears more often than one might think in the history books, Captain."
Anderson looked surprised, but took my hand all the same.
"A pleasure. Don't believe everything you read, Ko'le."
"I don't, Captain. The admiration this crew holds for you is plain to read on their faces, and in their words of you."
"We've been asked to escort you to a special convening of the Council," Udina said. "They're as anxious to meet you in person as we've been. And I'd be fascinate to get your perspective on the Citadel on our way."
"Lead on, then, Ambassador," I said, with a nod of my head. As we turned towards the elevators, we could see the first of the coffins being unloaded at the far end of the docking bay. Liara's form, along with Irissa's, could be seen walking alongside it. Shepard's face looked torn.
"Commander," I said softly. "Go. She needs you more than me. You have already made your full report to the Council. Your presence will not be required, I think?" I looked to Udina and Anderson for confirmation.
"There's really no need for you to come along, Commander," Anderson said, with genuine softness. "It also might look well to have a representative for humanity with Benezia's delegation," added Udina, somewhat unhelpfully. Shepard looked down the way, then back to me.
"You're sure you don't need me to come along?" she asked.
"I have two very capable guides here, and hours of questions to answer, I'm sure," I answered. "Go."
There was one more moment of indecision, then Shepard turned and walked quickly down the docking bay.
Yep. My money is on a FemShep/Liara pairing.
I turned back to Udina.
"Gentlemen," I said, "Shall we go?"
Author's Notes:
Hey, everyone! WOW, I'm blown away by everyone's feedback from the last chapter! Thank you all for your ideas, thoughts, and comments! This chapter is quiet as long as the previous one, but it was either this or have a RIDICULOUSLY long chapter. Opted for two shorter ones, so the next part should be coming out soon!
Keep the feedback coming! All comments/PM's welcome, even if it's to tell me something you didn't like.
You guys rock!
-Tusken1602
Review Responses:
tylerbamafan34 - Ko'le will not be idle in the two years between the games, I assure you.
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ragnar thorson - Pretty much, the Void Treaty is the treaty that unified the galaxy against the Reapers the LAST time around.
XRaiderV1 - Like it! Keep 'em comin!
Emirya 'The God' Shirou - The genophage will be addressed in future chapters. Hope you'll like it!
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