The Forerunners' Final Gift
"Aww, damnit!" moaned Jeff 'Joker' Moreau, the Normandy's pilot. "No sign of pursuit? I was hoping the Council would send some ships after us! I was looking forward to putting the Normandy through her paces; I figured I'd get to see what this ship can really do."
"Saren's still out there," replied Shepard. "Maybe we'll get a chance to play hide-and-seek with Sovereign."
"You know it doesn't seem like much fun when you say it, Commander," Joker said with a wry smile.
"Sorry, Joker," replied Shepard, "but one of us has to be the serious one. Right, you know where we go next."
"I won't even leave 'em the tail-lights, Commander," said Joker, returning to the pilot's console. Shepard turned to Alan, who was also in the cockpit and was looking over the array of scanners on the wall.
"He's got a point though," he said as he followed Shepard down the oval-shaped corridor leading to the main part of the bridge. The interior of the ship was navy-blue coloured, with control panels everywhere and an immense hologram of the Milky Way galaxy in the centre. "I'm surprised none of the Citadel ships are coming after us."
"I think they're all tied up with this blockade," replied Shepard. "They probably think they can't spare the ships, not that they'll do them any good if Sovereign shows up."
They headed into the conference room at the back of the deck; a large circular space with eight chairs lined around the walls and holo-terminals lined against the wall opposite the door. Kaidan, Garrus, Liara, Tali and Wrex were already in the room, and both Alan and Shepard sat down on either side of Kaidan. Alan noticed that Shepard looked over at the empty chair for just a moment; by rights Ashley should have been in this room too.
"Okay, first things first," said Alan. "How the hell did you pull this off?"
"We've got Anderson to thank for that," said Shepard. "He volunteered to override the lockdown from Udina's office and help us get out. I don't know why he'd help us when we still couldn't prove anything about the Reapers, but he said Udina had made this personal anyway."
"He'll be arrested for sure," said Kaidan. "He knew that going in. We're fast running out of friends, but at least we've got a chance now to stop Sovereign. We're en-route to Ilos now."
"Okay, so what about me?" asked Alan.
"We figured you'd want to tag along on this," said Shepard. "I arranged for your gear to be transferred to the Normandy's cargo hold."
"Captain!" José's voice suddenly said from Alan's commlink. "Boss, tell me that's you on the other end!"
"I'm here, José," said Alan. "Sorry for my abrupt departure, but we're gonna miss a meeting with a mutual 'friend'."
"I wondered what the hell the Commander was playing at," José grunted. "I shoulda seen it comin' when she asked for your hardsuit. Why didn't ya say anythin'? We should be there with ya!"
"It was all spur-of-the-moment," said Alan. "Besides, I would have ordered you to stay behind anyway."
"What?" José bellowed. "You don't trust us?"
"Quite the opposite," replied Alan. "I'd leave you behind because you're the only ones I trust. Sovereign's on his way, I'm sure of it, and when he gets to the Citadel somebody's got to be at the hospital on Zakera Ward. Not only would I rather see that you don't become a widower, I need someone to keep an eye on Alistair. He's especially susceptible to indoctrination now; I need you guys there in case something happens."
"Aye-aye," sighed José. "We'll try and keep a low profile until then. I know we haven't always seen eye-to-eye, but you'd damn well better make it back."
"I plan to," said Alan firmly. "See you on the other side." He signed off.
"So what did Kiryuu want you all for?" asked Shepard. "We've got some time to kill before we reach Ilos."
"Well," said Liara, "do you remember when he promised to tell me everything?"
Shepard nodded.
"Well, he did alright," said Garrus. "And then some."
With that, all four of the aliens began to explain what Kiryuu had told them in the hotel. The majority of it was information that Shepard and Kaidan already knew, whether from their own experiences or what they were taught in school. When they mentioned what Kiryuu had discovered about the connection between Element Zero and King Ghidorah, both looked worried.
"It's Catch 22, alright," said Kaidan bitterly. "We can't live with eezo, but we can't live without it."
The revelations about the Forerunners and their apparent attack on humanity were new to them, however. Kaidan in-particular had a look of utter disbelief on his face.
"If anyone other than Kiryuu had said it, I would have called bullshit," he said. "What reason would he have to lie about this?"
"So now we can't count on any of their so-called wisdom," said Shepard darkly. "Can you imagine what would happen if this could be proven? The whole damn galaxy would be up in arms."
"I'd say that they are already," muttered Garrus. "Now that Kiryuu's secrets are out, they'll want his head."
What was also unknown to the others before then was the nature of the Spartan program. While they had known of its existence the exact means of the creation of the Spartans had been classified to them. Now the truth was out, and Shepard looked utterly disgusted.
"I've always known there was something wrong with the Spartans," she snarled. "I've felt it in my gut. They weren't soldiers to me; they were robots, stripped of any trace of humanity. I know they say the military can dehumanise someone, but this was beyond that. How the hell could they do such a thing to children?"
"I know I'd like to have a few words with this Halsey character," muttered Kaidan.
"She's probably a ghost by now," said Shepard. "Anyway, we can't lose sight of what we need to do now. Whatever the Conduit is, it's on Ilos, and our only hope is to stop Saren from finding it. The Normandy's stealth systems should get us past any Geth blockades, assuming none of them look out of a window." She got to her feet, looking determined. "We've made it this far, and if we all pull together we'll finish this once and for all. Make me proud. Make yourselves proud." She began to step out of the conference room. "I'll be in my cabin if you need me."
She stepped out of the room. Alan could see that same fire in Shepard's eyes that Telek had; clearly she too was a natural born leader. Looking around him, he noticed that Liara was looking after her with an odd expression, almost like longing mixed with sadness. She then looked at Alan.
"Ambassador Knight mentioned that you had some secrets of your own," she said, making Alan smile slightly that someone was still calling Kiryuu 'ambassador'. "What did he mean by that? Why does he call you his grandson?"
"Well, there is a physical resemblance," said Garrus, peering at Alan shrewdly.
"If you wanna tell 'em, Captain," said Kaidan, "you go right ahead. I don't think I need to be here to listen." With that, he stood up and followed Shepard out of the room. Alan began to wonder if there was more going on here than the Technomancer was letting on; he thought he had caught a few meaningful looks between him and the Commander. When Kaidan was gone, Alan sighed.
"I preferred it when nobody knew who I was," he said. "There's a lot to be said for being anonymous." He turned back to the four aliens. "Well, I may as well tell you everything, to pass the time before we reach Ilos." He took a deep breath and began:
"I was born in the year 1966 and raised in Whitby, a small town on the north-east of England. As soon as I left school in 1984 I took a year out in Japan. Would you believe that once upon a time I fancied teaching English abroad? I didn't want to be stuck in Whitby all my life, ending up as a fisherman like my dad. That all changed when Godzilla the Second picked that year to stop by Tokyo. For a long time monster attacks were pretty much just a rumour in England; no monsters ever came there, so they went pretty much unheard of aside from the odd article at the bottom of a newspaper page.
"When Godzilla attacked, I was in awe. From that time on I knew that I had to learn everything I could about that monster. I got a permanent residence in Japan, and was introduced to Tetsuo Yagame, who was what they called a G-Chaser. Those guys were a bit like stormchasers; they followed the giant monsters wherever they could, either just for an adrenaline rush, as freelance photographers, or hired by government and scientific groups to help in their research. Through Tetsuo I was introduced to a Dr. Yuji Shinoda and his first wife. I became a working partner to Shinoda, helping his Godzilla Prediction Network to gather data on Godzilla and track his movements. He knew all along that Godzilla couldn't be destroyed, so he wanted to help his country try to learn how to adapt and co-exist with him. Unfortunately Shinoda's wife eventually died in childbirth, and I became an uncle to his daughter Io, not to mention having to play matchmaker with his second wife Yuki Ichinose.
"Anyway, around the turn of the millennium Godzilla showed up again, and I was involved in a chase with Tetsuo and an American named Joel Sellinger. On this chase, though, things would go really badly wrong. The blast bombs the military had set up to destroy the monster went off a lot sooner than we were told they would be, and we were all caught in the blast. It's a miracle we survived."
"You went into a combat zone, knowing the dangers and without any means of protection?" asked Garrus, looking appalled.
"I didn't say G-Chasing was easy or had the smartest people," said Alan. "We were recovered and taken to the Crisis Control Intelligence agency, the government division set up to co-ordinate the defence of the country with the JSDF. There they..." Alan paused here, feeling that it was painful to experience these memories again. "They had acquired samples of Godzilla's DNA, and wanted to test the effects on humans. They knew that Godzilla could regenerate from near-fatal wounds, and wanted to know if this could be applied for medical treatments. All well and good, you might be thinking, but we were in no position to ask about it.
"Well, as you'd expect, the treatment backfired. We recovered and gained Godzilla's regenerative ability, but the stuff that makes it all possible, Organiser G-1, didn't like being in human bodies. It started to mutate us into forms that would better suit its needs; in other words, it was turning us into Godzillas as well. It didn't matter to the scientists, of course; in fact, they got pretty damn excited that we had somehow gained some kind of psychic bond to Godzilla. Don't ask me how it's possible, but everything with Godzilla's blood in it is connected. I'm bonded to Kiryuu, Godzilla and Erika. The scientists wanted to know if they could use us to control Godzilla somehow, like a remote control.
"They didn't expect any of us to escape, of course. I finally managed to do so. For a long time after that the first thing I could ever remember was waking up in a ditch outside Tokyo's city limits, being discovered by a family who had been out walking their dogs. The trauma of the experiments had given me amnesia, and it took me a long time to piece my life back together. I still couldn't remember the experiments though, and the worst of it is that there's no telling how many more people they did the exact same experiments on, trying to repeat the success they'd had with me.
"Then, about a month before Kiryuu was revealed to the world, King Ghidorah attacked England while I was back there visiting my family. He systematically tore down most of the country's cities and towns, including my hometown..." He paused here, his eyes closed. He had not had to think about those days in a long time, and the pain of the memories was threatening to surface. "That monster devoured everyone I cared about, just like that," he finished, snapping his fingers.
"I can't imagine what that must have been like..." said Liara, looking sympathetic.
"It's an old wound," said Alan. "It's had plenty of time to heal. Anyway, most of England got blitzed because we weren't prepared for any monster attacks. The army pulled out their most powerful weaponry to make a final stand in London. He was driven off; I think he was caught by surprise, and he flew off to lick his wounds and prepare for another attempt. Ironically, as Kiryuu already said, he was what brought me and Kiryuu together. He hired me to recover information on Serizawa's old weapon, and in return he gave me the info I needed to expose the cover-up of the whole 'Monster Zero' affair, as well as finally helping me learn the truth about the experiments on me. It wouldn't be unfair to say that we didn't get off to the best of starts; I hated what he represented, especially after the truth of the way his bones were used was made public. It felt to me like they had played God. I didn't even know the half of it until I found out about the nature of his AI.
"After King Ghidorah was defeated on his second attempt, we went our separate ways for a while. Organiser G-1 was still trying to mutate my body, but for a while I thought I'd been able to get it under control. However, in the late 21st century my mutations went out of control, threatening to consume me completely. Kiryuu stepped in and put me in cryogenic suspension, forcing me to leave behind everything I know, including someone who was really dear to me." He paused here for a moment, composing himself before he continued. "The theory being that it would force Organiser G-1 to adapt to my body, rather than the other way around." He raised his own grey-scaled, clawed arm and looked at it. "That was how I spent nearly five-hundred years, sleeping and changing. As you can tell things didn't work out quite how I'd hoped."
"I'm sure any scientist in this galaxy would want to know about this," said Liara. "Maybe they could find some answers, perhaps even a way to reverse the mutation?"
"No," said Alan, shaking his head. "I don't want people poking around at me. Research on Godzilla's cells is forbidden for a damn good reason. Besides, I've grown too used to my appearance to care by this point. Anyway, to cut what's already a long story short, after I had woken up and taken care of some business in Chicago, I had a year to think about things before Kiryuu disappeared after the war. I figured that somebody had to get out there and look for him. That was how I fell in with the Fleet Shadow of Fury, we found him, got introduced to the Citadel, and that pretty much brings us to today."
"That's..." said Garrus, pausing for a moment as if looking for the right words. "That's quite a story."
"Yeah, and that's just the basic facts," said Alan wryly. "If I hadn't been through it all I wouldn't have believed it myself."
"Is this the last story I need to listen to?" drawled Wrex. "I'm amazed we've still remembered what we're supposed to be doin'."
"You're right," Alan sighed. "There's little we can do now but prepare however we can for this assault. I wanna see Saren go down as much as anyone. Thanks for listening though."
With that, the others headed back to their stations. Alan remained in the conference room for much of the trip, preparing himself and practicing the moves that Telek had been teaching him over the last five years. Even though he had been trained by one of the greatest fighters he had ever known Alan still felt uneasy; what could seven people do against an army of Geth and a Reaper?
0
Even with the use of the Relay network, it still took time for the ship to finally find the Mu Relay, shining in the darkness of space as if luring the ship and its crew into the lion's den. Knowing what they knew about the Relays, none of the Normandy crew felt enthusiastic about using them, and yet there was no other way to reach Ilos and put an end to Saren's plans. That was the beauty of King Ghidorah's greatest trap; it seemed so benign that no-one would ever be suspicious, placating them and making them dependent on that very trap in order for civilisation to survive. It dawned on Alan that this may be the first trap that the demon had ever conceived, and it was without a doubt his most perfect.
In spite of everyone's reservations, the Normandy shot through the Mu Relay and within minutes was approaching the soft autumn-red sphere of Ilos.
"Uh, Commander?" said Joker, sounding worried. "We've got company."
Shepard, Alan, Kaidan, Liara and Tali were all in the cockpit, and Shepard leaned closer to get a good look out of the front window. Hovering in orbit above the planet in tight formations were countless Geth dropships, waiting to shoot at anyone who approached.
"Have their sensors picked us up yet?" asked Liara.
"Stealth systems are engaged," replied Joker. "Unless we get close enough for a visual, they won't have any idea we're here."
With that in mind, Alan had reason to wonder if Geth ships had windows. If they did then they were in serious trouble and the mission ran an even greater risk of coming to an early end.
"Picking up some strange readings from the planet's surface," said Pressly, the ship's navigator, from one of the other consoles in the chamber. He was an older, experienced sailor who had survived the Covenant War.
"Take us down, Joker," said Shepard. "Lock in on the co-ordinates."
"Negative on that, Commander," said Pressly sternly. "The nearest landing zone is two clicks away!"
"We'll never make in time on foot!" Kaidan retorted. "Get us something closer!"
"There is nowhere closer!" Pressly barked. "I've looked!"
"Drop us in the Mako!" Shepard ordered.
"You need at least a hundred meters of open terrain to pull off a drop like that!" said Pressly. "The most I can find near Saren is twenty!"
"Twenty meters?" exclaimed Kaidan. "No way we can make a drop in there!"
"We have to try!" Liara argued.
"Find another landing zone!" ordered Kaidan.
"There is no other landing zone!" Pressly shouted.
"The descent angle's too steep!" Tali chimed in.
"It's our only option," said Liara.
"It's not an option!" Kaidan argued. "It's a suicide run! Don't-"
"I can do it," Joker interrupted firmly.
"Joker?" Shepard asked.
"I can do it," Joker repeated, his face rigid. In spite of his nickname he took his job deathly seriously. Shepard looked at him for a moment, as if mentally evaluating him, and then nodded.
"Only four of us can fit in the Mako," she said, turning to the others. "Kaidan, Alan, Liara, gear up and head down to the cargo bay!" She turned back to Joker. "Drop us right on top of that bastard!"
Kaidan threw up his arms in surrender, clearly feeling that this was an argument he would never win. Alan ran with the others to the cargo bay, and soon all four of them were switching into their combat armour and readying their weapons. The Mako, as it turned out, was an experimental new ground vehicle; a six-wheeled, heavily-armed machine that attempted to combine the manoeuvrability of a Warthog with the firepower of a Scorpion. Soon all four were climbing into the vehicle's cramped cabin and strapping themselves down, Alan sitting in the back next to Liara. The ship shook all around them as it entered the atmosphere of the planet below.
Minutes later, the cargo bay door started to open, and Alan could now see a set of ruins on the sunset-lit ground far below, accelerating towards them. He thought he could see tiny figures moving along a stone walkway into a large structure. He recognised the architecture as being that of the Forerunners, but somehow it looked ancient compared to anything he had seen before. He was also now starting to get very worried when he realised what was about to happen.
"I'm beginning to agree with Kaidan," he said. "This is a really, really shit idea!"
"It'll have to do," said Shepard. "Hang on!"
A mere twenty meters above the temple, the Normandy suddenly lurched backwards, at the same time as Shepard floored the accelerator and sent the Mako flying straight out of the hangar. The figures on the ground dashed into the bunker, and the stone door began to close behind them. Alan actually yelled as the Mako slammed onto the walkway and bounced forward for several meters. The vehicle would never have got through the door in time, and as it slammed shut Shepard hit the brakes, and the Mako came to a screeching halt. Immediately she threw the hatch open and jumped out, Kaidan close behind. Liara followed, but Alan was now so paralysed with shock that it took him longer to come to his senses and follow them. The four of them stood in front of the doorway for a moment, looking around them.
"We've got to get inside this bunker before Saren finds the Conduit!" said Liara. "There is no way we're getting past that door with brute force, though."
"This is all Forerunner architecture, right?" Alan asked, turning to Kaidan. "You're a Technomancer. Can't you screw with it?"
"I can't," said Kaidan. "There aren't any access panels around this door. Saren found a way to open it, though. There must be a security override somewhere else in the complex." They all turned to look behind the Mako, and saw a path leading between the stone columns and into the main area of the ruins. The buildings were overgrown with plant-life. Disconcertingly, the sounds of movement could be heard, getting closer.
"Well, let's not waste any time," said Shepard firmly, drawing her assault rifle from her back. "Move out!"
With that, Shepard led the charge up the path and into the depths of the ruins. A number of Geth drones were cut down by a hail of gunfire as the group progressed into the golden leaf-covered courtyard. The buildings were spectacular to look at, much more regal than any Forerunner structure that Alan had ever seen; this site must have been of great importance to them. There were stone statues in the area that portrayed tall, long-haired humanoids; Alan assumed them to be the Forerunners.
Unfortunately he had no time to stop and admire the view, for the ruins were crawling with Geth. It seemed that no matter how many were cut down by gunfire more of them surfaced. In spite of this all four commandos pushed deeper inside in their own ways. Alan dashed between several, striking each with the blue-white plasma line of his whip. It was situations like this which had been trained for on Sanghelios, and his training was serving him well. Shepard was shown to be a deadly marksman, as every shot that came from her rifle hit straight and true. Liara used her biotics to deadly effect, picking up drones and slamming them into the pillars. He saw that some of the drones seemed to explode from within, as Kaidan used his Omni-Tool to hack and remotely overload their systems, but he knew that the Technomancer could potentially finish any fights on his own. It was as if Kaidan was deliberately holding back.
As they got deeper into the ruins, they found an ancient elevator that was still operational, taking them down into a large underground chamber. The room was as overgrown as the surface, with the large roots from the trees breaking through from the surface. It was also filled with more drones, but there were also four of the armature units that Alan had faced on Therum. As they entered the armatures powered up and turned towards them, and all of them simultaneously began to charge their deadly plasma blasters.
"Get down!" Shepard shouted, and all of them dived for cover behind a fallen stone pillar, plasma fire whipping right over their heads. Quickly peeking over the top of their shelter, Alan saw that the corridor was filled, a narrow space with no other cover to go to and filled by drones, armatures and plasma fire.
"Fat chance of us getting through there!" he said loudly to the others, speaking over the sounds of plasma fire and the Geth's strange electronic chittering.
"Can't you do something, Kaidan?" Liara asked. "You're a Technomancer, right?"
"Yeah," said Kaidan, "but you know I feel about using it! After what happened at Gagarin Station, I swore I'd only use it in dire emergency!"
"I'd say this situation's pretty dire!" shouted Shepard. "Kaidan, you're not the same person you were at Gagarin! You can keep control!"
Kaidan paused for a moment. Alan wondered what it was that had happened to make him so wary of using his powers. He also noticed the look between Shepard and Kaidan. It was one of great trust... even passion. He recognised it as he had shared that same look with someone from his own past in tight situations.
After a few moments Kaidan nodded, putting on a brave face and pulled the glowing cyan Technomantic cords out of the back of his head, the ones that closely resembled Kiryuu's own. As they draped loose, he sprang up from behind the pillar, Shepard covering him with rifle fire. Alan and Liara took this cue to attack and jumped out after them. The cords suddenly stretched of their own accord, attaching themselves to the armatures as if they had a life of their own. As the others dealt with the drones, a blue charge travelled along the cords, causing the armatures to overload and shake violently. After a few seconds they exploded, leaving nothing but scrap metal. As soon as the coast was clear the cords shrank back, binding themselves in a bundle that dangled behind Kaidan's back. That attack had apparently taken a lot out of him, as he collapsed onto one knee. Shepard ran over to room and tenderly helped him to his feet.
"That..." Kaidan breathed, exhausted. "That was a rush."
"Great job, Kaidan!" Shepard exclaimed. She pointed up the corridor, noticing what looked like a small control room a level above them. "You feeling ready to move again?"
"I'll be fine," replied Kaidan. "I just need a couple of minutes to get my head together."
The quartet ran down the corridor, vaulting over the ruined scraps of Geth drones and running up a stone ramp to reach the control room. In the centre of the room, standing in front of windows that looked out over the corridor was a Forerunner terminal. Shepard and Kaidan approached it. As Kaidan did so, the cords suddenly attached themselves to it, plugging him into the machine. Alan had to admit that he was still uncomfortable with the sight.
"This is the security console," he said. "I'm working on opening the door now."
"Hurry!" said Liara. "Saren's already had too great a head-start! We must find him before he reaches the Conduit!"
"Unless he's already found it," said Alan. "Then we're just walking into a trap."
"That should do it," Kaidan suddenly said, as the cords once again retracted.
"Right," nodded Shepard. "Let's get moving!"
As the two humans turned away from the console, however, a flickering orange hologram suddenly came to life. It had to be badly damaged, as it looked to Alan like a series of abstract shapes surrounding a glowing orange core.
"Hold up," Alan said. "I think you touched something you shouldn't have."
It was then that he heard a fuzzy voice, as if it was being spoken through a badly-tuned radio. Alan didn't recognise the language that was spoken. Shepard and Kaidan both turned to face the hologram.
"Must be some kind of message," Alan shrugged. "I can't make head nor tail of it though."
"It's probably in the Forerunner language," said Liara. "This recording must be forty thousand years old. No wonder we can't understand it."
It occurred to Alan that he had never heard the Forerunner language spoken aloud, and he doubted if anyone alive today had. He certainly could not recall Kiryuu or Telek mentioning it; though they had shown him examples of Forerunner scripture, nobody he knew had actually read it aloud.
"The message is all broken up," said Shepard suddenly, "but I recognise some of the words. It's a warning against the Reaper invasion!"
"Of course!" Liara exclaimed, snapping her fingers. "Between the beacons and the Cipher, an understanding of the Forerunner language must have been transferred into your mind!"
"Can you make out anything useful?" Alan asked.
The hologram spoke a few more sentences, broken up by interference. A second voice also spoke after a few seconds, but that message too was badly damaged.
"It said something about the Conduit," said Shepard, "but it's too degraded to help. We should go."
Leaving the control room and returning up the elevator, the team were soon running back across the courtyard. Within minutes they had reached the Mako, and now the door leading inside was open.
"Who votes we take the vehicle into the creepy underground bunker?" asked Liara coyly.
"Good idea," said Kaidan. "The extra firepower will come in handy."
Alan thought he heard a low groan of disapproval from Shepard as they climbed back into the Mako's cabin. Soon the vehicle was racing through the door, and driving down a long ramp that led deeper inside the planet. Alan saw that the ramp was actually getting steeper, spiralling downwards amidst a series of gigantic metal rafters. He felt as if they were travelling straight down through a dark chasm, yet the Mako continued to stick to the road as if glued to it. The girders were lined with small lights and circuitry, and with a start Alan realised where he had seen something like this before.
"A Shield Installation..." Kaidan said, as the Mako continued to spiral downwards towards a faint blue light further down. "Ilos is a Shield Installation!"
"I have spent my life studying the Forerunners," breathed Liara, in awe, "but I never dreamed that I would discover anything like this! This must have been the last refuge of their entire race! Just imagine what mysteries it might hold! Imagine what secrets it might reveal!"
"Hey!" Alan snapped. "Try to remember why we're here! You know; Saren, the Conduit, the fate of the entire known galaxy?"
"I'm sorry," Liara stammered, looking abashed. "I was swept up in the moment. I just hope we have the opportunity to study this place in detail after our work is done."
The journey continued in silence. When they were about two miles below the surface, and as the glow got ever closer, Alan looked around in confusion.
"I would've thought Saren would have set up some kind of trap or ambush for us," he said. "He must have been in too much of a hurry."
"Or we just haven't run into it yet," said Shepard.
After a while, the Mako emerged into a vast chamber, the ramp gently straightening out again as if they had emerged on the other side of the planet. The chamber was well-lit, with sunlight pouring in from above. The chamber was narrow but very tall, with high walls lined with what seemed to be large pods, big enough for a man to fit inside.
"What are all those things on the wall?" Kaidan asked. "Some kind of containment units?"
"They look like stasis pods," said Liara. "The Forerunners may have tried to keep themselves alive through cryogenic freezing. Something must have gone wrong." Her voice dropped and her eyes closed. "This bunker became their tomb. The pods are dead, as well as anyone inside."
"All of them?" Alan asked, bewildered. "There must be hundreds of those pods. What was Saren expecting to find here? There's nothing left but corpses."
The Mako drove on through the chamber. The air was very still, and Alan was now getting a very eerie feeling. The realisation of the stasis pods and their dead occupants troubled him. If the Forerunners had tried to use this place to survive the detonation of the Halos, then it clearly failed horribly. He imagined that any death they faced was slow and painful.
After driving down the length of the chamber, there was a loud humming noise, and a blue energy field suddenly surrounded the Mako on all sides, trapping it in a wide circle.
"Shit!" Alan exclaimed. "This must be Saren's ambush!"
"I don't think this has anything to do with the Geth..." muttered Kaidan.
The group climbed out of the Mako and looked around them. Now that they were getting a better look at the sheer number of de-activated stasis pods, Alan's sense of foreboding grew. At the sound of something moving overhead, Alan looked up, squinting into the sunlight. He saw what looked like a large sphere that was suspended on a metal track on the ceiling. There was a hissing noise as a set of clamps was released, and the sphere lowered itself down, drawing level with the group and hovering before them. It was made of metal and looked at them with a single orange optic. It also looked badly damaged, evidently having being shot recently with noticeable cracks in the metallic casing.
"You are not Forerunner," it said in a deep masculine voice that seemed to echo all around them. "But you are not machine either. I identify two Reclaimers among you. This eventuality was one of many to be anticipated. This was why we sent our warning through the beacons."
"I've heard of these," Alan said, as the appearance and speech of the sphere jolted something in Alan's memory. "I remember Telek describing them. This must be one of those Monitors he was talking about." He folded his arms. "I seem to recall him saying they couldn't be trusted."
"I do not sense the taint of indoctrination upon any of you," the Monitor said. "Unlike the other that passed recently. Perhaps there is still hope."
"This is incredible!" exclaimed Liara, her face lighting up like a child on Christmas morning. "An actual Forerunner Monitor and I can understand it!"
"I have been monitoring your communications since you arrived at this facility," said the Monitor. "I have translated my output into a format you will comprehend. My designation is 125 Vigil, an advanced non-organic surveillance system with personality imprints from Keisad Ishan, chief overseer of the Ilos Research Facility. You are safe here for the moment, but that is likely to change. Soon nowhere will be safe."
"Why have you stopped us here?" Shepard asked, peering anxiously at the other end of the chamber. "We've got to get after Saren!"
"My Sentinels are distracting Saren and his machine soldiers," said Vigil. "It will be some time before they can break through them. You must break a cycle that has continued for countless millennia, but to stop it you must understand, or you will make the same mistakes we did. The Citadel is the heart of your civilisation and your seat of government, as it was with us and as it has been with every civilisation that came before us."
"We know that it's a trap," Alan cut in. "One of our people has seen into the Array. We know that the Citadel's a Mass Relay that links to dark space and brings the Reapers here. If you were gonna tell us that, save your electronic breath."
"What I want to know is how come nobody ever noticed that the Citadel is an inactive Mass Relay before," said Kaidan.
"The Reapers are careful to keep the greatest secrets of the Citadel hidden," replied Vigil. "That is why they created a species of seemingly-benign organic caretakers. The Keepers maintain the station's most basic functions. They enable any species that discovers the Citadel to use it without fully understanding the technology. Reliance on the Keepers ensures that no other species will discover the Citadel's true nature, not until the Relay is activated and the Reapers invade."
"How do the Reapers survive out in dark space?" asked Shepard.
"We have only theories," said Vigil. "The researchers here proclaimed that the Reapers enter a state of prolonged hibernation to conserve energy. This allows them to survive the thousands and thousands of years it takes for organic civilisation to rebuild itself, but in this state they are vulnerable. By retreating beyond the edges of the galaxy, they ensure that no-one will accidentally discover them. They keep their existence hidden until the Citadel Relay is activated. Through this they can seize control of the Citadel, and through it the Mass Relays. This happened during our reign. Communications and transportation across our empire were crippled. Each star system was isolated, cut off from the others. If it had not been for our weaponry we would have been easy prey for the Reaper fleets. Over the next decades, we fought in a war against the Reapers as they sought to systematically exterminate our people, world by world, system by system. They sought to methodically wipe us out.
"The genocide of an entire species is a long, slow process. It became clear that we were fighting a losing battle, with no offer of surrender given. Our enemy only sought the extinction of all advanced organic life. Through the Citadel the Reapers had access to all of our databases, maps and census data. Information is power, and the Reapers used that against us. Their fleets advanced across every settled region of the galaxy. Some worlds were utterly destroyed, others were conquered, their populations enslaved. These indoctrinated servants became sleeper agents under Reaper control. Taken in as refugees by other Forerunners, they betrayed them to the machines.
"Eventually our scientists discovered the progenitor of the Reapers, the golden hydra demon. We tried to create a biological weapon that could be used against it, but the sleeper agents modified our weapon, turning it against us, and creating the Flood. This virus became a new weapon that the hydra could use against us, and we found ourselves facing a war on two fronts, to the Reapers and to the Flood. Decades of war followed, and we lost many of our people to both of these deadly forces. In the end, we were forced to try to contain the Flood by activating the Fortress Worlds. Though all life was destroyed and the Flood was deprived of bodies to consume, the damage had already been done by the Reapers, whose inorganic nature spared them from the ravages of the sterilisation. All organic life had been destroyed within a few centuries. When they were certain that all organic life had been extinguished, the Reapers used the Citadel Relay to retreat back into dark space, sealing it behind them. All evidence of the Reaper invasion had been wiped away. The genocide of the Forerunners was complete."
"So that's what happened..." said Liara. "I can't believe I'm hearing this!"
"And to think you deprived yourselves of your only chances of survival!" Alan shouted angrily. "We know what you did to the human race, only because you were jealous and had bruised egos! Humans had a cure for the Flood, yet you destroyed it! They may even have found a way to send the Reapers back where they came from! Frankly, you deserved everything you got!"
"I have had a great amount of time to reflect on our decision to de-evolve the human race," said Vigil, in a tone of what sounded like regret. "Our arrogance proved to be our undoing, and you are right to call us out on it. We sought the gift of the Array that had been handed down to the humans by the Precursors, but now I see why it was given to the humans. The Reapers and the Flood ensured that we paid the price for our arrogance."
"What does King Ghidorah – the hydra - get out of this?" asked Shepard. "Why does he keep repeating this pattern of genocide over and over?"
"The hydra is from a realm that is alien and unknowable," said Vigil. "Perhaps he needs slaves or resources. More likely he and his spawn have motivations and goals far beyond the understanding of any mortal mind. In the end, what does it matter? Your survival depends on stopping them, not in understanding them."
"I don't understand," said Kaidan. "We've seen Monitors before. How come none of them mentioned this?"
"After the sterilisation," said Vigil, "our Monitors prioritised the containment of the Flood above all else. With the Reapers now retreated, the Flood was determined to be the more immediate threat. Over time, it is likely that the absence of the Reapers made the Monitors deem it not important enough to remember. The prevention of the Flood spread became an obsession, and they lost sight of the threat of the Reapers' return."
"They were wrong," said Shepard firmly. "The Reaper threat is all too real. Tell us what we need to do. There has to be a reason you stopped us."
"The Conduit is the key," said Vigil. "Before the Reapers attacked, we Forerunners were on the cusp of unlocking the secrets behind Mass Relay technology. Ilos was a top-secret facility. Here researchers worked to create a small-scale version of a Mass Relay; one that linked directly to the Citadel, the hub of the Relay Network."
"The Conduit's not a weapon..." Kaidan breathed. "It's a back door onto the Citadel!"
"How did you manage to stay hidden?" asked Liara.
"All records of the project were destroyed in the initial attack on the Citadel," said Vigil. "We even destroyed the file that was located in the Array. While the Forerunner Empire came crashing down, Ilos was spared. We severed all communication with the outside, and our facility went dark. The personnel retreated into the Shield Installation. To conserve resources, everyone was put into slip-space stasis. I was programmed to monitor the facility, and awaken the staff when the danger had passed.
"But as I mentioned the Reapers persisted over the centuries, and my energy reserves were dwindling. I began to disable the life-support of non-essential personnel. First support staff, then security. One by one their pods were shut down to conserve energy. Eventually only the stasis pods of the top scientists remained active. Even these were in danger of failing when the Halos were activated and the Reapers retreated back through the Citadel Relay."
"There are hundreds of stasis pods here!" said Liara incredulously. "You just shut them down and killed them?"
"You were programmed to protect them, not kill them!" Shepard barked angrily.
"This outcome was not completely unforeseen," said Vigil, maintaining the same cold, logical tone. "My actions were a result of contingency programming entered on my creation."
"I bet they didn't tell the non-essential staff about this contingency," muttered Alan.
"I saved key personnel," Vigil retorted. "When the Reapers retreated, the top researchers were still alive. My actions are the only reason any hope remains. When the researchers woke they realised the Forerunner species was doomed. There were only a few dozen individuals left; far too few to sustain a viable population. Yet they vowed to find some way to stop the Reapers from returning; a way to break the cycle forever, and they knew the Keepers were the key."
"I still don't understand what's going on here," said Shepard. "Why is Saren trying to find the Conduit?"
"The Conduit gives him access to the Citadel and the Keepers," said Vigil. "The Keepers are controlled by the Citadel. Before each invasion, a signal is sent to the station compelling the Keepers to activate the Citadel Relay. After decades of feverish study, the scientists discovered a way to alter this signal. Using the Conduit, they gained access to the Citadel and made the modifications. This time, when Sovereign sent the signal to the Citadel the Keepers ignored it. The Reapers are trapped in dark space."
"Saren can use the Conduit to bypass the Citadel's external defences!" said Shepard, the light of understanding dawning in her eyes.
"Correct," said Vigil. "And once inside he can gain access to the Citadel's control systems. Sovereign can override the systems and manually open the relay, and the Cycle of Extinction will begin again."
"Is there any way we can stop them?" asked Alan.
"I can supply you with a data file," said Vigil. "Take a copy when you go. When you reach the Citadel's master control unit upload the data to the Citadel. It will corrupt the security protocols and give you total control of the station. It might give you a chance against Sovereign."
"Wait..." said Kaidan. "Where's the Citadel's master control unit? I've never heard of anything like that."
"Through the Conduit," said Vigil. "Follow Saren. He will lead you to your destination."
"Wait a moment," said Liara. "This is our best chance at getting the evidence the Council needs! We must get as much information as we can!"
"After all that polava they've put us through?" asked Alan scornfully. "You really think it's worth the hassle?"
"They wouldn't deny the word of a Forerunner Monitor, would they?" asked Kaidan.
"Stranger things have happened," said Shepard bitterly.
"In any case, who knows how much longer Vigil will be here?" Liara pressed. "He has already been attacked, and he looks weak. We can't lose this opportunity to make such an important connection with the knowledge of the Forerunners!"
"Saren has not yet reached the Conduit," said Vigil. "He and his Geth are still occupied by the Sentinels. I can record all of our conversation onto the data card I will give you. That should give you all of the evidence you need to convince others of the truth of this matter. If you have any further questions, this is your last chance."
"Okay then, answer me this," said Alan. "If the Reapers are in dark space, how did Sovereign get here?"
"It is logical to assume the Reapers would leave one of their own behind after each extinction," said Vigil. "This would be a sentinel to pave the way for their inevitable return. Like those in dark space, Sovereign had probably spent most of the last forty thousand years in a state of hibernation. Periodically, it would wake to analyse the situation. Keeping its existence hidden, it would evaluate the state of galactic civilisation, and when the time was right it would signal the Citadel and usher in the next Reaper invasion. But this time the signal failed. The Keepers did not respond. Sovereign's allies were trapped in the void. Alone, it was forced to try and discover what had gone wrong."
"But Sovereign's more powerful than any ship in the galaxy," said Alan. "Why all the secrecy? Why not just attack the Citadel?"
"Sovereign is not invincible," said Vigil. "Revealing its existence would have united the forces of every organic species against it. Even a Reaper couldn't survive such odds. But the Reapers are patient; they will not rush into the unknown. Sovereign could have been planning this for centuries, moving deliberately, gathering allies. Slowly, it has assembled the pieces of the puzzle, working through agents to keep itself hidden. Saren is the most visible pawn of the hydra, but I doubt he was the first. Now Sovereign has grown bold; whether from confidence or desperation, I cannot say. But it is determined to re-open the portal to dark space."
"What about the beacon on Eden Prime, and the one on Virmire?" asked Kaidan. "What were they for?"
"At our apex," said Vigil, "the beacons spanned the breadth of our empire. We used them as a single galaxy-wide network, to transmit communications rapidly from world to world. Virtually all of the beacons were destroyed in the invasion, but once the Reapers were gone the survivors here on Ilos decided to risk sending out a message. We knew it was unlikely there were other survivors, but if there were we wanted them to know about Ilos. We wanted to give them hope, so a message was sent across the network."
"You could have exposed yourselves to the Reapers!" said Kaidan.
"In truth, we didn't expect any of the beacons would still function," said Vigil. "But we had to try. If there were survivors we had to reach them. The message was meant for our own people. It was coded so only organic beings could interpret it. We still didn't understand the power of Reaper indoctrination. We never realised it could lead an agent of the hydra, like Saren, to this world. But it has also led you here, so perhaps we did not fail after all."
"So when the Reapers created the Citadel, they created the Keepers as well?" asked Shepard.
"A more likely scenario is that the Keepers were one of the earliest harvested civilisations," said Vigil. "Perhaps they were the very first. Perhaps they responded well to indoctrination, or the Reapers simply bred them to be obedient. In any case, they were left behind to operate and maintain the Citadel. But the Keepers are no longer directly controlled by Sovereign or its ilk. They evolved so that they only respond to the signals emitted by the Citadel itself. When the Forerunners altered the Citadel's signals, they broke Sovereign's hold over the Keepers. Now they are completely harmless."
"Sovereign must have realised organic races were difficult to control," said Shepard.
"A likely hypothesis," said Vigil. "The Keepers evolved in an unanticipated direction. Non-organic servants like the Geth would be more predictable."
"What happened to the survivors of the Conduit project?" asked Liara.
"They used the Conduit to gain access to the Citadel," said Vigil. "But the Conduit is only a prototype. The portal only links in one direction, so they were trapped on the station. I do not know what became of them then. It is unlikely that they found any water or food on the station. I fear they suffered a slow, grim death. I only know they succeeded in their mission to seal the relay. Your presence here proves their sacrifice was not in vain."
"I think we've heard enough," said Shepard. "I only hope the Council will pay attention to all of this, assuming they survive." She turned to the others. "Saren's had enough of a head-start. Grab that data file and let's go!"
"You'd better be straight with us," Alan snarled as he approached Vigil. "Otherwise I'll come back here and poke a few more holes into you!"
"The Forerunners had hoped to avoid such ill-feeling for their mistake," said Vigil. "I give you my word that this data will prove the existence of the Reapers and the Cycle of Extinction." A small data chip came out of a slot underneath the optic, which Alan grabbed and handed over to Shepard. "The Conduit is now being activated, but there is still hope if you hurry."
With that, Vigil hovered away from them, clamping itself back onto the track above them. As it did so, the force-field lifted.
"All their culture..." sighed Liara. "All their technology, and the Forerunners were taken in by the Reapers just as we were. They failed."
"They didn't," said Kaidan, firmly. "We've just been given a chance to finish what they started. Let's not waste it."
"Just one thing," Alan chimed in. "The relays need eezo to operate. Does the Mako use any?"
"It does in the mass accelerators used in the cannons," said Shepard. "Let's hope that counts. The implants that Saren received from Sovereign may allow him passage."
The four of them climbed back into the Mako, and Shepard floored the accelerator, leading the Mako out of the opposite side of the facility. All of a sudden they emerged into the interior of the Dyson Sphere. An entire world was built into the insides of the planet, with whole continents and oceans stretching above them and all around them, as if someone had turned the Earth inside-out. A small sun could be seen, burning brightly in the very centre of the sphere. The structure they had emerged from was located right in front of a large pedestal, on top of which was an active Mass Relay, one that was smaller in size to any other relay.
"So this is what the vision meant!" said Kaidan. "That must be the Conduit!"
"It's incredible!" said Liara.
"We don't have time to admire the view!" shouted Alan. "We've got to get through the relay, and those Geth aren't gonna make it easy for us!" He pointed at several enormous Geth armatures dotted around the base of the Conduit, which were already advancing on them, charging up their blasters. At the feet of the armatures were piles of wreckage, presumably belonging to the Forerunner Sentinels and Enforcers.
"Hang on!" shouted Shepard as she floored the accelerator. "It's gonna be a bumpy ride!"
The Mako charged towards the Relay, bouncing off the rough ground and being rocked from all sides by blaster fire. Alarms began to sound in the cabin as the shields on the Mako were whittled away to nothing. As the vehicle approached the Conduit, it was bathed in a glow of Element Zero, and was blasted at incredible speeds towards the Citadel. As it did so, Alan held on for dear life, hoping and praying that they were not too late.