Chapter 11: Willpower

Rain was starting to come down in the area of the dig site. Dozens of workers were rushing to cover the excavation equipment from the rain. Shepard and Tali arrived at the dig site in a flying vehicle. They were both dressed in civilian clothing. It landed next to a tent. The side of the vehicle opened up and the two got out of their vehicle. Tali held out her hands and let the rain hit her bare arms. She closed her eyes and smiled. Water droplets rolled down the sides of her arms.

"This is the first time you've felt rain," Shepard commented.

"Yes," Tali replied with a slight amount of pleasure to her voice. "I-It... Feels good."

Shepard softly grabbed her hands. "Come on, my love. The last leg of the journey is here. Once this is all over, we'll dance in the rain."

Tali laughed. "You got yourself a deal."

They were greeted by Admiral Rubia and a small group of soldiers who saluted Shepard upon his arrival. "Commander," Rubia said. "A pleasure to have you here." He glanced at Tali. "I see you brought her."

A little anger seeped into Shepard. "Not really a smart move to be disrespectful toward your Commanding Officer's girlfriend, Admiral."

"Apologies. The temple is just at the end of that tunnel. All crew has been called back from the temple so you can open it."

"We won't be long."

A large hole was in the ground. It was surrounded by a large hill of dirt. The hole was circular in shape, indicating the plasma drill they used to dig. The tunnel went into the ground at a twenty degree angle. Every ten feet was a small light to illuminate the tunnel. Due to the depth of the temple, the tunnel ran for one mile. It took Shepard and Tali around ten minutes to see the end of the tunnel. It led to a large cavern. The walls were jagged and covered in blue and green crystals. The lights placed in the cavern caused hues of green and blue to fill the area. It was breath taking.

"Keelah," Tali gasped. "This... This is so beautiful."

"I've never seen anything like this," Shepard added.

"Thank you for bringing me along."

Shepard flashed her a smile and squeezed a little around her waist. In the center of the cavern was the temple. It was slightly larger and covered in more symbols than the other temples. As Shepard and Tali approached the temple, the symbols lit up and the doorway opened. They went inside and saw the identical control room arrangement as the previous three temples. Shepard approached the console and activated it. The hologram of a Prothean appeared before them.

"I am Seer. I do not detect the taint of indoctrination upon you two. You are here for the coordinates of Omega and the IFF."

Shepard did a double take. "Wait, we need an IFF to get to Omega?"

"Yes. It was to protect the station."

"What was the station for?"

"Data unavailable."

Shepard relented. "I'll take the coordinates and IFF."

Shepard's omni-tool flashed.

"It is done," the VI said before disappearing.

"And now you'll give us the coordinates and IFF, Commander."

Shepard and Tali turned to see Admiral Rubia and his soldiers. They had their M-8 Avengers aimed at them.

"What the hell is going on Admiral?" Tali yelled.

"You're Cerberus," Shepard cursed.

"Yes," Rubia replied. "You have been a thorn in the side of the Illusive Man for too long, but now you have given us the key to ending the Reaper menace and the control over the galaxy. Give me both of your omni-tools, and we will be on our way."

Shepard and Tali slid off their omni-tools and tossed them over to the Admiral. He smiled.

"Good. Now we must take our leave. I would order my men to shoot you both dead, but the Illusive Man made it clear he wanted to make you two suffer. We're sealing the tunnel and cutting the lights. You two will slowly die from thirst while stuck in darkness. And don't think anyone will find you in time. It took nearly a week just to dig out this tunnel. You'll both be long dead before they dig another. And that's assuming they find out right away. It'll be over a day before they send someone to investigate. And even longer before they realize you're stuck below. Enjoy your time."

"You won't get away with this!" Shepard roared.

Rubia and his squad only laughed as they left the temple. Once they went up the tunnel a small explosion was made, sealing it. The sound of small controlled explosion after explosion was made.

"Damn it!" Tali screamed. She slammed her fist against the wall. "Damn Cerberus! Damn them! We were going to have a future! A planet. A family." Tears poured down her cheeks.

Shepard rushed next to her and grabbed her hands before she could slam them anymore into the wall. "Tali!" He tightly held her hands. "Listen to me. Listen to me. We are going to make it out of this. We're going to have a planet." Shepard looked her in the eyes. "We're going to have a family."

Tali saw in his eyes the same fire as he expressed in any impossible situation.

"This isn't the first impossible situation we've been in. Just like before, we'll find a way out. I promise you that."

"I-I'm sorry, I-I panicked."

Shepard smiled. "You have nothing to be sorry about. I'll think of a way out."

"Perhaps I can help," an unknown voice said.

They turned to see the hologram activated again.

"The VI?" Tali mumbled.

"I'm not a VI."

"Then an AI," Shepard asked.

"No."

"Y-You're a Prothean."

"Yes." The being saw the look on Shepard's and Tali's face. "Don't look that surprised. If I recall, a recent American President served his last term in a state similar to mine. This temple is able to dig through the ground, but before you two leave there is much you must know."

"Who are you exactly?"

"I was the head scientists from Ilos. When we returned to the Citadel, after the Reapers left the galaxy, we reprogrammed the Keepers to stop them from sending out the signal that would call forth the Reaper fleet. But that's not all we did." A hologram appeared showing a dreadnaught ship. The same one from Shepard's vision. "We found the plans by a science group that also wanted to stop the cycle of extinction. They wanted to create a new citadel by using drones to modify a dreadnaught using the resources of a given system. This Citadel would override the old Citadel and fool the Reaper fleet into appearing at it instead of Alpha. Citadel Delta. But they did this project during the Reaper invasion and so the Reapers soon found out about this new construction. They entered the system and took over and indoctrinated the scientists there. To ensure no one would find it, they encoded an IFF program to ensure only their indoctrinated slaves and Reapers could reach it."

"But if they already have another Citadel, then why haven't they come through it?" Tali inquired.

"Because they modified it to suit their own purposes. Long before they knew that Alpha was useless to them."

"What did the Reapers turn it into?" Shepard followed up with.

"I think you already know."

Shepard's eyes widen. "The Collector Base."

"Oh Keelah."

"Correct. The Reapers modified the structure before it was complete. Turning it into a Reaper construction site and the base of their indoctrinated slaves. Every cycle they have to have a new race of slaves to replace the ones before. The Collectors were cloned to the point where tech wasn't going to be enough to compensate for their disadvantages. I assume that this cycle, they will select any leftover humans as the new 'Collectors'. All other races will either be eliminated or turned into husks."

"Why did you want to create another Citadel?" Shepard asked. "I still don't see the reason why you would make the other."

"It's a trap. The function of Citadel Delta and Omega is to destroy the entire Reaper fleet. I assume you remember Haestrom, Miss Zorah?"

"How do you know her name or Haestrom?" Shepard interrupted.

"I'm not confined to this temple, Commander Shepard." The hologram's lights filled the room. His voice sounded almost god-like. "I am able to infiltrate the extranet and communications networks. I have been watching this galaxy for over fifty thousand years. This is why I did not reveal myself right away. I intercepted communications from Cerberus about Rubia. So I hid until he was gone." The lights condensed to the console. His voice returned to normal. "Though back to Haestrom. Miss Zorah, the sun was dying due to dark energy build-up in its core, correct?"

"Y-Yes."

"That's exactly what we were trying to do. The sun around Delta went off prematurely which signaled to the Reapers of its existence. We rechecked the last team's calculations. We made adjustments so that the sun in Omega's system would not explode until the right time came. During the station's construction projectiles were fired over time to age the sun at a faster rate. By this time, the sun is on the verge of going supernova. The last projectile has to be activated manually in the station. Once this projectile is launched, the one who activated it has twenty minutes to leave the system or be destroyed."

A joy came to Shepard. "So we allow Sacrosanct to call forth the Reaper fleet, keep them distracted just long enough for a team to launch the projectile, and then we let the Reapers get destroyed by the supernova."

"I doubt we can get the Reapers to just hold still long enough to be destroyed," Tali countered.

"True," Seer said. "That's why the station has a virus that will upload to Sacrosanct, ten minutes after the Reaper fleet arrives. Sacrosanct will be attached to the center tower. This viral program will freeze all of the Reapers in the system long enough for the projectile to destroy the sun. This will also grant time for any non-infected ships to leave the system."

"This is it! The way to destroy the Reapers."

"But how do we get an IFF to reach Omega?" Shepard asked.

"You'll need to go to the Prothean homeworld. Without your omni-tool, there's only one way to show you the location. I'll implant it into your mind, along with the coordinates of the relay to Citadel Omega."

Shepard glanced at Tali who looked concern. "It'll be okay." He stepped forward. Green energy surrounded him causing him to levitate. Images of the Prothean homeworld flashed through his head. Those weren't the only images that flashed through his head. Images of prehistoric humans being experimented on by the Protheans flashed through his head. The montage of images soon stopped and he was returned to the ground. He knew the location of the Prothean homeworld, the same way he knew the location of Mindoir.

"You experimented on humans!" Shepard accused.

"Sadly, yes," Seer replied. "Survivors studied the races that would most likely be the next generation. We needed to know if they would stand a chance. Despite my colleagues' insistence that the most successful race was going to be either the Asari or Turians, I knew otherwise. I knew you humans would be the ones to break the cycle. That is why I uploaded my mind into the temple here as oppose to the other temples."

"What makes humans so special?"

"You ever wondered what indoctrination is?"

Shepard raised a brow at the question. "Some sort of signal transmitted by Reaper tech that brainwashes people into becoming their slaves."

"Partially true."

"What do you mean?"

"Indoctrination is not Reaper tech."

"Then whose tech is it?" Tali demanded.

"It's not tech." The being pulled out a holographic image of a human. "Indoctrination is actually the concentrated version of a biological signal that is given off by every living organism in the galaxy." A faint light surrounded the human, similar to the flow of dark energy around a biotic. "While we do not fully understand why every organism has this trait or how it works exactly, we do know that it is imperative that it exists for every living thing. The more evolved a creature is, the stronger the signal. Not only that, the signal varies within a specie. This is why you'll have leaders and followers."

"So every creature has the ability to brain wash others?" Shepard asked.

"No, only at the concentration level of that of Reapers can brainwash others. Since a Reaper is made up of millions of individuals, it has the ability to indoctrinate. Look back on your own history, Shepard. Wars that were fought. In cases where even when a force was outnumbered or outmatched, you'll have extraordinary tales of leaders beating the odds through tactics and inspiration of his or her troops. You think words are enough to push a soldier passed their limits? No. This biological signal transmitted from an individual can make others work harder, fight more fiercely than physically possible."

The memory of his conversation with Legion passed through Shepard's mind. All of his squad fought more fiercely in his presence. "You still did not answer my question."

"Humanity is unique. While other races still follow this balance of... willpower, Humanity is different. Within your race, this strength spikes higher than any other race. This makes great leaders in your race very powerful. This is why the Reapers wanted your people. I sense this signal emanating from you. It is more powerful than I have ever recorded out of any race. This is why so many follow you without question. You have an aura that drives others towards a common purpose. With this power you have the ability to bring salvation to this galaxy."

Shepard looked to Tali. "It's time to end this."

Her arms went to her side and nodded confidently.

"Then it is time for you to leave." Blue lights lit up around the temple. Beams shot out and hit specific crystals along the walls of the cavern. They reflected back to the tip of the pyramid. A large beam shot upwards and blew a hole through the ceiling. Sun light crept in through the hole. The temple shook as it rose upwards.

Shepard held onto Tali as the room shook. The rumbling started to settle as the temple left the ground. Once it got ten feet off of the ground it went quickly upwards and through the hole. Light came in through the doorway of the temple. The temple landed about twenty feet away from the hole in the ground.

Shepard and Tali walked towards the doorway, but Seer called out, "Wait!"

Shepard turned back.

"Before you go, I wish to ask you a favor." The being looked him in the eyes. "Please destroy my console. I wish to finally be put to rest."

"Shepard, he's a Prothean," Tali said. "He could provide invaluable insight to their culture, technology and history."

"Please. I have existed for over fifty thousand years. All information will still be available in this temple's database, just not my personal experience. Immortality is depressing and I just want to be put to rest."

Shepard walked over to his console and pressed a few buttons. "Rest now," he whispered.

"Thank you," Seer said before vanishing.

"Are you sure that was the right thing to do?" Tali asked.

"He's already done enough for this galaxy. He deserves to be put at peace."