Disclaimer: Much of the dialogue comes from the game, all credit goes to Bioware.
Chapter 12: The Last Defeat
Councilor Tevos instructed Shepard to search the asari temple for Athame on Thessia to find more information on the Catalyst. Shepard hoped this was not going to be another wild goose chase. The councilor refused to say what was in the temple, insisting that Shepard should "see for herself." The Reapers were invading more and more planets and the Alliance was running out of time. They had no choice but to investigate the temple. Shepard walked out of the War Room after speaking to Hackett about her upcoming assignment. He informed her that the Crucible was almost completely built and they were just waiting on the Catalyst to make it work. Hackett and many others shared Shepard's concern about the unknown weapon. Nobody knew what kind of damage it could deal and it if would wipe them out as well as the Reapers. It was a shame Javik had not been a scientist in his time; his assistance could have been invaluable.
"Commander, Thessia is under heavy Reaper attack!" Joker announced over the speakers. "There is activity across most of the planet." Shit we are too late.
"What about the temple? Can you raise the scientists?" Shepard stepped into the elevator, Liara right on her heels.
"Negative, communication is all scrambled. This mission is looking real dicey."
"It's now or never, Joker. We need to get down there."
"Shepard, that is my home down there." Liara's eyes were widened, anxiety surrounded her. "I have to go down there." Shepard hesitated. Liara was a valuable asset but these were her people dying on the planet, Shepard did not need a team member that was emotionally compromised.
"Please, Shepard."
After a moment Shepard nodded and they exited the elevator on the shuttle bay. She radioed Javik and Kaidan to suit up. Within minutes Cortez was flying them down to the burning planet below.
Liara's gaze never left the view screen during most of the shuttle ride. She was able to give only a little information on the temple. "It is surprising well classified and has government funding," Liara explained. Her light blue skin paled as another Reaper landed on the screen. Turning to Shepard she asked with desperation, "What if we are too late? Those are my people dying down there!"
Javik snorted, or what Shepard assumed was a snort, and addressed Liara. "Your empathy makes you weak. You must numb yourself to loss." Liara sat back in her seat, trying not to cry.
"Back off, Javik," Shepard whispered furiously to the prothean, he returned her glare evenly without backing down. Kaidan stepped up to Liara and put a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"You said your mom brought you to the temple?" He asked her gently.
"Yes, when I was a child." Liara opened her omni-tool, displaying a picture of Benezia. "I think there was more to the trips than a simple history lesson."
"What do you mean?" Kaidan prodded further. Javik turned away, pacing about the shuttle.
"I went digging through her old files. She had heavily encrypted records on this temple, some centuries old. I haven't been able to crack most of them. Whatever is down there, it is well hidden."
"Sounds like we are on the right track," Shepard commented. Javik approached Liara.
"I've studied your old mission reports. Your mother was indoctrinated." Liara bowed her head, shame crept up her cheeks. Shepard empathized with Liara, remembering how difficult it was for the young asari to fight her own mother.
"Yes, we had to kill her."
"Yet it did not stop you from fighting. As I said, steel yourself. Many more lives will be lost." Kaidan glared angrily at Javik and Shepard started to do the same. She knew the prothean was right, the death toll was going to get worse before the war was over but it was the last thing Liara needed to hear right now. Shepard sat down next to her hurting friend.
"We can't ignore that people are dying," she wrapped an arm around Liara's shoulders and sent Javik a pointed look. "The Reapers may not have mercy, but we do."
"It is their indifference that gives them power," Javik retorted.
"Then let's show them there is another way to win."
Cortez landed the shuttle and all four team members jumped out, guns blazing. The fight for Thessia had begun.
Shepard and the others had to carve a path to the temple through mass amount of Reaper forces. Husks and Cannibals attacked with a new found ferocity while leaving the Marauders to fire from cover. Shepard was grateful that her team was full of biotics. Her precise shots took care of the close range enemies leaving Kaidan and Javik to handle the protected Reapers. Her concern for Liara shot up drastically. The asari was all over the place, her fury taking control of every movement she made and every shot she took.
After the last round of enemies had been dealt with Javik rounded on Liara, snarling. "You are going to get yourself killed with your reckless behavior!" Liara stepped back, startled by the uncommon display of aggressive concern by the typically indifferent prothean. Her lip quivered slightly and she turned to Shepard.
"I'm sorry," she murmured, wiping the sweat off her brow. Shepard took her aside, a short distance away from the men.
"Are you sure you can do this, Liara? I need you at your best right now if we are going to get to the temple."
"I can do this, Shepard." Her posture straightened and a determination settled in her eyes. "I have to do this." Shepard nodded, leading Liara back to the group.
Reaching the temple took longer than expected, the Reaper forces seemed intent on stopping them at every turn. The temple was deserted when they finally arrived. Not even Reapers were in the area.
"Hello?" Liara called out. "Is anyone there?" There was no reply. Shepard stepped in cautiously, Kaidan at her flank. Liara walked ahead of them, scanning for the asari guides that were supposed to meet them.
"Something is wrong. Your scientists should be here," Javik pointed out.
"Maybe the Reapers got them," Kaidan suggested from his spot near a large shield artifact.
"Let's take a look around. Maybe one of these artifacts is what we need," Shepard gestured to the cases decorating the open room. Liara walked them through each artifact, explaining the significance of each one. Shepard was not the only one who noticed that the goddess Athame sounded more and more like a prothean, so did her guides Janiri and Lucen. And Javik was quick on pointing this out at each stop. Shepard could see that Liara was struggling with her temper as Javik commented that asari biotics came from protheans' years of genetic research.
"Athame was a prothean watching the asari grow," Javik stepped next to Liara. "Why can you not see that as the truth?"
"You don't know that!" Liara snapped back, stalking away from the old warrior. Kaidan knelt down next to several bodies.
"It's the scientists." He pointed to their wounds. "Their throats were slit; I doubt the Reapers did this." Shepard walked up to the massive statue in the back of the temple. She craned her neck to see the face of what she assumed was an asari.
"Who is this?" She asked, glancing at Liara.
"That is the goddess Athame. Her image became more like ours over time." Liara's voice faded as Shepard drew closer to the statue. A powerful surge sent ingles up her spine. There was more here then what was on display.
"You mean your ancestors tried to hide the truth," Javik retorted, chuckling at Liara's scowl.
"I'm still not willing to believe any of that is truth."
Kaidan rejoined the group. "It does seem pretty reasonable to me. That asari looks a lot like a prothean." Kaidan pointed to Athame.
"How do you explain why Athame speaks prothean?" Javik looked around, suddenly alert. "There is something here, I can sense it."
"There is a prothean beacon here," Shepard spoke up. Liara came to her side.
"Are you sure?" Shepard nodded.
"It's not something you forget."
Kaidan snorted in the background, "No kidding."
Liara glanced around, brows furrowed. "But why would they hide it?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Javik looked out at the battlefield of Thessia. "Power and Influence. Your people are hoarding the knowledge of my race for their own gain." Liara shook her head vigorously.
"I can't believe my people would keep this a secret."
"A beacon like this could explain why the asari are so advanced," Kaidan pointed out while examining the statue for a way to break through it.
Javik nodded in agreement. "This temple is thousands of years old. Time enough to make serious progress." Shepard contained the fury she felt rising. If the asari had just shared the beacon then the whole Reaper war might have been avoided. Liara continued to argue on behalf of her people and it took all Shepard was not to snap at her friend. She calmed herself and remembered that Liara was as much in the dark as the rest of them. The asari government was to blame, not Liara. Shepard couldn't resist a snarky remark however.
"The asari should have shared this knowledge. We might not have been in this mess if they had."
"You don't know that, Shepard," Liara said quietly. "We don't know what's going on here."
"I know we don't have much time," the Commander stated. "Let's check the artifacts to see if they can help us activate the beacon." Sure enough some of the artifacts produced a signal that shot a beam to the statue. Liara and Javik were still quarreling as Shepard and Kaidan searched the artifacts.
"This confirms the asari owe your superiority to my people." Javik was just trying to irk Liara and it was working. She spun on her heels coming face to face with the ancient warrior.
"And you owe the Mass Effect relays to the Reapers. How did that work out?"
Javik's mouth twitched upwards. "So you do bite. Good. I like that." Shepard and Kaidan locked eyes before turning around to stare at Javik. He realized what he said and stalked off mumbling, "what are we wasting time for? We need one more artifact." Liara shrugged but smiled to herself. His icy demeanor was finally starting to crack. They found the last artifact and the statue crumbled around them, revealing the prothean beacon.
A green drone shot out, scanning the area. It studied the battle outside the temple before returning to the group.
"Reaper presence detected. This galactic cycle has already reached its extinction terminus. Shutting down systems." Shepard panicked. They needed this data.
"Hold on! We need answers. We need to know what the Catalyst is to finish the Crucible."
The VI materialized into the form of a prothean though this one was clearer than the one on Illos. "The project Crucible was headed by my creator Pashek Vran who died in the battle of Tranbir Nine. Your time is also at an end."
"So the protheans had the Crucible? Why didn't they deploy it?"
"We were sabotaged from within. A group we later found out was indoctrinated argued that we should dominate the Reapers rather than destroy them."
"Sounds familiar," Kaidan quirked.
"And now we are facing the same problem." Shepard grimaced as she noticed an explosion off in the distance. "But there is still hope for this cycle. We need to know what the Catalyst is. Trillions of lives are at risk."
The VI eyed her evenly. "Trillions of lives are always at risk. But if the Reapers have arrived to end your cycle, this discussion is too late."
"We can break the cycle! We are almost done with the Crucible now."
"The Crucible is the work of countless galactic cycles tracing back millions of years. Each cycle adds to it but none have defeated the Reapers with it."
"Then we will be the first. Tell us what the Catalyst is." The VI looked as if it would tell her but it suddenly transformed back into the drone shape and shot back to the statue.
"Indoctrinated presence detected. Activating security protocol."
"Someone's coming!" Kaidan shouted; pistol aimed at the approaching figure. Kei Leng sauntered into view; a gunship appeared in the background. Shepard took point beside Kaidan as the others joined them, guns drawn.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Shepard shouted at the Cerberus agent, though she already knew the answer.
"Someone would like to speak to you." A small drone flew out of Leng's hand stopping in front of Shepard. The Illusive Man materialized before her, a cigarette in his hand.
"Shepard." The commander scowled fiercely, eyeing Leng from across the room.
"How did you find this place?"
"The archives on Mars. Or did the Shadow Broker miss that one?" Liara stepped forward.
"Show yourself. I promise I won't miss."
The Illusive Man walked through Shepard and approached the newly found beacon.
"Stick to your talents, Dr. T'soni. You've helped uncover the key to subjugating the Reapers."
Shepard growled low in her throat, stalking off to face her nemesis.
"You cannot control the Reapers! You are wasting your time when you should be trying to help us stop them. The Reapers will never be controlled." The hologram studied her evenly, tilting his head.
"With your son we have a good chance." Shepard itched to strangle the man before her.
"You soulless bastard!" She snarled, inching closer to stare him in the eyes. "You took my son away from me and used him as some kind of biotic experiment and you think I'm going to let you use him again? You have lost your mind."
"I saved your child," his tone grew agitated as it often did when talking to Shepard. "If it hadn't been for me, you and your son would be nothing but a frozen corpse on Alchera."
"That doesn't give you the right to take him and not tell me that my child survived."
"If I had told you he would have been a distraction and we needed you focused on fighting the Collectors." Shepard spun around and stalked back towards Leng, her pistol trained on him.
"Enough talk. You kidnapped my son and when you couldn't get him back you exposed my personal life for the whole galaxy to see. I will not help you." The hologram followed her closely, coming to stand between her and Kaidan.
"That boy has amazing potential; unlike any biotic I have ever seen. He was able to control the adjutants without any struggle. He can help us to control the Reapers." Shepard ignored him, her fingers gripped the trigger. He faced Kaidan to make another appeal.
"You are a biotic too. Don't you realize that your son would be seen as a hero if he helped us? Human biotics would no longer be seen as freaks. Don't you want him to grow up in a universe where he is not judged for being more powerful than everyone else?" Kaidan's face was alive with rage; his own biotics bathed him in the familiar electric glow.
"Go to hell," was Kaidan's only reply, before returning his attention back at Leng. The Illusive Man scowled and moved to the beacon.
"Damn it, Shepard! Destroying the Reapers gains us nothing."
"This isn't about what we gain," Shepard argued, looking over her shoulder at him. "The Reapers are slaughtering us by the millions every day. We can destroy them and we are wasting time by fighting each other."
"They are just trying to control us. Think about it, if they wanted all organic life destroyed they could do it. There would be nothing left."
"What the hell are you talking about?"
"I know them, Shepard. I know how they think." The look in his eyes immediately reminded her of Saren after he accepted Sovereign's implants.
"I think you have gotten too close to the enemy. They are dragging you over to their side, to their way of thinking." He did not reply, choosing to gaze out at the warzone instead. Shepard walked over to him, to make one last appeal.
"If you truly care about humanity, you'll stop fighting me. You'll join me." He nodded and Shepard felt a spark of hope. The Illusive Man brushed past her and rejoined Leng.
"Leng, the Commander has something I need. Please relieve her of it." With that he dissolved back into the drone and flew into Leng's hands. Shepard sighed, feeling pity for the Illusive Man, he was indoctrinated; there was no longer any doubt of that. Leng brandished his sword, dropping into an attack stance. Kaidan Pushed out at Leng, knocking the man back slightly but he managed to stay on his feet. Shepard fired several rounds but Leng's barrier was near infallible.
"Kaidan! Hack his barrier!" Shepard ordered and the Major overloaded the barrier with his omni-tool but was only able to get it down for several brief seconds. It was just enough. Liara and Javik provided cover fire while Shepard moved in closer. She reloaded and emptied her clip into Leng, hitting him in the arm twice. He dropped his sword before the barrier was back up. Her confidence grew and she knew he would be unable to stop all four of them with just his gun. Leng stood shakily and activated his comm.
"Target the supports." The gunship reappeared and fired two missiles into the temple. The resounding explosion sent the team flying backwards, Sheppard knocked her head into a pillar. Concrete fell in chunks as Leng walked to the beacon and downloaded its information. Shepard leapt up, racing towards him in a dizzy haze. The head wounds were getting old. A pillar began to fall and Shepard had to roll out of the way to avoid it collapsing on her. The pillar landed in a loud crash and shattered the floor under it, sending Shepard flailing down to the caverns housing the prothean beacon below the temple. She gripped onto a ledge and hung on tightly, calling out for help. Kaidan appeared at the top and dropped down to a lower ledge to reach her. Her fingers began to slip.
"Shepard, hang on!" He reached out his hand and took hold of her arm using his impressive strength to pull her up in one jerk. They both took after Leng but he had already entered the gunship. She fired pointlessly at the ship watching in despair as he sped off in the distance. Three more Reapers landed in view and all around her she could hear the dying screams of asari through the comm. Cortez landed the shuttle and the team walked to it with downtrodden steps. Thessia had fallen.
Tara walked out of the comm. room after her brief interview with Councilor Tevos. Naturally the councilor was devastated to hear the news and hung up before Tara could offer an apology. EDI approached her.
"Asari forces are in full retreat. It is no longer safe for us to remain in this system." Tara glanced at Liara who was biting her lip in an effort to hold back the tears. Tara didn't want to abandon the asari down below but they had little choice now.
"Get us out here," Tara instructed as she walked over to the center console. Liara came up next to her.
"Shepard," her voice cracked slightly. "No one could have known Cerberus would get there before us." Tara's frown deepened and she shook her head.
"It is my job to be prepared, no matter what." She looked around at each of the team members that had gathered. "I am sick of Cerberus beating us to the punch. We need to find out where they are and take the fight to them!" Heads nodded and sounds of approval echoed the room. Traynor stepped forward.
"I was able to track Leng's shuttle through the relay to the Lera system but his signal is being actively blocked."
"What is in the Lera system that is causing this?" Tara asked but Traynor just shrugged.
"I did not find anything significant. Horizon is the only habitable planet in that region."
Kaidan came up to Shepard. "I was stationed on Horizon-"
"We remember," Garrus interrupted, receiving several quiet chuckles in response. Kaidan rolled his eyes and continued.
"You guys were the only Cerberus presence while I was there. I wonder what they are doing now."
"What about Sanctuary?" A childish voice sounded over the speaker. The vid comm. came on with Joker sitting in his chair and Matthew just barely appearing into the feed.
"Sanctuary is supposed to be a safe haven for war refugees," EDI supplied. Tara looked up at the feed, addressing her son.
"How do you know about Sanctuary?"
"The Illusive Man said he wanted me to go there after Omega."
"Do you know why?" Kaidan asked Matthew.
"The scientists said my biotics might work there too." Tara and Kaidan exchanged glances.
"The Illusive Man told us that Matthew was the key to controlling the Reapers maybe they are doing similar experiments on Horizon like they did on Omega," Kaidan reasoned.
"Either way we need that data and I am not letting Cerberus get ahead of us again. Set a course for Horizon," Shepard instructed Joker. He nodded before switching off the comm. The team was dismissed and Tara made her way to cockpit to check on her pilot. The door opened and Joker spun around to greet her.
"Guess the asari are wishing they had fewer dancers and more commandos right about now." It took everything Tara had not to rip him a new one. She patted Matthew on the head and asked him to go play so she could speak to Joker privately. Once he was gone she rounded on the pilot.
"In case you didn't look out the window the whole time we were on Thessia, we just lost a few million people," Tara snapped, her eyes narrowed. "Now is not the time for jokes."
Joker spun around to face the console and pulled up a small planet on his screen. "You see this colony?" He glanced over his shoulder. "It's called Tiptree, out in the ass-end of nowhere. My dad and sister live there. The Reapers rolled in about a week ago." His chair spun around again. Next to him EDI spared a concerned glance in their direction.
"You can generally assume that I'm aware there is a war on."
Tara's features softened. It was obvious that Joker was very concerned about his family.
"So why the jokes?"
"EDI says that you are under more stress now then during the Skyllian Blitz. More than even Elysium. And the last time I talked to Anderson, he told me to take care of you." That surprised Tara. Anderson had more than enough to be concerned about than her well being. Joker seemed to agree with her.
"The guy leading the resistance on Earth is worried about you. And he expects me to help."
Tara shook her head. "I appreciate the thought Joker but I am fine."
"The hell you are!" Joker snapped, stunning Tara and EDI both. He lowered his voice quickly, "You're like half robot at this point and it's all my fault. You died because I wouldn't leave. You died saving me."
"I couldn't leave you behind," Tara stated simply, as if that explained everything.
"Maybe you should have." He held up a hand to stop her from interrupting. "If you had gotten on the escape pod instead of coming after me then maybe the Reapers would have been stopped by now. You would have had Matthew from the beginning and he never would have been in the hands of Cerberus."
He paused briefly, struggling with his words. "If you had not died then Kaidan would have never hated me. And you two would probably be married by now. By killing you I ruined everything."
Tara stood right in front of him, forcing him to make eye contact.
"You did not kill me. That attack was not your fault, it was the Collectors. You did everything you could to save us and the ship." Joker shrugged away but Tara turned the chair back to face her. "I will not ever leave one of my crew behind for any reason. It is time for all of us to move on, to forgive and forget. Including you Joker." He stared at her for a moment before nodding slowly.
"Aye aye, Commander." Tara smiled in satisfaction. It was a major step in the right direction. Now was the time for healing, while they still had the chance.
"Commander, you may want to check in on Javik," EDI suggested. "He and Liara are having a…lively discussion." That meant there was going to be a fight. Tara had dealt with angry biotics several times during her mission as a Cerberus agent. Miranda and Jack had more than one debate that almost ended with detached body parts and bloody walls.
"Thanks EDI, I'll head down there now."
A small crowd had gathered outside of Javik's door with Kaidan and Adams barely keeping them from breaking down the door in hopes of seeing a biotic fight.
"Everyone back to your stations," Kaidan commanded, his stern tone startling the crowd and they left, sulking back to their posts.
"Thank you, Kaidan. I can handle it from here." Tara entered the room and found herself in the middle of a heated battle of anger and pride.
"Those were all lies back there!"Liara screamed at the prothean, her hands shook wildly.
"They were not," Javik replied steadily, his stance one of stubbornness but he did not appear agitated by her furious manner.
"My people were not animals for your kind to experiment on!"
"You wanted to know more about your history, asari. Now you do."
Liara lit up like a blue Christmas tree. "My. Name. Is. Liara," she snarled, stepping forward menacingly. Tara reached for her and pulled Liara back to her side.
"Calm down! Both of you," she glanced at Javik to let him know she was including him.
"My home was just destroyed and all he can do is gloat," Liara's voice cracked, several tears escaped their prison and streamed down her cheeks.
"Javik…" Tara pleaded, silently begging the warrior to step in and apologize.
"I have done nothing wrong."
"You didn't do anything?! You didn't do enough!" Liara broke away from Tara and stormed up to Javik. "You are a prothean; you were supposed to have all the answers. You were supposed to stop this from happening."
"We believed you would," Javik responded quietly. "Long ago we saw the potential in your people, the wisdom, the patience. You were the best hope for this cycle. So the asari were…guided, when necessary."
Liara huffed, "Well it didn't work."
"You are still alive are you not?" He tentatively placed a hand on her forearm. "Your world may have fallen but as long as even one asari still stands, the fight is not over."
Her eyes brightened, as the tears began to fade. "I guess that goes for protheans too."
"Despair is the enemy's greatest weapon. Do not let them wield it…Liara." The young asari smiled her thanks and turned to leave, nodding at Tara before exiting the room.
"Thank you, she needed to hear that," Tara offered her gratitude to Javik who shrugged it off.
"As long as she believes this war can be won, she will keep fighting. That she retains her will to live and succeed; that is what matters most, Commander." Javik looks over at her in almost an afterthought. "You may still want to make sure that she is ok." Tara nodded and followed her friend's path to the elevator, mulling over Javik's new found concern for Liara. Kaidan watched her walk away, as if every step was more painful than the last. He resolved to finish his work quickly, Tara needed him, even if she wouldn't admit it.
Tara collapsed onto the bed, not even bothering to take off her boots. Her talk with Liara had been productive and encouraging. The Shadow Broker was now back to work, assisting with the refugees and whatever else it was that a shadow broker does. Tara knew the pain would not fade anytime soon but Liara was strong and the asari would triumph over the despair. However Tara doubted the same could be said of herself.
She buried her face in Kaidan's pillow and inhaled his scent, allowing it to temporarily soothe her. Kaidan was still on duty assisting Adams in engineering. Tara was glad that he was not here to see her break. The screams of agony, the echoes of Reapers demolishing everything in their path, all of the fall assaulted her now and she could not block out the images. Her body shook and she squeezed her eyes in an effort to hold back the flood of anguish but several tears break through; a miserable attempt at being strong.
The councilor had been devastated, Hackett was disappointed and Liara was crushed. Tara tried to be strong for all of them but the burden had become too heavy to bear. The defeat was a slap in the face, a cruel mockery of her attempt at peace. Silent sobs racked her whole body; she was unable to hold back anymore. Millions upon millions of people relied on her. They expected her to save them all but she couldn't even stop Cerberus. How did they expect her to stop the Reapers? Was she just struggling against the inevitable? She fought to catch her breath, to slow the streams down her face, but to no avail.
The door opened letting in a little light on the darkened room. Heavy boots struck the floor as they approached her bed. Tara wiped her eyes, trying to hide her shame. Tender lips pressed against her forehead as strong arms gathered her against a muscular chest. She opened her eyes to see Kaidan gazing into her blue depths.
"It was not your fault, Tara." The screams of the dead flooded her ears, arguing against her supposed innocence. She shook her head and tried to squirm out of Kaidan's grasp but he only held her tighter. Her own strength was no match for his and eventually she allowed him to comfort her as the shaking subsided.
"I love you and I believe in you. No matter how many times you fall I will always be there to catch you." He kissed her lips before pressing her head back to his chest. "Cerberus will be defeated. The Reapers will be destroyed. You can count on it."
"Thank you," she whispered meekly, allowing him to lay them both down on the bed. She hugged him as if she believed him and for now that would have to be enough. He believed in her even if she did not believe in herself.
I know that we have all played the games and I often debate on whether or not to add scenes and dialogue from the actual missions. In this chapter I felt that what was said between the characters in the Thessia mission both during and after were very important to the game so I saw the need to add them. I will try to not write word for word what is in the game but sometimes it is necessary. If anyone has any suggestions or ideas that they would like to see implemented please let me know.
And I do apologize for taking so long to post this. I just lost my grandfather to cancer so it has been a rough couple of weeks. But I promise the next chapter will not take as long, hopefully by the end of the week. Please R and R, it is always appreciated.
