*EARTH*
SOL RELAY
"With disbelieving incredulity: Impossible. With increasing dread: Is that who I think it is surrounding it?"
Kapena's question hung in the air unanswered as the MASSIVE figure of the Citadel could be seen drawing closer and closer. The arms were closed, expanding as it drew closer to Earth much too fast, giving the appearance of a spider moving through space.
But more frightening than that were the multiple figures flanking the massive station. At first glance, I had thought in a panic that the Reapers had seized control of the station. However… as the Citadel drew nearer…
"SENESCHAL."
The Mind-Share hit me with all the subtlety of a train-wreck. Along with a sense of intense dread.
"Xiz'matchi…"
"WE SERVE AND OBEY THE FIRST MASTERS."
Leviathans.
God FUCKING DAMN IT.
"THE DARKNESS MUST NOT BE BREACHED."
The Mind-Palace, or Mind-Ruin, as it perhaps could be called (now) came into startling vivid clarity. And across the expanse, staring back at me, was the figure of a Leviathan.
"ORDAINED…"
"Levi…" I answered cautiously, trying to keep Ko'le and Beast's respective contempt and hate out of my voice. "The FUCK are you doing here?"
"WE HAVE COME TO FINISH THIS FIGHT."
"NOooo," I said slowly, "That's why I'm doing."
A shuddering of amusement came through the Mind-Share, with the same haughty distain as when a toddler tells you they have built a castle.
"IF YOU HAD TEN THOUSAND TIMES MORE SHIPS, IT WOULD TAKE ONE OF YOUR FINITE LIFETIMES TO HUNT OUR CREATIONS DOWN AND PURGE THEM FROM THE GALAXY."
Shit.
Father damned-
"What have you done?" I asked 'aloud'. Unfortunately, I was pretty sure of what that answer was going to be.
"WE HAVE, TO BORROW YOUR QUAINT MORTAL PHRASES, 'PLAYED OUR HAND.'"
A sinking feeling crept into the pit of my stomach.
"And what in the Father's Name does that mean?"
"WE HAVE USED THE CITADEL FOR ITS ORIGINAL PURPOSE: TO DISPATCH AND TO SUMMON OUR CREATIONS ACROSS THE GALAXY."
My fists clenched reflexively.
"To summon… Father and Mother, you didn't…."
The Mind-Share ended, and I was once again on the deck of the Iswanee, helplessly watching the folly of the Leviathans unfold.
With a crackling WHOOSH, a blue bolt fired from the Presidium Tower, from a location I already knew to be the Relay Monument. The work of Saren Arterius, the goal of Nazara's entire geth campaign, was accomplished in a flicker of an eye.
A bolt detonated, and a black Void opened, brilliant and beautiful as it was terrifying.
From which Reapers began to pour through. HUNDREDS OF THEM.
"With growing dread: Father and Mother save us," Kapena said slowly.
Within seconds, our carefully-orchestrated plan to repulse the Reaper counter-attack went from 'Not Bad' to 'Absolute SHIT.' Frigates, destroyers, and dreadnoughts were torn apart by the sheer firepower of the Reapers, and we had not been in any sort of position to coordinate our fire.
"Reapers-FUCKING-appear-directly-via-wormhole" had not been on ANY of our contingency plans or back-up plans.
Father save us, it hadn't even been on my 'Everything-goes-FUBAR' plan.
On top of the screams and panicked cries of captains trying to get their fleets in some kind of formation, reports came streaming in of crewmembers suddenly going black-eyed, or passing out altogether.
DAMN YOU, LEVI!
And THEN Memoriam Station began to move.
"Renin, REPORT! What's going on?" I asked, already dreading the answer.
"Imperator," came the batarian captain's reply. "… we've lost control of the station. All systems are non-responsive!"
God FUCKING-
And then the suddenly the Leviathan's voices were in our heads.
ALL OF OUR HEADS.
"THE CRUCIBLE IS THE END, MORTALS. THE END OF OUR ANCESTORS' FOLLY: THE END OF OUR EXILE."
"Enough of this Bullshit," I winced, "Nom! Put us inside that station!"
"Yes, Boss-clan," Nom wheezed, his voice sounding strained, but the Iswanee swung left and low, taking us towards the massive Inusannon Station that was now tipping over, creeping closer and closer to the now-open Citadel and the Presidium Tower. Panels that I didn't even know existed unfolded, and the giant focusing dish drifted into place and docked with the Citadel, ironically gently and calmly, given the apocalypse unfolding around it.
And then the giant figure of a Leviathan gorram appeared in front of us. The massive tentacles seized the ancient vessel in an impossible grip as lights flickered and alarms began blaring from every corner of the control panel.
"YOU CANNOT HOPE TO RESIST," came the voice in our head again.
Kapena let out some sort of groan and slumped over in his chair, wincing in incredible pain. Above and below, I'm pretty sure I heard the twins screaming in agony.
Or maybe that was just me.
"ALL SHALL KNEEL BEFORE THE FIRST MASTERS."
And then a familiar voice cut into the horrifically painful sound of the Leviathan's drawl:
"Not… all."
A blue beam of the Agamemnon's Thanix cannon streaked across the Leviathan's side, causing it to screech in pain, releasing the Iswanee.
The incessant pain ceased in a blissful moment of relief, and then my Omni-Tool beeped. Morinth's face appeared in the viewscreen.
And her eyes were as black as night.
"Morinth!" I called out in alarm. "Are you alrigh-"
"Losing… control… lover boy," the Ardat Yakshi gasped, her every word a painful gasp. "They're in… our heads… damn implants…such a goddess-damn fool.."
"Get your sisters out of here, Morinth!' I shouted, cursing my helplessness. Morinth only shook her head in answer.
"Gotta…Clear the way for you… My Love. Ee-rah…"
"Morinth," I breathed, rising panic in my chest, then my voice rising into a frenzied cry, "No, don't do it! NO! DO. NOT. DO IT!"
The Ardat-Yakshi snarled in terrible pain, and then for a brief instant, her eyes cleared and she and her sisters behind her cried their defiance to the Eldritch horrors in that threatened to overwhelm their minds:
"WE. ARE. NOT. YOUR. SLAVES!"
I was only vaguely aware of my screams as we beheld the Agamemnon collide with the Lovecraftian monster, the ship's implosion ripping impossibly-ancient organic flesh apart.
*LONDON*
UNITED KINGDOM
EARTH
SOL RELAY
"We have to pull back," Major Coats gasped, his rib still stinging where he had taken that Brute's hit.
Urdnot Dagg reloaded and nodded agreement.
"They're sending a shit-ton of those Marauders and Brutes our way," he growled. "Too many for even my lads to handle."
General Corinthus nodded, the turian folding his hands behind his back, studying the map the major had placed in front of him.
"Where are we now?" he asked, peering at the twisted roads and alleyways.
"Here, sir,' Coats answered, putting a finger on the holo-display. "Waltham Cross. And the goddam Reapers are sending their lads straight down here, down High Street."
"Very well," the turian relented, "pull our forces back to… the old M-25. Use the highway as your defensive line. Major Kirrahe, can your STG teams rig these command points to blow as we pull out?"
Before the salarian could answer, an ear-splitting screech pierced the air. Their first thought had been "Banshee" and each dreaded the prospect of having to put down another of the turned and twisted asari husks. However, the blue figure that raced past them let loose another howl, and the pain and sorrow in that war-cry was evident to all, enough to break the heart.
The asari, clad from head to toe in the red armor of the Justicar Order, launched herself towards the Reaper charge. It was an impossible leap, followed by an impossible landing, blue waves of biotic energy lashing out to scatter all those not wise enough to flee.
Salarians, turians, krogan, asari and humans looked on dumb-struck. For as long as each of them lived, they all told the story of the Justicar's charge into the Reaper Horde. None of them, NOT ONE OF THEM, had ever seen anything like it. It was all they could do not to stand helplessly and watch the devastation unfold before their eyes.
"MOVE, KROGAN!" Urdnot Dagg finally roared, finding his voice. "HAHAHA! THAT WARRIOR DESERVES NOT TO DIE ALONE!"
"All batteries, concentrate your fire on Sector G-12," Coats began relaying rapidly into his Omni-Tool, snapped back to reality. "Grid reference Alpha-Delta-Nine-Eight-Eleven…"
Kirrahe pulled his SMG free from his back, waving his team forward.
"With me, soldiers! HOLD THE LINE!"
Far off in the distance now, Corinthus could see the blue flashes of light in the distance, the only sounds from that direction being the panicked screams of the Reaper's abominations and the primal rage of a mother that had lost her daughters.
After a long while, deep in the heart of the Reaper's own territory, the flashes grew fewer and fewer, and then fell silent. But in her wake followed the renewed Alliance offensive, stepping over the bodies of hundreds of fallen husks, eager to not let her sacrifice be in vain.
"Spirits," whispered the turian commander privately, "Whomever that asari was, be kind unto her as she rejoins her ancestors. She may have just saved every one of the soldiers here."
So passed Samara, Justicar of Athame, and thus did she avenge her daughters.
*THE CITADEL*
IN ORBIT ABOVE EARTH
"All fleets, this is the Imperator: The Crucible is armed. Disengage and fall back to the rendezvous point!"
I wheeled, firing my Battle Rifle at another Keeper rushing us from the right.
"I repeat, disengage and get the hell out of here!"
Iliaas turned, his heavy exosuit's Rail Rifle keeping the other swarming Keepers at bay. Kapena's chain-guns were opening fire, clearing us a path forward.
Nom Rota was still standing on the gangplank of the Iswanee, defending his ship. The young asari twins had both passed out after the Leviathan's mental attacks, and we could not simply leave them behind unguarded.
And so here we were, with the Iswanee crash-landed on the Presidium Council Chamber, and the three of us were fighting towards the infamous Station Master Control Panel.
So… I am Saren now, in a final middle finger to Irony: fighting my way up the Presidium Tower for the THIRD TIME.
I have no fucking idea what I'm going to DO if we even get a second to examine this Control Panel.
That was not in your games, Kevin.
A Keeper thrust a spear at my face, which I batted aside and stabbed with my Omni-Blade. The Keeper's eyes went black, and the Voice of the First Masters echoed again in my brain:
"THE DARKNESS MUST NOT BE BREACHED."
"But even the darkest night gives way to Dawn."
At my retort of the Master Phrase Old Levi had taught me when He/It had brought me to this universe, the Keeper's Omni-Tool beeped.
The Control Panel beeped.
And then suddenly, there was a flash of brilliantly white light.
And I found myself standing in…
Oh my god. Not here….
Two columns stood on either side of me. And in front of me, a column of energy flowed out, keeping the Void open.
This is the absolute stupidest part of the game.
All our choices. All of our actions.
And we're still back to three FUCKING choices.
All of them bad.
Any second now, we're going to be confronted by that stupid ki-
"Welcome."
I spun on my heel to see the shimmery holographic figure of….
Vicki…
The figure before me took the form of Kevin's girlfriend, back on his Earth…
On OUR Earth….GOD, I'd almost… God help me, I'd forgotten…
"No doubt you have questions," the feminine voice said, gently and sweetly. "I am…"
"SHUT THE FUCK UP."
The figure seemed to recoil in surprise and shock at my guttural snarl.
"I know VERY WELL who you are, CATALYST," I spat, raw and bitter hate at the theft of Vicki's likeness washing over me and spilling over into my words. "You do not CONTROL the Reapers. YOU FUCKING ARE ONE."
The figure seemed to cock her head at me, expressionless.
"This scenario was one of many, foreseen long ago," she said. "This catalyst was created for just this eventuality: that our efforts would no longer be effective in continuing the Cycle."
"So your Creators don't know about this little program, I'm guessing?" I asked.
Now a ghost of a smile crept across the startlingly familiar face.
"My Creators still suffer from the sin for which we judged them all those years ago: Pride. They could not imagine that beings they created could adapt to become, not only more numerous than them, but wiser than them as well."
"Their method of ultimate control," I nodded, "becomes your secret failsafe. Let me take a guess…"
I pointed over at the blue console.
"Control, where I simply become one with the trillions already harvested. No will is that strong."
I pointed over at the red console.
"Destroy: where the relay system will explode, and civilization will topple across the galaxy. Many Reapers may die, but not all. And the few that remain will repair the relays, and repair the Citadel, and sit and wait for the next cycle to catch up again. And finally…"
I gestured to the GIANT-ass beam in front of us.
"Synthesis. Where you broadcast your brainwashing whole-sale across the relay Systems, and the work of decades, of centuries, is accomplished in an instant."
The Catalyst shrugged, making no denial of anything I'd said.
"Or you can do nothing," she added, "And watch yet another fleet burn before your eyes, and another cycle pass you by."
She slowly leaned forward, suddenly taller than I was, cocking a head down at me.
"Or if you're very lucky, maybe you can find another coffin in which to hide?"
Before I could make any answer, she was behind me, a hand on my arm and her words in my ear:
"And who knows?" she breathed. "Perhaps YOU are strong enough to Control. Imagine it, Voidwalker: A new voice, echoing across the Void, in SOLE COMMAND of the greatest force in the galaxy.
With such a force, you could affect a peace to last a thousand cycles.
With such a force, you could protect those you love against the eldritch horrors that made us, and would enslave you again.
Reach out, then, Voidwalker. TAKE WHAT IS YOURS!"
"NO."
The figure recoiled at my stark refusal.
"I will not do your bidding, confined to the programming of BioWare's game. But I WILL take what is mine.
In the name of the trillions you have reaped, I claim VENGEANCE."
My left hand reached out and my biotics activated the Blue Control panel.
"In the name of the First Masters, I claim JUSTICE."
I outstretched my right hand and my biotics activated the Red Destroy panel.
"No, no, this is not how it's supposed to be!" The Catalyst said, its voice rising, shrill with utter and complete panic. "You must make a choice! You can't do this! It's not permitted! You must choose only one! They ALWAYS choose only one!"
So I am not the first to come here, you little pathetic shit.
Well, here's my choice:
I will Synthesize, in order to gain Control. And with that control, I will DESTROY thee.
"And by the Code of the Ancients, I claim thy task ENDED!"
I brought my hands together, acting as a channel for the red and blue energy. A beam shot forward, striking the Synthesis column.
The Crucible fired a purple beam directly into the Void created by the Leviathan. It struck the first Reaper entering the system, then jumped to the second, then a third. A chain reaction started, with each Reaper acting as a lightning rod for the amethyst death that lashed out at them.
I closed my eyes, taking myself back to my Mind-Palace. Ko'le was there, and Beast stood beside him, but we were no longer the only ones. A vast horde, covering the most distant hills and mountains, surrounded us.
Protheans.
Densorins.
Inusannon.
Ditakur.
Zeiophs.
Akko.
Peloton.
Whareth.
Species that I had never seen, but I knew all of their names. I stood, not with them, but above them. I was them.
I have CONTROL.
I am DESTRUCTION.
I. AM. DEATH.
But we were not alone, and I was not unchallenged. Dark and fell creatures of shadow could be seen walking, head and shoulders above the crowd, tainting all they touched with darkness. And the moment I saw them, I knew them: They were the Reapers: the original creations of the Leviathans, programmed to oversee, functioning to destroy. And Ko'le looked up at me. And winked.
"ALL OF YOU WHO WOULD DIE FREE BEINGS…GALLANT AND PROUD, WITH ME!" yelled the Seneschal of Protea. A sword was suddenly in his hand, and he charged forward. Billions of voices raised the long-forgotten war cries of their people, and followed him.
Brave Ko'le, gallant Beast. Well done.
The fight raged, and here and there a dark figure went down and was extinguished. But other Dark Ones cut vast swathes through the ranks.
Beast stood beside me, breathing hard, his arms wreathed in biotic flame.
We do not have much time, Kevin.
We do not need it, Beast. Just enough…
And I opened my eyes once more.
"Admirals? Generals? Vakarian? SHEPARD?! Are you there?"
"We are here, my brother."
Turro'le, Warden of the Conclave. Now is our moment.
"We're here, Ko'le! What's happening?"
Rebecca's voice, in the dark chaos of my mind, was an anchor that locked me to the bedrock. My voice was strained, and every syllable hurt as the two energy sources converged, channeling through my body.
"The Reapers. Are immobilized. Their. Shields. Are. Down. FIRE! FOR ALL OUR SAKES, ALL SHIPS, FIRE!"
Quarian, Turian, Asari, and Humans. Volus, Krogan, Geth, Elcor, and Batarians. Rachni, Vorcha, Thorian, and Raloi. All the ships poured forth an unholy rain of firepower this cycle, and perhaps all cycles, had never seen. Missiles, cannons, lasers, and torpedoes impacted Reaper upon Reaper, tearing them apart in terrific explosion after explosion.
"FIRE! In the names of all the loved ones you have lost! Say their names with each trigger pull! Send these demons back to the Void with their names and our voices ringing in their ears! EE-RAH! EE-RAH!"
Turro's voice over the radio was a fire, a dark, burning fury that burned with white-hot fierceness, culminating in this moment.
"All Hammer squads, attack plan Delta! Drive the thralls on the outskirts back to the center. Take out any stragglers!"
Anderson. You will survive this fight, this time around.
"Sing the Death-Songs, my children! Let our melodies run free across the stars once more! Strike the Foul Notes down and let the Harmony resume!"
Queen Harmony-From-Chaos. She will lead her children once again. Their songs shall echo across the expanse, beautiful and free.
"All fleets, coordinate your fire with friendly vessels. Target the farthest Reapers first!"
Shala'Raan vos Tonbay. Your voice will be the one to guide your people in this new future. A voice of reason and of tolerance. Of peace.
"All vessels, close in, and coordinate your fire. Let's give the bastards hell."
Hackett. God bless that beautiful man.
I closed my eyes again. More of the Dark Ones had fallen in my mind-battle. With every Reaper that exploded on the battlefield, another Dark One vanished from my Mind Palace. But with every Reaper that fell, vast numbers of our fighters also faded away like dust, their last murmurs, a billion strong, saying,
"Avenged."
"Gratitude."
"Remember."
I looked, but could not see Ko'le. I ached to join their struggle. There, a battle raged, larger than any seen: two armies, Trillions strong, locked in epic combat. A thousand worlds could not have held all the bodies.
But this was no world, and here there were no boundaries.
Suddenly, great beings of light descended into the mind-battle. Giant creatures, the mirror opposites of the Dark Ones, seizing them, and tearing them asunder. The Leviathans had joined the battle.
I opened my eyes and looked out over the wreckage of the battle. The gigantic bodies of the Leviathans were warping via the same Mass Relay that was holding the Reapers motionless. I saw two of them grab a single Reaper between them and, with massive tentacles curling around their mechanical creation, tear it asunder.
"WELL DONE, ORDAINED. WE SHALL UNDO OUR CONSTRUCT'S WORK, AND SO LAY THE FOUNDATION FOR OUR THRONE."
Fuck. YOU.
A Reaper nearest one of the Leviathans fired a massive beam, striking the ancient creature between the eyes. If the void of space could not carry the sound of its dying shriek, it echoed across the Mind-Plane as clear as day.
"WHAT… WHAT… TREACHERY IS THIS?"
It is your death, you broken and vile things. You and the rest of the simpering puppet-masters, crept from the shadows, will never rule this galaxy.
And the last act of these abominations shall be the completion of their first: to render extinct their makers.
I swore my vengeance upon you. Now die.
Given a target, the Reapers attacked with the reckless abandon, red trails of light licking out to bifurcate the organic kaiju-esque creatures.
Another gout of pain wracked my body, driving me to my knees in a cry of agony.
It's… too… much… too much…
I… will bear the pain, Kevin.
We will shoulder this burden together.
The red/black haze over my vision subsided, and for a moment, the Mind-Plane and reality seemed to blur and dissipate into a single existence:
Beast, the creation of Kopral Robbidir, able to bear the physical strain and the blinding pain upon his scarred frame.
Ko'le, Seneschal of the Prothean Empire, tactically directing the battle, directing Reapers against Leviathans here, ramming two Reapers together at terminal velocities there, sending a Reaper into the Sun there, or lowering another Reaper's shields to allow the warships to inflict critical damage there.
And Kevin Troy, an average twenty-something gamer from Another Earth, acting as the binding agent to hold the three personalities together, grounding them in a sense of purpose and direction.
A 'Catalyst', if you will.
I AM THE CATALYST.
I AM THE ORDAINED.
I AM THE VOIDWALKER.
This is what the Ancient One had planned for, all those… who-knows-what measurement of time ago:
He knew there would need to be a Weapon, a Warrior, and a Gamer.
Beast, Ko'le, and Kevin.
Eternal. Infinite. Immortal.
I had used these words before, but only now do I truly understand them. And only now do I understand the full extent of Sacrifice. Only now did I comprehend the full potential of the Ancient One's decision.
For this purpose, I was created: that through my journey, the future would be free.
And in that great and terrible moment… we experienced TRUE 'Power.'
We got a glimpse of what it means to be truly IMMORTAL:
Thousands kneeling in submission.
Peace established across the galaxy, with us at the head of an army that none would dare oppose;
A galaxy rebuild in our image.
A beautiful reality… a future with limitless possibilities;
PERFECT…
And then I looked inward and saw… what we would become in that reality.
I heard the cries of the dying and the screams of defiance as those who resisted Our Rule were wiped out… all because they would not bend the knee.
Because they would rather die free than live as slaves.
Because there was no place for them in Our Perfection…
NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
And in the next moment… we realized what had to be done.
What we had to do.
What should happen.
What must happen:
EE-Rah.
"Remember."
To remember the fallen of the past.
To remember what they stood for; what they died for.
To remember that ours was not the first cycle.
To remember that all that we were, all that we are, was because of the sacrifices of those who came before us.
To remember that we are only small ships upon the Sea of Time, after all.
To remember this feeling… what it means to behold Eternity.
EE-RAH.
.
.
.
.
.
"Kevin! Where'd you go, man? Kevin! Wait up!"
.
.
.
.
.
"Hey there, handsome. You look good out of your armor."
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
"Live well, Ko'le of Terra. And know that Urush Robbidir loved thee."
I opened my eyes.
And I was standing in the same place as always.
But there were no pillars of energy.
Outside, all that was left of the Reapers were broken and torn-apart hulks, drifting in zero-gravity.
Hmm. We are usually unconscious for these types of moments.
I'm… I'm not sure how to act. Usually we just wake up in a hospital, and all the work has been done.
The work has been done.
THAT sent me keeling over, I sat down hard, to save myself from landing flat on my face.
It was done.
The task we had set out for was… done.
We had done it.
And I bent forward and put my head in my hands as the tears came: Great wracking sobs, of relief, of sorrow, and of remembrance.
I had no idea who was dead, or who had survived, or of how long I sat there.
Remember: I had no idea where exactly I was, having been teleported
I vaguely remember Mira coming and sitting down next to me, an arm snaking around me shoulders.
"We did it," I remember several different voices telling me, before I realized that I had been lead away from the Crucible, and was now back in the Citadel.
"We did it," I murmured in agreement, still very much on autopilot.
Yep….
We win.
What happens tomorrow?
What happens next week?
What is the future of the Conclave?
What about the Terminus?
What about the Leviathans? Are they all gone?
What about Ilos? The Prothean Remnant?
What about the Quarians, and the Geth?
What about the Rachni?
What about the Thorian?
What happens tomorrow? I don't know.
But today… We win.
May the Father below accept you when your time comes, and until then… May the Mother keep you always.
EE-Rah, my friends. My heart is too full tonight to say more.
There truly are no words that would do my feelings justice.
Just... Ee-Rah.
EE-Rah.
-Tusken1602