A/ N: What's this? It hasn't been a week yet and already, an update? What is this sorcery? Let's see if I can continue to pull this off on a more regular basis, which I seriously doubt, now that finals and projects are all starting to pile up on me as the spring semester reaches its end.

Anyways, apart from thanking you guys for being faithful readers, I really don't have much else to say. On with the story then! Without giving too much away, all I can say is that this is where the story pretty much hits a crucial point in the overall narrative. Hope y'all will enjoy this latest installment!


MASS EFFECT: REMNANTS

Chapter 28 – Last Ditch Plans

Everything on the colony looks quiet enough.

I peer out over the outpost from the entrance of docking bays. The geth hasn't shown any signs of returning so the colonists on Zhu's Hope are making good use of the respite to shore up their defenses. I set the assault rifle down on the ground for a moment as I reach to unholster my sidearm. I check over my old Armiger service pistol to make sure that the gun's still able to fire. The thing does have a spotty history for overheating and malfunctioning. Fortunately, everything checks out. Looks like Krysarae did a great job at restoring and upgrading the gun's components.

Ranae walks towards the starboard side of the Vanguard where Nazreil's busy soldering up parts of the damaged hull. "How're the repairs coming along?" she asks somewhat anxiously.

"A couple more minutes and I should be able to restore the hull's integrity to what it was before," the quarian replies as he continues working. "Thank goodness someone had the foresight to upgrade the kinetic barriers and the ablative platings on the ship or the damage could've been a whole lot worse."

Good old Lyraxus.

I smile with the memory of my old squadmate. The guy always did have a penchant for sparing no expenses when it came to servicing and upgrading any sort of starship. When the opportunity presented itself to him to maintain the Vanguard with Aurania's vast financial resources, how could the poor guy have said no? I wonder what it is that's he doing these days since I saw him last on New Madison.

"How much longer before you think the ship's space-worthy again?" I call out over to the two.

"It won't take much longer now, Mr. Leonus."

"Good. And hey, Nazreil?"

"Yes sir?"

"I really appreciate you doing this. Keep up the good work!"

The quarian nods sheepishly in acknowledgement. I pick up my rifle and turn my attention back towards the outpost for any signs of the geth. I try opening up a comm. line to Nick but all I get is static in response. I try for Lynn and Nate's frequencies only to get the same result. Knowing the geth, they'd probably have some jammer in place to block all outgoing and incoming transmission.

"Damn it," I curse.

I sweep my attention over the docking bays and it looks like there's only one other ship in here apart from the Vanguard. The ship looks to be empty ever since we docked here so I assume it must have belonged to the colonists. A fleeting movement of a silhouette in the starboard viewport proves me wrong however. I bring up my rifle and peer into the medium-range scope.

What in spirits' name?

I look into the scope again to make sure I'm not seeing things. Yep, there's no doubt about it. There's someone pacing nervously in there. But more importantly, it's the same man that led the team to kill me and Ralak back when we were docked in the Citadel to retrieve Aurania's backup drives. The Broker's men are here on Feros too.

"Son of a bitch," I immediately stride towards Ranae and Nazreil. Now we've got those men to worry about on top of the geth. The similarity of our predicament to that on Eden Prime isn't lost on me. The two look to me and I can see anxiety reflected in their expressions as I briskly walk towards them.

"This is bad. The Broker's men have managed to track us down here," I break the news, stealing occasional glances back at the ship.

"What?" Ranae exclaims incredulously. "How can you be so sure? We've made sure to cover our tracks this time!"

I gesture at their ship. "One of their operatives that tried to kill me when we were docked on the Citadel is in there right now."

"So what do we do now?" Nazreil asks concernedly.

I'm about to reply when a thought occurs to me. I weigh our situation and I realize that a golden opportunity has just presented itself to us. If we don't act on it now, we might never get the chance to ever again. This could very well be what we need to finally throw the Broker's men off our tail once and for all.

"Listen closely now, here's the plan…"


"I know somebody's in there! The geth are attacking and we're going to need all the help we can get to fend them off!" I furiously pound on the airlock door of the Broker's starship. "Didn't you hear me?! You can hole up in there as long as you want, but if the geth wipes out the outpost, you're going to be nothing more than sitting ducks in there!"

There's no reply at first. But the locks on the door flashes green and the airlock door slides open with a hiss of pneumatics. A familiar-looking man in armor, assault rifle pointed at me, stands in the doorway.

"Step away from the door!" he orders.

"It's a pleasure to see you again," I smirk.

His gaze meets mine and his expression instantly changes to one of surprise as he finally recognizes me. His finger closes around the trigger but the sound of a pistol trained at his head stops him. Ranae steps out from behind, hands gripped tightly on the gun.

"I'd strongly caution against that course of action," she says coolly. "Now drop it." The man does as he's told, dropping the rifle. Just as he raises his arms in surrender, he pivots sharply around in an attempt to elbow Ranae. She sees it coming from a mile away and ducks underneath the blow. The man backpedals away from us and reaches for his sidearm. Ranae doesn't even give him a chance as she unleashes a biotic throw that sends him crashing violently into the inner hull of the ship. "Amateur."

"Good job sneaking in with Nazreil through the cargo hold. I take it there's nobody else in there?" I scoop up the dropped assault rifle.

"Only this one guy here. And to Nazreil's credit, you have him to thank for hacking us in. The quarian's a savant when it comes to tech," Ranae walks over to the operative struggling to his feet and slams the butt of the pistol into his unprotected face. The guy goes out like a light and slumps to the floor.

"Get him back into the Vanguard and tie him up. I've a feeling that we might have a use for him yet."

"Sure thing, Mr. Leo," Ranae takes the man by his legs and starts dragging him off toward the Vanguard.

I step into the ship, assault rifle drawn in case of any surprises. I clear out each room one by one only to confirm what Ranae's said before. It might only be that one operative on the ship right now but the signs point to at least two other people on board. It doesn't matter. We'll be in and out of here before they make their way back. I step into the cockpit where Nazreil's already typing away at his omni-tool.

"How's the hack looking?"

"I'm almost done hacking my way through the firewalls and encryption," the quarian replies. "And….done! I'm downloading the ship's past mass relay trajectories and other pertinent coordinates right now."

"Good job," I give him a pat on the back and return my attention towards the colony's outpost. What do the humans call it again, gut feeling? Whatever it is, something tells me that the geth are going to be back soon. I only hope that Nick and Nate get back here before they do.


Five drooling maws stare back at me. I look around at my surroundings and consider jumping back into the water where the varren can't follow. At least, I'm hoping that they can't swim.

"Don't even think about it, kid. These things can easily outswim you," Ralak warns me, as if reading my mind.

I hear Dad's panicked voice coming from above. "Nate, don't let those things even land a bite on you! The bacteria in their mouths are lethal to humans!" I see the glint of a sniper scope in the hole above as Dad prepares to take aim.

"Geth! Nick, find cover!" Aunt Lynn yells from up top. Dad turns to some unseen assailant and the two scramble away from the hole. Small weapons fire erupts in the great hall above soon after.

"Dad! Aunt Lynn!"

"Kid, we've got other things to worry about down here!" Ralak growls.

I raise my pistol and prepare to take aim at the advancing varrens. Ralak stands his ground, shotgun cocked and ready to fire. In one swift motion, the pack breaks out into a sprint, three of them charging for Ralak and the remaining two make a beeline for me. A blast from Ralak's shotgun and my pistol ring out simultaneously. I squeeze off a few rounds at the fast moving targets, managing only to fill one varren with enough lead to take it down.

"Woah!" I dive to the side as the remaining varren pounces at me, jaws snapping shut at where my legs would have been moments before. I try scrambling to my feet, but the varren's already on me. It makes another pounce on me, and its sheer weight knocks me right back down to the ground. The impact sends the pistol flying out of my hands and skittering away to the side, out of my reach.

Shit. Shit. Shit.

Its maw is just about to come clamping down on my neck when I reach out to grab its neck by both hands. It takes all of my strength to just hold those vicious teeth at bay. Saliva droops all over my clothes and I can smell its putrid, rotten breath against my face. I know full well I won't be able to hold out forever so I make one last desperate gambit. I free my left arm and drive all four of my outstretched fingers into its eye. The feeling is sickening as I push my hand further inside, trying to gauge its eye out. The varren lets out a howl of pain and I seize the moment to gain enough leverage on my back to kick it away. It backpedals close to the water's edge and I waste no time in delivering the coup de grace.

I push myself up and break into a short run to cover the short distance between us. I take a small leap and throw out both my legs in front of me. Just like how I rehearsed it in the studio back home, I let the momentum carry me forward in a baseball slide dropkick. My feet drive right into the varren's belly and send it flying into the water. I waste no time in picking up my pistol, taking aim and putting the damn thing out of its wretched existence.

With that taken care of, I point my weapon towards Ralak, whom I can't tell is either having difficulty with the varrens or the time of his life. One already lies dead at his feet in a puddle of blood; while he has one by its neck and another sinking its teeth into his left arm. He smashes the one he's holding into the ground repeatedly like it's nothing more than a playtoy before turning his attention back towards the one biting into his arm. He wrenches it off and tosses it to the ground. The varren lets out a small whimper. Realizing that it's outnumbered, it beats a hasty retreat back into the darkness.

"And you'd better run!" the krogan yells out. "Damned animals. Forgot how feisty they were."

"Oh my god! Are you okay, man?" I huff through my gasps for air, eyes trained on the nasty puncture wounds on his left arm.

"What, this?" he gestures to the bite. "It's only a scratch. I'll live so don't you worry about me dying on you, kid."

"What about the bite? Won't it get infected?"

Ralak rolls his eyes. "Krogans are immune to their bites so stop worrying about me already."

"Okay, if you say so," I shrug.

"Let's get going. I've a feeling it's gonna be bringing more of its friends if we don't get out of here."

My heart sinks at the mention of more varrens on our heels. "Then what are we still doing standing around here?" I gulp.

Ralak picks up his shotgun and the two of us set off at a sprint along the darkened tunnels with only the light from my omni-tool to light the way.

"Any ideas on how to get out of here?"

"Nope," I respond, still trying to get my breathing under control after that near brush with death.

"You know, those biotics would really be helpful back there," he grunts.

I do a small double take before resuming my jog down the darkened tunnel. "I don't know how to use them and besides, I didn't even know I was capable of them in the first place."

"Right….you somehow managed to just pull them out of your ass when your life was on the line," he lets out a skeptical grin.

"I'm telling the truth! I didn't even know what biotics were before I brought that whole atrium down in Omega."

The distant howling and patter of paws somewhere in the darkness brings our conversation to a halt. We pick up our pace and soon enough, the beam of light shines upon a small door set into the tunnel wall. I run my hands along the door, hoping to find some way of opening it.

"Well? What are you waiting for? Open it with whatever Prothean tech that your dad's implanted into you," Ralak mutters impatiently, keeping watch for the incoming varrens.

"I can't! The door doesn't seem to be powered on or anything!"

"Here, hold this," he sighs and pushes the shotgun into my arms. "Why is it that I have to do everything myself?" Ralak digs his fingers and finds purchase in the boundary where the two doors meet. He grunts with effort as he tries prying the doors open.

The patter of paws grows nearer and I swing the shotgun towards the source of its sound. Several pairs of beady eyes wander into the shaft of my omni-tool's light and I instinctively pull the trigger. I've never fired a shotgun before so I'm unprepared to ride out the recoil of its powerful blast. The recoil kicks the gun's stock into my arm, and I stagger back slightly with the pain and recoil. The varrens meet the brunt of the buckshot head on and collapse clumsily to the ground.

"Ralak! Any day now!" I pull the trigger again, sending another shot booming through the tunnels. I grit my teeth against the pain as the recoil courses through the bruises on my arm.

"I'm trying my best here!" Ralak grunts, his voice straining with the exertion. "Almost there!"

I finally hear metal screeching under Ralak's strength as a tiny crack starts opening up in the door. I'm doing all I can to buy him time and keep the varren at bay with repeated blasts of the shotgun. The barrel starts to glow red-hot and another shot causes the gun to emit the familiar warning beeps of an overheated weapon.

"Damn it, not now!" I glance down at the gun as the trigger locks up.

"There! It's open, so get your ass in there!" Ralak yells.

I pivot backwards on my feet and squeeze through the opening that the krogan has made in the door. In the room beyond lies a ladder leading upwards that's set into the wall in front of me. I toss the weapon to the outstretched hands of Ralak who's already there waiting on me. I jump onto the bottom rungs and start climbing like a mad man. Ralak does the same, just in the nick of time before the whole pack of varrens come crashing into the room. I can hear their vicious jaws snapping away at the bottom and a yelp from one of them as Ralak kicks one of them that tried jumping and sinking its teeth into his leg.

I hold onto each rung for dear life and just concentrate on getting to the top. The thought of slipping on the ladder and falling down into the waiting jaws of death below is enough of an incentive to keep me climbing upwards.

I clamber up the final rung and my feet touches solid ground again, much to my relief. I double over and rest my hands on my knees as I desperately try to catch my breath.

"That was too close," I say in between gasps for air.

"It was fun while it lasted though. It's been a while since I've last wrestled with varren," Ralak says as he heaves himself up off the ladder. "Come on, we've still got ourselves some geth to take care of," he gestures upwards.

"Right, let's go," I nod.

As much as my lungs ache for air right now, Aunt Lynn and Dad are still somewhere up there taking fire from the geth. The ladder brings us up to another stretch of maintenance tunnels. Illuminated only by my omni-tool's light, we grope our way along the walls until we come to an open elevator shaft. As usual, the elevator car's missing so we make do with climbing up yet another set of ladders. I guess several design sensibilities withstand the test of time.

We emerge on the ground floor to a familiar-looking hallway where muted sounds of a firefight can be heard somewhere in our immediate vicinity. There's only one door in this room and the two of us get to work on prying it open. As soon as a small slit opens up in the door, the sounds of rattling gunfire pour through.

"Why can't this thing open fast enough?" I grunt as I throw my entire body weight behind pulling the doors open.

Ralak gives one final tug and the doors slide open to the squealing protest of metal. "Piece of cake," he grins smugly.

We take off after the sounds of the gunfire to the great hall. Once at the entrance, I slide behind one of the archway and pull out my sniper rifle. I peer around the corner and spot 4 geth, one of them significantly larger than the other, advancing on Dad and Aunt Lynn's position at the far end of the hall. Several geth troopers are already lying motionless on the floor. Both sides are making good use of the rubble strewn about as cover but fortunately for Ralak and I, the geth have their backs exposed to us.

I turn to Ralak and meet his eyes: we're both thinking what the other is. We give each other a nod, swivel out of cover and open fire on the geth's unprotected rear. Ralak advances into an effective range for his shotgun while my first shot blows one of the geth's arms completely off, causing it to stumble and then explode in a slurry of white fluid under Aunt Lynn's follow-up barrage.

"Three more to go, Lynn!" Dad calls out as Aunt Lynn activates her cloak and disappears from sight again.

I pull back the bolt to reprime the mass accelerator and set my sights on a new target. The geth have noted our presence and quickly dive into cover. I sweep my scope around and hone in on one of those flashlight heads that's peeking ever so slightly out of cover. One pull of the trigger and the head explodes clean off, sending metallic debris raining everywhere.

"Headshot!"

Two down, two to go. Aunt Lynn materializes in thin air right next to the last of the smaller geth troopers and jabs her pulsing omni-tool into its chest. Electricity crackles through its entire being, and with a flourish of spark and smoke, the unit deactivates and falls dead in front of her.

"Concentrate fire on the juggernaut, guys!" Aunt Lynn orders as she sends another barrage at the oversized, red-armored geth unit.

I dive back into cover just as several plasma rounds whizz by, causing the air to smell burnt along the projectiles' flight path.

Woah. That was way too close.

With the juggernaut stuck in a crossfire from all directions, it doesn't take long for us to whittle down its robust shields and take it out. The odds are almost laughable. Once the dust settles, we meet in front of the elaborate archway that I point out earlier.

"Nate, thank God you're okay!" Dad rushes to me and thoroughly inspects me for any visible injuries.

"Dad, I'm fine. I'm not hurt or anything," I brush him off, feeling a little embarrassed at his overbearing concern for me. "What about you and Aunt Lynn?"

He steps back, sheepish grin etched across his face once he realizes what he's done. "We're holding up okay, although things could have gotten real ugly if you two hadn't shown up."

"Thanks for the assist, big guy. Knew we could count on ya," Aunt Lynn grins gratefully at Ralak.

"Don't mention it. The geth were starting to piss me off anyways," Ralak replies dryly.

"So, are we going to stand around here or what? Don't we have an archive to find?" I motion to the rest.

"Lead the way," Aunt Lynn gestures.

The four of us step under the archway where a large and ornate door awaits us. Like the rest of the dilapidated ruins, there doesn't seem to be any power linking to the door. As we get closer, I realize just how much we're dwarfed by the doorway's immense size.

"Any clues on how to get us in?" Aunt Lynn inspects the intricate details and carvings on the door. "I don't think we'll be able to force away into this one," she says, scratching her head.

"Explosives and power tools didn't do the trick either," Ralak notes, pointing out the various blast marks and dents on the thick door.

"Looks like we've reached an impasse," Dad says, furrowing his brow in thought. "On the one hand, we're stuck out here but on the other, the fact that this door is heavily sealed and impenetrable must mean that it's guarding something important inside." He gives a small little smile of triumph. "What are the odds that the archives lie just right beyond this door here?"

I take another step back to fully take in the sight of the door. As I look up, I'm no longer looking at the door in the present, but rather, from a time not of this galaxy's cycle. I feel as though I'm viewing the events unfold through a filter; everything takes on a hazy and gold-tinged quality. Two armed Protheans stand guard on both sides of the door and a single Prothean wanders up to it. It places his hands on some sort of intricate fingerprint device set into the center of the door and lo and behold, the door parts open.

Having discovered the key to opening the archive door, I rush forward and the vision of the past recedes from my consciousness. "I think I figured out how to open it!" I exclaim.

Dad must have come to the same conclusion as I have, as he carefully inspects the same fingerprint mechanism that I saw in my vision. "Looks like my hypothesis was right. This thing looks to be some sort of haptic interface which controls the lock for the door," Dad turns to me, "Nate, why don't you try interacting with it and see what happens."

"I'm on it," I say as I place my right palm on the device. At first, nothing happens but then, I start to feel an odd sensation running through me. It's not at all uncomfortable; just unfamiliar. It starts as a small pulse stemming from my brain before coursing through my entire being. I feel the energy directing itself outward through the palm of my hand and into the door.

I hear a collective intake of breath. "Wow, Nate. What did you just do?" Aunt Lynn asks, her voice in awe.

I open my eyes which I don't even realize have fluttered shut and marvel at what I've just accomplished.

"Cool."

A blue light radiates from the fingerprint device and snakes its way across the door's engravings. Once the carvings have been lit from top to bottom, an earthy rumbling can be heard and eventually, the door slides open. We step beyond its threshold into a huge, circular room, its walls lined entirely with glowing rings that are starting to pulse blue upon our entrance.

"Oh my god….." Dad trails off breathlessly.

It's not hard to see the excitement and wonder reflected in his eyes. After all those years of research on the Protheans, stepping foot into a real-life Prothean archive must be a dream come true for him. As we walk further inside, I start to realize that we're treading on hallowed grounds. The air in here feels ancient and untouched, which is a given, seeing as this place hasn't been opened in what must be several millennia. A small outcrop extends to the center of a room where a data console lies.

"You two go on ahead. Ralak and I will keep watch," Aunt Lynn volunteers, hanging back nearby the entrance.

Dad and I walk along the outcrop towards the console. Anticipation and reluctance builds in me with each and every step. The initial moment of awe has now melted away to a foreboding aura that just seems to emanate from the console. Do I really want to know the secrets and truths that it holds within?

"Dad, are you sure about this?"

He locks eyes with me and there has never been a more resolute look in them. "Isn't this it? Isn't this what you've been waiting to find out?" he says softly.

"But…"

He puts a comforting hand on my shoulder and draws me close. "Everything's going to be okay. You've got nothing to be afraid of."

I gulp and take a few deep breaths as the console stares back at me. "Okay."

"I'll be off to the side to take some readings as you interface with the archives." Sensing my hesitation, he gives me an encouraging smile. "Whatever happens, I'm here for you."

Well, here goes nothing.

I slowly place both my palms on the console. The moment my hands make contact, it feels as though my entire being is sucked out of me and suspended in a sea of various other consciousnesses. I take a moment to reorient myself to my new cerebral surroundings. It doesn't take me long to sift through these 'consciousnesses' which I later discover to be a form of encapsulating memories and information.

I mentally select one out of random. I feel a link being established between myself and the trove of information and what I discover is absolutely mind-blowing. Not only am I able to merely view the information as it's presented to me, I'm actually able to feel every detail and facet of the information. I can actually smell the scent of a flower that I've never seen before and I'm able to feel the texture and warmth of the pelt of some fluffy animal that the Protheans keep as pets.

I also learn the hard way that many of these various 'data packets' are corrupted beyond repair as attested to by grating headaches when trying to view images that just flutter in and out of existence. However, there's one data packet that draws me in above all others. The urgency of it somewhat indicates its importance. I highlight the data packet and watch as its contents play out before me.

A view of the Citadel from space, its five arms outstretched magnificently against the pink clouds of the nebula. On the station itself, the keepers all move in unison as they key in some sort of command throughout the entire space station. Shortly after, a small distortion can be seen in the nebula in the background of the Citadel. In an instant, all manner of those gargantuan squid-like entities materialize into being and they simultaneously descend on the space station like predators lunging in for the kill.

The Reaper forces laying waste to the Citadel is but a small fraction of its main armada as more and more come pouring in all around the space station. Explosions ring out from all along the Wards and thousands of agonized screams are silenced shut all in a matter of seconds. The rest of the Reapers head off towards the mass relay and propel themselves to various reaches of the Milky Way galaxy, no doubt on their quest to annihilate all organic life as they see fit. This marks the beginning of the end to the Prothean Empire.

"NO!"

I yell in warning, emerging back into reality after witnessing that horrendous vision. My legs buckle underneath me, and I collapse to the floor in a heap of cold sweat and shivering limbs.

"Nate!" Dad rushes to my side and prop me up. I can barely feel him there; even as he yells something inaudible into my ears to try to snap me out of my fear-stricken state. I don't even notice as Ralak and Aunt Lynn join us on the outcrop.

"Reapers….Citadel…they're coming…." I mumble incoherently, my teeth still chattering with fear.

"Calm down, Nate. Take a few deep breaths, that's it," Dad says reassuringly, "Take as much time as you need. We're safe here for the time being."

It takes me a while to regain control of my faculties. But when I finally remember how to breathe again, I take in lungfuls of air like every gasp was going to be my last.

"Reapers…I saw them, Dad. They're coming," I manage to say aloud, finally noticing just how dry my lips are.

"Yes, we know they're approaching. What about it?"

"The Citadel," I continue, and it's a constant struggle to even keep my voice steady. "The Citadel's a giant mass relay! That's how the Reapers are going to get here!"

A grim silence falls among the group as they let the implications of my words sink in. Aunt Lynn pretty much relays all of what we're thinking right now.

"…Shit."


A/N: Woah, I'm on a roll here! Another chapter out within the span of three days! That's gotta be a new personal best!

Aha, now we have ourselves a large reveal, the plot thickens, and the race is on! Will Nate and company be able to sound off the warning in time before the denizens of the Milky Way fall peril to the harbingers of galactic genocide that are the Reapers? Find out in the next few installments of Mass Effect: Remnants!

And…..I totally didn't mean to go all Saturday morning cartoon announcer on you guys. It's late right now and I'm just having such a blast writing this. Also, I'm trying out some new things with my writing now, so bear with me if you think the writing deviates somewhat from what you're used to.

Anyways, thanks for taking the time to read and I'll see next time when the next update rolls around!