Shepard reached a rapid transit station and took a cab to Dr. Bryson's lab. He had no idea what to expect, but from the briefing Hackett he knew that the man was intrigued with space mythology and that included Reapers.
He made his way into the lab and was completely blown away. In one section of the lab and saw a large piece of a Reaper capital ship, no doubt from Sovereign, being studied. In another corner he saw equipment that was studying the materials from you knows where and hanging right above him was the skeleton of a plesiosaur.
"… I want you to mash this against all known locations and update the map," said a voice across the lab. "Then contact the field teams for a progress report."
Shepard saw someone who he assumed to be Dr. Bryson talking to his assistant, who was on a computer on the far side the lab, from the main computer.
"Yes, sir," said the assistant.
Dr Bryson turned and saw Shepard. "Commander Shepard. We've been expecting you. Just a moment." He then looked back at his assistant. "And Hadley, could you gather the Leviathan data for us?"
Dr Bryson then led Shepard to another part of the lab which looked as if it dealt with most of the artefact they found. On the walls he also noticed that there were news reports of conspiracy theories are all connected as if it was some sort of web.
"Apologies, Commander; the rest of my team is out investigating leads right now," said Bryson apologetically. "I'm Dr. Garret Bryson and this is Task Force Aurora."
"What's your assignment?" Shepard asked.
"Our mandate is to investigate legends, rumours… old stories about the Reapers before anyone knew they existed," he said gesturing to one of the conspiracy walls which had images of Reapers on.
"That's an interesting goal, but is anyone doubting the Reapers existence these days?" Shepard asked.
"The Alliance is desperate for intelligence. Reaper motives, their operational tactics… anything that can give us an edge. In fact Major Ryder asked us for help when he was gathering evidence for the Reapers to present to the Council and when he was working with Admiral Anderson."
"And how did you wind up in charge?" Shepard asked.
"When the rest of the galaxy says something doesn't exist, I take that as a chance to prove that it does."
"So you're in it for the challenge," Shepard concluded.
"For the truth," he corrected. He then turned and looked at one of his conspiracy leads. "Even as late as 2148, humanity still thought aliens were a myth." He then looked at Shepard. "That was within my lifetime. Once that this was proven to be a reality, our entire history changed."
"Reapers were part of that reality, too."
"But even they have a history, Commander. If we can just uncover it, there may be a weakness we can exploit."
Shepard wished he met earlier when he was out chasing Saren and the Collectors. "I could've used your help three years ago."
Bryson nodded as he handed him a datapad. "Yes. If people had paid more attention to your Prothean beacon warnings, we might may not be in this war." He then made his way to the galaxy map. "But now, with new information we've uncovered, a breakthrough is near."
Hadley then entered into the room, but Bryson was to focus on the galaxy map even look at him. "Hadley, do you have the data?" he asked.
Suddenly Hadley pulled out a pistol and aimed it at Bryson. "No."
He then shot Bryson without giving him so much as a warning and shot him in the heart. He was about to turn toward Shepard to shoot him as well, but he tossed the datapad into his face blinding him temporarily and then tackled him to the ground.
He then quickly reach with radio. "This is Commander Shepard! I need C-Sec at my location now!" he yelled.
"You shouldn't be here… the darkness can't be breached…" said Hadley, but his voice had no emotion.
Ten minutes later, two turian C-Sec officers have arrived and detained Hadley, but sadly they were too late to save Bryson. Shepard wanted to know why Hadley would shot his employer without so much as a warning.
"Transit records show his name as Derek Hadley," said the C-Sec officers. "He's worked here for a couple of months."
"Shepard, I monitored a C-Sec alert from this location. Were you harmed?" said EDI's voice.
Shepard was relieved to see EDI had just entered the room, because he could sure use her help. "I'm fine. But I could use your help sorting this out, EDI. Take a look through their files. I need to know what this task force was up to."
"At once," she said and approached the nearest computer terminal.
Hadley chose that moment to come round and was completely surprised to find himself contained by Shepard and two C-Sec officers. "What? I… What's… happening?"
"You tell me," said Shepard folding his arms.
"I… I was gathering our data when you arrived, and then…" He just shook his head as if reliving a bad memory. "It was dark… cold… like I was someplace else…"
"And then?" Shepard pressed.
"I don't know," he yelled in confusion. "A… gun in my hand. Dr. Bryson. There was… a loud noise."
"That would be you shooting him!" Shepard glared pointing at Bryson's body.
The C-Sec also moved to reveal Bryson's body to Hadley, who then had a complete meltdown. He practically fell over as he approached Bryson. "I didn't do it! It wasn't me! You have to believe that!" he yelled.
The C-Sec officers shook their head, no doubt they heard that every time they arrested someone for murder. Shepard had to agree and he was the witness of the murder.
"So someone else pull that trigger?" said Shepard sceptically.
"But I would never do that!"
"Commander, this does resemble reports of indoctrination," said EDI, who had her the entire conversation.
"Indoctrination? Me?" said Hadley stunned as he got up.
"What about that 'Leviathan' Bryson mentioned? How does that tie in?" Shepard asked.
"It's… some kind of creature. Our field teams have been tracking it," said Hadley. He then turned towards a sphere like artefact close by which was glowing strangely. "That artefact came in from our researcher, Garneau. He said and audio logs if you want to—" He then roared in pain clutching his head.
"What's wrong?" Shepard asked.
Hadley then fell to his knees and he looked up at Shepard showing no emotion at all. "Turn back," he said in the same emotionless voice as before.
"What are you talking about?" Shepard frowned.
"The darkness cannot be breached."
Suddenly his eyes rolled back into his head and he collapsed.
"Damn it," Shepard cursed. He then looked at the C-Sec officers. "Get him to the clinic; see if they can tell us what's wrong with him."
"Yes, sir," said one of the officers as he and his partner carried Hadley out of the lab.
"Commander, you'll want to see this: It's an outgoing message from Dr. Bryson to Admiral Hackett," said EDI.
Shepard made his way over to EDI and looked at the recording which showed Bryson looking at the holographic image of Hackett.
"Dr. Bryson, you have an update?" Hackett asked.
"Admiral, the 'Leviathan of Dis' that's what we've been investigating—I think we're really onto something," said Bryson.
"Give me the brief."
"About twenty years ago, the batarians discovered a Reaper corpse that died in battle. They covered it up and denied it ever existed. But I'm intrigued by the large invocation."
"What could have killed a Reaper in the first place?" said Hackett coming up with the same conclusion.
"Exactly. That's the real Leviathan," said Bryson excitedly.
"It's worth pursuing," Hackett nodded. "Continue investigations and update me on the progress."
"There's also a follow-up message from a few weeks later," said EDI and she pulled out a second recording.
Bryson was yet again talking to Hackett and he appeared to be very excited.
"Admiral, the Reapers are shadowing my research teams as if they're hunting Leviathan for themselves. Whatever it is, I believe Leviathan is nothing less than a Reaper-killer—almost an apex predator—and it has the nervous. If we can just find it, imagine the impact on the war. I'm formally requesting assistance in tracking it down."
"You'll have it," Hackett promised. "This is now your top priority, Doctor. Find that thing."
"It appears we were meant to be that assistance," said EDI.
Shepard remembered Balak mentioning the Leviathan of Dis the last time they spoke. At the time he was more concerned about getting Balak to help them than to worry about a dead Reaper. Now that he heard it first-hand he had to admit that finding a creature that could kill Reapers was a worthwhile risk.
"I see Bryson's point. Anything capable of bringing a Reaper down is worth finding," said Shepard.
EDI nodded. "Despite the potential dangers it could pose, I would agree."
"But we won't know unless we can find it."
"Bryson's assistant did say they recently received a large from their field researcher. It may yield more information," EDI suggested.
Shepard picked up the datapad and turned to the strange sphere that Hadley pointed out.
"This must be the artefact the assistant mentioned. And here's the log," he said and played the audio log.
"Dr. Bryson, it's Garneau. I'm sending you an artefact I found. About the only thing I found there, in fact," said Garneau's voice. "Maybe it's nothing, but I swear Leviathan came through here. I'm going to crunch some numbers, burn up the rest of this project travel allowance. Maybe I can project our Reaper-Killer's movements. I'll check in when I get to the next site."
Once the audio log Shepard looked at EDI.
"Garneau appears to be our best lead to track Leviathan, but he does not state a destination," EDI concluded.
"Let's focus on what he does say, then," said Shepard.
"He mentioned extrapolating Leviathan's path."
"And crunching numbers. He wasn't flying blind—he had data."
"A significant amount of data, judging by this office."
"So how do we narrow it down?" Shepard asked knowing there was quite a lot of data anyone willing to bet that some of it in lead to Leviathan.
"Bryson and his colleagues evidently used a galaxy map search program in their hunt for Leviathan," said EDI as her eyes fell upon the galaxy map Shepard saw Bryson use. "It may help us locate, Garneau."
They began looking through the office for any clues one of the first things they found was a Prothean artefact. It was a shame that Liara and Bryson never met the two of them probably would have gone down like a house on fire. Next they found several news reports of victims murdering people without a motive or even remembering doing the deed just like Hadley and Shepard knew that it was not a coincidence.
So far their first two searches pulled nothing out and they had run out of things to searching the office. Shepard made his way into the lab hoping to find more ways to find Leviathan and located a video log.
Bryson's holographic image appeared and he saluted, no doubt talking to an Alliance officer. "Sir, this is Bryson. We know the Reapers are after Leviathan. Studying Reaper hunting patterns could be vital to finding it."
"That data is classified 'top secret' for a reason, Dr. Bryson," said Rick's voice much to Shepard surprise. "If it falls into the wrong hands…"
"It won't. The data's encrypted," Bryson assured. "Our keep the decryption key safe…" He then placed a hand over his heart. "Close to my heart."
Shepard frowned. "Close to his heart… what the hell does that mean?"
Shepard then found another video log and Bryson appeared and he appeared to be reviewing his findings.
"March 7th, 2186: I'm looking at the rachni," he said. "Their movements during the Rachni Wars suggest alien influence. But the timing is wrong, and rachni was implanted with Reaper tech. What Leviathan was preparing the rachni to fight the Reapers?"
Shepard remembered that the Queen had told him that someone had forced her people to attack against their will. At the time they assume that it was the Reapers, but now it looks as if Leviathan was behind the Rachni Wars.
Shepard looked at EDI. "What do you think, EDI?"
"It is possible that Bryson's team is using ancient rachni fleet activity to find Leviathan. We saw a datapad on rachni movements earlier. It may be relevant."
Shepard managed to find the data on the rachni and then he saw a picture that looked as if it was drawn by a young child.
"'By Ann Bryson—Age Nine,'" Shepard read.
"Records indicate Ann is now 28. She works for the Alliance," said EDI.
"Bryson was keeping the encryption key close to his heart," Shepard remembered and looked at EDI. "What's closer than family?"
"An interesting hypothesis, but I detect no trace of the decryption key in this… art," she said using the term loosely.
Shepard made his way upstairs and saw another piece of Ann's old childhood art.
"Another piece of Ann Bryson's childhood art," said EDI.
"Wait a minute…" Shepard had just noticed that there were numbers with in the artwork. To the untrained eye it was just a child scribbles, but Shepard realise what it was instantly. "Well, take a look at that."
EDI scanned the numbers. "I use these numbers to construct the decryption key."
"All right. Let's get back to the datapad we found earlier."
Shepard used the decryption key found and managed to unlock the encryption within the datapad. It appeared to be a conversation between the batarians upon discovery of the dead Reaper. Naturally they had no idea what it was and neither did them seem to care what destroyed it in the first place and were more concerned about studying the things. Shepard couldn't help how the entire situation was ironic, they discovered a dead Reaper hoping that it could protect their people and instead it discovery destroyed them.
They also discovered that the Reapers movements did not match their invasion pattern. It was clear that they were searching for something and Shepard had a strong feeling that it was will Leviathan.
Shepard investigated the equipment they were using to scan raw materials. He activated the standard material they were examining at the time and then they looked at the data from the scan.
"Meteor sample… with traces of element zero," he said and looked over to EDI. "Would Leviathan need eezo?"
"While it is not consumed as fuel during FTL travel, element zero will decay after several centuries of active use," she informed him. "If Leviathan is old enough, it would need to replenish its supplies."
Shepard nodded. "Okay. Can you give me a search filter for locations with element zero?"
"Adding it now."
Shepard then found some pictures of creature sightings, but when he scanned it with his omni-tool he detected something unusual.
"Bryson was tracked unexplained creature sightings…" said Shepard.
EDI examined the data he produced. "The photographs have a changed chemical residue. It may be visible under another light source."
Shepard flipped the switch and soon relied cover the wall and what appeared to be calculations and map coordinates appeared.
"Bryson was not merely tracking sightings. He was attempting to extrapolate a course," said EDI looking at the math calculations.
"And Garneau could've been following that course," Shepard concluded. "EDI, can you add a search filter for systems along that projected path?"
EDI nodded. "Doing so now."
Shepard also found out from a datapad that Bryson had been studying on the Thorian that he killed three years ago. He mentioned how it had similar powers to the Reapers though it was a part of evolution rather than using technology. However, he did not discount the theory believe that the Leviathan might be somehow related.
Shepard then returned to the galaxy map and began to input the filters. They used Reaper activity and managed to filter five possible hits. Next he used the element zero filter and it came up with three possible hits. Sadly the Rachni filter showed no possible hits, but the strange creature sightings now it down to one possibility.
"We have a match. Marking the galaxy map," said EDI.
Shepard nodded. "Good. Let's go find Garneau."
Shepard ordered everyone back to the Normandy and they headed out to the location EDI had located. While they were waiting to reach the destination Shepard approached Chakwas and she informed him that she got the supplies from Tactus.
They soon entered into the Caleston Rift and the first thing they did was scanned the dwarf planet Bres and found sythdiamond heat sinks. They then headed towards the Aysur system and were able to find the asteroid known as Mahavid which was Garneau's last known coordinates.
He then assembled a team consisting of Ashley, Garrus, Tail, Liara and James. There were already on the shuttle and Cortez was pointing them towards the asteroid.
"We're about five minutes out, Commander," said Cortez.
"What exactly's on this asteroid?" Shepard asked.
"Mining facility. T-GES Mineral Works. Small operations," said Cortez bringing up the information on the place. "Could be a good place for Leviathan to hide."
Shepard decided that it was best to go over the briefing once more since they had to leave in such a rush.
"We've all read EDI's notes on Bryson's lab. Any questions?" he asked his team.
"Is there a clear idea of what this 'Leviathan' was?" Garrus asked.
"Not really. We only know killed a Reaper," Shepard admitted.
"And were looking for Dr. Bryson's research partner, Garneau," said Liara.
"Right," Shepard nodded. "If we find Garneau, we find Leviathan."
"Good," said Tali.
"The doctor was right: anything powerful enough to kill a Reaper needs to be investigated," said Shepard turning back to Cortez. "I just hope that Garneau has the answers we need."
"I'm reading Reaper enemy signatures in the asteroid field," said Cortez in a slightly panic voice.
"Bryson said they were shadowing his field teams. If they're after Leviathan, too, Reapers are a good sign," said Shepard.
"That's not something you hear every day," said Cortez quietly.
Shepard had to admit that he had a good point. "Take us in."
Cortez flew through the atmospheric shield and landed the shuttle on the docking ports. Once they exited the shuttle Shepard led his team towards the entrance and found that Reaper ground forces were already trying to penetrate it.
"Scouting party," said Shepard.
"And it sounds like they brought some friends," said Garrus.
A brute was attempting to smash through the door, but before they could give it Shepard fired an incendiary which slammed right in it and struck the marauders surrounding it. The Reaper forces quickly turned and found themselves under attack by Shepard and the rest of his team.
Shepard activated his cloak and made his way towards the second brute that was attempting entry by another entrance. He's not behind and plunged his omni-blade into its back and it roared in pain. Shepard jumped back before it had a chance to grab them and fired several shots at its head followed by a secondary incendiary.
Shepard looked back and saw the rest of his team had taken out the remaining ground forces.
"Let's get Garneau before the serious troops arrive," Shepard advised.
"These are civilians. They must be terrified," said Tali as the entered through the door.
However, Tali was proven wrong the moment they entered into the lobby. Everyone was moving around as if everything was completely normal and in show a single sign that they were worried about the Reapers outside.
"I was expecting a lot more commotion," Ashley stared.
As they made their way through the reception desk Shepard noted that they were all staring at him with the same look that Hadley gave him before he collapsed. None of them were showing any signs of emotion, but they were eyeing them all the same as they made their way to the reception desk which was a little unsettling.
"I'm Commander Shepard of the Alliance," he said looking at the guard. "You just had Reaper troops attacking your front door."
"Are they still there?" the guard asked emotionlessly.
"I've taken care for them for now," said Shepard.
"I see. That'll be all," said the second guard and continued his work.
Shepard raised an eyebrow. "That will be…?"
However the guards seemed more focused on their work and didn't even acknowledge his presence. Shepard looked at the others and they were complexity was.
"Hello?" he said trying to get his attention.
Garrus press the button that would normally alert the receptionist and the guards looked up from their work.
"Yes, welcome to T-GES Mineral Works. How can we help you?" the first guard asked.
"Yes. For tour, please sign in," said the second guard.
"You don't seem worried about those Reapers," said Shepard slightly concerned for their sanity. "You know something I don't?"
"T-GES Mineral Works is a small mid-level supply of tungsten to the galaxy," said the second guard.
"That's not what I meant," said Shepard now getting more concerned.
The second guard looked up. "Are you familiar with the applications of tungsten?"
Shepard shook his head. "Look, we don't have time to waste. I'm looking for a researcher, Dr. Garneau. He would have arrived within the last couple weeks. If he still here, I need to speak to him," he said as slowly as possible.
"We have no, Dr. Garneau," said the first guard without even looking at him.
"Do you need to see a doctor?" the second guard asked.
Shepard was starting to lose his patients. "How about I just go in and look around?" he asked trying to be as civil as possible.
"No. The access the elevator is broken," said the second guard.
Shepard turned and saw the elevator was indeed broken, but he saw technician moving away from the doors. Clearly they didn't want them to investigate their facility for some strange unknown reason.
"And now… we're done. Step away," said the first guard.
"Step away," the second guard repeated. "You don't belong here."
"This is so weird. Come on," said Ashley.
Shepard nodded. "Let's look around. Carefully."
Shepard managed to get to repair drone operational to fix the elevator. They had to stay with the drone to guide it to the elevator, but when they expected it right away. They soon made their way to the elevator and were soon ascending to the next floor.
"The security log for the elevator said Garneau was here in the last week," said Liara. "Why would he lie about that?"
"No idea," Shepard frowned. Shepard suspected they did more than just mine minerals in the facility. "Let's hope we don't have to look too far."
They made their way into the mineral lab, but they appear to be studying plants strangely enough. The researchers were just as helpful as the guards at the reception desk.
Liara then picked up a datapad and frowned. "'Evolutionary implications of human biotics.' That's strange."
Ashley was starting to get a creepy feel with the researchers. "Is it just me, or are these people doing everything but mining."
They discovered that most of the doors needed a security log or just plain locked no doubt by the researchers. Shepard managed to bypass the lock to one of the mineral labs when the door opened they heard voices.
"No. Listen to me. Colonies disappear all the time," said a lab tech.
"If someone wants to get away with it, it's just a matter of when and where," said a second tech.
"Look at the map. Closer. Tell me what calls to you."
They entered into the lab and quickly the techs deactivated the map and gave them the same emotionless expression like everyone else.
"Turn back. You don't belong here," said a tech.
"Yeah, I'm getting that feeling," said Shepard.
Shepard then bypassed for a seconded door and found it was a storage facility with a datapad. Hoping it could bring clarity to the situation he accessed it apparently the message was recorded but wasn't sent to it's destination.
"Bryson, it's Garneau," said Garneau's voice. "I've had to go into hiding, and I need you to come and get me. I found another one of those artefacts here. They're more important than we realised. It's in the mines—here's the navpoint. That's where I'll be. If something happens… I'm attaching a passcode that I hacked together. It'll open any security terminal. Bryson… something is very wrong here. Please hurry. Garneau out."
"So he's still here," said Shepard looking at his team. "Do we have passcode hack?"
"Yep," said James looking at his omni-tool. "We just get to the security terminal and plug in the code."
Shepard managed to find a personal ID that would allow him better access into the facility. They then made their way to a security terminal and began to hack into the system.
"Punch in Garneau's terminal hack and see what it gets us," said Shepard.
Tali access the computer terminal and plunged in the hacking code and in no time at all they had full access to the system. She then pulled up some video footage of Garneau's shuttle landing on the facility.
"The ship dropped him off a week ago," Shepard noted.
"It looks like he had full access at one point before going into hiding," Tali noted as they watched Garneau shaking hands with a miner.
Shepard frowned wondering what could've gone wrong. Then suddenly they saw an alert on the monitor.
"Unknown male was involved in an altercation in the mines," Shepard read.
"Garneau was heading into the mines," James concluded.
"Looks like he was taken to the med bay," said Shepard.
They then turned towards the map to find out where the location was and where the med bay was located. Unfortunately to access the med bay they needed authorised personnel with an active patient file number.
Tali did a quick scan with her omni-tool. "I've got the file number," she said.
"Let's go get Garneau," said Shepard.
It didn't take them long to get to the med bay they looked through the windows for any sign of Garneau. Sadly they found the dead body on a med bed.
"Is that Garneau?" Shepard asked really hoping it wasn't.
"If it is, we came a long way for nothing," said Garrus.
It looked as if they had reached a literal dead-end.
"If you're looking for Garneau, you have found him," said a voice behind them. They turned around and saw a patient in another medical bay. "I am Dr. Garneau."
Unfortunately, with the lights off it was impossible to see his face, but they never really got a good look of his face on the security terminal since the footage was a bit fuzzy. However, at this point Shepard can be too choosy, because he really needed to find Leviathan and fast.
"I'm Commander Shepard of the Alliance," said Shepard approaching him. "Are you all right?"
"Yes. Only… I'm trapped in here," said Garneau.
"What's been going on in this place?" Shepard asked hoping for answers.
"I was doing my research—until the incident."
"They attacked you," Shepard assumed.
"It's true. But, aside from my confinement, I'm fine."
"Bryson's research led me to you," said Shepard.
"Bryson sent you?" Garneau asked.
Shepard shook his head. "He's dead, Doctor. Killed by his assistant."
"I see."
Shepard noticed that Garneau was taking the news very well. He imagined that Garneau would take the news far worse and would wanted a better explanation.
"I need you to tell me everything you've found on the Leviathan," said Shepard. "Bryson seemed to think it killed a Reaper."
"It's a myth. Dead-end," said Garneau plainly.
Shepard frowned as everything they went he had a very hard time believing that Leviathan was a myth. The evidence pointed to the fact that he did actually exist, the artefact, the Reaper it killed and everything else they found.
"But what about the artefact you mention in your message?" Garrus asked.
"I did?" Garneau frowned. He then shook his head firmly. "No."
"Yes, Doctor, you did," said Shepard firmly. "But now we got Reaper forces attacking, so I need to break you out. We'll grab the artefact and go."
"Reapers," said Garneau clutching his head. "The darkness must not be breached."
Shepard is heard that phrase before with Bryson's assistant. "The darkness?" he said.
Garneau then slammed her fist against the protective glass. "Why do you pursue me?" he said in a deep funder's voice that was inhuman.
"Doctor?" Shepard asked backing away from the glass.
He punched the glass again and actually cracked it. "Leave the artefact. You will not take what is mine," he said.
"I don't believe were actually speaking with Garneau," said Liara now looking slightly terrified.
Shepard soon realise they were talking to Leviathan. "You. You killed a Reaper," said Shepard approaching the glass. "I need your help."
"You bring only death," said Leviathan.
Suddenly the glass shattered and they had to cover their heads so they would be cut. Garneau then stepped out of the med bay and then ran down the corridor.
Shepard quickly gave chase, but Garneau locked the door behind him. Shepard quickly bypassed the lock as quickly as he could. When they approach the next door the power was cut. Now only emergency lighting was shining.
"Someone cut the power," said Shepard.
Shepard in which any time thinking about it and bypassed the second door.
"There he goes," said Tali folding down the corridor.
"Leave this place," said Leviathan.
"Wait!" Shepard yelled. Too late, Garneau, had locked the door behind him and Shepard was unable to bypass this one. He then turned his team. "We need to get to the artefact before he does."
"He said he was in the mines," said Garrus remembering the audio log.
"We'll need to find a different route," said Shepard.
With the power out that meant that the doors were sealed shut and be too long to bypass every single one of them. With only one option they had to climb the maintenance ladder and mining maintenance hatch outside.
They climbed the ladder as quickly as they could and started making their way to the nearest maintenance hatch.
"Garneau's notes gave us a nav point for the artefact," Shepard reminded his team.
"According to my map, there's a service at the next tram station," said Tali.
Shepard then saw husks climbing over the facility and they harvester flying above them. "Looks like were not the only ones headed our way," said Shepard as he shot the husks.
"Of course not," said Garrus taking them off with his sniper rifle. "Wherever we are, always expect an eighty percent chance of Reapers."
The manager climbed down the ladder and made their way through the maintenance gang way in countering husks as they went. They kept on making their way to the nearest tram station and then they saw Garneau through the window of one of the corridors.
"There he goes!" Ashley yelled.
Suddenly meteors crashed down onto the maintenance way blocking their path and inside them were ravager and a couple marauders. They instantly engage them and soon a firefight broke out across the maintenance gang way.
Liara created a singularity that caught the marauders in it and James tossed a few grenades underneath the ravager. The ravager was taken out by a few explosions and Shepard and Ashley concentrated on the now floating marauders.
Unfortunately more than meteors kept on landing releasing more ravagers and marauders. And then meteors landed on the upper balcony releasing more marauders.
"Enemies on the upper balcony!" Liara yelled.
"What our flank!" Shepard yelled at Garrus and James.
Garrus and James positioned themselves that they had a good view of the balcony and began to gun down the marauders. As they fired a few internal grenade in order to cause a distraction for Shepard to activate his cloak. He made his way to the nearest ravager and placed a sticky grenade underneath it and seconds later it exploded.
He then grabbed a marauder and made a course to shoot one of its own before he shot it in the chest with a pistol. Soon husks began to advance towards him, but Liara created a singularity that caught the husks and several marauders leaving them at the mercy of Ashley and her rifle.
Just when they thought they had the advantage meteors struck on the opposite end of the maintenance area and banshees arose. Shepard quickly backed away from them as he fired his rifle at the closest one. Garrus uses sniper rifle to assist in that manner and Ashley and James pretty much empty all their grenades onto them.
The explosion took out one of the banshees, but the second one was advancing toward Shepard and fired a biotic blast that knocked him aside making him drop his rifle. It was about to plunge its talon like fingers into, but he quickly fired incinerator that set it ablaze and it collapsed and disintegrated.
The maintenance door opened and they found more Reaper forces inside. Fortunately they have the element of surprise and were able to gun them down. Shepard made his way to the door and try to bypass the security, but then there was a huge explosion and the door power down.
Turned out that someone had cut the power from the power supply and they had to use the repair going to fix it. Unfortunately, a ravager had severely damaged it and it was running on reserve power. They had to guide the drone while protecting it while more Reaper forces landed and they had a clear a path for it.
It took some doing but eventually they managed to get the drone to repair the damage and the door became operational and they just don't just in time to witness husks making their way towards Garneau, who was throwing his way to the artefact very similar to the one in Bryson's lab.
"The darkness cannot be breached," said Leviathan.
"The artefact," Liara stared at the artefact.
"Like in Bryson's office," said Shepard.
Shepard began shooting the husks, he killed two of them but Garneau was in the way of the third.
"Move! I've got a shot!" he said to Garneau.
However, Garneau held out a detonator. "Turn back," said Leviathan.
"Garneau!" Shepard yelled.
Garneau then press down on the detonator and he exploded taking out the husks and artefact. The shockwave was so powerful that it knocked Shepard and his team back. When he looked he saw that there was no trace of Garneau or the artefact.
"Damn it," Shepard cursed.
Shepard examined the wreckage hoping that there was any trace of the artefact, but there was nothing. Ashley then approached a dead body that was near a computer console. He appeared to be holding a datapad and she began to study it.
"Shepard. Over here," she said gesturing him towards. "You won't believe this."
"What've you got?" Shepard asked approaching her.
"That wasn't Garneau—this is," she said gesturing to the dead body that Garrus was examining. "Looks like he's been dead for a while."
"So Leviathan can have Bryson killed, can take over this colony, and he can use them as puppets," said Shepard. This entire situation was far too similar to Feros to be a coincidence. "Anything else useful?"
"Encrypted data, and a personal log with eight missed calls from a Dr. Ann Bryson," said Ashley looking at the datapad.
"Ann Bryson?" Shepard blinked knowing her to be Bryson's daughter.
Suddenly they heard the doors opening and saw three miners entering the room, too male and female human and the other an asari. They looked as if they were back to normal and judging from the way they were holding their heads it was like having the worst migraine imaginable.
"Who… who are you? What are you doing here?" a female miner asked.
"I'm Commander Shepard. Are you all right?" he asked approaching them.
"I think so," said the miner. "I feel like… I feel strange but… all right."
"Can you tell me anything about what happened to you?" Shepard asked.
"Not really… I, uh, remember… It just seemed cold," she said rubbing her head. "I remember feeling. Cold and dark."
"If dark was a feeling, that exactly what I felt," said the male miner.
"Cortez, what's your situation?" Shepard asked reaching for his radio. "Can you bring the shuttle?"
"Affirmative. Strangest thing. Couple of minutes ago, the Reaper forces broke off and left," said Cortez.
Shepard had a feeling that it had something to do with the artefact now destroyed, but what really got his attention was the looks on the miners.
"Reaper… what's a Reaper?" the male miner asked.
Shepard and his team looked at one another and then back to the miners. "What you do you think this is?" Shepard asked.
Now it was the miners turned to give them a strange look.
"2176," said the asari.
Shepard realised these people going to be in for a shock, but going to find out sooner or later. "2176 was ten years ago."
"What?"
The miners stared at one another and then back to Shepard completely perplexed.
"Let's arrange for these people to be moved into temporary quarantine," said Shepard.
"If these people have been out of it for that long… they're in for a shock," said Garrus.
Shepard agreed.
A few minutes later they were in the shuttle making their way back to the Normandy and there were also trying to figure out what had just happened.
"So not only can Leviathan take down a Reaper, but it can indoctrinate people, too," said Tali sitting down.
"Do you think it might actually be a Reaper?" Ashley asked.
"If it is a Reaper, then I want to know what it's up to," said Shepard. "How long has it been out here, and, more importantly, why?" He then sat down knowing those questions won't be answered well while. "EDI, did we get anything from Garneau's notes?"
"Yes. They suggest that Garneau created a way to block the artefact mind-affecting properties," said EDI. "The artefact seems to be the key."
"Agreed," Shepard nodded. "When I head back to Bryson's office, I want you there."
"Yes, Commander."
"I want to know just what the hell these artefacts really are and what they can do."
"Whatever they are, they're too dangerous to have around," said Garrus.
"And we've got one sitting right in the middle of the Citadel."
Rick was with the Salarian Councillor discussing the recent events that had transpired. Along with them was Rose holding a datapad.
"Do we know what this Leviathan is?" the Salarian Councillor asked.
"From what Shepard can deduce it seems to have the same abilities as the Reaper and the Thorian," said Rick. "However, it did destroy a Reaper. We're hoping that we can use it to our advantage."
"What about those people on the colony? What's happening to them?"
"The Alliance is putting them in temporary quarantine until we can figure out what's going on," said Rose. "In retrospect the situation resembles the incident on Feros too much to be a coincidence."
"You think Leviathan and the Thorian are somehow related?" said the Salarian Councillor.
"We now have the Reapers are a synthetic race meaning they have to be built at some point," Rick pointed out. "We've just never been able to find any proof of their creators. No doubt they had been killed when the Reapers started the cycles."
The Salarian Councillor nodded. "If we find any more these artefacts we need to study them closely and carefully. If the Leviathan is somehow related to the Reapers it could prove to be a threat after this war."
"I just hope we can win this war first," said Rick.