Chapter 37: Breaching Darkness

Miranda shook her head in disapproval.

"Only the Normandy and with a minimal crew? Shepard, I still think you should have a task force for a mission like this."

They stood at the airlock, bathed in the perpetual twilight of Omega's illumination systems. It would eventually give way to modernization and advancement, but for now it gave her a faint feeling of nostalgia. She watched as the man gave her a weary smile.

"The Normandy has gotten us into and out of more places than I can count, Miranda. If this Leviathan is as dangerous as we think… a dozen more ships won't make a difference and we can't afford to lose them."

"I suppose that's also your justification for such a small ground team?" she asked, gesturing to the other three behind him.

"Actually he tried to order us to stay behind too at the last minute… after I caught him gearing up without telling us," Tali interjected with obvious annoyance.

Shepard sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"That didn't go over too well," Garrus said dryly. "And since I'm a Spectre technically he doesn't have the authority to order me to stay behind."

"He couldn't really keep me off the ship if he tried anyways," Kasumi added.

"And Tali made it clear that she wasn't going to be left behind either upon threat of severe and life altering punishment," Shepard concluded with a resigned sigh. "But I'm not going to bring the entire team on a mission like this. We're not just a crew anymore. You've all become leaders in your own right."

"It doesn't mean they wouldn't have been standing here in full gear ready to go," Miranda said. "But I see your point."

Even as they spoke Miranda knew the others were likely already working across the station despite the early hour. Sings-Twilight and Sings-Fury were assisting the rachni queen in her interactions with the Alliance technicians working on the Crucible. Rachni industry under the direction of some of their best scientists were already producing impressive results. Liara was quickly reestablishing her information network on Omega, and Vega was working with Nyreen to fully secure their new foothold. Javik and Ashley had apparently found common ground on similar preparations, working directly with Admiral Shepard and the defense fleet to devise methods to help further secure the relay. The prothean had some interesting ideas regarding asteroid based weapon emplacements that bore experimentation.

"We'll bring him back in one piece," Garrus said, placing a hand on Shepard's shoulder.

She looked at them and finally gave a small smile of her own. It was moments like this that her own sense of the absurdity of the war they fought struck her most strongly. Here in the early hours of the morning she was looking at four individuals that were taking it upon themselves to save the entire galaxy. Each clad in custom armor crafted by the most advanced technology and rachni ingenuity, all black lacquered edges and splashes of color. Even Kasumi appeared to have gotten an upgrade with heavier plating covering her most vulnerable areas. It still left her plenty of room to move, but it had clearly left behind the pretense of being protection for a thief: it was crafted for combat.

The armor and weapons, the confident bravado of the turian's mandibled smirk, all made it look like they were ready to shoot the next big holo-vid blockbuster. But beneath it all was an underlying current of tension. Twenty years from now maybe one of them would mention this moment on a documentary about the war, but unmentioned would be the way the turian's talons tightened as if to reassure himself of his own words or how Kasumi's hood dipped ever so slightly as if in silent prayer. Nor the silent understanding between herself and Shepard of what needed to be done if the worse indeed came to pass.

"Good hunting," she said instead, holding out a hand.

Shepard took and gave her hand a gentle squeeze, releasing it a second later with a respectful nod. A few more nods of acknowledgement were exchanged… and then they were gone, heading into the airlock. Miranda gave a sigh and turned around. Carmichael stood as unobtrusively as possible a few meters away.

Unlike the previous day his uniform was pressed and immaculate, the first time she'd actually seen him as neat and tidy since their initial hectic meeting. He held a dataslate in one hand and was trying to suppress an awkward shuffle as she approached. Despite herself a small smile quirked at the corners of her mouth.

"Problem?" she asked.

"No, I just feel like I'm… intruding. Everyone expects to see Shepard in press releases or giving speeches like yesterday. I feel like I'm seeing something I'm not meant to," Carmichael explained sheepishly.

Miranda glanced back over her shoulder as the faint rumble under her feet signaled the Normandy's departure.

"I suspect Shepard wishes more people saw him that way. Now, we have work to do don't we?"

"Ah yes ma'am… a meeting in fifty minutes with Security Chief Kandros and Spectre Williams. After that you've got a meeting with the engineering team about the defense upgrades. I'm sending the updated files to your omni-tool."

The faint smile tugged at the corners of her mouth again. Not bad for the first day on the job.

"Are you a coffee drinker?"

"I- What?" the younger man asked, nonplussed.

"It's a simple question, Lieutenant. Do you drink coffee?"

"Yes?" he replied hesitantly.

"Answer firmly when someone asks you a question, Carmichael. Better to occasionally be wrong than for everyone to doubt your confidence."

"Then… yes, ma'am. I do drink coffee."

"Much better," Miranda said. "We have almost an hour. Shepard might not be able to pin a medal on you… but I can at least buy you a cup of coffee. Then we work. You'll need the coffee. I generally work sixteen hour days."

Carmichael finally seemed to still his anxious limbs and gave a tight smile, his words confident.

"Yes, ma'am."

The planet that snapped into view as they exited FTL was a cloud wreathed blue-green orb, no different than a dozen others that Shepard had seen in his time with the Alliance. For some reason he felt cold just looking at it, though. The utter silence of the system only served the reinforce that feeling. No navigation beacons pinged their sensors. The system was devoid of anything other than a handful of planets circling a white dwarf star.

"We'll be in orbit in eight minutes," Joker said, not even glancing back. "Don't know about you but this whole system feels like an abandoned house after dark."

"Well, you know the rules, Joker. Just don't have sex and nothing pop up to try and kill you," Shepard teased.

"I would never attempt to initiate sexual contact during a mission, Shepard," EDI responded immediately. "In addition spontaneous sexual activity must be carefully considered based upon Jeff's condition."

Both men stopped dead, with Joker's face rapidly reddening. Shepard had to bite his tongue for a moment before finally speaking.

"Was… that another joke, EDI?" he finally got out.

The AI's silvery head cocked slightly.

"Of course not. I take the success of the mission and Jeff's health very seriously."

Shepard choked a little as Joker tried to sink into the pilot's chair, his shade growing steadily darker. He held up a hand and slowly backed out of the cockpit.

"Good to know. Thank you, EDI, this is the only time I've ever seen Joker at a loss for words."

To his credit, Shepard managed to contain his amusement until he made it into the elevator. It certainly answered any lingering questions about just how far EDI's ideas on interpersonal relations had gotten. He smiled. Of course Joker would end up as the only human being in the galaxy that had a literal relationship with his ship.

"Why do you look so pleased with yourself?" Tali asked sharply when the elevator doors opened at his cabin.

The quarian was standing at the entrance of his quarters with one hand on her hip as she spoke. He sighed and stepped out, holding up his hands in surrender.

"Just something funny with Joker and EDI. I see you're still mad."

"Why would I be mad?" she asked all too cheerfully. "It's not as if my dashing commander once again thought it would be a good idea to leave me behind on a space station orbiting a cluster of black holes while he flew off to confront some space monster."

He closed the distance between them and placed one hand on the bulkhead beside Tali's head, giving her a slow smile.

"You know I'm only trying to protect the people that matter to me most."

"Oh no you don't, you can't just do the smile and make me forgive you," the quarian countered, but her tone wavered. "Don't you understand why we refuse to be left behind?"

"I understand, but it doesn't mean I agree," he replied with a frustrated sigh, smile disappearing. "I've never left anyone behind because it was what I wanted. I made the choices I made because they were the best I had in that moment."

"And our choice is to be at your side… until the end."

He gave another sigh and lowered his head until it bumped against her visor. Behind the smokey glass he met her silver reflected eyes with his own.

"One day I'm going to make that choice and it will be final, Tali. I've cheated death too many times, dodged too many bullets, survived by chance or extraordinary means. As much as it brings me comfort to have you at my side…"

The hand resting at his side suddenly found itself entangled in a three-fingered grip as Tali squeezed tightly.

"More than once now each of us has had to stand by and watch you die, John," she explained quietly. "So we decided that we wouldn't do that again. In your mind you think that if you're gone, we'll move on and everything will be alright. But it won't."

He tried to argue but her other hand came up, touching his lips to silence him.

"The first time you died, I cracked. In two years I was able to patch those cracks just like every old ship in the flotilla, keeping myself going because I had to. When we lost you again on Utukku... " she trailed off for a moment and he felt the shiver run through her body. "Everything shattered. But you came back to us. I can't do it again. I w-won't be able to put the pieces back together again. You can only patch something so many times before it can't be fixed anymore."

"You're very stubborn, you know," he said finally.

"There was an odd human that told me, not long after we met, that stubbornness is just being unwilling to let the universe push you around."

"Humans are bad about talking nonsense around pretty girls."

The quarian rolled her eyes behind the visor and gave him a thump on the chest.

""We're going to be in in orbit soon and you still haven't geared up. I'll meet you in the hangar. Then we all do this together."

A few minutes later he'd made his way to the hangar bay, securing the final latches on his gauntlet. A familiar hiss echoed in his ears as the armor sealed and he gave his fingers an experimental flex. Even as he slid his heavy pistol into the holster at his hip Shepard wondered whether armor and weapons would even matter.

Most of the flight he'd spent reading through Dr. Bryson's research. Leviathan was a myth that didn't just span cultures, it spanned light years and species with details proving to be eerily similar. In the Old Testament it is described as a being with fear, with no living thing upon the Earth its equal. But just as in the ancient hebrew texts the Hanar too had myths of the Great Beast. An unstoppable force that dwelled in the utter blackness of the farther depths of the great oceans of Kahje, with a hide of impenetrable shields that was a foe even to their mighty Enkindlers.

So it continued. Across cultures and worlds the references were there. To the turians there was the spirit of darkness that came from the inner sea. The asari called it the Corruptor or the Tendriled Beast, a creature of primordial darkness that sought to destroy Athame's great works. Bryson had theorized that these legends were not merely primitive fear of natural creatures such as the whales of ancient earth. In all instances the Leviathan is ascribed intelligence and agency. To Bryson this meant that this terrifying entity, with the power to destroy even a Reaper, had influenced the ancient past of their worlds.

When the first rumors of this entity had come to the surface Shepard wondered if they were just another tale told by drunken spacers. After the events aboard the mining station, though, his doubts had been quashed. The technology and monstrosities that had been created in those labs combined with the nearly decade long gaps in the miners' memories had made it clear that there was something out there. Something with designs and capabilities far beyond the known.

"Second thoughts?" a flanged voice asked.

Shepard glanced over at Garrus and shrugged.

"Too late for those."

"Joker can still turn this ship around," the turian said. "After those things on the asteroid I'm still not sure this is a mystery we need to solve."

"We don't have a choice. We're not winning this war, Garrus. We're just losing it more slowly. Even when their trap worked the Reapers took their time wiping out the Protheans. The only advantage we have is that they're predictable and complacent. We need a wild card."

"Mythical terror is one hell of a wild card."

"Only a few cards left in the deck. We just have to play the hand we're dealt."

The turian's mandibles curled in a smirk.

"Then let's go all in."

"Always do."

As soon as the door to the shuttle opened Shepard felt a gust of wind slam into him and a spray of seawater coat his visor. With a grunt of surprise he regained his composure and hopped from the hovering ship, landing on the tarnished plating below with a dull thump. The sound was repeated three times behind him as the others disembarked.

"I'm going to keep scanning, Commander," Cortez said over the comms. "Trying to get a read on anything is hard. It's like the entire planet is wrapped in some kind of jamming field."

"Copy that, stay low and mobile. We don't know what's waiting for us here."

The shuttle pulled away sluggishly. Garrus moved to stand next to him, glancing around their surroundings. Once it had been a ship, that much was clear. A bulk cruiser or colony transport maybe, but now it acted as an impromptu island in an otherwise endless sea. The part they stood on was an upper cargo area that just barely stayed above water. He watched as waves constantly crested at the edge of the grating only to trickle away thanks to the slight angle of ship rested at.

"Recognize the design?" Garrus asked. "It's definitely not turian."

"Not sure… almost certain it's human. This plating, the overall structure looks Alliance."

"It is," Tali interrupted. "It's a Mark Six Explorer. Your people used them right after the First Contact War for a few years. The Migrant Fleet has a few that we were able to get fairly cheaply. The Alliance realized pretty quickly that sending out peaceful explorers was too inviting raiders."

"Which means this one has been here for over 20 years?" Kasumi asked.

Another gust of wind hit him and he looked out at the roiling sea, a storm raging in the distance that he guessed would be on them soon. The steady rain and wind combined with the sensor issues had already made it almost impossible to get a look at their surroundings on the trip down.

"Probably. Fan out, see if you can find anything. This area is the only place on the entire planet that EDI was able to detect anything resembling a land mass," he ordered. "And watch your step."

He moved along the side of the vessel's hull while the others moved in various directions. The derelict ship was strange. It had clearly crashed on the planet, but it must have had some control as it had entered the atmosphere otherwise it would have simply broken apart on impact. No visible part of the hull showed the evidence of weapons fire to suggest what would have forced a controlled descent. In addition the entire area above water seemed to have been a cargo area, meaning there had to have been survivors to extend the cargo platforms out in the first place. Shepard considered trying to search inside the ship when he heard Tali's voice in his ear.

"Keelah… John. John you need to see this," she said quietly.

It took only a second to orient himself on her location, following his HUD. The rain soaked deck was slick, but clearly someone had scored the side of the hull to allow ascension to the peak of the vessel.

"What is it, Tali? Did…" he began, but quickly trailed off.

In the distance there was another storm brewing. Thick, angry bolts of lightning leapt from cloud to cloud. Each searing bolt illuminated a surreal scene. Across the roiling sea was series of shoals and outcroppings that jutted out of the water. But there was no rock or sand, each protrusion was tarnished metal. It was an enormous graveyard of vessels, their jutting bows, communication spires, and have visible engines marking each breach in the water's surface like tombstones.

"It's just like beyond the Relay," Tali whispered. "There must be dozens… hundreds."

He suppressed the shudder that ran through his body and placed a hand on Tali's shoulder.

"It means we've found the right place. Whatever Leviathan is it clearly didn't want anyone finding it."

"What does that mean for us?"

Before he could think up some kind of comforting if not completely sincere reply Kasumi's voice interrupted his train of thought.

"Shep, we found something!"

They quickly made their way back down the side of the derelict, sliding the last few feet to land on the grated deck plating. Standing near one of the industrial transport container was Garrus who waved them over. The door had been pried open to allow entry.

"This place… I'm liking it less every second, Shepard," the turian said as they approached. "This feels like the kind of place where the spirits of darkness are at home."

As soon as he saw inside the container Shepard knew what had made his friend so uneasy. Kasumi was crouched next to a small emergency beacon with her omni-tool open. Lying directly across from her was the body of what had once been a human he could only assume, now just a skeleton wearing a few strips of rotting cloth.

"The container had been shut from the outside, but it wasn't airtight," Garrus said quietly. "There's stains on the inside of the door. He… tried to get out but couldn't manage it. Probably died of dehydration."

The thief's tone was equally subdued when she spoke.

"There's more. He modified this emergency beacon to act like a recording device. You should see it."

Kasumi's tapped her omni-tool and a distorted but recognizable image of a human man in his mid-thirties appeared.

"...don't know what hit us. No explosion just a wave of energy and everything started shutting down. Kelsey put us down in the only shallow area we could detect. There's other ships here. Hundreds of them. Distress beacon isn't working, either. Signal isn't even making it out of the lower atmosphere so the captain told me to modify it."

The image paused and then seemed to skip ahead, starting and stopping a few times before snapping back into a coherent image. It seemed years of neglect had taken their toll.

"Kelsey and Richards died today. We got one of the shuttles working. Tried to get it out of the atmosphere… but right as they were about to break orbit everything went dead. We lost communications. And then we saw the shuttle in freefall. It must have hit… twenty, thirty kilometers west of here. There was no way they survived. It's as if… as if something doesn't want us to leave."

Once again the image skipped and this time when it stopped the man it showed looked like he had aged a decade. His uniform was stained and torn, his eyes weary.

"Ten of us left. Supplies are running low and most of us have woken up hearing the sounds now. Charlie dove right into the water two days ago. He never came up. It's been a month and we all know that no one is coming. Wherever this place is it's damned. We're one more ghost ship in an endless fleet."

When the image shifted again the man was close enough to the lens to make him almost jump in surprise. Eyes that had been weary looked delirious.

"We have all heard the calls, now. The low songs in the night. Warnings of the darkness… the others have modified the remaining shuttle and some of the exploration suits. Tomorrow they go into the darkness. They will find its source. I have been chosen to remain. To tell of what has happened and… if anyone is foolish enough to come to this world in rescue to warn them. There is nothing but darkness here."

The recording abruptly ended.

"John, I don't think this is worth it. The monsters on the asteroid, the miners, now this?" Tali said, shaking her head. "Is it worth it if what we find is worse than the Reapers?"

"I don't think it matters. The Reapers are a threat. Leviathan could be one too, but either way… I get the feeling we're not leaving this planet without that meeting. Otherwise why would we have even been allowed to land? There are a dozen crashed starships here. If it could do it to them, it could have done the same to us."

"Maybe it's not home?" Kasumi suggested with false cheer.

He gave a wry smirk.

"When have we ever gotten that lucky?"

"So what's the plan?" Garrus asked.

"There's no land on this planet. And if nothing else this shows us that Leviathan is here," Shepard said. "That means there's only one place it could be."

"Afraid you were going to say that," the turian agreed sourly.

Fifteen minutes of searching had turned up a single mechanized suit that had clearly been modified by the previous crew for underwater operations. Tali looked less than thrilled, but set to work checking the entire suit over. Two decades was a long time for anything to sit unmoving on a water drenched planet but apparently the designers of this particular design had intended the machine to last: in less than half an hour the quarian declared the mech operational.

It was a few seconds later that the shuttle came roaring back overhead. Cortez whipped the small ship around in a tight turn and settled it in right next the the mech. The side door popped open and the pilot came stumbling out.

"We've got incoming!" the pilot yelled.

Shepard's eyes snapped to the skies and he sucked in a breath as the tell tale trail of husk drop pods broke through the clouds. Somehow the Reapers had followed them. He cursed and drew his weapon.

"How are they already on top of us?" the Spectre asked.

"Communications are out. About fifteen minutes after I dropped you guys off I noticed I hadn't heard any chatter… which I checked the comms they were completely blanketed with static on every channel. Then I started losing power. I dropped low and skimmed the surface, seemed to keep things functioning," Cortez explained. "That was when I saw the first sensor pings entering the atmosphere."

"Take up defensive positions. God dammit," Shepard snarled. "Cortez, are you still up on your small arms."

"Aye aye, sir."

"Shepard. You have to go, now," Garrus interjected.

"What?"

The turian gestured at the mech with a talon.

"That thing isn't military rated. A few good bursts of fire and it won't be able to hold up to a breeze, much less the depths of the ocean. If you don't get down there now you're not getting down there at all."

He looked at the machine and grimaced. It had the same shape as the standard combat mechs that Cerberus and private military contractors had made good use of. But Garrus was right. There were no military grade barrier generators mounted on the back and the plating coating its exterior was meant to withstand ocean pressure and construction… not hyper velocity rounds.

"Go. We'll take care of them up here. The Reaper hasn't entered the atmosphere either so that means it must be scared of whatever is down there too. Sounds like I get the better deal fighting husks," Garrus concluded.

"You're insufferable when you're right," Shepard sighed and pulled the rifle from his back, tossing it to the man. "I won't need that down there but you will."

"He's insufferable all the time. But he has his… charms," Kasumi said, drawing her own weapon and giving him a smirk. "Good luck, Shep. Go punch Cthulhu in the nose and show'em who's boss."

Overhead he heard the faint whine of the incoming drop pods. They didn't have long. He moved to the mech and placed a boot against the side, preparing to haul himself when he felt a hand grip his arm.

"I won't tell you to be careful," Tali said.

"Because I always am."

Shepard watched the eyes behind her visor shift and now he could read her expressions even through the smoky glass. She was smiling, strained but still smiling. She pushed herself up on her toes and placed her visor against his helmet.

"Liar. Just come back to me or I swear I'll dive down there and kill whatever is there myself."

"What could if hesh'la would I be if I didn't? Just keep the rest of them in one piece until I get back."

The quarian nodded and stepped back as he climbed into the mech, strapping in and triggering the start up sequence. Once the cockpit sealed he could hear the hiss as it pressurized and the consoles came to life. Everything smelled dank and musty, but he didn't have time to worry about the cleanliness of his only method of transportation. He turned and gave Tali one last look and then pushed the control stick forward.

He hit the water with a heavy thud and immediately began to sink, observation lamps kicking on as the water sucked away the already dim light. After a few moments he got a proximity warning and fired the jets, bringing the mech to a heavy landing on a sandy bottom. Shepard reached over and flicked the lamps onto their highest setting. The twin beams of light revealed a shelf of sand and stone that the derelict vessel had landed on. A hundred or so meters ahead, though, the shelf abruptly gave way to sheer cliff. Even when he reached the edge and pointed the lights into the water below he saw nothing. No shapes, no bottom. Simply endless darkness.

"Time to meet you face to face," Shepard muttered and launched the mech off the cliff and into the depths.

"What's the plan?" Tali asked.

"Use the shuttle for cover. Even with the power mostly drained the kinetic barriers make it tough enough to withstand any small arms fire and it gives us somewhere to retreat if they try to land on top of us," Garrus explained quickly. "Cortez, your job is to keep up a steady stream of suppression fire. Keep them boxed in. I'll provide overwatch. Kasumi and Tali take them down as one of us gets them out of cover."

The first of the pods hit only seconds later, a bizarre sound of steel and flesh impacting that carried across the ever increasing wind. A cannibal emerged from the pod only to collapse in a heap as Garrus caressed the trigger of his rifle and sent a single round tearing through its skull. In proper fashion things then devolved rapidly as various husks emerged from the pods, leaping and bounding across the derelict's slanted deck.

"Cortez, right side!"

Bursts of automatic fire ripped into the rightmost husk, slowly tracking inwards. Garrus nodded to himself and noted to comment on the pilot's target discipline when they made it out of the mess they were in. Two more husks had managed to clear half the distance across the ship's deck only to find themselves directly in the line of fire of Kasumi and Tali's pistols, quickly cut down by precise fire.

A hail of return fire responded as more cannibals emerged but ricocheted harmlessly off the Kodiak's hull. It was a cycle everyone had become familiar with as the war had gone on. An initial wave of husks that would either overwhelm defenders or reveal their positions as they were forced to engage. Then the cannibals and their horrific integrated guns would open up on the exposed defenders.

Deadly against the unaware, but far less effective when your enemy knew it was coming. Garrus' rifle barked again and another cannibal's head exploded in ichor and cybernetics. The others attempted to find cover behind the cargo containers only to be forced into the open as Tali's drone appeared and sent arcs of electricity bouncing between them. Each of the abominations howled in anger only to be abruptly silenced the second they stumbled from behind cover.

"That wasn't so bad," Cortez said.

"What they lack in adaptability… they make up for in numbers," Garrus replied and gestured to the sky as another wave of pods streaked towards them.

The second wave hit and more husks emerged. Then a third. A fourth. A husk slipped past Cortez's suppressive fire and charged towards the pilot only to jerk as three holes blossomed in its chest and it toppled into the water. Tali ejected a spent heatsink from her pistol, the smoldering chunk of metal hissing against the wet deck plating. Cortez gave her a thankful nod.

"Ammo check," Garrus barked.

"Still good. Six magazines left," Tali responded.

"Five mags for the rifle left. Pilot sidearms are only issued with a single extra thermal so… not going to get much mileage out of the sidearm," Cortez said apologetically.

"Remind me to address that with Shepard later," the turian shot back. "Kasumi?"

The thief leaned her back against the shuttle and sighed.

"Five left here too."

Another strong gust of wind increasingly laced with thick droplets of rain tore across the derelict's deck, the wind yanking the hood from the thief's head. A few strands of ebony hair plastered against her forehead in contrast to her pale skin. Kasumi gave him an exasperated smirk.

"This is going to get messy if they keep it up," Cortez said. "At least we got a break, what are they waiting for?"

It was then that he saw Kasumi's dark eyes widen and she gestured over his head. Garrus turned and wasn't certain if he should curse or thank the spirits. The storm they'd spotted earlier had arrived and even as he watched another wave of pods streaked through the sky… and were violently thrown off trajectory and slammed into the water's surface nearly half a kilometer off target. Bolts of lightning streaked down to dance between the various exposed pieces of the long forgotten starships.

"Into the Kodiak!" he hissed.

Everyone clearly saw the danger at the same time and it took only seconds for them to pile into the ship. When the door sealed behind him Garrus could still hear the wind's increasing howls and the peals of thunder that made his plates vibrate.

"We've got about eleven percent power left," the pilot said from the cockpit, wiping water from his face. "I've activated the magnetic grapples. Don't want to go blown off the ship."

"It will buy us time," Tali added. "They can't use drop pods with the storm overhead and if the Reaper was going to enter the atmosphere it already would have. Maybe they really are scared of Leviathan."

"Not sure if that's a good thing considering we're stuck down here with it," Kasumi said.

Garrus shrugged.

"Everyone take a few. From the size of that storm we've got some time to rest at least before they can attack again."

The turian moved and took a seat next to Kasumi as the rain and wind pounded futilely against the kodiak's hull outside. With one talon he reached up and lightly brushed one of the damp strands against Kasumi's forehead.

"I've never seen your fringe… your hair wet. It makes it look even darker," he commented quietly.

"Unfortunately this hood wasn't designed for hurricanes. Unlike Fishbowl my suit isn't fully environmentally sealed unless I take special gear," Kasumi replied sourly. "Now I have to deal with this mess."

"Can I?"

She nodded. He slowly ran his hands through the wet strands, squeezing some of the water from them with the flats of his talons. After a few seconds he cleared his throat.

"Among turians it's considered… very intimate to touch another person's fringe. We don't have the same levels of facial structure that humans do, but all our of fringes are unique in some way. The tips and edges are hard like our plates but at the base it's all very sensitive."

When Kasumi simply gave a small, affirmative sound he continued, effectively combing her dark locks with his talons until the blunted tips were rubbing against the thief's scalp.

"Our culture has always been strict when it came to social norms. People were welcome to practice anything in private without judgement, but are expected to act properly in public. To intentionally touch the fringe of a stranger would be seen as bad or worse as physically assaulting them."

The affirmative sound came from Kasumi again but this time at a much lower octave. He paused and looked down at here.

"Are you okay?"

"You do realize that for mammals our hair serves the same purpose as your fringe, Garrus? That means that our scalps are also very sensitive," Tali interjected suddenly, her tone teasing.

For a brief second he was lost until he watched Kasumi blink rapidly. Her pale cheeks quickly tinted red but she didn't pull away. He swallowed heavily as his understanding caught up to the rest of his brain.

"So I should… ah… stop…"

"Don't even think about it," Kasumi shot back immediately and stuck her tongue out at Tali.

"You know, there isn't a single marine that would believe me if I told them that in between firefights Garrus Vakarian, the most deadly turian in the galaxy, gives scalp massages," Cortez added, leaning against the doorway to the cockpit. "Did you bring enough for everyone?"

The thief crossed her arms, her back arching as his talons continued to slowly rub her scalp. For his part Garrus still found the sensation of the individual strands slipping between his talons fascinating.

"I stole him fair and square. You'll have to find your own, Cortez."

"I like how I don't get a say in any of this," the turian drawled.

One small hand reached out and patted his armored thigh. A chuckle drifted through the room as another massive rumble of thunder made the shuttle vibrate around them and the storm renewed its fury outside. He looked over Kasumi's head to see Tali shaking her head.

"Life brings us to strange places. We hide from a storm on an unexplored planet, waiting for Reapers to rain monsters on us while John is searching at the bottom of the sea for an even bigger monster."

"No matter what happens… no one can say we lived boring lives," Kasmu pointed out.

"I just hope what John finds down there really is what he hopes it is."

"If it isn't… then I'm still betting on him," Garrus said firmly, then give the quarian a tired smirk. "I just hope he doesn't decide to take his time. How long does it really take to find a giant sea monsters?"

It felt as if he sank forever. Shepard watched the gauges and readouts as the mech showed them passing three kilometers below the surface. Warnings began to flash after the fourth kilometer. Pressure sensors bleated out vain protests against manufacturer ratings and safety guidelines. He simply disabled them.

Somewhere around the fifth kilometer he saw the first, faint glow. Then a hint of movement at the edge of the mech's lamps. Suddenly something emerged from the darkness. It was serpentine, with huge, luminous eyes and a toothy maw. It glided past the mech with barely an indication that it noticed him other than a slight adjustment of its path.

The proximity warning triggered again and he activated the jets, slowing his descent. A cloud of silt billowed around the mech as he landed on an overhanging ledge. He pushed forward on the controls, moving the mech to the edge. Every step was sluggish as the machine fought against the immense pressure around it.

"Wow," he muttered. "It would be beautiful in any other circumstance."

Cracks in the sea floor below emitted a faint blue glow, whether it was some form of organic life or a geothermal phenomenon Shepard couldn't guess. Stalks of plants emerged from the cracks, gently swaying in the current. Each was easily a kilometer in length and as thick as the largest tree that had ever grown on Earth. It seemed this planet wasn't devoid of life, it was merely hidden beneath an inhospitable surface.

His observations were cut short by another burst of movement. Before he could even focus his eyes on it, however, he felt it. Like an immense pressure behind his eyes, pounding in his ears, tightening his veins.

"My god..."

The creature rising from the sea floor could only be described as titanic and disturbingly familiar. A long body reminiscent of a cephalopod ending in half a dozen appendages. Sudden, horrible realization washed over him. They had always wondered from where the Reapers took their form… and now it was before wasn't covered in steel, but rather jagged opalescent plates that glimmered in the dim blue light. Two sets of triplicate eyes glowed with intense blue fire that seemed to bore into him.

Leviathan.

"You have come too far. You have breached the darkness."

Every word was spoken in a voice so deep and sibilant that it made pain shoot through his head, his teeth ground as he struggled to maintain his concentration.

"I came as far as I had to. To find you."

"This is not your domain."

Shepard ground his teeth against the throbbing in his head.

"You destroyed a Reaper… left your mark on history for thousands of years. I need to know what you are. Why you're not fighting them."

"They are the enemy. False echoes that would exterminate us. We are more. We are greater."

"Then help us fight them!"

"You understand nothing. Give your mind to us."

The pain shot through his head like a searing bolt and his vision went white, he thought he heard himself screaming as if from a distance. And then silence. He blinked. The mech was gone. The water. Leviathan. He stood on an empty, endless plane of still water that didn't ripple beneath his feet.

"Where am I?"

"You are nowhere."

Shepard spun on his heel to see Ann Bryson staring at him. The voice was the same deep, reverberating sound but it didn't seem to pierce his skull in the same way. Bryson's form walked past him.

"Your memories give form to our words. They show to us your true nature."

"If you're in my memories then you know what I'm here!" he said emphatically, stepping forward. "You know we're at war with the Reapers. You've destroyed them before. Why aren't you fighting back?"

The image of Bryson shook her head and faded away.

"There is no war. Only the harvest."

He looked around the empty plain, yelling into the nothing.

"Then help us stop it!"

The image appeared again. Dr. Garneau. He stood at a lab station, facing away.

"Twenty thousand cycles have come before. None have possessed the strength to stop it. Your own species is a dying one, as are all the others of your cycle. Easily destroyed with only a thought."

He felt his hands curl into fists.

"Then why are we having this conversation?"

"We have watched your actions. You… are different. Sovereign was defeated. The Collectors destroyed. For the first time in a thousand cycles the Reapers perceive an individual as a threat. I must understand why."

The pain returned in a tidal wave and for a moment he was back in the mech. He tasted copper and looked up to see the creature's immense form floating directly before him. The glowing eyes flared brighter… and he was gone again.

This time the plane of still water began to ripple as he came to his senses. A human man, one of the miners, sat on the edge of a non-existent drop and looked down at the rippling pool that slowly formed into the image of the spinning galaxy. Moving across the map were forms that he identified as other beings like Leviathan.

"Before the cycles. Before life on your planet had ever emerged from the sea," it said, not looking at him. "We were the apex of life in the galaxy. Our reach touched every star and every world, the lesser races serving as our thralls. We grew powerful and great, the lesser races under our care were protected."

The man stood and looked at him.

"But even with our power we could not stop time. Stars die, others are born. New species are arise. Evolution continues. Our vassals advanced. No matter the safety and security we provided, the lesser species always strive for more. Built weapons of unimaginable power. Used their knowledge to warp the fundamental laws of the universe in the pursuit of their goals. A simple moment of inattention on our part would result in the annihilation of solar systems. They would develop faster engines that tore holes in space. They created bombs that could wipe out all organic life over light years. They built synthetic armies that would scour worlds of life. All in the name of their own advancement."

The watery image rippled again. Star systems became ripples of their own, disappearing in the waves and washing over other systems, that then in turn became ripples of their own.

"Thus we created an intelligence to solve the one problem that we could not: true immortality. To discover how we could preserve ourselves and the lesser species against inevitable self annihilation we gave it that singular mandate. Preserve life at all costs. For millennia it grew, studying countless civilizations as we tended to our vassals. Finally it discovered a solution."

Each ripple abruptly stopped, as if frozen in ice.

"In that instant, it betrayed us. We were never aware of our folly until it had already begun. Our kind was chosen as the first harvest. From our essence the first two Reapers were created in our own image: the ones you know as Harbinger and Sovereign."

"But… why? How is destroying organic life over and over again preserving life?"

The man before him changed again, this time to the elder Bryson.

"Those they deem worthy are harvested, used to create another Reaper. Sovereign told you itself. Each a nation. Free of all weakness. The intelligence concluded that the flaw was not in evolution. The flaw was that evolution had been halted. The true pinnacle of evolution was synthetic life. Perfectly controlled, unchanging, preserved. Within each Reaper is the essence of the countless species they have destroyed. They preserve life by ascending it to their perfect form of existence."

He blinked and took a step back, the implications swirling in his mind like cackling banshees.

"My god you mean… inside every Reaper is..."

"Within the Reapers is the genetic code, the knowledge, the advancements of every harvested civilization. Each becomes another part in their endless network. Another piece of perfection."

"How could you let this happen?" he demanded. "You built this intelligence. You said yourself that these 'lesser species' always led to their own destruction. How could you not see this coming?"

The image turned away, changing between blinks to that of an older woman. Leviathan's voice was still the same booming echo, but a hint of something else, regret or sadness, tinged it.

"Your primitive mind cannot comprehend absolute power. Every world was ours. Every species a tool in our grasp. To our kind of the intelligence was merely another tool. When it created its proxies to gather data, it was a tool serving its purpose. When it asked for more, it was still performing its purpose. Only in the instant before it struck did we see our folly. Then… there was only slaughter."

"Then how did you survive?"

"The first cycle was not a complete extermination," it explained, gesturing to the image of the galaxy again as small images scattered to the very edges of the spiral. "A few survivors fled to the darkest corners of the galaxy, to wait, to observe, to prepare. We are their progeny."

He rubbed his chin.

"That mining station. You were… creating monsters there. Researching this cycle."

The woman waved a dismissive hand.

"Experiments. Permutations. Through our artifacts we safely observe the galaxy. Searching for a way to defeat our failed creation. Bio-engineered weapons such as those you destroyed have promise, but have never proven successful."

"What about the Crucible?" he asked hopefully.

"We have observed its construction through countless cycles. Each time it has never been completed and its creators harvested. Its purpose is unknown."

The image shifted back to Ann Bryson again as she turned her back on him and began to walk away.

"So that's it, then? You hide in your darkness, playing with species every cycle and then sit by and watch as they're harvested?"

"We have survived countless cycles. You will remain here as a servant to our needs. The rest of your species will be harvested. The cycle will continue."

Shepard felt his lips curl into an involuntary sneer.

"Like hell I will."

The image stopped, slowly turning to face him. Blue fire flashed in Bryson's eyes.

"You possess great will, but you will serve as all have served before."

Pain seemed to crawl through every inch of his body, dropping him to his knees on the shimmering pain. His vision doubled for a moment, showing him the inside of the mech cockpit and the endless plane at the same time. The sneer on his lips turned into a guttural snarl.

"I said… like hell!"

With agonizing effort he pushed himself to his feet.

"I am not anyone's puppet!" Shepard roared. "Not the Council's. Not the Reapers'. And not yours!"

The image of Bryson seemed nonplussed.

"You cannot resist. Your only choice is servitude or destruction."

A feral grin spread across his features as he stalked towards the image of Bryson, each step feeling like he was dragging his legs through a field of glass.

"My species has a saying… better to die on your feet than live on your knees. You've watched this cycle. Sovereign was destroyed. The Collectors are dead. I made the choice to sacrifices hundreds of thousands of lives and annihilate an entire star system to stop them once. I have walked through death. Indoctrination. I have watched my homeworld burn. We are different and we will not go gently into the night!"

He grabbed the image's coat in a shaking hand.

"You run and hide in your dark corners of the universe? Look into my memories! The recent ones! The Reapers are here. They have hunted you down because no one, not even your perfect apex race, can hide forever. So you have a choice. You can run and hide, hope you can escape for another cycle… or you can stop running and fight!"

With a grunt he let go and reached up to wipe his face, feeling blood streak the back of his hand.

"With or without you, I'm going to fight. Not for my survival but for the survival of every individual up there. My friends, their families, their very species. That is the galaxy that you want to turn your back on. One that is united for the first time in a billion years against a common enemy. And if end the we still fail? Then I swear on the ghosts of trillions that the Reapers will never forget that this was the cycle that finally said no… they want to preserve something? They can preserve the memory of the galaxy on fire around them. One way or the other this cycle ends."

Silence hung heavily in the air and Leviathan's image changed again, this time looking all too familiar, dug up from the depths of his memories. Fiery red hair and white teeth would make her the perfect image if not for the emotionless mask that was her face. A hand reached out at touched his forehead.

"And now we understand. You possess the will to do this. To choose the fire. So be it. We will fight not for you or any lesser species. We fight as rightful apex beings of this galaxy. The Reapers that trespass into our domain must make tribute."

His vision doubled again and then snapped back into reality. The cockpit of the mech around him blared warnings around him but he ignored them. Leviathan's form hovered before him. Suddenly two more of the same creatures emerged, flanking the first. Shepard felt himself losing consciousness as he fumbled, slapping the emergency surface button, even as Leviathan's terrible voice tore into his mind.

"This day they pay their tribute in blood."

Tali fired again, the shot burning a hole straight through the husks rib cage and dropping it instantly into a lifeless heap at her feet. She popped the heatsink out and slapped another one in, turning the fire off another round at a cannibal that removed its arm at the shoulder.

"Shit!" Cortez said, stumbling back as a round narrowly missed his face. "I'm down to my last mag!"

"Same. Keep shooting," Tali said.

She heard Garrus' rifle go off twice in rapid succession and two more husks tumbled over. Next to her she could also hear Kasumi breathing heavily in between bouts of gunfire and howling wind.

"Shep better get back soon or we're not going to be able to stay here," Kasumi said.

That was when they heard the sound. A deep basso tone that signaled death and destruction. With horror they all looked up to watch the form of two full sized Reapers emerge from the clouds. She felt rather than saw Garrus move to stand behind her as the glow of the Reapers charging weapons bathed them red light. Behind her visor a sad smile spread across Tali's face.

"I'm sorry, hesh'la… it looks like I'll have to wait for you among the ancestors."

Behind her she heard Kasumi's own whisper.

"Kanete naki

mi koso yasukere

yuki no michi."

Her translator couldn't manage it in real time but slowly it scrolled across her visor. Tali closed her eyes. But no searing blast of heat came. Instead she heard another sound. The rushing of water and a sound that was like a million beasts roaring in unison. Her eyes snapped open.

Emerging from the water was something massive, no, multiple somethings. They erupted forth like rockets in a spray of seawater and hurtled towards the approaching Reapers. Both ships turned their attention to the newcomers and fired… only to watch as each of their blasts slapped away by an invisible force to dissipate harmlessly into the sea.

Tali watched in awe as green-blue lightning arced between the three beings that looked like even more nightmarish versions of the Reapers themselves. A split second later the lightning snapped out and tore into the first Reaper. Like a jagged blade being pushed through over-ripe fruit the massive warship simple came apart at the seams. The lightning danced across its disintegrating form to jump to the other reaper and repeat the processes, rending it into wreckage in seconds.

Words hammered into her head, too loud and discordant.

"This is our domain. Tribute will be paid by all who trespass."

After a few more heartbeats Tali shook herself. Leviathan. This had to be it. Or them. That had to mean that Shepard had been successful. She quickly opened her comm.

"Shepard? Shepard! Can you hear me?"

No response came.

"John! Please! Can you hear me?"

"There!" Kasumi yelled.

The mech surged out of the water, staggering drunkenly as it's metal feet slammed into the deck plating. It took two more steps before seizing cockpit popped open and Shepard pulled himself free, falling to the deck.

"Cortez, shuttle status, now!" Garrus barked. "I've got him!"

Both Garrus and Tali cleared the distance with long strides, each grabbing him under one arm and carrying his limp weight to the shuttle. With a gasp they laid him down on his back on the shuttle floor. Cortez turned to look back, his voice both surprised and relieved.

"I don't know what he did but I've got full power and communications. We're getting out of here!"

The shuttle door closed and seconds later she felt the ship lift off. Leaning over the unconscious man she scrambled to feel for a pulse. Even through her suit she could feel that his skin was cold and clammy. For a panicked second there was nothing and then she felt the faint throb, not even noticing the gasp of relief she let go. His face was covered from nose to chin in blood and he looked pale. Her omni-tool told her nothing useful. No broken bones or internal bleeding.

"John?" she asked. "Please, wake up. Can you hear me?"

Finally he stirred with a pained groan, coughing as he tried to push himself up. She slid an arm under him and helped him sit up.

"Keelah! Don't do that to me! Are you okay?"

"F-Fine," Shepard coughed. "Just… bad headache. And freezing."

"What happened down there, Boss?" Garrus asked.

"Leviathan. It… they are more than we ever imagined. We're going to have a lot to talk about once we get back to the Normandy. Not all of it good. But for better or worse… they're not hiding anymore. They're going to war."

Kasumi arched an eyebrow at him and then pulled up her hood.

"And that's a good thing, right?"

She felt Shepard shiver slightly where he leaned against her but he nodded.

"I hope so."

So a disclaimer, hopefully there weren't too many typos but my beta reader has been occupied and I wanted to get this out before every thought I'd given up the ghost. Happy holidays to everyone and happy reading.