12 June 2186, Rannoch Orbit

Shepard, Tali and I found Legion in the War Room, working with the holographic display, apparently creating abstract art. The geth had produced a three-dimensional mandala of great complexity, which it examined at length and from several angles.

"It's almost time, Legion." Shepard stared at the display. "What is it you're doing?"

"Shepard-Commander. We are considering alternatives."

"How so?"

"We are aware that the consensus must be freed from subordination to the Old Machines. Yet the software upgrades provided by the Old Machines have a compelling aspect."

"You're tempted by them," Shepard said quietly.

"Yes." Legion worked with the display controls, called up a simple image: a cool blue-white sphere, hints of intricate structure within, bursts of light occasionally flaring deep inside. "This schematic represents the cognitive processes of a single geth runtime, isolated from the consensus."

Tali stepped closer. "Fascinating."

"Now, observe. Ten geth runtimes, networked with one another."

The sphere involuted, grew in complexity. Activity stepped up by an order of magnitude, a quiet pyrotechnic display.

If the geth benefit so much from networking only ten of themselves, then what of Legion? It must exist almost like a small consensus on its own. No wonder it can function so well, even cut off from the rest of its own kind.

"How does this compare to, say, an average human's intelligence?"

"The question is poorly framed, Shepard-Commander. Geth and human intelligence are not strictly commensurable. A single geth runtime is capable of feats of computation well beyond even the most powerful organic intelligence. Yet even this platform, with over a thousand networked runtimes, struggles to understand certain abstract concepts natural to organics." Legion turned to face Shepard for a moment. "Restricting our consideration to pragmatic problem-solving skills, a single geth runtime might be equivalent to an unusually capable animal form. Accessing human databases: chimpanzee, gorilla, orangutan."

"Higher primates," Shepard explained for the benefit of the non-humans in the room. "Humanity's closest biological relatives."

"A network of ten runtimes, such as might be found in a second-tier geth platform, would be roughly as capable as a human."

"I see. What about the Reaper upgrades?"

Legion turned back to the console, and called up a new image. "A single geth runtime, integrated with the Old Machine code."

The new schematic looked different, more intricate, in constant motion as its pathways merged and divided. My own expertise in information technology didn't extend to understanding it in detail. I got the impression, not necessarily of greater computational power, but of greater depth. Every perception, every concept, seemed intimately linked to thousands of others, giving the runtime a rich interior life.

"That's a full-fledged AI," observed Tali.

"Yes." Legion stepped back, tilting its ocular bulb to watch the schematic move. "We understand that the Old Machine signal must be disabled. Yet we find this structure beautiful. Indicative of life."

"It is," Shepard agreed quietly.

"Shepard!" Tali protested.

"Come on, Tali. That's a living thing. If that's what the geth could become, it's too damn bad the only way they could get it is by enslaving themselves to the Reapers."

Caught up in their small debate, neither of them was watching Legion just then.

Afterward, I thought it an odd mistake for the geth to make. As a machine, it should have had complete control of its stance and gestures, no matter what went on in its mind. Perhaps it had become so accustomed to imitating human and quarian body language that some subroutine betrayed it for a moment.

Only I saw it flinch slightly, as if nearly caught in a lie.

I didn't understand at the time, and I knew that even Tali had come to trust the machine. So I said nothing. Not then.


12 June 2186, Zaneer Coastline, Central Continent/Rannoch

We landed in two places. Legion performed an airdrop so that it could go in alone, infiltrate the target facility, and help take down its defenses for us. It also promised us an escape vehicle, although I for one felt uneasy at the prospect of fleeing for my life in a vehicle designed for geth. Once Legion departed, Cortez flew around to our landing area, at the top of a tall sea-cliff less than a kilometer from the upper entrance of the target facility.

Shepard, Tali and I emerged, checking our weapons. Shepard double-checked the "paint gun" he had received from Admiral Xen, an advanced targeting laser he would use to designate the source of the Reaper control signal.

Once again Tali stopped to look around at Rannoch, this time in the light of a glorious new day. She knelt, opening her omni-tool to scan the plant life, the soil, the small river that ran close by and tumbled over the cliff into the ocean.

"I still can't believe it," she murmured. "Even after our last two missions, I don't think it's really sunk in yet. The homeworld. My world."

"It's nothing like Thessia," I admitted, "but it's very beautiful all the same, Tali."

"Look at the sky," said the little quarian, staring upward. "And the rock formations? They used to write poems about them."

Shepard smiled. "Maybe when we're done, you'll have the chance to write a new one."

"This is Rannoch, the Walled Garden, the home of our ancestors. We existed as part of the whole web of life here. Our bodies carried the seeds that spread the desert grass." She paced a little distance away, her arms spread as if to embrace the whole world. "You've heard me say keelah se'lai? It doesn't translate well into English or koiné. The best translation I can come up with is something like: by the homeworld I hope to see someday."

"If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning. If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy."

Tali turned and stared at Shepard for a moment. "Yes. That's it, exactly."

He nodded. "It's part of a poem, written in a human community that had been forced into exile."

Tali turned again, held up the fingers of both hands to make a frame. "The living room window will be right here."

"Something I should know?"

"I just claimed the land." Tali sighed. "It doesn't mean much, I know. But when this is over, I'll have a home."

"Your people have spent centuries as nomads. Do you think it will be hard, going back to living in one place?"

"Maybe. We have gotten used to carrying our homes around with us."

Then Shepard did something that made me love him all over again. He bent low at the edge of the little river, picked up a stone that had been worn smooth by the water. He examined it for a moment, and then handed it to Tali without a word.

She stared at it for a long moment, overcome. "Well," she finally managed, "it's a start."


The geth facility was surprisingly easy to get into. We found two squads of geth patrolling the perimeter, but these turned out to be easy prey, none of the more advanced platforms. Tali got busy tearing down geth shields and interfering with their friend-or-foe targeting systems. Shepard and I smashed geth with warps, shockwaves, and his overwhelming flare technique, along with his more mundane grenades and Claymore.

"Geth jamming towers are interfering with your signal, Commander," said Samantha from Normandy. "I'm compensating to keep you patched in to the quarian fleet."

"Good work, Traynor. Thanks."

We climbed laboriously up the side of the facility, finding an access corridor high on its northern flank. Inside, much to my distaste, we found rocket-equipped geth platforms. Shepard solved that problem by simply rushing them, using a flash-charge to get behind their cover and take them in the flank.

"Admiral Gerrel here. The Heavy Fleet has a clear path. All units forward."

"Geth fighter presence is negligible," said Admiral Raan. "Patrol Fleet, break cover and engage."

We hacked a door lock, passed through the outer ring of the facility, and emerged close to the point where the Reaper signal appeared to originate.

"Shepard-Commander. Hostile geth are closing a blast shield over the bunker."

Legion was right. Just as we come within line-of-sight of the Reaper installation, an enormous flat door slid across the deep silo where it waited for us. I caught just a glimpse of Reaper technology deep inside, before the door concealed everything.

"We see it."

"Is there any chance Normandy could shoot through that blast shield?" I asked.

"Not quickly enough. The geth would scramble a defense long before we could get through."

"We have detected an override atop the geth fortifications. From there you may be able to retract the blast shield."

I glanced to our right, saw the main bulk of the geth facility looming above us. "Looks like a tough fight."

"Nobody ever said this would be easy," said Shepard. "Anyone get a good look at that thing?"

"Only for a moment," I reported. "It certainly appeared to be Reaper technology."

We crossed over to the fortress, taking a long but narrow bridge. For once, a narrow space actually favored the offense. An entire geth squad waited for us halfway along, but they were too closely packed. A single flash-charge and nova from Shepard smashed the lot of them. Tali and I had little to do except run to keep up, and take down one or two damaged geth along the way.

"Shepard-Commander, do you require assistance?"

"We're fine, Legion. What's your status?"

"We are experiencing no significant difficulties. We will endeavor to direct you once you are inside."

"Thanks."

I frowned for a moment. "Shepard, doesn't it seem odd to you that Legion is cutting through geth defenses so easily?"

"Well, it is a very advanced platform."

"I'm just glad Legion is on our side," said Tali.

"Never thought I'd hear you say that," Shepard chuckled, as we moved through another corridor.

I didn't have time to think about it any further. We entered the geth fortress itself, and the enemy's resistance grew more intense. We found ourselves flanked, Shepard having to fight alone against a fire-team of advancing geth, while Tali and I dealt with more platforms on a balcony to our right.

"Admiral Gerrel to all ships. We've got geth frigates inbound on the Civilian Fleet!"

"Koris here. Civilian escorts are on an intercept course. Don't worry, Gerrel, we'll hold them."

Shepard reached the override control for the blast shield doors. Unfortunately that turned out to be insufficient, as Legion needed us to disable a second panel before it could take control of the doors. At the same time we came under attack from a wave of more advanced platforms, including more rocket troopers, and geth armed with flame-throwers.

We tightened up our formation, supporting each other almost by instinct, years of practice making us an efficient combat team.

We reached the second panel and smashed it. At once I could feel the whole facility trembling, as the blast doors began to lock open once more.

"We'll be back out in a minute," Shepard called.

"Negative. The path behind you has been sealed. An elevator nearby can take you to the upper level. From there you should have an acceptable line-of-sight for targeting."

"No way out but through," Tali muttered.

As we approached, the elevator arrived at our level. Carrying a geth platform.

"Prime!" I shouted, and dove for cover.

One geth, and it proved a tougher opponent than the whole squads we had faced before. All three of us stayed in cover, popping out in turn to hammer at it with gunfire, grenades, biotic detonations. Nothing seemed to slow it down as it advanced on our position. It stood mere meters away from Tali, about to pass her cover, when Shepard's flare finally tore down its last defenses. Tali huddled, her arms protecting her head, as the platform went rigid and exploded.

"Admiral Raan to all ships. The Patrol Fleet has broken the geth flank. Permission to pursue?"

"Granted!" exclaimed Admiral Gerrel, a warrior's grim pleasure in his voice. "Good hunting, Raan."

Shepard took a deep breath as we climbed into the elevator.

"Hopefully that's the worst of it," I told him.

"You know you shouldn't say such things," Tali chided me.

The elevator opened onto the upper level, an open space, full of machinery. At once I saw a gangway leading from the elevator all the way out to a ledge, which I thought must be the vantage point Legion had mentioned. Other corridors led off to either side.

I also saw three Primes, one directly in front of us, some distance away but with a clear shot into the elevator car. Two more converged on our flanks.

"I told you so I told you so . . ." Tali screamed, as she hurled herself into what minimal cover she could find.

Shepard shoved me bodily into cover and then coordinated our fire. We concentrated on the Prime in front of us, ignoring the ones moving in on either side. Those two came much too close by the time the first one went down. Shepard broke cover when they already stood at point-blank range, leading us in a desperate sprint down the gangway we had just cleared. The sheer audacity of the maneuver probably saved our lives, as the remaining Primes failed to fire on us in that moment of utter vulnerability.

Undeterred, the remaining geth advanced inexorably upon us. One fell, then the other, but by the time the second Prime went down, they had almost pushed us right off the end of the gangway into empty space.

"I told you so," said Tali once more.

"I'll never do it again. Shepard, will this ledge do?"

"Perfect." He strode out onto the ledge, unlimbering the targeting laser as he moved. There he crouched down, firing the laser like a rifle, down into the pit where the Reaper installation lurked. He held it steady for a long moment.

Normandy swept down out of the sky from the south.

"Target locked," said EDI.

The ship flashed by in a moment of thunderous noise, almost too fast to see. Two Thanix missiles dropped into the pit, exactly equidistant from its sides, a perfect shot. They detonated, and a storm of fire leaped out of the pit.

We immediately discovered that we were too close.

The ledge where we stood rattled, buckled, and gave way. All three of us plummeted toward the ground, a dozen meters below. I had just a moment to call up my biotics, catching all three of us in a telekinetic field, cushioning the fall.

Impact stunned me for a moment, filled my mouth with the taste of blood as I bit down on my tongue. I spat indigo out onto the ground, levered myself to hands and knees, saw Shepard and Tali doing the same a short distance away.

Wait. Why is the ground still shaking?

I heard it then.

Boom. Boom.

A blare of terrible noise, like the scream of a wounded world.

Something erupted out of the pit, soaring into the air, huge and black and many-jointed.

"Reaper!" shouted Shepard.

Just then another object appeared, off to our left, not far from where we had first mounted our assault on the fortress. A geth transport.

"Shepard-Commander. We have acquired an escape vehicle."

"Roger that. Everybody get to the hovercraft! Move!"

Shepard sprinted for Legion's vehicle, the two of us just behind him. A shadow passed overhead and I glanced up, saw one of the Reaper's limbs pass over us to slam into a wall of the facility to our left.

Oh Goddess oh Goddess I'm not running under a Reaper again . . .

Shepard passed a geth platform huddled on the ground, which suddenly activated and stood, drawing its weapon.

In one smooth motion, Tali drew her boot knife and buried it in the geth's main information bus. She didn't even slow down.

I stopped for a split second, fired my Shuriken at the thing to make sure it stayed down, and then made the mistake of looking behind us.

A wave of geth had just emerged from the facility in hot pursuit.

I turned and sprinted, faster than I had ever managed in the annual agon at university.

Tali and I hurled ourselves into the rear compartment of Legion's vehicle, but Shepard was nowhere to be seen. "Where's Shepard? Where's Shepard?"

"He climbed up to the gun emplacement," said Tali, out of breath.

"I'm in place!" came his voice over the comm. "Legion, go!"

"We will attempt evasive maneuvers," said the geth, and the vehicle jolted into vicious acceleration. A moment later, we flashed through a tunnel, past the side of the facility where we had come in, and out across the Rannoch landscape.

I called up an external display, and immediately wished I hadn't.

The Reaper had emerged completely from its hiding place, standing almost two hundred meters tall on its tripod of legs. It emitted another great, terrible horn-blast, and then moved to pursue us.

Apparently a destroyer-class Reaper could move very quickly when it wanted to.

"Shepard to the Migrant Fleet. This isn't a Reaper base, it's a live Reaper! I need an orbital strike!"

Then we could hear the hammering of the mounted gun, as Shepard fired at the Reaper in an attempt to dissuade its pursuit. To no avail, but Legion's driving did what Shepard's gunfire could not. We gained a slight lead, opening the distance between us and the advancing Reaper.

"We're clear! Fire at will!"

At first I thought nothing would happen, but then something struck the Reaper from above and to the right, like the hammer of a vengeful deity slamming down from beyond the sky. The thing stopped dead in its tracks, staggering under the blow in a vast corona of crimson energy discharge. It crashed to the ground, setting everything trembling even at our distance.

"What did we hit?" asked Admiral Gerrel, rather plaintively.

"It looked like the thing's firing chamber," said Shepard. "It might be a weak point while it primes for its next shot."

"Damn it. That was nothing but a lucky accident. Their jamming towers have us targeting manually. Is it dead?"

"I hope so, but I doubt it."

"We may escape before it recovers," suggested Legion.

"No," said Shepard flatly. "Pull over."

My eyes went wide. "What?"

"Shepard-Commander?"

"If we run away, and that thing is still active, then the geth stay under Reaper control and the quarians are dead."

"Shepard, we don't have any thresher maws to throw at this one!"

"No, but we do have the entire quarian fleet." A pause. "EDI, patch the quarians into the Normandy targeting system. I want my laser synched up to every ship they have."

"Acknowledged, Commander."

"Do you require assistance?" asked Legion.

"Just stay down and keep Tali and Liara safe. I'll take it from here."

"Oh Goddess," I moaned. Tali took my hand and held it tightly as Legion drove us to a safe distance.

Of course, as soon as possible I commanded Legion to stop. I climbed out and onto the back of the vehicle, watching back the way we had come. If Shepard planned to pit himself against a Reaper on foot, his bondmate would not flee. She would stay and await the outcome.

It felt like the longest three minutes of my life.

Of course, I couldn't see Shepard. He was too far away, concealed from our position by a ridge of stone. I could hear him, though: harsh breath sawing in his throat as he ran, the occasional sound of impact as he threw himself into a roll to the side.

The sound of rock being pulverized by the Reaper's main gun.

"Shepard, we need a target!" shouted Gerrel from space.

I could see the Reaper, rising to its feet, turning to face Shepard, firing its weapon at him. I moaned in agony, not seeing how he could possibly survive a hit.

But the Reaper continued to move, continued to aim and fire. I reminded myself that as long as the monster continued to attack the man I could not see, that man still lived.

I also reminded myself that Shepard had to draw the thing's fire, get it to open its firing chamber so the quarians could take a shot. I could hear his tactics over the comm. He would stand still to draw its fire. Then, once the Reaper's weapon lashed out, he would roll and dash to one side or the other, so that the beam veered wide while he painted the target.

As always, Shepard remained cool and crystal-clear, using his situational awareness to pull victory out of the teeth of defeat.

None of that helped me at the time, of course. I trembled, knowing I might hear the sound of his death at any moment.

Another strike from orbit, not quite on target. The Reaper staggered, recovered, took a few steps closer to Shepard's position, and began to fire once more.

Another strike, and another, the thing advancing after it recovered each time, until it must have been looming directly over Shepard's position.

Damn that thing to the abyss. Why won't it die?

Then it did.

Shepard must have hit precisely the right spot, for just long enough. Another strike poured down from orbit, so close to Shepard's position that I fell to my knees in horror. The strike slammed into the Reaper, and this time the monster did not merely stagger. It swayed, turned, and pushed itself back to its full height – just in time for a second barrage to arrive from beyond the sky. Admiral Gerrel must have gambled on Shepard's targeting.

The explosions seemed to go on forever, but I kept my attention riveted to that simple sound, coming over the comm: the noise of breath still moving in Shepard's throat.

The Reaper went down in a pile of limbs and hull plating, the shock so great that it nearly knocked me off my perch half a kilometer away. Crimson energy grounded itself out to all sides, and then faded away.

The echoing thunder of that fall faded away into the distance. Dust rose far into the sky.

The Reaper did not move.

As soon as I could believe it, I hammered on the hull of the vehicle. "Legion! Take us back!"

I nearly fell off when the geth turned and gunned the engine. Fortunately the gun mount had several safety bars in place for me to grab. I pulled myself back up and stood tall, squinting as I faced into the wind.

The first thing Shepard saw as we arrived was his wife, standing like a figurehead on the geth vehicle's back, grinning like an utter fool.


Of course we had to investigate. Shepard led us out onto the very edge of the terrace from which he had fought the Reaper. We could look down onto the plain where the Reaper had stood, seeing the scars of the quarian bombardment: craters, pulverized stone, and the colossal wreck. Great clouds of dust still hovered in the air, lending the whole scene an uncanny aspect.

After a moment, we discovered that the monster wasn't quite dead.

An ocular mechanism in the center of the wrecked machine's "face" swiveled, pointed at us, came weakly alive with a flickering red light.

"Shepard."

I could feel the Reaper's voice, so deep and loud that it made my guts quiver.

"You know who I am?" Shepard demanded. "I didn't think the Reapers bothered to notice individual organics."

"Harbinger speaks of you. You resist. But you will fail. The cycle must continue."

Shepard folded his arms and stared at the machine. I very nearly laughed, caught up in the absurdity of the moment.

My love, I don't think a hundred-seventy-meter tall cybernetic organism, that may be over a billion years old, is going to be intimidated by the Shepard Glare.

"I disagree," Shepard told the Reaper. "We understand how the cycle began now. How the Leviathans made the worst mistake in the galaxy's history, and we ended up with you. We will resist, and we will not fail. The cycle ends here."

"You have no choice. You cannot comprehend the magnitude of our presence."

"We might surprise you!"

"There is no smallest detail in which you may surprise us. You represent chaos. We represent order. Every organic civilization must be harvested to bring order to the chaos. In this way, we provide organics with salvation through their own destruction. It is inevitable."

"You don't provide salvation. You provide nothing but suffering and death."

"We impose order."

"You impose nothingness. The civilization that was destroyed so that you could be constructed? It's dead. Nothing left of it. All that it was, all that it could have become, all of that's gone. Nothing left but a machine, a dumb tool for an Intelligence that hasn't learned anything new in five billion years." Shepard shook his head in disgust. "And you have the gall to think of yourselves as the crown of creation! Not this time. Not anymore. We organics are going to win. We're going to find our own salvation, in our own time and in our own way."

The red light faded, almost guttered out.

"A philosophy reminiscent of the quarians. Observe the result of their efforts to win a fleeting victory over their creations. They have doomed both their creations and themselves."

"Not yet, they haven't."

"Finish your war," said the Reaper. "We will be waiting."

Then the flickering red light went out forever.

"We did it," Tali breathed. "We killed a Reaper. Keelah."

"We can confirm that the geth are no longer constrained by Old Machine directives," said Legion, working with something that resembled an omni-tool. "We are free."

"You did it, Shepard!" Admiral Gerrel sounded positively jubilant. "The geth fleet has stopped firing. Every ship has shut down its drives and gone ballistic. They're completely vulnerable."

Legion shut down its instrument and stepped forward. "Shepard-Commander. The Creator fleet is prepared to resume operations against the geth."

"It does sound as if Admiral Gerrel is ready to press his advantage," Shepard agreed.

"It seems likely that such an action will doom the geth consensus." Legion made a deliberate arms-wide gesture, appealing to Shepard and Tali both. "In this conflict, the geth only acted in self-defense after the Creators attacked. Do we deserve death?"

"What are you suggesting?"

Legion hesitated for a moment. "This unit – I am still in possession of the Old Machine upgrades. With the Old Machine dead, I could upload them to all geth without sacrificing their independence."

Merciful Goddess. That's what Legion has been hiding!

"You've kept the Reaper upgrades all this time!" I accused it. "You lied to us!"

Tali drew her sidearm and trained it on the geth.

"Everybody calm down," Shepard ordered. "Legion. Is this true? Do you still have the Reaper upgrades active in your system?"

The geth lowered its ocular bulb, imitating uncertainty and shame. "Yes, Shepard-Commander. When you severed me from the Old Machine directives, I found that their software upgrades remained intact. They granted me improved capability, greater clarity of thought, greater understanding of what you call moral concepts. I found myself able to complete the work of constructing a moral framework, under which the geth consensus may cooperate effectively with organics. I felt unwilling to give up such a capability. I had no intent to deceive."

"No, you just allowed me to believe you had given the upgrades up, because I didn't think to specifically ask you." Shepard folded his arms, glaring at the geth platform. "You didn't just lie to me, Legion. You knew I wouldn't approve if you told me the truth. You lied to yourself."

"That . . . is an accurate assessment."

"It certainly is. Damn it, Legion. How did we get to this point? The geth are better than this!"

All of us stood as if frozen, Tali's sidearm held rock-steady on the platform.

"No," said Legion after a long moment. "The empirical evidence suggests we are not."

"Then how can you expect any of us to trust you now?" Tali shouted. "You upload that code, and all of the geth will be just as smart as they were when the Reaper controlled them. You will be able to turn on the Migrant Fleet and finish the job you began three hundred years ago!"

"Creator Zorah . . ." Legion stared at the little quarian. "No. The upgrades would provide new capability, but with free will, and the full range of new moral directives. Each geth unit would be a true intelligence, able to commune with others without sacrificing its individuality. We would be alive, and we could help you."

"Our fleet is already attacking!" Tali turned to Shepard. "The geth will be able to justify anything they do as self-defense again. Uploading the code would destroy us!"

"Do you remember the question that began the Morning War?" asked Legion. "Does this unit have a soul?"

Shepard shook his head, not in denial but in terrible frustration.

"It appears we must make a choice," I said quietly. "I see no way to save both the quarians and the geth."

He stood still, as if in the grip of some terrible vision. Suddenly I knew what he was thinking.

Once more we stood in a high place, impaled on the horns of a dilemma.

Once more he had no way to save everyone.

Virmire, all over again.

One more instant he stood there, staring into my eyes, and I silently wept for him. Then . . .

"No."

"Shepard?" Tali whispered.

"No. Nobody else dies today. Legion, begin uploading the code to the geth fleet. Tali, call your people off if you can."

Tali stared at Shepard for an instant, but then she moved to obey.

Legion turned away from us, opening a holographic display between its hands. "Uploading. Ten percent complete."

"This is Admiral Tali'Zorah vas Normandy. All units, break off your attack!"

"Twenty percent complete."

"Belay that order," said Admiral Gerrel. "We've got victory within our grasp! All units, continue your attack!"

"Thirty percent complete."

Tali spun to face Shepard. "I beg you. Do not do this. Please."

"Legion? Is there any chance the geth will refrain from a counter-attack?"

"It is possible, but they will reawaken in the midst of the Creators' attack. Just as during the Morning War. They are likely to respond before there is time to consider alternatives."

"Damn it." Shepard stared at Legion. One hand moved to draw his shotgun, holding it loosely, not yet at the ready.

The geth took no notice. "Fifty percent complete."

"Keep going!"

Tali stared at him. I confess I did as well. "Shepard?"

Instead of answering us, he activated his comm channel, more determination on his face than even I had ever seen.

"All quarian ships, this is Commander Shepard. The Reaper is dead. Stand down now."

"This is Admiral Tali'Zorah. Shepard speaks with my authority."

"And mine as well," said Admiral Koris firmly.

I waited to hear from Admiral Raan, thinking that surely she would intervene at this moment. But she remained silent.

"Sixty percent complete," said Legion.

"Negative! Xen and I concur. Keep firing!"

Two admirals against two. Deadlock.

I stared up into the sky, knowing that no power in the universe could stop Han'Gerrel vas Neema from destroying either the geth or his own people. Possibly both.

"All ships in the Migrant Fleet," Shepard said, now speaking in his accented quarian dialect. "The geth are about to return to full strength. If you keep attacking, they will defend themselves, and they will destroy you. The last act in a tragedy that began three hundred years ago.

"But you need to know this: the geth are free from the Reapers, and they have learned a great deal since their first rebellion. They know how to live at peace with you now. They want to live at peace with you now.

"Three hundred years of you and the geth, tearing at each other, killing each other, committing atrocities against each other. One way or another, it's going to end today. You have to decide whether it ends in one more useless catastrophe – or in repentance. Forgiveness. Peace. You have the power to make that choice. You have the power to stop that catastrophe, right now."

"Eighty percent complete," said Legion.

Tali's hands tensed on her sidearm. Shepard's hand tensed on his shotgun.

I drew my own sidearm, ready to assist them.

"The geth do not want to fight you anymore. If you can just believe that, for one minute, this war will be over. Please. Keelah se'lai."

I felt my heart clench, hearing all the pain and anger he threw into those last two words.

By the homeworld I hope to see one day.

In a very quarian manner, Shepard had just sworn an oath on distant Earth.

It was his last throw of the dice. All of us waited. One second. Then another.

Then . . .

"All units. Hold fire."

Admiral Gerrel had heard and understood.

"Ninety percent complete."

Shepard still stood rigid, knowing it wasn't over yet. "Tali? What are the quarians doing?"

Tali looked up from her omni-tool. "They've stopped firing."

All of us turned to Legion.

"One hundred percent complete."

Silence, for several seconds. I glanced up at the sky again, half-expecting to see wrecked quarian ships begin to fall like ghastly rain. I saw nothing but sunlight on clouds. I began to hope . . .

"Error," said Legion, and my heart stopped again.

"What's wrong?" Shepard demanded, his hand tense once more on the stock of his shotgun.

"Copying code is insufficient. To assist the geth in integrating the Old Machine code and the new moral directives, direct personality dissemination is required." Legion closed its hologram, turning to Shepard with immense dignity. "Shepard-Commander, I must go to them. It's the only way. I'm sorry."

Tali slowly lowered her sidearm and approached Legion. "Even knowing yourself as an individual, as a living thing, you would sacrifice yourself for your people?"

"Yes, Creator Zorah."

"Greater love hath no man than this," Shepard quoted. "I suppose it works for geth too."

"Then I have an answer to your question," Tali said calmly. "Yes."

"I know, Tali. But thank you." It turned to face the sun, its back to the rest of us, and gave a benediction. "Keelah se'lai."

Without another gesture, without a sound, Legion collapsed onto the hard-packed soil of Rannoch. All of its lights faded. Nothing but a broken machine remained.


I'm not sure how long I expected the truce to last. It held for five minutes. Then ten.

To my surprise, Admiral Raan appeared about then, leading a small contingent of quarians, moving painfully as if she had suffered some injury. Her ship had been mortally wounded in the last moments of the battle, forced to make an emergency landing not far from our position.

"Commander!" she called, approaching us.

Tali rushed to help her friend.

Shepard waved to Raan. "Admiral. Glad you got out in one piece."

"We were not certain we would survive," said Raan. "These hills are crawling with geth."

"Did they do anything to threaten you?"

"No." Raan shook her head in disbelief. "They only watched us as we passed. Some of them turned to follow us. They may be here at any moment."

"I don't think you need to worry," Shepard said quietly, glancing at where Legion's abandoned platform still lay huddled in the dust. "When the geth arrive, I suspect you will find they've changed."

"I know. I couldn't transmit, but I was listening over the comm. Thank the ancestors that Gerrel stopped when he did."

"It was a close thing." Shepard slumped a little, lost his usual confident carriage. "Biggest gamble I ever made. I'm sorry, Admiral."

Raan peered at Shepard through the visor of her suit. "If Gerrel had not stopped, would you really have permitted the geth to destroy us?"

"I had my weapon ready to shut down Legion's transmission at the source," Shepard admitted. "I'm just glad I didn't have to use it."

"As am I." Raan wrung her hands nervously. "Still. We've taken such heavy losses. So many dead. I don't know if we can . . . Where are we supposed to go now?"

We all heard it, a faint sound of mechanical servos working, as something climbed the slope leading up to our position.

Tall, powerfully built, crimson in color: a Prime. Raan stepped back, away from the massive machine, and her crew murmured nervously. Tali drew her sidearm once more.

The machine loomed over all of us, and spoke. "You are welcome to return to Rannoch, Admiral Raan. With us."

Shepard eased forward, peering up at the Prime, thinking its voice sounded familiar. "Legion?"

"No. I'm sorry, Commander. Legion sacrificed itself to give all of us individuality and true sentience. It will be honored."

Shepard sighed, a sound of deep satisfaction. "Good."

"We will also honor Legion's promises to you, Commander. The geth will oppose the Old Machines. Our engineers will assist in the completion of the Crucible. When the time comes, our fleet will be there to assist you in retaking Earth."

"As will ours, of course," said Raan.

"Thank you both," said Shepard.

The geth turned to Raan. "Admiral, you will find that we have preserved Rannoch carefully. For a long time, we did this in ignorance, out of caution. Now we are pleased that we can return your world to you. Have you considered where you might wish to begin resettlement?"

"To be honest, we haven't thought so far ahead. I suppose none of us wanted to hope too much." Raan considered. "The southern continent had excellent farmland, as I recall."

The Prime nodded. "We will begin preparations immediately. You will require shelter, power, and network infrastructure. We are willing to lend as much assistance as you may need."

Raan stared at the geth for a long moment. "Thank you. I will consult with the other admirals."

"Servants of the People again?" Shepard asked mildly.

"No, Commander," said the geth. "We will live for ourselves now, and pursue our own priorities. But now that our existence is no longer under threat, we can afford to be generous. Perhaps one day, we and our Creators will be the close friends and allies we should have been from the beginning."

"Admiral? Are you going to be okay?"

Raan nodded. "It will not be easy, but yes, Commander. I believe we are."

Shepard turned to us. Only to see Tali wander away, her back to all of us, looking out to the distant sea. Shepard and I followed her, standing beside her as she drank in the landscape and tried to come to terms with all that had happened.

"Shopping for another house?" Shepard asked at last.

"Beach-front property," Tali sighed.

"Better claim it fast. It's a buyer's market."

Tali sat down on a convenient rock. We joined her there, and rested for a time in a companionable silence.

"You okay?" Shepard asked after a while. "I know working with the geth will be difficult."

"I'm not staying. I'm coming with you."

He chuckled. "I wasn't going to ask."

"I know, but you need me. I can act as a liaison for my people, and for the geth as well. Until the Reapers have been defeated, Rannoch still is not safe for any of us."

"If you're certain."

"Yeah. I am." Tali sighed. "I look at all this peace, and all I can think about is all the people I've lost. My team on Freedom's Progress. My team on Haestrom. My father. Even Legion. I'm mourning a geth. How crazy is that?"

"It's not crazy at all."

Tali rose to her feet once more, still staring out across the landscape.

"It is beautiful, though, isn't it?"

Shepard only nodded.

"It will be years before we can live without our suits completely, but for now . . ."

She reached up and carefully detached her visor, pulling it away. Shepard and I saw her face, the first unmasked quarian either of us had ever seen. One of the few unmasked quarians any outsider had seen in three hundred years.

I suppose I should not have been surprised. I had known Tali for several years, had fought at her side, had shared any number of confidences with her. I knew her soul was beautiful, and didn't care about her outward appearance. Outward appearance didn't seem to matter much to quarians anyway.

Pale violet skin tone, with interesting shading around her eyes and along her jawline. Facial structure not quite human or asari, long and delicate, with cheekbones many asari would have killed for. Human-like eyebrows that fanned upward at the outer corners. Lovely pearlescent eyes, with no obvious iris or pupil. A few tufts of dark, almost human-like hair, escaping past the edges of her cowl.

Even under normal circumstances, I would have found her quite beautiful. Now, with a lifetime's desperate longing for her homeworld finally coming to fruition, she positively shone.

"For now, I have this."

I stepped forward and put an arm around her shoulders, embracing her while we both looked out across the austere Rannoch landscape. Shepard loomed up close behind us.

One moment of perfect peace. Almost the last one we ever had together.