Mass Effect

Back In Time

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Disclaimer; If I did claim ownership of Mass Effect, I probably wouldn't be bothered. I'm not worth the money I'd be sued for. Keeping that previous statement in mind, I do not own Mass Effect.
Author's Note; I am aware that it's not possible to shoot Avina; the shot would go through her holographic body... It fit the scene. And the character.
P.S. Now we must break the cycle. But- that's what they're there for, right?

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Back In Time

Chapter Forty-Four

"This is it, isn't it?" Kaidan asked, adjusting his armor.

He nodded.

Kaidan Alenko watched as Shepard climbed into the Mako.

Tali, Melanie, and ShockWave followed him inside.

Garrus' three-fingered hand landed on his shoulder.

"Kaidan, are you alright?"

He looked at Garrus and forced a smile.

"I'll be alright," he responded, jumping up to the top of the Mako.

He had to admit, getting to the top of it took quite a bit of skill.

He lowered himself inside, securing the hatch of the Mako before sitting down in his seat.

The buckles clasped over his chest.

"Are you all ready?" Shepard asked, glancing around the Mako.

Everyone gave him their response.

They were all ready to end it.

Joker's voice came over the comlink.

Shepard's eyes snapped back to the visuals.

He gave his people the power, and determination, that he felt.

It was an odd skill that the Commander had.

.~*~.

"We can't get past this barrier with brute force," Tali stated, walking back to him.

Kaidan looked at her, nodding. "Then we'll have to find another way around."

Shepard turned. "Alenko, you're staying with the Mako. Melanie, I want you with him, just in case we need a fast exit. Tali, ShockWave, you're both with me."

He began to walk away.

Tali looked at the others, giving them a small shrug before following Shepard.

It was only a moment before a patrol of Geth decided to ambush them.

The splitting group of five made easy work of them, quickly, and efficiently, rendering them unable to fight.

Tali followed Shepard through the small gap between a rock and a tree, immediately taking cover as more Geth opened fire.

This patrol had Armatures with them, she noted, feeling her rage build up behind her mask.

She hated the Geth. She hated Saren.

As ordered, the Quarian focused her fire on everything except the Armatures.

Shepard ran out from behind cover, his body engulfed in a blue hue before he disappeared, only to reappear in front of one of the Armatures.

Then he jumped into the air, slamming his fist into the ground, much like he had the day that they met, before he resorted to bashing his fist through its armored exterior, hand glowing the same blue.

Ignore it, Zorah.

She turned her attention back to where it belonged, barely surprised to see that the Turian was also out from behind cover, ramming his fist into one of the Geth's photoreceptors.

Instead of letting her anger grow, Tali smiled, taking a deep breath, letting her anger out with it.

She found her spot in the battle, the dance between organics and synthetics.

It was a beautiful, and graceful dance.

Tali found that she loved every moment of it.

.~*~.

ShockWave took tail as they walked through the jungle.

His teammates seemed to work in harmony on the battlefield.

Once again, he felt as if he didn't belong.

Don't let yourself get distracted, he almost heard Tarlevus state.

They walked up a ramp, and the world exploded into a firefight.

Shepard took the only cover, a small pillar of rock.

The shots were still bouncing off of his shields, off of all their shields, making the extra wall begin to wither away.

ShockWave dropped his gun, throwing his arms in the air above him.

This isn't a trick I try often… It better work.

A blue bubble surrounded the trio.

It was large enough to easily move in, but it wasn't large enough to even be able to throw a rock and hit one of the Geth.

ShockWave closed his eyes, focusing all his strength to keep the bubble up.

Only when the shooting stopped, he opened his eyes.

Shepard was grinning at him.

"Where'd ya learn that move?"

The bubble blinked away, the Turian letting his focus once again spread outwards.

"It was an effort on my part to keep my competition from landing a blow," was his answer as he bent down to pick up his pistol.

The memories of it returned

How helpless he was…

He had cowered, attempted to hide himself away from the larger Turian kids that breathed the same air he had.

They had beaten him to unconsciousness, to take his food, water, and blankets.

ShockWave had learned that he needed to fight back if he wanted to survive.

So he did.

.~*~.

"We'll have to figure out how to disable it if we ever wanted to get inside that bunker," Tali stated from behind him as he stepped out of the elevator.

His boots squished onto the vegetation, his steps taking him into a tunnel.

Slowly he walked through it, remembering the past that had never happened.

He hacked each computer console, which each spit an Armature out of the ceiling.

Tali jumped every time one stood, adjusting on its legs.

He heard her gasp when they didn't move after that, each blue eye looking into nothingness.

He walked through the aisle, making his way to the control panel, walking up the ramps.

ShockWave stood on one side, Tali stood on the other, each holding a gun in their hands, each ready, and waiting for more Geth to ambush them.

They stood ready as he looked at the security panel.

He listened to the damaged hologram, ignoring the amazement of Tali, and the eagerness of ShockWave.

He spun on his heels, heading back the way they had come, turning into the exit tunnel.

He stepped into the elevator and took a deep breath.

Shepard really hated elevators.

.~*~.

From this point on, Shepard had ordered them to follow from a distance.

This gave Tali time to talk with ShockWave.

"So, uhm, how are you?" she asked, glancing over to him as she pressed her back against cover, only leaning enough to keep an eye on Shepard.

"I'm fine, considering that we're trying to stop the destruction of the galaxy," he stated, the flanging voice sounding almost cheerful.

She didn't know how to respond, so she let the near-silence engulf them.

Soon, the small group was back at the Mako, every person in their seat.

Tali fidgeted with her seatbelts, winding the cord through her three fingers as the Mako accelerated.

.~*~.

Shepard got out of the Mako, once again taking Tali and ShockWave with him, leaving Melanie inside with Kaidan.

"This is a trap, isn't it?" Kaidan asked, resting his chin on his fist.

In the driver's seat, she shrugged.

"Probably."

They sat there, in silence, watching as the Commander ran away, with the Quarian and the Turian following him.

.~*~.

The one called Tali kept making remarks on how she thought that the situation could be a trap, one that wasn't set up by Saren.

ShockWave just shrugged; he didn't want to give it too much though.

The group walked by what the Quarian had thought were stasis pods, reaching another hologram.

They talked with it.

The self-proclaimed Vigil had told them that there was still hope, but that nowhere would be safe.

Shepard had nodded in acknowledgement, almost as if he had understood.

"You must break the cycle," it began, telling the group of how the Citadel was a trap.

It was right.

Soon, nowhere would be safe.

But… That was what they were there for, right?

.~*~.

Shepard drove.

His foot pressed the petal to the floor.

"Target locked," Kaidan informed.

He wrenched the wheel to the side.

"Ignore it," he commanded, straightening the Mako to barrel into their goal.

Slowly, the Geth he ran over faded from his mind; the water sluicing over the view-port was the next to go.

Soon, it was just Shepard and the Mako.

His eyes were locked onto the Relay.

Shepard grit his teeth as the blue rays took a hold of the Mako, the device not even hesitating to throw them into space.

They made it.

He took a deep breath, but his hands remained on the wheel.

"Get ready for impact."

.~*~.

"Please evacuate immediately," the gentle, monotonous voice echoed through the Citadel.

"Evacuate," Chaavla laughed, scoping the room with her assault rifle. "Hear that, Honey," she shouted over the alarms. "They want us to evacuate!"

"We need to get these citizens out of here," he shouted back.

Surprisingly, he sounded rather calm.

Somehow, she never expected anything different.

They walked past the Avina.

"Please evacuate immediately. This is not a drill."

Chaavla grinned.

"Goodnight, my angel."

She rose her assault rifle, and Avina was no more.

.~*~.

Shepard stood, shaking off the sharp pain in his arm.

He looked at it, and saw the blood running down his arm, moving to drip off his fingertips before coloring the floor in little red polka dots.

"Are you guys okay?" he called behind him, rolling his shoulders as he did so.

"A few scrapes," Kaidan responded. "Nothing serious."

"I'll live," ShockWave stated, walking past him.

"One hell of a roller coaster ride," Melanie shouted to him.

Then Tali inched up to him, stopping once she reached his side.

She stood just a little closer than she normally would have, but, that was just fine.

"I have a few suit punctures," she stated. "But they're small. Nothing to worry about."

He smiled.

It was rough, but they survived.

A Turian ran up to them, halting in his steps.

The Turian's eyes widened.

"ShockWave?"

The beige Turian stepped forward to meet the other Turian.

One that looked familiar…

"Rav- what are you doing here?"

"I- I couldn't stop them," the Turian stated, doubling over, coughing into his arm. "I couldn't stop them from killing Chev."

ShockWave's face contorted, his eyes narrowed into dangerous slits, his mandibles pulling back in anger.

"Who killed Chev?"

"Saren. He- he-" the Turian gasped, and began coughing, choking on the thick smoke.

"Rav," ShockWave put his hands on the other Turian's shoulders. He looked Shepard in the eye. "Go on. I'll catch up with you."

Shepard nodded, hesitating to stride to the elevator.

He stepped inside, watching as ShockWave lowered his companion to the floor.

The Turian looked at him, the fire reflecting dangerously in his eyes.

The door of the elevator slipped shut.

Now, ShockWave and Rav were in a separate world, one that was full of smoke and fire.

A beam fell, Shepard watched as it splashed into the water, completely ignored by the two Turians.

The elevator clicked, jolting his knees, screaming to him that their world wasn't his priority.

There was silence.

Shepard watched as they slipped away from behind the glass wall.

.~*~.

The elevator slammed to a halt, forcing them to break the glass and climb outside.

Melanie looked at all the destruction, felt the Citadel's constant quiver underneath her boots.

They were outside, now, walking up the walls.

She felt sadness bubbling inside her.

John didn't even hesitate to leave the others behind.

"Why?" she asked as they began walking.

A few moments passed where nothing was said.

"I had to." Was his response.

"It was wrong."

"ShockWave knows what he's doing. We couldn't leave Rav down there alone."

They kept walking.

Tali and Kaidan followed the Shepards, both silent.

A tremor shook the Citadel.

Melanie almost couldn't register the shape that she saw through the haze.

A Reaper? That's what John had called them? Reapers?

The group broke into a sprint, following the Commander's lead when he readied his gun.

They ran down a ramp, halting when he brought up a fisted hand.

Melanie could only watch as the window broke, spraying glass in every direction as Geth jumped through it.

Not even a second later, they were harmless, drifting gently though the air.

"I love being a vanguard."

The small group forced their way through the Geth.

Melanie couldn't help but to be amazed by the legs of the Reaper dancing over them.

"Almost there," John promised. "Just hold on."

.~*~.

ShockWave sat on the ground, Rav in his arms.

Rav struggled, attempting to worm his way out of his brother's arms.

The Turian leaned to the side, coughing blood onto the floors.

ShockWave did what he knew how.

He sat there, using all of the patience given to him during his lifetime, and prayed to the Spirits of Keraic Squad.

We all know; the word Keraic means to be dead.

All that I can pray for is that my brother gets home safely.

That his Spirit can watch over the rest of us for our limited lifetimes.

Maybe, maybe someday, we can all be reunited.

The previous members of Keraic, and all of our families.

We are already dead men.

I pray that we can be united in the physical death.

Rav leaned back to him, his bright blue eyes full of pain.

"Cabur," the Turian whispered. "The Guardian of Life." A talon rose to touch ShockWave's chest. "That is you, my brother… Cabur."

He sat there in wonder.

Cabur?

ShockWave looked down at the Turian in his arms.

"Rav…"

The Turian's pale complexion and light tattoos made him seem as if he was already a Spirit.

"Cabur. Guard the lives of our family, so that I can… Reunite us… In death."

"Ramaanla," he responded softly.

Rav's mandibles pulled back in a small smile, his eyes becoming glassy.

"Ramaanla."

.~*~.

"Come on!" Joker shouted. "I need you to shove your arrogance up your ass and do what I'm telling you to do!"

Instead of the arrogant engineer, he heard another voice respond.

It was soft, and feminine, with a distinct flange.

"What do you need me to do?"

"I need you to cool down everything back there, keep it all at a steady level so that we don't burst into flames," Joker responded through gritted teeth, barely managing to keep his anger in check.

"I'm venting the core," the soft voice responded.

"Don't do that! You could evaporate everyone in Engineering!"

"I know what I'm doing," she responded slowly, her voice cool, and measured.

Pfft. Arrogant.

Yet somehow, his shoulders began to relax.

The Normandy picked up speed.

"I don't know who you are, but-"

"Aranar."

A small smile wisped onto Joker's face.

As they swooped into the Citadel to save the Council, to destroy Sovereign, there was one thing they all knew for certain.

Joker made the Normandy dance.

.~*~.

Melanie stood, triumphant, shooting one final bullet into the bone of what had been Saren.

His body erupted into ash, dissipating into the air.

They did it.

They won.

John's voice startled her, it pierced the silence, transforming her into the frightened recruit she was so many years ago.

"MOVE!"

She turned, and ran, not even getting a glimpse of the giant leg that flew straight towards the window.

Her legs pumped furiously, fueled on the adrenaline that Saren had given her.

Thunder shook the world, picked her up and threw her, letting glass and metal sink into her skin, tearing it to tiny shreds.

She let out an anguished cry, but it was drowned out by the deafening roar.

Then there was darkness.

.~*~.

Anderson lifted a piece of the wreckage, grunting in unison with the soldiers at his side.

They threw the large piece onto the ground.

There was nothing.

Anderson took a step back, coughing into his arm.

The dirt, dust, and smoke was getting to him.

"Captain Anderson!"

His attention snapped to the soldier.

"We've found them!"

He ran over to the group, looking down at them.

Three sat on the ground, huddled together.

It was almost like they were in a protective bubble, shielded from the blast.

Anderson assumed that it wasn't by luck.

He rushed inside, kneeling down.

The two Alliance soldiers weren't wearing their helmets.

Their eyes were fixed on the ground.

"It's over."

The man, Kaidan Alenko, looked up at him.

"You're safe now."

The woman, Melanie Shepard, had tears streaming down her ash covered face.

Then it registered in his mind, a sharp pang of guilt, almost like twisting a dagger in his stomach.

"Wait- Where's the Commander?"

The Quarian slowly drug her glowing eyes through the dirt to look at him.

Their silence didn't give him an answer, yet the pain, and anguish scribbled all over them in black ink gave him what he needed.

The Commander wasn't accounted for.

Commander John Shepard, first Human Spectre, was dead.

Anderson leaned over, wrapping his arm around the nearest Marine, the man, and lifted him to his feet.

The other soldiers that Anderson had brought with him helped the others.

Anderson looked down at Alenko's face, and suddenly felt as if he was going to suffocate.

Like he was drowning.

He couldn't breathe.

Then, the rubble shifted.

There, Commander Shepard stood, hunched over, holding his arm to his stomach.

Shepard looked at them, a sparkle in his eyes.

He limped, stumbling down the rubble, running towards them.

All eyes were on Shepard.

A proud grin was plastered on his face.