Alright, it's been some time since I wrote another chapter of this, so it's time to get back to it. Now, in this chapter, I think we're going to be drifting away from the Citadel for a bit to see what else has been going on in the galaxy and what the Kingdom's been up to beyond the usual.

For instance, we're going to see the Toa Mahri's mission going underway and find out how they're doing with that. We're also going to see a few other things happen, but you'll have to wait and see for that. With that said, let's dive right in, shall we?

Disclaimer: I do not own Bionicle or Mass Effect.


It had taken some time and a lot of exploring but eventually they had found a planet that could be exactly what they were looking for. Several scanning probes were launched and one noted some unusual anomalies, prompting the shuttle in orbit to head down for a closer look.

As the ship hovered over the surface of this unnamed ocean world, a pulse of energy appeared, disabling the Mass Effect drive core and causing the shuttle to crash land into the ocean.

As soon as the ship started sinking, one of the emergency hatches was blown out, with three figures swimming up to the surface while the fourth was being carried along by the currents, a bubble of air around her head.

The Toa Mahri and Spectre Vasir surfaced, the latter coughing as soon as she gasped some more air. Quickly gaining her bearings, the seasoned Asari huntress looked around at the situation.

"Wha-what happened?" The asari asked.

"If I were to hazard a guess..." Jaller looked around, noticing the multitude of wrecked ships nearby. "We seem to have found what we're looking for."

"Getting knocked out of the sky wasn't an accident." Kongu agreed. "Someone wants to make sure we don't leave."

"Well then they've done a good job of it." Vasir cursed. "All my communication equipment was on that shuttle."

"There's something else." Hahli murmured, sending her awareness through the currents of the ocean. "From what I can sense, there's definitely something down there, several kios below us."

"Is it what we're looking for?" Jaller asked, causing Hahli to nod.

"I'm almost certain of it."

"Well we can't exactly investigate like this." Vasir was quick to point out. "We may need some reinforcements."

"And the exact same thing will happen to them if we try." Kongu countered with the obvious, gesturing towards the wreckage of vessels nearby.

"He's right." Jaller agreed. "We're here, right now. The creators of the Reapers are likely on this very planet. If we want to leave, we're going to need to convince them to let us."

Vasir sighed, knowing that she wasn't going to win this argument. Still, it would give her an opportunity she needed, so she gestured towards the wrecks again, drawing their gazes to it.

"Well, I'll probably be more useful trying to salvage comms from those." The Spectre said. "My scuba gear was ruined in the crash anyway. So, while you three go meet up with these 'Reaper creators', I'll try to get in touch with Council Space."

"If you're sure about that." Hahli said dubiously.

...

After making a brief pit stop to drop Vasir off on one of the wrecked ships, the three Toa Mahri dove underwater, searching for the mysterious Leviathans that created the Reapers. It seemed that they were very close, especially when Jaller's Mask of Sonar started picking up signatures.

"I think we've found what we're looking for." The Toa of Fire noted. "Whatever these guys are, they're big. Really big."

"Let's hope they're friendly." Kongu muttered. "It would be an unfortunate end to be eaten by wildlife."

"We'll find out soon enough." Hahli replied, triggering her Mask power.

She began glowing brightly, so much so that her fellow Toa couldn't look directly at her without shielding their eyes. And nearby sea life began swimming in the opposite direction as they approached the probe that had led them here, on this underwater plateau.

A stream of bubbles could be seen in front of them growing in frequency as something started to emerge from the depths. Hahli shut off her Faxon as the three Toa watched in awe and fear as a large aquatic creature, resembling a Reaper in shape, floated up in front of them.

"Well... I think we found a Leviathan." Kongu said.

Suddenly, all three of them were assaulted mentally, clutching their heads in pain as the landscape was changed from underwater to someplace a little more vague. It looked like a landscape of just empty water, but they were standing on it instead of sinking.

Helryx was suddenly in front of them, but instead of the Toa's normal voice, a deep and ancient male tone emerged from the First Toa's mask.

"You are neither organic, nor synthetic." The avatar of Leviathan spoke. "You are a Hybrid of both forms."

"I guess you could say that." Jaller replied. "And you're the ones who created the Reapers."

"Incorrect." The Leviathan avatar shifted to the form of Turaga Takanuva. "We did not create them."

"Um, yes you did." Kongu interjected, causing the avatar to shift to the Shadowed One and glare at him. "We've seen the Reapers. They clearly were made in your image."

"We did not make them."

"Then what did?" Hahli snapped, already getting impatient with yet another ring around by a similarly ancient being.

"We created an intelligence to solve a problem." The Leviathan was now in the form of Turaga Dume. "To find a solution to the inevitable conflict between organics and synthetics."

"I'd hardly call it inevitable." Jaller countered. "And let me guess, this 'Intelligence' apparently came to the conclusion that the only way to do this was to harvest life every several millennia and turn them into Reapers?"

"That is correct."

The three Toa looked at each other. Despite guessing correctly, the fact that it was the reason behind eons of pain, suffering and death was just staggering. The sheer stupidity and logical errors was just astonishing.

"Well, that's just..." Jaller started.

"Really, really, really..." Kongu continued.

"Stupid." Hahli finished. "Inconceivably stupid."

"It is working as intended." The Leviathan had shifted back to Helryx. "The intelligence came up with a solution. It Harvested us first, and created the Cycles to continue its work."

"We're going to stop it." Hahli growled, before pointing her Talons at the Leviathan's avatar. "And you are going to help us."

"We were the Apex race." The Leviathan now had several avatars in front of them. "We will not bow to the will of lesser races."

"Here's the thing." Jaller gestured with his sword, even as he fought against the Leviathan's illusion. "We're not giving you a choice."

A stream of fire erupted from Jaller in reality, striking the Leviathan head on and causing it to recoil away in pain. The illusion broken, Hahli quickly took control of the currents to keep Leviathan from swimming away, while Kongu surrounded the creature in a cocoon of air.

"All this pain and misery, all this slaughter and death!" Jaller shouted, angrier than he had been in a long time. "All of this is on your hands! And you are going to help us fix it, whether you do it of your own volition or we force you to."

"The Reapers fear your kind." The Leviathan said. "Now we understand why." Two more Leviathans swam up from the depths in front of them. "We... will aid you."

...

Meanwhile, several kilometers above, Spectre Tela Vasir was standing on the deck of an old wrecked ship, one that looked noticeably turian. The logs confirmed it, and it seemed that they weren't the first to crash here.

The information she had gathered here so far would be invaluable to both the Council and her second employer. Speaking of which, it had taken a bit of rewiring from an old generator, but the Spectre could now send a signal out to her other employer.

She hadn't exactly been truthful when she told the Toa Mahri that all the communication equipment was in the shuttle. She still had her comms that gave her a direct link to her second employer, a device modified to transmit even beyond the Council's normal scope.

It was expensive as hell, but the Shadow Broker had deemed her mission important enough to take it. Which was why she was using it now, free from the prying eyes of the three Toa Mahri.

"This is Agent Vasir." She reported once the encryption was complete. "We've found it. We're currently isolated on a world beyond Council control. Dispatch a team immediately. Be advised that the planet is being protected by some sort of energy pulse."

...

Many lightyears away, a being sat in a chair in front of a desk. All around him were countless screens showing his intel network, one which spread deep throughout the galaxy.

"Acknowledged agent Vasir." The Shadow Broker said. "You've done very well."

"Recommend a capture team be prepared." The Spectre added. "We're isolated from both Council Space and the Kingdom. This will be our best chance to take any biosynthetics intact for study."

"Acknowledged." The Broker replied, turning in his chair to see the body lying on the floor in front of his desk. "We'll have a team ready and waiting." He turned off the comms and smirked at the corpse of the Yahg that had been sitting in this chair only a few minutes ago. "But it won't be for the Toa Mahri."

Shapeshifting into a more comfortable biomechanical form, Triglax couldn't help but smirk. It had seemed that he had completed his mission in a rather timely position. Now, he knew exactly where the Toa Mahri had landed, and he could send a recovery team when needed. More importantly, he could report that his mission was a success.

As the Dark Hunter looked over the information network around him, there was admittedly a part of him that was tempted to keep this treasure trove for himself. So much information at his fingertips, it was all so much. If he wanted to, he could start a war in a few minutes.

Ten thousand years ago, he would have certainly kept this treasure for himself. Even after being part of the Kingdom, the habit was difficult to break. But alas, he knew the dangers of the Reapers, and he knew the importance the Shadow Broker could play in the upcoming war.

So, keying up two separate comm signals and combining them into one, Triglax sent a signal out to the Kingdom and to the Terminus Systems. In a few seconds, the image of Toa Helryx and the Shadowed One appeared right in front of him.

"Who is this?" Helryx demanded, her eyes narrowed at the shadowy image she was undoubtedly seeing.

"This is the new Shadow Broker." Triglax replied, drawing a brief flicker of surprise from both of their faces until recognition kicked in. "I regret to inform you that the previous Broker didn't see eye to eye with me."

"Well done, Triglax." The Shadowed One chuckled. "You've certainly earned your keep with this one."

"And the information network?" Helryx asked. "Is it still intact?"

"Absolutely." The shapeshifting Dark Hunter smirked. "You would not believe just what he has here."

"Send us everything." The Order leader replied. "Every last scrap of information, with the Reapers being the main priority."

"Right away." Triglax noted. "Oh, and from the latest report, it seems the Toa Mahri may have found what we were looking for."

"They located the Leviathans?" The Shadowed One asked. "That will undoubtedly prove useful."

"Provided they cooperate." Helryx shook her head. "Still, you've done well, Triglax."

"Indeed." The Shadowed One said. "The value of this cannot be overstated."

...

Krahka was getting rather antsy. She had spent the last few years keeping an eye on the Prothean Beacon that had been held by the asari. So far, they had moved it to a secure vault, but getting in would be rather trivial for a shapeshifter like her.

Still, it took time, and she had to wait until dark before she could finally slip inside the vault, especially with the guard patrols doing their rounds. But after so much time, she could at last act.

Helryx had given her the go-ahead, and as soon as there was a gap in the patrols, the shapeshifting Rahi moved in, using her powers to easily slip through and past all the defenses before entering the vault unprotected.

In a few minutes, she was standing in front of the Prothean Beacon, still covered in that statue of the goddess Athame. Activating the Beacon would still have been an issue, if not for that living Prothean agents of the Kingdom had discovered on an uncolonized Garden World.

Thanks to Helryx, she had been alerted as to just what the Protheans looked and acted like. Now knowing just what was needed, Krahka shapeshifted her form into that of a Prothean.

What information they had gleaned from Javik demonstrated just how to activate the Beacon, and in no time at all, Krahka had gotten it active, the statue covering shattering off completely when it did.

It would be downright impossible for her to hide that someone had used the Beacon from the Asari, but at that point, it was hardly a concern. Especially once the VI of a dead Prothean activated itself in front of her.

"Post-Prothean Cycle time stamp confirmed." The VI identified itself. "You are a Prothean, one of the only survivors of our people."

"In a manner of speaking." Krahka, who now looked like Javik, replied. "We need to stop the Reapers from destroying this Cycle. Do you have any information that could help with that?"

"I believe so." The VI replied. "I was created to supply the future cycle with knowledge on how to stop the Reapers."

"Good." Krahka held up an omni-tool. "Then I need you to come with me."

...

It had taken some effort, but the three STG agents had managed to breach the chamber that led to the secret vaults underneath the Kingdom. It hadn't been easy. The fact that there always seemed to be someone watching them had made their task difficult, but they had managed to exploit a gap and made it inside.

Or so they thought. None of them saw as Botar watched as the Salarians made their way down through the concealed entrance. One he had deliberately left open enough for these STG agents to spot. Once they were through, he sealed the door shut.

The trio of STG agents didn't notice, instead sneaking through the tunnels with Tactical Cloaks active. Omni-tool scans were taken regularly, and the Salarians were easily able to bypass the rather primitive traps without setting them off.

Eventually however, they reached a rather large and open chamber where three sets of staircases could be seen at the other end. However, standing in front of the staircases was a lone guard, who could easily cover all three staircases.

"Never seen his species before." One of the Salarians whispered as they retreated back into the hall out of view of the chamber. "Though I guess that's not saying much."

"Whatever he is, he does seem to be guarding those chambers." The second Salarian noted, checking his omni-tool. "And I'm getting some really odd readings coming from him."

"It's pretty clear that the Kingdom thinks that whatever is here is worth protecting." The third Salarian noted. "We're going to need to tell command about this."

"We can't, we're too far underground." The first Salarian replied. "And we still don't actually know what's down here."

"Well, we should figure that out." The second Salarian said. "I'll go down one of the staircases and see what I can find. If something happens to me, get away with the data."

With that plan of action decided, the Salarians re-engaged their Tactical Cloaks as the volunteer stealthily made his way towards the third staircase, the one closest to the unknowing guard.

What happened next stunned the other two Salarians. Their comrade got within arm's reach of the figure unseen... only for his cloaking device to fail, the operative instantly collapsed dead and his corpse crumbled to dust.

This event didn't go unnoticed by the guard.

"What the-" Voporak looked around, his eyes narrowed. "Umbra! We have invisible infiltrators down here."

The Salarians were dead before they even had a chance to be worried. A lethal beam of light ricocheted around the chamber, conspicuously avoiding going near Voporak and burning a hole in the chests of the remaining Salarians. Umbra came to a halt above their corpses.

"It appears we have some STG operatives in our midst." Voporak noted. "It's impressive that they managed to even get down here at all."

"These are the only ones." Umbra said. "No one else is in here."

"And I think I can guess how they managed to even get here." Voporak sighed. "Botar!"

The Order of Mata Nui agent teleported right in front of them, making sure to stay out of reach of Voporak's temporal field. "You called?"

"I'm assuming you had something to do with this?" The Dark Hunter said, pointing at the two Salarian corpses.

"Helryx's order." The Order agent didn't bother denying, merely giving an explanation. "With the Council infiltrators and the threat of the Reapers, she wanted to make sure that our treasures are still secure."

"They are." Umbra tapped his staff on the ground, clearly taking offense that his talents were being questioned.

"That seems rather risky." Voporak agreed. "What if they had managed to get past us?"

"They wouldn't have left this place alive." Botar replied. "I would have made sure of that."

"So, is that the only reason you did this?" Umbra asked. "Or was their something else?"

"There is." Botar nodded. "Turaga Takanuva and Helryx believe that the time may come when we need to bring the Vahi and Ignika out of storage. They are potentially our best weapons to use against the Reapers."

...

Helryx was once again back in the Kingdom, running through all the data that they currently had in the Coliseum. The intel from the Shadow Broker was definitely a massive boon, one which the First Toa was willing to leverage against the factions of the galaxy should it be needed.

But it was what had been learned on Thessia and that unnamed Ocean World that narrowed down pieces of the puzzle. Apparently, the Protheans had prepared a weapon, something called the Crucible, that could have destroyed all the Reapers, but they were never able to complete it in time.

According to the Prothean VI, the Citadel was some sort of Catalyst, needed for the amount of element zero that would spread the Crucible's effects across the Relay network. It didn't have the plans for the Crucible itself, but if they could figure out the second part, Helryx wasn't sure it was even necessary.

The second part being what the Leviathans had told them. The Reapers were under the control of an Intelligence, just as they had suspected. And given what had been told, this Intelligence was undoubtedly on the Citadel, coordinating the Reaper Cycles through the eons.

Between what Krahka had uncovered from the Beacon and the reports from the Toa Mahri regarding the Leviathans, it seemed that the Citadel was the key to all this. And the Masks of Life and Time would be the key to ending the Reaper threat.

But what was needed first was to discover just where this Intelligence was hiding. The Citadel was a large station, and there were still secrets about it the Council was unaware of.

With any luck, Jerbraz and Dweller may be able to find what countless cycles before them had not.

...

"You're just embarrassed you didn't think of this sooner."

"I am not. And I'm still not sure this is going to work." Dweller crossed his arms. "This feels like a fairly obvious solution that the Council would have thought of."

"The Council doesn't have the ability to hide themselves from the mind of others." Jerbraz countered. "They would have noticed if they were being followed or if they were bugged. But they shouldn't notice us."

"Fine." Dweller shook his head and sent his power into the minds of the organics around him.

It worked instantly. The Keepers immediately ignored the presence of the Order agent and Dark Hunter and returned to their tasks. This left Jerbraz and Dweller to continue their observations unseen.

They had been searching for this 'Intelligence' for years now, and so far they hadn't found any sign of where it might be. But once Helryx had reported what had been found by the Toa Mahri and the Krahka, Jerbraz came up with an idea that he honestly should have thought of sooner: follow the Keepers.

The diminutive little aliens had access to the unseen Citadel Core, and were able to go to places that they kept the Council races out of. Sure, there had been attempts by the Citadel Species to follow the Keepers, but the Citadel caretakers had always self-destructed before letting that happen.

Of course, as Jerbraz pointed out, the Citadel species best efforts involved cloaking agents and electronic bugs, which frankly paled in comparison to the ability to directly hide yourself from one's direct perception and mind.

So now the two biosynthetics were following the Citadel's own biosynthetics as they continued their work, the aliens blissfully unaware of the two spies in their midst. It certainly took a while, but eventually they followed a Keeper into a place that no organic had ever seen before.

"So, I guess this is the Citadel's Core." Dweller muttered, looking up at the structure in front of them.

The room was a rather cavernous structure, though only about half the size of the Coliseum. A massive and ancient core of Element Zero sat in the center of the room, glowing with a blue light around it.

"If this is the Core, then the entire Mass Relay network runs from here." Jerbraz agreed.

"Break the Core and we break the Relays?" Dweller asked. "Didn't someone point out that doing that would be akin to causing a supernova? I don't think anyone of us wants to do that."

"No we don't." Jerbraz agreed. "But there may be... alternatives. We need to tell the Kingdom Council, right now."

The moment he said that, the door slammed shut behind them. Seconds later, ancient looking drones started emerging from panels in the floor, walls and ceiling. Jerbraz and Dweller backed away as the Drones turned towards them.

"YOU SHOULD NOT BE HERE." A loud robotic voice emerged from everywhere, causing the duo to clutch their audio receptors in pain. "AND NOW YOU WILL NOT LEAVE."


Alright, and I think this is a good place to end the chapter. As we can see, quite a bit is happening right now, and it will have quite a few ramifications going forward. But that's all for next time.

For now, I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter and reviews are always welcome.