Episode 12-Processing
They soon arrived within one of the main corridors of the academy. There, they were startled to see many dark monsters everywhere. They were attacking everyone in sight.
Kahlee: "What are those things!?"
Garrus: "Damn it! It's the vigilante's monstrous underlings."
Jewel: "No, not here."
Garrus: "Jewel?"
Jewel: "Um...we have to take them on."
Star: "Sure, what better way to demonstrate our powers than during a real, action-packed fight."
Mordin: "Couldn't agree more."
Jewel: "Alright, let's go, girls. Metamorphose!"
From there, the girls underwent their transformation, then rushed off towards the monsters. Both Kahlee and Jack were startled from what they have seen.
Jack: "Whoa..! They really are real-live magical girls..!"
Tali: "Wait till you see how they fight. It's truly epic."
They watched as the girls fought against the monsters while protecting everyone from being attacked. Everyone they defended had a chance to rush off and retreat to safety. They displayed their different powers like they always have. Kahlee and Jack seemed amazed by what they were seeing.
Kahlee: "They're incredible! So, this is what real-live magical girls look like."
Tali: "Now do you see why we enjoyed watching shows like that?"
Miranda: "Hmm, I'll admit, I loved watching many of them...when I finally received the chance to do so."
The girls continued fighting the monsters with very little change during the battle. Just then, the fight was seemingly quieted down. The girls stopped and looked out towards the monsters.
Star: "Wha...what's going on?"
Splash: "Has he finally overexerted himself again?"
Flare seemed suspicious, then became startled for some reason.
Flare: "No! I sense something else!"
From there, the monsters became active, a lot of them began sprouting wings and lifted themselves off of the ground. The rest of the crew watching were startled by this.
Jack: "What the hell!?"
The monsters flew around the place. Jewel watched with a slight tense look on her face.
Jewel: "Airborne, huh? I see. Aera, give us a lift."
Aera: "You've got it."
She summoned a few small funnels. The girls jumped into them and were launched into the air. From there, their wings materialized and the flew out towards the monsters.
Jack: "Whoa! They have wings!?"
Kahlee: "Are these girls fairies?"
Garrus: "We're not really sure to be honest. They might be."
Mordin was seen on her Omni-tool with a concerned look on his face.
The girls fought against the monsters while flying around. The battle persisted, Mordin, looking tensely at his Omni-tool, analyzed the battle. Garrus took notice of this.
Garrus: "What's is it?"
Mordin didn't say anything for a bit as he continued on his Omni-tool.
Mordin: "Something is not right. The girls' magical energy draining at an alarming rate."
He looked up as he observed the girls fighting.
Mordin: "A lot of their powers used up when they were on the ground. They're powers, now depleting even more with their wings out."
Tali: "Are the monsters trying to tire the girls out?"
Mordin: "Not the monsters, not sapient life-forms. Not their doing. Monsters merely underlings to the vigilante without any thought processing of their own."
Garrus looked back up at the girls as they fought.
Garrus: "No….this can't be….!"
The girls fought on and eventually, they were feeling tired. The crew members took notice of this. They were very concerned about this.
Ashley: "No!"
Mordin: "Just as I thought. Their powers intentionally depleted by this fight. Greatly increased with their wings out."
Garrus: "Damn it! That vigilante is setting them up."
Liara: "Is he trying to finish them off?"
Garrus: "It seems like it."
Miranda: "That vigilante is one very clever strategist. He knows these girls' weaknesses."
Tali: "At this rate, they'll never succeed."
Jack began to tense up as she watched this. She was becoming more frustrated and agitated. From there, she unleashed some of her biotic energy and rushed out.
Jack: "LEAVE THEM ALONE!"
Miranda: "JACK! NO!"
Jack shot out a large blast of her biotic powers at the monsters, pushing them away from the girls.
Jewel: "Jack! What are you doing!?"
Jack: "Saving your sorry a****! I won't let these b******* kill you with you badly weakened like this!"
Flare: "No! What you are doing is foolish! Only we can combat them."
Jack: "Screw that! You're barely in any shape to fight! I can't let you go at it alone!"
Jewel: "Jack…"
Ashley: "She's right, you know. It's been obvious from the beginning that they can't fight this alone."
Miranda: "Absolutely, we may be powerless against them, but we have to try something."
Garrus: "I agree. I won't stand by and watch these girls be destroyed by that vigilante b******."
Liara: "But what can we do?"
Miranda thought for a moment, then looked at her hand as she generated some biotic energy from it.
Miranda: "Whatever we can for them. I know that I will."
She ran out towards the fight.
Liara: "Wait!"
Garrus: "I agree with Miranda on this. I have to do something."
Mordin: "No! Too dangerous! Won't stand a chance!"
Garrus: "I don't care! Jewel needs me. She and her friends are fighting these monsters to protect us. I won't let any of them die on our behalf. Besides, if they're destroyed, then there's no hope for any of us."
Garrus pulled out his weapon and rushed off.
Mordin: "Very well then. Your funeral."
Liara: "I guess there's no other choice...it must be done. There's just….no other way…"
And with that, she ran out as well. The others continued to stand by and watch.
As Jack attempted to use her biotic powers, she was not faring well against the monsters.
Jewel: "Jack! Please stop! You'll get yourself killed!"
Jack: "So, what? I don't give a damn what happens to me! I can't let them do anything to you!"
Star: "You're such an idiot! Didn't we already tell you that we're the only ones who can fight them!?"
Jack: "And didn't I already say that I don't care!?"
Jewel: "Jack! Please!"
Aera: "Geez, she is really headstrong."
Just then, there was a blast of biotic energy from somewhere else.
Star: "Whoa! What was that!?"
Splash: "Where did that come from?"
Flare looked in another direction and spotted something.
Flare: "Guys! Look!"
They looked over and noticed Miranda utilizing her biotics.
Star: "Miranda!?"
Aera: "What is she doing!?"
Soon enough, they noticed Garrus as he was shooting at the monsters.
Jewel: "Garrus!"
Soon enough, Splash turned her head slightly in another direction and spotted something.
Splash: "What the...!?"
Liara was also seen lunging at the monsters with her biotics.
Aera: "What are they doing!? Are they crazy!?"
Jewel: "This wouldn't be the first time that they've done something like this, but they are way out of their league."
Star: "I don't think they could care any less."
Splash: "But why are they doing this!?"
Jewel sulked as she stared at them for a brief moment.
Jewel: "They want to protect us."
Star: "What!? But...how can they….!?"
Aera: "They should be aware of what we're dealing with."
Jewel: "They do know that, but Star's right, they don't care. I can't let them get killed just for us."
She rushed down as fast as she could.
Splash: "Jewel! Wait!"
She rushed directly in front of Garrus as he was shooting at the monsters.
Garrus: "Jewel!"
Jewel: "I won't let you get hurt on my behalf. If anything were to happen to you, it would be my fault."
Garrus: "No, that's not true. None of this would be your fault."
She stared at him, seemingly sulking but had a tense look on her face. She then tapped the purple jewel on her chest, expanding it into a massive shield. She shielded herself and Garrus, then thrusted the massive jewel towards her enemy with great force. This surprised Garrus. She looked back at him.
Jewel: "Surprised I can do that?"
Garrus: "I...don't even know what to…"
Jewel: "If I had to materialize another of my jewels, I wouldn't have enough energy to do that. I can utilize the jewels I wear on my clothes for attacks. It can use up less magical energy but they wouldn't cause as much damage as the ones I would forge from my body."
Garrus: "Yeah, I already saw that, the jewels from that magical form of yours are more than just decorative accessories."
Jewel: "Yes, that's right. They're my back-up weapons in case I need to conserve my energy. But I can super-charge them. I'll need more energy. I've already used up too much, so I can't do it now."
Mordin was still on his Omni-tool.
Jewel: "No matter what happens, we can't let these monsters hurt our friends."
Star: "Oh, I'm so with you, Jewel. If these monsters so much as lay a claw on any of our friends, I'll rip them apart and that goes double for any who would even try to hurt Mordin."
Jack: "Uhhh….."
Aera: "We'll explain later."
Jack: "O….K…?"
At that moment, a monster was about to lunge at Jack. Jewel took notice of this.
Jewel: "Jack! Look out!"
Jack took notice of this and was about to attack. Jewel, out of impulse, forged and blasted a massive gem at the monster, decimating it.
Jewel: "Huh? That's strange...I've never done that before."
Star: "Jewel, how did you do that?"
Aera: "And how come you've never done that before?"
Jewel: "I….I don't know…."
Mordin continued on his Omni-tool.
Mordin: "Hmm….."
Star: "Can you do it again?"
Jewel: "I...I'm...not sure...I don't think I have enough magical energy to do that."
Star: "Whoa! Heads up!"
Star shot a blast of her Light powers.
Star: "Whoa! How did I do that?"
Liara: "Are you girls….OK?"
Star: "I...I...think so…"
Flare: "Hmm….odd…"
Flare looked towards Mordin, who was still on his Omni-tool. She was then taken by surprise by one of the monsters nearby. She blasted it with a large burst of fire. It combusted almost immediately and was incinerated. This greatly startled her.
Star: "Whoa! That's never happened before!"
Flare stood by spellbound, then looked at her hands.
Flare: "How...did I...do...that?"
She looked back at Mordin who was deeply focused on his Omni-tool. She seemed perplexed as he continued with this.
Flare: "Hey, Star, I think you should look after Mordin. He's been preoccupied with that Omni-tool of his, so the monsters could easily target him while he's distracted."
Star: "Say no more, I'm on my way!"
She flew over towards Mordin at great speed. Sure enough, as she was flying over towards him, she noticed many of the monsters surrounding him.
Star: "Get away from him!"
She unleashed several bursts of her Light magic, causing several massive flashes that badly damaged the monsters and chased him away. Star was surprised by this.
Star: "Wha-? But...how...!?"
Mordin looked up then looked around him.
Mordin: "Hmm..."
As the girls stood by perplexed by what had happened, all of the monsters cleared out. Everything went quiet. Everyone stood by, wondering what had just happened.
Garrus: "What...is...!?"
Liara: "Wow, that's odd."
Jack: "This...hadn't happened before, right?"
Miranda: "No...it didn't..."
The girls were still shocked. Garrus looked at each of them, concerned.
Garrus: "Any ideas on what was going on?"
Flare: "Hmm...I'm not sure, but I think Mordin may have been on to something."
Splash: "Any chance that he can fill us in on what just happened?"
Ashley: "Perhaps it's best not to discuss it here. We still have a few other things that we need to take care of."
Jewel: "Fair enough, Ash. We can wait."
Later on, they finished the tour of the facility. The Normandy crew were about to return to the Normandy. Jack and Kahlee stood around to see them on their way.
Kahlee: "Thank you so much for stopping by. It truly has been a great pleasure to see you again."
Ashley: "Thank you for sparing the time to meet with the girls."
Kahlee: "Of course. We look forward to having them return."
Jewel: "Thank you for opening your academy to us. You don't know how much this means to me and my friends."
Kahlee: "You are most welcome, Jewel. I look forward to observing your powers some more in the near future."
Star: "And we look forward to demonstrating them. I have so much that I want to show off to all of you."
Aera: "Really? Not just Dr. Solus?"
Star: "Hey! Zip it, Aera!"
Jack: "I'm glad I met you girls. You have most certainly left a better impression on me than the Cerberus cheerleader."
Miranda: "Ex-Cerberus, mind you."
Jack: "Whatever."
Aera: "Ahem! Remember, play nice, you 2."
Miranda: "Yes, of course, I'll try not to forget that."
Jack: "Same here."
Flare: "We must take our leave. I am certain that Mordin will have a lot to look into regarding our powers."
Kahlee: "Yes, please don't let us delay you too long."
Splash: "Alright, see you guys again, hopefully soon."
The girls left with the rest of the crew back to the Normandy, it then detached from the docking bay and flew off. Kahlee and Jack stood by and watched.
Jack: "Come back anytime, girls. You're always welcome here."
As the ship continued its way through the group reunited with the rest of the crew.
Samantha: "You're back!"
Jacob: "So, how did it go?"
Miranda: "Better than I expected. Jack was very friendly towards the girls."
Tali: "Yeah, and a lot friendlier than she was towards Miranda, that's for sure."
Zaeed: "You 2 ladies are still going at it?"
Miranda: "It's a rocky history that we have yet to overcome. We're still on friendlier terms than before, at least we didn't try to kill each other this time."
Grunt: "So, things are still interesting between the 2 of you."
Miranda: "Perhaps as you would say it."
Aera: "Those 2 would really need to work on trying not to insult each other."
Flare: "Yes, indeed, I still sense some tension between both of them."
Miranda: "We agreed to work out our differences for the girls' sake."
Javik: "Hmph! I am surprised that Jack would be willing to compose herself for the sake of these girls."
Tali: "Well, we couldn't believe that Jack would clean up her bad attitude enough to become a terrific role model for all of those biotic students back at the academy, but lo and behold, she has. What's to say that she wouldn't do the same for the Fayelons?"
Ashley: "She seems to be much more respectful towards them than you are."
Javik: "Hmph! I would have loved to see Jack when you first met her. Those stories of her instability are indeed intriguing. Now she is just...uneventful."
Star: "Oh, how I wish I had handed my piece of the key over to Mordin instead of you. Too bad he wasn't with us when we had handpicked some of you who would."
Samantha: "So, anything we need to discuss regarding this encounter?"
Mordin: "Not now, much to look into. Monsters attacked us while we were still there."
Wrex: "What!? Monsters!?"
Samara: "You don't mean the vigilante's monsters, do you!?"
Mordin: "Yes, those monsters. However, not the most unusual occurrence. Something happened with the girls' powers. Must research this first, further discussion afterwards. (Sniff) Need to get back to the lab."
He walked off.
Joker: "Uh...Lt. Commander? I just received a transmission from the admiral. He wishes to speak with you."
Ashley: "I'll be right there, Joker. Excuse me for a moment."
She walked off after Mordin.
Splash: "So...what now?"
Liara: "Perhaps we should discuss the progress regarding those Intel Crystals that I've asked you to look into."
Jacob: "Oh! Right, that! We've...found out some interesting things from those crystals."
Liara: "And what about Glyph? Did he find out anything about how they work?"
Jacob: "He's analyzed us as we were touching each crystal. The...experiences we've had from them...it was...extraordinary."
Miranda: "What was it like?"
Samara: "Those Intel crystals, a single touch and everything within them is played out almost like it is being played out in front of you. It truly was an experience unlike any other."
Tali: "What kind of things did you see from them?"
Everyone stood silent for a bit.
Samara: "We have seen...worlds that we have never been to. We saw so many things, so many secrets kept by the Fayelons', these girls' entire race."
Jewel: "So, you must already know so much about our world."
Samara: "Yes, so many of those worlds...they're beautiful. Your culture is something to behold. Not only that, but the assortment of experiences from so many people. So hard to fathom, and yet, the crystal made it easy for us to."
Wrex: "Those shiny rocks of yours showed us so many that I thought we could only experience within a krogan and asari's lifetime. They're quite the magical gems."
Jewel: "I...see..."
Jacob: "James and Thane are still sorting through them. Glyph is still scanning them, he said that he's on his way to figuring out how they're able to insert the contained intel into our minds."
Samara: "Who was it that forged those jewels?"
Jewel: "We...we don't know...they were just handed to me one day..."
Star: "We promised each other to never tell anyone about them. Given what we have experienced, we wouldn't want to anyway."
Jewel: "I didn't know why we got them exactly...but...hmmm...I wonder..."
Garrus looked at Jewel, concerned. Soon enough, Ashley returned.
Garrus: "Back so soon?"
Liara: "So? What did the admiral want to tell you?"
Ashley: "He informed us that the Citadel Council want to meet with the girls. We'll need to make our way back to the Citadel to do so."
Tali: "What?"
Garrus: "You can't be serious! They want to meet with the girls?"
Ashley: "Yes, I've had Joker plot a course for the Citadel."
Garrus crossed his arms and grunted a little.
Garrus: "I don't like where this is going."
Jewel: "Why? Is there anything wrong with these...council people?"
Ashley: "They're not exactly what you would call "lenient". Believe me when I say I'm not looking forward to doing this to you girls, but we'll need to get this over with sooner or later."
Garrus: "Something tells me this won't be a friendly exchange of introductions."
Ashley: "No, I don't think so either."
Splash: "Oh...I'm really nervous about this."
Liara: "We'll all need to go with them to meet with the council."
Ashley: "Yeah, I think so, too, there's no way we'll allow them to be chewed out without us around."
Garrus: "I know I won't sit this one out. I'll stay with these girls."
Tali: "Yes, as will I."
Samantha: "I'm coming, too."
Miranda: "Some of us are still at odds with the council. I'm afraid myself and Jacob will need to stay behind."
Aera: "All because of your connections with Cerberus?"
Miranda: "Unfortunately, yes."
Garrus: "Why are they still angry with you? A lot of the Ex-Cerberus researchers helped out immensely against the Reapers. They know that."
Miranda: "Yes, we are well aware of that, but...actually, I'm not really sure, myself."
Ashley: "Yeah, that's a good question. The Alliance are on good terms with all those who deserted Cerberus."
Tali: "The quarian fleet have forgiven a lot who use to work for them. But not the council."
Jewel: "Have you guys tried asking why they hold a grudge against Ex-Cerberus operatives?"
Ashley: "We tried, but they refused to answer us. They would sidestep us or lash out at us each time we have."
Garrus: "To think those bureaucratic b******* would finally become much less stubborn, but it's almost as though they have that annoying urge of being stubborn and stuck in their ways. Almost like the war did nothing to change them."
Star: "Is the council really that bad?"
Ashley: "Back when Shepard was brought to the Citadel to try and inform them of Saren's betrayal as well as him murdering Nihlus, the council refused to hear him. It made sense considering that we didn't have any proof."
Samantha: "But you guys had an eye-witness, didn't you?"
Ashley: "Yes, but the council wouldn't hear him considered that he was "too flustered". The charges were dismissed and we needed to find some proof to convince them that he did."
Garrus: "And that was where I came along. This was back when I was working for C-Sec, I was working on trying to prove Saren's guilt, but my superiors wouldn't allow me to continue investigating due to classified information, so the case was closed. I tried to convince them that I had a lead, but they still weren't convinced, so I took matters into my own hands."
Splash: "What was that lead that you were pursuing?"
Tali: "Me, I had information from one of the geth that I had dismantled involving a recording of Saren admitting that he was the one responsible for the geth attack on Eden Prime. I tried to send the information to the shadow broker but one of his own, Fist, betrayed the shadow broker and tried to take the data to Saren. If it wasn't for Shepard and the others coming to my aid, I would have been killed and the data would have been lost."
Splash: "That was horrible."
Ashley: "But we were able to have the proof of Saren's betrayal sent to the council and they revoked his Spectre status from there."
Star: "Oh, thank goodness."
Garrus: "But that was just the beginning. Still, we wouldn't have gone through all of that if the council wasn't too stubborn to listen to us."
Ashley: "You'd think they'd change after finding out that Shepard was right about the Reapers the whole time. But no, things only got worse."
Splash: "How so?"
Ashley: "You girls will find out more once we meet with them. I know that it's going to be a disaster."
Flare: "Hmm..."