The Spiral Theory

by Kuragari no Oshiego

The young warrior Kamina is mortally wounded during his greatest battle ever. A horrified Simon uses to the power of the spiral to fling Kamina into the distant future, where he can be saved. Kamina ends up on Cronos Station, where a certain organization is pouring all their money and efforts into resurrecting the hero of the Citadel.

9. Chapter 9

And Who Are You?

Shepard sat in her quarters aboard the Gurren Senken, staring pensively at the aquarium that took up most of one wall. Several dead fish floated near the top of the water. Shepard wasn't one to believe in signs but the dead fish were a mute testimony to her inability to do everything herself. The yeoman the Illusive Man had assigned to her ship had been feeding the fish but she was gone now, along with most of the crew that helped her take down the Collector base. Shepard had had every intention of feeding the fish herself but she'd become preoccupied while on the Citadel, smashing her head into the brick wall that was the Council. Even though she was a Spectre, it had taken relentless pressure to get a single, short meeting with them. And once again, they had praised her for taking down the Collectors, as they had with Saren, as they had with the geth, but refused to believe there was anything more going on. They loved to act like they were so wise but they were the same as any politicians. The worst part was, she wasn't even getting any help from the human councillor. Anderson had resigned and returned to Earth in protest of the Council ignoring the reaper threat, leaving Udina in charge. Shepard could sympathize but it was a bad move. Now the Council was united in burying their heads in the sand.

The elevator doors outside her cabin softly slid open. Shepard didn't get up or even straighten up. The only person on the ship who would come into her cabin without permission was Garrus and he was the only person she didn't have to put up a front for. Her cabin was dark, other than the light from her aquarium, so Garrus's visor glowed while the rest of him was a silhouette. He stopped just inside her cabin and glanced at the fish tank. Then he turned back to her. "Is this some kind of human thing?" he asked, gesturing at the aquarium.

Shepard laughed in spite of herself. "No...just...musing on my failures."

"With the Council?" Garrus asked. "That isn't your fault. Nobody could convince them of something they don't want to hear."

Shepard pushed herself up so she was sitting in her chair properly. "But we can't do this without help, Garrus. It took the entire Alliance Fifth Fleet to take down one reaper, after it had torn through the Citadel Fleet. The Illusive Man had to pour more resources into taking down the Collectors than most nations have. I just...I'm not sure what to do next." She loathed admitting she felt helpless and would never have admitted it to anyone except Garrus.

After realizing she would get no help from the Council, she had departed the Citadel with her severely reduced crew. Most of her Ouroboros personnel had left, now that their task was done. They still had enough crew to run the ship, barely, but Shepard was having to pay them out of her own pocket. Miranda's injuries had been so severe that she'd been hospitalized in Huerta Memorial. Kamina had, too, but luckily he'd recovered enough to come with her. She still had Grunt but Tali and Legion had gone back to their people. Thane's disease had reduced him so severely that he had insisted he was useless to her and quietly disappeared. Now Shepard and her small team were headed toward batarian territory to investigate rumors that the Hegemony was at war with an unknown enemy. Mostly because Shepard wasn't sure what else to do.

"Well, maybe there's some good news on that front," Garrus said. "Liara has finally contacted us. She's waiting on the vidcom."

Shepard leapt out of her seat. "What?! Why didn't Joker tell me?!"

Garrus coughed lightly. "He, uh, said that he was afraid to disturb your brooding."

Shepard scowled. She'd have words for her pilot later. And after what I agreed to pay him! She hurried to the elevator with Garrus right behind and then made her way to the communication room. The table sunk down and the lights dimmed as a full-size hologram of Liara appeared. "Shepard!" she said, her obvious excitement making Shepard's stomach flip-flop. Shepard had been waiting for this. She was a person of action, not a researcher. Liara was her one hope to find out what the reapers were and how to stop thim. "I think we might have found something."

"Give it to me," Shepard said, trying to stay professional and calm.

"After pouring through the information we gathered from the Shadow Broker's databases, we learned that he was trying to have someone infiltrate the prothean archives on Mars. He believed the Alliance had only found a fraction of what they had to offer and he was right. This outpost must have been active even during the reaper invasion!" Shepard's fists clenched. Information like this was sitting right under our noses?! What the hell?! "I think you should come here, Shepard," Liara continued. "I'm still trying to figure it all out but it seems like Earth is connected to the cycles somehow." Connected to the cycles? That didn't make any sense. Or does it? Harbinger seemed human. King Kittan felt human there at the end. Kamina has some connection to Simon, who is apparently the leader of the reapers.

Shepard nodded. "We'll come straight away." She was gathering more and more pieces. If she had a few more, she might be able to put the puzzle together. And then I might finally have a way to end this. "I'll see you soon, Liara." The asari scientist nodded and the connection fizzled out. Shepard spun around. "Joker!"

"Yes, Commander," Joker said, sounding a trifle nervous. Have I really been in that bad a mood lately? "All stop. Turn us around and get us back to the Sol System as fast as possible. We're going to Mars."

"Oh. Neat. I always wanted to visit Mars."

Shepard bounced on her heels. It would take some time to get to Mars but now she was bursting with energy. She glanced at Garrus, who was idly touching the scars on the side of his face. "And, you, Vakarian. My cabin. Now." Garrus blinked in surprise. And then he grinned.

A few hours later, Shepard left Garrus curled up on her bed and headed down to the hanger. Leeron didn't even turn around as she entered, he was so focused on fixing something inside the cockpit of the little reaper vessel she'd liberated from the Collector base. Shepard had been surprised that the Ouroboros engineer had decided to stay on but was glad of it. The man seemed to have a preternatural feel for working with reaper tech. "Leeron," she called out. "How is it going?"

The engineer glanced up and popped his goggles to his forehead. As usual, his eyes were heavily shadowed with makeup. He winked. "Beautifly, Commander. I'll have this little cutie in tiptop shape."

Shepard nodded and studied the "little cutie" as Leeron got back to work. It really was a silly looking thing, bright red with a huge grinning mouth, little arms and legs and what seemed to be a giant pair of sunglasses. King Kittan hadn't seemed like a death machine either, until it was tearing through the Council fleet like they were insects. It was baffling. Even stranger was the fact that she had been able to pilot it. It had rejected her at first but it had responded to her desperate will. Technology shouldn't be able to respond to emotion like that. And why would the reapers even allow it?

Shepard noticed movement out of the corner of her eye and glanced to her left. Kamina was there, hiding behind some supply crates. He still had a cast on his left arm and bandages wrapped around his torso. Shepard suspected he was still supposed to be in a walking boot as well. "Kamina," she said, "you should be in the medbay." The blue-haired young man looked panicked and gestured for her to be quiet with a finger to his lips. Shepard was about to demand he explain himself when he went even wilder, flapping his other arm as he silently blew against his finger. Shepard suppressed a sigh and walked over to him. He drew her behind the supply crates. "Explain, Kamina," she said testily.

"I don't want Leeron to know that I am here," he said, softly but urgently.

"Why not?" Shepard said, no less irritated.

"The way he looks at me…" Kamina glanced in the direction of Leeron, though his line of sight was blocked by the crates. "I don't like it."

Shepard frowned. Leeron was naturally flirty but she couldn't remember him actually crossing any lines. "I don't think Leeron is any danger, Kamina. He's just a bit eccentric." Kamina grunted noncommittally. Shepard left off for now. Berating him for being a homophobe wouldn't do any good. She'd have to think of another way to handle it. He did come from a very small community. She crossed her arms. "So why did you come down here, if you didn't want to run into Leeron."

Kamina suddenly looked serious. "I needed to see it," he explained. "The gunmen. My head was twirling when we were leaving so I thought I might've been seeing things but that's really it. Gurren."

"You recognize that…" Shepard paused, trying to recall what Kamina called them. "Gunmen?"

Kamina barked a laugh. "Recognize it. It's mine. That's my Gurren." He leaned back against the crates and crossed his arms. "I took it away from the beastmen and made it my own."

"And somehow it got into the heart of the Collector base." Shepard remembered it, set off to the side like an old trophy. "You recognized Harbinger as well." Kamina shrugged helplessly. Shepard took a deep breath. "Kamina, who is Simon."

Consternation washed over the face of the normally upbeat face of the young man. "I have no idea what Forehead was talking about. These reapers…Collectors...they are obviously connected to the beastmen who kept us beaten down and underground. They were me and Simon's enemy. He would never help them."

Shepard waited a moment and then said, "That didn't answer my question."

Kamina glanced away and Shepard stayed quiet, letting him gather his thoughts. After a few beats, Kamina turned back. "Me and Simon grew up in the same village. He lost his parents to cave in when he was pretty young. I decided to watch out for him...I knew what it was like to lose your parents young." Kamina licked his lips. "We worked perfectly together. Simon is...well, he's a lot like you, Shepard. There is something in him...he can achieve anything he wants to. The only thing he lacks is confidence, so I tried to be that confidence for him." Shepard nodded, though she wasn't sure she completely understood. Kamina sighed, as if he was annoyed by his inability to express himself. "Anyway, after we made it to the surface, me and Simon made a team to fight the beastmen." He smiled, finally regaining some good cheer. "They were good guys. Kind of like your team. I did my best to lead them but I knew if anyone was going to put the beasts down, it would be Simon. He never would have joined them. Never."

Shepard nodded. "Thanks for telling me that, Kamina." There was more there. Shepard agreed with Kamina that there had to be some connection with his beastmen and the reapers. She would have to have him give a full account but it would probably be better to do so with Garrus and Liara present, to ask questions that Shepard might not think of. She clapped him on the shoulder. "And, now, you should get back to the medbay. Doctor Chakwas is going to be very angry with you."

Kamina jutted out his chin. "I'm not afraid of her." The slight quaver in his voice belied that, though.

"Just go. I need you in top shape for whatever comes next." Kamina grunted noncommittally and headed off. Shepard thought it was probably a fifty/fifty chance he would actually go back to the medbay. After he was gone, Shepard watched Leeron working on Gurren for a while, chewing on what she had learned from Kamina. There wasn't anything particularly revealing but what he'd told her was disquieting.

"Commander." That was Joker. Even though she was so surprised her heart jumped into throat, she was too disciplined to actually jump. "We just entered the Sol System...and Admiral Hackett contacted us about a second after. He's waiting for you on the vidcom."

Shepard cursed softly under her breath. She'd kind of expected this but wasn't looking forward to it. "Thanks, Joker. I'll head there straight away." Shepard suited action to words. She wasn't one to put off an undesired duty.

The moment she entered the communications room, the lights dimmed and a hologram of the ranking officer of the Alliance Fleets materialized. Shepard saluted him. He returned the salute briefly and then relaxed. "Commander, I hadn't expected to see you back home. At least not without a little warning." There was the barest hint of chastisement in his tone but for a man like Hackett, it was enough to show his distress.

"I apologize, Admiral. It was an emergency. My...associate, Doctor Liara T'Soni thinks she may have found valuable information on the reapers in the prothean archives on Mars."

Hackett rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "So Doctor T'Soni actually did find something."

"Admiral? You knew she was there?"

"Who do you think let her in the archives? She's the first alien we've allowed full access. It took a lot of political capital to greenlight that. I've spent most of the rest keeping certain Alliance factions from issuing an arrest warrant for you."

"I am sorry about that, sir," Shepard said, keeping herself from shuffling her feet.

"Don't be. You did what you had to do and so did I. Collector attacks on human colonies have stopped. But now that you're in system, I can't keep the hounds at bay. You'll need to come in for a court of inquiry and explain your actions. You'll have me and Anderson in your corner but it might get ugly."

"I understand, sir, and I promise to come to Earth as soon as I can…"

"But you need to visit the archives first. I understand, Shepard. I can buy you a few days. Thanks to your new Normandy's stealth systems, nobody knows you're here except for me and a few trusted associates. Once you land on Mars, though, word will spread fast. I'll have to contact you officially, then, and issue an arrest warrant if you don't appear on Earth promptly."

Shepard nodded. Even though she'd been met by willfully blind and cowardly leaders many times, she was truly lucky to have men like Hackett and Anderson supporting her. "I understand, sir." Hackett nodded. "Admiral, before you go," Shepard said quickly, "have you heard anything from the Batarian Hegemony?"

Hackett grunted. "Funny you should ask. I just received a briefing on the Hegemony. As you know, we don't have any official communications with the batarians but all of our back channels have dried up as well. There are rumors of refugees showing up in Citadel space. Do you know what's up?"

"I have a theory, sir, and I think you know what it is."

"Reapers," Hackett said. "I'd be lying if I said I hadn't considered the same thing."

"What else could knock out the batarians that quickly? I was on my way to batarian space to try and get hard evidence but Liara contacted me first. I think we should consider the worst case scenario," Shepard continued. "If the reapers are tearing through the batarians, they will have access to every relay in the Hegemony. Sir, they could be showing up on our doorstep any time."

Hackett nodded grimly. "You're right, Shepard. I've been pulling back our fleets using every excuse I can think of but it's time to just order them back as soon as I can. The politicians will throw a fit and I'll probably lose my job in a few weeks if the reapers don't show...but, hell, I think I'd trade my job if it meant the reapers never came to Earth."

Shepard laughed. "I can't tell you the number of times I'd thought that I would happily go down in history as a crazy idiot who bought into geth propaganda if it meant the reapers weren't actually out there." They both laughed, but it was forced and brittle. Unfortunately, they both know they were only too sane. "It was good to see you, sir."

"You, too, Commander. Hurry and get what you need from the archives. I'll keep the dogs off you for as long as I can." Shepard saluted and Hackett returned it briefly before cutting the connection. Shepard took a deep breath. If Hackett managed to pull back most of their navy before the reapers attacked, maybe they would have a chance to hold until Shepard could figure out something. Shepard felt sick to her stomach. Or maybe our fighting forces will get wiped out because they were all gathered for one big battle. But what could she tell Hackett? To start guerilla warfare without even meeting the enemy once? That wouldn't fly. Shepard sighed. I hope you have something, Liara. Shepard returned to her cabin and curled up next to the dozing Garrus.

She was in the midst of a nightmare when Joker's voice woke her. Shepard sat upright like a bolt, the nightmare slipping out of her memory. For some reason, she tried to recall it. It seemed important. But it was gone. "Is everything alright?" Garrus asked, sitting up beside her.

"Yeah. Yeah," Shepard touched her forehead, finding it slick with sweat. She wondered if she would have a decent night's rest again. "Come on, we better get ready." She and Garrus dressed and made their way to the airlock. They were joined by Kamina and Grunt. Shepard stopped herself before she asked Kamina if he'd gone back to the medbay like she'd told him. What am I, his mother? Once the airlock locked and cycled, the foursome made their way into the small docking area. Two armed guards were there to greet them. Shepard kept her hands away from her weapons, hoping she wouldn't have to fight her way in.

To her relief, one of them said, "Commander Shepard? Admiral Hackett told us you would be coming. Your asari friends are in the lab." He gestured behind him. "You can take the tram over."

"Thank you, soldier." Shepard led her troupe past the guards and to the tram. She hadn't missed that the soldier had said "friends." That meant that Samara was still with Liara. That was good. Shepard felt better having the formidable asari justicar around.

Samara, herself, was waiting for them at the end of the tram. Shepard took her offered hand and shook it. "It is good to see you, Shepard."

"You, too, Samara. More than you know. Thank you for staying with Liara."

"Of course. It is...good to have a task to focus my mind now that the mission of my last four centuries is finally over." Shepard shuddered. She couldn't imagine trying to accomplish something for four hundred years. Even four more years against the reapers would probably kill her. More like four more months. "Come. Liara is waiting. It is hard to pry her away from the archives for very long."

Samara led them deeper into the complex where they found Liara bent over a terminal, her eyes wide and her finger flipping through virtual pages so fast Shepard didn't know how she was possibly reading them. "Liara," Samara said, gently but firmly. "Your friends have come to see you." Shepard had to suppress a smile. Samara sounded like Liara's mother. I suppose she is a matriarch. Then Shepard remembered what had happened to Samara's actual children and her smile died.

"Shepard!" Liara said, half standing up. She glanced at the terminal as if she were reluctant to leave it. "I hadn't expected you so quickly. I'm still running through everything. It is astonishing how much is buried here. The protheans were very proficient archeologists! Some of their techniques are so innovative. I find myself eager to apply them to their own culture. Protheans teaching us about protheans!"

"Isn't that how it always works?" Shepard said with a smile. Liara laughed. Too loudly. Shepard could see that her eyes were bloodshot and wondered when the last time she slept was.

"Why, yes, Shepard," Liara laughed. "Who else indeed?"

"Liara, are you alright? I hate to press you but I need any information you can give me on the reapers right away."

"Of course, Shepard." Liara straightened up and slapped her cheeks. "It is too easy to lose myself in the past. We need to survive the reapers if I am to have any chances of continuing my studies of the protheans." I hope that's not the only reason you're fighting them, Shepard thought wryly. "I've discovered two critical things on the reapers," Liara continued. "The first is that conventional weaponry is all but useless against them." Shepard's eye twitched. She was well aware that conventional weapons didn't cut it against actual reapers. King Kitan had soaked up everything the most powerful fleet in known space could throw at it and almost all of what humanity's best fleet could add afterward. If that was all Liara had…

As if she could feel Shepard's pending explosion, the asari scientist hurriedly continued. "But the protheans discovered that reaper ships were actually piloted vessels! Isn't that amazing, Shepard? We had been assuming that the reapers were synthetics but they actually have organic pilots! The protheans found a few dead ones from the smaller reaper ships but they never could identify a species. They seemed too dissimilar to be of one kind. I wonder if they are perhaps the remnants of old conquered species, similar to the way the Collectors were repurposed protheans. I have no evidence to back that up but it seems likely. I suppose we won't know unless we can capture one of the pilots of one of the large reapers."

Shepard had been letting her go on, though she already knew all of this, not wanting to interrupt Liara in case there was a useful nugget in there somewhere but now she had to break in. "This is all fascinating, Liara, but does any of it actually help us?"

Liara dry washed her hands. "Well, if they are organics, Shepard, perhaps we can actually try and communicate with them. Understand their motives. If they were synthetics, we might never understand them but if they are organics, they must have a motive. If we could find that out..."

Shepard sighed. "I'm sure the protheans and every other species exterminated by the protheans had those same thoughts. The reapers don't seem interested in talking. Please tell me you found something more."

Liara looked crestfallen and Shepard wanted to comfort her but she held herself back. Idealism wasn't going to save the galaxy. There was true evil in the galaxy that couldn't be reasoned with. She'd learned that lesson on Mindoir and Torfan. "Yes, Shepard. I have pieced together reports that the protheans began piloting the reapers' own vessels against them. Even though all they could get their hands on were the smaller reaper ships, they were much more successful in battle. However, this realization came too late to turn the tide. I also have fragments of reports that suggest there was a schism in the protheans' forces because of this. Some seemed to consider the use of reaper tech to be heretical."

Shepard crossed her arms. "That's a good thought. I'd had the same myself." Liara blinked in surprise. Shepard could only imagine what her reaction would be when she learned Shepard had already piloted a reaper ship and had it sitting in the Gurren Senken's cargo hold. "The problem, of course, is how to get our hands on reaper vessels before they show up to kill us all."

"Yes, well, we may already have one," Liara said, though she seemed more nervous than pleased. "Taken from the Shadow Broker's ship."

"Really? The Shadow Broker had a reaper ship?"

"I...think so?" Liara responded dubiously. "Viral seems certain that it is. It is very small though, not like the others. We have it just in the other room there." Shepard took a step in that direction. "Wait, Shepard, I haven't told you the other thing I've discovered yet." Shepard stopped and glanced at the asari expectantly. "This may sound unbelievable, Shepard…" Shepard smirked. Liara glanced down. "Yes, I suppose everything we've learned about the reapers is unbelievable. But, Shepard, this concerns humans specifically. You see, the protheans found evidence that your current civilization is not the first human civilization on Earth. Perhaps not even the second or third."

Shepard frowned. "How could that be possible?"

"For some reason, the reapers only reduced you to a tiny population and completely destroyed any technology, perhaps even creating a proscription against agriculture or tool-making that would last generations before being forgotten."

Shepard shook her head. That didn't make any sense. But then again, nothing the reapers did made any sense. "Do you think they do this with other species as well?"

"The protheans could find no record of it...and it seems clear they completed the genocide of the protheans, other than the few who survived on Ilos."

Shepard crossed her arms. So there was a connection between humans and reapers. She'd dreaded finding out that was the case but now the evidence was undeniable. What the connection was, she had no idea of, as yet. If they are human, though, all the better. It means I can beat them. Shepard didn't think she would lose against anything but she was absolutely certain she wouldn't lose to another human. "Show me what you found in the Shadow Broker's base." Liara nodded uncertainty, perhaps surprised Shepard hadn't responded to her big reveal about human civilization. The truth was, Shepard wasn' sure what to say. She turned to Kamina and Grunt, who, true to form, had been making noise in the background. They seemed to be playing a game of rock-paper-scissors where the winner pointed in a direction and if the loser looked, he got slapped. Not a game any sane person would play with a krogan. "I don't suppose you heard any of that?"

"I heard enough," Kamina said. He flexed his arm and slapped his bicep with his other hand. "We steal some gunmen and kick the reaper's asses. I could have told you that. It was my plan!" He suddenly seemed disturbed. "Did that freak Viral tell you about my grand master plan?! Is that how you came up with it?!" he asked Liara. The asari scientist, unsurprisingly, had no idea how to respond.

Shepard held back a sigh. "I'm sure she didn't steal your idea, Kamina. It's just a coincidence. They say great minds think alike."

Kamina's suspicion melted into consideration and then he smiled. "That's true." He pointed at Liara and then himself, clearly suggesting an equivalency. The look on Liara's face was priceless.

Shepard held back a laugh and said, "Let's see what you brought from the Shadow Broker." They trooped to the next room. Lights flickered on as they entered, revealing Viral, leaning up against one wall with his arms crossed. He sneered at them but it seemed to lack some of its usual dismissiveness.

Before he or Shepard or anyone else could say anything, though, Kamina cried out and pushed forward. He skidded to a halt next to the gunmen Liara must have been talking about and gasped, "It's Lagann! Lagann!" He lifted his hands as if to touch it but held back from doing so for some reason. Shepard studied the gunmen. It was smaller than any she'd seen by a good measure, with especially dinky arms and legs. It had a serious face but didn't seem especially intimidating. All and all, it was about the least impressive reaper Shepard had seen. She understood Liara's skepticism. Kamina's reaction was definitely interesting, though.

"You recognize that reap...that gunmen, Kamina?" Shepard asked.

He glanced at her over his shoulder. His eyes seemed to be bugging out of his head. "It's Lagann, Shepard. Lagann!" As if that explained anything.

"I'm going to need a little more than that."

Kamina's mouth worked without sound for a moment but he managed to say, "It's Simon's gunmen. Simon's drill."

Her eyebrows shot up. "Simon?"

"You know the name?" That was Viral. Shepard glanced at him and nodded. "Well, since that naked ape is about as good at speaking as one of his gorilla cousins, I'll tell you what he is trying to. That machine is the most powerful spiral weapon ever created. It was Simon's gunmen, which he used to topple the Spiral King and overthrow the anti-spiral. Simon's grown beyond it now. I had thought that it was gone for good. I haven't seen it in any of the other cycles."

Shepard blinked. That might have been the most she'd ever Viral say at once. Too bad she didn't understand very much of it. But she did understand the most important thing. "So this little guy could be the key to defeating the reapers, then?"

"Perhaps. If there is somebody with the ability to use it to its full potential." Viral uncrossed his arms and Shepard saw that there was something in one of his huge hands. A cone? "Ape, catch." Viral threw the object at Kamina. Even though it came in at a high velocity, Kamina snatched it out of the air. He lifted it up and Shepard caught a better look at it. It was a gold...cone? No, a drill. After a moment it began to glow with a green energy. Viral covered his eyes with one hand and began to laugh. Shepard was disturbed by the brittle sound, edged with madness.

"Viral." He didn't stop laughing. "Viral!" Shepard seized him by the shoulders. "You need to explain things to me. What is that thing?"

Viral finally stopped laughing and when he removed his hand from his face, there was no humor at all in his cat-like eyes. "It's the activation key for Lagann. It should only work for someone with overwhelming spiral energy." He smiled, showing off his razor-sharp teeth. Shepard, who'd faced the worst the galaxy had to offer without flinching, felt a chill down her spine at the grin. "Look at your friend."

Shepard did and found Kamina more upset than she'd ever seen him. He was holding the drill like it was radioactive and sweating profusely. "Kamina?"

"This isn't right," he muttered. "This is Simon's. He's the one who is going to pierce the heavens. I don't...I can't...it's not right, Shepard."

Shepard resisted the urge to yell at him. None of this was making any sense. "Why is he so upset, Viral?"

She thought she would have to press him more but the strange creature answered easily. "Because he knows what he isn't. And he isn't Simon. He's weak. He never had the bottomless well of determination that Simon has. He doesn't come close to having the spiral energy necessary to run Lagann. He's just a mouthy hothead who always knew the best thing he could do was give Simon the confidence he lacked. His bravado was all for show because he knew he was a coward at heart. Just like his father." Shepard's hands tightened on Viral but he didn't react at all. She glanced at Kamina, expecting an explosion, but was shocked to find him seemingly beaten down by the words.

"That's it," Grunt rumbled, stepping forward. "I'm gonna smash that bastard into paste."

"Grunt." Shepard didn't raise her voice but put all of her authority into the big krogan's name. He stopped but Shepard could feel him boiling. Pretty soon not even her status as his battlemaster would stop him. "Viral, I hope you're going somewhere with this."

Viral snorted. "My point is this. Kamina never had any spiral energy to speak of. I confirmed this with Simon when he wanted me to pilot Gurren." Kamina made a choking sound at that. Viral smirked at him. "Oh, yes. I was probably in that cockpit more than you ever were." His eyes drifted back to Shepard. "You see, I can't produce spiral energy either because I'm a synthetic being. Kamina probably could. A little. The same as a rodent or something. But it was Simon's energy that allowed Gurren Lagann to function. It was so overpowering that it didn't matter that neither Kamina or I couldn't add to it. But I can see the question in your eyes. You've seen Kamina's biotic power and I've explained that biotics are simply a form of spiral energy." His eyes flicked to Kamina again. "Yes, it puzzled me, too. Until I saw that drill light up. This is all some game of Simon's. I don't know what he is doing or what the outcome will be but it has to be so. Because Kamina-Kamina!-never, ever could have gotten that drill to react to him if Simon hadn't willed it to be so."

Shepard's temper threatened to flare but she kept in check. For the moment. "So what does that all mean, Viral? What are you trying to tell me?"

"I'm not trying to tell you anything. You wouldn't understand. You couldn't. Not yet. Not until you see his power for yourself."

"God damn it, Viral!" Shepard said, punching the wall next to his head. The beastman didn't even flinch. "I'm sick of these games. You sound just like a reaper! 'You wouldn't understand.' You're not even giving me a chance." Viral stared at her steadily, without speaking. "Damn you. At least tell me this;. you said that thing was the most powerful weapon ever created to fight against the reapers. Can we use it? Do we have a chance to defeat them with it?"

Viral was silent for a long moment. When he spoke, the edge of madness was gone from his voice, replaced by a soul-deep weariness that Shepard could almost feel physically. "I think the naked ape could pilot it. To what end, I don't know. He's here for the first time and so is it. Those are new factors but...I think it will all turn out the same, in the end." Shepard glared at him, willing him to say more but the beastman was done. He shook his head and the despair in his eyes was like a gut punch.

She turned away from him and walked to Kamina. The man had sunk to his knees and was cradling the small drill in his hand. "Kamina." He didn't react. "Kamina!" He slowly looked up at her. She lowered her voice to a whisper, although she was pretty sure it carried in the small room. "What's wrong? I've never seen you like this."

"It isn't mine, Shepard." His voice was heart-breakingly weak. "Viral is right about me. I'm not the one who can pilot Lagann."

"The drill is glowing for you, isn't it?" Shepard asked. Kamina shook his head. Shepard knelt down and took his hands in hers, closing them over the drill. "Viral is not right about you. I've fought beside you and I know what you are." Kamina didn't seem convinced. "And so what if he is right about Lagann only working for you because Simon wants it to. He's your partner right. Do you still believe in him?"

Kamina didn't even hesitate. "Of course."

"Well, if you believe in him, you should believe that he gave you Lagann for a reason. He believes in you."

"Don't believe in yourself," Kamina muttered. "Believe in Simon who believes in you."

"Interesting way to put it," Shepard said. "But I like it. Will you be alright?"

Kamina glanced at her and then looked down at his hands. "I…" She could still hear anguish and indecision in his voice. And feel several eyes on him, mostly strangers and one bonafide enemy.

"I'll give you some time to think." Shepard stood and spun around. "Liara. We're going to go over everything you dredged up on the reapers and see if we can glean any more hints. I want everybody there. That includes you, beast boy."

Part 2

Kamina watched them leave, relief spreading through his body. He hated that he'd shown them this side of himself. He wasn't sure whether it was worse that Shepard, who he respected like no other, or Viral, who he hated like no other, had seen it. Viral...that beast bastard. Kamina could still hear everything he'd said echoing in his head. He didn't understand. Viral seemed to know his innermost heart. Things Kamina never would have admitted to anyone. He'd come close with Yoko but he didn't think she understood the way Viral somehow did. Even in the end, she'd believed him a great hero.

Kamina suddenly noticed that Grunt hadn't gone with the rest. He was stationed at the door, his blue eyes staring steadily at Kamina. "You can go with the others," Kamina said.

"Nah," Grunt rumbled. "I'm good right here."

Kamina sighed. He wanted to be alone but he didn't feel like arguing. "Whatever."

"You think that tiny cat thing was right," Grunt said. Kamina's heart seized. He wanted to shake it off and deny it. He wanted to jump up and assure Grunt that the Great Kamina was ready to kick ass. But he felt like he'd been clubbed in the head. "You're an idiot."

"What?"

"Do you think I would tolerate a coward in my krantt? Do you think Battlemaster Shepard would tolerate one?"

"You...don't know what I really am."

Grunt seemed to consider that and shook his gigantic head. "Maybe you don't know who you really are. I didn't. Not until Shepard gave me direction."

Kamina didn't know how to respond to that. How could Grunt understand him? The krogan was a true warrior. Afraid of nothing. Before he could think of something to say, alarms suddenly blared to life round them. Kamina glanced at the red strobing lights, wondering what was going on. A voice over the com system answered him. "Ships of unknown origin in system. All security staff to stations. Repeat, ships of unknown origin in system. All security staff to stations."

Shepard came over the com. "This is Commander Shepard. Tell me what's going on." As usual, he tone was calm but commanding.

The voice that answered he lacked her professionalism. "We don't know, Commander! A fleet suddenly appeared out of the relay. It's like nothing we've ever seen. It's tearing through the Alliance fleet!"

"Understood. Stay calm, soldier. Panicking won't help anybody."

"Y-yes, ma'am!"

There was silence over the com for the next several seconds and then came the call Kamina was dreading. "Kamina, are you there?" Shepard asked. Kamina stayed quiet. "Kamina, I wish I could give you some more time but we're out of it. If you can pilot that thing...Lagann. We need it. They're here." Kamina felt paralyzed. He couldn't breathe, much less answer. "We're all headed for the Gurren Senken now. Meet us there. Please, Kamina." She was silent for a bit. "I believe in you."

A sob welled in Kamina's throat. He felt irresistibly drawn to her but at the same time, completely frozen. Grunt stomped over and tried to pull him to his feet. "Come on, brother. It's time to snap out of this. The enemy is here. We need to kill it." Kamina stayed limp. "Enough of this!" Grunt shook him. It was a little painful. Kamina didn't react. Grunt dropped him with a growl of disgust. "Don't let that cat thing be right. You fought the thresher maw with me. You're a krogan soldier. We don't stop until we're killed and that only slows us down." Grunt turned and began to jog out of the room. He stopped at the door and glanced back at Kamina with one huge blue eye. "You'll come. I know you will." Then he left.

Damn it. Damn it. Why was he feeling this shaken? Why did he care what Viral thought? Shepard believed in him. Grunt believed in him. Even if they were wrong, he had to try and live up to that. He wasn't Simon. He wasn't a hero. But that didn't mean he couldn't help. It didn't mean he couldn't fight. Kamina pushed himself up to his hands and knees. Simon's drill was on the floor, just below him. It was pulsing again. Kamina stared at it and started to hyperventilate again. The drill was challenging him to be more than he thought he was. It was terrifying.

And since when did you give in to terror? Since when had he put a limit on what he could be? He'd always known Simon's drill could punch through anything if he just had the proper motivation. Kamina had believed he didn't have the same talent but...did that mean he wasn't even going to try? Aren't you a man?! Even if you lose, even if you fail, isn't that better than giving up? He was Kamina! Leader of the Dai-Gurren Brigade, blood brother to Simon, honorary krogan warrior and soldier under Commander Shepard. Kamina slammed his fist on the steel floor next to the drill. Fight, damn you! Fight! The drill was pulsing strongly now.

He picked it up and stood. Kamina glanced at Lagann. It seemed bigger now. When he got inside, it fit him comfortably, the same as it had the child-sized Simon. Kamina took a breath and inserted the small drill. He turned it and spiral energy radiated out and around. Kamina could feel Lagann power up. It's actually working. He took a faltering step forward and then another. I can do this. He squeezed Lagann through the door and then looked around. Kamina realized he had no idea where he was. He hadn't been paying attention when they came down here. "Shepard," he commed. "I'm coming. Where are you?" There was nothing but static. What the hell? Did they already leave? Kamina walked Lagann to a window and peered out. Just in time to see the Gurren Senken blast by.

"No!" They were leaving him. He couldn't miss this fight. Not if he wanted to be able to live with himself. He tried his com again. "Is anybody out there?! This is Kamina!" Nothing but static. Kamina considered just blasting his way out but remembered at the last second that he might vent people into space if he did that. He turned Lagann away, already unconsciously adjusting to piloting the small gunmen and set off to find an exit.

Part 3

Shepard stood behind Joker's chair and stared at the displays in front of him in horror. Alliance ships were winking out, one after another. This wasn't how space battles were normally fought. Not even close. Any war cruiser was built to take a pounding before it went down. Shepard was used to seeing battle damage, assessing how long a ship had before it was out of the fight. If a reaper hit a ship, it didn't matter what condition it was in. A ship without so much as a scuffed hull would be shorn in two, erupting and taking all hands with it. This wasn't a fight. It was a massacre. Her hands tightened on the back of Joker's chair until they hurt.

What are we going to do? Shepard had been disappointed that Kamina hadn't joined them but now she wondered if it even mattered. How could that little gunmen possibly stand up to this? How could anything? No! You can't give up! You can't give in! Shepard focused on trying to put together a picture of the battle so that she could tell where the Normandy might be most useful. The forces around the relay had been annihilated and Hackett-if he was still alive-had pulled back the rest of his fleet to try and stop the reaper fleet from reaching Earth. The reaper forces consisted of seven big reapers, which could take out any Alliance ship in one shot. There were also hundreds of smaller reapers-gunmen-who were either tearing apart Alliance fighters or gathering in a pack to take down a bigger ship. And they were literally tearing them apart. Most of the gunmen seemed to be designed for melee combat of all things. They were also a hell of a lot more maneuverable than the Alliance fighters.

Shepard turned to Viral. He and Liara had come to the bridge with her. "What should we do?" It hurt her to even ask the question but she had studied the battle and racked her brain and come up with nothing.

He shrugged. "Retreat. This battle is lost."

Anger flared in Shepard. She pointed out of the bridge in the vague direction of Earth. "This battle is everything! That's Earth! We lose here and we lose everything."

"Not everything. Not if you keep enough of your forces intact that you can strike back and extend the war. Your only hope is to attack when you can overwhelm, steal their tech for your own and build your strength that way." He shrugged again. "I mean, it won't matter in the end anyway. You'll lose in the end like everybody else. But the species that prolonged the inevitable for the longest did it that way. It would probably be easier for you to just die here, honestly."

"A real cheerful guy you brought on board," Joker muttered.

Shepard took a slow breath. She had to make a decision now. As much as it absolutely galled her, Viral's point had a lot of merit. They had been suckerpunched and needed time to get organized if they were going to have any chance of making a fight of it. Retreating here might be the only thing that would allow them that time before the forces of humanity were too devastated to mount a comeback. There was another problem, though, beyond the sheer horror at abandoning Earth. "EDI, have you gotten any communications back online?"

"I have not, Commander," EDI said, placid as ever. "We can use short-range communications but all long-range communication is offline. The reapers' jamming signal is unlike anything I have encountered before. I do not have an estimate on when communications will be restored.

Shepard cursed softly. Even if they decided to retreat, how could they organize it when none of their ships could talk to each other? "Okay...okay. Joker, do you know where Admiral Hackett's flag ship is?"

"Yeah. It's right in the middle of that clusterfuck right there," he said, gesturing at his displays. He glanced at her over his shoulder. "Please don't say what I think you're going to say."

"Sorry, Joker. We need to get in there. Maybe if we're close enough to his ship we can talk via short-range. If we can convince him to retreat, maybe it will spark a general retreat." Technically, it would be more like a rout, but Shepard didn't want to say that aloud. "Take us in."

Joker sighed but did as he was ordered. The Normandy soared into the fray. Once they were close, Joker triggered the Thanix cannons Garrus had installed and so meticulously calibrated. They slagged the two small reapers they hit. "Hell yeah," Joker crowed. But then they were in the midst of the battle, with small reapers all around. The Thanix cannons were powerful but front-mounted without the ability to swivel. The gunmen began to latch onto the sides and stern of the Normandy, tearing out chunks of armor the way they had other ships.

"Get them off us, Joker!" Shepard shouted.

"You don't think I'm trying?" Joker shouted right back. He spun the ship in a rapid barrel roll but only a couple dislodged.

Shepard grit her teeth. Damn them! She thought of the gunmen she had down in the cargo bay. She'd hoped she'd have time to practice with it before taking it into actual battle. She'd also hoped to have time to figure out how to take out the reapers before they attacked Earth. She wasn't going to get either. "I'm going out." She ignored Joker's demand for an explanation and was about to sprint away. Before she could, however, she heard a familiar voice. It didn't come over the coms. Somehow it sounded like Kamina was right next to her.

"Oy, oy, oy, oy, oy! Just what do you bastards think you're doing to my ship?" he said. His voice was chock-full of his old arrogance. "Rapid drill detonation!" Shepard wasn't sure what happened but one second, there were a dozen gunmen tearing up the Gurren Senken and the next second they were gone. The ship rocked a little as Kamina landed on the bow. He laughed, loudly and triumphantly. "Let that be a lesson to you!" he shouted at the now dead reapers. His voice was coming over the com like normal now.

Shepard couldn't hold back a smile. "Kamina, I was beginning to wonder if you were going to join us." She kept her tone light, not recriminating at all.

"Just had to get the Lagann warmed up, is all." Shepard thought she heard an undercurrent of apology in his voice. "And think up a new move."

"Well, you sure save our ass," Joker said. "I've never seen anything move that fast."

"It was nothing," Kamina said smugly. "If you want to see something really cool, get out here in Gurren, Shepard. We'll destroy these bastards together."

Shepard didn't answer right away. She had been about to go out in Gurren but that had been a last ditch decision. It wasn't how she had been trained to fight. She was a marine. An infiltration specialist. She'd never even piloted a fighter before. But what good was she doing on the bridge of a starship? She wanted to be in the fight. "Are you really going out there?" Liara asked. She looked frightened. Shepard nodded. "I am. If we're going to get close to Hackett, we need escorts. It seems gunmen are the only things that can fight gunmen." She touched Joker on the shoulder. "As soon as I'm out there, me and Kamina will guide you. Stick close."

"Whatever you say, Commander."

Shepard sprinted away, taking emergency ladders down rather than waiting for the elevator. Leeron was down in the cargo hold. He seemed to be applying paint to Gurren's ankle. Has he been working this whole time? "Leeron!" Shepard said breathlessly. "Is Gurren good to go?"

The mechanic frowned. "If you go out now, you'll ruin the paint job."

Shepard's eyes bugged. "If I don't go out now, the Normandy will be torn to pieces. That will definitely ruin the paint job."

Leeron sighed, evidently not convinced. "Take him, if you must."

Shepard opened the gunmen's mouth and climbed inside. She sat back and grasped the two control sticks. This time Gurren powered up instantly. Guess once it accepts you once, it accepts you for good. "Open the cargo hold," she commed. With a whine, the ramp lowered. Kamina raced Gurren down the ramp. The machine responded just like she wanted it to. It was shockingly intuitive to use. She jumped out of the ship, flipped around and fired the jets on the back of her gunmen. She landed a trifle unsteadily next to Kamina on the bow of the Gurren Senken.

Lagann, still so small, smashed one little fist into its other hand. "Good! Now that you're here, let's tear these reapers to pieces."

Shepard glanced up and around. There were reapers everywhere, including the half-dozen gigantic ones. "How?" she asked. She didn't want to be negative but…"I don't even have any weapons. Do you? How did you kill those gunmen?"

"I killed them with my blazing spirit!" Kamina said, gesticulating wildly with Lagann.

Shepard smiled weakly. "I'd like something a little more physical."

Lagann pointed at her. "Use those glasses!"

"What?" Shepard lifted her gunmen's arms and grasped the sunglasses that covered the eyes of Gurren. They came off easily, making her wonder how they'd stayed on in the first place. She hefted them in one hand and inspected them. She supposed they could be used to smash and slice if they were hard enough.

"Are you ready, Shepard?" Kamina asked. "They're coming." Shepard whirled to see a dozen mini-reapers headed their way. Kamina laughed. "Come on, you punks. Test the Great Kamina if you dare." He lifted Lagann's arms and the hands transformed into spinning drills. Blazing spirit, my ass, Shepard thought sourly. She wondered if Gurren could do stuff like that. Then the gunmen were on them and there was no more time to think.

Shepard leapt up and away as one of them rocketed at her and winced as it dented the Gurren Senken's hull as it hit the place she'd been a moment before. She dropped back toward it and whacked it with her glasses. They didn't shatter, which was nice, but they also didn't seem to do much damage to the other gunmen. It stumbled back a couple paces but quickly surged forward and swung a surprisingly long arm at her. Shepard managed to backpedal away but had to stop and fling herself away as she sensed something come up behind her. She barely got out of the way of a charging gunmen. Luckily, her own last second dodge meant that the gunmen who'd been forcing her back didn't have time to get out of the way and the charging gunmen rammed into it. They both spun off into space, trailing pieces and parts behind them.

Shepard put a hand to her rapidly beating heart. At least her battle senses were still sharp inside Gurren. She hurriedly got up while assessing the situation. There were only four left that she could see, which meant that Kamina had destroyed six of them in the time it took her to get rid of two-and even that had been a lucky break. He's a demon in that little robot. Kamina was boosting toward another of the enemy gunmen but Shepard didn't have time to see what he could do because two more were coming at her. They were armed, too. One with a club and one with a sword. Shepard swallowed hard but lifted her glasses to meet them.

They came at her together, bothing swinging overhand. Shepard managed to catch both sword and club with the glasses but it jarred her badly. She skipped back a step and the two enemies attacked her more intelligently. The one with the sword went first, sweeping low to the right. Shepard had to catch his blade on with her glasses, leaving her wide open for the one with the club. It streaked at her head and she had no choice but to throw up an arm to block it. The arm was pulverized. Shepard reacted quickly, however, throwing a front kick that hit the club-wielding gunmen in the cockpit. He flew away, tumbling out into space. Unfortunately, the kick also damaged Gurren's foot. When she placed it back on the hull, her leg folded underneath her, spilling her to the deck.

The sword-wielding gunmen attempted to drive his sword directly through Gurren's face but she managed to roll just in time. The blade scraped along her side without doing much damage and bounced off the hull. The enemy gunmen stumbled and Shepard knew she had to take advantage. She used her jets to flip herself up and smash the other gunmen. He flew out into space, along with a few pieces of Gurren. She ended up face-first on the hull, warning lights making her cockpit flash red. Four gunmen and I'm already out of commission. Frustration welled in Shepard. At herself, the situation and the Alliance. I needed more time. Time to figure out what I'm doing.

She managed to get Gurren standing up but knew that if she tried to walk, her gunmen would almost certainly fall over again. I still have my jets, at least. I'm not giving up as long as I can move at all. Kamina, luckily, had finished the other three and they had a moment's respite as Joker continued to make for Hackett's flagship. She commed Kamina. "Kamina, I'm not going to be much use from here on out. My left arm is gone and my left foot is damaged."

Kamina laughed. "I busted up Gurren the first time I fought, too!" Somehow it didn't make Shepard relieved to hear she'd done the same thing as the most reckless fighter she'd ever met. "He's fierce but fragile. Don't worry, though, Shepard. I'm coming in!"

"What does that mean?" But Kamina didn't answer. Instead she watched as Lagann looped around and rocketed toward her. As he closed, the little gunmen transformed again, becoming a giant drill with a head attached. Shepard watched for another moment, a sick feeling in her stomach. He's not really...He was. He was coming straight at her. "Kamina! What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Shepard prepared to jump away but she'd left it too late. Kamina was going to crash into her.

She somehow managed to keep Gurren on its feet when Kamina hit, Lagann's drill hitting Gurren directly on top of the head. She shrank away as the drill came all the way down into her cockpit, stopping just short of her head. "Kamina!" Shepard screamed, as upset as she could ever remember being. "What the fuck are you doing?!"

"Combining," Kamina said easily. "Gurren and Lagann become Gurren Lagann, stronger together than apart!"

Shepard stared ahead in mute horror. She was just beginning to question her own sanity in allowing Kamina to become so integral to her mission when she noticed that the red lights filling her cockpit had become green. A simplistic rendering of Gurren was on the screen in front of her along with Lagann on top and a drill connecting them. Then she watched, and somehow felt, Gurren begin to change. The ruined arm twisted back into shape and became longer and thicker. Gurren's foot repaired itself and its leg became taller. The entire shape of ruined Gurren and Lagann shifted until they were one body, with Gurren the torso, arms and legs and Lagann the head. Together, they became substantially more humanoid and somehow more than just the sum of their parts. Shepard could feel it. This form was powerful.

"What...what just happened?" Shepard asked in a daze.

"Our spirits have fused!" Kamina shouted. "Just like I knew they would. You're the only person I've met besides my brother with the same crazy blood thundering through your veins." He laughed, so supremely confident Shepard could hardly believe he was the same person she'd been trying to cheer up less than an hour ago. "Since it's your first time, I'll let you have the controls. Let's get them, Shepard!"

Shepard glanced up and knew instantly what he was talking about. Several gunmen were headed their way. "Okay. What about weapons?"

"Gurren Lagann is our weapon! Show your resolve and your ferociousness, Shepard and Gurren Lagann will respond!"

Shepard wished he could explain things a little more straightforwardly. "You were making drills with Lagann."

"Drills are the symbol of a man's soul!" He was quiet for a moment and then said, somewhat less exuberantly. "I don't know what the symbol of a woman's soul is. Maybe some kind of-"

"Kamina, I love you, but I'm going to stop you right there. Continue that line of thought and there's a good chance I'll have to punch you." Now let me see. I suppose a drill is as good a weapon as any. Kamina had just made them appear. Evidently she just had to will it into existence. She lifted Gurren Lagann's right arm and stared at it. While Shepard's main speciality was not melee combat, no soldier made it through N7 without being a damn fine hand-to-hand fighter. She'd become an expert with an omnitool blade. So she made a drill appear out of her right wrist, just where her omnitool blade would be. It manifested easily. Shockingly so. Just what kind of tech is this?

Shepard didn't have time to consider it. The gunmen were almost upon her. She launched herself at the first one and thrust her drill right at the face of the gunmen. It pierced through easily and the gunmen actually exploded. Shepard shrank away from the detonation but it didn't seem to do any harm to her gunmen. Okay, this can work! She grew another drill from her left wrist and started carving them up. In no time at all, the enemy gunmen were down. Gurren Lagann hadn't suffered a scratch. This thing is incredible. No wonder Viral had called it the greatest weapon in the war against the reapers. Lagann could upset the balance of power in the universe.

She stopped Gurren Lagann to consider her next move. She'd been trying to escort the Gurren Senken to Admiral Hackett's flag but now that she had this power at her disposal, she was thinking she could do something more. But what? Timely as ever, EDI commed her with the answer. "Commander, I am still unable to pierce the enemy's jamming signal but I have managed to locate the source of the signal. If you destroy it, the jamming in this area of space will stop."

"Excellent work, EDI. What's the source?" Even as she asked the question, Shepard got a queasy feeling in her stomach. She suspected the answer.

"It is one of the large reaper vessels." Shepard sighed. Sometimes she hated being right. A small, three-dimensional map appeared, showing a blinking indicator where the jamming reaper was.

"Got it, EDI. Joker, new orders. Disengage from the enemy and make a sweep for escape pods and extravehicle survivors. Me and Kamina are going to take out the big boy and then we'll see what Hackett wants us to do."

"Whatever you say, Commander," Joker said without much enthusiasm. Shepard frowned. If they got reinstated into the military, Joker was going to have to relearn proper military decorum. Might be harder than beating the reapers.

Shepard twisted Gurren Lagann around and blasted toward the reaper that was the source of the jamming. Her gunmen moved incredibly quickly and it was only a few moments until she was right in front of the gigantic reaper. It was less humanoid than most of the others she had seen. It was almost entirely face, with a huge jutting jaw and a massive cannon in its forehead. It had two stubby little legs and no arms so far as she could see. It was also like a hundred times larger than Gurren Lagann. "How the hell am I supposed to take that thing down?"

"I think I have something for that." Even though she couldn't see him, Shepard could hear the smirk in his voice.

She waited expectantly but he didn't continue. "Are you going to do it?"

Shepard knew the smile was gone from his face when he spoke again. "Yeah, just...this was the last thing I ever did with Simon…"

Shepard wished she could comfort him but people were dying with every second of delay. "Kamina, we need to do this now."

"You're right. Get ready." Shepard felt him wrest the controls away from her and green spiral energy began to suffuse her cockpit. Kamina lifted the arm of Gurren Lagann and the whole thing shifted into a drill. Then Shepard watched, astounded, as it doubled in size and then again and again until the drill dwarfed the gunmen. Jets of green energy blasted out the back of Gurren Lagann and the gunmen began to twist. Soon they were spinning so rapidly that Shepard imagined that all an outsider would see was a giant drill being propelled by a jet of green flame. Logically she knew that the motion should have caused her to pass out but for some reason she felt perfectly fine.

"Giga." Shepard jumped. It was Kamina's voice but it was so powerful she felt it more than she heard it. "Drill." The massive drill surged forward. "Breaker!" Gurren Lagann spun forward, faster than Shepard would have believed possible. They hit the jamming reaper the next second. As insanely large as the drill Kamina produced was, they were still quite small compared to the colossal reaper. Gurren Lagann hit it in the side of the head and bored through to the other side as easily as if the great machine were made of candy floss. It was only when they were out on the other side that Shepard wondered how they were possibly going to stop.

Kamina slowed their rapid spin and the drill began to shift down in size. He flipped around Gurren Lagann just in time to smash both feet into the side of the head of another of the large reapers. This one had a face with a sharply curved beak. The reaper listed to the side and Kamina drew down the drill until Gurren Lagann had its normal arm once more. Shepard could hear Kamina breathing harshly and knew the attack had taken a lot out of him. She took control of the gunmen and lightly kicked off the side of the reaper, rising away from it. She looked toward the jamming reaper. Explosions wreathed the huge machine but she could tell it was still moving under its own power. Anxiety gripped her and she wondered if Kamina had another attack in him. Before she could ask, however, the jamming reaper suffered another massive explosion and began to drift. Dead in space.

Her communications were flooded instantly, almost entirely by ships desperately calling for aid or just calling to see if anyone could hear them. Shepard quickly parsed the traffic and connected with Hackett's flag. "Admiral, this is Commander Shepard. I need to speak with you. It's urgent!"

There was no response at first but Shepard kept trying until there was finally an answer. "This is Communications Officer Sabat! Please stop tying up our lines!"

Shepard was stunned for a second. It had been a while since anyone dared speak to her like that. "Listen up, boy," she snarled. "I'm the only reason we even have communications. Put me through to Hackett now!"

"You took out that reaper?" He sounded doubtful. "Look, if you can help us, get over here. Otherwise, get off the line. Our ship is going to be toast in about sixty seconds anyway if we don't get some reinforcements." He closed the link.

Shepard spat a curse and wheeled around and shot toward Hackett's ship. She could see why Sabat had said they were about to lose the ship. It was crawling with the smaller reapers. They were burrowing into it like hyper-aggressive fleas. "Shit, shit, shit!" Shepard could pull them off one by one but that would take too long. They had to get rid of them all at once. "Kamina! Can you do that move again? The one that killed all the reapers attacking the Gurren Senken?"

"Huh? Nah. That's a Lagann move."

Shepard grit her teeth. She didn't know why that mattered but she knew Kamina could be weirdly stubborn about things like that. She didn't have time to argue. She needed those reapers gone now. And, somehow, Gurren Lagann sensed her need. A drill popped out of its right wrist without her even thinking of it. Biotic energy surged in her, filling her up and demanding to be let loose. With a cry of rage, Shepard threw it out. The drill coming out of Gurren Lagann's wrist shot forward and split into dozens of drills. Each one pierced a reaper dead center. Then Shepard pulled them up and flung them away so that they exploded away from Hackett's ship.

The drill snaked back into her wrist and Shepard slumped forward, breathing heavily, her skin soaked with sweat. "H-holy hell. Was that you?" Sabat asked. "Maybe you did take out that big reaper."

"Damn straight I did," Shepard growled. "Now get me Hackett!"

"Yes, ma'am!"

A couple seconds later, Hackett's familiar, gravelly voice spoke to her. "Commander, is that you? What kind of weapon have you gotten your hands on?"

"I'm honestly not quite sure yet, sir," Shepard said. "I'm sort of learning on the fly since the reapers didn't deign to give me any practice time."

"Well. you're doing a hell of a job so far. If you hadn't killed that big reaper, it would have been impossible for us to organize. Even so, I fear the fight for Earth has been lost. I'm organizing a retreat before we lose the whole fleet."

Shepard smiled grimly. Trust Hackett to know what needed to be done. "I was thinking the same, sir. Now that I have some idea of how to destroy them, we need to keep enough of our fleet intact that we can mount a counter strike."

Before Hackett could respond, Kamina cut in. "What?!" he yelped. "You can't be serious, Shepard! We can't run away now."

"Who the hell is this?" Hackett snapped, justifiably angry.

"Sorry, sir. That was Kamina, a civilian who joined my team to help me take down the collectors. He is piloting this machine with me." Hackett grunted. "Kamina, please...this is just what we have to do now. It's a strategic withdrawal. Not running.

"It's running!" Kamina insisted. "I don't run from anything!"

"I don't know who you are, kid, but you need to keep your mouth shut," Hackett said. "You're wasting time."

Kamina ignored him. "Shepard. We took out that huge reaper. We killed every reaper after Gurren Senken and this old man's ship."

"And it exhausted us doing it." Shepard countered.

Kamina barked a laugh. "Exhausted? I'm just getting warmed up." His voice was utterly serious. "Shepard, I know you can feel it. The throbbing of your heart. The pulse of your blood. The cry of your spirit. If we face forward and fight with everything we have, we can win. We can beat anything! I know you know it, Sukeban."

Hackett started speaking again, explaining all the reasons that was complete foolishness. Shepard couldn't really hear him. Her blood was beating in her ears. All of her military training, the cold logic that made her the best infiltration specialist in the Alliance, all of it told her that she was being a fool by pressing the fight. But something else was telling her that she really could win this. She had the power to change the fabric of the universe, if only she had the will and the imagination.

"Admiral Hackett," she said quietly. Something in her voice instantly quieted the Admiral, as well as Kamina who had continued arguing with him. "Organize your retreat. Kamina and I will cover for you." Before any of them could respond, she added, "But don't wait for us. We're not going to join you until every last one of these machines is scrap metal!"

"Yeeeeeeeesss!" Kamina shouted. A cry of triumph. Gurren Lagann reacted with him, throwing back its shoulders and surging with power. Both arms shifted into spinning drills and Kamina pushed the gunmen forward. They tore into the closest cloud of mini-reapers, killing with every hit. Shepard took the chance to analyze and cataloge the battlespace. She watched one of the giant reapers blow a cruiser apart. We won't get anywhere if we don't take down the big boys. Power had been building in Shepard and she felt like she was going to explode if she didn't do something with it soon.

When Kamina had finished savaging the last of the group of smaller reapers, Shepard said, "Let me have control. I have an idea for one of the big reapers."

"Go for it, Sukeban!"

Shepard took control of Gurren Lagann and turned to blast toward the reaper she had set her sights on. Before she could, however, something appeared in the middle of the battlespace. It didn't fly in or gate in from the relay. Just, one instant it wasn't there and the next it was. Shepard froze and stared at it. Or tried to. It was completely black and seemed to merge with the surrounding space. Somehow she could sense it, though. It was a gunmen, roughly the same size as Gurren Lagann. Shepard got a queasy feeling in her stomach and it took a moment to recognize. Fear? It had been a long time since an enemy had scared her. And she didn't even know what it was.

The other reapers, even the big ones, suddenly began to disengage from the Alliance fleet. They were pulling back behind the new arrival. "Commander, what is happening?" Hackett asked.

"I'm unsure," she responded. Her throat was dry, making her stumble over the words. She swallowed hard. "Something new has arrived." She didn't tell him about the bad feeling it gave her. How was she supposed to explain it? "I don't know why the reapers are pulling back but I'd accelerate your plans to withdraw." Hackett didn't answer her, presumably using the time to give orders. Shepard wished him god speed. "Kamina, do you have any idea what that thing is?"

"No," Kamina said, his voice low and serious for once. "I don't like it, though."

Shepard sighed. "Me either." Then her eyes opened wide as she realized it was coming toward them. The pace was moderate, not an attacking speed, however. Did it want to talk? Usually reapers didn't bother with anything more than cryptic warnings. Now that their warnings had come to pass, what could one want to talk about? Surrender? It didn't seem likely. But if speaking to this new reaper gave Hackett time to retreat, it was worth it. Shepard urged Gurren Lagann forward, at the same speed as the approaching reaper.

They stopped just out of arm's reach of each other. Now that it was closer, Shepard could see that it was indeed the same size as Gurren Lagann and even had the same build. Instead of the grin Gurren sported, however, the face on this gunmen was completely expressionless. A voice came over coms. It startled Shepard, both because she wasn't expecting it and because the voice was so very human. "Where in the universe did you find that?" the voice asked. It was a masculine voice, a little high pitched but strong and confident. The man speaking seemed mildly curious but Shepard could sense no anger or fear or even amusement from him. That frightened her. "I thought it was gone for good. But I guess nothing ever stays buried. No wonder you managed to take out so much more of my force than I had been expecting."

Shepard took a slow breath. She could feel the tension coming from Kamina above her but, for once, he wasn't saying anything. Shepard made an educated guess. "Am I speaking to Simon?"

"Wow, you've even figured that out. You're as impressive as I've heard, Shepard." Shepard felt a chill. It was as if the devil had just spoken her name. "You defeated Kittan, brought down Rossiu and even managed to recreate my old machine. Who is piloting it with you?" Again his voice was merely curious, as if it wouldn't particularly trouble him if he never knew the answer. Shepard wasn't sure what to say.

Luckily, Kamina answered. "It's me." His voice was surprisingly flat but Shepard could hear anger underneath it.

"And who are you?"

Anger blazed forth from Kamina. "What do you mean, who am I? Have you forgotten your own brother!?" Shepard glanced around. The interior of Gurrren seemed to be darkening. Was it reacting to Kamina's anger?

"Oh. Kamina. I see. So this is where you ended up." Simon's tone didn't change one bit.

"Is that all you have to say to me?!" Kamina demanded. Shepard could feel his anger burning but there was an undercurrent of something else. Fear. For some reason, she was sure that Simon could feel it as well.

"What were you expecting? I remember that I flung you somewhere that could save your life but I had so little control of my powers at that point. I had no idea where you would show up." He took a breath that might have been a sigh. "I had hoped never to see you again. That you had arrived somewhere between the cycles and lived a long and happy life."

If anything, Kamina became angrier. The energy suffusing Gurren Lagann began to feel unstable. "Don't feed me that crap!" Kamina took a harsh, rattling breath. "These cycles. Are you really the one behind them? Killing everyone? Are you really the leader of the reapers?"

"Yes, Kamina. Though leader isn't quite right. I am the reapers. I created all of them and they only exist to do my bidding." Then he added, in a quiet mutter, "Well, for the most part."

Kamina couldn't speak for a moment so Shepard took the chance to break in. "But why, Simon? We've foiled several of your plans and dragged you here to meet us face-to-face. We deserve answers."

"It's pointless. You wouldn't understand." Shepard was about to argue but Simon preempted her. "And it isn't because I think you're stupid or beneath me. It's a simple fact. You won't understand. You cannot. Not when you haven't seen what I have. I was in the same position as you once, so I know. I didn't accept it. I threw down my enemy, filled with righteousness. Only to learn he was right all along. This is necessary, Shepard. You will never understand it and never accept it. That's why it's pointless."

Shepard nodded. She instinctively knew he was being honest. He wasn't condescending like Harbinger. "So all that's left is to fight. We destroy you or you destroy us."

"I can't be defeated. I wish I could."

"We'll see about that!" Kamina screamed. "Grit those teeth, you damn fool!" Gurren Lagann surged forward and rocketed a punch at the black gunmen with all of Kamina's strength behind it.

And Simon casually raised a hand and caught the fist. It did no damage. Something passed between the two men at that moment. Shepard wasn't sure what. But suddenly red warning lights started strobing in the cockpit. Gurren Lagann was coming apart. The drill reversed and Lagann popped free of Gurren. Without Lagann's powers, Gurren reverted to its base state and Shepard suddenly felt very, very vulnerable.

"Kamina!" she shouted. "Kamina, what's going on?!" There was no answer. Shepard jetted toward the drifting Lagann and cradled it protectively in her arms. She glanced at Simon but he wasn't moving. Kamina hadn't done anything, of that she was sure. Simon was letting them go for some reason. Shepard took the chance, blasting away from him as fast as she could. "Joker!" she commed. "I need a pick up now."

Luckily, her pilot had kept the Normandy close by and swooped in for the rescue. Then they joined the exodus out of the Sol System. Hackett had used his time wisely and a large percentage of his fleet had already exited the system. That turned out to be a very good thing because the reapers began to attack again, savaging ships with a renewed fervor. The Normandy managed to make it to the relay and escape. Hot tears stung Shepard's eys as she watched the system disappear. She tasted bile at the back of her throat. Defeat. Utter defeat. And maybe the loss of a friend, too.

Author's Notes

Two years. Two whole years. Yup. I have a lot of reasons for not updating for so long but none of them are interesting. All I can say is I'm sorry and I'll do my best to make sure that I finish before I pull another disappearing act. Thank you for your patience and thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed it.