Soon, everyone will hear the screams

by magkiln

The Citadel Council doesn't want another conflict. Their reputation rests on their ability to maintain the peace. The Alliance of United Systems doesn't want another conflict. They won the last one, no need to risk spoiling their record. Shepard doesn't want another conflict. The last one was ugly enough. Unfortunately, it seems that some people didn't get the memo.

37. Out of your mind, and into mine

I don't own either AvP or Mass Effect

Wow, look at that. An update within a reasonable time.

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HNV Stalwart Defense, Flagship of the Hierarchy Expeditionary Force

"More good news, I suppose?" General Corinthus looked at the datapad.

"Hardly, sir. The humans are bringing orbital defence installations into the Utopia system."

"Damnation!" Corinthus closed his eye for a moment. In and of itself, it was not that big a deal. With Eden Prime now uninhabited, the Utopia system was empty, except for the human fleet in orbit. It really did not matter all that much whether they put some armed satellites in orbit around the planet. After all, the Hierarchy had no intention of invading the system, let alone approach the planet itself. However, it was a blatant treaty violation. Having armed ships move through the demilitarized zone was one thing, even if their 'moving through' meant in practice that they stayed for weeks or months; permanent fortifications were another. This was a clear indication that the humans had no intention of returning to the status quo.

"Very well. We'll inform the Primarch and the Council. They'll have to decide how we'll respond."

-0-0-0-

Zhu's Hope, Feros

"More movement on the stairs, sir." Alenko heard another burst of automated fire. "Got him."

"Good. Keep your position, for now; We'll move the guns back to the colony entrance as soon as the Commander is back." He switched channels. "Ma'am? What's your status?"

"On our way back." Through the commlink, Alenko could hear rapid footsteps. Shepard's team must be running up the stairs. "Is the colony secure?"

"Yes, for now. They've tried to come out of the service tunnels, but the automated guns are holding."

"Good. Have you notified the Exogeni team?"

"I have. they know about the infestation. Their security people are confident they can hold out until someone can evacuate them."

There was a harsh sound as Shepard scoffed. "I wish I was as confident of their martial prowess as they are. But they'll keep for the moment. As long as those morons don't go wandering around, we can always bring Normandy over to pick them up. And if not, well, I wouldn't count it a big loss."

Alenko could now hear the footsteps directly as Shepard sprinted up the stairs. A moment later, the Commander appeared herself.

"Alright, everyone. Start preparations to fall back. I don't care about preserving this colony, and there is a better bottleneck at the docks. Oh, and drop that ship back on top of the hole before we fall back. No need to give the xenomorphs more real-estate than we have to." She turned to Alenko. "Any other status updates?"

Alenko nodded. "Our supply ship, the Betty, is en route to help us deal with the situation. They'll be here within a day."

"Excellent. Then they can deal with the colonists and Exogeni's team of idiots. With the thorian dead, or at least whatever passed for its local nerve-centre gone, they should start feeling better. But they'll need more medical help than we can give them. Speaking of medical, any news on the quarian front?"

"Yes, ma'am. Zorah is awake. But right now, she's trapped inside the autodoc because of the cut in her suit. Doctor Chakwas has brought the chief engineer in on it, and they're trying to do field repairs."

"I see." Shepard shrugged. "I hope Adams can do a fix. But either way, Zorah is coming out. We cannot have the autodoc occupied forever. The way things are going, we'll need that thing again sooner rather than later. Also, we'll need a guard on our new friend." She nodded toward the asari that had accompanied her team up the stairs. "She says she's ready to cooperate, but let's not take any risks."

"Understood ma'am."

-0-0-0-

USM Normandy

The briefing room was becoming rather crowded, but Shepard wanted everyone in there, so she did not have to tell the same story twice.

"So, that's the situation. The thorian is gone, or at least out of action. Saren got what he wanted, but we may be able to duplicate his achievement. Our new friend, Shiala, was donated to the thorian by Saren. In exchange, Saren got an imprint, a cypher, whatever you want to call it that is supposed to help him think like a prothean. He thinks that will allow him to interpret the data the prothean beacon dumped into his mind." From the corner of her eye, Shepard noticed T'Soni's small movement, but she chose to ignore it for the moment. "He then dumped both the geth and the xenomorphs here to ensure that nobody else could get their hands, or whatever, on it. But that hasn't worked out so well. Shiala still has the cypher and has suggested that she give it to me as well. That way, I can get access to whatever it is that that beacon sent me before it blew up."

Shepard shrugged. "Normally, I'd hesitate to do something like this, but we need that information to figure out what Saren's up to. Still, I wasn't going to link my brain to hers in the middle of a combat zone and I wanted to check a few facts. Dr T'Soni," She turned toward the asari. "Does this story actually make sense to you? Do you think it's possible?"

"Possible, yes. Whether it's likely?" Liara shook her head somewhat helplessly. "The protheans were capable of something like a mind-meld. That is certain. And not just with another mind, but with their technology. If the thorian could do something similar, and if it captured enough protheans, it is possible that it could construct a prothean mind, so to speak, from the fragments. Whether that could truly function as a filter between a non-prothean and prothean technology... I don't know Commander. I don't think anyone could possibly know until they tried. And in this case, it would be passed through the mind of a third party, and across yet another species."

"But the technique, to transfer it through a mind-meld. That is possible?"

"Yes. During a meld, the two minds truly become one. Anything that one person knows, or feels, can be accessed by the other. It will not be easy, because you have no experience in the process. Shiala will have to actively put the cypher in front of your mind. But it can be done."

"Alright then," Shepard thought for a moment. "Chief Williams has already raised the security issue with me. And she's not wrong. Shiala will have access to everything I know and there is nothing I can do to prevent her from poking around in my memory while she's in there. However, I believe it is an acceptable risk. To put it bluntly, ever since we discovered the asari ability to access someone's mind, the United Systems Military has tightened the need-to-know aspect of security. There is not all that much for her to learn in my mind that she could not find elsewhere if she cared to try. The only real danger that I can see lies in my access codes. Obviously, I will change them as soon as we are done with the merge. Also, doctor, if she accesses my memories, would I be aware of it?

"Yes," Liara nodded. "As I said, the two minds become one. Everything she sees in your mind, you will see at the same time."

"Good. That makes the decision easy. I'm going through with it. And, if she starts messing around," Shepard grinned without humour. "Let's be honest, Shiala is going nowhere anytime soon. We'll either keep her locked up until Saren and Benezia have been dealt with, or the Council will do so. And if she actively tries to learn things she shouldn't... Well, let's hope it won't come to that. Anyway, the risk is manageable."

Lieutenant Alenko nodded. "I understand, ma'am. However, and I mean no offence, I have to wonder why you are so eager to do it. This still seems like a rather big step to take. Especially for something that may not pay off. "

"True. However..." Shepard hesitated. "I have already told you, that I've been having nightmares since I interacted with that broken beacon. But there is more to it than that." Shepard took a deep breath. "Ever since I got zapped by that bloody beacon, I've been having recurring nightmares—all variations on a theme. I wake up in the middle of some historical battle. And every single time, I'm on the losing side, and it's a wipe-out. By now, I've lost count of the number of times I've died on some ancient battlefield, and I cannot believe it's a coincidence. Somehow that prothean beacon has put a message in my brain, but it's not getting through, and I'm sick and tired of it. If whatever the thorian gave Shiala can help my brain to figure it out, I'll be happy to give it a try."

"But even if it works. Even if you get this- this cypher. It may not be accessible to you."

Liara leaned forward. "Commander..." She hesitated.

"Yes."

Ï might-, I might be able to help. I have studied prothean culture, I can read at least part of their language, though it would depend on the time period in which it was written. If we were to-, to combine our minds so that I could interact with the cypher, it might start to make more sense."

"And you'll finally get a look at whatever it is the prothean beacon put in my mind. Not to mention, the prothean cypher from the thorian," Shepard smirked. "Yes, T'Soni, I saw your reaction when you heard about that. Oh well, in for a penny... Let's just do it. We'll do both right now."

"Right now?"

"Yes. As I said, for security reasons, I need to reset my passwords after Shiala gets a trip through my mind. If you do your thing immediately afterwards, I'll only have to do it once. Lieutenant Alenko, you and Chief Williams will observe. This is not something I'm going to do without witnesses."

-0-0-0-

"I take it you have decided, Commander." Shiala looked around the now mostly empty conference room.

"Yes," Shepard said. "Since you worked for Benezia, you may recognize Dr T'Soni." Shiala nodded cautiously. "Dr T'Soni has confirmed the possibility of what you suggest. Furthermore, she has offered her help in accessing this cypher once it is inside my brain."

"I see."

"Lieutenant Alenko and Chief Williams will be here to witness the proceedings. Also, I hope I don't need to say this, but don't try anything stupid while you're inside my head. If I have even the suspicion that you're trying your hand at some quick intelligence gathering it will not end well for you. As we humans say: dead people tell no tales."

"I understand Commander." A ghost of a smile passed over Shiala's face. "Trust me when I say, that my time linked to the thorian has given me a whole new appreciation for privacy. The less I have to do with anyone else's mind, the better I like it." She took a step toward Shepard. "With your permission?"

Shepard nodded. "Go ahead."

"Very well. Try to relax. It makes the meld easier." The asari reached out, her hand touching Shepard's face. As she leaned forward, Shepard could see that the colour of Shiala's eyes changed, from blue to midnight black. "Relax, Commander. Embrace eternity." Then all went dark.

For a moment, there was nothing. Then her vision cleared. She was standing on an open field, surrounded by bodies, some human, some alien. Shepard looked around. Trying to understand where she was. She knelt down next to a body of a species she did not recognize. It was humanoid in appearance, but the shape of the head... The body was lying face down, she pushed to roll it over and get a better look, but as she did, it seemed to fade away. In the next instant, she was bombarded with images too fast to follow. There was fire, chaos, darkness, a sense of terror that filled her mind.

"Aah!" Shepard stumbled back. "Son of a-"

"Commander?" Alenko took a step forward and steadied her. "Are you-"

"I'm fine. I'm fine." Shepard shook her head. "How long did that last?"

"Only a few minutes. We weren't sure..." Alenko gestured to where Chief Williams had her sidearm trained on Shiala's head.

"Leave her. This was not on her." Shepard shook her head. "Well, that was certainly different." Her eyes met Shiala's. "You saw it too? The bodies?"

"Yes." Shiala nodded. "I saw them. I saw them before, though not quite like that, when I transferred the cypher to Saren."

"The same message then."

"I would assume so. The small difference would simply account for the difference between your mind and Saren's, your different memories and experiences."

"Alright. That means we've made a least a little progress. Thank you." Shepard thought for a moment. "I'm not sure what is going to happen. As you may suspect, we're not going to let you run free. Not as long as Benezia and Saren are at large."

Shiala nodded. "I didn't expect you would."

"I also don't know how much I may be able to influence the situation. However, if it comes down to a choice. Who would you prefer I hand you over to? My own people? The Council?"

"The Council, or even better, my own people," Shiala responded at once. "No offence, Commander, but after what happened on Eden Prime, I'd rather not fall into the hands of your security services if it can be avoided. I doubt I'd enjoy the experience."

"Agreed. No promises, but I'll see what I can do. Please let Jin and Estanza take you back to your quarters and don't try to leave without an escort." Shepard straightened. "So, time to take the rest of my medicine. Dr T'Soni, if you're ready."

"I am."

-0-0-0-

Liara hesitated. This was not something she had much experience with. Contrary to what some species believed, asari didn't actually join minds all that often. In a society where everyone was potentially a telepath, privacy was valued. Melding was done between sexual partners, sure, but it was not the preferred way of sharing information outside of intimate relationships. She'd had the usual training, but it had been years since she'd actually performed a meld. Still, even the smallest chance to get a look at the two sets of prothean data that now resided in the human Commander's head was too good an opportunity to pass up.

Liara reached out and put her hands on either side of Shepard's face. She could feel the link, the moment that the edge of her mind encountered another, the moment that the border between the two started to fade.

"Embrace eternity!"

At first, there was darkness, there always was. Then, there was light. Not much at first, but enough to see by. It was like standing in a fog, trying to get your bearings. Liara looked around, trying to find something that had shape. If she wanted to, she could have gone more quickly, but she had heard Shepard's warning to Shiala. The Commander had not threatened her in the same way, but Liara was not going to assume that she'd be safe if she saw something that she should not.

The fog cleared, gradually. Liara gasped. Around her, the ground was covered in bodies, all dead. She saw humans, batarians, asari, turians, vorcha, krogan and-

Liara could not help herself. She stepped forward to look closer. The shape was not quite familiar, but there was something about it that she almost recognized. Something about the skull. If she could just get a closer- the image faded in a whirlwind of shapes and colours. For a moment, Liara thought the meld had been broken, then a new image appeared. One that was utterly alien.

The sun was bright, the heat blistering. The animal snorted. Animal? What..? Liara looked down. She was sitting on- Horse. It was called a horse. How did she even know that? It was moving too, picking up speed as they advanced. As she looked around her, she saw others running along with her. As confusing as it all was, she had to admire the grace of the animals as they moved. There! Far ahead, she could see the enemy ranks. Thousands of them, standing their ground in tight formations, their large, square shields overlapping for extra protection.

The horses held their pace; she lifted her bow. Bow? What, how do I..? Somehow, it was effortless. She drew back the string and let fly, the bow vibrated in her hand as the string snapped forward. Again! Another arrow, and another. Around her, the others were shooting as well, pouring arrows into the enemy ranks. The horse turned, responding to some command she couldn't remember giving. Another arrow left her bow as the animal circled. She turned in the saddle, launching more arrows as she retreated.

Drums sounded, calling her back to battle. The enemy formation had held. It always did, at first. Breaking it open with arrows took time. But that was acceptable. They had all day. And the day after and the day after that.

Again they charged, again the arrows started flying. Again-

A scream, one of the men fell, his horse panicked at the loss of its rider. It twisted away, galloping off in another direction, disturbing the formation. Another scream, this time from a horse as it went down, throwing its rider into the dust. The flow of arrows slacked as the warriors turned away, searching for the cause of their losses. What was happening?

A stone came down, struck another rider in the shoulder. He cried out, dropping his bow and clutching the injury. Stones? What? How? It was happening all over the valley. Losses were not heavy, but there should have been no losses at all. Not at this range, not against infantry whose only ranged weapon was a heavy throwing spear that could barely range twenty-five paces.

A sense of urgency overtook her. This had to stop. She drove her heels into the horse's flanks, urging it on. No time for the slow process. No time to whittle the enemy down. They had to kill them quickly, and there was only one way to do it. The others closed in around her, urged on by the same need. The horses sped up further as though they could feel the need of the riders. More stones, more losses, but they kept closing in. Fifty paces, forty, twenty, the horse swerved sideways. Liara lifted her bow again and drew back the string. At this range, even overlapping shields could not stop the arrow. One arrow, two- A bugle sounded, shrill and clear through the din of battle. A volley of spears sailed from the ranks of the infantry. Her horse screamed in agony, twisted under her, and fell. Then Liara screamed too as the full weight of the animal came down on her leg, snapping the bones.

She tried to extricate herself, but the weight of the dead animal on her broken leg was too much. As she looked around, she saw legs encased in strange footwear approach. Liara looked up. A human towered over her, dressed in a red tunic and metal armour. In his hand, he held a short sword. Liara again tried to pull away, but before she could even move, the sword came down and she screamed again as the point went deep into her belly. She was still screaming as the image disappeared and she found herself back aboard Normandy, looking into Shepard's eyes

"That- that's what you have been seeing?"

"Variations on that theme, yes."

"What-?"Lieutenant Alenko looked from one to the other. "what just happened?"

"Give her a second," Shepard said. She just got disembowelled with a sword; after her leg was snapped like a twig when it got trapped under the horse."

"The- the horse, ma'am?"

"Yeah. Interesting, though. We started with the pile of corpses, just like when SHiala dumped the cypher into my head. Then it was off to another battlefield. Welcome to Earth, by the way."

Liara shook her head, trying to rid herself of the ghastly memory. "You have been experiencing this every night?"

"Pretty much, yes. Sometimes more than once in a single night. You understand why I was ready to try anything to put an end to it?"

"Yes..., yes Commander. I'm, I'm amazed you managed to last this long without-"

"Without going insane?" Shepard smirked. "There are people who will tell you I wasn't sane, to begin with. It will take more than a few nightmares to drive me around the bend. Anyway, the exercise wasn't a complete waste. Other than that opening image, there was another change."

"How so?"

"All the others, they were hopeless last stands. Battles that were lost before they even started. The Alamo, Thermopylae, one I think was supposed to be the Shangani patrol. This time..."

Shepard shook her head, trying to clear her mind. "Horse archers. But we were losing against infantry. That basically never happened. Before gunpowder, an archer on horseback was the most effective tactical unit humanity ever devised. They might lose the war for strategic reasons, but they always won the battles. How did we lose?"

"The stones," Liara said softly. Shepard looked at her. "The stones, they came raining down. They... we... started dying. That's when we closed the distance and-"

"And then the infantry charged. Stones? Wait-" Shepard pulled out her tablet and started typing. "Stones, so slingers. It's been a while, but I think I remember- There."

She turned it over so the rest could see. "Battle of Mount Gindarus, also referred to as the Battle of the Euphrates. Romans under Publius Ventidius Bassus against the Parthians under King Pacorus. It should have been a Parthian victory. Those battles usually were. The Parthians just rode around the legions, pouring arrows into the Romans until either everyone was dead or they ran out of arrows, and if they did, they'd resupply and come back the next day. But Ventidius had invested heavily in mercenary slingers and took a position on high ground. When the Parthians started to go down under that rain of stones, Pacorus must have panicked. Either that, or he just lost control of his troops. Either way, the Parthians charged uphill and closed to point-blank range so they could shoot through the Roman shields and force a decision. That brought them within range of the legionaries' swords, and the rest is history." Shepard snorted. "It's an object lesson in the misuse of a weapon system. The Parthians had every advantage. They were an all-cavalry force, much faster than the Romans, so they could have dictated the conditions of the battle. Instead, they attacked Ventidius in the spot that he had chosen. They had the re-curved composite-bow, the best, most sophisticated weapon designed by man until the Sharps breechloading rifle, two thousand years later. And yet, they wasted it all, creating the one set of circumstances that would allow the Romans to defeat them. No offence to Ventidius, who was one smart cookie, but he could not have won that battle if his enemies hadn't helped him every step of the way."

Shepard stood up. "I'm not sure what it means. First, we have hopeless battles that could not be won. Now we have a battle that should have been won but wasn't. What is that bloody beacon trying to say? Clearly something about a battle. A battle that should have been won, but was actually hopeless? A battle that could have been won, except, someone screwed up and it became hopeless?" She shook her head. "Well, we tried. Let's see what happens. Maybe now that I've had the nightmare while awake, I'll at least get a good night sleep."

-0-0-0-

Virmire

Three gunships raced low over the water. Inside the lead craft, Lieutenant Tarquin Victus studied the monitors, waiting for the moment that the STG team would make contact. The drop had gone smoothly. They had deployed from low orbit while the planet was between themselves and the rogue STG facility. It was no guarantee that they would remain undetected, but it was the best they could do. Meanwhile, the gunships approached, spread out over a wide front increasing the chance that at least some of them would get through.

"Lieutenant, we have contact!"

"Patch me through."

A new voice cam through the comm. "This is Major Kirahe for turian gunships."

"This is Lieutenant Victus, we are on approach."

"We can see you, Lieutenant. So far no sign of movement in the facility. But be aware, if we can detect you, so can they."

"Understood, Major. We will commence the assault."

"Good luck." The connection closed.

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A/N

So, two steps forward and one step back.

The description of the Battle of Mt Gindarus is largely based on the book Arrows against Steel by Vic Hurley. N.B. My feelings about this book are mixed. The author was well-versed in the history of archery but made some strange mistakes about other aspects of warfare. E.g. He mistook the tournament-style jousts for actual warfare. He genuinely believed that Medieval Knights had to be lifted into the saddle with a crane and were helpless on foot, both easily disproved. He also seems to think that horse cavalry in 17th and 18th century Europe was essentially useless and incapable of prolonged engagements (The Bayreuth Dragoons say 'hello').

As a reviewer pointed out, one of the core concepts of operational security is making sure that soldiers in the field don't know more than necessary. In a universe where people can read minds that goes double, and it only makes sense that humans would tighten security once they knew about the asari. They have to figure that anyone taken prisoner will inherently have to share all they know. Of course, there is something Shepard knows that could be a real security risk: exactly what happened on Torfan and the role Miranda played. But then again, if Shiala starts searching for that memory, Shepard would presumably know and be able to take care of it afterwards.