A/N: Italics indicate internal thought.
Bold indicates Shepard Reaper speech
Bold Italics indicate Reaper internal speech
Please comment and review
This is my first attempt at a story, so I am open to constructive criticism. Also If anyone has suggestions for the story feel free to give them.
Escalation
Location: Cipritine, Palaven
Time: 2300 CST
Date: 10th December
Reaper stood in the shadows of a back alley, he let out a sigh of regret at the sight at his feet. Two corpses lay there, their bodies bloodied and their clothing torn. This hadn't been the work of trained killers, but impulsive animals. He knelt down to one of the bodies, a human female slave. She hadn't been one of their agents, they hadn't had any contact with her, she hadn't even registered as being at risk from her master. Unfortunately, that may have been the problem. He gently closed her eyes before turning to the other body. The brutality the victim had suffered was also very apparent, blue blood pulled around the head of the young Turian woman. She had been the human's master, but from what they observed she didn't mistreat her and in fact actually treated her as a friend. He closed her eyes as well before standing back up. Sadly, in the months since the Citadel Council's press conference, tragedies such as this had become increasingly common.
The Council's statements had caused untold paranoia and fear to spread among the alien populations, many now believed that every human slave was just waiting for a chance to kill them and their families, and thus they felt it necessary to strike first. But not every alien had given into the belief that every human was a ticking timebomb, but the few who tried to preach restraint were only answered with violence. The general attitude of the more zealous of the population, was that if you did not despise humans as much as they did, then you are a traitor helping their cause.
Reaper glanced around, it was obvious that these two women were not murdered in the back alley, it was likely their murderers had discarded them here. Reaper's gaze locked on a shop across the street, a shop with a security camera.
000
Inside a typical Turian apartment, five young Turians, barely in their thirties, were sitting around the vidscreen, drinking and laughing without a care in the galaxy. Meanwhile, a human slave, in her early twenties, was busy switching between serving the Turians more drinks and clearing up the mess they were making. The all went quiet as the door opened, one of them began to ask "who the he-," he stopped dead as he saw who had entered. They all froze and began to shake at the sight of Reaper. He locked the door behind him and then walked up to the group of Turians. He scanned each of them, while his HUD matched them with the footage he had recovered from the camera, ensuring that these were the same Turians. He glanced at the human, who was staring at him in just as much shock, "wait outside," he stated. For a moment she stood there completely stunned before she began nodding frantically and headed for the door. Reaper returned his gaze to the Turians, preparing to stop them if they tried to prevent the girl from leaving, but they were all still frozen in terror. "I would like to have a word with you about what happened last night," he said, his tone causing the temperature of the room to drop. They began to quake, "we didn't want to hurt them, they…." he trailed off as Reaper glared at him. "You went up to them with the full intent of causing them harm," he stated. "They tried to pass without issue, but you didn't want that, you wanted a reason to hurt her," he continued to explain, the trembling intensifying, "so you grabbed her," he pointed to one of them, who immediately flinched back, "and when she tried to get out of your grasp, that was the excuse you needed. You threw her to the ground and began to beat her to death. Killing her would have been enough, but you went even further. The other woman tried to stop you, tried to protect her friend, that is when you call her a traitorous bitch, and proceeded to beat her into the ground as well."
Reaper paused and looked them overagain, one of them had tears streaming down his face and another had actually urinated in fear. "Listen, we didn't mean for any that to happen….," "Quiet," Reaper said forcefully, the Turian only shrunk in response. "Neither of them had ever hurt anyone in their lives, and neither of them deserved what you bastards did to them." He then dropped a duffel bag he had been carrying in between them, "spirits….. you want us to open this?" one of them asked, Reaper nodded in response, "I have one request to make of you," he stated, "anything you want," one of them said, just as they opened the bag. Their expressions all turned to confusion as they saw its contents, pistols, submachineguns and several combat knives. They gripped them experimentally before looking back at him, terror obvious on their faces. Reaper brandished his claws, "Please. Fight. Back."
000
Location: The Normandy Cargo Bay.
Time: 1700 CST
Date: 18th December
John wiped the sweat from his brow, and took a moment to admire his work. When Miranda had suggested he isolate a section of the Cargo Bay to use as his personal workshop, he had called the idea excessive. But he had come to appreciate having a place where he could repair any damage to his armour while continuing to hide his true identity from the rest of the crew. It also served as a place where he could work on his personal projects, thus ensuring he did not have to take a trip to Chronos Station every time.
His most recent project was something big, approximately five meters tall, it was currently being suspended by a magnet crane while he worked on the lower sections.
Off to the side, there was a vidscreen displaying a broadcast of the Alliance news network. A man stood on a podium addressing the assembled reporters, this man was Stephen Grytch, an esteemed member of the Alliance Parliament….and wholly in the pocket of the Turian Hierarchy.
"Our hearts go out to all those who have lost loved ones due to this ruthless monster's attacks," he addressed the crowd, "let it be known that the Alliance shares the grief of our allies on the Citadel Council, and is equally as determined to see that justice is done." John couldn't help but sneer at those words, he knew that Grytch's sentiment was false and that very few humans even shared it, but when someone had the backing of the Turian Hierarchy it wasn't that easy to speak out against them. "Know that we will be working in partnership with the Turian Hierarchy to find these terrorists and make them answer for their crimes. The Alliance Parliament has seen fit to grant authorisation for Turian flotillas to investigate human colonies, if there is evidence that said colony has been collaborating with the terrorist organisation known as Cerberus. We encourage all citizens to co-operate with these investigations." John growled at that statement, he knew the Turians wouldn't need evidence to 'investigate' a colony, and while they said it was to find Cerberus agents, John would bet the family farm that they would also be used as an opportunity to find escape slaves.
'When are we going to deal with these pawns?' the entity rasped. John couldn't help but recall when he asked that question himself. The Illusive Man had claimed the Hierarchy could use his murder as an excuse, move more troops into Alliance space. They had acquired the names of every puppet the Hierarchy had, both coerced and freely. Once the Hierarchy was too busy dealing with their own problems to protect their proxies, that's when they would clean up their house.
000
Location: Cipritene, Palaven.
Time: 2200 CST
Date: 22nd December
Reaper dropped the withered corpse to the floor, he glanced around at the destroyed Turian dining room, several carcasses lay in pools of their own blood. One Turian corpse lay on top of the crushed dining table. His victims had been another wealthy Turian family, on the outside they appeared respectable people, but like many of their ilk, this was a facade to hide their true sadistic nature. A nature the slaves of the house could attest to, they had already been evacuated and consented to him enacting justice in their stead. Reaper narrowed his eyes behind his helmet as he realised one of the slaves was unaccounted for, as was one of the family members. He cautiously made his way out of the dining room.
A few moments after he had gone, a teenage Turian boy cautiously stepped out from a nearby side room. He glanced around hurriedly, to ensure that the monster that had just murdered his parents was gone. Several steps behind him was a human slave girl, barely more than thirteen years. "We have to hide ourselves," the boy said, his tone laced with shock, "we have to hide until…until he leaves." The girl took a few steps away from him, she gripped something in her left hand, keeping it concealed behind her back, "was it you?" the girl asked, her voice quiet, the boy turned to look at her, unsure of what she was asking. "Was it you who caused my brother's death?" she asked again, the boy turned away from her, "you brother was nothing, he deserves to die," he said uncaring. The girl tried to suppress a shocked gasp, before turning back to face him. "What did you know about him?" she asked, coldly. The boy could only look stunned at being asked such a question, but the girl continued, "did you know that he would sing his little sister to sleep every night? Did you know that he'd take punishments on her behalf, knowing your father wouldn't show any mercy?" The boy was starting to back away cautiously, but it was too late. With a yell the girl revealed a kitchen knife she had been concealing behind a back and drove it into his shoulder, "he was my brother you bastard!" The girl withdrew the knife, letting the boy fall onto his back. She made to stab him again, this time in the jugular, but found her arm gripped by metallic gauntlet. She looked up into the glowing red eyes of Reaper.
"Why….why are you stopping me? He killed my brother, he deserves to die," she stammered, but Reaper was only half listening, he was more concerned by the deranged look in her bloodshot eyes. "That's what you do isn't it? You kill them because of what they do to us, I want to do that too. I want to make them all pay!" She yelled the last part. Reaper continued to look into the girl's eyes before he responded in a calm tone, "what I do, I do so that others like you do not have to child," he then activated his omni-tool and administered a sedative, he lowered her unconscious form to the ground. Reaper couldn't help but admit that her intense desire for revenge had unnerved him slightly, 'those like her have suffered so much….even if we take her away from this place…. will she ever be free of it?'
Reaper was brought out of his musings by a pained grunt behind him, turning his head, he saw the Turian boy pressing down his injury, his anger spiked at the sight of him. He walked up to the boy, who froze up in terror at the sight of him. Reaper look down at him, "why do you believe the life of a human has no meaning?" he asked menacingly. The boy couldn't answer, he was petrified with fear, "answer me boy!" he yelled, causing the Turian to flinch back. "My…..my par….parents, they taught….they taught me, humans are only fit to…to serve us," he choked out. Reaper narrowed his eyes, 'they have already passed on their hatred to the younger generation…..there is only one way to stop it John….tear it up by the roots,' the entity voiced. Reaper ignored it and turned his attention back to the boy, "let me make this clear. I did not stop her to save your life, I am debating whether I should kill you myself," the boy began to panic at that, "but the truth is, you are just a stupid kid. So, I shall educate you, the worthlessness of humans is something your parents believed, and that is why they are now dead. I am giving you the chance to learn from their mistakes boy, because if you do not….we shall meet again." The kid nodded frantically, before wincing due to the pain in his shoulder, Reaper glanced at it and an idea formed in his head. "In fact, I believe I should leave you a memento of this lesson," he ignited one of his blades, the boy tried desperately to run away but Reaper grabbed his other shoulder and pulled him forward. He held up the blade to the Turian's neck…
And use the energy to cauterise the wound, leaving a very visible scar. He released the boy who fell back screaming in pain, clutching his shoulder. Reaper ignored him and picked up the girl before making his exit.
000
Location: The Normandy Cargo Bay.
Time: 1700 CST
Date: 28th December
John took a step back to admire the finished prototype, the physical shell was complete all they needed to do was install the a slightly scaled up arc reactor and start testing it, but he was confident it would be as effective as his previous designs. He turned around and turned off the workshop lights, leaving only the silhouette of the colossal humanoid shape, he moved towards the door and the robotic arms once again moved to reassemble his armour. He stepped out and found Kaidan waiting for him.
"You know a great Christmas party was held on Chronos station?" he asked rhetorically, "I know I saw the pictures," he responded. Kaidan sighed before speaking again, "you should have come," Reaper just gave him a look, "I don't mean as Reaper," Kaidan continued, "you could have attended as you, no one would have found out your secret. Seriously it would be good for you to socialise a bit. Actually, why didn't you even visit your family." "I did visit them," "do they know you did?" he asked sarcastically. "I appreciate what you're trying to do Kaidan, but things are getting worse, every moment we spend celebrating could cost someone their life."
Kaidan looked down at that, "I know that. But you should take some time to see what good we've already done, not just focus on what still needs do-,"
"Kaidan, Reaper get to the CIC immediately, it's an emergency!" Miranda yelled at them through the coms. Both of them quickly ran to the elevator, and soon stormed into the CIC.
"What is it Miranda?" Reaper asked, "the colony Tycoon, all communications were just cut off," Miranda said, while typing at one of the terminals. "A slaver attack? The probes haven't detected any encroachment from the Terminus systems," Reaper said. "No. But the last message did speak about a Turian scout flotilla entering the system," Miranda explained, her tone grim. "Do we have any idea why they may suspect that colony?" Kaidan asked, "not yet," Miranda replied.
"That's not important right now, how soon can we get there," Reaper asked, "already en route," Miranda responded.
All three of them waited anxiously for them to reach their destination. Soon the blue tunnel of the mass relay gave way to normal space as they entered the system. They immediately noticed the Turian cruiser, surrounded by several frigates hovering in orbit. The Normandy carefully moved past them; its stealth technology keeping them undetected.
"Hold on, we're getting an image of the colony," Miranda stated, bringing the image up on-screen. What they saw made them stare in horror. The entire colony was burning, several areas of the settlement had been completely levelled by bombardment. Zooming in on several areas, they could see Turian soldiers gunning down the colonists without remorse. Reaper clenched his fists in anger, he immediately knew that this hadn't been a slaver attack, they hadn't been interested in taking anybody alive. Miranda quickly snapped herself out of her shock before returning to the terminal. "The bulk of the Turian forces seem to be based in the centre of the colony, that also seems to be where the…survivors are," she struggled to get the last words out. Reaper had seen enough, he headed back to the elevator, "swoop in for a combat drop, then deal with the Turian ships," he stated. "What?" Kaidan said, alarmed, "Reaper what's the plan? Even you can't take on that many soldiers while protecting the colonists at the same time." "Not as I am no. But the prototype has the necessary fire power. Drop on top of them, eliminate all hostiles in the immediate proximity, you and the rest of the squad follow in the shuttle and evacuate them."
"The prototype?" Miranda asked, shocked, "Reaper we haven't tested it. it doesn't even have a generator installed," she tried to reason. Reaper allowed red lightning to crackle around, "I'll be the generator," he responded simply. Both Miranda and Kaiden stared at him in shock, "Reaper No!" Kaidan yelled, "That is a horrible idea!" Miranda shouted. "We don't have any other alternative," Reaper responded, they both fell silent at that. Reaper proceeded into the elevator and back down to the cargo bay, Kaidan ran after him and desperately tried to call the elevator back, while Miranda turned her attention back to the terminal. "EDI, I want you to access the prototype systems if it becomes too much for him, you shut it down," she ordered, "acknowledged," the AI responded.
The elevator finally returned and Kaiden jumped in and rode it back down to the cargo bay. As he descended, he could feel the Normandy slowing down to drop off his friend. Even as elevator came to a halt, he could hear the sounds of the cargo Bay's door opening, accompanied by thundering footsteps. Kaidan ran out of the elevator just in time to see a massive figure jump off the edge of the cargo ramp. Gritting his teeth in frustration Kaidan turned his attention, to several of the Marines situated the cargo Bay, "gear up, we need to get down there and support him as quick as we can!" he shouted, before rushing to get his own suit.
Meanwhile back in the CIC, Miranda continued to type furiously at the terminal, before she received a strange alert. Checking it, her eyes widened in shock. "A broadcast? Why are we broadcasting?" she asked rhetorically, "I'm afraid that is my doing miss Lawson," EDI responded, as her avatar appeared, "I have activated several camera drones." "What?" Miranda explained, "shut it down immediately," she ordered. The AI didn't respond, "I am afraid I cannot do that Miss Lawson," the AI replied, almost regretfully. "Why not?" Miranda asked again, this time more angrily. "Because I believe it is in our best interest if the Galaxy sees our latest weapon in action, don't you miss Lawson," a familiar cold calculating voice spoke. Miranda's eyes widened in horror as he turned to look at another screen that had just appeared, displaying the Illusive man. Miranda quickly recomposed herself, "Sir this isn't like previous times. The prototype is still untested. There are an untold number of ways this could go wrong," she desperately tried to reason with him. The man gave a sinister smile and took another drag of his cigarette, "why Miranda, I believe you should have more faith in his capabilities."
000
In the centre of the colony, a man was kneeling on the ground. Blood was running down his face, which was accompanied by several bruises, it was obvious he had taken a severe beating, courtesy of the two Turian soldiers standing over him. There were several dozen other colonists being kept at gunpoint by more Turian soldiers nearby, while the leader stood in front of him with his back turned.
The man received another punch to his left cheek knocking him to the ground, he pushed himself back up and spat out a glob of blood, "Are you even going to tell us what the hell this is about? Or do you just like beating up other people?" he asked sarcastically, earning him another punch. The Turian leader turned to face him, "I'm sure every colony, even one as backwards as this one, will have heard about the alliance's new policies. We have the right to investigate any colony we suspect of collaborating with the terrorist organisation known as Cerberus." The man gave a slight chuckle, "oh yeah, Grytch's little speech. If his words had been loaded with any more shit, I probably could have used them to fertilise every field on this planet." One of the soldiers proceeded to kick him in the gut, causing him to grit his teeth in pain, "what the hell makes you think we've got anything to do with Cerberus?" the man asked. The leader tensed up in anger, "your daughter," he said. The man looked at him with mix of anger and surprise, "my daughter? I haven't seen my daughter since she was torn from me by a group of slaver scum," he said. "Yes, until recently she was a slave. But she escaped and left five bodies in her wake," he stepped closer to the man, "so I would ask you one more time. What do you know about Cerberus!" he yelled in the man's face. The man didn't react but then he started to let out a low chuckle, "I wasn't lying when I said I hadn't seen my daughter. But that doesn't mean I haven't heard from her," the Turian's eyes widened slightly, seeing his reaction the man began to laugh even more, "I can tell you she's joined up with Cerberus, and she is fighting to make every one of you scum pay for all you've done. So go ahead. Because even if I knew anything, I would die before I told you a damn word." He glared at the Turian defiantly, who merely glared back. "He's not going to tell us anything Colonel," one of the soldiers said, "Very well," the colonel responded, as he turned around, "kill them," he told his subordinates. Both grabbed their weapons and aimed at his head. The Man closed his eyes and waited for the end.
But just before they could pull the triggers, something crashed on top of a nearby building. Something big. The impact kicked up a massive dust cloud around the now ruined building. Everyone, Turian and human stared at it. The two soldiers who had previously been assaulting the human cautiously stepped forward, suddenly a boom could be heard from within the smoke and a moment later one of the Turians exploded in a shower of blood. The explosion was so powerful that the soldier next to him also lost his left arm, and fell to the ground writhing in pain. Then a massive form leapt out of the dust cloud and landed nearly a foot away from the injured Turian.
It was at this point the Colonel finally got a clear image of their attacker. It appeared to be some form of mech, but stood over five meters tall, it was coloured black and perhaps most importantly had a large white skull spray-painted on the front. The main chassis consisted of sleek plates, and was large enough to contain a man, there was no obvious 'head' but the skull gave the impression of a face. It was supported by two thick legs. While two arms connected at the top corners of the chasse and ended in three fingers. In the left-hand, it held what could only be described as a Canon, that was still smoking.
The metal giant bent over slightly, to look down at the one-armed Turian, who look back up at it in horror. His screams only increased as it raised one of its giant metallic feet and crushed him. The other Turians got over their shock and immediately began to open fire, but they seemingly did no damage to the attacker. Meanwhile the Colonel activated his omni-tool, "all forces to my position now!" he yelled behind cover.
Inside the cockpit of the ATLAS mech prototype, Reaper was breathing heavily. Miranda was not exaggerating when she warned him about the mechs power requirements. He had to expend a considerable energy to keep all of its systems functional. He could already feel his skin starting to burn from the excess energy channelling. But he pushed that to the side, right now he needed to save these people. He roared in anger which was echoed outwards by the mechs speakers and raised left arm, revealing the anti-infantry weapon fixed to the back of his wrist. He opened fire and gunned down several of the Turians guarding the other colonists. The others immediately ran to find cover from the onslaught. Reaper walked over to the man and proceeded to pull him to his feet. "I'll draw their fire. You get yourself and any other colonists somewhere safe. Reinforcements will soon arrive to extract you," he explained. The man looked at him surprised, "Reaper," he almost whispered.
Suddenly several more squads of Turians appeared and began to open fire, Reaper immediately positioned his large form in front of the colonists shielding them. The high velocity slugs seemingly ineffectual, but Reaper gritted his teeth at the intensifying stress on the mech's kinetic barrier. "Go now!" he roared at the colonists, who quickly jumped to their feet and ran in the opposite direction to the Turians. Reaper returned fire, while moving to cover the colonists' escape. With his left hand he punched a nearby crate, sending it smashing into a Turian and crushing him against a wall. He then turned his head and noticed an armoured vehicle heading towards him. It opened fire with an anti-infantry turret, forcing him he to shield himself with his left arm. He then raised his canon, and fired, both demolishing and flipping the vehicle. He ran forward and leapt over the wreck with impressive agility for something of such size and proceeded to cut down even more Turian soldiers.
Unbeknownst to him though, even more squads were moving to surround him, and on one rooftop a group of Turians were setting up a Kraenntel High-powered anti-armour rifle.
Reaper let off another burst from his left hand, shredding a couple of Turians who had not been able to find cover, he then grabbed another soldier with his mechanical fingers and crushed him before throwing the body into a wall. Within the mech, Reaper's breath became more ragged, he knew he wouldn't be able to keep this up indefinitely. Sadly, he had not realised that in constantly maintaining the power required to keep the suit moving, he'd neglected to pay attention to maintaining the mech's kinetic barrier. This became obvious when a loud bang was heard, and a powerful shot proceeded to punch a hole in the mechs lower back. The Turian manning the Kraenntel grinned in satisfaction as a scream of pain echoed from the mech, and the ground shook as it fell to its knees.
000
Meanwhile, above the planet, a Turian frigate was bombarded by torpedoes, courtesy of the Normandy. The explosions caused one of his wings to break off and left its main weapon inoperable. Due to Jokers incredible piloting skills, the Normandy manoeuvred around the now wrecked ship and turned it its attention to the main cruiser. The blue beam of the Thanix cannons shot from the bow, practically slicing the ship in half. "Yeah that's how it's done!" Joker yelled in triumph.
In the CIC EDI's avatar turned to Miranda, "Mr Alenko and his squad are currently descending to the planet surface, ready to assist with the evacuation," the AI reported. Miranda nodded before turning her attention back to the screen showing the weakened ATLAS mech.
000
All over the Galaxy, crowds were gathered around screens, once again they saw the displays being co-opted. Some stared in horror at what many rightfully assumed to be Cerberus's latest weapon, while others silently prayed that the monster would finally be stopped and the nightmare would finally end.
000
Reaper desperately tried to get his breath back, that impact had done more than damage the mech, he had actually felt several of his vertebrae crack from the blow. He gave a primitive yell as he channelled more energy to heal the injury, causing the burning sensation to spread. He looked back at his HUD and identified where the shot had come from. He turned around but the Turian fired again, this time hitting him in the right midsection. The damage wasn't as severe due to heavier plating but Reaper still felt some of his ribs crack. "You want some of this!" he yelled and raised his left hand. The Turian tried to move, but he was too slow and his head was reduced to blue mist.
Reaper heard the sound of an engine to his right, and saw that another armoured vehicle was heading right for him, this time much faster. He didn't have time to bring his canon to bear, so he fired with his anti-infantry weapon. The slugs punched through the windscreen and the driver, but it still rammed right into him, sending him flying. As he pushed himself back up, the damage to the suit was much more visible now, and the Turian soldiers capitalised on this opportunity and began to focus their fire on the damaged sections.
Reaper clenched his eyes shut in a desperate attempt to regain his focus; he was beginning to feel the strain more heavily now, and he could feel his vision starting to blur. 'You cannot let it end here John…..if you have exhausted the depths of your power…then the solution is simple. Dive deeper,' the entity whispered in his mind. John didn't react for a moment, but then he closed his eyes and gave a deafening primal roar that echoed across the entire colony as the red energy began to surge like never before, it could even be seen arcing around the chasse of the mech. He felt his entire body explode with pain. It felt like he had been set on fire and the temperature was only increasing, but he was somehow able to push through it and turned his gaze back to the Turians. These aliens and their false honour, intended to kill innocent people who had never hurt anyone, he was going to make all of them pay for it with their lives.
He open fire with both his weapons, a shot from his canon vaporised an entire squad of Turians on his right. While he cut down three more with his anti-infantry weapon on his left all the while roaring incoherently. He fired his canon at another incoming armoured vehicle, causing it to flip in the air several times. He cut down another two soldiers with anti-infantry fire, then another vehicle pulled up a small distance away, this one with its own anti-infantry turret, and began to open fire on him from his left. The majority of the shots were deflected by his barrier, but it was still in a state of flux and he raised his left arm to shield himself causing further damage to his suit. Reaper brought his canon to bear again and fired another shot, demolishing the vehicle firing at him. Reaper was about to take aim is a new target, but a fast projectile collided with his canon, destroying it, wrecking the right arm of his mech and causing him to stagger to his left. Reaper gritted his teeth in frustration as he studied the now wrecked weapon and turned to the direction that the shot had come from, his anger further increased as he saw the Turian Colonel holding a rocket launcher that had recently been fired. Reaper gave another roar and grabbed his destroyed weapon with his left hand and tried to hurl it at the Turian officer. Unfortunately, the Turian was able to roll out of the way in time, but the soldier behind it was crushed. He resumed firing with anti-infantry weapon and cut down three Turians, firing at him from the corner of a building.
While Reaper continued his onslaught, seemingly unabated, in truth he was not holding up well. He felt close to blacking out several times, he had multiple injuries he had not fully healed yet and the only thing keeping him conscious was the immense pain he was feeling from channelling so much energy, but he wouldn't stop. Unfortunately for him, it appeared the fight was far from over, as multiple squads of Turians converged on his position accompanied by several more armoured vehicles and even several gunships. Realising he only had one option left, he began to uses HUD to lock onto the targets. "Reaper what are you thinking?!," Miranda yelled via the comms, "the energy requirements for barrage like that is to much for you!" Reaper didn't respond to her; he gave another roar and unleash another surge of energy. On the shoulders of the mech, two compartments opened up and unleashed an onslaught of missiles upon the Turian forces. The gunships were blown out of the sky, the armoured vehicles were reduced to wrecks as the missiles rained down on them and practically the entirety of the assembled force was wiped out.
Reaper took several haggard breaths and struggled not fall unconscious, he looked around to check if there were any hostiles remaining, unfortunately he failed to notice the Turian Colonel still alive. The Turian crawled behind a vehicle which, by some amazing stroke of fortune, still seemed partially functional, he activated his omni-tool and set up a remote-controlled link with the vehicle. Afterwards he ran a small distance away and then stepped out in full view of Reaper. "Is that all you've got, you Spirits damned terrorist!" he yelled. Reaper turned to face him and growled in anger at the individual responsible for the destruction this colony had suffered. "I've got enough left for you, you bastard," he pointed his weapon at him, the Turian activated his omni-tool. Reaper heard the sound of a revving engine to his right, and turned just in time to see the remote-control vehicle ram into him, the impact caused even more damage to his barely functional suit, in particular it crippled the leg servos.
000
Back above the planet, Joker watched the few surviving Turian ships fleeing, "we need to get out of here before they come back with friends," he said. "Agreed," Miranda acknowledged, her attention still fixed on the vid-screen showing the broadcast. She winced as she saw Shepard being rammed by the armoured vehicle. She wasn't as intimate with its design as Shepard was, but even she could tell it was barely salvageable. What truly shocked her more was when it proceeded to get back up, the red energy surging around it more than ever. "Dammit! EDI shut it down now!"
000
Reaper channelled more and more energy into the mech, forcing its broken limbs to move. Suddenly all the mech's system shutdown. It stood motionless for a moment before falling to its knees. Now that Reaper was no longer constantly channelling huge amounts of energy into the massive automaton, he was starting to regain his senses, unfortunately the pain he was feeling did not recede. 'Thanks Miranda,' he voiced internally. He hit the emergency release and the front of the chasse opened up, allowing him to fall out and face plant the ground, it was now obvious to see, that despite being protected by the thick chasse of the ATLAS, his Ironman suit had taken severe damage as well. He pushed himself up to his hands and knees, desperately trying to work through the pain he was feeling, then he heard the sounds of footsteps approaching. He looked up to see the Turian Colonel aiming his pistol at him. Reaper gritted his teeth and pushed himself back up to his feet. "Unbelievable," the Colonel stated, while he looked around at the carnage that Reaper had wrought, "you truly are an engine of destruction."
Reaper narrowed his eyes at that insult, "and what of you?" he asked with venom, "this colony was harmless, what did you seek to gain by destroying it?"
"I would have levelled a dozen human colonies to draw you out murderer. There is no limit to the number of humans I would have killed to make you pay for what you did to my brother."
Reaper actually stopped at that, 'he'….he's doing this to avenge a family member? Doesn't matter, nothing justifies the slaughter he instigated,' he mused. "I have killed a lot of your kind Turian, just as yours have killed many humans."
This only seemed to anger the Colonel, "you didn't gun him down on the battlefield you monster. You invaded his house…..then you….you gave him and his friends weapons so they could 'fight' back against you." he struggled to get words out. "Did you enjoy that? Did you enjoy their futile attempts to best an opponent they had no chance against? Did you enjoy seeing them give into despair?"
Reaper once again found himself stunned by that question, 'them? I haven't thought about them…but I gave them a chance to fightback, didn't I?….. A chance they refused those two.' "Your brother and his friends murdered two innocent women, one of them was a Turian. And your precious Hierarchy was planning to cover up the crime," he retorted. The Turian sneered at him, "I don't care about a species traitor. All I care about is the fact you killed my brother, and now you're going to pay for it."
He aimed at Reaper's head, confident that it would penetrate his damaged armour and kill him. But just as his finger curled around the trigger. Kaidan decloaked to the right of him, swinging his katana and severing his arm. The Colonel staggered back, holding his bleeding stump, he turned to look at his new attacker, just in time for him to swing his katanas again and decapitate him. Kaidan shook the blood of his blade and then turned to Reaper, Reaper nodded at his friend and then began to stagger, Kaidan quickly helped steady him and directed him towards the nearby shuttle.
000
Miranda breathed a sigh of relief, she then turned to the Illusive Man, who only seemed to watch his display of Reaper with a strange look of intrigue. "Well I think that was satisfactory Miranda," he stated, Miranda couldn't stop herself from glaring at him. She turned her attention back to the screen and ended the broadcast.
000
Location: The Normandy, Captain's Quarters.
Time: 1930 CST
Date: 28th December
Reaper staggered into his personal quarters and quickly locked the door behind him. The pain across his body had not alleviated even slightly. He slowly began to remove pieces of his armour, trembling while he did so, dreading what he would find underneath. Once his armour was removed, he pulled off the black undershirt he wore. He stared at his hands in horror. Every inch of his body had been transformed, veins of red energy pulsing across the charcoal black skin of his chest, all the way from his shoulders to his fingertips, his arms had been transformed, both now ending in claws. There was not a single inch of his natural skin remaining. Shakily he made his way to the bathroom mirror, and upon seeing his reflection, immediately smashed it.
He fell to his knees, clutched his head and then curled into the foetal position. 'You cannot hide what you are Johnathan,' a familiar rasping voice said. John looked up and saw the form of Reaper standing before him, speaking with the entity's voice. John tried to rationalise what he was seeing, he glanced around and saw the pieces of his armour still scattered across the floor, before he slowly turned back to the being in front of him. This was no longer just seeing it in a reflection, this was something more.
'You finally have a form that matches your soul John…..a form suitable for what comes next,' John got the feeling that the entity was smiling maliciously at him. "What….what are you talking about?" John's hands went to his own throat, he was no longer wearing his helmet, yet his voice was different without it. The illusionary form of Reaper continued, 'I told you before….ours is the path of blood and carnage. And our efforts are about to pay off, very soon every filthy xeno world will be consumed in fire. So it is about time that you abandoned these delusions of heroism you have' Reaper tried to narrow his eyes, even though his new visage wouldn't allow that, "delusions? We've been rescuing slaves and saving human lives," he retorted back. The figure knelt down to be eyelevel with him, 'and if that is all you did, it would be a different matter entirely. But think Johnathan…..what else of you been doing?'
John knew what he was talking about, "we…..we helped those who suffered get the justice they deserve," he said, his conviction faltering slightly. The figure then laughed, 'hahahaha, yes, you got justice. But there is something rather interesting about justice, there is a very fine line between it…..and vengeance.' Horror began to set in John's heart as the realisation began to set in, "but….we… I haven't… They deserved what they got!" He yelled. 'Undoubtably,' the entity stated, 'but what you don't seem to realise, is that with Cerberus, you have provided an outlet for all of that hatred. You have provided a means for those who suffered to unleash their righteous anger. Hahahah. Now they will flock to your cause, for the chance to inflict suffering upon those who inflicted it on them.'
John's head began to throb, causing him to clutch it and plant it against the floor. The image of the girl he had prevented from murdering a Turian child flash through his head, 'You kill them because of what they do to us, I wanna do that to. I will make them all pay!'
'Do you know what the truly fascinating thing about vengeance is Jonathan. It's a cycle. You've seen it yourself, you killed Sakcakan on Elysium, and his father sought vengeance by targeting your sisters.' Images of all he witnessed while rescuing his sister's flashed through in his mind.
'Or more recently, you killed five Turians to avenge those two women, now his brother has destroyed this entire colony in revenge, of course you got vengeance for that colony by killing all of them as well,' the entity spoke in a gleeful voice.
"No….no…this can't be, this wasn't what I was trying to do," John desperately tried to reason. An image of his confrontation with Liz in front of the O.S.I flashed before him. 'It will just be an endless spiral of hate and destruction.'
'Oh, you can't stop it John, soon we will be past the point of no return. The Galaxy will be consumed in a spiral of vengeance and hatred, a perpetual motion machine of death!' the entity proclaimed.
'What do you think the Turian hierarchy will do in revenge for your little massacre? What will you do in response to them?' The entity asked rhetorically. As he said that horrible images began to flash into John's mind. He saw Mindoir being attacked again, he saw himself failing to save his family. He saw Liz and Ashley executed by the Turians. Then the images changed to show Cerberus soldiers, not rescuing fellow humans, but massacring alien populations, every last man, woman and child. The terrifying images made him whimper. "I caused this….It was not me alone….but my actions have helped to bring the galaxy to this point," he realised with dread.
'This is the path we have set the Galaxy on Jonathan. You cannot deny it…you cannot defy it…..the only choice left for you is to embrace it.' The figure looked away curiously for a moment before turning back to him. 'but then again, you do have the opportunity to alter that course,' he said the last part seductively. John looked back up at him knowing full well what he was talking about. Trembling, John let out a mighty yell before he blacked out.
000
John wasn't sure how long he had been unconscious for, but when he woke the illusionary Reaper was nowhere to seen. He spent what felt like hours, healing his body and restoring it completely to normal. However, that was little comfort.
Shepard walked over to his desk and pulled a small metal case in front of him. He clenched his teeth in frustration as his eyes began to water, "Liz… Ashley…Liara…Tali. I'm sorry I tried, but I can't keep the promise I made to you. This Galaxy is overrun by darkness and maybe…maybe something of similar darkness is needed to wipe the slate clean," he opened the case and reveal the three bioweapon vials, "I can only hope, that whatever new Galaxy comes. It's one where all of you will be happy to live in," he muttered sombrely.