AN: Something about the Netherlands, a stone and me crawling out from underneath it. But I'm still alive and back with another chapter. We have reached TWO major milestones! More than 2000 reviews and a whopping 3850 follows! Thank you all so much for continuing to support this story.
Also, I always think it's a good thing when your references are noticed. Yes, Earth falling in Seven hours was a reference to Half Life 2.
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"We know that a surgeon's skill, particularly with new or difficult procedures, varies widely, with huge implications for patient outcomes and cost. An AI can both reduce that variation, and help all surgeons improve – even the best ones. It's important to leverage that digital feedback. Advanced analytics and machine learning techniques are being used concurrently to help uncover critical insights and best practies from the billions of data elements associated with robotic-assisted surgery,
This will help reduce surgical variation and its attendant inefficiencies and poor outcomes, as surgeons better understand the techniques that align with better outcomes. In addition, those insights can link to a patient's post-operative and long-term health outcomes.
An AI-assisted surgery robot may, for example suture small blood vessels – some no larger than .03 millimetres – and up to .08 millimetres across. For another example, consider CRISPR genome editing with AI-controlled gRNA to identify genetic mutations and errors. Allowing AI's to aid us might help solve conditions nobody has yet found a solution for; Corpalis Syndrome, Kepral's Syndrome and the Ochreous Rhinophage."
Except from 'Artificial Intelligence in Surgery: relief and risk', Co-written by Doctor Karin Chakwas and UNSC CTN 0452-9 "Cortana"
-(++)-
Aboard CAS-Class assault Carrier "Enduring Conviction" \ Terminus Systems
Atriox sat in the bridge of his flagship, staring at the most recent report submitted by his patrols. This damnable system was infested with pirates and scum. Though their small, ill-gotten vessels were no match for his ships, they were fast and numerous, with plenty of asteroids to hide in. It was a game of hide and seek, one that took far too long for his liking.
These "Terminus Systems", as the larger civilizations in the galaxy knew them, were fraught with conflict. Pirates. Slavers. Mercenaries. Worse. This large swath of space had been known to the Covenant for many years, but rarely bothered with it. But now, the civilizations beyond the Terminus knew where to look. They had sought out the humans, attempted to bring them into their fold.
They knew not what they bargained with.
The Sangheili Shipmaster Let 'Volir sat in the throne beside him, examining the reports from the human colony they had vacated several days earlier. As far as Atriox knew, all damage done by the Forerunner machine had been repaired, but Volir remained unconvinced.
Volir stirred. "These…Reapers…their design is almost identical to that of a creation of another machine species, the 'geth'."
"Sovereign…" Atriox replied. The Council cyberspace had even less protection than that of the Covenant. Discovering and plundering their Codex and Extranet databases from Terminus ships had been laughably easy. Through those databases, the Banished had learned much about the current state of the galaxy and the people who inhabited it.
"Indeed," replied Volir. The Sangheili scoffed, then glanced at one of the displays again. "The majority of these Council species believe that these machines are geth designs."
Atriox knew better. These black vessels had been far superior to anything the Citadel species had ever produced. The machine species bore no resemblance to it in any way. His own analysis suggested that their design principles, their doctrine and even their armaments and defences were all vastly different.
Sovereign. What machines named their creations?
"The majority of the Covenant believed the humans to be heretics," replied Atriox. 'The majority of my people believed the Prophets would guide us to salvation."
"The other explanation is graver still. These vessels, they are a nation themselves. Ancient. Evil," spat Volir. "Those who see through the lies and deception call them…Reapers."
Reapers. An armada of machine intelligences seeking the destruction of all organic life. The Parasite's antithesis. The Enduring Conviction was more than a match for larger groups, but if the Reapers had the numbers to come at them with hundreds, or thousands of vessels…
"I have no interest in fighting wars for other nations," Atriox warned the Sangheili. "Never again. We are finally free."
"For now," replied the Shipmaster. "Atriox, if these reports are right, these Reapers falling upon the galaxy with a ferocity not seen since the wars."
With a grunt, the Jiralhanae warlord stood up from his seat and stomped off towards the video screens in the back of the bridge. His chosen followers saluted him respectfully and he returned their salutations.
The Banished had been on the move for years, constantly fighting, constantly leaving for better resources. It had to change. Now that the Covenant had fallen apart, their mission was over. A purpose fulfilled.
These Terminus Systems were more than just lucrative .They were vast, wide and completely unsupervised. The people meant to be their overseers, the Citadel Council, refused to so much as look their way.
This could be a new start. This could be home.
Atriox followed that thought to its logical conclusion: those who would oppose them.
An ancient king, freed from his tomb. A rabid AI hungry for vengeance. And now, an armada of ancient, black starships, intent on destroying all life in the galaxy.
"Ancestors, when does it end?" Atriox grunted to himself. He brought an armoured hand to his face, which still bore the scar of the rabid Demon he encountered on the fallen human world. It had been a splendid fight, more so when the Demon revealed its true nature.
But then, the Lord Demon itself appeared to aid its battle-brother. The "Master Chief", as it was commonly known. And the difference had been night and day. The rabid Demon had been younger, less powerful, less wise.
Atriox knew that, in a fight between the Lord Demon and himself, he might well have perished. As it was, his battle-brothers had seen him fight three Demons and live. That would ensure their confidence and loyalty for years to come.
And yet…he felt conflicted. Whatever the humans and Sangheili had been after on that molten world, they had found it. So had the Reapers. They had shed much Banished blood during the fight.
Atriox wanted nothing to do with the wars that were to come, but neither could he idle.
"Relay activity!" One of the Jiralhanae suddenly cried out. "They have arrived!"
Finally, the warlord thought.
Both the Shipmaster as Atriox turned to face the holographic screens. The blue alien structure, a 'Mass Relay', flared with sudden motion, its internal gyroscope rotating with ever-increasing intensity. With a flash of light, a sizeable flotilla of starships arrived in the system –
- directly into the arms of the Banished fleet that awaited them.
The assortment of mercenary and pirate vessels must have been sent to deal with their missing patrols. They came prepared for a fight.
Atriox was more than willing to give them that fight.
-(++)-
Earth
The air above Vancouver was thick with circling flocks of Oculus fighters and descending drop-pods. A two-kilometre long Reaper faced their speeding dropship, which suddenly didn't feel that advanced anymore. It rocketed away from the spaceport at maximum burn, glowing circles filled with crimson, electrical lightning tracking its ascent.
"They've got weapons lock," Cortana cried out from the Chief's external speakers. "Taking evasive manoeuvres!"
"What the hell is going on!" The shirt-wielding Marine yelled. The sudden acceleration left him clinging to his seat for dear life. "Did we just leave Anderson behind? And where the hell is the Normandy!"
"Calm down Vega!" Johnson barked, pressed almost horizontally against the deck. "Let the lady focus on her driving!"
Oculi swept at them from every direction. Cortana flung the dropship into a decline, before rolling steeply towards starboard as a Reaper fired at them. Shields or not, a direct hit would annihilate the Pelican.
The Master Chief processed the details around him with the efficiency of a super-computer, honed by years of experience and training. Earth had fallen. Councillor Anderson stayed behind to organize the resistance. Hackett managed to salvage a portion of the Fleets; he was now the Alliance's sole remaining official. The woman – Williams – was Shepard's lost friend. The one who gave up on her.
Things didn't look well.
"Normandy to Shepard. Do you read me, Commander?" Joker's voice echoed through the cockpit.
"Loud and clear Joker!" Jane shouted.
"Right. The Reapers are everywhere, won't be long before they blow either of us out of the sky! What's your ETA?"
"I have everything under control mister Moreau," Cortana hissed. "Keep on course."
Somewhere in Earth's atmosphere the Normandy would be heading towards the rendezvous point. Cortana had decided on reusing an old trick last used on Reach, just after the incident on Installation 04.
The Pelican dropship angled up into Earth's upper atmosphere. The sky darkened from a deep grey to midnight blue and then inky black, the cockpit's viewscreens filled with stars.
It seemed that the Alliance Fleet gave everything it had. Pieces of ships tumbled in orbit, raw chunks of armour plating and sleek, broken hulls. John didn't see any Reaper wreckages. The Alliance never stood a chance.
The dropship lurched from the left to the right, a rapid series of thumps rattling its interior as Cortana opened fire on the approaching Oculi. Drones detonated in puffs of smoke and fire in all directions, as if Cortana was eager to get rid of all their ammo.
Then all of a sudden the Normandy pulled up in front of the Pelican, not even a hundred meters ahead. The blue pulses of its engines triggered the viewscreens to polarize.
"We're in position Commander!" Joker announced, a slight tremble in his voice. "Now or never!"
"Copy!" Shepard replied. "Open her up!"
"Oh God," Williams cried out. "Oh God!"
Lances of crimson lightning arced around them as the pursuing Reapers opened fire. In their malice, in their cruelty, they would never let their victims escape. In that, they were just like the Covenant.
But it wasn't enough.
The dropship veered towards the Normandy as the Frigate opened her hangar bay. She dropped her cyclonic barriers for a split-second – just enough for the UNSC craft to enter – then re-established them just in time to shrug off a near-miss from another Reaper blast.
"Fuck!" Vega yelled as Cortana cut the engines and hit the manoeuvring thrusters. The Pelican spun 180 degrees. Now pointed backwards, Cortana pushed the throttle to maximum and the engines thundered in full overload. "Shit shit shit!"
They entered the tiny launch bay at three hundred kilometres per hour. The intense heat and force from the Pelican's engines washed over the bay's interior, incinerating everything that wasn't heat-proofed, The reinforced crates went everywhere.
The Pelican slammed into the wall and everybody not clad in MJOLNIR crashed into their ops seats in a heap.
It was silent for a few seconds, during which Joker no doubt got the Normandy the hell out of dodge. They didn't catch anymore Reaper fire and everybody was still in one piece.
Mission accomplished.
"Nice work Cortana," the Master Chief said through a private channel.
"Now what…the flying fuck…is going on around here?" The man, Vega, gasped.
Johnson walked over and helped the Lieutenant undo his chest harness. "Two of the galaxy's toughest soldiers and smartest Artificial Intelligences around just pulled our sorry asses out the frying pan," he began, shooting a meaningful look towards Williams, who crossed her arms over her chest and looked away in response. "We're leaving Earth, Lieutenant, but we're not abandoning it. We're gonna get the cavalry and kick the Reapers to the curb!"
"Screw that!" Vega hissed back. The moment Johnson pulled his harness back he leapt from his seat, his expression thunderous. "Shepard? Commander Shepard!"
But Jane didn't listen to him. She silently opened the Pelican's hatch and walked outside, pulling her helmet off and clipping it to the side of her belt.
Vega, furious and at a loss for words, then turned towards Shepard's clone. "And who the fuck are you, then? Huh! Some sort of imposter? A goddamn Cerberus infiltrator?"
Her face was utterly passive as the towering Marine stomped towards her, his tanned skin coloured red with anger.
Then 003 silently stepped in-between them. Vega was built like a brick house, but the Spartan still towered over him. "Her name is Annah. She's not involved," he said, his voice low and dangerous.
Vega clenched his fists and gritted his teeth, looking the Spartan over, as if appraising him for a fight. For a moment, the Master Chief thought that the Lieutenant was about to try something very foolish.
Vega opened his mouth as if he were going to say something, but then seemingly decided against it. He unclenched his hands and looked away. "Yeah?" He muttered, his eyes flashing from Johnson to the Chief. "Well, I am involved. I'm not leaving Earth. Drop me off – "
"Think, Vega!" Johnson roared. "Goddamnit Marine! You think the UNSC doesn't know what it feels like, having to abandon their own worlds, their own people and leave for those alien bastards to burn? You think we don't know what it feels like?"
Vega spun around to give a retort, but Johnson, breathing heavily, grabbed him by his shoulder and pulled him closer. "When the Covenant came knocking on my Earth, I wanted nothing more than to fight along my men! But I had to leave her behind! TWICE!"
John watched the Sergeant Major vent. He understood, more than anyone, what it felt like to leave something – someone – behind. He remembered the hopelessness, the anger. The knowledge that, once you left, you effectively left a piece of yourself behind. Forever lost.
He remembered Sam and Reach and Earth. He remembered how, of the original Spartans, perhaps only Kelly, Linda and Fred remained.
He felt tired. Worn out.
"We're coming back for her, no questions about," Avery continued, his voice a low, menacing growl. "And when we do, we're going to bring twice the tonnage of all the Reapers there! Combined! Just like Shepard said."
"But Anderson! Shepard – "
"Knew Anderson longer and better than anyone else!" Johnson cut him off, jabbing his finger against Vega's muscled chest. "To her, Anderson was not just the Councillor, or an Admiral. Remember that."
John slowly shook his head. Avery was pushing his seventies. He witnessed the beginning and the end of the war. What kept the man going like that?
The Marine Lieutenant sharply inhaled, his furious expression slowly settling into one of angry acceptance. "Fuck. You're right, it's just…fuck."
"Looks like we're going to need a new bed," Cortana said as the Spartan left the Pelican's blood tray. "And a new…everything. You all right?"
"…how many Reapers are there?" The Chief replied.
"What, on Earth or total?"
"Earth first."
"Two-hundred and twelve, including the smaller Destroyer-class Reapers."
More than two-hundred Reapers…and the Alliance needed to outnumber a Sovereign-Class Reaper four to one to even have a chance of killing it, Dreadnoughts included. "It would take all the Council species together to retake Earth," the Spartan mused. "How many Reapers total?
"That's a hard thing to guess. According to some estimates, the batarian-found wreckage called the "Leviathan of Dis" was nearly a billion years old. If we go by one Reaper created every cycle, that gives us about eighteen thousand Reapers at minimum. That doesn't account for Reaper losses, multiple Reapers created per cycle or any existing Reapers before the cycles started. It could be much higher."
Twenty thousand Reapers? The Alliance at its height couldn't handle two hundred. Would the combined fleets of every species out there constitute a force a thousand times more powerful than the Alliance? The odds were slim.
"They've been doing this for about seventeen million years; they've gotten pretty good at it," Cortana gently said. "They controlled the development of civilizations and technology by leaving behind the Relays, the Citadel and their own technology. That way, they made sure no civilization could ever challenge them. They had the Alliance beat before they ever entered the system."
"And the Forerunners?" John asked. "How do they fit into this?"
"I'll share the specifics later, but I can safely assume that the Reapers didn't stick around during the Forerunner's time in the galaxy. Legion already guessed as much, do you remember?"
"Yes. But I'm not convinced."
"I know," Cortana said with a sigh. "That would suggest the galactic history isn't one enormous conspiracy to screw humanity over. But let's focus on the important picture right now. Linking up with the Alliance and taking back the Citadel."
As far as missions went, that one sounded pretty far up there. "How? Minerva had to tag out."
"That was just a fraction of a dying fragment. If Minerva were interested in payback, I think the odds of the Reaper intelligence winning would be equivalent to a Grunt punching out an Assault Carrier. Sure, there exists a non-zero percentage of it happening, but I wouldn't put any money on it."
John said nothing as he looked around the hangar. It felt good to be back here. His Spartans would be at their best with the UNSC. He would be at his best at Shepard's side. He had the feeling she needed him there, now more than ever.
The others vacated the Pelican in the meantime. The woman with Shepard's face, Annah, stayed by Three's side. Lieutenant Commander Williams helped herd the civilians out, closely followed by Johnson and Vega.
John blinked when he saw that only three of the civilians made it. Two humans, one asari. How many people survived the Reaper onslaught? Did the Alliance even have the time to evacuate anyone?
"Copy that EDI," Commander Shepard quietly said when the Chief approached her. "Thank you."
"Commander."
She turned around to face him, her expression grim. "Chief. Admiral Hackett managed to salvage a portion of the Alliance's Fleet when the Reapers hit Earth. Last thing EDI heard, he's rallying the fleets." The Commander gave a little shrug. "Without the Citadel, there's no way to ask for reinforcements. There's no one left to negotiate help for Earth."
"No one except for us," corrected the Chief. He checked his surroundings, making sure that nobody was listening in, then quietly said, "We're alive and ready to fight another day. There's still plenty of fight left in us. We'll win this war, Jane. Whatever it takes.
A ghost of a smile tugged at Shepard's lips. "Yeah. All we need to do is convince the entire galaxy to unite." Her eyes focused on something behind John. It took him a moment to realize Shepard was looking at Williams, who moved out together with Vega and the civilians. Three, while being very subtle about it, tracked them the entire time.
The message wnotas clear; how could they hope to unite the galaxy when they couldn't even keep old friends together?
"Baby steps, Shepard," Cortana then said, her avatar manifesting itself sitting atop of the Chief's left shoulder. "Let's try getting out of Sol II for now. The Reapers are more advanced than us, sure, but there's nothing sufficiently advanced about their tech. They're still bound by the Relays, for one."
"And we're not," said Jane. "Neither's the UNSC or the Covenant. So we can establish safe havens in UNSC space, create forward bases that are completely off the grid."
The deck shuddered underneath their feet. The gentle hum of the Normandy's drive core picked up in intensity as Joker gunned it towards the gas giant where the Guardian awaited them.
"Exactly!" Replied Cortana. "Gear up and get some rest. We're on course with the Guardian and Joker's mental breakdown is about five seconds away."
The Chief imagined Joker, snarky, sarcastic Joker, realizing that he needed to land his ship on the Forerunner Guardian. It was an amusing picture, if not the most efficient one for getting them out of here in anything larger than free-floating molecules.
"Crap," Jane summarized the situation. She thumbed on her omni-tool and patched a connection through to the bridge. "Joker? Those coordinates you've got are valid! You need to follow them to the letter!"
"Yeah, uh-huh, I was wondering why Cortana had me going top-speed towards Saturn, dodging Reaper Capital ships left and right. It's because the coordinates are valid!"
"It's not Saturn you need to worry about, Joker," said Jane. "It's our Carrier. You're going to land on it."
"Our Carrier? Our CARRIER? OUR Carrier?" Sputtered the pilot. "What, did you find a Covenant warship to ferry us through Slipspace?"
"Something like that. Just don't piss off our host."
"Our what? Look, I – what the SHIT! Something just took out the entire Oculi swarm AND the Reaper Destroyers after us! What the holy shit, was that a Covenant ship?"
"As I said, don't piss off our host."
Host. That was the gentlest way of describing the current situation to Joker the Chief knew. That left Vega, Williams and Johnson to inform. Avery would go along with the plan no questions asked, but he couldn't help but feel like Williams was stuck in her emotions. That might be a problem.
"I wish I could see the expression on his face once he realizes our destination," mused Shepard.
"EDI's going to take pictures," said Cortana. Her avatar flickered and disappeared from John's shoulder. "We're still debating how to proceed next. To even have a shot at uniting the galaxy, we're going to have to reform the Council. For that, we need the Citadel."
"Which was overrun by Forerunner and Reaper death bots," said Shepard.
"And can be retaken. I know you're a soldier first, Jane, but think about this from a political, sociological point of view. Not everybody can be persuaded. Not everybody has altruistic values. Bringing all these different people together requires more than just a heroic pose and a good speech. Some people need to be manipulated. Threatened. Bribed."
"I promised Anderson I'd come back for him," growled Jane. "And I meant that. Whatever it takes."
John could almost hear the approval in Cortana's voice. "Good."
As she said that, another tremor ran through the Normandy. Joker must have docked with the Guardian. If it even had a dockyard. For all he knew, Minerva just guided the ship into the Forerunner equivalent of a storage closet.
At least Joker wasn't actively panicking over the intercom.
Vega and Williams took the elevator, bringing the surviving civilians with them. That left Avery, Three and Shepard's clone. They all stood at the armoury near the hangar's elevator doors. Shepard walked up to the three of them, carefully navigating past the mess the Pelican's explosive entry had made.
"Sergeant Major," she called out and Johnson turned to face her. A pained look crossed her face and at first, it looked like she didn't know what she wanted to say. "It's good to see you made it," she then said.
She offered Avery her hand and he took it at once. "I know," he said quietly. Those two words must have conveyed much more to Jane than the Chief could see, because she nodded gratefully, clasped Avery's solidly with two hands for a moment, then stepped away again.
A flicker of emotion played over Jane's features, but then they solidified into her usual determined, confident expression. "Glad to have you with us again, Sergeant Major. We'll need all the help we can get."
"And you'll have it," replied Johnson. "I ain't one for diplomacy either way. Time to do things the old-fashioned way."
Shepard nodded approvingly, then turned towards Three.
And Annah.
The Commander's emerald eyes narrowed. Her double – her clone – stared back like a deer caught in headlights. Three stood behind her, completely motionless.
"What's your name?" Jane asked.
Her clone blinked. "Annah," she replied softly.
Now that John got a good look at her, he could see the subtle differences between her and the Commander. Her skin was paler and her face lacked any form of blemishes, scars or freckles. Her eyes, bright and green, lacked the depth and the sharpness of Shepard's eyes.
She was a clone, yes, but not a copy.
"How old are you?" Jane then asked.
" I don't know. A couple of months?"
Jane's eyes darted to the Spartan behind her. "Where did you two meet?"
Translation: where did you find her?
"A Cerberus lab, in Alliance space," answered the Spartan.
"Why?"
"Not as a replacement."
The Master Chief understood. "Spare parts. In case the Lazarus Project ran into problems."
Shepard scowled in disgust. "So Minerva had you find her. Not gonna question that. Not now." She looked at Annah again and her features softened. John would never understand the rationality behind her compassion. It seemed so whimsical to him. So unpredictable. "I'm not going to ask you to fight a war that isn't yours, Annah. You won't have to fear Cerberus anymore, either. I can drop you off somewhere if you want. Somewhere far away from the fighting."
Annah took two small steps backwards, until she stood side by side with Three.
Shepard looked pensive, but John couldn't help but approve.
"Fine. Strap in then; we're in unknown waters from now on."
"Oh, she has no idea how much," Cortana said through a private channel. A moment later, her voice came in through hangar intercom. "Commander, urgent message coming in from Alliance Command. Eden Prime is under attack. What's left of Command says Alliance forces are stretched too thin right now to attempt to liberate the colony. The science team found a major Prothean artifact, but they need extraction on the double. Hmm…looks like Hackett knows we got to Earth by alternate means. He thinks we can get there faster than anyone else in the Alliance."
Shepard nodded. "And he's right. EDI?"
"We have already plotted in a course to Eden Prime, Commander. Awaiting your word," replied EDI.
"Get us there as soon as possible."
"Understood. Docking procedure with the Forerunner Guardian complete. Slipspace rupture opening."
"Unknown waters, right?" John said.
The Commander winked at him. "All right people, grab your gear. Armour, weapons and ammo. EDI, get Ashley and Vega down here stat. Three, take Johnson and Annah and get them suited up."
Everybody had their orders and they hurried to fulfil them, leaving only Shepard and the Chief behind.
"Eden Prime?" John asked. That was where it all began. Where Shepard received her vision from the beacon. Where Sovereign and the geth declared their intentions for the entire galaxy to see. "I thought the geth razed it down."
"They did," said Shepard. "The Alliance tried to rebuild it. I had no idea there were any Prothean artefacts left. Is it the Reapers?"
"Unknown," said Cortana. "They blitzed the communication dishes and relays and the colony blacked out. Could be a couple of pirates, could be the entire Reaper armada. Only one way to find out."
Scoffing, Jane said, "Crashing the party with our awesome, creepy Forerunner dragon-Carrier. Fun times."
The Master Chief simply ejected his magazine, checked the cartridges and then slapped the magazine back in place. "We'll make it work."
-(++)-
23:49, 2553 (UNSC Military Calendar) Utopia System
The Alliance had made some changes to the Normandy. The armoury at the elevator in the hangar bay was one of them. Commander Shepard didn't like it. The hangar bay was just that; a location to stash the Frigate's shuttles, supplies and sleepy Spartans.
Someone in the Alliance had been smart enough to fill the Normandy's armoury to the brim with mass accelerator and UNSC weapons. It was basic infantry gear, nothing too exciting, but it was enough to gear up the team. At least they didn't find the plasma weapons still glued to the inside of the drive core. After this was over, she'd ask John to get them.
Shepard watched as Lieutenant Vega helped Johnson and Annah through their hardsuit diagnostics. Watching Vega talking to her mirror image was surreal as hell. She knew about Cerberus' MO, knew how far Tim was willing to go to achieve his goals, but this was new. Even for them.
She had a clone. A real, living, thinking clone. Worse, the woman had only been "born" a couple of months ago. Baby Jane in the body of adult Jane.
Even worse, everything Annah knew had been taught to her by Three, the highest-functioning sociopathic killer this side of the galaxy.
She needed a fucking drink.
"Uhm, right, kinetic barriers are up," Vega timidly said as he tapped at his omni-tool. "Avery, Annah, you're uh…you're good to go."
His eyes flicked towards Three, who stood in a dark corner somewhere, keeping his eyes who knew where.
"Nice work James!" Johnson barked. "You wanna grab some real guns, take that shotgun over there. Those mass accelethings got no feedback, no weight worth a damn. When you take your finger off the trigger, you want to feel your gun disembowel the SOB's in front of you. You want to smell the result of your carnage."
"Yeah, I'll…I'll take a look at those guns," Vega quickly replied.
Not everybody was as enthusiastic about Johnson's disembowelling, chemical-smelling ways. Ashley kept her distance from the UNSC men, quietly watching them go about their business. She looked uncertain. Frail. Vulnerable. Her entire world had been torn apart and stitched back all wrong.
Seeing an old friend in pain wasn't the worst part. It was the raw, angry satisfaction she got from seeing it that really unsettled her. When she looked at Johnson and the Chief, she saw true, unwavering trust and loyalty. Two men willing to do anything, anything for each other.
And what had Ashley given her?
Scorn and suspicion. After everything they had been through together – from Eden Prime all the way to the Citadel – didn't she deserve more trust than that?
Cortana's voice suddenly came through the COPPERHEAD's internal speakers. "We're in position in the system, Commander. The Normandy just departed the Guardian and is underway to Eden Prime. ETA three minutes."
A three-dimensional image of the system appeared on her HUD, displaying the location of the Guardian, the Normandy and Eden Prime.
Along with about thirty enemy vessels. It was a disparate fleet consisting of everything between Cruisers and drones. Jane didn't recognize any standard designs - which suggested the ramshackle ships preferred by pirates and mercenaries - except for the largest ship, which was a Republics Cruiser.
"Thank you, Cortana," replied Shepard. "What am I looking at?"
"Cross-referencing our sensory data with the Council species military databases and extranet articles suggest you're looking at the Omega Raiding Fleet."
"That reminds me of something Zaeed used to say," Shepard said, staring at the overlay of enemy vessels.
"What's that"
"God. Fucking. Damnit," growled the Commander. She activated her helmet's external speakers and called, "Alright people, here's the situation: a pirate fleet coming from Omega is after a major Prothean down on Eden Prime. The science team is bogged down and we're the only friendly forces in the area. We're going to touch down a hundred meters south of their compound, grab the team and the artifact and exfiltrate."
"Wait, Eden Prime?" Ashley exclaimed. "We just left Earth, how are we at Eden Prime already?"
"That's not important right now – " Shepard started, but she didn't get more than a few words in.
"Not important? You turn up out of nowhere with UNSC Spartans, a sentient AI and a clone built by Cerberus! And now we've somehow escaped Reaper-occupied Earth and travelled all the way to Eden Prime in the span of what, an hour?"
Anger had something sharp and venomous on Jane's tongue, but she stopped herself. "Williams, I think it's time we talked. Master Chief, the team's yours. Get the Pelican prepped."
"What's the real problem here, Ashley?" Shepard asked the moment everybody was out of earshot. She'd ignore the fact that both Spartans could probably still hear them. "The Reapers are back. The stakes have never been higher. I don't need people second-guessing me right now."
Ashley placed her hands on one of the workbenches. "I'm not second-guessing you, Shepard. I'm scared."
"Of what?"
"Cerberus brought you back from the dead. The first time I see you in two years, you're working with them. Then you drop off the grid and suddenly there's rumours of allegations of you teaming up with hostile, fully sentient AI's to hack into and shut down the Citadel. Then a clone of yours shows up at Alliance Headquarters." Ashley paused to recollect herself. She took a deep, shuddering breath. "Anderson never talked. Johnson never talked. Then you show up out of nowhere again, in the middle of a Reaper invasion, wearing UNSC power armour, accompanied by two Spartans, one of which is a rogue UNSC agent!"
Her insinuations crawled under Jane's skin. She knew what her friend meant to say and she hated it. "You're only working with half the details, Ash."
Ashley shook her head, refusing to meet her eyes. "Am I? That same AI you brought into the Citadel hacked into it and made it disappear. God only knows how many people got hurt. I want a straight answer, Shepard."
"About what?"
Ashley turned around and looked her straight in her eyes. "Tell me you're still working under Alliance jurisdiction. Tell me you're still on the right side. Tell me you're still you."
Something clicked in Shepard's mind. Reaper indoctrination, Cerberus sleeper agents, body-snatching AI's – Ashley thought she'd been compromised.
Jane wanted nothing more than to assure Ashley that she was still on the side of good; that she'd only ever done what was right, that she'd never compromise in the face of despair.
But then she would be lying. Life wasn't black and white – it wasn't about good versus evil. The cold, hard reality was also the simplest one. There were monsters underneath humanity's bed. The only way to fight the monsters was to get to know them. Learn their habits, their routines, their behaviour, their thoughts. You had to think like the monster to defeat the monster.
Either the Reapers would teach that lesson to this cycle, or this cycle would die. It was that simple.
The Covenant taught the UEG. Mindoir taught her. If she couldn't teach Ashley the same, then she was already a dead woman.
It was a very slippery slope to outright becoming the monster.
"Ash…" Shepard quietly said. "The galaxy is a cold, hungry place. The Reapers might not be our biggest threat. I haven't changed, but the battlefield – the rules – they have. I merely adapted. You haven't seen what I have. If you had, maybe you'd understand."
"Shepard – "
"I'm on the side that wants to stop the Reapers from wiping out everything and everyone, Ash. So is the Master Chief. So are Cortana and EDI. If you think that's the right side, I want you standing next to me. But if you don't – if you really think you can't trust me anymore – then you stay here. You stay behind and pick your own side."
Ashley stared at her, her eyes wide and moist. Jane saw horror, doubt and an encroaching crisis of faith and identity.
So she did the one thing she could.
"Come with me, Ash," Jane quietly said, offering her old friend a hand. "The night is going to be long and dark, but we're going to keep walking."
Ashley hesitated. Her hand jerked once and went still. Then, she closed her eyes and chose.
There was no way of knowing if T'Loak was actually on that Cruiser. Shepard felt like she would have been sorely tempted to have the Guardian eat it if that were the case, but she doubted Minerva would let her.
The temptation to just park the Forerunner vessel in the middle of the pirate fleet and let it rip was almost overwhelming, but it was a bad idea all around. Getting people to work together was a hell of a thing to do. Going around smiting people with divine instruments didn't exactly make a good picture.
A direct engagement with the enemy's fleet wouldn't work out in anyone's favour. They just needed to get planetside, grab the science team and the artifact and get the hell out of dodge. That meant a stealth approach with the Normandy and a precision drop with the Pelican.
Fortunately, precision was one of Cortana's many specialties.
"The enemy has a fighter squadron in the air above the city. This tub's got a lot of tricks up its sleeve, but it's still a dropship," Cortana said as she guided the Pelican dropship through the atmosphere with the calculated grace only an AI could achieve. Clouds rolled by the UNSC bird plummeted towards the garden world's surface.
"Trust is good. Verification is better," replied Shepard. "Get clear of the enemy the moment we drop in. We want the element of surprise as long as we can."
"Yes Commander."
"Eden Prime. Never would have guessed people would come back here after Saren got through with it," said Vega.
"People are hard to keep down," replied Ashley. "But it never ends. Pirates hit the colonists hard."
Shepard made her way to the back of the dropship. "We'll hit back harder. Imaging scans show the last known location of the science team before the fighting stopped. Either they're holed up, or there's no survivors left. Whichever it is, everything that moves is a hostile."
"Those pirate bastards are going to pay!" Vega growled. "Fucking scum."
"Three, you're going to find that artifact and secure it," continued Shepard. "The rest of you are with me; we'll hit the survivors' last known position and relieve them. After that, we'll link up with Three at the artifact and exfiltrate. Any questions?"
"Uh, yeah," said Vega. "I get we're fighting alongside Spartans here, but what's the word on enemy air support? Enemy armour?"
Johnson, clad in a new, dark green hardsuit, crossed his arms over his broad chest. "Lieutenant, if you're fighting with Spartans and still have to ask how to deal with hostile armour, you don't get you're fighting with Spartans. We run into enemy armour, we hang back and see how the Chief does it."
Vega's eyes darted towards the Chief. His eyes narrowed, like he thought Johnson wasn't being entirely serious with him. "Right sure. Air support?"
"Enemy air strikes are unlikely, given they launched this entire invasion to get the artifact," replied Shepard. "If they do show up, Cortana will take care of them."
Ashley looked like she wanted to make a sceptical remark, but she kept her thoughts to herself, thankfully.
Nonbeliever, Jane thought, fully aware of the irony there. "If we're dealing with people from Omega, they'll be ruthless. We can't afford to show mercy. Take no survivors."
The moment she said that, the Pelican touched down and the ramp cracked open. The Master Chief engaged his cloak and became like a blur, only visible because Jane knew he was there.
Everybody rushed outside and took up firing positions. Johnson and Annah to the left, Vega and Ashley to the right. Three engaged his cloak too and disappeared into the wind.
"Clear left!" Johnson quietly called out.
"Clear right!" Vega joined in.
"I'll stay close and provide overwatch," John said through a private channel. "The enemy might not know we're here."
"We'll move in quietly, keep the initiative," replied Shepard. She waved her teammates forwards, moving up in a loose semi-circle formation. They swept their surroundings as they moved forwards, moving up a grass-covered hill towards the urban surroundings of the city.
"North-West, fifty meters, two hostile gunmen," whispered the Chief.
Shepard slowly rounded the corner of the first building. She spotted a walkway connecting two prefab buildings. Two hostiles were in the process of crossing it, moving very slowly, as if this was just another routine patrol for them.
"Take them out, nice and quiet," ordered Shepard.
There was a vague shimmer, a blur that could have easily been the reflection of the sun. It appeared right underneath the two hostiles and pulled itself up –
- and the two pirates just seemed to drop dead, like someone just stopped their hearts. The only detail Shepard managed to spot was a nigh-simultaneous spurt of blood coming from their necks.
"That's badass," James said in admiration.
"Move up!"
The group moved up, making their way through the prefabricated buildings and deeper into the city. A few times they came across more lone pirate forces, which John easily dispatched off. But it couldn't last forever; in the distance, the shrill whine of mass accelerator fire tore the silent air, followed seconds later by shouts, screams and two thunderous explosions.
After that, the pirate response was remarkably well-disciplined. Several groups immediately poured in from the buildings surrounding them, all of them converging on the location of the dig-site.
One such group crossed between Shepard's team and the objective. A pair of humans led the group, which consisted of another two turians and three batarians. They were all decked out in military hardsuits, black and decorated with gold rings. Their weapons were nothing to sneeze at either; assault rifles and shotguns, but none of those shoddy pirate models either.
Whoever they were, these guys were not messing around.
"James, target the human up front, left. Ashley, the human up right. Annah, hit the turians with a Biotic blast on my signal."
Shepard surrounded herself with a corona of blue light, then flung a Singularity field at the hostile group. One of the turians saw it coming, but there was nothing he could do. The Biotic sphere sailed overhead in a high arc and expanded into a micro singularity of dark matter, jerking the yelling pirates helplessly off their feet.
At the same time, James and Ashley lit up the two humans standing at the front. They tried to run for cover, but were too late. The hyper-velocity projectiles tore through their shields and ripped into their bodies.
A second later, Annah understood that this was the signal. She hurled a mass of Biotic energy into the Singularity field and the result was like someone detonating a handful of grenades. The mixing dark matter fields exploded, tearing its occupants into bloody ribbons. The Master Chief shot the two survivors.
"Keep going!" Shepard ordered. Weapons at the ready, the squad pushed deeper into the complex and Cortana put down a Nav-Point just outside of what looked like a laboratory. Three turians busted through a window to their right and opened fire.
The grain-sized pellets smashed against the COPPERHEAD's outer shell, but the turians might as well have been throwing them for all the good they did. Shepard felt a surge of wild elation when she realized that the suit made her effectively invincible to small arms fire.
She spotted a heavy crate standing on the other side of the room the hostiles owned. She ripped it off the wall and Pulled it towards the two turians, crushing the fuckers against the window.
It didn't kill them, but it probably made them wish it had. James didn't hesitate to put them down.
"Commander, I've hacked into the raiders' communication channels," Cortana said through a private channel. "Whatever they've found, it's definitely Prothean and they definitely don't want us to get it. They're all converging on our location."
"Hostiles!" Barked the Chief as another group of pirates rounded the corner. Shepard didn't see where he was, but his fire cut through the incoming bad guys like a scythe. Two bodies slumped to the ground, all but decapitated by the oversized bullets, while another one spun sideways and crashed against a wall.
"Spartan Three has reached the dig-site," Cortana alerted the team. "No civilian survivors. It looks like the enemy laid several traps and snares to catch the scientists as they fled. Keep an eye out."
"Got it."
At that moment, two shuttles came by overhead. One of them broke off, circled around their location and came down atop a nearby roof, depositing half a dozen more hostiles.
The other continued towards the south. Presumably to ruin someone's day at the dig-site.
Shepard almost felt sorry for them.
-(++)-
Out in the distance, spires of Prothean make jutted from the ground, vaguely pulsating with energy. They almost looked similar to Forerunner structures. Combined with the grassy fields and lack of urbanization, the sight was almost relaxing.
Alan stepped over the mangled bodies of two asari, paused to pocket a dark blue grenade and continued towards the excavation site. Several smaller structures had been erected around the site, eleven of them. They were evenly spaced, erected between Prothean spires and the boulders they had lifted out of the way.
Enemy teams made their way through the dig site, clearing the structures one by one. A trio of humans entered a building at the far end of the dig-site – and didn't come out again.
Interesting.
The Spartan pushed down the slope, still cloaked. A series of well-aimed shots put down a trio of batarians and their buddies shouted in alarm and took cover – with their backs towards him. They hadn't seen where the fire came from.
Alan didn't bother wasting ammo on the aliens. The plasma-coated blade sprang from his left forearm and the Spartan lunged towards his foe. He stabbed the left batarian through the side of its head, then flung his body down the street. Before the second batarian could react, Alan crushed one of his feet with a quick stomp, then severed his head with a quick swipe of the blade.
That one went down the street as well.
As was usual, the enemy had the advantage of numbers. That was where their advantages ended. The Forerunner-strengthened suit could shrug off everything the pirates and mercs could throw at him and more. Coupled with his near-perfect active camouflage, this entire encounter felt like a shooting gallery.
Humans and aliens screamed and died as the Spartan raised seven kinds of hell. Pirates withered and died underneath a hail of 7,62mm rounds and shotgun pellets. A grenade detonated and shredded a krogan. The alien warrior barely had the time to register the loss of its left arm and most of its abdominal cavity when the Spartan blew its head off with a shotgun blast.
Hastily erected fields of fire came from one of the laboratories to the Spartan's right. He tossed another frag inside and was rewarded with a satisfying boom when the explosive engulfed the structure. A couple of humans and turians came scattered and sprinted for cover, allowing Alan to put them down one by one.
When he paused to survey the area, Cortana opened a private channel.
"I'm picking up a contact at the far end of the dig-site. It might be a survivor!"
The urgency in her voice led the Spartan to believe that she wanted him to interfere on the survivor's behalf. "That will slow down our objective."
He could practically hear Cortana roll her eyes. "Rescuing survivors is our objective. Get to it Spartan!"
"Copy that."
Alan double-timed it down the slope. The pirates were still disorganized, still had no idea where the attack came from. Several commanders tried to make sense of the chaos and a large krogan began barking orders at a group of vorcha. If he could get his troops organized, he could dig in and create overlapping fields of fire that actually worked as intended.
There was just one problem with that. Three lunged towards the krogan, swatted two vorcha out of his way and struck. He jerked the alien off-balance by its left hand, stepped in close and then slammed his wristblade up through the krogan's mouth and out through the back of his head. If the sheer trauma to the brain wasn't enough, the intense heat of the plasma-coated blade in its brain sure was.
The krogan dropped to the ground and Alan hurried towards the last shack. He was about to kick in the door when he heard a sudden cacophony of banging sounds and shouts, followed by gunshots. The door exploded outwards in a surge of Biotic energy and suddenly, Alan had an armful of scared, frantic and bleeding asari to deal with.
An instant later, two humans rounded the corner behind her and opened fire.
Acting on instinct, Alan spun around and put himself between the woman and the hostiles. Mass accelerator fire slammed into his shields on full auto, draining it perhaps five percent. He kept the asari in a vice grip with his left arm and immediately pulled out an alien grenade with his right. He primed and threw it with one motion, expecting some sort of explosion of EMP effect.
What he didn't expect was a sudden surge of Biotic energy that blasted the humans off their feet before lifting them in the air like a Biotic Singularity.
The asari suddenly stopped resisting, produced a pistol and executed the humans as they flailed helplessly in the air. She pointed the gun at his face next.
He could have easily disarmed and killed her. In fact, when she drew the gun, the urge to do so was almost overwhelming. Alan reminded himself that she was a scientist, a survivor and part of the mission. He managed to wrestle down his instinctual response, then took a closer look at the alien.
Like all asari, she had a feminine body, bluish skin and scalp crested with a cartilage-tentacle structure. A blue and white labcoat covered her shapely body, smeared with purple blood and soot.
"By the Goddess," she gasped. "It's you!"
Alan had never seen her before. How did she know him?
Eyes wide, the asari shoved her pistol back in its holster on her right thigh. She drew her gaze across the carnage of the dig-site, breathing heavily.
I…you must be here for the Prothean," she said, her voice shaking just a bit. "Did...who sent you here?"
"An Alliance rescue team," lied Alan. "Prothean?"
"Alliance?" At that, she spun around again, facing him intently. "They got our distress call! Did anyone else make it?"
"Not yet," replied the Spartan. "The rest of the team is – "
"Oh, the Prothean! We have to get to the Prothean!" The asari cried out.
The Prothean. Not artifact.
An uneasy feeling settled within the Spartan's gut. He opened a private channel and keyed it to Shepard. 'Spartan-003 to Shepard."
"Shepard here. Go ahead, Three."
"I've found a survivor. She's with the original science team."
"Good work! Keep her safe and rendezvous at our position. We're almost at the other end of the dig-site."
More gunfire erupted from her end. It looked like the pirates hadn't given up just yet.
"Roger that. I'll be there."
A Nav marker appeared on his HUD. Shepard and the Chief weren't more than two-hundred meters away.
A lot could happen in two-hundred meters.
"Stay here and keep your head down," he told the asari. "Commander Shepard will come pick you when we're done."
Upon hearing that name, the asari's eyes widened. "Shepard? You're with Commander Shepard? Where is she?"
Her sudden interest was disturbing. "Why?"
"Because I'm not staying here if Shepard is out there," the asari impatiently said. "I need – she needs – she needs to know what I found."
Alan stared at her, not at all convinced. For all he knew, this asari was part of the inner circle of Matriarchs that wanted Shepard dead. But if she was, she wasn't being very subtle about it.
"It's important," she stressed, her cheeks flushing purple.
"What's the artifact?" The Spartan asked. "What are these people looking for?"
"It's not an artifact," the asari replied, shaking her head. "It's a Prothean. In a stasis pod. He's still alive, but if these attacks keep going, these mercenaries might accidentally cut the power!"
A Prothean. A living, breathing Prothean. If that wasn't useful to Shepard's campaign, he didn't know what.
"Millennia," said Alan. "We might have a situation."
-(++)-
With a burst of Vega's rifle, the last of the hostiles slammed to the ground. He tried to rise, only for the large marine to put another burst into his head. "That's right you bastards!"
"James, Ashley, watch our six," ordered Shepard. "Annah, watch the left flank."
With all avenues of approach locked down, the Commander knelt down in front of the strange pod atop the elevator. There was a lot of fog and moisture on the inside, but what she could see, reminded her a lot of a Collector.
That couldn't be right.
John walked up to her, calmly reloading his assault rifle as he did. "Cortana, what are we looking at?" He asked over the team's comm.
"That is a living Prothean."
Holy shit.
"Prothean?" Shepard asked. "Do you mean a Collector, or - ?"
"Do you remember the stasis pods you found on Illos? It's the same as those, only this guy is still alive," said Cortana. "Fascinating."
"Friendlies on your four," Three's voice came through the comm as a whisper. Shepard turned towards the right, where she had collapsed a building to keep the mercs from flanking them. Somehow, Three had made his way around the rubble and he wasn't alone.
The survivor he found was an asari with piercing blue eyes, soft, purple lips and light freckles dotting her face.
Liara
God, Jane never thought she'd see her again. "Liara!" She said, instantly shoving the Prothean out of her thoughts.
"Shepard!" Liara called out. She looked tired, hungry and ragged as hell, but when she smiled, it was like none of that mattered anymore. She ran towards the Commander and wrapped her arms around her waist, hugging her tightly. "It's been too long!"
Jane brushed Liara's head with her gauntlet. "Liara…how are you here? Did the Alliance send you?"
The two women broke off again and Liara's eyes darted from Ashley to the Master Chief, then to Annah. Her features settled into a confused look. "I…yes, Admiral Hackett contacted me, telling me the Alliance found something on Eden Prime – something that could help us fight the Reapers. Shepard, who is…?"
"That's the Master Chief," Shepard replied, gesturing at John. "Spartan-117. That's uhm…Spartan-003. They're UNSC Spartan Commandos, sent by the UNSC to aid us. They're with us."
Liara stared at John and said nothing. Shepard had the sinking feeling that Liara knew more than she let on. Hell, she'd had that feeling ever since she visited Illium.
Before it went up in flames.
Together with the possible sighting of a Spartan and hostile AI.
Oh. Super.
Why couldn't anything ever be simple?
"Spartans…" Liara softly repeated. "Shepard, but…" she turned around and gave Three a scrutinizing look. "What happened?"
Shepard took a breath. "There's no time to explain. The Reapers are back and they just hit Earth in force. We had no choice. We had to leave."
"Goddess, Shepard…I'm so sorry."
"We're here because Alliance Command needed us to pull the scientists and the artifact out of the fire," Shepard continued, trying to ignore the burning frustration of leaving Earth.
"Commander, hostile elements on approach," warned Cortana. "They've got air support incoming."
"Copy Cortana. Alright people, we've overstayed our welcome! Let's get the Prothean and get the hell out of here!"
"Wait, wait!" Liara suddenly yelled when the Chief stepped towards the pod. "If you crack it open, it might kill him!"
As she said that, two more shuttles soared overhead and dropped off several teams of well-armed pirates. John and Three were the first to open fire, cutting down several troops as they prepared to rappel down.
Gunfire raked the platform they stood on. Shepard grabbed Liara and pulled her to safety. "Cortana, find a way to open that pod without killing the Prothean!"
"Got it Commander. Give me a moment."
"I got krogan!" Ashley yelled, firing her rifle in long, controlled bursts.
The Chief, appearing as a shimmer of distorted air behind her, opened fire on the approaching krogan as well. Ashley nearly jumped at the sudden noise, but she kept her nerves and continued fighting.
"Asari troopers over here!" Vega shouted. "Come get some, brujas!"
Johnson slammed into cover next to Vega and lobbed two grenades down the alley. Jane didn't see the result, but she saw the way the two men whooped when the grenades detonated.
Next, Johnson placed his rifle sideways against the corner and Vega backed off, allowing the older soldier to fire off a long, precise burst of fire. What followed was a short cry of pain, then the sound of something solid slamming against the ground.
"To open the pod without killing him, we need a command signal to end the stasis mode. Physically opening the pod won't be an issue; our inhabitant is still stable. One moment…I don't get it, there's a lot of data, but at the same time, there's nothing there," Cortana rattled off, sounding more than a little frustrated.
A second later, Minerva's voice trickled across the radio. "The universe lives, but not as we do. Those who came before us experienced this. Life encompasses all of reality, energy and matter. It is an exotic, neurophysical energy that permeates the cosmos. Those you know as 'Protheans' are more attuned to it than others."
"Meaning?" Cortana asked with all the patience of a six-year-old.
"They sense information and complex ideas and can imprint them as such," Minerva replied, as patient as said child's mother.
"What, like psychometry?" Cortana demanded. "That…okay, it explains what I've got here, but that makes no sense! I can't get it to work, can you – "
The console on the Prothean's pod changed from red to a deep gold. Locks undid themselves as the thawing process started up.
" – of course you can." Cortana sighed. "Shepard, crack the pod and I'll swing the Pelican your way."
Shepard, completely clueless about what the ancient AI went on about, stepped towards the Prothean's stasis pod and knelt down next to its console. "Cover me while I get him out!"
The Omega Raiding Fleet had a lot of bodies to throw at them, but they were no match for the squad. One Spartan alone would have been too much to handle for them, let alone two Spartans with Forerunner armour supported by three veteran soldiers.
The only problem was that UNSC weapons, while more powerful, chewed through ammo very easily. They couldn't hold out indefinitely.
Only one button remained on the holographic screen. Shepard pressed it and was immediately rewarded with a mechanical click and a loud hiss as two double metal plates cracked open and slid away. She quickly leapt back to avoid the vapour.
"The enemy's pulling back," said John.
"Now or never Shepard!" Ashley cried.
Slowly, the mist dissipated. Inside lay a frost-covered alien clad in red armour. He had two pairs of eyes, three pairs of nostrils. His head was like that of a Collector; covered in thick, layered carapace giving it a distinctive shape.
"Goddess!" Liara breathed. "We can't move him yet, it may take a while for him to regain consciousness."
As if the universe was eager to prove her wrong, the Prothean's eyelids twitched, then fluttered open.
Jane suddenly had flashbacks to the Master Chief's handywork back on the wreckage of the Dawn. In her reality, groggy armoured aliens always woke up feeling homicidally grumpy.
The Prothean's eyes fluttered open. His twin-linked eyes flickered around and his mouth opened in a silent cry of surprise.
Then, his gaze settled on the cloaked outlines of the Master Chief and he cried out in apparent anger. A thin, green Biotic aura immediately covered his body and he lashed out, emitting a Shockwave that made the entire platform shake.
Clad in their augmented power armour, however, the powerful strike didn't even flinch the Spartan, although Liara got thrown off her feet.
Three was on the Prothean in an instant, tackling him to the ground.
"No, wait!" Liara exclaimed. "He's confused, don't harm him!"
The Prothean's entire body glowed an incandescent green as he struggled against the Spartan pinning him to the ground. But Three was an augmented, power armour-wearing murder machine and the Prothean had just woken up from a fifty-thousand-year nap.
That, and energy shielding seemed to cancel out Biotics, so there was no way this could end well.
"Three, stand down!" Shepard yelled. "Let him go!"
The black-clad supersoldier slowly took his hands off the Prothean's skull, slipping away a combat knife Shepard hadn't even seen him draw. The moment he got any form of leverage whatsoever, the Prothean kicked at Three's midsection and immediately rolled away, before clumsily climbing back to his feet and bolting.
He didn't get far; the thawing process clearly left him exhausted to the point of collapse, as he sank through his knees not four paces later.
Those four paces brought him within clear view of the idyllic landscape of Eden Prime, now a simple countryside with but a few artifacts left. Shepard saw the horror on his face, saw the realization settle in like a punch to the gut. Everything he knew and loved was dead and gone. And he knew it.
She reached out towards the shaken Prothean even as Liara said something about the frame of time –
The vision came out of nowhere, striking her with images of failing lifepods, oncoming Collectors and screaming civilians. She saw the Prothean within his pod, waiting out as his people cleansed the planet with bombardments.
She felt his anger, she saw his rage. Javik. A single word was stamped into her mind.
Revenge.
Then the vision snapped and Jane was back on the Eden Prime of her time, and the Prothean had fallen to his knees.
"How many others?" He quietly asked her.
"…just you."
His hands dug deeper into the soil.
"You understand me?" Shepard then carefully asked. She gestured at the others to lower their guns. Whatever happened while she was off in the past, they didn't like it.
"Yes. Now that I've read your physiology, your nervous system. Enough to understand your language."
"So while you were reading me, I was seeing…?"
"Our last moments," Javik quietly said. "A failure."
Shepard stepped to Javik's side, offering him a hand. "Not a failure. Your people did everything they could. They never gave up. I could use some of that commitment now."
He ignored her hand and got back to his feet himself. His four eyes slowly glided from the Spartans to Liara and then back to Shepard. "Asari. Humans. I am surrounded by primitives."
Cortana made some angry AI noises, but Shepard ignored her for the moment. "It's not safe here. Will you join us?"
"You fight the Reapers?" Javik asked.
"Yes."
"Then we will see."
The Pelican dropship swept down with such impeccable dramatic timing that Cortana had to have done it on purpose. It blasted an enemy shuttle filled to the brim with reinforcements straight out of the air with a flurry of explosives, then reduced a group of charging mercenaries to smears on the ground with its nose-mounted cannon.
Enemy fire knifed through the air unseen hostiles fired on the dropship, but it's massive energy shields easily shrugged off their fire. Rockets splashed harmlessly across its wings and in return, the Pelican rose a couple of meters, tore through several buildings with that same chin-mounted cannon and then touched down again.
Javik stared at the bird with an unreadable expression. The blood tray opened and Shepard waved James and Ashley forwards, but Javik remained unmoving.
"Come on, we've got to get going," the Commander ordered. Johnson grabbed Annah by her shoulder and pulled her inside the dropship too. That left only Three, John and Javik.
With hostile forces closing in and an entire pirate fleet in orbit, she didn't feel like waiting. "Spartans, Javik, get in! We're leaving!"
Upon hearing her call the two supersoldiers by that name, Javik seemed to snap out of his thoughts. He spun around with an almost contemptuous air and strode into the Pelican. John and Three quickly followed him in.
"Punch it!" Shepard said, but Cortana accelerated the dropship before she had even finished the first word.
Javik sat down in the far left corner, staring at nothing in particular.
Correction. Not nothing in particular. He was very subtle about it, but the Prothean stared at Three.
What was it Minerva called it? Sensitivity to neurophysical energies? When Three had tackled Javik to the ground, what had the Prothean glimpsed from his suit?
"I think an introduction is in order," Shepard said as Cortana threw the Pelican into Mach two-bazillion. "I'm Commander Jane Shepard, Alliance Navy."
Shepard turned to Ashley, who nodded. "I'm Lieutenant Commander Ashley Williams, Alliance Marines."
"Lieutenant James Vega, also Alliance Marines."
"And I am Liara T'soni. I am an asari, and I was part of the research team that uncovered your stasis pod. I have known Shepard for several years now."
Javik glanced impassively at the squadmembers as they introduced themselves. When it was time for Annah to introduce herself, however, the woman was staring off dreamily into the distance. Johnson cleared his throat and covered for her.
"Sergeant Major Avery J. Johnson, I'm a human as well, but of the United Nations Space Command Marine Corps."
After that, it didn't come as a surprise that the two Spartans introduced themselves by their ranks and serial numbers. That got Javik's attention alright.
"The killer hides behind a number," growled the Prothean. "One-One-Seven and Three. You are different from these primitive humans."
"Is that a problem?" Shepard asked neutrally.
Javik leant back in his seat. It was the last thing he said the entire ride back to the Normandy. Since things got bumpy and violent the moment they exited the atmosphere, that wasn't such a bad thing to do.
"Enemy presence intensifying. They really don't want us to leave with the Prothean," Cortana said as she did things to the sturdy little dropship that made it hard to think, let alone talk. The G-forces of her evasive ,manoeuvres bit to the bone.
Just when Shepard started to worry that her non-MJOLNIR-clad teammates would pass out, the pressure suddenly vanished and Joker's voice welcomed them.
"Docking procedures complete. Buckle up Commander, we're getting out of here!"
"Well, it's out of my hands now," Cortana said as everybody took a moment to pull themselves together. "Can't wait to use those moves with actual warships. I can't imagine how the Forerunners did that."
With a loud hiss, dropship's troop bay decompressed and the ramp started to lower.
"Oh god…" Ashley muttered. "I think I'm gonna throw up…"
The Master Chief helpfully came by and undid the crash-webbings of James, Ashley and Avery. Javik seemed oddly nonplussed by the whole thing.
"This pilot, where is she?" He asked as he rose to his feet.
"That would be me," Cortana's voice came through the radio. "My name is Cortana, or CTN 0452-9 if you're being formal. I'm a Third Generation Artificial Intelligence."
Javik's expression became thunderous. "A machine intelligence? Here?" He demanded, furiously whirling towards Jane and surrounding himself with a Biotic aura. "Commander, you said you opposed the Reapers! You have deceived me!"
"Easy there," Shepard said, as much to the two Spartans as the furious Prothean. "I know what you're thinking. But the AI's aboard this ship are our comrades in arms. Our friends. The UNSC in particular has been working with them for decades."
"That is insane! Machines are our enemies! Depending on them just makes you vulnerable to the Reapers, it happened in my cycle too!"
"Think about it Javik," Shepard calmly replied. "Gathered here are some of the most capable soldiers in the universe. I am considered by and large to be the only person capable of stopping the Reapers. And we're inside of a small warship co-piloted by our AI comrades. If Cortana – or EDI – were truly with the Reapers, either indoctrinated or hacked, they could easily shut down our life support or just hit the self-destruct button."
"There is a self-destruct button?" Annah asked.
"Not now," Three whispered to her.
"But they haven't," Shepard continued as if she didn't hear that. "And they won't. They're as sentient as you and I, Javik. And they have done more to oppose the Reapers than any one of us has."
"So you think," the Prothean replied. His voice was colder now, less outraged and more restrained fury. "They will wait for an opportune moment, when you are needed most, to destroy you. It is inevitable. If you truly oppose the Reapers, you will throw these machines out the airlock."
Shepard made eye contact with John, silently begging him not to do anything rash. She could feel the tension sky-rocketing, as Javik's words carried with them an intent, a palpable desire to take action himself. His Biotic corona increased in intensity and Three's hand slowly inched towards his sidearm.
Then, another voice joined in, a full octave lower than Cortana's and coming not from the inside of the Pelican, but the inside of everybody's mind.
You forget, Prothean, that a single heartbeat of yours is an eternity to ours. Carry your grudges. Hold on to your vengeance, as they will have need of it in the days to come. You are valuable to these beings, but not to me.
Javik's eyes widened as he spun around, looking for the source of the voice. "You who hide between my thoughts. Who are you?"
I am the last remnant of those who gave you breath and form, a hundred thousand years ago. I am the last of those who gave their lives to continue creation - it's antithesis.
"A hundred thousand years…" Javik murmured.
"No need for any of this," said Shepard. "He's our guest, and our ally. He won't harm any of us." She turned to Javik, looking at him gravely. "Will he?"
Javik closed his eyes. "That depends on you."
And then he suddenly reached for her shoulders and grabbed her with hands. His Biotic aura surged to life again, enveloping them both.
"I can sense fear in you. Anxiety and distress. The Reapers are winning. Your allies and choices frighten you."
Shepard pulled away, appalled at what he said. What he knew. "You can sense that, too?"
"Yes…" Javik quietly said, stepping outside the Pelican and taking a good look around. "All life provides clues for those who can read them. It is in your cells, your bodies. Experience is like a biological marker."
Shepard exhaled quietly. Crisis averted. She never imagined Minerva would deescalate a conflict like that. "What else did you sense here?"
"…the presence of something ancient and malicious on one of your killers," replied Javik. "I am not convinced of the innocence of these machine intelligences. But…I accept your conviction. Yes…I will fight for you."
"That's good to hear. Let's get you set up and get you armed," replied Shepard.
Javik nodded gravely. "Indeed. I am known as Javik. Though I still need time to recover. The…shock has not worn off yet."
That and having Minerva's voice in your head was one hell of a thing.
Taking Javik towards the Crew Quarters made one thing boundedly clear: the Alliance had made some renovations.
According to EDI, the Alliance had intended for the Normandy to become a mobile command centre. They had felt that the ship was their property, so they studied and modified her, adding new parts, improving upon faults in Cerberus' construction of the vessel, redesigning existing areas and even removing Cerberus equipment and replacing it with Alliance equipment.
A number of Alliance personnel had still been aboard when the ship escaped Earth and they inadvertently came along for the ride. As of yet, EDI had yet to receive any complaints.
Javik chose his room in the Engineering deck. The port side cargo room, where Grunt once spent his days. It probably wouldn't take Liara long to find the Prothean and start bombarding him with questions, so Shepard decided to leave him alone for now.
She paused in front of the Engineering deck. There was no way Ken and Gabe ended up well when the Alliance impounded the ship. Their ties to Cerberus would be seen as treason, and Tali…
Well, Tali was better off wherever she was now. She'd be punching entirely out of her weight class.
"Commander?" EDI's voice came from a nearby terminal, shaking the Commander from her thoughts.
"Uh, yeah?"
"James Vega is giving our guests a tour of the ship. Do you think Javik would be interested?" The AI asked.
"I think our Prothean guest would rather give himself his own tour. It'd be much faster and efficient this way."
"I see. You should know that the Lieutenant also asked you to join."
Shepard cocked an eyebrow. "Me? A tour of my own ship?"
"Yes Commander. Vega thinks the ship has changed enough to warrant a tour. There are also several new crewmembers who you have yet to meet."
Well, she had a point. "Right. He's not wrong. Tell him I'll meet him on deck 3."
"Yes Commander."
The Alliance retrofit left the ship looking different. The engineers had been caught in the middle of their work when the Reapers hit, which explained why the retrofitting appeared only half finished. The Alliance had given everything a blue paintjob, however. Some people had strange priorities.
Deck 2 was still the Combat Information Deck, it seemed. Someone who was not Kelly stood at the Yeoman's spot. She was an olive-skinned woman with shoulder-length, black hair. She turned around upon hearing the elevator doors open and let out a little gasp.
"Oh, Commander Shepard!" She said, before snapping to attention and giving a brisk salute. "I'm Comm Specialist Samantha Traynor, with Alliance R&D."
"At ease," said Jane.
Traynor visibly relaxed. "I was part of the team retrofitting the Normandy after you turned it over to the Alliance. There weren't many of us onboard when the Reapers hit, but…"
"What retrofits did the Alliance get done?" Shepard asked.
"Uhm…the ship's in line with the Alliance regs now, and it has new to-of-the-line quantum entanglement communicators," Traynor quickly explained. "And…well, I don't know how well they interface with the more…advanced alien systems, but they allow for real-time communication with any other quantum entanglement communicators, like those on Earth, or the Citadel, if they…uhm…if they're still functional."
The young Specialist looked very ill at ease. Shepard knew that she hadn't been in the best of moods when she came up here, but that was no reason to make her new crew feel uncomfortable. "Easy, Traynor. Our allies aren't going to bite your head off if you call them by name. Well, most of them won't. These are confusing times for everyone."
"Thank you, Commander," Traynor said with a sigh of relief. "I worked in a lab before, never thought I'd work aboard a ship, let alone with UNSC personnel aboard. In any event, I'm honoured to serve under you, Commander. F-For as long as you need me, that is. I was only sent here to oversee the retrofits."
Before Shepard could reply, EDI chimed in. "Shepard, some of our systems require further testing, and Specialist Traynor has been effective during installation. I would prefer that she remain."
"Yeah, got it EDI," Jane replied, fighting to keep from smirking at seeing Traynor's confused expression.
"Wait. Since when does a Virtual Intelligence make requests?"
"EDI's an AI. She's fully aware."
Traynor didn't appear shocked or scared when she heard that. On the contrary, she looked like someone who was late to the punchline of a good joke. "Oh, I knew it. I knew Joker was lying!"
"Jeff requested that I pretend to be a simple VI to protect myself. I apologize for the deception," explained EDI.
Traynor suddenly looked uncomfortable. "Thanks, EDI. I understand. And I…apologize for all the times I talked about how…attractive your voice was."
Ah. Like that. It was an error Jane could completely and utterly get behind, but it never hurt to set some boundaries, just in case. For the Specialist's own good. "As long as you don't go around flirting with Minerva, we'll be fine," quipped Shepard.
"Uhm…who?"
Ah. The crew didn't know about their Forerunner benefactor. "Never mind. Are you familiar with the Master Chief?"
"Oh, yes!" Traynor said. "The greatest war hero the UNSC ever produced. They say he was single-handedly responsible for ending the war with the alien collective known as the Covenant, who were mightier than the Citadel Council."
"Yup! And he's here, one deck below us, with a fully aware, female AI partner of his own," Shepard said, putting on her nicest, most innocent smile. Gauging Traynor's reaction made her think she looked a bit like a smiling Thresher Maw. "Just thought you should know."
Traynor went pale. "I, uh, thank you, Commander. I-I'll keep that in mind. A-Anyway, shall I give you a quick head's up on the most important changes made? I think you'll like them."
"Sure," Shepard replied with a shrug. "Hit me."
The Specialist produced a datapad and typed in a few commands. "This is the War Room, a strategic command centre for mission specific intel and war analysis," she explained, showing an image of a round chamber with a blue, cylindrical structure in the middle. "It also serves as a meeting room. Privates Westmoreland and Campbell are stationed at the security scanner in the anteroom connecting it to the rest of the CIC."
The elevator doors behind her opened again. Vega, together with the Chief, Johnson and Ashley, stepped out.
"…is the Combat Information Centre, with the bridge," the Marine Lieutenant said. "But if you served on the Normandy before her retrofit, you're probably more familiar with it than I am. Hey Commander."
"Lieutenant," Shepard politely said back. "I think you're missing someone. Large guy, doesn't talk too much, homicidal tendencies? Has a thing for bossy girls?"
"He's standing right here, Commander," Vega said, pointing at John.
The Spartan's helmet shifted a fraction of a centimetre towards James, but said nothing.
Shepard rolled her eyes. "Har har. I meant Three."
"That guy? He and…uh…Annah didn't stay for the tour. Took the service stairs."
"You ask where he went?"
Vega frowned and scratched his buzzcut. "Said something about a more remote quarters."
Ah. Jane thought she knew where the Spartan went. "I'll worry about that later."
"I've heard that echoing through the corridors a few times," muttered Ashley.
"Speaking about concerns, permission to voice them, Commander?" Vega said in a more serious tone.
"Go ahead."
Ashley looked back and forth between the tall Marine and the Chief, obviously ill at ease. "I'm stopping by Campbell for a moment. I gotta return something."
Vega watched her leave, waited until the door sealed behind her and then took a breath. "Scuttlebutt says he's the one who brought that Forerunner AI into our galaxy. Rogue black-ops operator going bad and all that. Brings back some Saren vibes, you know what I'm saying?"
"I do," Jane cautiously replied. "But trust me when I say he's not like Saren. Besides; I think we should be glad she's on our side. I don't think we could have gotten to Earth – not to mention Eden Prime – in time without her and that's just the logistical support."
Vega raised his hands pacifyingly. "Don't get me wrong Commander, she's useful. Hella scary though. She – "His eyes suddenly widened and he looked around in alarm. "She can't hear me, right?"
"I really, honestly, sincerely doubt she cares about what you think about her, James," Cortana's voice came through John's external speakers.
"Okay, that's good to hear. I – " The Marine whirled around so fast Jane was surprised he didn't break his own neck. "The fuck? Cortana, that you? Are you inside the Chief?"
"For a given value of inside, yes."
"Huh. Like, inside his brain? His mind?"
"Yes and hopefully yes."
Vega nodded gravely. "Huh. Can…all UNSC AI's crawl inside people's brains? Can you get into mine? The Commander's?"
"Do you want me to?" Cortana playfully asked.
God, hearing that tone come from the Chief's suit was all kinds of freaky. Not the bad kind of freaky, but not the kind Shepard wanted Vega to endure either. "Alright, that's enough of that. You'll hurt Vega's innocent soul, Cortana."
The Marine frowned at that. "I want to be the judge of that, Commander. Maybe I do want that."
"I am certain the procedure to install a Neural Interface into the base of your skull will not be the most painful surgery of your life, Lieutenant," EDI's voice came from one of the consoles next to the elevator.
"Maybe I'll think about it," James quickly corrected himself. He ran his eyes up and down the Chief, then nodded, as if reassuring himself of his decision.
"Don't worry Vega. At best I'm a two-suit kind of girl. Besides; you don't need a Neural Interface for basic AI support," Cortana quickly said.
EDI helpfully added, "That was a joke."
"Right. Sure, I get it."
"You girls just love playing with a Marine's mind," Johnson said as he looked around the CIC. He nodded to Traynor, who tentatively waved back, then looked down at the galaxy map. "I've got it from here, Vega. Same shit, different ship. What's next, Shepard?"
Next. Right. That whole uniting the galaxy thing. With the Spartans on the Infinity, the UNSC would at least be briefed on the opposition and the stakes. They didn't know Earth had fallen, though.
"There's a plan. I'm sitting on it. The moment it becomes something concrete I'll let you know."
First order of business. Figure out if retaking the Citadel was even worth it. Second order of business, get the Council, the UNSC and the Covenant into the fight. Everything else could wait.
Right, Jane thought wearily. What could possibly go wrong?
-(++)-
AN: I would like to thank my new Beta-reader, ManwithaPlan13.
