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Archer silently paced in his cell, isolated from Satima as she stared at the camera screen. Is she safe from him? Or is he safe from her? The hybrid couldn't tell at this time. But, despite her temporary physical limitations, she feels the prickling of strange biotics bubbling underneath. Her mind is more dangerous than her body ever was. Reaching out to understand this new invisible energy, she notices Archer stops his pacing and slowly faces the direction of the camera view.
His droid eyes met her gaze. A sudden chill plays down Satima's spine.
Shepard and Kester debated their plan. The others were waiting anxiously while their ignominious captain prepared to take the Normandy and her crew for one last stand.
Satima tried to understand why this was happening. Her growing abilities, Archer's presence, and her past returning. The darkness is encamping around them, reaching out like a mighty shadow and covering all it touched. It would be weeks before she is healed from her injuries, no thanks to the alliance rogues and Harkin.
His face appeared in her mind. A dangerous grin with intentions of cruelty. Her father's stare when they thought it was all over.
She shook her head briefly. There's not enough time to find him and give him the punishment he deserves. Hive is out there. In the shadows, behind the crowds. An invisible presence, always watching and waiting for her next move.
Shepard noticed the brooding her daughter displayed. Excusing herself from the finished discussions, she stood behind Satima, offering a hand on the shoulder, reaching out to connect if she could. " I don't think he wants to leave. You shouldn't worry about him." As if that were the only issue on the hybrid's mind.
Satima turned to face her mother. "I'm not worried about that."
"What are you worried about, then?" Shepard wondered aloud.
The hybrid used her crutches to walk away from the screen, staring out as the crew chatted in the corner. "I'm afraid, Shepard. Of what I am and how to help." She faced her mother again. " I feel lost." The plea in her gaze hurt Shepard, who looked away. They have so much to speak of, so much time wasted in turmoil and regret.
Liara stepped before them, overhearing the last bit of the conversation. "Your injuries will take time to heal. I can only imagine the frustration you are feeling right now, Satima. Nevertheless, I wish to help."
Shepard stared hard at the Asari. Satima nodded, clearing her throat. " We should ask him." She gestured towards the cell. "He'll have a way to help me heal faster. Don't you think?" The hybrid turned to her mother.
Charlotte glanced off, walking away to the stairs leading up to the C-Sec HQ lobby. " I trust you'll know what you want to be done, Satima."
It will be time before the captain ever feels comfortable around her once trusted Asari friend again.
...
Citadel
Presidium Ward
Engineering crew and tow ships continued to move away debris from the gravity of the citadel arms. Bodies were scooped up and delivered to cold storage morgues on Shalta ward. The medical institute donated responders to help in both identifying and sectioning out species of the dead.
Shepard had time to find her family safe and alive, thanks to Satima. Back in her apartment, Tiberius greeted her at the door. A look of exhaustion consumed him. " I assume you will be leaving again to pursue whoever did this?" His question stung.
She nodded. " Yes."
Slowly, the Captain entered her home feeling unfamiliar and distant. The bitter memory of Ruth breaching the building and tearing Natalie from her arms frightened her. Shepard no longer wants to stay in this place anymore. "Where is my daughter?"
Inside the small room, the human girl sat on her bed, staring out as she held a plushie toy of a volus close to her chest. She was squeezing the soft material between a small grip and a hesitant gaze. Shepard walked in, ready to catch a worried child but was surprised by a cold silence. "Natalie?" She spoke. Stepping closer to the bed, sitting quietly and gently pushing back the hair from her daughter's face. " Sweetheart?"
Tears ran down her pale cheeks, but she didn't speak a word. Instead, she was closing her eyes to the very touch that should've brought comfort but rather a sickening feeling.
"She won't speak. I can't get her to eat, either." A turian woman's voice alerted.
Shepard wrapped her arms around Natalie and tried to hold her. The girl pushed away, moving further up the bed to put a distance between them. Charlotte looked around, holding back tears of her own. She stood and left her child to peace.
In the hall, Solanna walked with her sister-in-law back to the main room. "Are you leaving again?"
"Yes." She replied. " We're going to find the culprits of the presidium attack."
Solanna glowered at Shepard. "Take your reaper bastard with you. She shouldn't be around Natalie."
They stopped as the Captain stared in disbelief at Solanna's words. The gaze between them seemed to be a wide gap of distrust and anger. "Satima would never hurt Natalie." Then, astounded in upset, Shepard raged briefly. "She saved all of you!"
Solanna crossed her arms in defiance. "Using reaper biotics! She's dangerous, and you know it!"
Shepard shook her head but stopped short, only to realize there was some truth in the context. Satima's growing abilities are untrained and, at times, unhinged. Nevertheless, taking her away from potentially harming innocents is the best thing to do. Letting go of the outrage, she sighed in reluctance. "I'm bringing her on the Normandy."
"Good. If my brother ever wakes, I'll let him know you were here." She began to leave out the entrance of the home. "I'm going to visit him at the hospital. He's still stable but hasn't woken up." There was something more in her stare, in her tone. But Solanna held it in.
"I love him," Shepard spoke with tears. Solanna glared unkindly. " You loved the idea."
The door opened and closed quickly behind her. Shepard turned her gaze to Tiberius from across the room, who looked away. His faith in her had disappeared. Broken-hearted, the Captain swiftly left her home for the Normandy.
...
Presidium Docks
The Normandy hovered while docking clamps began clicking off, releasing the warship from its tethers. Hot engine air surrounded the walkway as Archer appeared with a security compliment. He made his way in restraints to the hatch. Satima was waiting there in her crutches with Shepard. All of the crew had boarded and readied for their last mission.
Some of them were ex-Cerberus turned Alliance crew, still loyal and trusting to their captain. Others only wanted an end to the reapers' legacy. To force peace, no matter the odds. Even if their captain had become the very idea, they fought against.
Ashley took custody of the droid, leading him to the holding room beyond the medbay. EDI is ready to close off any part of the ship if he should try to escape. Shepard followed behind until she broke away to the war room. Passing the holo interface and into the GUI interface room. A holo of Kester appeared. His stern looks boring into her.
" Captain. A signal was intercepted yesterday by an Alliance ship near the Terminus systems." Kester stared hard in urgency. "It's the Sentarians."
Shepard crossed her arms in curiosity. " What was the message?"
Kester seemed uneasy as he revealed the encoded text. " A group of refugee soldiers is staying amongst a turian gang called The Talons. They are seeking help from the hybrid. Unfortunately, they're on Omega, Shepard. And apparently, they are not alone."
Could Archer be telling the truth? If Hive from Satima's time is here and the sentarians have lost their home galaxy, what could this mean for them? What can this Toren indeed do?
" We'll set a course for Omega straight away, sir." She replied.
His image faded out. The Captain was alone again. The sounds and beeps of the electrical interface filled the room around her. Suddenly a comm broke through the noise. "Shepard." Liara's calm voice echoed to her. " I have spoken to Archer. He has a way to hasten Satima's healing and bring her back into the fight. But there is a cost."
Intrigued, the captain replied. "Tell me."
"We need a reaper."
...
Ready Room
Normandy
Archer stood before them as Shepard argued with the asari broker. Satima waited on the side, unsure and frightened. She often glanced his way and theirs. What was she thinking? He wished he could know for sure. But of this need for her healing and abilities, he is convinced that they must find an intact reaper.
" Even if we find one-if you are successful in extracting whatever it is you need; there is no guarantee how it would affect her?" Shepard argued.
Liara folded her arms. " Shepard, I know you're concerned, but this is the only way. The Reapers constructed Satima's genetics to accommodate their technologies. Unless she wants to wait out her rehabilitation and healing?" The asari looked to the hybrid.
Satima stood forward. "I don't know. We need to be ready for the hive and this Toren. We mustn't fail." She eyed Archer before continuing. "If-If the reapers compromise me, then you'll know what to do. Please take what you can and use it to stop them. Protect this galaxy." Satima stared at her mother. " At all costs."
"Does anyone want to know my opinion?" Archer began.
"No." Shepard spat.
" Please, enlighten us if you have anything." Liara tried.
The droid smirked before displaying on the surface of the table a holo of a reaper. " Inside this machine, this god- is a neural interface powerful enough to control hundreds of ships and their crew. To maintain itself even in death, infinitely."
"Infinite disasters." Shepard quipped. Liara scoffed.
" Satima needs only a small window of neural connection. I inject her with blank nanites manufactured by me using Sentarian technology. The reaper code will copy itself into them. I am providing the same healing she once had, not unlike Reaper. And nothing nefarious will come of it. " Archer finished.
The hybrid looked around her, meeting their gazes. " You know it's the right thing to do." She spoke to Shepard. " But where do we find a dead reaper these days?"
Liara used the same holo grid and brought up the visual of a planet. "Despoina."
Old memories encircled Shepard fast. That place where she learned from Leviathan, who Satima is. The truth that almost drowned her in what she could become. "That's unacceptable." She protested.
"It's all we have!" Satima shouted. Calming herself, she continued. " I'll take a shuttle if I have to. Archer and I can do this on our own."
Sighing in frustration, the Captain eyed the droid. " We'll do this. But if I get one whiff of anything foul?" She glared at Satima. " I'm pulling the plug."
The Captain swiftly left the ready room to the cockpit. Liara followed far behind while Archer and Satima stood alone together.
"Are you trying to screw me over?" She asked.
He smiled. " Get some rest. You'll need your strength to endure the reapers' control."
...
Despoina
Old Starship wrecks still surfaced in a torrent of rain and water. Two and a half years had passed with nothing changed except for a few partly submerged reaper ships. It was clear of the power Leviathan and his kind still wielded in this galaxy. An ancient and ominous unchecked nightmare.
Endless ocean surrounded the area as Cortez flew them to the less dangerous surface of a nearby ship. No blast waves of emps stopped them. No darkness whispered towards them. It was eerily quiet.
" So, Captain? Remind me how this is a good idea to help Satima?" Cortez wondered with a hesitant demeanor. The pilot dealt with the worst of nightmares following the aftermath of the Reaper war. Shepard stopped the apex machines from harvesting them. But the questions always remained. Is there more waiting in the darkest parts of space for them? Or is there something else just as awful, if not worse?
The Captain overlooked the view window as Cortez expertly landed the Kodiak shuttle on a slippery surface, thinking of the best way to answer him. " I can't. " An honest reply for a frightened friend.
Archer led Shepard and Liara out into a light rain. The overcast sky created grey shadows around them as Captain Shepard turned to her daughter. " Satima, you stay with Cortez. Wait for my signal that we can move forward ahead."
The hybrid nodded in agreement.
Liara scanned the area, blinking against the rain and sudden fierce winds. " I can't see a thing!"
"It's always like this, Liara. We'll find some cover." Shepard offered.
Archer found an abandoned makeshift hovel. The tarp had holes and tears. "Are my coordinates correct on the location of the dead reaper?"
Liara held out her omni-tool. An orange display of the surface showed they had landed next to one. " Yes!" She shouted as massive waves crashed against the hull of the ship they stood on. " It's unfortunately sinking. At the rate it is going, it would be a matter of hours before it is completely submerged."
"Shit," Shepard muttered. " I wonder how many of these damn things attacked this planet looking for Leviathan and the others?"
"Hundreds," Archer supplied.
Liara sent a com to Cortez, alerting him to the new landing zone. Right on top of a dead Reaper.
Landing, the crew hastily piled out. The slippery metal surface made it difficult to navigate. The crew stared around against the rain at the massive side hull of a dead machine. Ahead, Archer pointed to an area where they could create an entrance.
Shepard used her tool to cut into the side panel of the Reaper hull. After some time, they were able to pry open an entry. Shepard stepped in, feeling a wave of nausea. The droid helped Satima with Liara in tow. Cortez didn't like this at all.
Holding out his scanner, Archer revealed their path. " We're standing on a hull weak spot. If we climb down to the central chamber, I can activate the gravitation pylons. We'll have an easier time accessing the neural network from there."
"Great. Let's get this done." Shepard reluctantly agreed.
Climbing down the lateral wall, the crew steadied themselves more than once as the ocean waves crashed and moved the massive ship in place. Satima struggled in discomfort, nearly slipping a few times.
At the base of a walkway, Archer steadied himself to open a sideways door. He knew exactly what to do and how to navigate their way through the gloomy dark parts of the ship. Shepard followed him down a hall, leaving Satima behind with Liara. Anxiety gave way to feelings she'd instead have left behind the last time she was inside a dead Reaper. Of course, she doesn't trust any of this, but her daughter is right. They don't have the time or choices.
Further ahead, the droid found an entryway to the central chamber. Once the team unsteadily stepped through, Archer leaned on a podium of panels. Opening the interface to Shepard's surprise. "This thing is still active?"
He laughed. " Not in the way you think. Dead gods dream and in doing so, leave behind their energy." Archer turned his gaze to her. " The lights are on, but nobody is home."
Frustrated, she gestured for him to continue.
"You might want to alert them to the adjustment in one minute." He revealed.
Shepard held on to the podium. " Satima. Liara. We're about to initiate the gravity pylons. Be ready."
"Understood, Captain," Liara replied.
Archer successfully activated the gravity within the ship. Groans echoed loudly as sudden atmospheric pressure regulated their area. Despite the reaper ship floating sideways in the ocean, they began standing upwards. Within minutes, Satima and Liara came through the entryway.
"Can we access the neural room yet?" She asked.
Archer nodded. "Down this next hall."
The maze-like structure of the reaper ship would've trapped them if not for the droids' apparent knowledge. Curious, Satima brought up a question. " How did you familiarize yourself with these ships?"
He did not stop or turn to her but led them forward. " Hive is not unlike this place. I have memories that I cannot recall of walking through their halls." Archer suddenly stopped at a closed door. " I am reaper tech. I am a product of their will." He held up his omni-tool with a smile. " It also helps to scan the levels of reaper ships and copy a map interface for navigation."
The droid opened the door as Shepard led the way with a smirk.
Inside the neural interface sector, the team observed a different layout from the rest of the Reaper's expanse. The dimensions of the room were essentially square, with tall control hubs and dimly lit panels. Stranger to Liara that something so formidable, so much its thoughts, its nation-that on the inside, the sheer power of this machine is only starship rooms and corridors. Hallways and hull walls. A shell for a body.
Towards the middle of the room stood an erect installation complete with a station and console. A reclining feature provided a direct link for the user with restraint clamps remaining open until someone occupied them. Circling the upwards seat, the team viewed the back of the linked chair.
An operator's console with holo panels and grids flickered on and off. Long hoses climbed up the middle of the installation to the top of the central metal rail. There was something familiar about this setup that sent an eerie feeling up Shepard's spine. An instant flash of the reaper-controlled geth and Saren's reaper tech upgrades grabbed her attention. She shook them off.
Archer walked to the central control podium. He brought up various station displays and inserted a small chip inside an open slot on the side. "The blank nanites will be surgically introduced through the spine. Both the installation and the nanites are administered via hypodermic injection." He looked up to Satima. "You will be in great pain before your body familiarizes with the technology."
Shepard didn't trust this. "Are there any fail safes? Any way we can stop it if this tech tries to kill her?"
The droid sighed in irritation but understood. "I'm afraid there is nothing I can offer to allay your fears, Shepard. But I will do my best if Satima's life is in danger."
The hybrid eyed the strange interface. "Not an unfamiliar scenario. Just new rules." She tried to jest.
Shepard stepped to her, putting both armored hands on the shoulders of her child. Her gaze is wary but stern. "Don't let this machine lead you away from us. Remember who you are."
"A Reaper abomination?" she thought to herself.
The concern filled Satima with emotion. "I could say the same to you about Argos. But those decisions are already done." Shepard felt the doom of her actions enclose around her suddenly. She couldn't shake the feeling away but only released Satima to the interface and the fate of the dead reaper.
Liara took the crutches from the hybrid before she walked to the seat. She turned herself in a wince to lay her body upright against the reclined installation. Archer watched as she fit the mold perfectly, allowing herself to relax briefly.
It's just a procedure using reaper technology. Nothing terrible will happen. The hybrid stared at Archer as cold sweat beaded from her plated brow down the sides of her face. Her gaze had quickly faced forward, focusing on the room.
"I am initiating the interface." He announced.
The restraints activated and held down her arms from the wrists. She gulped but remained firm. A whining noise filled the space around her while Archer typed sequences of his plan into motion. "Readying the nanite flush." He began to explain to the hybrid the details. "This is where the pain begins, Satima. Remember to breathe."
That word. It repeated incessantly over Archer's voice but with a deeper baritone echoing in her mind. "Breathe.", it said. "Breathe.", it demanded. She struggled to focus from the onslaught grabbing her senses. Satima tried to block it with her abilities, but it was no use. The final chorus defeated her as it bellowed. "BREATHE!"
Blinking lights filled the control podium and turned into a bright blue glow. The hoses pulsated to life as over a dozen thin wires crawled up the exposed holes in the back of the seat. They were lining up with Satima's spine. In an instant, razor-thin needles punctured into her flesh and plated backbone. They were releasing thousands of Sentarian-designed nanites into her system.
The hybrid let out a wail of pain, but her discomfort quieted as she held back during the procedure. Shepard paced in uncertainty, watching while they continued to help the Reapers make a weapon out of her child.
Archer prepared a new sequence, merging data from his enhanced omni-tool, into the neural network he manipulated. "Nanite merge is complete." He eyed Shepard before continuing. "The interface is ready for the rewrite."
Satima swallowed pain and nausea. She could feel a change inside her body but could not understand what it meant. It did not feel like the technology she held before. This was different. "How do I know it's over?" Satima could feel a wave of surreal disorientation. The walls of the room were getting narrower and smaller. Shepard and the rest of the team had disappeared.
She closed her eyes to open them abruptly, surveying an open field of golden grass and orange sunset. The hybrid was no longer attached to the interface, free to move about as she chose. Satima turned around swiftly, facing a beautiful landscape, only to witness a Reaper land in the middle of a budding colony. Fire and slaughter followed.
Many shuttles attempted to leave, but none made it.
Footsteps quickly stood beside her as Satima faced a turian horrifically twisted with Reaper technology. An unfamiliar voice spoke. "I never faced such power before. Such inconsequential chaos." He smirked despite it. "Even for me." The turian gazed at her. "Still. Something drew me to them. I had to know why. I had to understand the attack."
He began to walk forward but no longer in twisted tech. He was a new turian in full armor with a rifle in hand and skill in mind. Satima wanted to follow. Something else pulled at her—a crimson heat from behind.
Satima reluctantly looked to it and found herself awake. Four spikes in each arm were delivering the total amount of unnatural reaper tech into her body. The agony of cellular change finally took hold, and the hybrid screamed.
Within moments the spikes and wired needles receded from place. Blood drops and smears trailed behind them. Shepard forced the restraints open, taking an unconscious Satima into her arms. Aware of the feeling, the girl dreamed of the hive and the rescue that took place. Of an older Garrus fending off the station's militia and Jormun urging her to pilot them away.
Reaper's emerald stare breached her own.
Shepard began to lift her child over the shoulder while Archer led the team out of the neural interface level. Quickly, they breached the entryway earlier cut out, finding the shuttle primed by Cortez. But, before they could take one step inside the Kodiak, a sudden rumble beneath the fast submerging reaper ship caused them to stumble. Shepard turned swiftly to the east of their position, only to witness a massive Leviathan rise out of the very depths of its home.
Stunned, the team waited as it maneuvered itself above the water and in full view as massive streams of ocean depleted from its body. A wave of power burst forward knocking them off their feet. Liara prepared her biotics, already unsure if it would even matter.
"What does it want?!" She shouted in trepidation.
Shepard didn't know. It had been more than two years since the end of the Reaper war. The Alliance and the Council could not find the remaining Leviathans. Or did they simply camouflage themselves? A survival tactic so easy for them now that they've had multiple millennia to practice. The surface of the dead reaper trembled before it. Ripples of water vibrated to the massive expanse of the sapient creature.
A scratching touched their minds before a wave of crushing thoughts and will overpowered them. Shepard struggled to stand with Satima over her shoulder. She forced her head to lift in the direction of the leviathan. Blood dripping down her nose.
It spoke.
"I am not the one you conversed with. Left behind to tend and watch the graveyard of the damned."
Another wave of throbbing agony gripped them cruelly. Forcing the team to succumb to the will of this Leviathan.
"You have brought the reaper-born for rebirth. But there is another. The signal has torn the fabric of space. We are in peril again. Leave this place. There is nothing more for you here but a tomb."
The leviathan's massive body began to violently descend, piercing the ocean's surface and sending massive waves. Shepard pushed herself to recover hastily as Liara and Archer shook off the enthrallment. With an unconscious Satima in tow, they escaped inside the shuttle. Cortez wasted no time flying the Kodiak back to Normandy. And leaving the cold dark depths of Desponia behind.
...
Citadel
Huerta Memorial
Reconstruction of the presidium levels that were damaged from the terrorist attack on the Tower was underway. Citizens continued to work while some volunteered in local areas. Delivering aid or skills in engineering, plumbing, and even directing stray keepers back from the tunnels.
The hospital was quiet as staff nursed the injured and infirm. Many citizens were already questioning the citadel's defense system. There could be a mass departure of families and workers, which would not bode well for the financial state of the galaxy at large. There's only so much the Volus can do to manipulate the economy.
However, one recovery room remained silent while a human nurse recorded the latest vital signs of a turian male. She glanced out the large window, thinking about the attack and the damages. Wishing the endless terror that plagues this galaxy would stop.
A sudden disturbance of the occupied medical bed caught her eye. The turian had started to groan and moan while becoming restless. Was he beginning to wake? She had hastily left as he moved his good leg with a pained wince.
Garrus opened his avian eyes. Dark dreams kept him as a prisoner for some time. He blinked to the view of a broken presidium now remembering feeling a quake and rumbling in his bed. But it didn't wake him. Instead, his thoughts were drawn constantly to the Reaper war and his family.
Before he awakened, Garrus saw one more monster standing over him. Taller than all the Reapers and more threatening.
Sitting up, he stared ahead with hate in his gaze.
"Harkin."
...
Medbay
Normandy
Shepard had quickly laid Satima on a medi-table as Chockwas and Archer began checking her vitals. Everything seemed normal except for the spikes in both beta and gamma waves of brain activity. Gamma waves started to increase out of control as the hybrid reacted to intense stimuli. The Captain didn't know what to do as a metamorphosis of sorts began to take control.
Chockwas wasted no time stabilizing the hybrid while preparing medical gear to monitor the change closely. Archer stood by observing, as usual, waiting and thinking about what could transpire next. Her body is healed for the last time. There would be no more reaper technology in working order for her. She'll have to be more careful or at least make do with the primitive designs this galaxy has to offer.
"Do you think the Leviathans know or even understand what we did?" Shepard stood next to him, staring ahead at a resting Satima.
Archer unsettled for a moment, unable to reply. In honesty, he isn't sure what the leviathans think or whether they even care. The war was over. The threat became a distant memory. For them, this galaxy continues to struggle and fight for existence while they hide in fear of the unknown. To be a god unaware and unaffected by the woes of the galaxy created a weakness that could not be ignored. They lost control over many millennia as the Reapers harvested at their borders.
The Leviathan's learned their lesson.
"I believe they know enough to keep a watchful eye on this bit of theatre unfolding before them." Archer finally faced Shepard. "Let's hope they don't perceive us as a threat while doing it."
The Captain nodded silently. As allies, they were formidable. Their control is unstoppable. She aims to keep it that way.
...
Pylos Nebula
Zaherin System-Namakli
More than two years after the Reaper War, the planet Namakli remained silent and devoid of any life. No alliance or terminus authority would consider taking it—neither for an outpost or a base. Ships passed by uninterested. Planets in other star systems hit by the reapers outside of known council space were often ignored. Rumors of whispers and ghosts of the dead filled too many minds.
It became a perfect place to cast long-range comms without an audience from space council ships.
Among the sand-covered carcasses of the dead reapers, three rift tears open on the desert floor below a dilapidated quarry. A squad of soldiers clad in abrasive black armor take point. Another rift opens for a taller male to lead them. The warm wind had swept sand and debris loosely about them as they stepped carefully. Toren stared ahead with his avian gaze. "She was here before." He closed his eyes briefly before opening them anew. "I can feel her mind was a torent."
Using a lift at the quarry, they emerge on the first floor of an old science division that was once habitable. Further scanning revealed destroyed habitats barely holding to the eroded bolts on the mountainside. The tech that had been left behind did not flicker with life or make a sound. And the scientists that were left to rot, all dead and buried.
A lieutenant approached him. " Zenith is ready."
Toren nodded, accepted the comm device, and proceeded to receive his instructions from the Directive. A shadowy grey haze enveloped his thoughts as heaviness drew attention to the creeping discomfort in his mind. Zenith had begun to speak in a low but defined contralto voice. The voice of many into one.
"The paradoxical tear holds and deepens. More will come. The Directive is too hasty in the chase, but I will remain; innumerable, eternal, and the pinnacle of evolution."
The hybrid clone nods. "And the Shepard. Her brat?"
"Their mutation; an accident. They will be swept away in our new harvest. This galaxy will fall to a culling unlike before. None will be spared. All will be perfected."
Zenith released control. His mind quieted again. Toren backed away from the comm device to hurl on the damaged grated walkway while catching the slow warm drip of blood from his right ear. The more he intuned himself to his reaper abilities, the more he suffered. The machine god warned this was possible until they had the reaper born. And Shepard. The genetic accidents. But what was he? Thoughts of doubt skittered across his mind. There were never any assurances and no promises other than the truth.
Zenith did not spare him for greatness or to be a reaper realized into organic flesh. That idea died when they lost Reaper and her brat. He is an instrument. The tool that she would use to cleanse the galaxies and right what went wrong. Eternal peace is what she offered. To be a part of the nation within her and to never be alone again. Never to be cast aside and left for dead. Unlike what his genetic clone had done.
He straightened himself, stowing away his thoughts for now. "There's nothing but echos here. It's time we returned to the station." Toren smirked. "We've got work to do."
...
Sahrabarik-Omega
Aria flipped a cap from her bottle over the gloved knuckles a few times. She tried smoking, but it tasted different with each puff. The loud noise of the dance floor below started to fade as she contemplated what her life was now.
Alliance soldiers squat as they pleased while reporting their inability to rid her of the last adjutants completely. Her wards began infighting for territory and food. Two assassination attempts had been dealt with in recent weeks. All the while, Shepard played the fool.
Satima. The girl from another time, another place. Her informant got that far before the Shadow Broker dealt their blow. Aria only knows that there's more to the tale of the reapers and Shepard than anyone thinks.
For now, she'll wait patiently. The talons have those Sentarian creatures in their custody, and Shepard should be around soon enough. Along with her hybrid child. The genetic clone?
Vibrations of a new song bothered her out of the trance in thought. She looked around anxiously while alliance threw themselves into the arms of dancers and strippers. They were starving to feel anything except the dread of their current lives, hanging on to nothing but duty and orders. There's a shift in the air. A heaviness overcrowding, despite the expanded space from the lack thereof, of people.
All the billions of lives were cut down in the mass slaughter of the reapers.
"Ma'am"
Startled, Aria stood dropping her beer bottle cap. It bounced away on the floor under her couch. "What!" she shouted.
The batarian lieutenant nodded toward the entrance of the club. "Shepard has arrived."
She settled herself into a familiar stance, cooly responding, "Well. Make sure to direct her to me."
The Queen of Omega demands answers. And Shepard will deliver.
