Chapter 50

Unknown Prothean Facility – Surface of Eletania – Eletania

Ash gasped as Shepard and the asari both released the giant orb at the same time, causing them to fall backwards off the platform. Leaping forward, she caught Shepard before she hit the floor, slowly lowering her in her armor down while Wrex caught Liara as if she weighed no more than a sack of rice. Reaching up, the gunnery chief smacked Shepard's helmet lightly as she tried to get her attention.

"Skipper! You alright in there? Shepard answer me!" she ordered worriedly as she held the woman. Suddenly, Shepard's eyes flicked open, and she looked up at the chief in awe but stayed silent. Ash watched her for a long moment before waving a hand in front of her eyes. "That thing didn't wipe your mind, did it?"

"We're fine, Ashley. Please…" responded Liara, having recovered quickly and made her way over to them. "Shepard… what we just saw…"

"Was it what I think it was?" asked Shepard solemnly as she stared up into the lovely asari's blue eyes.

"I believe so…" responded the doctor, who got a look of bewilderment from Ash.

"What? What was it?" asked the chief as she sat back, much more relaxed now that Shepard was responding.

"We saw a memory file of a test subject at this facility. The protheans had implanted a neural data storage unit inside their skull…" she said as she recalled the vivid memory.

"What, like a graybox?" asked Ash as she cocked an eyebrow behind her helmet.

"Exactly…" said Liara as she looked away from the chief for a long moment. "They… were human."

Ash's eyes widened immensely at the revelation. "Protheans took Stone-Age humans from Earth? And… did what, exactly? Experimented on them?"

"We don't know. I tried to access more of the data, but most of it seemed to have been corrupted," said the asari as she helped Shepard back to her feet.

Stepping over to the console, Shepard attempted to use it. Liara stepped up next to her and assisted. "There has to be something else here."

"It appears there were backups," said Liara as she pushed a button on the console. Suddenly, the image projectors around them sparked to life.

"Adammah, can you say hello?" asked the same fatherly tone they heard at the end of the memory file.

"What's it saying?" asked Ash curiously as she watched the file with awe.

Shepard stared at her for a long moment before realizing that the cipher in her head was translating the spoken language of the protheans as if she were fluent. "They're asking the human to speak."

"H-Hullo…" said the awkward, hairy human as they sat on their haunches. While the features of early humans were wildly different than modern ones, Shepard could clearly see that this was a female. "Please… family…"

"Family, safe. Found food," responded the prothean off screen as the recording device focused on the slumped, filthy human.

Adammah's face scrunched up and she began to weep gently as she reached up and scratched her shaggy head of long hair. "Family… safe."

"They taught her their language?" asked Shepard curiously as she leaned forward to watch the eerie video of her species' past.

"It appears so. They seem to be testing her cognitive abilities," said Liara, who jumped in surprise as the screen flitted to a new environment. This time, Adammah's hair was cut short, the leather rags she wore now gone and a white, sleeveless uniform in its place, contrasting her dark skin.

"Adammah, please explain to me what this is," said the voice as something flew onto the screen. The reactions of the ancient woman were quick as she reached out and caught the red object.

As she looked at it, her eyes widened. "Apple…"

"That's right. We got them from your home as a treat. Now, you can have as many as you like, as long as you can count for me. Up to five this time," said the voice as Adammah held the fruit to her nose and inhaled deeply. A box slid into view with at least fifty of the bright red fruits inside it. Adammah sat down and reached inside, grabbing the first.

"One…" she said as she held it up. Then another. "Two…" She did this several more times until she reached in and grabbed her ninth apple. "N…" she started, trying to remember as the recorder focused on her face. "Non… nun… nine…" she said, almost excitedly as she held it up proudly.

"They taught her to count!" said Shepard breathlessly as she watched what appeared to be the origin of human counting methods.

Ash slumped against the console as she watched the screen, tears welling up in her eyes. "I… I can't…" said the chief as she held her hand over her chest where her necklace dangled below. "I can't believe I'm watching this…"

"Very good Adammah. You got all the way to fifteen this time!" said the prothean voice excitedly.

Adammah stood up again and pointed at the recorder. "Family."

"Yes yes, you can see your family," said the voice in amusement as they held out their hand. Liara gasped sharply and almost fell backwards as a very real prothean arm reached forward. Adammah grabbed their bare hand and their now clean face creased into a placid grin as the prothean presumably showed her memories of her family.

Suddenly, the video flitted again. This time, Adammah stood before the recorder with a grin on her face. Her hair was long once more, and she stood straight as if she were imitating a superhero.

The fatherly voice spoke again. "Today is a very special day, Adammah. Do you know why?"

"I don't know," responded the human in a much less broken grasp of the language. "You say surprise."

"It is a surprise," said the prothean as they slid another box out in front of the human.

Adammah knelt down and opened the box curiously, then stopped, her eyes wide as she saw what was inside. Reaching down, she slowly gripped the surprise and pulled it up so that the camera could see it. It was a new leather outfit, similar to her old one but in much better condition and insulated far better. She stared at it before looking up at the one filming her. "What this mean?" she asked as she held the outfit, her hands nearly shaking.

"It means you're going home, Adammah," said the voice in an almost melancholy tone.

"Home… family…" she said as she hugged the leather to her chest.

"Family…" said the prothean with a sigh.

Suddenly, the vid projector went dark. Shepard spun around and looked at the console. "What happened?"

"Nothing! It says it's still playing the file!" shouted Liara as she examined the console thoroughly. But she stopped as a chilling voice echoed throughout the room.

"Galactic… Cycle… hell, I don't know anymore. I've lost so much blood that I couldn't tell you what the name of the planet even is," said the voice as they all looked around curiously. "Something happened to High Command. We told Adammah we were going to take her home in one quarter's time…" continued the voice, letting out a pained chuckle before it coughed. "She actually knew what a quarter was. She was excited to see her family. She was happy. But something had happened. High Command stopped responding to our reports. I tried to contact them on the comm, but all I got was deafening silence. It was as if someone was listening to me…"

Shepard and Liara looked at one another as they recalled a similar situation in the datacard from her university. "Cutting off the head…" said Liara, getting a nod from the Spectre.

"Can you all translate for us? We're kind of in the dark here," asked Ash as she looked between the pair. The asari nodded and repeated every word the prothean spoke from that point forward.

"I had a bad feeling about it, so I hastened our plan to send Adammah home. Whatever dark feeling I was getting, I wanted her to be no part of. However, even that was too late. Days after I tried to contact them, a royal honor guard knocked at our door. As soon as I opened it for them, they attacked and mortally wounded me," he continued, chuckling dryly as he let out a sigh. "Adammah saw it and attacked without hesitation. She killed them both using the blade I gave her as a memento of me. I don't know what was more glorious, the fact that she tried to protect me, or just watching her completely destroy two beings that are eons ahead of her people in technology."

"Wow…" said Ash in awe as she heard the story. "Looks like we were always badass."

"I prepared for her my stealth craft, used to get here without prying eyes. As I locked her inside, I saw the sky darkening. Whatever had turned my people against me, they were coming for me, for this world. I would not let them get her, so I sedated her and sent her home to the valley her family now lived in. This is the last time I will see her or her marvelous people ever again…" He coughed heavily, an extremely wet sound. "I so hoped to see Species 68 join us among the stars someday. But now, the darkness comes for me. I can only hope that the key I gave her survives long enough to lead her people back here someday." He coughed heavily again. "This place will be my tomb, but I regret nothing. I pray that Adammah's people are spared my own fate. Yawek… signing out."

Then, the message ended, leaving the four of them to stare at each other morbidly. It was silent for a long moment before Wrex finally broke the chilling silence. "Well, that was fucking ominous…"

"You're telling me," said Ash as she looked to Shepard. "So… all this… information. What exactly do we do with it?"

Shepard inhaled sharply and released her breath as her thoughts ran a mile a minute. She had no idea how much this would change humanity, or if it would change it at all. She knew it would have a massive impact on a lot of people personally. She could see that Ash had been visibly moved in some manner by seeing it. But she couldn't just hide something like this from the galaxy because some people might not like the implications.

"Alert Council Prothean authority and get them here as soon as this system is green again, which might not be until we solve this geth issue. Contact the Alliance and tell them we found a lost connection between protheans and humans. They will be responsible for distributing it to the world," she ordered as she turned to Liara. "If you found out your people were molded by the protheans, what would you do?"

Liara stared at her wide-eyed for a moment before putting her hands on her hips. "Shepard, are you asking me a question you already know the answer to?" she asked playfully. "Of course, I would make it public. The truth is vastly more important than people's comfort."

Shepard smirked and nodded. "I thought so. Alright, all revelations aside, we still have a system to clean out. So, let's get back to the Normandy."

"You got it, Skipper…" said Ash in a mournful tone as she followed the woman out of the facility.

Cargo Bay – SSV Normandy SR1

As soon as she stepped off the shuttle in the cargo bay, she was confronted by Pressly. Removing her helmet, the man stood as rigid as a board as he addressed her. "Spectre! Glad you made it back in one piece!"

She chuckled and waved his concern off. "We were chasing monkeys and exploring dusty ruins, Pressly. Trust me when I say that I've survived worse."

The man smiled in humor as he nodded. "I came down to let you know that on your return we received a message from an Alliance ship in the system. They claim to be with the 23rd Division of the Fifth Fleet, but I had trouble finding records on them."

She stared back at him wide-eyed. "That was quick. Did you answer them?"

"Of course not, Spectre. We were running silent, waiting for you to return. Even if I could verify their identity, there's no way of telling if they were Cerberus waiting to find us squatting. I wanted to make sure you knew who they were before alerting them that we're here," he said, his rigid form and stone-like face back once more.

She smirked at him and patted him on the shoulder. "I'll reply when I get up to the CIC. Prepare to board their troops."

This time, it was his turn to look at her wide-eyed. "O-Oh, of course…" he said as he made quick pace back to the elevator.

They arrived in the CIC together and she immediately pointed towards Lowe, the communications officer. "Lowe, connect me to the 23rd Division signal immediately," she ordered, causing the officer to scramble to do her bidding. Once connected, she leaned over the mic and spoke. "23rd Division, this is Special Tactics and Reconnaissance Jane Shepard with the Citadel Council. State your purpose in this system."

There were a few moments of silence before she got a response. "I've come to kick my drill instructor's ass," came the reply, causing her face to split in a grin.

"Not in a hundred asari lifetimes Satō," she said with a smile. "It's good to hear you haven't lost your sense of humor though."

"It's refreshing to hear your voice not shouting at me for once," said the man over the comm. "So, according to Admiral Hackett, you've got a little project for us?"

"Something like that. Send us your location and we'll bring you aboard. I'll give you the SITREP then," she ordered as she nodded to Pressly.

"Yes sir. Good to be working with you again," said the voice as the comm cut off. Shepard just smirked as she stared at the system on the holographic display.

Cargo Bay – SSV Normandy SR1

It took just under an hour to find their location and board them into the now depressurized cargo bay. Their ship was little more than a troop loading shuttle, which was more than small enough to fit inside the Normandy's bay. As soon as the ship landed, two stoic figures in familiar dark grey armor with the red and white stripe down the sleeve opened the cabin of the shuttle and hammered on the back. Within a single minute, all of them were free of the vehicle.

Once the cargo bay was pressurized again, they all lined up in front of Shepard who couldn't hide her smile if she tried. Most of the men and women in front of her were her own trainees that she had instructed back on Luna, which not only meant that they had a history. But it also meant she didn't need to take any extra time in getting familiar with them and their combat styles.

"N7 Special Forces Hellfire Troops of the 23rd Division, reporting for duty!" shouted the leader at the front.

"At ease, clowns. You're not on an Alliance ship, nor are you standing in front of an Alliance officer," she said, getting a small chuckle from the crowd. Most of them did as she advised and loosened their stances immediately.

The leader reached up and removed his helmet, a smile on his own rugged features as he nodded to her, his dark hair trimmed high and tight with a scar running along his chin. "You remember when I was a stupid young recruit with my face in the mud?" he asked, getting a nod from Shepard. "You remember what I told you that day?"

"You said that one day you were going to get back at me by outranking me," she said as she tapped her chin thoughtfully. "I recall you were very emotional when you signed up for the Nautical Special Forces."

"Indeed, I was. And here I stand before you, the drill instructor who made me eat my words," he said with a playful smirk. "In six months, I'd have had a promotion to put me on the same level as you. Then you go and get promoted to Spectre, making it impossible for me to outrank you," he said with a chuckle as he shook his head. "Gotta admit, Commander, you're not making it easy for me."

"Technically, you can always run for Councilor once humanity gets its own seat," she said as she planted her hands on her hips.

"Ha! I'll be cold and gone before they sign me up to be a paper pusher," he said with a shrug. "Admittedly, I was kind of upset when they called you in to clear Valkyrie instead of us."

"Well, they did ask for the best," she said, her smile growing. Every N7 in the room could feel the competitive spirit between the two growing into an inferno.

But immediately, that spirit died as Liara walked by, her words acting like a frigid bucket of water. Her nose was buried in a datapad as she walked past. "Get a room you two," she said, not even bothering to look up from her datapad.

They both watched her go before turning to look at each other again, then gave an amused laugh. Shepard looked over to the figure standing next to her former trainee. "Squad leaders don't usually have people standing with them at the front. So, who is this?"

"This would be Lieutenant Locklear. Not only is she my second, but she also says she has a history with you as well outside of Armstrong," said the squad leader as he looked over at the short figure.

Shepard eyed the lieutenant curiously. "You've worked with me before?"

Reaching up, the woman removed her helmet, her brown hair was cut to look almost identical to Shepard's own red. "Amaterasu, sir," was all she said in response.

Thinking back, Shepard nodded briefly. "Oh… right! You were there with Tyson!" The woman smiled at the spectre, but her smile vanished at the smirk on Shepard's face. "Hey Tyson! Come out here for a second!" shouted the commander.

"Bullshit!" said Locklear with her eyes wide.

The blonde man stepped out of a pile of boxes brought on by the N7's and approached with his Alliance issue hat on. "You called, Spectre?" he asked curiously. Suddenly, his eyes darted towards the woman standing next to Satō.

"Christopher Tyson," said the woman, whose eyes then darted to the spectre. "And Shepard as well! I guess the team got back together."

Tyson stared at her for a moment before a small curving grin graced his lips. "Locklear? From the Alexandria? No way!" he said excitedly.

Shepard smirked and turned back to the squad leader as the two caught up with one another. "Alright Satō, get your people up to the CIC so we can get you informed on the situation," she ordered as she turned and headed to the elevator. "Oh!" she said, stopping for a moment and turning to look at all ten of them. Locklear and Tyson both stopped their animated banter and looked up at her as well. "Keep in mind that from the time you step foot on my ship to the time you head back to Arcturus, you are under my command. That means anything and everything you want to report to the Alliance goes through me. Anyone here who thinks the Alliance will protect them from committing espionage on my ship will find out exactly why they chose me for Spectrehood."

With that chilling order, she closed the elevator door, leaving them all in relative silence. Satō turned to his group, some of whom had never met the woman and nodded. "Yeah, what she said."

CIC– SSV Normandy SR1

"Alright, so what are we up against?" asked Satō as he stood next to Kaidan below the galaxy map.

Shepard zoomed the map in to focus on the Hercules System. "The information we have so far as offered by the Migrant Fleet is that geth were seen moving from beyond the Perseus Veil. After tracking them, they followed them to the border of Alliance Space and sent us a warning that they may be in the Attican Beta cluster. Here…" she said, pointing at Eletania, "Alliance High Command had a satellite keeping track of any ships coming into the system from the Sentry Omega which borders on the Terminus Systems. It appears that on their way through the system, they destroyed the satellite. We had more satellites in the Armstrong Nebula go out as well, which is what led us here."

"This'll be our first time fighting geth. Got any pointers?" asked Satō as he looked up to the spectre.

Tali answered for her. "Don't assume it's dead just because you shot it and it fell over. At least thirty percent of all quarian deaths to the geth were from ones they thought were already dead," she said as she worked on her omni-tool.

"Oh…" said the N7 elite as he looked at her curiously. "I don't think we've met."

"Tali'Zorah nar Rayya," said the quarian as Shepard picked up for her.

"And currently our top expert on geth," said the spectre as she leaned on the railing above them. Turning to the young engineer, she nodded. "Anything?"

"From the signals I'm reading in the sector from the Normandy's sensors, it looks like there are four systems being inhabited right now. Vamshi, Hong, Tereshkova, and Gagarin all have geth on them in some form," said Tali as she too looked up to the spectre.

"Any sign of which may be their main compound?" asked Shepard curiously.

"Sorry, Shepard. I can't pinpoint anything with the data available," said the quarian as she shrugged lightly. "We have what looks like some kind of communication going out from each world, but geth transmissions are usually heavily encrypted. Val'eda is working on that now."

"Val'eda?" asked Locklear curiously as she eyed the quarian from across the CIC.

"Oh… she's my… uhh… VI," responded Tali quickly as she defensively hid her omni-tool with her hand. Suddenly, the device pinged. Uncovering it, the quarian stared at it for a moment before going wide-eyed behind her face shield. "T-That can't be right…"

"What is it?" asked the spectre as she leaned over the railing to stare at the engineer.

"Spectre, the information has been decoded…" said Tali as she looked up at Shepard.

"That was fast," said Kaidan suspiciously.

"That's because it wasn't encrypted," she said, now getting odd stares from everyone present. "And… it was… in English."

"I'm sorry, what?" asked Satō in surprise. "They're talking to us now?"

"What does it say?" asked Ashley, her eyebrow cocked with curiosity.

Looking back down at her omni-tool, she read off the transmission. "They are practically advertising that they have kinetic barriers around each compound strong enough to stop a shot from even the Excalibur cannon, and if we fire it, they can pinpoint us and shoot us down within seconds."

"Why the hell are they telling us this?" asked Garrus as he shook his head. "They have to be goading us into a trap!"

"A trap that obvious?" asked Liara skeptically. "I don't believe they would think humans are that stupid."

"They are geth, they think all organic life is stupid," said Garrus firmly.

"I'm with Garrus on this one," said Tali as she looked at the others. "The geth are very cautious. This is unlike anything they've ever done before. They are quiet, discreet…" she said as she reached up and gripped her helmet. "Shooting down the satellites, invading Alliance Space, and now this? In all my life on the fleet, I've never seen geth behave like this!"

"If it is like the asari says, then what's their game?" asked Satō as he leaned on his elbow and faced Tali. "They had to expect humans to show up in Armstrong eventually, especially after the satellites went dark. So, what's their angle?"

"I… I don't know…" said Tali as she stared at the data on her omni-tool. She stayed silent for a few moments before looking up to the spectre. "Shepard, do you think we could get visual scans of the surface base on Maji?"

She nodded and turned to face Pressly. "Pressly, see if you can give us what she needs," she ordered.

"On it, Spectre!" snapped Pressly as he went to work on his terminal.

"Can we talk about firepower now?" asked Garrus curiously, getting a look from the commander. "Assuming what they're broadcasting is true, then they've built massive cannons somewhere on these worlds."

"Maybe they're not big. You don't need a lot of firepower when you have plasma technology," responded Ash.

But Garrus shook his head dismissively. "Plasma weaponry isn't ideal for space combat. On the ground it works because it's fast and bypasses kinetic shielding. But given the distance in ship-to-ship combat, it's far too slow. It'd never reach the ship before they moved out of the way."

"Not to mention plasma relies on heat and firing it in the vacuum of space would drain most of its energy even if it did hit its target," responded Shepard.

Ash shrugged. "So, what's that mean then? In order to hit us quickly, they'd need mass accelerator weapons, but we have kinetic shields strong enough to put most of the Alliance Fleet to shame. So… maybe they're bluffing?"

"Or maybe they're light-based," responded Satō as he looked at them all. "Look, I know it's a long shot because light-based weapons are less effective at a distance. But we're talking about geth here, the pinnacle of AI technology. Maybe they created a light-based weapon that would be effective as a surface to orbit weapon."

Garrus sighed heavily. "Well, we can't rule it out. Light weapons, like plasma, are usually only effective at close range because the farther the beam travels, the less powerful it is. But, if they've managed to find a way to calibrate a weapon to keep its energy over a great distance, not only would it bypass our kinetic barriers, but it'd melt the hull like butter," he said as he crossed his arms thoughtfully. "But I can't think of any way they'd be able to aim and fire something like that within seconds. Given the precision needed to fire a light-based weapon, they would have to already have our position locked."

"Got it Spectre!" shouted Pressly as the galaxy map changed from the Armstrong Cluster to the surface of the planet they were orbiting.

As soon as the holographic image popped up, Tali gripped the console. "Shepard… those are not like any geth structures I've ever seen!"

"So… it's not the geth?" asked Satō as he stared at the quarian in confusion.

"It is the geth! The coding they use spell that out clearly, but these…" she said as she waved at the several almost cone-shaped structures built directly into the ground. "These are different!"

"So, they got a new base design…" said Ash with a shrug.

"You don't understand! After the Morning War, the geth began manufacturing their own ships and structures. And for the last three hundred years, aside from shielding and weapon upgrades, they haven't changed their designs at all! They only use ships and bases that are perfectly efficient up to their knowledge. That's why they don't have viewports on ships because they are structural weaknesses," she said in exasperation.

"So, you're saying that they would have no need to improve on something they already thought was perfect," Satō responded as he scratched his scarred chin. "Then that means these bases are perfectly designed for something.

Tali looked down at her omni-tool again, then snapped her head up to Shepard. "I… I think it may have something to do with our main weapon."

Shepard eyed her curiously before realizing that she was essentially taking credit for Val'eda's quick thinking in order to hide her existence. "How do you figure?"

Tali stepped up to the CIC command position nervously. "I-If I may…" Shepard nodded and stepped aside. Tali took a few steps to the top of the ramp and looked over everyone else before snapping back into business mode. "Calculating the angle of the angle of the facilities, it may be a method of dispersing mass accelerator shots," she said as she worked the map to show their current distance from the base. "We came from the relay. If we were in planetary orbit, we would likely be within this area of the gravitational pull. From the angle of the bases, if we fired from this position, even at the speed of the Excalibur, the shot would be redirected into the soil around the base. It'd still do damage, but not nearly as much as intended!"

"Are you kidding me? They're predicting our actions now?" asked Garrus incredulously. "So, we move to a position outside of that range and fire, then bring the whole damn thing down on them!"

"According to their own transmissions, they have kinetic shielding up. Not to mention the radiation from Vamshi's sun would make it difficult to pinpoint the base anyway," said Liara as she shook her head.

"I think they're bluffing about the surface to air weapons. They have to be!" snapped Garrus.

"That's not a risk I'm willing to take," Shepard growled back at him as she stood next to Tali and stared at the holographic base. "What are you up to?" she asked seemingly nobody.

"Spectre! We have an incoming geth ship!" shouted Pressly from near the bridge.

She looked up at him wide-eyed. "Have they spotted us?"

"Impossible!" gasped Tali as she shook her head. "Even the geth do not have the technology to find this ship!"

"Then why are they headed straight for us!?" asked Ashley as she looked over Felawa's shoulder.

"Everyone shut up!" snapped Shepard in annoyance before pulling up her omni-tool. "Fire team, we have a potential incoming hostile. Do you have them targeted?"

"We had them locked as soon as they left Maji, Spectre," replied Gavos from the weapons bay.

"Good, when I give the order, you are to eliminate them with extreme prejudice," responded Shepard as the tracking officer put the ship's scans on the galaxy map.

"Understood, Spectre. Waiting on your call," said the fire team leader.

"Point seven AU… point five… point two…" said Pressly as he kept track of how far the ship was from them. The silence in the CIC was deafening as they all held their breaths and waited to see what the ship did. Finally, it stopped. "All movement from the ship has ceased!"

Tali stared at it with her hands resting on the rail of the command post when she saw her omni-tool flash. Pulling it up, looked at what Val'eda offered. "Shepard, it looks like they're sending a transmission…"

The spectre looked at her curiously before she played it. As the robotic voice spoke over the comm, everyone froze in place and stared wide-eyed at the holographic ship in front of them. "We are waiting, Spectre."

CODEX ENTRIES

SITREP | Terminology | Military
Short for 'Situation Report,' it's a phrase commonly used in the military to describe a briefing about a mission or project.