Chapter 59
Cockpit – SSV Normandy SR1
Shepard stood over Joker's shoulder, staring out of the viewport at the Hawking Eta's Chandrasekhar system that they were currently flying through. The entire system was barren of life save for the floating fuel depot stationed near the relay. Otherwise, there were two gas giants orbiting the star itself, leaving little room for life to grow. This was all beside the fact that the entire system was so close to the 5 Kiloparsec Ring that inhabiting it would have been difficult anyway.
But as they passed the planets by, Joker led them directly past the system and began flying through the Chandrasekhar Oort Cloud. Ice, rocks, dust, debris flew past the viewscreen as the Normandy made its way outside of the system. Joker looked over at his tracker and nodded. "Five minutes until we reach projected coordinates."
Despite having received the location of the Mu Relay a while ago, she had never actually come to check and see if it was truly here. If it wasn't, then they were all in trouble. Although, she started to wonder if never finding the relay would actually be a good thing considering Saren wouldn't have its location either. She stood staring as Joker looked down at his instruments again. "Heat increasing. Closing view screens," he said as he followed through. The armor plating folded over the viewscreens and locked into place as projectors showed what was in front of them.
"We're getting closer," said Shepard as she unfolded her armored arms and placed her hands on the back of the pilot's seat.
"Slowing to 500XC on approach," said the pilot as his eyes scanned every instrument in front of him. Suddenly, a small alert went off next to him. "Heat increasing. Changing approach vector," he said as he steered the ship lower through the heated cloud. Finally, cutting through the dust and superheated particles, she saw it. In the middle of a pocket of cold inside the cloud was the relay, and much to her horror it was active.
Turning to Wrex, she snapped, "Wrex, the rachni closed all of their relays, correct?"
The mercenary nodded. "Of course. They didn't want anyone finding any back doors into their little cluster."
She glared as she saw the glowing core of the relay burning as bright as a star in front of them. "Damn him…" she growled as she looked down at the pilot. "Joker, takes us through."
He nodded with a smirk. "On your orders, Shep," he said as he steered the ship, tilting it at an angle on approach. The burners turned its nose parallel to the massive structure. "Adams, disable stealth drive."
"Stealth is offline," came the engineer's voice through the comm.
"Engine ready for jump. Mu Relay in range," he said as he activated a control on the console next to him. Shepard looked over and saw Kaidan's seat, now empty, and felt her resolve steel inside her. "Initiating transmission sequence," he said as he sat back again in his seat. "Transit mass calculated for destination. Board is green. Saren," he started, his brow furrowing in anger. "We're coming for you." The ship was grabbed by the ray from the relay, and within seconds the Normandy was slingshotted through the tunnel.
In thirty seconds, they popped out of the other side of the tunnel and Joker's eyes immediately widened. "Adams!" he shouted as the sensors went ballistic.
Shepard looked between them, her heart beating faster by the second. Engineer Adams responded. "Stealth Drive engaged!"
"Report!" snapped Shepard as she looked back at the sensor officer who muted the shrill sound.
"We've got geth, Specter!" shouted Waaberi from her post. She looked at the spectre with panic in her eyes. "Thousands, tens of thousands! They're forming a web around the planet!"
Shepard turned back to the viewscreen as the officer brought the visual of the rust-colored planet up on the screen. And sure enough, geth were evenly distributed in front of the planet, covering it entirely in a net-like structure.
Joker looked up at Shepard curiously. "I mean… I can literally just fly between them…"
"No," said Tali firmly. Both Shepard and Joker looked up at her. "This is a web formation that they used in order to protect territory. They often do it on worlds they don't want intruders on," she said as she looked down at the pilot. "They have linked sensors in those ships that will detect you as soon as you pass through them."
"Then how do we get past them?" asked Garrus in irritation.
Tali looked back up at the viewscreen through her now armored helmet. "You'll have to break their formation. Make them move. When an enemy is detected, the ships will hunt them and create openings."
"Alright…" said Shepard as she stared back at the web formation. "How do we attack them without exposing ourselves?" she asked as she scratched her chin thoughtfully.
The Shepard – Balor System – Caleston Rift
Spectre T'Laya had been there for hours waiting for these morons to get their shit together. When she arrived, they were still gathering from other systems. Pirates were never punctual, however, leading to more waiting. She looked at her chronometer in the ship and shook her head. "Seven hours! Ugh!" she groaned. The assholes were gathering around an asteroid base they had set up.
She didn't know if it was the protheans, or someone else who came before them. But several of the asteroids in the Balor System were mined clean. In fact, they were mined so clean that one of the mineral rich asteroids had been hollowed out. Now, throw in a few pirates looking for a hideout so they can intercept eezo and lithium shipments from the corporate mining teams on Caleston and Bres, and you've got yourself a legitimate pirate operation.
Asteroid belts were perfect for hiding in or escaping to if someone gave chase. So, they'd likely never be caught. It was easy to just swoop out, grab a cargo ship full of eezo, and then take off before the corporations could even respond. And that's exactly why she was there. Eldfell-Ashland Energy was getting tired of their eezo shipments from Caleston getting taken by pirates, so they called the Council, and the Council called her. Lucky they did too given that the pirates were now gathering their forces in an attempt to take the mining base entirely for themselves. A bold move, and one that could make them rich if they pulled it off. But all that was boring stuff.
She laid on her back in her small personal ship that she had gotten brand new from Thessia the day Judge Teyra testified. Wanting to give it a strong name, she named it after her partner on Thessia who had impressed her greatly. And much to her pleasant surprise, nothing bad had happened to this one yet. She shook her head before reaching over and grabbing a bottle of juice from an Earthen fruit called a cranberry. She liked the taste, and supposedly it did good things for kidneys. Leaning back in her cushy bed again and looking up at the view projector on the ceiling of it, she went to take a drink.
But she stopped, her eyes wide as she saw one of the pirate ships explode into dust. Looking over, her sensors detected an Alliance Navy vessel. Zooming in on it for a visual, she sprayed cranberry juice all over the ceiling of the small vessel. Scrambling to her feet, she crawled over to the actual viewport and watched with wide eyes as the entire gathering of pirates began swarming towards the SSV Normandy.
The ship turned, then fled back through the relay, the pirates now angry and following it for revenge. There were way too many pirates for that vessel to handle alone. Activating the drives on her ship, she flew out of her hiding spot in the asteroid belt and through the relay tunnel. It was simple enough following the ships, which were no doubt following the Normandy. Her ship rocketed towards the edge of the system when suddenly her omni-tool pinged.
Looking down, she smiled, then laughed loudly as her omni-tool relayed [I wouldn't do that if I were you. ~Spectre Shepard] to her. "Well, did my work for me I guess," she said, both amused and lamenting that her trap on world wasn't going to be used.
Cockpit – SSV Normandy SR1 – Refuge Relay
Shepard smirked as she sent the message to her friend over her omni-tool. They had detected her ship while sitting in the system and decided to help her out with her goal. But Shepard didn't want her going through the Mu Relay and getting torn apart by the geth. Lowering her omni-tool, she viewed the scene out of the viewport.
"Fire Team, ready?" she asked with no-nonsense in her voice at all.
"Ready and waiting," said Gavos over the comm.
Looking down, she counted the seconds. "Fire!" The Normandy's accelerator cannon lit up the tiles beneath Shepard's feet, tracing all the way back to the CIC. Within seconds, the ship rocked backwards as the Excalibur Cannon fired a shot into space. "Wave two!" she shouted, and dozens of torpedoes launched from under the wings of the Normandy itself before streaking across the large gap between them and Ilos. "Adams! Activate Stealth Drive!"
"Activating Stealth Drive, Spectre!" came Adams' voice.
"Archer torpedoes fired! Beginning mass shift now!" barked Gavos as her team worked in a frenzy.
Shepard saw the torpedoes on radar. They were travelling slow enough that they wouldn't reach Ilos for another twenty years of left alone. But suddenly their mass shifted and lowered, and they began flying at light speed towards the wall of geth.
Finally, the first shot hit and shattered a geth vessel to pieces, causing it to fall and begin igniting in the atmosphere. Many of the geth ships flew out in a formation to find the perpetrator but were met with the torpedoes that had slowed once more, bypassing kinetic shields and slamming into their hulls with destructive force.
Right about this time, the pirate vessels began coming through the relay. They popped into the system in the dozens just as geth vessels broke the net formation to find their attackers. And now, they had a target. Shepard looked down at Joker. "You're up, Ace."
"Spectre Shepard, always leaving explosions behind her," he said playfully before steering the Normandy away from the relay. Despite his sarcasm, he flew flawlessly. Every explosion from the geth and pirates clashing, every ship flying apart, every blast of plasma and MAC fire, he avoided it all as if he were dancing with the Normandy.
Finally, out of the battlefield, Shepard turned to the others. "Shuttle bay, now!"
Surface of Ilos – Refuge System
Saren's piercing eyes were set in a permanent glare as he marched through the heavily forested area of Ilos. The protheans had inhabited this planet, but after fifty-thousand years, even their marvelous structures broke and bent to the will of nature. Unfortunately, that made his job a lot harder as the ivy and plant life grabbed and tripped him along the way. But it wasn't long before he saw the facility he was looking for. Purring lightly in appeasement, he ordered the geth to use their weapons and clear the door of any wild flora.
Seconds later, the thick door was blackened, but clean of vines and ivy. Despite the geth's plasma fire, the door still stood strong, a testament to the protheans' architecture. Looking over, the turian touched the panel next to the entrance and it lit up at his touch. Within seconds, he input the open sequence and stood there, watching as the door grinded through the many millennia of dust and grime that had built up.
Stepping away from the console, he watched as the door finally opened, and the lights inside of the facility began lighting up as if to guide his way. He took a step forward but stopped as the geth surrounding him began communicating with those mechanical clicks. Looking back at them, something in the sky caught his eye. Looking up, he growled to himself as he saw fire raining down as ships were destroyed outside of the world's atmosphere.
But it wasn't the fire raining from the sky that he had his sights locked on. Already in the atmosphere there was a large shuttle speeding directly for his location. He wasn't psychic, but he knew exactly who was on that shuttle. Turning around, he ordered his geth inside the facility before turning and firing three shots into the console with his pistol. It blasted into pieces, and the former spectre stepped inside the building, using the console to close the door. He glared up at the shuttle that was getting closer by the second, but the doors closed just as they arrived.
"Dammit!" shouted Shepard as she swerved the shuttle to a stop just outside the closed door. Turning to the quarian behind her, she smirked. "Good job tracking the geth here," she said before popping the door open.
"Mhm," was the only thing the quarian responded with.
Jumping out of the vehicle, Liara followed her and ran up to the panel next to the door. "Lucen'ka!" she shouted as she punched the console angrily. Everyone in the party looked at her in surprise. She saw their looks and put her hands on her hips. "Apologies. I don't usually swear like that."
"That was a swear?" asked Ashley curiously.
"Ha! Now you're learning how to be a krogan," said Wrex as he patted the asari heavily on the shoulder.
Liara shook her head angrily. "Everywhere he goes, nothing but disregard for prothean technology. Every microchip counts, and he keeps shooting everything he can get his hands on!"
Shepard sighed lightly. "Sorry about that, Liara. But we have bigger concerns at the moment," she said as she turned to the plasma-scarred door. "How the hell do we get this open?"
"The backup," said the asari, getting a look from Shepard. "All prothean science facilities have backup security overrides just in case something horrible goes wrong, or in case someone gets too… excited with their experimentation."
Cocking an eyebrow, Shepard asked, "Would that still be running?"
Nodding, the doctor pointed to the door. "Saren just opened the door and then closed it behind him. This means there is power to the facility, so the override should be working as well."
"Alright, then let's find it…" she said as she turned towards the shuttle. But she stopped in surprise as geth marched over the hill behind them. "Cover!" she shouted as she dove to the side, dodging a burst of plasma in the process. She rolled back onto her feet with her pistol now drawn as she activated her omni-tool.
Tali shot to the side using jump jets, a new addition she added to her armor. Wrex pulled his shotgun free and blasted the first two to pieces as they descended the small hill. But more followed behind them. Garrus hid behind the shuttle before taking his assault rifle and killing their shields, allowing for Ash to finish off a few more.
But they all went wide-eyed as the head of an armature popped up over the hill. "Shit!" shouted Shepard as she hid behind her cover. Activating her cloaking, she rolled out of cover and sprinted to it, but then screeched to a halt as she saw Tali jump through the air above her head. The quarian girl blasted the armature through its reticle as it charged, causing the head to explode just as she landed.
The body collapsed behind her as she pumped out the overclocked heat sink and put in another. Ash was the first to speak. "Hot damn, Tali. Only had those jets for a day and you look like you've mastered them," said the gunnery chief.
Tali looked at her and nodded. "Mhmm," she mumbled as she looked away and began walking up the hill.
Ash watched her go. "Uh, not for nothing, Shepard. But I think you need to have a chat with her. She seems… unwell," said Williams over a private channel.
"I'll work on it," responded Shepard as she directed the others to move forward. "Let's go! We're leaving the shuttle. I don't want any geth surprise attacks destroying our only vehicle." The spectre then turned to Liara curiously. "So, where about is this thing?"
"I'm not sure, Shepard," said the asari worriedly.
Garrus stepped forward with his omni-tool active. "I can find it," he said simply as he began scanning the doorway itself. Shepard leaned over and peeked at his omni-tool, impressed that he was able to see the numerous networks of cables running buried in the ground with a power scanner. Standing up, he moved along the wall leading up the hill.
Shepard nodded to the others and moved forward over the hill.
Prothean Security Bunker – Ilos
Shepard stumbled and nearly tripped as she began walking inside the hidden entrance. The entire thing had been covered in vines, making it hard to find a way inside the bunker they had spotted after killing wave after wave of geth put here to rid the world of the evidence that Saren no longer needed. Ash reached forward and caught her shoulder, lifting her effortlessly back to her feet. "Got ya, Skipper."
"Thanks," mumbled Shepard angrily as she reached the end of the hallway. Liara, like a starving varren diving onto a steak, immediately shot over to the console.
"This should be… and… here!" she exclaimed in excitement as the ancient door slid open.
Shepard looked inside in confusion. "But… it's just a room," she complained as she tried to get her breath back.
"Actually, it's an elevator," said the asari as she stepped inside. Shepard stared at the asari woman, impressed with her continuously useful knowledge of prothean technology. Everyone boarded the elevator and waiting patiently as it went down, deep into the bunker.
Shepard held her pistol ready. She didn't know if the geth had, or even could figure out how to get down here, but she was ready regardless. Soon, the elevator stopped, and the door slid open again. She stared out into the darkened room, but moments later, a soft glow appeared in the floor and ceiling, showing a hallway with cracks running through the walls and floors, showing that it wasn't long for this world. The wild and merciless flora of this world was even growing through the cracks, somehow.
She activated her sensor vision in her helmet and stepped forward one step at a time. "Tali, Wrex, Garrus, you three stay in the elevator just in case." Without needing confirmation, she moved to the end of the hallway with Liara and Ash behind her, mimicking her delicate steps. The hallway opened up into a bunker with thick walls and multiple consoles.
"By the Goddess!" said Liara in a whisper as she saw the displays. "Shepard, may I?" The spectre nodded to the asari woman, and she stepped up to one of them. Her mouth curved into a playful smile as she activated and began typing on one. Suddenly, a holographic projector shot an image onto the wall above the console.
Shepard lowered her pistol and gasped as she saw Saren on screen walking with his small army of geth around him through a large, spacious corridor. Giggling to herself, Liara tapped a button on the console, causing an energy field to pop up in front of the surprised turian. "Liara, you gorgeous genius!" said Ash as she smiled at the image of Saren blasting the barrier with biotics with little luck.
The doctor's eyes widened, and she smiled lightly. "Um… thank you." Suddenly, her eye caught a flashing red emblem on the console.
"What is that?" asked Shepard as she spotted the target of her vision.
"An alert," she said as she pushed the icon. It flashed brightly then vanished. Ash nearly jumped out of her armor as static suddenly started coming from the console. But the static cleared long enough to allow a voice to speak.
"—too late… unable to… invading fleets… no escape." Liara and Shepard both looked down on the console as the message hit them.
Ash looked at the two of them curiously. "Does any of that mean anything to you? Because it sounds like gobbledygook to me."
Liara nodded, her face grim, "It is prothean. It was a warning to Ilos. Perhaps it came too late." The asari shook her head as she placed her hand on her helmet in frustration. "Even with the Cipher, it's mostly static with bits of words here and there. It's 50,000 years old, so I don't expect we'll get much out of it."
The static cut out again for a moment. "—ot safe… seek refuge… -side the archives… Reapers… the Citadel… overwhelmed… only hope…"
Much to Shepard and Liara's surprise, the recording cut off and another one began playing, this one's voice very different. "—act of desperation… the conduit… all is lost… cannot be stopped! Cannot be stopped!"
The console went silent. Shepard turned to Liara. "That first was the warning, the last were someone's last words." Then Shepard turned and looked at it again. "What was this Conduit he was talking about?"
Liara tapped the chin of her helmet as she though. "As far as I know, it was only mentioned three times in the entirety of my work. But not once did they say what it actually was. Just… celebrating that it was built."
"Hmm…" said the spectre thoughtfully before looking back up to the asari. "How about the door?"
Liara looked over the console for a moment before typing on it again. Suddenly, a holograph popped up showing the front door to the facility, which was now opening. "Got it!"
"Good job!" said Shepard with a smile before she turned around. "Let's go! We have to get to Saren before he finds a way out of that cage!"
Prothean Facility Front Entrance – Ilos
"Spectre!" shouted Pressly over the comm as she finally reached the vehicle.
Reaching back to store her weapon, she activated her comm. "We're on the move, Pressly! What is it?"
"Spectre, the geth ships… they're leaving!" said the XO.
"Leaving?" asked Shepard in bewilderment. Suddenly, her brows furrowed. "Dammit! They're going on the attack!" she growled as she climbed into the large shuttle with her crew. "Pressly! Take the Normandy and get ahead of the geth! Send the Council a warning message, then go gather the Fifth Fleet!"
Suddenly, Joker cut in. "Shepard, what about you? We're not gonna just leave you down there!"
"Joker, you have your orders," she said as she lifted the shuttle off and sped it through the wide tunnel.
"Alright, alright. Just… don't die down there, alright?" asked the pilot as she cut the comm.
"Shepard! Geth ahead!" shouted Tali as she scanned her omni-tool.
"Dammit!" shouted the spectre saw a colossus fire off a blast. She jerked the wheel, making the vehicle flip upside down to dodge a blast of plasma from the colossus waiting at the end of the tunnel. Its head started to glow again as all the crew except Tali, who had a safety harness on in the front seat, fell to the roof of the vehicle. The shift in weight lowered the shuttle, causing the roof to drag across the ground as a geth rocket streaked through the tunnel and grazed the bottom of the vehicle. With the geth recharging, Shepard flipped it back over and hit the accelerator.
The colossus began lighting its head again, preparing to fire the large bolt of plasma, but it was too late. Shepard rammed its head directly, causing it to bend backwards. Its light went out and it dropped to the ground as the shuttle spun rapidly with the spectre trying to regain control. After a few seconds of spinning, she finally began flying it straight again leaving the remaining geth behind.
Ash was the first to get up in the back. "I think I threw up in my helmet…"
Garrus was next. "I'm pretty sure I just shit my crop out back there."
Wrex looked at them both and shook his head. "You all wouldn't survive an hour in a tomkah."
The asari doctor shook her head to clear her vision. "If this is what it feels like, I'd rather not try."
Shepard chuckled from the pilot's seat. "Sorry guys, my driving sucks, but it's a lot safer than letting the geth shoot us down."
After clearing his head, Garrus looked through the plasteel window at their surroundings. The walls on either side of them were clearly constructed, despite the plant life breaking through. But each wall had noticeable circular protrusions jutting from its normally smooth surface. "What do you think those are?"
Liara looked over after getting her bearings again and saw what he was referring to. Immediately, she spun around and pressed her face shield against the plasteel window. "Those look like cryotubes! Shepard! There's a chance we may find live protheans here!" she shouted excitedly.
Ash reached up and knocked on the asari's helmet. "Helloooo, Ilos to Doctor T'Soni! You do remember why we're here, right? Saren, key, massive fleet of giant maniac AI controlled starships trying to wipe out all of civilization?"
The asari nodded and took her seat again. "Apologies. I've spent half my life digging up fragments of prothean technology, fragments that got my teacher lauded all across Thessia and Council Space. But now here we are, in a prothean compound that still has power! Still has working technology! And potentially, actual protheans!"
Ash smirked and nodded. "I get ya, Doc. I'm just saying, if we stop Saren, you can come back here any time and catalogue to your heart's content. But right now, we need you here with us."
The asari smiled and nodded. "I understand. I'm here, do not worry."
"Shit…" said Shepard as she glared ahead of her. "More geth, hold onto your seats!" she shouted as she gripped the wheel. Seeing them coming ahead of time gave her enough warning to actually dodge the incoming blasts instead of improvising.
Despite her smooth attempts, however, the shuttle still got shot with plasma. Garrus split his legs apart as a burning hole formed between them in the floor. They were also unlucky enough to have gotten hit in the windshield from a stray shot, causing the plasteel to bubble inward as it melted. Tali simply took her shotgun and blasted the superheated bubble clean out of the windshield from the passenger seat.
Shepard swerved around a corner and flew down another large corridor with pods sticking out of them. Liara looked at all of them and shook her head. "So many… how did they sustain power this long?"
Garrus shook his head across from her. "That's impossible. Whoever is in these pods… or was in them has to be long gone by now," he said, getting a crestfallen look from the asari. "I… mean… I think. Who knows? We could find a few still sleeping the eons away," he said as he attempted to try and cheer her up.
She gave him a sad smile at the attempt. "Thank you, Garrus. But you're right. I let my optimism get in the way of reality."
This time it was Wrex who cut in. "If there's no power then what the hell was with the door?"
Ash nodded. "Wrex is right. And what about the computers?"
Liara sighed to herself as she leaned back in the banged-up shuttle. "The computers in the security bunker were off when we found them. There is a small chance mixed with some luck that a computer can survive that long if it's kept out of the elements. If I recall correctly, humans discovered such a thing on Mars, which allowed them to create FTL drive cores," she remarked, getting a look from Ash as if it just came to her.
Shepard spoke from the front this time. "As for the door, they're simple. I don't mean easy, but rudimentary in their design. The protheans used building techniques and materials we still have yet to discover, which makes it extremely hard for the elements to get through," she looked up at the walls with the flora breaking through. "Mostly anyway."
Liara nodded. "She is correct. Doors are simple in their design, so they do not have many small parts that would fall victim to time. Stasis pods however…"
Ash frowned. "Need to be on at all times and are nowhere near simple enough for time not to damage them."
"That is correct," said Liara sadly. But her sadness was forgotten quickly as the shuttle slowed to a quick halt.
Holding onto the safety strap with his harness actually secured this time, Garrus looked up to the front. "What is it, Shepard? More geth?"
"Hey Liara," called the spectre. The asari turned to her curiously. "That energy barrier you stopped Saren with is now in front of us."
The asari undid her harness, slid off her seat and looked through the hole in the wind screen. "Oh Goddess…"
Ash's brows furrowed. "You don't think it's Saren do you?"
Liara shook her head. "It's highly doubtful. He may have the Cipher, but I was only able to work those security terminals due to my prothean studies. He has no such knowledge."
"You sure?" asked Ash as she pointed out the back. "Because there's one behind us now."
Sighing to herself, Shepard pushed the wheel in on the shuttle. "I'm setting us down. Everyone, see if you can't find a console or something to help us open these up." Shepard parked the shuttle in the middle of the muddy stream flowing down the ancient hallway and opened up the back for the others to get out. Looking over, she noticed Tali was not attempting to get out of the vehicle. "You alright, Tali?"
"I'd prefer to stay in the vehicle," said the quarian in a stone-cold tone.
Slightly taken aback, Shepard nodded and stepped out herself. As soon as she did, Wrex hailed everyone. "Hey, we got another elevator over here!"
Liara immediately dashed over to it and managed to open it as the others gathered around. Garrus looked at the spectre, then the elevator, then back to the spectre. "Just so we're all on the same page here, we're assuming this is a trap, right?"
"Yes," said Shepard as she stepped aboard the elevator. Opening her omni-tool, she spoke, "Tali, we're going down. You guard the shuttle."
"Already on it," responded the quarian sourly.
Ash frowned. "Damn, she's still taking it hard, huh?"
"It was days ago, Ash. She hasn't even had the proper amount of time to mourn yet," said Garrus as he stood behind Shepard, towering over her.
"I guess so," said the gunnery chief. "God, that seemed like so long ago."
Everyone in the elevator nearly jumped out of their skin as lights began flashing in the elevator, each light scanning down their entire bodies multiple times. "What the hell is happening!?" asked Wrex loudly.
"Calm down," ordered Shepard as she looked up at the scanners in the corner. "They're not going to kill us, so don't worry about them and instead worry about what we're going to find below."
The rest of the ride down into the depths of the facility were silent. As the doors opened, everyone had their weapons out and ready. Shepard was the first to step off, keeping low in case Garrus or Wrex had to fire. Ash followed her with an assault rifle ready. Garrus was the last one off, turning back towards the elevator and preparing just in case anything funny happened. Shepard and Ash covered the front, and all the others kept their weapons ready, but lowered.
Finally, the tunnel broke out onto a small platform with another terminal on it. Walls on either side once again had stasis pods, but this time in tighter quarters right next to them. "Liara," called Shepard as she waved her up. The asari moved forward to see what she could do, but she stumbled back in surprise when a projector activated without her even touching it, landing on her behind. Shepard held her pistol aimed at it as she helped Liara up with her other arm. "What is it?"
"I… I can't tell," said Liara as she stepped up to it again. "It looks like a VI, but it looks as if it's badly damaged."
Liara was startled again by the hologram as it began speaking. "I do not sense the taint of indoctrination on any of you, unlike the other. There is still hope."
Liara stared at it wide-eyed. "An actual prothean VI! Intact!" she said, looking as if she was about to meld with herself.
Garrus stepped up to Shepard. "What's it saying?"
Shepard lowered her weapon. "It says we're not indoctrinated."
"My name is Vigil. You are safe here, for the moment. But that is likely to change. Soon, nowhere will be safe," responded the ever-shifting mass of photons in front of them.
Val'eda lit up on Shepard's wrist and began translating for the others each time Vigil spoke. Shepard held her up for the others as she questioned the curious thing. "Are you some kind of artificial intelligence?"
"Spectre Shepard," called Val'eda.
"What is it?" asked the spectre as she looked at the omni-tool on her wrist.
"I do not believe the Cipher gave you the ability to speak the prothean language. I can interface with Vigil and translate to it," said the AI.
"Go ahead," said Shepard as she looked towards the cluster of lights again. Val'eda quickly translated her question to the VI.
"I am an advanced non-organic analysis system with personality imprints from Ksad Ishan, chief overseer of this Ilos facility," he said dutifully.
Shepard's brows furrowed impatiently. "So, why did you bring us here? Every second we're here, Saren gets one step closer to the key."
"Saren believes he has what he needs, but I gave him a decoy that was created for this very situation," said the VI, surprising the spectre. "He now makes his way to the Conduit. You have time to spare."
"Okay… so why did you bring us here?" Shepard reiterated.
"You must break a cycle that has gone on for millions of years. But to stop it, you must understand, or you will make the same mistakes we did," said Vigil.
"We as in the protheans?" asked the asari curiously.
"Correct," responded the VI.
"What mistakes?" asked Garrus curiously.
The VI flashed briefly. "The Citadel is the heart of your civilization and the seat of your governments; as it was with us, and as it has been with every civilization that came before us. But the truth is that the Citadel is a trap. It is a massive mass relay that leads to dark space, the empty void beyond the galaxy's horizon. When the Citadel Relay is activated, the reapers will pour through. And all you know will be destroyed."
"Holy shit…" said Ash as her face became a mask of shock.
"How the hell did nobody know the Citadel was a relay!?" asked Wrex incredulously.
"The reapers were careful to keep the greatest secrets of the Citadel hidden. That is why they created a species of seemingly benign organic caretakers. These keepers maintain the station's most basic functions. This enables any species that finds the Citadel to use it without fully understanding the technology. Reliance on the keepers ensures no other species will ever discover the Citadel's true nature. Not until the relay is activated and the reapers invade," said the VI.
Wrex shook his head. "Lazy ass Council species get pampered by the keepers and fall into the biggest trap in the galaxy. Figures."
Liara fell to her knees as she heard the explanation. "The Citadel? A relay?" she said as she grabbed her head. "The reapers would flood through and wipe out the entire Citadel Fleet while their back was turned. They could erase everything on the Citadel without anyone else even knowing what is going on!" she said, then gently whispered, "Cutting off the head."
The VI spoke again. "That was our fate. Our leaders were dead before we even realized we were under attack. The reapers seized control of the Citadel, and through it, the mass relays. Communication and transportation across our empire were crippled. Each star system was isolated, cut off from the others. Easy prey for the reaper fleets. Over the next decades, the reapers systematically obliterated our people. World by world, system by system, they methodically wiped us out."
Shepard looked around at the capsules in the walls around her. "But… some of you survived?"
"Through the Citadel, the reapers had access to all of our records, maps, and census data. Information is power, and they knew everything about us. Their fleets advanced across every settled region of the galaxy. Some worlds were utterly destroyed, the earth scorched in their path, ridding entire worlds of all life. Others were conquered, their populations enslaved. These indoctrinated servants became sleeper agents under reaper control. Taken in as refugees by other protheans, they betrayed them to the machines. Within centuries, the reapers had killed or enslaved nearly every prothean in the galaxy. They were relentless, brutal, and absolutely thorough," said Vigil, its monotone voice somehow sounding melancholic.
"What the hell do the reapers get out of this cycle of theirs?" asked an outraged Ash.
"The reapers are alien, unknowable. Perhaps they need slaves or resources. More likely, they are driven by motives and goals organic beings cannot hope to comprehend. In the end, why they do it does not matter. Your survival depends on stopping them, not in understanding them," said the VI.
"So, what happened after they killed your people?" asked Shepard as she crossed her arms.
"Our worlds were stripped bare, harvested by the indoctrinated machine slaves. Everything of value, all resources, all technology was taken. Certain that all advanced organic life had been extinguished, the reapers retreated back through the Citadel Relay into dark space, sealing it behind them. All evidence of the reaper invasion had been wiped away. Only their indoctrinated slaves were left behind, abandoned. Mindless husks, no longer capable of independent thought, the indoctrinated soon starved or died of exposure. The genocide of the protheans was complete," finished Vigil.
Shepard shook her head at the information she was being given. When she was first told by Captain Anderson on their way to Eden Prime that she was in line for become a spectre candidate, this was not what she thought she'd be fighting in her first year. "Saren has been talking about needing a key to unlock the way for the reapers. What is he referring to and why does he need it?" she asked impatiently.
"The key he seeks does not exist," said Vigil, surprising everyone in the group. "Before the reapers attacked, we protheans were on the cusp of unlocking the mysteries behind the mass relay technology. Ilos was a top-secret facility. Here, researchers worked to create a small-scale version of a mass relay. One that linked directly to the Citadel, the hub of the relay network."
Liara looked at Shepard incredulously. "The Conduit is a back door onto the Citadel!"
Shepard turned back to Vigil, eyeing the hologram with furrowed brows. "What about the protheans here?"
"All official records of our project were destroyed in the initial attack on the Citadel. While the prothean empire came crashing down, Ilos was spared. We severed all communication with the outside world and our facility went dark. The personnel retreated underground into these archives. To conserve resources, everyone was put into cryogenic stasis. I was programmed to monitor the facility and wake the staff when the danger had passed. But the genocide of an entire species is a long, slow process. Years passed, decades, centuries. The reapers persisted, and my energy reserves were dwindling. I began to disable the life support of non-essential personnel," said Vigil, much to the horror of the entire group. "Eventually, the only stasis pods left were those of the top scientists. Even these were in danger of failing when the reapers finally retreated back through the Citadel Relay."
Ash stepped forward, furious at the VI. "There were hundreds of stasis pods out there! You just shut them down? You killed them?"
"This outcome was not completely unforeseen. My actions were a result of contingency programming entered on my creation," responded the VI.
Garrus shook his head. "Ten credits says they didn't tell the non-essential staff about this."
"Key personnel were saved due to my actions. When the reapers retreated, the top researchers were still alive. My actions are the only reason any hope remains," said Vigil, sounded dangerously close to defensive. "When the researchers woke, they realized the prothean species was doomed. There were only a dozen individuals left, far too few to sustain a viable population. Yet they vowed to find some way to stop the reapers from returning. A way to break the cycle forever. And they knew the keepers were the key. Before each invasion, a signal is sent through the station compelling the keepers to activate the Citadel relay."
"The keepers activate the relay?" asked Ash curiously.
"After decades of feverish study, the scientists discovered a way to lock the Citadel Relay. Using the Conduit, they gained access to the Citadel and made the modifications, locking the relay so that even the keepers could not activate it. This time, when Sovereign sent the signal to the Citadel, the keepers were unable to open the relay. The reapers were trapped in dark space," said Vigil.
"You said earlier that the key Saren was looking for didn't exist, is that true?" asked Shepard, her heart hammering as she realized that Saren wouldn't be able to open the relay.
"The scientists created the lock. They did not create a key. To do so would undermine the creation of the lock," said Vigil as he went static for a moment before returning. "However, the lead researcher on the project stayed here on Ilos. He was not satisfied with just locking the relay. He studied the Citadel, the relays, any information he had until he finally devised a method of permanently disabling the Citadel Relay."
"Coulda just said that at the start…" grumbled Wrex.
"Isn't the lock you placed unbreakable without a key? Wouldn't that mean it's already disabled?" asked Liara.
"The prothean lock on the relay is secure to most organics. But eventually, this Saren will give the Citadel over to Sovereign, and it will take control. Given enough time, he will figure out a way to bypass the lock," said the VI.
"What is this method?" asked Shepard urgently.
"The destruction code was here on Ilos, kept in the data banks for the next cycle to find. However, when this Saren received the decoy key I created, he destroyed the databanks, leaving them in ruin, and destroying the method with them," he said as Shepard growled and clenched her fist. "But he was not thorough. The destruction code still lives."
"Where!?" shouted Shepard impatiently. Suddenly, she was startled as one of the pods next to the VI slid open and bumped her. She stepped aside, and they all looked into it, seeing a cryogenically frozen prothean.
Liara's knees were weak as she gaped at it. Shepard eyed the alien before turning back to Vigil. "Is he still alive?"
"This is Ksad Ishan. He is still alive; however, he will be unable to wake. Due to his prolonged stay in cryostasis, his mind is still alive, but his body no longer functions. He is dead in all but his mind," responded the VI.
Shepard looked from the VI to the prothean again. "Wait… so in order to get the destruction code, we have to…"
"Ksad Ishan was the creator of the destruction code. He also had a fascination with the burgeoning species throughout the galaxy. With the information he gave me, as well as the display of biotics from the intruder Saren, I deduce that you should be able to use extrasensory connection to pull the schematics from his mind," said the VI smartly.
Shepard looked over at Liara who stared back at her. They both nodded as they took their helmets off. Liara reached up and gripped the back of Shepard's neck gently as they both laid a hand delicately on the frozen prothean's head. "S-Shepard… are you ready?"
"Yes. We have to hurry, so let's do this," she ordered, getting a nod from the asari.
Closing her eyes, the asari's grip tightened and the back of the spectre's neck. Opening her dark eyes, she said, "Embrace eternity…"
The pair of them fused together as one. One mind, one body, one spirit as they searched through the memories of the dying prothean. There were so many filled with sadness of his people being wiped out. Frustration and ineptitude, being unable to do anything about it. Then fierce determination. He had worked for months, years on a method to destroy the Citadel Relay for good. But finally, he had it! He created the blueprint, but he was all that remained. He was unable to use the Conduit to implement it and was unable to help his people return. So, he remained, determined to warn the next generation of the threat, determined to keep it from happening again.
Shepard and Liara snapped awake, their eyes widening as they looked at each other. Garrus stepped up to the pair. "What is it? Did you get it?"
"We got it!" said Liara with excitement in her voice again.
The spectre nodded and put her helmet back on. "It's a hack to bypass Citadel Control that orders the keepers to deconstruct the relay."
Ash smirked at her. "Gotta admit, that's pretty brilliant."
"I have stalled this Saren all I can. He has gotten through the final barrier and is powering up the conduit as we speak," said Vigil as his image flickered. Liara eyed the VI but said nothing as Shepard turned to the others.
"Alright. Saren has a head start, but he doesn't have the key he's looking for. Still, we need to get there and stop him before he's able to hand the controls over to Sovereign!" she ordered as she began marching towards the exit. As she did, her squad followed, and Vigil's image faded back into the darkness as the room around it powered down.
As they returned to the shuttle, Shepard lifted off the ground, handing Val'eda to Tali. "Here, catch up on everything while we fly," she commanded as the energy barrier vanished.
Hitting the accelerator, she made tight corners as she swooped past geth who fired at them relentlessly. Finally, they all saw their goal. It stood tall, but nowhere near as big as a normal relay. It was aimed with its rails pointed upwards, and currently its core was glowing wildly as the radiation shield gyrated madly. Due to all the geth that were currently blasting at them from below, she hazarded a guess that Saren had already gone through. Finally, she clamped her jaw shut, increased speed, and aimed up towards the relay as plasma splashed across their vehicle, melting it, and filling it with holes. But before any permanent damage could be done, the shuttle was grabbed be the Conduit's ray, then sling-shotted into the relay tunnel heading straight for the Citadel.
CODEX ENTRIES
5 Kiloparsec Ring | Astrology | Galactic Bodies
The 5 Kiloparsec Ring is sometimes referred to as the border to the galactic border. While its borders are nebulous and ever moving, colonization efforts and other attempts to expand throughout the galaxy avoid this border entirely, as the amount of radiation and gravitational force that radiates from the galactic core has a harsh, life sterilizing effect.
500XC | Terminology | Astrophysics
The term XC is an indicator of how fast a spacecraft is going beyond the speed of light. C represents the speed of light, while X stands in as the multiplier. Meaning that the phrase '500XC' means that the pilot is going 500 times the speed of light.
Lucen'ka | Derogatory Lingustics | Asari Alai
This curse is fairly straightforward and could be translated as "Lucen's breasts." It is very rarely used by any asari who wishes to have a public career, because while few actually still believe in the mythology of Athame and their twin disciples, Lucen and Janiri, insulting the goddesses is taken as a very serious offense.