"...then it might as well be tissue paper."

"But when it comes to protection from environmental issues..."

"As soon as the trees start shooting at..."

"Feros."

"Damn. Good point. Still, with the supplemental Elkoss plating..."

Kaidan sighed, and ran a hand down his face, and glanced at Tali. "You know, when I suggested they talk about something other than sniper rifles..."

"You were hoping for something other than an hour of arguing about armor types?" Tali sighed, and shook her head at Shepard and Garrus. "Nerds."

"Hey..." Shepard glared. "I represent that!" He started to say something else, but the communicator beeped.

Kirrahe's voice came over. "Comm check. Do you read me, Commander?"

"Loud and clear."

"Good. We'll start our push. We'll try to make it to the AA guns, but it might be up to you to finish the job. And Commander? If you see any way to undermine their defenses, we could use the help."

"Alright, people." Shepard hefted his rifle. "Let's go apply rule seven."

Tali tilted her head. "Rule seven?"

"When all else fails, blow shit up."

#

"Tali, turret controls." Michael tossed her one of the small explosive packs, then shifted position to snipe some of the oncoming geth.

The quarian set the charge, and then dove for cover. Wrex moved in and stomped, crushing the head of a half-destroyed geth still trying to get to its weapon.

"Communications disrupted." Tali got back to her feet and tossed off a salute. "What do I blow up next?"

"Geth comm units." He shrugged, and then glanced at Kaidan. "We've been a really bad influence on her."

#

He heard Ashley's voice on the comm. "We're getting pounded. Bunker up before the aircraft return."

"Tali, with me. The rest of you, cover us." Michael pointed. "Let's blow those refueling tanks before the aircraft take off again." He moved in, Tali on his heels.

#

"We've got access to base security." Kaidan looked over the hacked console. "Should be able to cut alarms from here. Might even be able to trigger alarms on the far side of the base. It'll clear the guards out for us, but they might be too much for Williams and the salarians to handle." He gave Shepard a worried look.

"I am not letting Williams have all the fun." Shepard's eyes didn't quite match the flippant remark. He shook his head. "Just disable the alarms. We can handle any guards inside."

Kaidan nodded. So far they were pretty unscathed, but from what they were hearing over the comms the salarians were taking casualties. The commander was more worried than he was letting on.

#

"Salarian prisoners?" Michael frowned.

"The captain said something about losing some men." Kaidan nodded.

Michael rubbed the back of his neck, and approached one of the cells. The salarian inside rose. "Who are you? Alliance, right? I knew someone would come. It tried to break me, but it couldn't. I shut it out."

It didn't read right. His instincts were screaming at him. "Nobody is going anywhere until I get some answers."

"Private Menos Avot of the Third Infiltration Regiment STG, sir. Captured while on reconnaissance six days ago. Glad to answer, sir. Never any questions from these bastards. Just whispers and poking and cutting. I'd have said anything to get out and get some payback. That's not too much to ask, is it? A little payback?"

Benezia's face flashed in his mind for a moment. Whispers. "What did they do to you, soldier?"

"Experiments, but I don't know what for. The effect of incessant whispering on my shortening temper? Who knows? I just need out."

"Something's not right here, Commander." Kaidan shook his head.

No. Something was definitely not right. "Setting him free could endanger the mission."

"No. No, I need to get out. This room is too small and it keeps talking and I really want to get out of here and get some work done. I need to get out. Let me out."

"Commander..."

"We can't take the chance." Michael shook his head.

"Can't take the chance..." The salarian waved a hand. "No chance. I need to do what it says. I have to. Let me out. Let me out. Let me out. Let me out. Let me out."

There was a thumping sound as the salarian rammed himself into the door. He left a small trail of blood as he slumped to the ground.

Kaidan swallowed. "This has to be more of that indoctrination we've heard about, Commander. What is this place?"

"I don't know." Michael narrowed his eyes. "But I don't like it. Let's find our target and blow it the fuck up."

#

The strange husk beings were all over the lab. The krogan in the tanks appeared to have some similar circuitry embedded in them. Wrex punched one of the tanks, but nodded to Michael. Michael returned the nod.

Then he stepped back and let Wrex deal with the scientist in charge. It was... messy.

#

"Don't shoot. Please, I just want to get out of here before it's too late." There was an asari cowering under a desk.

"Everyone in this place is trying to kill me."

She rose, and gestured at herself. "Do I look like a soldier? I'm a neurospecialist. And this job isn't worth dying over. Or worse. You think indoctrination only affects prisoners? Sooner or later, Saren will want to dissect my brain too."

That was very much not helping her case. "I thought this was a breeding facility."

"Not this level. We're studying Sovereign's effect on organic minds. At least, that's what I assumed. Saren kept us in the dark as much as possible."

"You helped him and you don't even know why?" Kaidan stared at her.

"I didn't have the option of negotiating. This position is a little more..." She shook her head. "Permanent than I'd expected. But I can help you. This elevator behind me goes to Saren's private lab. I can get you in." She swiped a card. Wow. Impressive. "See? Full access. All of Saren's private files. Are we good? Can I go?"

No. "What were you studying here?"

"It's that ship, Sovereign. It emits some kind of..." She shrugged. "Signal. Undetectable, but it's there. I've seen the effects. Saren uses it to influence his followers, to control them. It's called indoctrination. Direct exposure to the signal turns you into a mindless slave, like the salarian test subjects. But there's collateral damage, too."

He asked her a few more questions, and noted that both Kaidan and Liara were paying close attention to the answers. Good. Maybe those two could make sense of it all later. Though the idea that Saren might not be the one controlling the ship was... A bit more disturbing than he liked. He ran the math as she spoke, and there was unfortunately really only one conclusion.

"You conducted brutal experiments on helpless test subjects. You helped Saren. You don't get to live."

"I just did what I was told. I didn't have a choice. I'm sorry."

"Sorry doesn't help your victims."

"No. No." She started to run, and he shot her in the head. There was a time for diplomacy, and there was a time for guns. He headed into the lab.

#

Kaidan spared a glance for the corpse. As much as he didn't like the idea of gunning down an unarmed woman, he couldn't actually say with certainty that Shepard was wrong. He sighed, and followed Shepard into the lab.

#

"Commander, look over here. It's another beacon. Like the one on Eden Prime."

Michael headed in the direction of Kaidan's voice. Sure enough, there was another beacon. Glowing. Damn thing was practically taunting him. He sighed. "Well..." He took a deep breath. "This is going to suck." He walked to the beacon, and touched the controls.

Images flooded into his head once more.

#

He moved in as soon as Shepard collapsed, helping him back to his feet. Kaidan ran the medical scanner over him. "Commander?"

"I was right." Shepard rubbed the back of his neck. "It sucked. But..." He nodded. "We'll sort it later, but I think I might have what we need now. Maybe."

Liara grinned. Dammit, she really was going to dissect him this time.

#

They headed back up and saw a hologram of Sovereign hanging in the air. Wrex sighed. "I get the feeling something bad it about to happen."

"You too?" Michael shook his head.

"You are not Saren." The voice came from the hologram.

"What is that?" Kaidan frowned. "Some kind of VI interface?"

"Rudimentary creatures of blood and flesh. You touch my mind, fumbling in ignorance, incapable of understanding."

"I don't think this is a VI..." Kaidan stared.

"This is a realm of existence so far beyond your own you cannot even imagine it. I am beyond your comprehension. I am Sovereign."

"Sovereign isn't just some Reaper ship Saren found." Michael folded his arms. "It's an actual Reaper."

"Reaper? A label created by the Protheans to give voice to their destruction. In the end, what they choose to call us is irrelevant. We simply are."

Wrex scoffed. "The Protheans vanished 50,000 years ago. You couldn't have been there. It's impossible."

"Organic life is nothing but a genetic mutation, an accident. Your lives are measured in years and decades. You wither and die. We are eternal. The pinnacle of evolution and existence. Before us, you are nothing. Your extinction is inevitable. We are the end of everything."

"Whatever your plan is, it's going to fail. I'll make sure of that." Michael narrowed his eyes.

"Confidence born of ignorance. The cycle cannot be broken."

"Cycle? What cycle?" Kaidan asked.

"The pattern has repeated itself more times than you can fathom. Organic civilizations rise, evolve, advance. And at the apex of their glory, they are extinguished. The Protheans were not the first. They did not create the Citadel. They did not forge the mass relays. They merely found them, the legacy of my kind."

"Why would you construct the mass relays, then leave them for someone else to find?"

"Your civilization is based on the technology of the mass relays, our technology. By using it, your society develops along the paths we desire."

"They're harvesting us." Kaidan took a half step backward. "Letting us advance to the level they need, then wiping us out."

"You're not even alive. Not really." Michael shook his head. "You're just a machine. And machines can be broken."

"Your words are as empty as your future. I am the vanguard of your destruction. This exchange is over."

And something exploded.

#

"Commander?" Joker's voice came over the comm. "We got trouble?"

"Lay it on me, Joker." Michael shook his head. "I love bad news."

"That ship, Sovereign? It's moving. I don't know what you did down there, but that thing just pulled a turn that would shear any of our ships in half. It's coming your way, and it's coming hard. You need to wrap things up in there - fast."

"This console is shot." Kaidan gestured at the controls in front of them. "Orders, Commander?"

"We'll head for the breeding facility. Time to blow this place to hell."

"Right, Commander. I'll meet you there. Joker out."

#

"Commander?" Liara glanced at him.

"We can discuss things back on the ship." Michael gave her a reassuring nod. "The last thing I'm going to be intimidated by is a giant cockroach." He hefted his rifle. "I'm from New York."

#

"Tali, there's the AA gun." He gestured. For a moment, he thought he heard her giggle as she headed that way. He shrugged, and put an explosive round in one of the oncoming krogan.

"That's nineteen for me." Garrus shifted his position.

"Only nineteen?" Michael sniped one of the geth drones. "You getting sick or something, Vakarian?"

"Please, those drones only count for a quarter of a kill."

"Says who?"

There was a boom. Kirrahe's voice came over the comm. "Good work on the gun, Shadow team. Now it's our turn."

#

Joker brought the Normandy in, and the crew began carrying the nuke off and putting it into place. Kaidan shook his head. "Bomb is in position, we're all set he-"

Ashley's voice came over the comm. "Commander, can you read me?"

"The nuke is almost ready. Get your ass to the rendezvous point, Williams."

"Negative, Commander. The geth have us pinned down on the AA tower. We've taken heavy casualties. We'll never make the rendezvous in time."

Shit. "Hold tight. We're coming to get you."

"Negative. Just make sure that nuke is set. We'll hold them as long as we -"

"It's okay, Commander." Kaidan glanced up from where he was working on the nuke. "I need a couple of minutes to finish arming the bomb. Go get them and meet me back here."

"You keep that nuke safe." He nodded to Kaidan and started moving.

#

More krogan and geth. Liara used her biotics to pick up a krogan and bowl over a half dozen geth. Maybe it wasn't just Tali they'd been a bad influence on.

#

"Reinforcements. We'd better hurry." Garrus gestured at the ship coming in.

"Heads up, L-T. We just spotted a troop ship headed to your location."

"It's already here. There's geth pouring out all over the bomb site."

Fuck. "Can you hold them off?" Michael glanced in the direction the ship had gone.

"There's too many. I don't think we can survive until you get here." Kaidan's voice was tight. "I'm activating the bomb."

"What the hell are you doing, Alenko?" Michael narrowed his eyes.

"I'm just making sure this bomb goes off. No matter what." Kaidan was silent for a moment. "It's done, Commander. Go get Williams and get the hell out of here."

"Screw that. We can handle ourselves. Go back and get Alenko."

If those geth managed to disarm or even relocate the bomb then... He shook his head, and turned around. "Alenko, radio Joker and tell him to meet us at the bomb site."

It took Kaidan a moment to respond. "Yes, Commander. I..."

"You know it's the right choice, LT." Ashley's voice said. He could see Tali start shaking. Wrex put a hand on the quarian's shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Ash. I had to make a choice."

"I understand, Commander. I don't regret a thing."

No. The regrets were going to be his.

#

Over the radio, he could hear Ashley's team fighting. They were going to have one hell of an honor guard on their entrance to Valhalla. "Commander, set that nuke and get out. We can't hold them... Damn it. Suppressing fire. Cover your flank. Cover your -" The comm went dead. He heard Tali let out a ragged gasp.

Michael growled, and hurled a grenade into a group of geth.

#

For a moment, he thought they were clear. And then something exploded. It knocked Kaidan and the other crewman by the bomb off their feet. Michael whirled to see Saren. Dammit, why hadn't anyone told him that bastard was a biotic? He dodged the attack, rolling into cover. Too close of range for the rifle. He came up, firing the sidearm. It failed to get through Saren's barrier, and he ducked back.

"I applaud you, Shepard. My geth were utterly convinced the salarians were the real threat. An impressive diversion." Saren leaped down from his glider. "Of course, it was all for nothing. I can't let you disrupt what I have accomplished here. You can't possibly understand what's really at stake."

"This isn't complicated." He shook his head. "You'll do anything to get power. Even joining with the Reapers."

"You've seen the vision from the beacons, Shepard. You, of all people, should understand what the Reapers are capable of. They cannot be stopped. Do not mire yourself in pointless revolt. Do not sacrifice everything for the sake of petty freedoms. The Protheans tried to fight, and they were utterly destroyed." Saren waved a hand. "Trillions dead. But what if they had bowed before the invaders? Would the Protheans still exist? Is submission not preferable to extinction?"

His father's foot had connected with his ribs just moments after asking a similar question. "I'd rather die than live under the rule of those machines."

"Now you see why I never came forward with this to the Council. We organics are driven by emotion instead of logic. We will fight even when we know we cannot win. But if we work with the Reapers - if we make ourselves useful - think of how many lives could be spared. Once I understood this, I joined Sovereign, though I was aware of the..." Saren shook his head. "Dangers. I had hoped this facility could protect me."

"You're like every other poor bastard in this place. A tool Sovereign can use, then cast aside."

"I've studied the effects of indoctrination. The more control Sovereign exerts, the less capable the subject becomes. That is my saving grace. Sovereign needs me to find the Conduit. My mind is still my own..." Saren shrugged. "For now. But the transformation from ally to servant can be subtle. I will not let it happen to me."

Stupid and crazy. And just competent enough for those two things to be a deadly combo. "I'm not like you. I'd rather die fighting than live as a slave."

"I'm not doing this for myself. Don't you see? Sovereign will succeed. It is inevitable. My way is the only way any of us will survive. I'm forging an alliance between us and the Reapers. Between organics and machines. And in doing so, I will save more lives than have ever existed. But you would undo my work. You would doom our entire civilization to complete annihilation. And for that, you must die."

Michael came up shooting.

#

Saren threw a grenade, and the shockwave knocked him off his feet. Worse, it knocked his rifle out of his hands and sent it into the water.

Before he could find it, Saren grabbed him, lifting him by the throat. Something else exploded, and Saren turned towards it. He punched the turian in the face, and they both fell.

Michael grabbed his sidearm again, but Saren was already back within range of his glider's shields. Alarms started going off. He looked around for his team.

Wrex was lifting a piece of rubble while Tali pulled Garrus out from under it. Liara moved towards Kaidan, who was holding his ribs and apparently unable to stand. The other crewman lay face down in the water, half his head gone. Michael growled, and went to pull Kaidan to his feet.

The Normandy landed, and they stared moving towards it. Kaidan stumbled and nearly fell again. Michael caught him, then slung him over his shoulder and carried him into the ship. As soon as they were on board, he yelled for Joker to get them moving.

"Everybody hang on." Joker's voice came back over the comm.

He set Kaidan down, and patted his shoulder. Kaidan nodded. Tali was staring at the hatch. Michael walked over and put a hand on her shoulder. She turned, and then leaned into him. He sighed, and hugged her as she started to cry.