The Geth fleet didn't detect the Normandy as it dove into the planet's atmosphere. With its nose pointed downward the ship flew in toward the ancient ruins that marked Ilos. Sensors quickly detected the presence of Geth power signatures and what looked like a very abnormal Turian life sign. Pressly confirmed the location and left the final approach to Joker. The veteran navigator of the Normandy took in a breath. For all his faith in Joker's flying ability, he still expected the ship to go smashing into the ground. But if their deaths gave Shepard and her team the necessary opening to stop Saren, then… he could, for lack of better wording, live with such an end.
As the ship descended the cargo bay ramp opened. Behind the driver's seat, Shepard gave one last glance to her team of seven. Every seat was full, with Wrex, Tali, and Liara on one side and Garrus, Kaidan, and Robert on the other. Ashley was at the gunner's seat beside Shepard. Everyone was fastened in.
"Hold on!" she called out. An active feed to the ship showed the rapidly-approaching optimum launch point. "This is going to be close!"
When the point was reached Shepard jammed the throttle. The Mako shot from the Normandy and plunged to the surface of Ilos. The thruster jets built into the Mako's belly fired to slow descent to non-lethal levels. Above them the Normandy leveled out. Joker narrowly evaded a spire in the ruins while maneuvering the ship to return to orbit.
Below the Mako, the roar of the Normandy's engines brought Saren's attention. He looked up in time to see the Mako drop. With the new enhancements he issued orders to the Geth, summoning his rearguard to this spot to crush Shepard and her people, while he and the bulk of his forces continued on to a tunnel ahead.
While the Mako descended Ashley triggered the vehicle's weapon systems, using the scope to zoom in on Saren as he walked into the tunnel. A big four-legged Geth platform stepped between them. A plasma shot rose in the air toward the Mako and splashed against its protective fields. "Barrier holding," Ashley confirmed.
Shepard didn't react. She was busy guiding the Mako in. As the ground loomed she watched the door behind Saren begin to close.
Everyone shook violently against their safety restraints when the Mako slammed into the ground. It rolled forward from momentum, heading for the closing door. Shepard nearly hit the throttle to try and get through just to hold back. She knew it wouldn't work, and getting the Mako damaged and stuck was not acceptable. She slammed the break instead. Everyone watched in horror as the big Prothean blast doors closed ahead of them, barring the way, and seemingly ensuring a crash.
But there was no final impact with those doors, simply the lurch of the Mako coming to a stop, mere centimeters short.
Immediately Ashley turned the turret away from the doors. "Geth on all sides, ma'am," she said. "And there's not a lot of room for maneuver."
"Tali, check the shocks, I think one of them failed from the landing," Shepard ordered. She pulled the Mako away from the door and executed a half turn in reverse, presenting the broad side of the vehicle to the door and the opposite end of it. "Ashley, stay on that gun, use your discretion. Everyone else, we need to clear the Geth!"
By now everyone was unlatching themselves from their seats. None were surprised by the fact Shepard beat them to the door.
The incoming Geth fire was vicious. The Mako gave them all initial cover, but its particle barriers couldn't withstand the assault for long. To either side Geth platforms were lining up on higher ground to pour fire down. Others were coming from the opposite direction of the door.
Once outside Shepard immediately began tracking targets. Her biotics flared to life and went out in bolts of dark blue matter. Upon impact the spatial warping her attacks caused sent Geth flying into the air, flailing and utterly helpless. Kaidan, first behind Shepard, picked them off with his rifle.
Toward the other end, Wrex and Robert moved ahead. Wrex absorbed shots with a biotic field and retorted with an assault rifle. Robert called upon his recent training and brought to bear his lightsaber to deflect as much incoming fire as he could. Behind him Garrus raised his sniper rifle and began to pick off the targets showering fire on Robert and Wrex.
Liara moved to assist Shepard. Biotic energy wreathed her figure and she threw a bolt of the dark matter into the midst of several Geth platforms on one of the upper levels of the ruins. The dark matter expanded into a swirling, angry vortex, a singularity that lifted all of the Geth from their feet. They rotated around the singularity. Kaidan began gunning them down.
Before he could finish them off, Shepard threw another biotic pulse toward them. It struck Liara's singularity. The energies mixed and expanded. In a burst of power the singularity exploded, sending the Geth platforms caught in it flying in all directions. They flew with such force they were smashed and broken upon impact.
On the other flank, Garrus' sniper work picked off Geth platforms one by one behind Robert's protection. Wrex moved back into cover and continued to fire into the Geth.
All during this time, the Mako's guns roared. The coaxial machine gun mowed down Geth platforms charging toward them, stopping when necessary to let the weapon cool. Whenever Ashley did so, she made sure to trigger the main gun, which never failed to nearly obliterate the Geth in proximity to its shots.
And yet… the Geth kept coming.
"We've got to get through that door!" Shepard shouted.
"The control to it must be on a remote." Kaidan lowered his weapon and used the omnitool to scan the door. "We'll never blow it down with the Mako's main gun, that's for sure."
"And I don't like our odds for fighting through this attack," Garrus added. After speaking he pinpointed a Geth sniper targeting Shepard from behind and fired. The tell-tale red beam of the Geth sniper vanished.
Shepard stepped back into cover, Liara doing the same. She looked across to the others. "Robert, can you open it?!"
Robert let his arms continue to move almost on their own accord while thinking about it. He knew he was capable of some major feats now. But could he open that door? And could he do it without losing control of the power?
"Robert?!"
Shepard's voice worked to compel his focus on the matter. The truth was, he had little choice. He had to do it. Without doubt. Or they'd never get out of here, Saren would win… and he would fail Julia and the others. He'd promised to come home, so come home he would.
"I need a minute!" Robert deflected another few shots, sending one of them into the flashlight head of a Geth and wrecking it. Once he was in cover he shut off the lightsaber and returned it to his belt. He got onto his knees and looked up at the door. Inside of him a swell of power rose, ready for use, as if the Flow of Life itself was responding to his need. While gunfire continued around him Robert drew in a breath and focused that burgeoning power within.
He brought his hands up and let his power flow through them, using them as a physical focus. He pressed against the door, demanding it open, willing it open.
Somewhere metal protested. Slowly the giant door slid open, screeching as it did.
Behind him Shepard jumped into the Mako. "Tali, are we good?"
Tali rose from the compartment below the cargo area. "I replaced a couple of bolts and re-calibrated the mass effect field generators. The Mako can move."
"Help the others give cover fire. We're going through the door now," Shepard ordered. She pulled the harness over her chest and reached for the driving controls.
Tali nodded and pulled her shotgun out from the small of her back. She jumped out of the Mako as the main gun roared again. The blast blew apart another group of Geth. One who managed to avoid more than superficial damage went down to a blast from Tali's gun. Nearby Liara generated a biotic field to protect Wrex and Kaidan as they returned fire.
Garrus returned his sniper rifle to its attachment point on his back. As the weapon shifted into its more compact non-use state, he reached down and gripped Robert's arms. "Come on," he said. "We've got to get you through the doors."
Robert let Garrus lift him. He replied only with a nod. Sweat filled his eyes and a strain made him feel like his body, even his inner self, wanted to come apart. The engines keeping the door closed were fighting him, trying to snap it closed. Given the Mako was only a quarter of the way through, he couldn't let his grip up.
At the halfway point a cry came from behind. Kaidan stumbled through the door clutching his leg, the victim of a direct hit that broke through his protective barrier. Tali rushed to his aid. Robert felt Kaidan's pain, his fear, and what felt like shame at being the one to get hit and thus slow his allies down. Those feelings, and those of the rest of the team, threatened to distract Robert's focus. The well of power he was channeling threatened the same.
The Mako cleared the door and Shepard stopped. She jumped from the Mako and advanced, shotgun in hand. Robert sensed why immediately; the Geth were gathering behind them, looking to push through. He felt Liara's strain, and Wrex's; they were trying to hold the fire back with biotic fields while Garrus got Robert through the door's threshold. "If you have to, leave me," he rasped. "Stop Saren."
A part of him recoiled at the statement. Not just the part that wanted to live, but the part that loved his friends, his family, that knew how Julia and Angel and Zack and Beth and all of the others would take it to find out he died here on this dead world…
"Not happening," Garrus insisted, helping Robert through. "There might be more doors further down we'll need you to open." There was a hint of humor in the Turian's voice that, even with everything he was focusing on, made Robert grin.
The others filed in behind them, Shepard coming last to cover Liara. "We're in!" she shouted.
Much to his relief, Robert relaxed. He felt the energy flow cease and his power released the doors. The machines driving them slammed them closed just as a Geth platform rushed to get through. It was flattened for its trouble.
"How are you?" Tali asked Robert. "You look pale."
After removing his helmet Robert wiped at his sweat-drenched forehead and nodded. "Yeah, I feel it too. The machinery here is pretty powerful, and I'm not used to throwing that much power around and controlling it." He drew in a breath. "Let's get going, I'll recover in the Mako."
"Just what I was thinking," said Shepard. "Let's go people!"
The Alliance military liaison office at C-Sec HQ was found in the administrative section of the structure, closer to the Presidium side than the side that led into the lift tubes toward the Wards. It was important enough that the Alliance budgeted a secretary/aide. Zack's predecessor, an Alakin army officer, had thus hired a Turian female, Kalera, with brownish coloring and gray eyes. "Commander?" she asked, standing at the opening to the inner office. "Officer Bailey is here to see you."
"Send him in." Zack looked up in time to see the older, middle-aged C-Sec officer step in. Zack had the feeling the Turian-dominated force assigned Bailey to Zack simply out of disrespect for Bailey… and perhaps for Zack. "What can I do for you?"
"I'm just confirming those shipment of pulse pistols arrived," Bailey said. His voice was rough and gravelly; that and his accent reminded Zack very much of Colonel Sam Tigh of the Colonials.
Zack quickly checked his records. "Yes, I've got the shipment here. We routed it here aboard the Starship Barroso. They've already delivered it to a holding warehouse in Zakera Ward leased by the Alliance. I've got the location here."
"Thanks." Bailey shook his head. "It's nuts. We're expecting Saren and his Geth to attack, and they're still bothering about the pulse pistols."
"It's because they're a non-lethal option, and C-Sec's eager to make use of them, I thought?" Zack asked.
"Yeah. It makes sense to me. Maybe people will stop trying Suicide by Cop." Zack noticed Bailey's pained look which quickly disappeared. "And fewer shooting fatalities is always useful. Although we'll still have to be careful about the Quarians."
Zack nodded. "I can imagine. Although are they really that much of a problem? I've met the Quarians before, I even had a Quarian kid help my ship deal with the Batarians."
"I'm sure they were a help, but the Quarians… they don't have the most respect for property, you know what I mean?" Bailey shook his head. "The damndest thing is that they're otherwise the easiest species to deal with. They stay in their shelters and work well if they're given jobs. But we still end up hauling in the new kids all the time on petty theft. They're always grabbing tools or materials when they shouldn't."
"How much of that comes from prejudice, though?" Zack asked. "I mean, people assuming a Quarian must be a thief?" He thought back to Vidinos, the Turian special forces officer who had proven so bigoted he'd even insisted Zack shouldn't answer distress signals from Quarian ships.
"You can usually tell the genuine thefts from the false alarms," Bailey said. "If you've got the brains God gave you, anyway. If someone comes up saying a Quarian stole their credit chit or some fancy jewelry, it's usually false. If it's a tool or some piece of technology, on the other hand…" Bailey shook his head. "With the pulse pistols, we'll have to do tests to ensure they don't disrupt a Quarian's suit."
"It'd help if you had a Quarian on the force," said Zack. "But from what I've seen, there's not a single Quarian in C-Sec."
"No Vorcha, Krogan, Drell, or Hanar either, Commander. And obviously no Batarians. C-Sec doesn't discriminate, we simply don't get some species volunteering." There was something in Bailey's voice that told Zack it wasn't so simple. "Anyway, I'd better get back to it."
"And I have to do the same," Zack said. He sighed. "I've got a mountain of paperwork on this job." He checked his first report. "And people demanding I have C-Sec do this or that. As if I can command you people to do anything."
"I don't envy your crank notes."
"Yeah. How about this?" Zack called up one. "'C-Sec is allowing a brothel to operate in full view of the Presidium. This is unacceptable and I urge you to do what you must to rectify this intolerable situation.' Signed by… someone I don't know."
"A what? A brothel?" Bailey chuckled. "Let me guess? Some idiot who thinks that's what the Consort is running?"
"The Consort?" Zack blinked.
"An Asari Matriarch named Sha'ira. She runs things out of a building on the Presidium, across from the Embassies. Some kind of self-help thing, I hear. Among other things." Bailey shrugged. "Even if she's running a brothel, Sha'ira has so many connections I'm not sure we could do anything about it."
"Well, not my problem anyway." Zack removed the messages from his screen. "So… have you heard anything about this supposed attack?"
"They treat us like mushrooms, especially Humans," Bailey groused. "You extraversals know that one, don't you?"
"Kept in the dark and fed on crap," Zack said as reply. "Yeah."
"I'd use a longer word than 'crap', but it'll do." Bailey moved for the door. "I'd better file this with my superiors. Thanks for your time, Commander."
"I'm not going anywhere," Zack answered. Once Bailey was gone he sighed. He glanced toward the small window that faced the Presidium. After several days on the Citadel he was starting to enjoy the view.
Depending on one's point of view, it was a good or bad thing that the one visible establishment through the window was an outdoor bar. From here Zack could watch members of many species drinking away their worries. A familiar urge came to him. And with practiced precision he forced it away, after which he glanced at his omnitool. It activated its interface and displayed the time in both Citadel and Alliance Interuniversal Standard. He glanced back toward the bar one last time. A part of him considered whether it would really hurt to have just one drink. Just one. One of the local types. He'd heard good things about Serrice Ice Brandy.
But he knew the truth. The same truth his mother had tried and failed to instill in his father, the truth he'd tried and failed to do the same with. And he knew that, especially with how he felt, one would definitely be too much. Instead he would stay and fulfill his appointment to his psychiatrist for a private session. Or as private as he could get half a galaxy and a universe away from New Liberty.
Zack walked out of the office. The outer area was very small, dominated by the desk behind which Kalera was sitting. "I'm going to be out for a few hours," he said. "Log anything coming in for when I get back."
"Understood, Commander," was the immediate reply.
Zack closed and locked his inner office door before departing. He took the lifts into Aroch Ward. The apartment that the Alliance Defense Command rented for him as liaison officer was one of the mid-range apartments, in the upper floors of a residential tower known as the Laranis Complex. From what he'd observed since arriving, the Asari were the most plentiful species in the tower, including almost all of the personnel. A lavender-complexioned Asari gave him a lovely smile as he walked past the reception desk toward the lifts. "A good day, Commander?" she asked pleasantly.
"So far… T'Mara, isn't it?"
His response was a smile that made his heart ache. "You remembered," the Asari said. "Thank you… are you alright?"
Zack forced the sad look from his face. "I'm sorry, you just… reminded me of someone."
"Oh?" After a moment the Asari maiden put it together. Her own pleasant look slipped away. "I'm sorry. I didn't know…"
"It's alright." He moved on to the lift beside the desk and hit a key to summon the lift's car. As he waited he looked back to T'Mara and asked, "How is your day, by the way?"
"It is alright. I'm actually a little nervous. Today's the day for my appointment with the Consort. I've waited for eight months."
"Oh?" Zack considered what he knew about the Consort by reputation, including his earlier conversation with Bailey. "I guess that costs a lot?"
"Not as much as you think. The Consort sets payment by percentages of income so that anyone can visit. Actually, I'm not just going for comfort, but I'm hoping she might consider letting me be one of her assistants."
Zack considered that and, again, the reputation of the people in question. "You're certainly nice enough," he said. The lift door dinged and opened. "Good luck."
"Thank you, Commander Carrey," T'Mara replied.
The lift ride up didn't take too long. The entrance to the apartment was three doors down to the right once he was on the floor he needed. He entered to find a thousand square foot apartment. A grand vista of Aroch Ward was visible through the giant window that faced outward from his apartment. He calmly set his pulse pistol and its holster down on the table near the entrance door and stepped into the living area. A quick trip to the adjoining kitchen, with its dark gray surfacing glistening from the efforts of the VI-controlled cleaning drones, gave him the glass of cool filtered water he wanted. Once he was done he went to a panel and activated the apartment's communication system and a protocol he'd installed into it. It took mere seconds for the system to link up the galactic extranet with the Alliance interuniversal comm network. Once this was done, holoprojectors in the room came alive. A middle-aged man, Caucasian with snow-white hair brushed back, appeared in a chair. Zack walked over and sat in a chair, a comfortable one within a ring of prepared holographic recorders. This would transmit his image in the other direction, allowing virtual face-to-face conversation between doctor and patient. "Hey Sydney."
"Zachary." The New Liberty-based psychiatrist nodded. He had a warm expression on his face. Even with his workload as the head of New Liberty Colony's psychiatric services, Sydney had insisted on taking Zack's case personally. Although he didn't say so, Zack was certain it was from Sydney's sense of obligation for the old Facility crew, the people who had rescued Jarod and given him the family and place he'd always deeply wanted. "How are you today?"
Zack closed his eyes. "Stressed. Worried. My best friend is off risking his life while I'm here pushing paper." He opened them again and looked Sydney eye-to-holographic-eye. "I want a drink."
Sydney nodded knowingly. "I can only imagine."
"I know one is too much. I know." Zack laid back in the chair. "It still… it gnaws at me." He rubbed at his forehead, feeling that need, resisting it. "I hold it off. But there are times I almost give in. I'm worried that I'll always want a drink."
"Your addiction is psychological as much as physical, Zachary. This is an illness you will be dealing with for a long time. That's why I'm here." Sydney seemed to make a note of something. "How is the Citadel? Are you acclimating well?"
"I suppose." Zack shrugged. "Honestly, I don't expect this assignment to be permanent. I'll either get a ship again or…" Left unsaid was the worry he felt inside, and how it would lead to the end of his hopes.
Sydney clearly knew what went unsaid. "It's always good to have a grasp of your situation and the consequences of your actions. But don't let it weigh on you, Zachary. This is something you have to take one day at a time."
"Yeah, you said that before." There was an edge to Zack's voice. "But right now, as we're talking, my best friend is risking his life to save this galaxy. Maybe even the whole Multiverse. We should be backing him up, but we're not because of politics. And it's so frustrating…"
The Mako rumbled on through the underground bunker. Using the vehicle's internal displays to show the surroundings, all could see the walls lining up to either side, cast gray, with black capsules extending out from both sides. "What are those?" Ashley wondered aloud.
"They must be cryogenic capsules," Liara said. "The Protheans may have used them in an attempt to survive."
Garrus shook his head. He had his sniper rifle in one arm so he could fiddle with the sight. "It obviously didn't work."
"You're correct." There was a wistfulness in Liara's voice. "Still, to be here, to be on Ilos… this is something archaeologists and Prothean experts have dreamed of for over a millennium."
In his seat, Robert remained quiet for the moment. The control and power needed to hold the blast doors open had demanded quite a lot from him. He enjoyed the chance to relax, such as he could given the circumstances. He listened to their conversation without a word while he felt his energy settle.
And yet, through the Flow of Life, Robert sensed something. A feeling that permeated this area of Ilos. For a moment he thought it was the cool quiet of the dead world, and those who died upon it, but after several moments he realized it was something else. "Hope," he murmured.
"Huh?" Kaidan looked to him with surprise. "What are you saying?"
"That's what I'm feeling," Robert said. "A sense of… hope. Hope in the future. Hope that it will turn out alright, an awakening…"
Liara looked at him intently. "You feel what they felt?" Liara asked. "What they felt when they went into the stasis pods?"
"I believe so," Robert confirmed. "There's a lot of death on this world. Some it is… very old. Maybe older than the Protheans. But it's like a small spark of warmth in the cold."
"I wonder why they didn't wake up?" Shepard wondered idly.
"Something must have gone wrong," Liara said. "The Reapers never came here. I think. Otherwise Sovereign would not have needed to hunt the Conduit like he did."
"Maybe the Protheans went to sleep in the hopes they would wake up when the Reapers were gone?" Tali asked.
"It is a possibility," Liara agreed.
"I don't care about that," Wrex said. "What I want to know is what they were doing here. What's this 'Conduit' thing for?"
"Whatever it was made for, we know it's useful for the Reapers." Robert felt a suspicion in that thought. They were missing something. An intent… but even now, with his abilities, it felt nebulous.
"I could spend decades of my life here," Liara confessed. "There is so much to learn about the Protheans on this world." Seeing the others glancing toward her, Liara shook her head. "But that is not my focus. Stopping Saren is."
"Good to hear." Shepard kept her eyes forward. "There will be plenty of…"
The sudden stop of her sentence was joined by the Mako coming to a sudden stop. Ahead of them, a somewhat translucent field of pale gray popped into existence. A similar field appeared behind. "We're trapped!" Tali cried out.
"Maybe not." Garrus indicated another display. There was a door in the wall. "Maybe it's some kind of security checkpoint. We should go check it out."
"We will." Shepard unlatched her harness. "Tali, Ashley, Wrex, you stay with the Mako for now, deal with any Geth that attack and stay in touch." She went to the side door and opened it. "Everyone else, fall in with me."
Robert got out of his seat, as did Garrus and Kaidan, but none could beat the speed of Liara in getting to Shepard's side. Robert sensed enthusiasm swelling within her other, darker emotions of grief and anger. Liara was in a dream come true. As such, she was the first to follow Shepard through the door, and the first on the lift ahead as well.
The final hours of the day were coming for the Aurora. The Gamma Shift watches were assuming their posts, Beta Shift were going into standby, and Alpha Shift was mostly heading to bed.
Mostly.
Two of the ship's senior officers were sitting in the Lookout at a table beside the transtanium windows. For Nick Locarno, the view of the Citadel was the kind of sight he'd once joined Starfleet to see, before his mistakes sent his life off-course. That he was here, now, was more due to his desire to make up those mistakes.
"It's quite a sight, isn't it?" asked Leo Gillam, the ship's chief medical officer.
"It is." Locarno shook his head and took a sip of synthehol schnapps provided by Hargert. It lacked the kick of the real stuff, but with a Code Yellow alert it was the best they could have. "What gets me is that someone wants to destroy it."
"Actually, I wonder about that." Leo leaned forward over the table. "The Citadel is supposed to date back to the Protheans, right?"
"Yeah."
"So if these Reapers wiped out the Protheans, why did they leave the Citadel intact? Why are the keepers still around? Or, hell, the Mass Relay network?"
"Damned if I know," Locarno murmured.
"Anyway, what galls me is that Shepard had to go out and deal with this on her own," Leo confided. "The Normandy's got stealth, but the Geth have a lot of ships. If Saren brought just a fraction of them to Ilos, she'll be outnumbered."
Locarno said nothing, although he was reading plenty from Leo's irritated expression.
"Maybe we should have dared the Ambassador to stop us," said Leo. "Maybe we should have gone to Ilos too…"
"In this situation, there's no good, right choice, just mixed ones," said Locarno. "In the end, given the circumstances, Julia's making the right call staying."
"Even with this political bullcrap going on?" Leo grumbled.
"Yeah, even with that. Now, don't get me wrong. It's a stupid decision. But going to Ilos really might have provoked the Terminus Systems. And they'd never miss the presence of a ship like the Aurora."
"They have to know what's going on with Saren, they'd know why."
"Maybe, maybe not. It might give them the excuse to launch attacks on our systems," Locarno pointed out.
Leo knew he was right. He grumbled an acknowledgement, as much as he wished Locarno was wrong. It irritated him that they had to listen to jumped up dictators and warlords like the Terminus leaders. And because of that, the galaxy might yet fall to a threat nobody was willing to consider, much yet ready to face.
"We should probably get some sleep," Locarno said. "We may need the rest."
"Right." Leo stood up. "I'll see you in the morning for that staff meeting."
"I'll be there." Locarno stood from the table as well. They walked out the port entrance, heading for the lift to take them to their quarters on Deck 3.
Upon going through the door in the tunnel, Shepard and her team were met by a lift. The ancient interface for it glowed with power. Upon pressing it, the door behind them sealed and the floor began moving downward at an angle, descending a ramp. On both sides viewing ports allowed them to look out at more capsules. Undergrowth from the vegetation was overtaking the area. "This technology still works, after all of this time." Liara's voice was breathless. "This is amazing…!"
"The Protheans built things to last," said Garrus. "I mean, think of those towers on Feros…"
"And the beacons," Kaidan added.
"Not to mention the various ruins that our species all used to reverse engineer mass effect technology," Garrus continued. Robert sensed a suspicious thought come to his mind. "Although now that we know about the Reapers..."
The lift came to a stop. The door ahead slid open, revealing a walkway looking out at another stretch of the tunnel. Far more black capsules covered the walls on both ends beyond the end of the walkway. The walkway itself terminated in a panel. A garbled holographic image of brown color was hovering in the air in front of the panel.
"What is it? Some kind of VI interface?" Kaidan's question went unanswered as they approached.
"Greetings," an electronic voice stated. "I am Vigil. You are safe here for the moment, although soon there will nowhere safe left in the galaxy."
"I can understand it," Liara said, awed. "It's speaking to us in a language we can understand!"
"I have monitored your communications since your arrival and learned the language to interact with you. As I do not detect the taint of indoctrination on you, unlike the organic I sensed before, I must conclude there is still hope." The holographic image remained garbled, but it seemed to shift and waver with the speech. "I am an advanced analysis program formed from the personality imprints of Ksad Ishan, chief overseer of the Ilos facility."
"Why did you bring us here?" asked Shepard.
"You must break a cycle that has continued for untold millions of years. To do so, you must understand the threat your galaxy faces or you will make the same mistakes we did."
"The Reapers, you mean?" asked Robert.
"Yes. To stop them, you must know how they function. I must explain. The key is the Citadel. It is the heart of your civilization and the seat of galactic governance, just as it was in our time and in all civilizations that come before."
"So why do the Reapers leave it intact?" Garrus asked.
"Because it is a trap," Vigil answered. "The Citadel is actually an enormous mass relay which links to dark space, the starless void beyond the galaxy's horizon. When the relay is activated the Reapers will pour through and everything you know will be destroyed."
"That's… incredible," said Liara. "But how? My people have lived on the Citadel for over two and a half millennia. How could we have missed this?"
"The Reapers are careful to hide the Citadel's secret. They developed the keepers as seemingly-benign organic drones to operate the Citadel. With the keepers maintaining the station, species that discover the Citadel are dissuaded from examining the station themselves. They never learn of the technology operating the station, or of its true capability. Not until it is too late." Vigil's form continued to waver, rippling lines filling the garbled hologram. "That was our fate. We never realized that the keepers were a threat. Once they received a command signal, they activated the Citadel mass relay. The Reapers came through the relay and wiped out our leaders. Once they had control of the Citadel, they used it to seize control of the mass relays. In a single strike, they crippled Prothean civilization and divided it into isolated systems and clusters. We were helpless against their fleets."
"Given how Sovereign spoke on Virmire, I'm guessing they didn't offer any surrenders," Robert muttered. He recalled that malevolent being's voice in his head, its electronic voice sinister and laden with imagined superiority, like a dark god addressing mortals. The ramifications of what Vigil was explaining chilled him. It explained, fully, why the Darglan flagged the mass relays with a warning; they may have realized something of the nature of the Reapers' trap for the species of M4P2's Milky Way.
It also meant that everyone he loved and cherished was at threat. The Aurora and Koenig were at the Citadel. If the Reapers came through…
"No surrender was ever offered. The Reapers had everything they needed from recovering our civilization's data on the Citadel. Colony locations, census records, the locations of our remaining fleet. They moved system by system, annihilating all resistance. Sometimes they outright scoured worlds of all sentient life. On other occasions they seized control, enslaving the local populations with the indoctrination process. These indoctrinated slaves were turned against our people, some as mindless husks used as soldiers, others as sleeper agents accepted as refugees by Protheans on other worlds. They in turn betrayed every plan made to survive the Reapers. Secret colonization efforts, emissions-shielded bunkers… everything was betrayed to the Reapers in the end. For centuries the Protheans fought and died until the extermination was complete. All that was left were the indoctrinated, mindless husks that the Reapers left to die of starvation or exposure when they went back through the Citadel into dark space."
"So how was Ilos spared?" asked Liara.
"Ilos was a secret research facility. All evidence of our existence in the Citadel records were destroyed during the initial Reaper attack. To ensure we were not detected, the Protheans on Ilos went into cryo-stasis, to be awakened when the Reapers were gone."
"But they weren't re-awakened," Shepard said. "They died."
"Yes. The Reapers required centuries to finish the methodical extermination of the space-faring species of our time. The power requirements to sustain the cryogenic process were greater than my power reserves allowed. Under contingency protocols, I began to shut down the pods of non-essential personnel."
"So you just killed them," Kaidan said accusingly. "Did you even tell them about this plan?"
"It was a necessity programmed into my functions. However, over time I was forced to deactivate almost every pod. In the end, only twelve of the senior scientists were still alive when the Reapers returned to dark space. They realized they alone could not restore our species, so they resolved to protect the next cycle."
"How?" asked Shepard.
"By using the Conduit. It was the original purpose of the research facility. My people were on the verge of unlocking the secrets of the mass relays. It was at this height that the Reapers struck us."
There was awe in Liara's voice when she asked, "Then the Conduit… it's a mass relay, isn't it?"
"Yes. An experimental mass relay of smaller size that links directly to the Citadel. After years of study, the scientists realized they could alter the keepers' control program to ignore the activation signal. The scientists went through the Conduit to the Citadel and performed the change."
"Then why didn't the Asari find their remains?" Robert asked. "Even after forty-eight thousand years, something must have remained."
"The keepers most likely processed their remains after they died of starvation or other causes."
Kaidan shook his head. "That's a gruesome end."
"But it's given us a shot," Shepard said. "That's why Sovereign is using Saren. He needs someone who can infiltrate the Citadel and manually grant control to him."
"Yes. That is their most likely plan. You must stop them, or the cycle of extermination will continue." Vigil's garbled image seemed to fade a little. "I have loaded a program left by my creators in this panel. It will temporarily lock out Citadel controls to all but you. Load it into the master control unit of the Citadel and you can prevent Sovereign from opening the Relay."
"Master control unit?"
"It's probably in the Citadel Tower," Liara said, in reply to Robert's question. "Saren undoubtedly knows. He would have to if he's going to give Sovereign control of the station."
"Then we'll have to follow Saren. And he's got enough of a head start." Shepard activated her omnitool. "Let's get the data file and get going!"
"Saren has not yet reached the Conduit. You still have time."
"You're fading," Liara said. "And there's so much you can tell us about the Protheans…"
"My data is limited to matters relating to stopping the Reapers. I am afraid I cannot provide further data."
The well of frustration in Liara was evident. Robert could feel her desire to know more about this species, the species that shaped her galaxy and which even after millennia of study was still such an enigma to the Asari and the other species of M4P2. He set a hand on her shoulder. "It's possible there's other data on them out there," he said. "But we don't have the time for this right now. Saren and Sovereign have to be stopped."
"I know. Just…" Liara shook her head. "I feel so close to learning more about them…"
"I know."
Shepard lowered her arm. She gave Liara a sympathetic look, but there was steel in her green eyes as she glanced to the others. "I've got the file," she said. "Let's go."
"I wish you well, Commander Shepard," Vigil said. "Fulfill the hope that drove the last of my creators to die alone on the Citadel. Stop the Reapers."
"That's the plan," Shepard called back to the fading apparition. The others fell in with her and returned to the lift.
There were many different talents that a being with access to the Flow of Life could attain. Meridina had many of them, but she would be the first to admit that what the Humans called precognition - the ability to sense the likely future - was not one she normally used. Not beyond the small scale timeframe useful in fights.
And yet… yet she felt it. Saw it. Saw the slaughter. The piles of dead in the Citadel Presidium. The burning worlds. The cries of the dying as, planet by planet, sapient life was exterminated. Just as the memories of the long-dead Gylao of the Adranians showed. Just as the beacons left by the Protheans.
When Meridina woke from the nightmarish imagery, she wiped the sweat from her forehead. And she felt it. A twisting cold in the Flow of Life. As if it were feeling darkness, reacting to it much as a living being would. A general sense of raw fear filled her. Fear that was not her own.
On the nightstand by her bed, the frame of her omnitool activated. A blue light shined over where her hand would go. Meridina tapped it. "Meridina here."
"Meridina… do you feel it?" Lucy's voice was hoarse.
"Fear," Meridina said. "Raw fear rippling from the Flow of Life itself. A strand of cold…"
"Just like what Robert said."
"I know." Robert's description of the persistent strand of cold he felt in the Flow of Life matched what she just felt. "If it is becoming more prominent…"
"Something's wrong. Something's very wrong."
"Agreed. See to your student, Lucy, for I fear she may not be taking this well. I will warn Julia." Meridina slid out of her bed. Still in her sleeping clothes, a sleeveless sleeping vest and shorts, Meridina triggered the comm link. "Meridina to Andreys. Captain, please respond."
Several seconds passed before a groggy reply came. "Yes?"
"Captain, something is wrong. There is a threat. Lucy and I feel it."
"Here?"
"It may be coming here, yes," Meridina said. "What I do know is that it is a significant threat to our lives. To the lives of many. The Flow of Life… it chills, as if in anticipation of mass slaughter."
"Alright. Call Code Red. Assemble the senior officers and get them to their stations. I'll contact Captain King and Matriarch Lidanya."
"Right away." Meridina waited for the connection to close and went to work.
Moments later, the Aurora's klaxons blared their angry electronic tones, calling the crew to battle stations.
Julia removed her nightgown and started putting her uniform on immediately. As she was pulling the burgundy red sleeved undershirt of her standard uniform over her head, the comm system activated and displayed the faces of King and Lidanya, aboard their respective ships. Julia noted King was also in her quarters and wearing her uniform jacket open at the moment. "Captain Andreys, you said this was urgent?" King asked. "I can't help but notice you've already put your ship on combat alert."
"Yes. I believe there is an imminent threat to the Citadel. We should put the fleet on combat standby."
"Why do you feel this way?" Lidanya asked. "Have you received some actionable intelligence from Captain Dale or Commander Shepard?"
"My First Officer, Meridina… she can sense threats as a former member of the Order of Swenya. She's convinced me the threat is genuine and we must act on it."
"I see." King sighed. "Although I have my concerns about these things, I won't deny the efficacy of the Commander's metaphysical abilities." King tapped something off-screen. "Put the ship on Condition 2, now. All hands to battlestations. Alert the rest of the squadron to prepare for combat."
Lidanya seemed less convinced. "I have heard much of these abilities, it is true… but to put my ship, the entire fleet, on combat alert without solid intel…" She shook her head. "You ask for much, Captain Andreys."
"If I'm wrong, I look like a doofus," Julia said. "But I'd rather be a doofus than get people killed because we're not ready. Please, Matriarch. I trust Meridina's instincts on this."
For several crucial seconds Lidanya seemed to waver, although Julia could not tell i which direction. Finally the Asari sighed. "Very well. My pride and reputation be damned, I'll concur. We're going on combat alert. I will inform C-Sec to prepare for an attack immediately."
"I'll send them some help, in case the Geth get aboard. Andreys out." Julia tapped a key to end the call. And then another key. "Major Anders, Commander Richmond, I want all security and Marine teams armed up. We're sending a contingent to the Citadel under Major Anders."
"I hear you, Captain," responded Anders.
"Understood," Richmond added.
Next was the trump card for this force. "Andreys to Lucero, get geared up, we need you on the Citadel." As she spoke, Julia was already preparing her next call.
The Mako's long trip through the tunnel ended with sunlight again above their heads. Shepard kept the Mako at speed for the long drop ahead, resulting in a bone-jarring landing in the aqueduct below. Robert felt Kaidan's pain as his face went white. "Sorry, Kaidan," he heard Shepard apologize. "But we're in a hurry."
"It's fine, Commander," Kaidan replied. "I can live with the pain."
"Commander, twelve o'clock," Ashley warned. "We've got company!"
Robert turned his head, as did the others, to see how the front display. A line of Geth platforms were formed with rocket launchers. A four-legged heavier platform, an Armature, was in the middle of the rocket troopers, preparing a plasma blast. Ashley fired the main gun of the Mako and landed a direct hit, disrupting the Geth's shot and sending it over the Mako instead of into it. Shepard swerved the Mako to evade an incoming rocket and swerved it in the other direction to evade a second. A third couldn't be evaded, exploding against the protective particle barrier and partially degrading them.
"Ash, take out what you can, but we're not stopping to fight," Shepard said. She opened up the throttle on the Mako and it roared ahead. With terrifying precision she turned the corner of the aqueduct as the Geth fired another volley of rockets. The Mako nearly seemed to tip over, but Shepard kept it from doing so, an expert feat of handling that saw them through the Geth ambush.
"I doubt that's the last of them," said Liara.
"Let them come, because we're not stopping," Shepard said as she raced the Mako on down the aqueduct.
Zack was nodding off to a particularly boring baseball game - the E5B1 New York Yankees were up 12 runs to 4 against the C5O2 St. Louis Cardinals in an interuniversal exhibition game - when the blue light appeared over the back of his left hand, accompanied by a chime to alert him to its presence. His eyes snapped awake and he tapped it. "Carrey here."
Julia's voice came through immediately. "Zack. I'm calling to warn you, there might be an attack soon."
"Oh?" he asked, concern in his voice. Concern for her, mostly. "What's going on?"
"Meridina and Lucy are both sensing danger. Whatever it is, I can hear the fear in their voices. I think Sovereign actually is going to attack the Citadel. But I'm not sure Lidanya believes it enough to get C-Sec mobilized if Executor Pallis doesn't accept the reasoning. That's why I'm calling you." As she spoke, Zack didn't think of mentioning the fear he was hearing in her voice. A fear he was feeling as well; if this attack was coming, did this mean Shepard had failed? That Saren had "the Conduit" or whatever it was?
Did it mean Robert was dead?
Either way, Zack stood up. "I'll go alert C-Sec," he said. "I've got my own connections, even if Executor Pallis isn't accepting Meridina's warning, I can get the word out to be ready."
"I'm sending security and Marines over, under Major Anders. Lucy and her student will be with them."
"Student?" asked Zack.
"Ensign Talara," Julia clarified.
Zack remembered the Falaen junior officer. He knew who to be on the lookout for. "I'm heading to C-Sec now. I might not be able to get them fully mobilized if Pallis says no, but I'll do what I can."
"Good luck. Andreys out."
Zack rushed to his bedroom. He had only one field uniform issued at the moment, so he pulled it on, hoping the protection from the built-in personal deflector and the protective material would be enough against Geth gunfire. He left the room and ran toward the lift. Thankfully it didn't cost him much time before the lift car arrived.
When he stepped out into the lobby, T'Mara was still at the receptionist desk. He turned toward her immediately. The welcoming smile on her face vanished as she recognized how serious he looked. "Commander?"
"T'Mara, get the word out. Something may be happening. Everyone should get to shelter as soon as they can."
"But… C-Sec hasn't issued any alerts…"
"Not yet, but… please. Take precautions, there are families here," Zack pleaded.
He could see her resistance fade as she took in how serious he looked and how convinced he was. "I… I'll call a shelter drill. We're supposed to be holding those anyway…"
"Good. Thank you. And stay safe." With that Zack turned away from T'Mara. He overheard her calling the drill as he went out the door. He was already activating his omnitool. "Bailey, you there?"
"Yeah."
"Is C-Sec mobilizing yet?"
"No." Confusion came over the line. "Why would we be? Have you heard something?"
"Yeah, but the source might not be enough for Pallis," Zack replied. "But it's one I damn well trust, so I'm urging you, get whoever you can together. I'm on my way to HQ now. If something happens, we'll need all the help we can get."
"I hear you. I know some good people. We'll arm up quietly until the Executor gives the order. Stay in touch."
"I mean to," Zack promised, running for the main lift to carry him into C-Sec HQ.
The Mako continued its race through the Prothean aqueduct on Ilos, water shooting up from around its tires as it roared along. Geth platforms appeared again along the side and poured rocket and gunfire down. Ashley tracked the turret to one side and fired a shot from the main cannon that blew three of them apart. The coaxial machine gun mowed down another.
Tali was busy checking the Mako's systems. "The barriers are still holding, but they won't take much more of this!"
They made another curve. A four-legged Geth platform fired a bolt of plasma at them that Shepard had no time to evade. The energy washed over the faltering barriers. Ashley returned fire with the main gun. The shot blew the leg off of the Geth machine, tilting it down and to the side. Behind them more rockets fired their way. Shepard zigged and zagged as much as she could to evade them without losing the forward speed to catch up to Saren.
"I've got a Turian life signature ahead on the scanners," Tali said.
"Saren." Shepard gunned the accelerator and stopped her maneuvering. The Geth rocket platforms behind raced after them. Ashley fired a shot into their midst that sent them flying.
Tali continued examining the sensor returns with her omnitool. "I'm picking up a power spike," she said. "It looks like… it looks like a mass relay."
"The Conduit," Shepard said, frowning. Ahead of them, at the bottom of a long decline in the aqueduct, a small mass relay was pointing toward the sky. A tap of a button on her steering wheel zoomed the image in, revealing the form of Saren and multiple Geth. The Geth were already walking into the relay. Blue light surged around them and they shot up into the sky. As they walked, Saren stopped and looked back. It was clear he saw the Mako.
He immediately turned back and stepped in, letting the Conduit's energies shoot him across the galaxy, while around the Conduit a half dozen of the four-legged Geth moved into position to block access.
Julia arrived on the Aurora bridge to a command crew of bleary-eyed officers. For these situations the rules about drinks at work places were partially suspended; mugs of coffee were visible at a number of points. Meridina welcomed Julia with one. "I am aware you must be tired, Captain," said the Gersallian. "Please, we will need you alert for this."
Julia took a drink from it and enjoyed the warmth of the brew more than the taste. It was one of the stronger, bitter brews she was aware of, so bitter she fought to keep a sour look off her face. "It's raktajino, isn't it?"
"Studies have shown it to be quite an effective means of waking up quickly."
"Mostly because of the taste," Locarno grumbled. "Raktajino was for late-semester cramming back at Starfleet Academy."
"I dunno." Angel finished her cup. "I kind of like it."
"You would," was Locarno's response.
Julia took another drink and shook her head. I'm going to have bitter-mouth for a week, she lamented to herself while walking to her command chair. "Status," she asked.
"We're at full combat alert. All squadrons save Charlie have launched or are in the process of launching," Meridina reported. "Charlie's pilots were off standby rotation and will take another five minutes."
"All systems ready for combat," Barnes confirmed from Engineering.
Beside him, Cat nodded. "I'm scanning now. So far I'm… energy surge! There's an energy surge in the Relay! Something's coming through! A lot of somethings…"
"On screen," Julia ordered. Jarod obliged by bringing up a view of the Widow Relay on the bridge holo-viewer. One by one the familiar, wingless insect form of Geth destroyers and cruisers zipped into appearance.
And each was dwarfed by the massive form that appeared in their midst, red lightning crackling around something that looked like a great sea monster.
"Sovereign," Julia said.
"Geth vessels are approaching at combat velocity," Jarod warned. "And I'm… Cat, what do you make of this?"
Caterina examined the readings. "They're… they're raising deflector shields."
Julia nodded grimly. The Geth would be far more difficult opponents than they were before, then.
"The defense fleet is still going on alert," Meridina added. "Some ships were ready but others…"
Julia shook her head. Lidanya might have heeded her, but it was clear not every captain regarded the warning. Now it might cost them and their crews dearly.
"Tactical, lock weapons on target."
"I'm getting relayed tactical orders from the Excalibur," Angel said. "They want to coordinate fire on Sovereign."
Julia felt her mouth go dry as the sinister-looking machine ship loomed on the holo-viewer. "Do so," she said simply, while she worried about this meant. Sovereign and the Geth were launching a direct attack against the strongest point in the galaxy. Why would they do that unless they had a good reason to think they'd win?
What did this mean for Robert and Shepard and the others? Had they been too late?
Robby, I hope you're still out there, because I have a bad feeling about this…
Shepard wasted no time. Even with the heavy Geth platforms closing in ahead, more than twice the number sufficient to overpower the Mako in a straight fight, she gunned the engine. The Mako shot forward and toward the Conduit.
"The Conduit's energy signature is shifting, I think it's about to deactivate!" Tali cried out.
"We've got one shot at this!" Shepard shouted. "Everyone hold on!"