"This is one of the dig sites of Dr. Bryson's investigations" explained EDI as she walked back and forth on the shuttle, looking at the ragged, tired commander who was staring off into the distance. Her new N7 armor had already collected some cracks on Menae, and her face was paler than ever before. "Her daughter, Ann, has recently uncovered another artifact."
"Yeah" growled Garrus in his usual voice, sitting next to his commander "No wonder the reapers are here."
Shepard did not join in the conversation.
She was barely there to be honest.
Since she was brought back to life, she was somewhat different, quieter, more refrained. Back then, before missions, she would spend long hours discussing tactics and messing around with the crew, joking even in the shuttle to set a light, amusing tone to every mission.
But that was not the case anymore.
She was still Shepard, Garrus knew that, but it was only a shadow of her. And no matter what he tried, he could not cheer up his commander. She was only happy when she was fighting.
"Be prepared for anything." Jane finally spoke, her voice distant "I've got a strange feeling about this dig site."
Cortez started radioing the doctor, but there was no reply, only static noise. The reapers made damn sure no one could get out there alive.
"We're here" he pointed out, opening the shuttle doors.
Strong wind mixed with sand filled the vehicle's still air and the ground team spotted a woman in one of the buildings on the site: it was the young doctor, radioing for help:
"Attention Shuttle, this is Ann Bryson, we're under attack!" she shouted into the comms.
"Shit" Shepard cursed, turning around to tell Cortez to put the shuttle down so they can pick her up. The reapers were already here.
Suddenly the shuttle was too attacked from above - a harvester slammed itself into them, crushing them almost.
"Commander I can't land there, there's too much!"
"OK" Shepard turned around "Ground team, we're going down, and round her up from the lower platforms!" she gave her orders, and once Cortez landed out of the hot zone, they started making their way up to Ann's location.
They moved fast and efficiently, wiping every husk in their way, climbing further up; but it was all hollow in Jane's mind. The last three years felt like she was watching a movie of herself: paying the ticket, going to see the thing, but never really participating in it. She lost two years of her life… that she's never going to get back.
The cybernetics will never disappear from her body.
"Thank God, you came!" exhaled Dr. Bryson when they found her hiding at the top building of the facility. They immediately started to reach the shuttle and clear out a way for Cortez "I was at another site when...this attack happened." she continued "What happened here?"
"I understand you found something… right?" they looked at each other "The reapers want the artifact."
"It's here" she motioned and they got around the rock at the landing pad, they noticed it: the small globe was hugged by the rocks. A strange, unsettling darkness twirled and twisted inside of it.
The reaper marauders clearly activated it, and were interacting with the globe in some strange way.
"Spirits" Garrus whispered as he looked up at the doctor, who stood up from their cover and started making her way to the relic.
"They learn too well" a strange voice erupted from her "The darkness must not be breached!"
"EDI!" Shepard shouted, and EDI raised her weapon to shoot. She just pulled the trigger and the artifact was destroyed.
And in that moment, everything has changed for Shepard.
A thunderous sound erupted from the sky, stopping the whole team in their tracks, rumbling through the air. She turned to the direction of the sound, her eyes firing up already, as she knew very well what that was.
A colossal, destroyer-class reaper has turned up from the blue. Every step it made with its squid like claws shaked the ground beneath them. The reaper soon towered over them like a monument, as a shadow crawling on their lives.
"Cortez!" Shepard screamed into her comms angrily, and with the speed of a rocket, grabbed the doctor and started to run along the cliff to try and escape the horror.
[I have to go around Commander, if I fly into its sensors it'll burn the shuttle] informed the lieutenant. She ran as fast as she could with the squad behind her, as the reaper landed its first claw on the cliffside.
A quake ran through the rocks again, and they heard the reaper focusing its targeting sensors.
"There!" EDI called and pointed into a small cave within the rock formations, hasting the group behind her "We might escape through here!"
Jane looked at the little hole between the rocks, and the darkness inside. It was a very narrow tunnel, leading to who knows where.
"Where does it end? Do you know this route?" she asked the doctor who was still in shock from the reaper and the artifact:
"It leads to the top of the cliff, you can see the whole canyon from there.."
"That's our ticket out" she smiled, quickly glancing at the reaper and then the doctor.
"Cortez, you heard it, meet us at the top, on the double!" she ordered and after a positive answer from the lieutenant, she quickly gave the doctor to Garrus, who was already reaching his hands out to take the poor woman. He was a turian after all, could carry her better.
Shepard then looked into his friend's eyes and grabbed his shoulder, bringing him closer.
"You go in there, meet Cortez at the top" she hissed "I'll make sure the beast won't focus on you" with her eyes she motioned on the trail that ran through the side of the cliff, through the remains of the offices and other facilities built around the dig site.
"No way" a low rumble emanated from Garrus's throat as his expression became dark, almost scolding "Don't do it!"
Jane didn't say a word and just left them where they were.
"I cannot believe this woman!" cursed the turian, but they had to enter the tunnel.
Shepard made her way to the stairs that went up to another level of the site, and stood at the railing right near the edge, and looked at the reaper. She leaned over the edge of the railing, and started waving her hands to make sure the monstrocity follows her and not the others.
It worked - the machine seemed to go at anything that was moving, even though the artifact was already destroyed. The reaper stopped for a moment and opened its plates around its cannon, and after a moment of delay, a beam of laser shot out, right at Shepard.
The commander never started running so fast as she did now. The plan was too successful and the beam was way too close to get away in time: she jumped into the first building and then the second building. The fire of the reaper followed her as the laser ripped through the hillside, consuming everything it left behind. She almost felt the heat on her back, and the waves of shock started sucking her shields. She pushed further and further, all her focus being put into the effort of drawing the reaper away from the objective. As she passed through the buildings and stairs and pathways, jumping through rubble and debris, she had less and less nav space, slowing her down. The beam ripped apart the hillside at that point and was right on her shields, frying her armor - then it stopped suddenly.
Something shook the whole site - rubble falling from the cliffs and she lost her footing, falling down a set of stairs.
She looked up and what she saw was a sight never before seen.
Another reaper appeared. A colossal, damaged, ancient machine with giant craters and dust on it fired itself on top of the other reaper. The two bodies collided in a split second, creating a shockwave, sending her back to the ground. She was almost at the top of the cliff, with only an old ladder separating her from her destination. The wrecked, old reaper forced itself on its counterpart, trying to push it to the brim.
This reaper wasn't like any of the others: it was old as time, almost in pieces. It looked like it had been sleeping for thousands of years, and was lifted just now from the depths of earth. The dirt was covering it like an armor, and the sun had sucked its original dark colour grey through the years. It's joints were loud, and felt like they would fall apart any moment, but it commended a strange respect.
It looked like a derelict reaper.
A shiver ran down her spine.
She stood up, and used this distraction as an opportunity to reach the ladder that led up, and crawled on the top of the cliff. She spotted the shuttle on the far end, and waved to the others, her voice cracking as she destroyed the comms with her shouting:
"GO" EDI noticed her, and looked in her direction "GO!"
EDI opened her mouth to speak as Garrus helped the doctor onto the shuttle, but her movement stopped suddenly, her eyes widened, and she instinctively grabbed the turian's shoulder plates.
Shepard was running to them in the distance, and with her, an enormous shadow rose from the depths of the valley. Two reapers emerged in a fragment of a moment, falling on top of each other, grinding down the terrain in their path. The ground separated under Jane's feet who was sprinting to the other side.
EDI started pushing her mates in the shuttle to protect Dr. Bryson. She saw Shepard running for her life: sprinting in the sand and rocks, two monsters crashing down behind her back.
A sound emanated from the ancient machine, and they all covered their ears, Shepard almost falling. The sound was similar to the cries of the reapers, but had a very different undertone.
A very familiar, cold tone.
"Jane" she heard, only vaguely, but in her mind it was crystal clear.
The commander's body twitched, and without thinking for a second, she turned around and faced the reapers behind her. The two bodies slammed to the ground, a cloud of smoke and sand arose, covering the sun for her for a second. The sandstorm covered the commander as well, and the team had lost sight of her.
The ancient reaper opened its plates to reveal its firing chamber, almost as if snarling at its enemy.
It had a bright, icy blue coloured core.
Shepard instantly froze. That colour...
The ragged reaper pushed the other down, slammed its legs into its core, and with a deafening, screeching sound, ripped apart the face of its victim. The metal was screaming in protest - the old one was a weak, unstable structure, and as it tore through the heart of its enemy, it destroyed itself as well. Giant wires tore from its metal joints, firing electricity everywhere. The metal broke apart like dust as all its power was focused into demolishing its brother.
And then, after a final, devastating rip, the core of the devoured reaper broke apart, releasing its heart. An explosion of fire and burning metal lit up the cliff, and the heat brushed Jane away.
Quiet voices echoed in the distance.
"Shepard"
"She's bleeding, we need to get her on the ship-"
"She's waking up-"
"Shepard?"
She was lying in the dirt, she could smell the burning sand. She opened her eyes to see cloudy figures kneeling above her, and their voices only rang in her ear for a good minute. She wanted to remove her helmet, but it was stuck on her, pulling on her skin.
"Slowly" Garrus hushed as he landed a hand and gradually separated the helmet from her head. Her temple was covered in blood, a small piece of one of the reapers pierced into her skin. "EDI, radio the normandy, we need to take Shepard to Chakwas" he said and moved her to his lap to support her head.
"I'm fine" she said, twinkling her eyes as she saw the blood dripping into her field of vision. Then it hit her.
"The reaper!" Jane shot herself up, pushing Garrus down and immediately making her way to wherever. She jumped up on her feet, falling down immediately, and then getting back up again. Her sides were killing her, she could feel the burn between her ribs, the stickiness of her armor, but she had no time.
She needed to see.
She needed to make sure.
She went into the dust that was still surrounding the reaper corpses. She looked for the ancient reaper, she looked for the blue light, the one that called her name. She brushed her hands to the sides of the machines as she made her way deeper in. She stepped over many parts and avoided many hanging cables, and passed into many holes in their bodies. The whole thing was still on fire, but she kept looking. After seeing that blue light, for the first time in years, she felt alive.
She needed to find the source.
As she ventured deep under the rubble, the noise of the fire subsided. It was replaced with a low, quiet humming, a strange feeling of stillness. She felt like she was surrounded by ghosts: the thick smoke disappeared, and the air became lighter. It reminded her of Ilos - the quiet, still doom of the chambers of the long dead protheans.
She spotted something in the rubble, in the remains of a small, ancient chamber of some sort.
It was a hand. A grey plated hand, with three talons.
She rounded the corner with haste and fell on her knees, as she set her eyes on the male lying down there. The tall, masculine turian laid on his back, his eyes shut. He had no face painting and dirt was covering him all over, but she recognized him: his grey, almost white plates, his slender mandibles and characteristic face.
She reached out a hand and checked for his pulse. She felt the blood rushing in his veins. He was still alive.
Could he be….?
She removed her gloves and slowly, just lightly, touched his face.
It was cold, but warm at the same time. A strange sensation started in her fingers, as she brushed them over his forehead.
The turian's eyes snapped wide open, and Jane's heart leaped. The same, bright blue set of eyes stared at her as the ones that had closed before her for the last time.
"Saren" she whispered slowly, barely audible, not moving. She wasn't afraid, but she was startled. Millions of thoughts raced through her mind in a second, but all was wiped away by the shape of his eyes, his nose, the bright blue shade that stared at her coldly, and the clean scent that lingered around him.
It was him, she knew.
His eyes closed down as he lost his consciousness again.
"Shepard, what are you -" Garrus came on the corner, trying to round up her wounded commander to bring to the Normandy that arrived in the meantime.
But his words trapped in his throat as he laid his eyes upon the turian on the floor.
He immediately raised his rifle, pointing it right at Saren, and with slow, cautious steps he came forward.
"Is that-" he exhaled. "He looks just like Saren.." he said, lowering his weapon as he noticed the turian was unconscious. He lowered himself to them, checking his pulse.
"It is him" Jane stated with confidence, a strange look on her face.
"Spirits Jane, he's alive" he hummed, and a low growl started in his chest. His expression was now dark, and his jaw tensed. He removed his pistol from its holder on his lower back, and pointed it at Saren's chin. His talons tensed around the handle of the gun "We can't have this starting all over again" he growled, as he thought about the time he was still alive.
"No, Garrus!" Jane's voice was now like thunder, her eyes almost setting on fire from the passion, catching his hand and removing it from Saren's face. "We are not killing him."
"What?" he snarled "Why?"
"I want to know how he's alive - and what's he doing."
"Are you shitting me? Shepard, this is Saren Arterius!" he pointed at him, now angry "What do you think he's going to do?"
Shepard moved his hand under the still unconscious Saren's neck, trying to lift him.
"This was an order, Garrus, now help me, we're bringing him to the Normandy." she lifted the turian's upper body, but he was too heavy, and Jane was already wounded.
"What? You can't possibly-"
"Garrus" she started, now looking at his friend "Where should we leave him then? If we kill him now, we'll never know what happened here or why he helped us. We do not know his motives either, so if we leave him here, then congratulations, we have a Saren to catch again." she took a deep breath to emphasize her logic further "If we take him to the Normandy, we can observe him and control him."
Garrus took a second to digest what she said, then lowered his pistol.
"I'm keeping my eye on him" he stated, and then proceeded to help Jane lift the turian.