IV: HOLOCAUST - ASARI MONASTERY PLOT

The following chapter outline details how the Asari Monastery plot would have been handled.

Chapter 58: Not Much Left:

Section 1:

Chapter would have opened with James' POV. While the Normandy is in FTL (returning to the Citadel), James is checking stock in the shuttle bay when he receives a message from the UGC N7 Special Operations Group, who want to give him the temporary designation of acting N7 until such time as he can be given proper training for the role: they explain that with the extreme lack of N7s at the moment, they are willing to jump James from N1 straight to N7 until the war is over. James does not reply immediately, instead expressing hesitation. He contemplates approaching Shepard about it, but asks Keeling instead. Keeling's response is to encourage him to accept it, asking why he is hesitant. James reveals the details about his past on the Collector abduction of Fehl Prime, believing it should render him ineligible. Keeling assures him that it does the opposite, as being an N7 means doing whatever is needed to ensure the success of the mission and being the best at what you do: which means making difficult choices. The N7 motto, which was originally made by her mentor (strongly suggested to be Alec Ryder, but never stated in the story), was "if you're back is against the wall, and the enemy stands before you...if you can't run, use it." Keeling admits she has had to make some of her own difficult decisions: she reveals how she once had to choose between saving a friend or a civilian transport being raided by batarian slavers, and how it eventually lead to her becoming an N7. Shepard has probably done the same. In a startling breaking of character, she makes him promise to simply not become like Leng, an N7 who uses their position of power to their own advantage. James states he will need time to think about it. Keeling tells him she believes he will make a great N7, surprising James. He returns to his bench, but after a moment of hesitation, he writes a reply. He has accepted the promotion.

Section 2:

This section would have opened from the POV of Tashya K'Porae (Tashya Porae in the game), the asari commando who's body you find in the Ardat-Yakshi monastery. On Lesuss, an asari commando team (known as Blue Thunder) of 12 commandos deploys at an Ardat-Yakshi monastery via shuttle to set up a neutron bomb in the monastery. Through K'Porae's thoughts, its revealed the monastery fell silent when Lesuss' capital, Marya, fell to a small Reaper assault force, which quickly left after cleansing the surrounding area, sealing it off and bombarding it from orbit. The commando team, worried about Ardat-Yakshi escaping in the chaos, deployed a commando team to purge the monastery as part of NIGHTWIND contingency. As they advance through the abandoned monastery, finding it eerily empty and signs of battle, K'Porae laments about an argument she had with her bondmate, Weshra. The commando team quickly grow worried as they find the mutilated corpse of the asari justicar Phora (who had been visiting the monastery when the attack occurred), as well as a series of screeching and the familiar screams of Banshees, these ones seeming more potent and powerful than usual, giving them headaches.

Halfway through the facility, the team is attacked by Banshees as they suspected, and they open fire, referring to the ad-hoc UGC's Reaper Ground Force Combat Manual, which details effective tactics that should be used for certain husk types, and which is updated when new husks are discovered and effective countermeasures produced. In the manual, it states overwhelming a lone Banshee with massive firepower before it can biotically jump is extremely effective: when encountered in groups, it helps to split up and keep mobile. However, the team quickly finds their tactics are useless, as these Banshees are quicker, louder, more biotically potent and able to absorb more punishment. K'Porae watches in horror as one of the commandos turns on her comrade, choking her comrade biotically before the two of them are flung from the balcony, hitting the ground below with sickening cracks. These enhanced Banshees slaughter the commando unit, turning them against each other with some form of mind control. They shrug off conventional weapons fire and biotic attacks, making any known tactics against Banshees invalid. Tashya, in the confusion, is impaled through the chest by one of them and left to die in a pool of her own blood. She quickly types out a message on her omni-tool to her bondmate, explaining how sorry she was that they argued, and that she still loves her. She sends the message, but the signal is blocked, and it doesn't go through. Beginning to weep, she slumps back and listens to the cries of her team as they continue to be butchered and continue to fall back, leaving her behind as she succumbs to death.

Section 3:

This section would have been from Lia'Vael's POV. Kolyat and Lia sit down to a meal at Apollo's Cafe on the Presidium Commons, having both worked long hours at C-Sec and Huerta Memorial respectively. The two begin to joke and laugh about their days until they, alon with everyone else, are interrupted by a human preacher. He begins to proclaim that the Reapers are gods, and Lia notices Kolyat tense up, reaching for his sidearm. C-Sec regulations post-Cerberus attack had been significantly tightened, leading to the Council passing the Civil Emergency Wartime Security Act (2186) just after the war on Rannoch concluded. In this Act, preaching about the Reapers was illegal, and those caught doing it were to be arrested on the spot for suspicion of terrorism (this was to combat indoctrinated agents, and was in reaction to the Cerberus agents infiltrating the Citadel, and the terrorist bombing of the asari High Command by Rana Thanoptis earlier in the story). Kolyat, following regulation, reached for his radio, and began calling for backup, while ordering Lia to sit still. Others begin to realize this too, and people in the cafe begin to clear out, backing away out of fear. The preacher notices another C-Sec officer, a turian, reaching for his weapon too, but he quickly produces his own and guns the officer down, causing Kolyat to raise his and shout "put the weapon down now! Drop it or I'll shoot!" Before he can do anything, a human man suddenly rushes the preacher. He is unable to aim his weapon quickly enough, and is tackled by the unnamed man into the railing. The force is enough that he falls over the railing and plummets to the streets below, landing with a thud and screaming below. Kolyat rushes over to assess, finding the preacher dead from a 60 foot drop. He contacts his dispatch, informing him the preacher is dead and to send CSI. Kolyat approaches Lia and tells her to go home, as he has got to stay and seal off the crime scene. Lia nods and leaves, shaken by the incident.

Section 4:

This section would have been from Shepard's POV. Admiral Singh and a squad of marines wait at the docks on the Citadel as Shepard walks out with Petrovsky in cuffs, flanked by two marines from the Normandy. He hands Petrovsky over, with Singh regarding the former general with disdain: just a few days prior, Singh's flagship, the SSV Logan, and a task force from his Third Fleet, were ambushed by Cerberus forces and narrowly escaped alive. Petrovsky is silent, stating that while he was formerly Cerberus, he will submit to any conditions they deem necessary: he will give them full cooperation, including classified Cerberus intel to the UGC, but only what he knows, which is very little. Shepard thanks him, watching as Petrovsky is taken away by Singh's marines to be imprisoned at one of the Citadel's prisons.

Section 5:

This section would have been from Aria's POV. Back on Omega, Aria hunches over Petrovsky's former war room, watching as the Cerberus fleets arrive, quickly heading for Omega. She smirks, musing that she had the geth and mercenary ships deploy a long field of antimatter mines across the asteroid belt, before having what freighters she had, including Jarral's flagship, lie in position within the belt, their drive cores set to detonate at a moment's notice. She had also had the power meant for Petrovsky's forcefields rerouted to his cannons, bringing them online and resetting their hostile IFF transponder to Cerberus. As a result, she watches in glee as her mines and dummy ships detonate, destroying dozens of Cerberus warships before her cannons open fire, destroying several more. With the geth warships encroaching upon them under cloak, the two Cerberus fleets retreat and, despite heavy geth pursuit, they manage to escape with minimal casualties. Smiling, Aria declares to herself that Omega is officially hers again, and believes sufficiently the Illusive Man won't risk another assault anytime in the near future. The UGC's foothold in the Terminus Systems is permanent until further notice.

Chapter 59: Miracle of Palaven:

Section 1:

Chapter would have opened from Garrus' POV. On the Citadel, Garrus, while checking up on the turian refugees in the refugee camp, finds Sidonis helping the refugees. Garrus approaches the turian, and despite Sidonis being hesitant, the two of them engage in conversation, talking about the old days, specifically their escapades during the war against crime on Omega. Eventually, Garrus leaves, but tells Sidonis that if he needs anything, that he contacts Bailey and drops Garrus' name. Garrus finds that while he still hasn't forgiven Sidonis for his betrayal, and a part of him hates him for it, he finds that Sidonis isn't as evil as he thought, and in that, the two can find some common ground.

Section 2:

This section would have been from Kal'Reegar's POV. Kal and Madi'Reegar, during Operation Guardian (part of Operation Hornet's Nest, the massive UGC operation to harass, sabotage and destroy Reaper concentration camps, production facilities, bomb key Reaper strategic positions, lead their forces into traps, etc), along with the rest of their quarian Skylord squad (Squad Taurash), cover krogan and hanar forces as they sneak up on a Reaper destroyer from behind, the Reaper in question busy engaging a nearby turian frigate that is keeping it distracted. Operation Guardian, an operation to sneak a dark energy bomb onto the Destroyer in question, and causing a large enough distraction to lure in enough Reapers to be consumed in the blast, is a significant and ambitious plan, involving cooperation between turian, krogan, hanar and quarian troops. They manage to take out husk after husk until one of the krogan finally manages to sneak a dark energy bomb onto the Reaper's back. The krogan is forced to jump when the Destroyer learns of their plan, and is killed by the impact, but the mission is a success, as the turian frigate reports at least four Sovereign-class and six Destroyer-class Reapers are inbound. All UGC forces in the area are ordered to withdraw, but not before the Reaper ships arrive, smashing their positions with hordes of husks, trapping Kal and Madi's squad in bottleneck. The turians offer evac, and with the squad being overwhelmed, Kal and Madi rush for the evac zone. Just as they reach it however, Kal realizes they'll never get off the ground with the husks on their tail. Forced to make a choice, he pries the detonator for the bomb from one of the wounded marines, and shoves Madi into the hands of a krogan commando, who nods in understanding. Madi desperately tries to rush out and join him, but with the krogan holding her down, she is helpless to do anything as Kal orders the shuttle to take off. She forces herself to watch as Kal makes a defiant last stand, using a geth spitfire to mow down dozens of husks at a time. Back on the ground, just as the shuttle reaches a safe distance, and he's being swarmed by husks, he hits the detonator. He is temporarily blinded by a bright purple light, and then Kal, and everything in six kilometers of the blast radius, is instantly vaporized.

Section 3:

This section would have been from Shepard's POV. On the Normandy, just a few hours after what UGC troops are calling the 'Miracle of Palaven' (the name given to the successful Guardian operation that saw the destruction of thousands of husk troops and ten Reapers, along with the bonus of temporarily halting the Reaper advance and forcing them to retreat for the first time in the entire war, if only briefly), Shepard is reading the casualty reports, and comes across Kal's name. He realizes with some horror that Kal was killed during the battle, having been the one to detonate the bomb. He heads down to engineering to inform Tali of Kal's death, but finds she already knows, as she had contacted Madi just after the battle concluded to chat. It is there, crying into Shepard's shoulder, that she reveals Madi is pregnant.

Chapter 60: Force of Will Part 1:

Section 1:

The chapter would have opened up from Liara's POV. Liara receives a message from one of her agents in Asari High Command, who informs her that they have lost contact with an asari commando team, codenamed Blue Thunder, sent to an Ardat-Yakshi monastery on Lesuss to initiate the NIGHTWIND contingency, as Command feared an Ardat-Yakshi quarantine breach with the Reapers having attacked the planet. Liara immediately informs Shepard, telling him that taking out this monastery is considered highly important by High Command. Marcus asks what the NIGHTWIND contingency is, and Liara states that it is an asari military failsafe in case an Ardat-Yakshi monastery is compromised and the risk of Ardat-Yakshi escaping is considered imminent. To contain this, an asari commando team is dispatched to the compromised monastery to detonate a highly volatile neutron bomb; in this way, all organic matter within the facility is vaporized, leaving the monastery intact, but killing all Ardat-Yakshi inside, allowing for later recovery and repopulation of the facility. Marcus argues the ethics of such a maneveur, but remembers Morinth, and the danger just one Ardat-Yakshi poses. However, he wonders why the asari would prioritize something seemingly less important than fighting Reapers, but Liara explains that the Republics doesn't want an Ardat-Yakshi outbreak and having them run amok in the middle of a war. Given that the commandos have fallen silent, it is likely the monastery is more than compromised, and that the asari cannot spare the resources needed for a larger strike. Shepard agrees to help, and the Normandy dispatches for Lesuss.

Section 2:

This section would have been from Shepard's POV. Shepard deploys with Liara, Keeling and Javik only, with the rest of the squad on standby in case things go sideways. They note that the monastery looks heavily damaged, but otherwise there is no evidence of any lingering occupation forces; no Reapers or Cerberus. They find a kodiak shuttle with the Asari Republican color scheme, as well as a skycar, the latter of which arrived after the shuttle. Continuing inside, they notice the lights are off, but can hear high-pitched electronic screeching; the body of a dead Cannibal later confirms their fears that the monastery was attacked by the Reapers, but are unable to recognize the source of the high-pitched screeches. Shepard contacts Cortez and orders Moses to be put on standby due to the Reaper presence. They later find Phora's body like the commandos had, Liara expressing disgust at the body's mutilation. Moving out into the courtyard, they are engaged by Reaper forces, which are led by one of the enhanced Banshees. Killing all other Reaper forces, the squad struggles to battle the enhanced Banshee, with Marcus, Liara and Javik finding it nearly impossible to penetrate its barriers with their biotics, and the creature is too fast to get an accurate bead on it, making their tactics useless, just as with the commando squad. Shepard watches with confusion as the Banshee turns to Tali, eyes starting to glow intensely. In moments, Tali begins to complain about a headache, which turns into a migraine, throwing her aim off. She turns to Shepard, expressing confusion, but raises her shotgun at him. She fights against it, screaming in pain, but her aim doesn't waver. She is tackled by Liara to the ground, but then Shepard begins to feel it when the Banshee turns its attention to him, and he quickly realizes the creature can somehow influence minds through limited mind control. Suffering from a growing headache, he gets a glimpse into the Banshee's mind: from there, he realizes the enhanced Banshees are actually huskified Ardat-Yakshi, whose genetic defect has been weaponized by the Reapers, effectively allowing the 'Super Banshee' to exhibit its own form of indoctrination, influencing the minds of those around it, but only on a few people at a time: the perfect weapon to sow dissention in enemy ranks.

Screaming in defiance, Tali holds her head in agony as the Super Banshee wears down her mind: Shepard realizes if this continues, the subject will be rendered mindless (just as Ardat-Yakshi do to their victims), and eventually kill them. Shepard, biting through his headache, barks for Moses to be deployed immediately, and he steadily crawls towards Tali, grabbing hold of her hand to comfort the quarian. The Super Banshee advances, knocking Javik aside, but just before it can finish them off, Moses drops from the sky, the geth prime slamming into the ground beside it, grabbing its attention. Invincible to its mind control techniques, the geth uses its pulse cannon to hammer the super Banshee, all the while Cortez deploys James and Kaidan before using the main guns on the kodiak as support. With their help, Moses breaches the Banshee's defenses and grabs it by the neck, using its immense strength to rip the Banshee's head from its spine, tossing it away and proceeding to blast its corpse asunder with a point-blank blast from its pulse cannon.

Following the Super Banshee's destruction, Shepard asks if Tali is alright, and she slowly nods, moving to stand up, only to collapse back down as she groans in pain, her head feeling like a lead weight. Unsatisified that she is fit for combat, he orders her to return to the ship and see Chakwas, to which she reluctantly agrees. Wary of the new husk type, Shepard noting that it seems like a hybrid of the Banshee and the Chimera (quarian husk) in terms of resilience in shielding, not to mention its mind control capabilities, the squad continues on, with Shepard ordering Moses, along with James and Kaidan, to accompany them inside. Tali gets on Cortez's shuttle and returns to the Normandy.

Chapter 60: Force of Will Part 2:

Section 1:

Chapter opens up from Shepard's POV. Moving further inside and through the corridors of the monastery, they find some areas still have partial power. They eventually come across a large open relaxation room, where they find eighteen dragon teeth; impaled on three of them are three of the missing commandos. Only one is still unmorphed however, with the other two fully transformed into banshees, but these are the normal versions. Noticing this, one of the dragon teeth descends to allow its banshee to deploy it, but Moses grabs its head and rams his omni-blade into it, killing it instantly, before using its pulse cannon to blow apart the second and third dragoon teeth. Moving further forward, they find the rest of the commandos; all of them except one has been converted into banshees, with the last one lying against a wall, purple blood having drenched her form; the body belongs to Tashya. With a sigh, Marcus orders Moses to destroy her body to stop them from transforming her. Turning to the other dead banshees, he finds that they've all been killed, with heads and limbs missing. Confused, he looks down the balcony to hear biotic warps. Rushing down, his squad behind him, they enter a room to find Samara battling a normal Banshee. She is not alone however; another asari, an Ardat-Yakshi, waits at the back, cowering. Marcus orders Liara and Keeling to keep an eye on her, before taking James and helping Samara kill the banshee. Afterwards, Marcus asks what Samara is doing here, and she says she has come for "likely the same reason you have." She requests that they do not point weapons at the Ardat-Yakshi, and that she has no intention to hurt them; she reveals the asari is one of her three daughters, Falere. Falere urges her mother to hurry, and Samara explains that Rila, her other daughter, trapped herself in the assembly hall, and the super banshees will find her eventually. When asked, Falere explains that all the other Ardat-Yakshi have been converted into super banshees; from here, Liara states that the commandos brought a neutron bomb to stop the Ardat-Yakshi containment breach, but have been unable to find it. Samara tells them that a few of the commandos managed to escape to the assembly hall, where they likely tried to arm it. Considering it never detonated, it is likely they failed. Samara emphasizes the importance of detonating it as well as rescuing Rila, and they all rush towards the assembly hall while battling Reaper forces and more super banshees.

Section 2:

Section opens back up to Shepard's POV. They finally reach the assembly hall, where they find the entire room empty except for the bodies of four dead asari, and the neutron bomb at the front. Rushing forward, they find three dead commandos, one of them lying against the bomb with her scalp scraped off. Beside them is Rila, who Falere immediately rushes towards to turn over. Shaking her, they realize Rila is still alive, and her eyes open and smile at her sister. Falere takes this as joy to see her sister, and laughs happily. Rila then grabs Falere by the throat and tries to choke her, her eyes turning dark as she begins to mumble about surrendering to the Reapers. Falere screams as Rila's genetic defect begins to influence Falere, but Samara manages to release Falere from Rila's grip, holding Rila down as she begins to coax Rila to resist the indoctrination. Shepard regretfully informs Falere that her sister is indoctrinated, and that she is beyond saving. Rila, breaking free of the Reaper indoctrination, concedes Shepard's point, and pleads with Falere and the others to escape. She states that she was left there as a trap to lure them in, and that "they" (the super banshees) are coming for them all. Right then, super banshees begin pouring in, a huge horde of them coming in from every entrance. Shepard orders an evac, while Falere argues with Rila and Samara over leaving Rila behind. Samara agrees with Rila, and grabs Falere as she prepares to leave. Falere kicks and screams, while Rila smiles at her, saying "I love you" before moving to continue arming the bomb, with only the code half-dialled in due to the commando dying before being able to fully arm it. Fully arming it, Rila lies back as she watches the squad move outside for pickup, Liara placing a hand on her shoulder and saying "Goddess be with you." With that said, the entire squad, including Samara and a screaming Falere, leave on Cortez's shuttle, with the super banshees reaching the bomb. One impales Rila on its claws, pulling her up in preparation to take her to a dragoon's tooth. Rila tells it that "its done" and that "I've already armed the bomb." The super banshee realizes what's wrong, and screams as the bomb detonates, Rila smiling in defiance.

Chapter 61: Night Wind:

Section 1:

This chapter opens from Shepard's POV. The squad watch from the shuttle as a massive flash rocks through the entire monastery, followed by a chorus of screams. The screams are abruptly cut off after a minute, as do the flashes. Samara requests the shuttle land, and Falere ceases kicking and screaming and falls silent, simply falling to her knees and watching the monastery in the distance with a blank expression. Landing, Falere storms from the shuttle, beginning to scream at Samara at how she has failed as a mother, and that Rila could have been saved. Samara reasons that Rila sacrificed her life to ensure the super banshees did not escape, and should be regarded as a hero, but Falere refuses to hear it. Finally, Samara states that Section 106 of her Code states "No Ardat-Yakshi, regardless of predicament, importance or overall good behaviour that they may or may not possess, cannot be allowed to exist outside or without the Monastery they have been assigned to." Liara lowers her head as she realizes what this means, and Samara draws her pistol. Falere backs away, while Shepard pleads with Samara to not do what she is about to do, standing between her and Falere. Samara replies that she cannot bring herself to kill another daughter, and instead draws the pistol on herself, quoting the rest of the Ninth Oath of Reverence by saying "If a Justicar lacks the conviction to fullfill this duty, self-termination is the only viable retribution." Samara says goodbye as she prepares to pull the trigger, but Shepard disarms her, stating that he will not allow Samara to kill herself. Samara tries to fight him off, but he holds her in place with a stasis, unwilling to let her carry out her duty. Falere steps in, stating that she has no intention of leaving the monastery, and that she will instead use it as a base of operations for when the asari military inevitably arrive to use it in their defense of Lesuss. Samara rationalizes that the Code will allow this, and stands down. Shepard asks Samara to join his squad, as he could use her. Given that she has no other duties and that the Reapers must be defeated, Samara decides to join Shepard's crew, but requests time to say goodbye to her daughter. Shepard nods, and heads for the shuttle, lamenting with Liara over Rila's death, but stating that Samara should be proud of her daughter's sacrifice. He points out, in that moment, that "Morinth gave into selfishness and embraced the murderer her body turned her into. Rila destroyed herself to ensure that others of her kind could not be used as murderers. That is one hell of a sacrifice."

Section 2:

This section is from Samara's POV. Samara and Falere share a moment together, apologizing for Rila's sacrifice, to which Falere tells Samara that she loves her, and that she will remember Rila's sacrifice for what it was. They discuss future prospects, and Samara discusses her life as a Justicar. Samara expresses sorrow for Falere and Rila's predicaments, and reveals that she is still haunted by Morinth's death: despite the murderer her daughter turned into, her initial act was truly driven by defiance against the injustice thrusted upon her from birth. Falere admits that the difference between them and Morinth is that they knew what had to be done. Samara nods, wishing that Falere and Rila had been allowed the freedom they deserved. Falere and Samara embrace.

Section 3:

Section is from Shepard's POV. Back on the Normandy, Marcus, Tali (who has recovered from the "mind rape" of the super-banshee back on Lesuss), Garrus, Kasumi and Joker force Javik to watch a documentary on the summary of Milky Way galactic history for laughs. Kasumi then stumbles upon the Fornax channel, which is playing a porno of Shepard and Tali. Hilarity ensues, with Shepard and Tali pointing out just how disgusting and unrealistic it is. The group then read out extranet articles regarding the media coverage regarding Shepard and Tali's relationship. Kasumi reads out comments from various different species and officials in regards to their learning of the relationship (would have had a Nya reference from Quantum Error, where she comments on the relationship and makes mention of her "own human", an asari matriarch, Primarch Victus, Admiral Gerrel and Koris, Jondam Bau, Urdnot Wrex, hanar, etc.). EDI mentions that the two can expect reporters to ambush them once they reach the Citadel. Shepard wonders who leaked the existence of their relationship to the public, and all eyes turn to Kasumi. The thief, to her credit, adamantly refutes the claim.

Chapter 62: Deliverance Returns:

Section 1:

Chapter opens up from Banes' POV. At Cerberus' Independence Station, the Deliverance is docked, having returned from the Cerberus defeat at the Second Battle of Sahrabarik. Banes requests another update from Renata, who explains that the geth have somehow applied tactical cloak technology to their ships, and that with some resources from the Illusive Man, could apply the technology to the Deliverance; however, the geth have had years to perfect the technology, and that their version would pale in comparison. Banes emphasizes that any edge they can get over the Normandy will ultimately allow them to better battle Shepard. Renata agrees, and promises to do her best, while Banes promises to get her the resources she needs.

Section 2:

Section opens up from Illusive Man's POV. The Illusive Man fumes over his loss at Omega, and is irritated by the losses sustained, but is thankful the Deliverance at least escaped. He immediately begins to increase funds for Project: Titan. Geoff Dielheart asks whether they should try and extract Petrovsky, but the Illusive Man orders him not to bother, and after their failure to reclaim Omega, has both fleets return to Titan for reassignment and orders all Cerberus forces to abandon all plans to try and retake the station, as they are stretched too thin already: as such, he also orders at least a quarter of his forces on Aite entangled in a slow planetary campaign to be withdrawn and redeployed. He tells Geoff that all his assistants will be getting cybernetic upgrades, and that Geoff will be next up. Geoff gladly thanks him for the opportunity. The Illusive Man waves him off, too irritated by recent events.

Section 3:

Section opens from the POV of Doctor Garret Bryson, the doctor in charge of the Leviathan investigation. He reaches a breakthrough on his hunt for the Leviathan of Dis, and immediately contacts Hackett. Bryson states that his work will inevitably draw the attention of the Reapers, and when that time comes, he will need adequate protection. Hackett acknowledges this, telling him that he will be sending Shepard himself to help. Bryson wonders if getting Shepard involved is truly necessary, but Hackett argues that a weapon like Leviathan is something the UGC absolutely needs in its arsenal. Bryson concedes Hackett's point, and orders Hadley to begin making preparations for Shepard's arrival.

Section 4:

Section opens from Shepard's POV. On the Normandy, after a long day of work, Shepard and Tali retire to their cabin, where Tali gets the idea to ring up Shala'Raan to check up on their son. Shepard agrees and they talk for a while, discussing Rannoch's development and saying hello to their son. After they close up and head to bed, they are woken up minutes later by Joker informing them Hackett is on the QEC. Shepard answers the call, finding out about Bryson's research. He decides to head straight for Bryson's lab, leaving Tali to her sleep.

A/N:

And that last section is the beginning of the Leviathan arc, whose outline I will release next week. The Super Banshee concept is actually an adaptation of BioWare's abandoned 'Pariah' husk concept from ME3's original script, which just happened to perfectly fit with the Ardat-Yakshi's already canonized genetic defect in terms of how it works. I also wrote this to give Kal a more fitting death than a stupid fucking email.

Overall, what are your thoughts? Let me know what you think.