The Citadel
"No one knows where they are going, just that they are here!" yelled a Turian attendee.
The Council chambers were packed; every sentient race in the Galaxy had representatives anxiously awaiting some news, some sliver of hope.
"They entered the Galaxy five standard days ago, yet they have not attacked anyone."Councilor Anderson said, "Yet they are moving quickly, bypassing whole colonies and stations"
Anderson had dreaded this moment for so long, it had haunted his nightmares. Now that it was here, he felt at a loss. He had no words, no answers, nothing really to offer those around him. He hoped that Shepard and his crew would emerge soon with something resembling a strategy against the darkness that now threatened to consume them all.
"We must try to reason with them…try to get speak to them on their level!"
"How can you reason with the representation of malice itself?"
"My people will not stand for this inaction, we will protect ourselves even if the rest of you will not!"
The chorus of voices grew louder; chaos was beginning to take hold in an already tense situation. Voices shot out from every direction, and the Councilors themselves stood silent, unable to formulate a plan that would satisfy anyone.
The meeting had dragged on for hours already. Every race seemed to suggest that the line of defense begin on their worlds, as evidently they were the most in danger. Yet, so far not a single fatality had been registered on a Council or Terminus world, or so they thought. Even the Geth were without answers. All that was clear was that the "so called Reapers", the sentient machine race, truly existed and had finally come. Their apparent disinterest in destruction or conquest, as had been foretold, had tempered the panic that had taken hold but also raised so many questions.
The meeting might have continued along the same, circular course had not the crowd parted as new faces emerged onto into the room.
Standing at the head of a motley squad of differing races was a brunette human, with her clothes clinging to her form so well that one might have assumed she was a model rather than an officer to take seriously.
"Quiet!" Miranda yelled, "I bring news from the Normandy!"
The crowd did grow silent, looking to this new interruption for some news that would break the maddening crowd.
"Commander Shepard has left with us the Reapers plan, their goal. We have little time to talk, but much to plan. You must hear us now!"
Miranda quickly keyed something into her omni-tool and suddenly a hologram appeared in the room. A chorus of gasps permeated the room.
"What does a terrorist have to add to this already dangerous situation?" the Asari Councilor asked in a mocking tone.
"I did not come to engage in a war of words with you. I came to give you the information that could save you. Save all of us", said the man, his image flickering in the centre of the room.
The Illusive Mans presence did little to give the much hoped for resolution the crowd asked for. But they listened intently, having exhausted every other line of discussion and hypothesis.
"The crew of the Normandy knows some of the Reapers plan, but know not the full story and Shepard's role. I am here to tell that story that we might act in unison to stop billions of deaths and the dispersion of the Reaper forces to every corner of this Galaxy"
A few mutterings were heard in the crowd. The skepticism toward this human being able to offer anything in such an august proceedings were unclear, but still they remained attentive.
"The Reapers are headed towards the Local Cluster. They will strike every human colony in the vicinity. Already, many have already fallen, sterilized by their weapons and the people harvested for an army. Hundreds of thousands are already dead or indoctrinated. Any communications have been cut off and the Alliance fleet is battling for its life and drawing a line where they can. Soon they will be pushed back to beyond the Arcturus relay and to Mars and then Earth itself."
Any hopeful feelings soon faded. Horror was registered on every face, alien or human. Now even the most cynical whisper was quiet.
"That is what the message the Normandy has brought. I bring another message. Shepard left the Normandy last night, in secret. He is going to face Harbringer and the fleet, making his way towards Earth while there is still time."
Tali felt her stomach drop. The rest of the crew, his squad mates in many battles, faces registered anxiousness, even a sense of failure as they now knew why their leader had left them so suddenly.
"This…this is madness" said Udina, standing beside Anderson and doing his best to appear on the same level as the Councilors.
"He is going to his death, what can one man do as entire worlds fall? Who sent him on this folly? Who has killed the man who was to lead us?!"
"If you would cease your politicking for the crowd I will tell you his purpose" the Illusive man shot back, drawing in deeply his cigarette before continuing.
"Shepard submitted himself to Cerberus surgeons over a week ago. His implants are the work and sacrifice of many men before him. Reaper technology was directly grafted onto his spinal cord and connected to his nervous system. He now hears them, their thoughts, their plans and will go to Harbringer in the hopes of interfacing with the fleet itself and turning their indoctrination against them"
"One man against a God race of machines?" said Anderson, with a resigned look of defeat crossing his face.
"Not just any man. Shepard has caught the attention of the Reapers, they have sought after him for some time. Using their same Dark Energy, he can manipulate that force to turn the Reapers against themselves. They will let him enter into their Collective, and only then may he find a way to defeat them. He will turn their own indoctrination, their own twisted words against them. It is clear the force of all your arms will not defeat this fleet, but as one you must head to Earth, engage the Reapers, and forestall their vengeance against humanity long enough to…"
"You humans brought this death upon us!" shouted a Quarian representative.
"If not for your meddling and prodding they might never have come! Why should we sacrifice ourselves for your arrogance? I say let the Reapers break themselves upon the Alliance and we engage what is left! The Migrant Fleet has no ships to spare for suicidal fantasies!"
"The Quarian speaks the truth. Strategically, we could let the Reapers weaken and spend themselves, and then attack them at a place of our choosing. If we let them dictate the field of ba…"
The Turian never had a chance to finish his sentence. Tali rushed up towards where her people's ambassadors and assorted generals stood and pushed them aside so she would be heard.
Tali looked around she desperately tried to summon some level of courage. Her heart was broken and every part of her body wanted to break down and allow her to cry, but she could not afford to do so. Not now. Tali had always been one to compartmentalize pain and focus on the task at hand. Her heart, in its shattered state, would remain so but her mind must focus as her next words needed to speak for the one she loved, the one she was losing so suddenly…
"For hours you have stood here and now not a single measure of courage can be found among any of you!" she began.
"Shepard, a human being, my Captain, our Captain, was the one who defeated Saren and Sovereign. He was the one who led a desperate mission against the Collectors. He was the one who through his words and actions brought us here and now, despite again and again having given so much of himself we stand ready to condemn him and his entire race to oblivion?"
She then turned. If she had not a helmet, her target, the Quarian representatives, might see her icy glare and feel the fury that was bubbling inside her.
"And you…my people. We who have been without a home so long, who know what it is like to be without a place to plant ourselves. We who find peace with the Geth only when a HUMAN stepped between us. We who promised in the name of my father and for the future of our people to stand against this darkness…now you turn your backs, and for what? When did my people give up the wisdom of our ancestors…for the ignorance of pride? The cowardice I see here now? "
She paused, for effect. Then drew a deep breath as she spoke again.
"My She….Commander Shepard stands alone. The human race awaits its extinction. Do we owe them nothing? Will they stand alone?"
"They cannot!" Miranda interjected. She sensed the strength and willpower fading from Tali, and saw the time to add her voice to another.
"When Earth falls what next? The Asari? The Volus? What about the Batarians? When they have their army of broken humanity, where will they turn? They will break apart in every direction, picking at us until we all fall, one after the other. None will survive, none will escape. If we have any chance, then now is the time. They are in one place, they are concentrated, and we have the greatest living human, their trophy and their prize, who will give himself willingly so that we may have a tiny chance of ending this damned cycle…"
"Will we do nothing? Nothing?!" Tali repeated the word. Again and again until she could say little else.
A heaviness lingered in the room. All realized what had been spoken was true. None yet wanted to commit themselves to what they saw as a doomed mission, a stunning display but guaranteed failure.
"Then let the Quarians be the first. We stand with Shepard. We go to Earth." Tali said these words, emphasizing each for impact and sweeping her eyes across the room. None of her own dared say another word.
"Shepard Commander will find the Geth fight beside him". Such was the word from Legion and the few Geth allowed on the station to represent them.
"This Council be damned if it says nothing.", said Councilor Anderson. "What ships of my people are here will go to fight for their home."
"So then also will all of us. Turian, Asari, and human," said the Asari Councilor, having been humbled into action, "All Council races are compelled to stand with Earth. If the doom of our time is to make our stand with Men, then let it be so."
With the Asari Councilors words a new chorus rose. Every race that had ships capable of firing a single gun now rallied. Whether out of shame or irrational exuberance, they now each raised their arms in defiance to fate.
"Gather your fleets and your armies. In one standard day we meet at these coordinates. From there, we do not stop until Earth is before us"
With the word of the Council sealed, its promise made, the crowd dispersed. There was little time, and much to be made ready. The Illusive Man flickered out, and the crew of the Normandy began to plan their own role in what was to come. The clouds had broken, and in a flash of light, hope had been renewed. It would not long last, for none truly knew the terror they were about to face.