Disclaimer: I do not own or make any claim to the Mass Effect universe or the characters contained in this story, all of which are owned by BioWare and Electronic Arts. This is simply my interpretation of some events within the game universe.
[AN: I had originally intended for this story to be a three chapter one, but the final section ended up getting rather long and it would have taken me another week to find the time to finish it off. So instead, I broke it up into two parts, a 1/3, 2/3 split, word count wise.
Not much action in this one, it's mainly set-up for the final act, but I'd like to hear what you think. /AN]
Resistance towards the Core had been light so far. In fact, the fighting on the moving platforms had left Tali feeling a bit unnecessary.
Thane had been picking off Collectors well before they came within weapons range, theirs or hers, while Shepard cleared any other platforms that attempted to dock, eradicating the husks and, in one case, charging into a Scion with enough force to send it toppling over the edge and into the abyss below.
She never thought she'd actually be disappointed that their foes were posing so little of a threat. Yet there she was, watching forlornly as two of the most calculating and efficient warriors in the Galaxy cut through the light opposition, while she was left hoping desperately for something to force her to focus and purge the slowly growing anxieties from her mind; even a Husk would do!
Despite her mental pleas, no more enemies presented themselves and soon they all found themselves wishing for something else to target.
EDI's voice cut into the tense silence as her voice filtered over the comms.
"Shepard, I have completed my analysis of the anomalous energy signatures. The signatures are massive, equivalent to a secondary Fusion and Mass Effect Core for this base. If my analysis is correct, then they originate from… a Reaper."
Tali had never heard the AI hesitate like that but considering the information she had uncovered, it was understandable.
"Keelah, did she just say a Reaper?!"
She also didn't miss the sudden, slight tautness in Shepard's frame.
"EDI, for once I really hope your analysis is wrong."
Before EDI could reply, their platform entered the final chamber and docked with a central spire-island that must also house the core. But that realisation paled in comparison to the room's main feature.
The cavern they found themselves in was, like all its previous compatriots, immense. The curved walls receded into darkness in all direction, illuminated only by that repulsive orange glow. But it was the source of the glow that held her attention.
It was an enormous, membranous sack, cradled carefully in a metal lattice and filled with the same faintly luminescent dark orange fluid that flowed from the tubes all throughout the station, which she could now see flowed towards this… thing.
Then something inside it twitched.
The action caused the thick external membrane to shudder violently, and a sleek, mechanical leg pressed itself against the translucent sack. And with that, the entire silhouette resolved itself.
Even from this distance, it was clear to all three exactly what it was. EDI wasn't wrong, it was a Reaper.
Small and encased in a fluid sack, perhaps, but a Reaper nonetheless. The sleek, eldritch design of the monstrous creation was all too similar to Sovereign and the basic shape was identical.
The main difference appeared to be in size; whereas Sovereign was over 2km long, this one would barely reach 100m.
Still, its comparatively small size did nothing to reduce the sheer presence it commanded. The nameless anxiety and fear she had been feeling up to this point suddenly crystallised into an almost overwhelming sense of terror that she hadn't felt since the Adrenaline-hazed ascent of the Council Tower, under Sovereign's shadow. She could feel herself try and shrink away from the mechanical demon in front of her; even though it showed no sign of being conscious or even aware it still awoke some deep-seated survival instinct that demanded she flee far from it.
Even the Derelict Reaper hadn't had an effect this powerful on her, and she had been inside it for nearly an hour. And as she tore her eyes away from the horrific sight, it was clear that it was having a similar effect on Shepard and Thane.
Thane had his head bowed in prayer, just barely audible over her own thumping heart.
"Kalahira, hear this one…"
Shepard still stood strong in the face of the form that had caused him so much pain and fear, but Tali could see the fear and rage in his stance; the slight warping of his weapon's grip, the way his shoulders had become protectively hunched ever so slightly and the involuntary half-step backwards he had just taken. She could hardly blame him either; she had had nearly three years to deal with the nature and existence of the Reapers, while he had had less than one, and that entire time had been spent fighting their slaves and dealing with his resurrection at the hands of an organisation he hates above everything else.
The angry tremor in his voice wasn't particularly surprising, either.
"This… this is what they've been using the colonists for, isn't it? They've been processing them, turning them into a new Reaper. This is what Harbinger means when he talks about 'Ascension'…"
"Correct. Shepard, my analysis shows that significantly more humans would be required to complete this Reaper, millions at least. The Collectors were likely beginning construction in anticipation of the arrival of the main Reaper force, which may indicate that their arrival is imminent, as most major Human colonies now reside inside Alliance Space, where continued abductions would be extremely difficult," EDI replied with the sobering news
"Damnit… god damnit all! Okay, let's focus on one Reaper at a time, we can deal with the others after we've blown this place to hell. Tali, get me access to the Core. EDI, how do we take this thing out?"
"On it, Shepard," she replied as she quickly hopped off their platform and on to the central island that housed the control systems for the Station's Cores, immediately beginning to override the lockout mechanisms that secured them, while leaving some of her attention on the continuing discussion.
"The processing tubes connected to the Reaper are weak structural links. In theory, if enough of them were destroyed, the lattice support would be insufficient to support the gestation chamber's weight. However, as the intent is to destroy the base, would doing so serve any purpose?" EDI questioned, the confusion in her tone clear.
"Maybe not, but it would make me feel a hell of a lot better," he explained, as he drew his rifle and took aim at the first tube he could see.
Firing an extended burst at the exposed piping, it scarred the crystalline structure and chipped little fragments off, but did little else to the dense material.
"Thane, you take the left side," he ordered as he fired again, filling the clip to capacity.
He ejected that one in frustration but as he went to fire again, a shattering crack shot reverberated within the cavernous space. Looking up, Tali could see that the tube he had been firing at was coming apart, chunks of crystal lattice falling into the abyss, followed by trickles of the horrifying human-based liquid. The surface of the tube distorted and warped as cracks radiated outwards form the first breach.
Then its structural integrity failed, spectacularly. Large shards rained downwards, followed by a cascade of the processed fluid as the entire connecting portion fell away from the rest of the piping.
The Reaper clearly took exception to this, as it writhed violently this time, enraged by their attack.
Thane was making progress with his first tube as well if the whispered sounds of his rifle coinciding with the continued creaking and shattering sounds from another tube were anything to go by. That tube began to fail at the same time as the ominous buzzing of Collectors became audible moments before they came flying into view, landing deftly on the another set of platforms nearby and pouring fire onto the three of them.
"Thane, cover me and take out any snipers you see, I'll handle the rest. Tali, how's the hack coming?" Shepard called out as he ducked back behind some cover.
"I'm almost there, Shepard, give me twenty more seconds."
"Got it, we'll keep them off you."
As it turned out, they barely needed twenty seconds. The Collector force was only small, and so no match for Thane and Shepard working in tandem. Thane silenced them quickly and efficiently from range while Shepard tore into their numbers in CQC. By the end of it, the platform in question was littered with Collector corpses in various states of (dis)articulation. Most of their forces must have been stuck trying to break through Garrus' blockade, if the pitiful lack of resistance they had encountered so far was anything to go by.
Tali couldn't help but fear for what her Turian friend and their other companions were facing at the moment.
"How's it coming Tali?" The Commander asked as he jogged his way back to the central island, absently flicking some Collector ichor off his gloves.
"Nearly there, I think something in the fight disrupted a pathway, just need to bypass it… hold on, shouldn't be a moment… there!" She exclaimed as the control panel rose up from the centre of the island.
Nice work Tali, let's overload the core then-" Shepard began before being cut off by a squawking radio.
"Uh, Commander, you're not going to believe this; I've got The Illusive Man on the QEC, he says he needs to talk to you," Joker said, and Tali could have sworn she could hear him rolling his eyes at the ridiculous timing.
"Right, because a Reaper wasn't bad enough…" Shepard grumbled, visibly trying to control his emotions at the moment. "Alright, patch him through," he instructed, and she brought the hologram feed up on her omni-tool, projecting it in front of him.
"Shepard, you've done the impossible, and accomplished a great deal for humanity, I-" the enigmatic figure began, only to be interrupted by John as he stormed towards the hologram.
"I didn't do this for 'humanity', I did this to fight the Reapers; for all species, not just humans. I've never bought in to your 'human supremacist' bullshit so stop deluding yourself into thinking that's my motivation."
The Illusive Man remained unphased and continued with his careful, deliberate speech.
"A noble cause and one I won't begrudge you; I'm sure your crew appreciates the sentiment if nothing else. Regardless of your motivation, you've achieved a great victory today for the entire Galaxy, humanity included," the head of Cerberus said before taking a slow drag from his cigarette.
It was the first time Tali had ever seen the man and the experience unnerved her almost as much as the Reaper. He had the same presence and charisma that Shepard had; it felt like he was considering your opinion, always being reasonable. But at the same time, there was something indescribably wrong about him. There was a coldness to his voice, a slight sneer to his features. And the eyes. There was nothing natural about those eyes. Quarian eyes were luminescent by nature, but his eyes reminded her of a husk, mechanical and cold.
Shepard clearly felt the same way as his tone hadn't softened in the slightest.
"I'm sure you didn't call me just to tell me I did a good job, so what do you want?"
A dry, humourless chuckle was his only response for a time.
"You always were blunt, Shepard. My analysis of the schematics EDI provided indicates that a timed radiation pulse," his figure disappeared as he spoke, replaced by the now familiar image of the inner layout of the Collector Base, with a blue pulse radiating from their location, "would kill the remaining Collectors but leave the base's technology intact! Think of all the knowledge we could gain, the new technology to fight the Reapers. You know they're close, the Galaxy you're allegedly fighting for can't afford to lose this base!" The Illusive Man enthused as his form reappeared.
"And what, hand the base over so Cerberus can study it? Do you think I'm crazy! That," Shepard said angrily, jabbing his finger viciously towards the embryonic Reaper, "is why this base needs to be destroyed. What do you think your 'timed radiation pulse' will do to an actual Reaper?"
"Shepard, be reasonable. Think about what we could learn from it, from the entire base."
"Even after what happened to your team on the Derelict Reaper, you still think that studying Reaper tech is a good idea?! I knew you were ruthless, but this… what next, you're going to try and grow your own Reaper?"
"I doubt it would come to that, but imagine being able to harness their power for ourselves! Just as you seem to have underestimated my resolve, I appear to have underestimated your blind idealism. Can't you see that the only way to defeat the Reapers is to take their power and use it against them?"
Tali could have sworn that his cybernetic eyes were glowing more fiercely then they had at the beginning as the ideological debate raged.
"There's always another way; nothing good can come from keeping this base intact!" Shepard practically shouted at the obstinate hologram, pacing angrily around on the island.
"Damnit Shepard, don't be so short sighted! You died fighting for what you believed in and I brought you back so you could keep fighting. Some would say that we went too far, but look at what you've accomplished! I didn't discard you because I saw your potential value; don't let your fear blind you to the rewards this base could offer."
And there it was, the proof Shepard finally needed to end this conversation. Up until then it had been a debate between two parties who believed they could sway the other; but The Illusive Man had shown his hand, he only viewed Shepard as tool, a blunt instrument to further his own goals. Shepard had told her that he had expected as much but that so long as their goals aligned and the Alliance wasn't doing anything, that he would accept Cerberus' support.
But now their goals didn't align and that meant this conversation, and by proxy the strange partnership that spawned it, was over.
"I'm destroying this base and I don't really care what you think about my decision. Consider this 'equitable working relationship' over," Shepard said caustically, before he began to access the central console.
"Think about what you're doing Shepard, about everything that Cerberus has done f-" the hologram's final words were silenced as Tali cut the connection, not particularly wanting to listen to the rest of his rant.
Shepard sent a grateful nod her way as he cleared out space towards the base of the console. Then he turned back towards her properly.
"Tali, does that offer for a grenade to blow up Cerberus still stand? It's not quite The Illusive Man himself, but it's going to cause them a lot of pain," he said with a smirk she just knew he had beneath his helmet.
She had three Arc Grenades in her hands before he had even finished asking her.
He placed them, and a couple of blocks of Tactical Explosives, underneath the control panel, so that when the panel was lowered back into the floor, the explosives would do maximum damage to the cores and the surrounding control systems that kept them stabilised. Flashing warnings flickered rapidly across the console's screens, or at least what she assumed were warnings; without an intimate knowledge of the Prothean language, there was no way for her to make any sense of it.
"Everything is set to detonate in seven minutes, followed by complete destabilisation of the cores. The Mass Effect Core should be inoperative three minutes later, and we don't want to be here when that fails. Complete core failure and overload should follow two minutes after that. So in short, we have twelve minutes to be on the other side of the Relay. Garrus, status report?"
"We're holding them pretty well so far Shepard, but we're starting to run low on clips. No fatalities so far, but we've got some pretty nasty injuries going around," Garrus summarised, the overwhelming clatter of weapons fire and the chittering of the Collectors being clearly audible throughout the transmission.
"Good work Garrus. We're finished with the core, exfil the squad back to the Normandy; we won't be far behind."
"Got it Shepard, beginning exfiltration," Garrus confirmed before cutting the connection.
Shepard nodded absently, before turning back to face herself and Thane.
"Tali, Thane; we're leaving. Get to the platform and-"
VVRRRRMMMM!
[AN: To make up for the distinct lack of combat in this chapter, I'm considering doing a parallel chapter from team Two's perspective, as that's where all the action's at. However, that would delay the final chapter by at least another week. If you have any preference, please let me know and I'll go with the majority, unless a particularly good reason to go one way or the other comes up.
Anyway, thanks for reading and I hope you've enjoyed it so far. /AN]