A/N: Am I the only one who missed heavy weapons in ME3? I loved the M-920 Cain! And the Collector Particle Beam! That thing was wicked! Granted, there was Javik's particle weapon, but it just didn't seem to have the same kick. Also, this isn't a super strong way to explain Indoctrination, but I'm in a hurry to get to the sequel to this story. If I were getting paid to write this, I'd come up with a longer explanation, but I've lost the will. Sorry. -_-

Chapter 6

When they made their way past the damage of the gaping hole , an eerie silence settled around them. After the chaotic noise of the battle outside, it was more than a little disconcerting.

"Have I mentioned reapers creep me the fuck out?" Ashley said and tightened her grip on her gun.

"Reapers creep you the fuck out . . .?" Shepard encouraged.

"Reapers creep me the fuck out, Ma'am," Ashley finished with a long-suffering sigh.

"That's better. Don't you feel better?"

"No Ma'am."

The inside of the ship looked somewhat similar to the collector ship, it just looked much, much older. The very atmosphere around them exuded an ancient and powerful foe and countless atrocities. Shepard shuddered. She didn't want to think of all the deaths and suffering Harbinger had caused over the eons. He'd had how long to rack up his body count? And for what? According to the reaper on Rannoch, it was to ensure order in the galaxy. If that wasn't the most ridiculous explanation in the whole fucking universe, she didn't know what was. Ensure order by slaughtering organic races every fifty-thousand years? She preferred the chaos of organics to the reaper's way of doing things. It was all so damn crazy.

Doing what she did best, she blocked it from her mind and pressed on. The further into the ship they went, the more quiet they grew. Their cloaking devices were all active, but none of them felt safe. The bleakness of their surroundings pressed heavily on their minds but they kept moving. The further into the belly of the beast they moved, the more twisted it became. Wiring and tubes protruded from an infinite number of ports, running off to power only god knew what. Everything about the ship looked ancient, though it was spotless.

After a few more minutes of pushing forward, Shepard opened her omni-tool. "We need to find the power source of this thing," she said, activating the scanner. Her words seemed to echo in her head. The silence around them was unnerving. And suffocating. And annoying, as it were.

Shepard was so immersed in her scans that she didn't even notice when the world around her slowly faded from view. She didn't notice when whispers filled her ears. She didn't even notice how tired she suddenly felt until her head nodded forward. She jerked her head up but the sight that met her eyes was not the corridor she was in moments ago. She was surrounded by a consuming darkness. The only light she could see was her omni-tool.

"You have come," a voice said from the surrounding black abyss. It was not the voice of Harbinger. It sounded like a young boy.

"Who are you? Where are you?" Shepard asked, squinting into the dark.

"I am everywhere," the voice replied.

Shepard rolled her eyes. "What do you want?"

"The cycle must continue, Shepard. You must help me continue the cycle. We must ensure order in the universe."

Shepard lowered her arm and her omni-tool went black. She was quite sure that was wrong. Order in the universe seemed like it was a bad idea. Then why did it seem like such a good idea . . .?

"Where are you? Let me see you," Shepard insisted, trying to keep her focus. She was finding it more difficult by the moment.

A dim light appeared in front of her and a figure dressed in light gray grew closer and closer. The figure turned out to be a young boy, perhaps twelve years old. He had an innocent face and an even more innocent voice. She knew his face from . . . somewhere . . .

"You have come so far, Commander Shepard," he said with a look of concern. "It is time for you to rest. The galaxy is safe because of you."

"What . . .?" she asked, placing a hand on her temple. She didn't remember the battle . . . had they beat Harbinger? And why did that boy look so damn familiar?

"You can rest now, Shepard. You won. Rest."

Shepard sunk slowly to her knees. His words seemed so perfectly logical. She had worked hard to save the universe. And she had done it. She could rest.

"Where is everyone? Where is . . . Liara . . .?" She glanced around but saw only darkness. When she turned back to look at the boy, her memory suddenly came flooding back. She knew that boy. She had watched his slaughter on Earth. "Wait a minute . . ." she whispered, narrowing her eyes.

Harbinger's voice suddenly replaced the boy's as he replied, "You are too late, Shepard. You have already lost. You are mine."

"NO!" Shepard screamed, willing her body to her feet. "FUCK YOU! Don't you dare appear to me as a child you murdered in front of me! You want to face me? Then face me you son of a bitch! Don't fuck with my head, face me like a true Leviathan!"

"Your words are nothing. We are so much more than our creators. We are the peace keepers of the universe. We ensure order."

Shepard could feel him pressing his will on her. Indoctrinating her. It terrified her how logical his words sounded in her ears. How was that possible? She had spent so long fighting him, how could anything he said sound logical?

"No . . ." she struggled to find better words with which to combat him.

"Give yourself to me, Shepard. You are safe now. You can stop fighting me now," he said. His voice sounded oddly soothing.

Give yourself to me. The words echoed in Shepard's head. Not Harbinger's words. Liara's. He'd taken Liara's words.

Shepard's head cleared in an instant. Harbinger could take everything from her but that. He could never take Liara from her. No one could. Not Harbinger and his entire damn legion of reapers. She would destroy every mass relay in the damn galaxy before she let him take Liara. The child in front of her faded, replaced by the sound of his voice beating in her ears.

"Surrender, Shepard," he said. "You have lost. You will be at peace."

With a shout filled with a bloodrage rivaling that of a krogan, Shepard threw her head back and fought Harbinger with every ounce of strength she had. Every inch of her mind was filled with thoughts of Liara and their unborn child. She centered her mind around the image, drawing unimaginable strength from it as she battled for free will on Harbinger's home turf. She knew her odds of winning this battle were astronomically low, but she didn't care. She had found her anchor, her reason to fight, her reason to live. She felt like she was trying to drag herself out of quicksand, but she was making progress. She could feel his grip on her slipping the more she thought Liara. She thought of their last night together, of the joy she felt when Liara told her they were going to have a baby. Further and further she reached toward the proverbial light of freedom. After what felt like days of fighting, she at last broke through the mental barrier suppressing her mind.

Then it was over. She was free.