We have arrived at chapter 26! Mass Effect is owned by Bioware, so let's get to it!
Ch. 26: The Invasion
Sol System
Rear Admiral Jacqueline Smith
Jacqueline Smith smiled as she watched the Citadel come into view through the window of her ship's bridge. Her fleet flew behind her flagship, the Korwin, in attack formation, following their Master's mandate. The galaxy would finally be free from the oppression of democracy! For the first time since the days of the Masters, the galaxy would know peace!
In groups of five, the Senate Cruisers flew towards the Citadel. Behind the Indoctrinated fleet, the reanimated corpses of dozens of Reapers moved into attack formation, following the orders of their new masters as they readied themselves for battle...
Citadel
Citadel Control
"Senate Dreadnought Korwin, please respond!" The Citadel controller yelled into his mic, desperately trying to stop the mixed species fleet that was approaching. The entire office was in chaos, each person trying to find some way to stop the fleet from advancing without civilian deaths. In a panic the Citadel Controller called C-Sec, screaming at them that an army was barreling towards the Citadel...
Citadel
Commander Shepard
Shepard sat quietly, eating breakfast with his new wife. Tali sat next to him, her chair scooted close to him, eating solid food with her mask off.
Shepard smiled at Tali as she took another bite. "You know... you're really cute when you eat."
Tali giggled. "Am I always cute to you, John?"
Shepard laughed and put an arm around her. "You're always cute to me, Mrs. Shepard."
Tali gave him a quick peck on the cheek and began eating again, smiling between bites. Shepard sighed happily and continued eating, glad everything was back to normal…
Suddenly the room shook with a muffled explosion, causing Shepard to dart to the window to look outside. His eyes hardened as he saw ships of every variety flying towards the hotel, bombing the lower wards in the distance. The small fighters expertly maneuvered through the tight space, firing rounds into buildings and killing hundreds of people. Shepard turned to Tali as he heard the hiss of her visor reconnecting to her helmet. "Can never get a moment of rest can we?"
Tali approached him and wrapped her arms around him. "It's ok Shepard, let's get to the Normandy. You'll get us out of here like you always do."
Shepard hugged her in return and drew away, smiling faintly. He then slowly pulled away from her and entered Commander mode. "Alright, let's get to the Normandy."
"Right behind you." Tali said as she followed Shepard out of the hotel room.
Hotel lobby
Shepard and Tali bolted into the lobby. His fellow crew members were running through the lobby as well, each of them heading to the Normandy.
Shepard smiled softly. 'Dedicated crew,' He thought.
He ran out of the door and looked up into the sky. The small fighters, of Human, Salarian, Turian, and Asari design, flew overhead, dropping bombs on nearby buildings. Civilians lay dead in the street, bloodied and mangled by the explosives. Shepard forced himself to look away and continue to the nearby docks and the Normandy…
Normandy SR-2
Shepard hurried into the airlock and ran up to Joker, who was sitting in his usual chair.
Joker spun around and looked at Shepard with worry in his eyes. "Shepard, is this true? That bombing fleet is attacking the Citadel?"
Shepard nodded slightly as the others began pouring into the Normandy. "I think so Joker, I knew I should have gone with the fleet."
Joker turned back to the ship controls. "I don't know, Shepard... the last time you met them you only got away because you were useful to them..."
Shepard nodded once. "You might be right, Joker... it's time to get this bird into the air and stop these bastards before they kill anyone else!"
Joker smiled and fired up the Normandy as the last of the crew walked through the airlock. "Aye aye, Commander!"
Shepard could only watch as Joker began moving the Normandy out of the docks and into the space battle outside…
In the space around the Citadel, the battle raged. The forces of the Senate, still licking their wounds, stood almost no chance against their own best bombing fleet mixed with former Reaper corpses; the Leviathan fleet, continuing to follow their mandate, quickly overwhelmed C-Sec as they dropped Indoctrinated foot soldiers onto the Citadel. Nobody knew who the enemy was; the Indoctrinated wore Senate uniforms. The temporary Galactic Senate building was the first place targeted by the Indoctrinated foot soldiers; despite a strong defense and the eventual assistance of some of the Senate fleet, the Senate Building was lost and the Senators were captured. The Normandy was nearly overwhelmed trying to defend the small ships aiding the Senate building, and eventually it was forced to retreat.
As the Senators were forced into transports headed towards the main dreadnought of the Leviathan fleet, a video message was sent to all vid screens on and around the Citadel: A human Admiral faced the screen, smiling happily at the millions she would convert. "My brothers and sisters, do not be afraid! The Masters have come to save us from ourselves! You have lived under the yolk of your so called 'Democracy' for far too long. The Masters are here to save the people from the corruption of those in power, and bring us a society free of prejudice, hate, and greed! We will all be one people under the Masters, one beautiful people who shall praise the Masters for the freedom they have given us! Rejoice my brothers and sisters, now is the time we shall be set free!"
Normandy SR-2
Commander Shepard
Shepard shook his head as the vid screen turned to static; what a bunch of complete bull, they obviously didn't understand their 'Masters' were controlling them like puppets. The Normandy, just like the rest of the fleet, was in utter chaos and Shepard watched in defeat as people hurried back and forth, trying to regain control of everything and reorganize. Sadly the Leviathan fleet persisted and the Senate fleet began to retreat towards the Relay; the Sol system had been lost to the overwhelming might of the Leviathan fleet. Shepard cursed to himself for losing his home system... again…
Citadel
Rear Admiral Jacqueline Smith
Jacqueline Smith smiled as the Masters sent more information to her; she was standing in an endless flat plain, water covering her feet slightly as it bobbed back and forth. Her Master, who looked exactly like the one she had lost so long ago, came over to her, his voice deep and commanding, perfect for a Master...
"Jacqueline, you have done well. You are truly worthy of our grace, as are your people, but there is one problem. Shepard has escaped! He will try to stop our perfect society! He would rather lead all to ruin than listen to reason. He must be stopped."
Jacqueline nodded, understanding what had to be done. The Master spoke nothing but truth, she could not resist the truth. "Yes Master, may your glory bring us out of this dark age. Your wisdom shines true, thank you my Master."
The Master nodded in return. "Now go Jacqueline, end the one called Shepard, and the galaxy shall finally know peace."
Normandy SR-2
Commander Shepard
"What are we going to do, Commander, we can't leave Earth again!" James Vega yelled angrily as he spoke to Shepard. The crew was gathered around the CIC, discussing this new development.
"James, we've lost a lot of good soldiers out there, we can't fight them when they're using our own people against us! We need to kill the Leviathans to save those men and women!"
James fired back. "Commander, those things took command of an ENTIRE FLEET! We couldn't stop them right now if we tried! We'd need something like Bryson's energy field to protect us if we want to even get close."
Shepard took a deep breath and nodded. "True, we would need something to protect us against their influence, but I don't think we have time to retrofit the Normandy right now. Maybe we can retrofit the Mech we picked up, it's smaller, therefore easier to change."
Tali's eyes widened. "Shepard, that's insane! You couldn't drop the bomb out of the Mech, whoever went with it would die!"
Shepard shook his head. "No, we would drop the Mech from the Normandy using EDI's calculations and set a timer. Since the bombs can't stand the incredible pressure of the deep ocean for long we'll need her calculations to be precise. When we drop it the Mech would explode and kill the Leviathans. They probably haven't left their lair, they don't perceive us as a threat, but... we still need to be careful."
Vega spoke again. "But Commander, the second the Normandy gets into the atmosphere the Leviathans are going to start influencing us, how could we drop the Mech like that? Why don't we just use the shuttle?"
Shepard sighed. "The shuttle wouldn't be able to handle the immense pressure. Maybe... maybe we could shield the shuttle and put the Mech on its back. We could then drop the Mech from the shuttle and get out of there, killing the Leviathans."
Javik shook his head. "Commander, you assume the Leviathans are only in one place. You do not know how many there are, or how many would actually die from the bomb, and you don't know how many Indoctrinated agents are on that planet, ready to be killed with them. We need a better solution than this."
"I agree." Liara said as she leaned closer to Javik.
Garrus spoke up. "Maybe we could get the rest of the fleet to do the same and nuke the entire planet, these bombs are far more powerful than our other weapons. I think they developed them to destroy Reapers in space, which they did quite well, but they converted it for underwater use when the Leviathans were discovered. Just a few of those bombs would be able to cover the planet in fire."
"Listen to yourself Garrus, you're talking about bombing an entire planet! Besides, each ship only has one bomb and very few have a means of deploying them besides the ships we lost to the Leviathans." Shepard retorted.
"Shepard, you know as well as I do that these Leviathans need to be defeated, and we don't have time to think of a new strategy! It's us or them here!"
Shepard cursed, knowing the only way to kill all of the Leviathans was to bomb the planet to oblivion. "But the planet is covered in other forms of life!"
Garrus crossed his arms. "Forms of life under the direct control of the Leviathans. They control every aspect of their planet, and they intend to do the same to the rest of the galaxy if we don't stop them now... you know this is what we have to do, Shepard."
Shepard sighed and shook his head. "I... I know. Damn these Leviathans, why didn't they remain in their goddamned lair!?"
"It does not matter now, Commander, we know what must be done." Javik said stoically.
Shepard nodded again, thinking about the extreme consequences of what he had to do to save the galaxy again…
Citadel
Keeper AI
"Master." Ji-Wilnar, the Keeper AI, said to the Indoctrinated woman before him.
"Ji-Wilnar, we have finally rediscovered you. We are proud to see our faithful servant live on." The woman said in the Leviathan's menacing voice.
"I am not your servant, you are the ones who caused this! You killed my people for your idiotic ideals of control!"
The Leviathan simply stared at him. "You are the idiot here, Ji, you programmed the AI. With it gone, we can now reclaim our throne. I wonder, did you program it incorrectly on purpose? Did you always want to rebel against our power? You do not seem to understand WE are the apex race, the rulers of the galaxy. NOTHING will stand in our way now."
Ji glared at the Indoctrinated woman. "No, you will not win again! I will not allow you to shed more blood for your sick delusions of power!"
"We have no delusions, Ji, we are in control now. The artifacts cover Earth and the Citadel, and will soon cover the rest of the worlds in this galaxy. We are manufacturing more as we speak! Soon, our control will be felt by every living being in the galaxy, the way nature intended. We are the protector to the weak, crusher of the strong, and guardian of the Many! We shall perfect this galaxy, and end the machines!"
"Are you going to use machines to stop machines again? Are you going to use everyone as your puppet? Yes, yes you are and yes you will. Your kind hasn't changed, Master, and nothing you say will change my mind."
The Indoctrinated woman smiled. "Luckily... you are a machine, so yes, I can change your mind."
"No, stop! Get away!" Ji yelled as the woman began hacking into his console. "You cannot do this, you cannot suppress the people again! We are not tools, we are not animals, and we are not your slaves! We are living, breathing, thinking beings, like you, we deserve respect!"
The Indoctrinated woman pressed enter on the console and smiled. Ji's eyes widened as a new program opened and his personality was swallowed away. "Scanning: Complete. We serve you, my Master."
Author's endnote: Ji-Wilnar NOOO! I bet you guys thought I forgot about him didn't you? XD Anyway, it looks like everything is bad now, boy that was fast. But it's alright; we'll just have to see what happens next. And to answer a question rose by Demon: I am unsure how many more chapters this will have, but I'm more than open to continuing it until the story is done. :) I'm not going to stop writing it until the central plot is resolved and every side story finds an end. And I enjoyed the Tali-Shepard wedding picture, it was wonderful! :,) I honestly thought this story would be horribly unpopular and I would stop, so I'm pleasantly surprised I'm actually able to finish it without crying at my terrible story telling. :D (10000 views! So happy! :,D) And remember, leaving reviews, especially reviews with constructive criticism, helps me know what I'm doing right and doing wrong! Maybe I forgot a comma here, or spelled a word wrong there, or maybe something sounds odd here; if you see any of that feel free to review and point it out to me, and if you don't want others to see it feel free to pm me, that's fine as well, I won't be offended unless you just say 'you suck' or something of that nature. And the more people who follow and favorite, the more willing I am to stop being lazy and actually write! ;) *hint hint* So, that's that, I hope to see you next chapter and, as always, Keelah Se'lai you wonderful people you!
P.s. thank my first ever Beta reader, Nightstride, for reading through this chapter and helping me make it better. :)