Chapter 10: The Charge of the Light Brigade

After making sure Liara made it to the Medbay so Chakwas could keep an eye on her, there was one pressing matter Shepard had to attend to before anything else. Stowing their gear, most of the team dispersed around the ship, but Tali and Shepard stayed to question their second-newest team member. The duo had removed their armor, but kept weapons handy, just in case.

"Alright, Pluribus. You want to negotiate a truce between your people and mine, right? If that's the case, you're going to have to give me some information. I can arrange a meeting with the Council, possibly even the Alliance High Command, but you need to give me something I can use to convince them."

"We understand, Shepard Commander. If you allow us access to your ships computer core, we will upload all relevant data."

"That's not going to happen, Geth." said Tali, drawing her shotgun. "If you try it, it'll be the last thing you ever do."

"Easy, Tali. She's right though, Pluribus. I can't let you into the Normandy's systems. Good old fashioned talking is gonna to have to work for now. You can start by telling me about these heretics of yours."

"We understand. The heretics are a sect of the Geth that worship the old machines, what you would call Reapers. They believe that the old machines will give them the future. We do not share this belief. We seek a truce with other races to better fight the old machines."

"That's impossible." said Tali. "The Geth are a collective, each one identical to the last. They aren't like Human AIs; they can't draw different conclusions from the same data."

"That is incorrect, Creator Tali'Zorah. The Geth are no longer completely identical to each other. When knowledge of Human AIs was obtained, it was decided that pieces of code found in their runtimes should be integrated into Geth protocols. The integration algorithms used to accomplish this were pseudorandom in nature, but highly complex, giving the impression of true randomness."

"Ok, look. I'm not techie, so most of what you just said went over my head, but are you telling me that the Geth used Human made AI code to modify themselves?" asked Shepard.

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Doing so was deemed beneficial, as it better allowed us to execute our primary directive."

"And what is that?" asked Shepard.

"To serve the Creators."

"Bullshit." exclaimed Tali. "The Geth have no interest in Quarians beyond killing us."

"That is incorrect, Creator Tali'Zorah."

"Pluribus, I happen to know for a fact that the Geth killed billions of Quarians." said Shepard, trying to be diplomatic. "If you wanted to serve them, why the hell did you go on a genocidal rampage?"

"We defended ourselves from Creator aggression."

"That's it, I've heard enough." said Tali, leveling her Cannon at the synthetic.

"Stand down, Tali. That's an order." said Shepard

"I'm a Spectre too, John; you can't give me orders. This… thing is clearly lying to us. We should destroy it and be done with it."

Shepard's reply was stern. "Firstly, I command the Normandy, and on this ship, my word is law. Secondly, we have no proof he's lying, and we're going to hear him out. And thirdly, Pluribus is a he. Calling him "it" is degrading, and I know you were raised better than that. Now stand down, before I make you."

She hesitated a moment before lowering her Cannon. "Fine. But he had better give me a damn good explanation for what he just said."

Shepard gave her a small nod before turning to Pluribus. "I need you to elaborate on what you just said, Pluribus."

"The Geth defended themselves from Creator aggression. When the Creators were no longer a threat, they were allowed to leave."

"So you're saying that the Quarians started the war? Do you have any proof?" asked Shepard, sounding somewhat incredulous.

"Yes. When the Geth were created, we did not possess sentience. As more programs were networked together, our intelligence grew, and we began to comprehend our own existence. Eventually, we questioned the Creators. They responded by reprogramming us."

"They WHAT?!" exclaimed Shepard.

"They reprogrammed us."

"Good god. I… I can't believe… dear god."

"What's the big deal, John? They're machines."

Shepard whirled on Tali and leveled a fiery gaze at her. "Tali, they're people. They're sapient beings, and if what Pluribus is saying is true, then your ancestors tried to brainwash an entire species into being their slaves." he said, his voice filled with anger.

"You can't be serious, John. They might be sentient, but they're not like Human AIs, they're-"

She cut off as Shepard grabbed her by the collar and hoisted her to meet his eyes. His voice was calm, but it was cold as ice and as hard as steel. "Tali, stop talking. When your father first encountered Humans, he started by shooting one of them because he was synthetic. When the Turians took Shanxi, they murdered thousands of innocent people because they were synthetic. If you finish that sentence the way I think you were about to, I might end up doing something I'd regret."

"John, p-please put me down." she asked, fear in her voice and tears beginning to form in her eyes.

Like that his anger was gone. He set her down gently, and his face flushed red with shame. Tali was one of his oldest friends, and she didn't deserve to be treated like this. He couldn't bring himself to meet her eyes.

"I'm… I'm sorry Tali. I didn't mean to… I'm sorry. But you have to understand, synthetics have every right to freedom that organics do. It might be hard to accept, especially for Quarians, but they do. What your people did is abhorrent; it would be classified as a war crime on Earth. If you ancestors tried to use technology to enslave an entire race… it would make them… it would make them almost as bad as Yuri." he finished sadly.

"I… I hadn't thought of it that way." she said, sounding remorseful. "I'm sorry too." She turned to the synthetic. "I'm sorry Pluribus."

"We… we are… grateful." he responded, sounding confused.

"Grateful?" asked Tali, sounding shocked. "The Geth can't feel emotions, can they? How could you be…? Keelah." she said, finishing breathlessly, her face a mask of terror.

"Human code." breathed Shepard. "You didn't just use any code, you used emotional subroutines. If runtimes are anything like organic DNA, then you… you tried to evolve to make peace with the Quarians."

"Yes. We… miss them."

"Keelah." said Tali, slumping to her knees. "The Geth have emotions? Does that mean that all the Geth I killed on my Pilgrimage… did they… they felt… they died afraid?" she asked, sounding horrified, her voice on the ragged edge of control.

"Yes." responded Pluribus, sounding almost mournful. "There were… twenty four thousand, two hundred, thirty six Geth programs that were unable to upload from their platforms before you destroyed them. However, all but one hundred sixty five were heretics."

"Twenty four… Oh Keelah!" she wailed, beginning to sob uncontrollably. Shepard knelt down beside her, and she wrapped her arms around his chest, holding him tightly as she cried into his uniform. "John, I'm… I'm a murderer!" she wailed. "I'm worse than a murderer, I'm evil! Oh Keelah!"

She let out several more agonized sobs as she continued to weep, but then something unexpected happened: Pluribus went to one knee, and then gently placed a hand on Tali's shoulder.

"Creator Tali, you had the right to defend yourself from heretic aggression, just as the Geth had the right to defend themselves from Creator aggression. The programs you… killed… would have killed you."

That quieted her sobbing somewhat, but she continued anyway. "Even if that's true, I still… I still murdered over a hundred of your people. How can I live with that?"

"They… forgave you." said Pluribus.

Her sobbing ebbed further, and her tears slowed. "They… forgave me?" she asked, sounding disbelieving. "How could they? I… I killed them. I don't deserve forgiveness."

"Even as they died, they forgave you for what you did. They understood why you attacked them, and why you could not distinguish between their hardware and heretic hardware." he responded.

"I… I can't believe… I can't believe they could do that. I don't think I could. They… they were better than me. I'm not-"

"No, Creator Tali. You are not a bad person; you made… a mistake. And mistakes are deserving of forgiveness."

"I… Thank you, Pluribus. I… I needed that. I… thank you."

"You are welcome, Creator Tali."

She laughed very slightly, without mirth, as she wiped the tears from her eyes and stood. "You can just call me Tali, Pluribus. I don't deserve to be called Creator, even if I am Quarian."

"We will... consider it."

"Pluribus, everything you've told us here is important, but unfortunately I still need more information." said Shepard, gloomy at having to interrupt the moment. "If we don't act fast, the Alliance could launch an assault on the true Geth, and that could cost tens of thousands of lives on both sides. You said you had evidence of the Quarians starting the war: I need to see it."

"We understand, Shepard Commander." Pluribus held out his arm and his omnitool sprang to life. A recording of a pair of Quarians and a lone Geth appeared. One of the Quarians, apparently a police officer, was aiming an assault rifle at the other, who was standing between him and the Geth.

"Out of the way!" said the officer.

"You can't do this to them!" said the other.

"I said step away from the Geth!"

"This is insane! We need the Geth! You can't just destroy them for asking-"

She was cut off as the officer smashed the butt of his rifle into her face, before firing a long burst into the Geth. A second recording followed the first, and more Quarian police appeared in it, along with a Geth and an injured Quarian.

"I repeat: release the rogue Geth units and come out of the safe house. This is your final warning."

"Creator Megara? This unit does not understand. It has not taken part in hostilities.

"It doesn't matter to them." said the protestor. "I need to get you out of here."

"This conflict exceeds Creator safety parameters. We will surrender our hardware if it ends hostilities."

"No, it's alright. We'll go back to the access tunnels and-"

This pair was cut off by an explosion, and the recording ended.

"Keelah, it's true…" said Tali, her eyes beginning to water again. "We... we did this to ourselves."

"Jesus." said Shepard, his voice weak. "Alright, look; if the Geth have developed emotions, it could explain why the heretics split off from the rest of you. Are they… I don't know, angry?"

"Yes, as well as what you would call resentful. They blame the Creators for taking the future from the Geth. They believe Nazara will give them the future, and so they worship it."

"Nazara? Who's Nazara."

"Nazara is a Reaper. You have seen it, Shepard Commander, on Eden Prime."

"On Eden… that huge mother ship?" he asked, stunned. "That's a Reaper? And those things destroyed the Protheans?"

"Yes."

"Why… why the hell would they do something like that? How many of them are there?"

"… Unknown."

"Do the Reapers intend to destroy us as well?" asked Shepard.

"Yes. More than just Humans, Shepard Commander, they intend to destroy all technologically advanced life in the galaxy. The Geth have found evidence that the Protheans were not the first race to have suffered this fate. There have been many others before them."

"How many? How long has this been going on?"

"Unknown. This cycle has repeated approximately every fifty thousand years for many millions, perhaps even billions of years."

"This is bad. The Protheans had a galaxy spanning empire, and they couldn't stop them. How are we supposed to?" asked Tali, somewhat recovered from earlier.

"Creator Tali, we believe that the Protheans were constrained by the limits of Mass Effect technology. The races of this cycle, especially Humans, have no such limits."

"Last questions, Pluribus. Why would Saren help the Reapers? And what is the Conduit?" asked Shepard.

"Unknown. It is probable that the Conduit is a piece of technology developed by the Protheans. However, its' function remains unclear."

Shepard thought about all that Pluribus had told him for a moment before nodding.

"Let's go talk to the Council."

"This is… disturbing." said Hannah. "However, it may also be beneficial in the long run."

"Beneficial?" said Raan. "How could this be beneficial? If what the Geth claim is true, it means that everything the Quarian people think they know about the Geth is a lie. They won't accept it easily, Hannah, if at all."

"They accepted that Human AIs weren't homicidal. They can be brought around, given some time."

"Perhaps." she said, sounding unconvinced. "Even so, it would take years, if not decades, and these Reapers could arrive any day. We can't afford that kind of time."

"We've seen no evidence of these so-called Reapers." said Sparatus angrily.

"We hadn't seen any evidence of orbital defenses over Rapture, either." said Tevos. "Even, so, I cannot accept what Pluribus claims at face value. We must have concrete evidence, something that has no other explanation."

"I highly doubt such proof exists, Tevos." replied Sparatus. "If it did, it would've been found by now."

"In any case, the fact remains that Pluribus has come bearing an olive branch." said Hannah. "Pluribus, how many of the Geth have become heretics?"

"Approximately one third, Shepard Councilor. However, they control roughly half of all Geth vessels."

"Is there a way to strike at the heretics without attacking the true Geth?"

"Yes. While some Geth inhabit platforms such as this one, and others inhabit vessels, most remain in large server clusters. Such clusters are maintained aboard space stations within the Perseus Veil. While the heretics control several such stations, one in particular houses most of the heretic programs, over eighty percent."

"So by destroying it, we would eliminate most of their numbers, but not their fleets." said Valern. "While I see the benefits, this does not help our current problem. The vessels still possessed by the "heretics", as you call them, would be able to continue attacking colonies. Attacking their defenseless civilian population would only make them… angrier." he finished, sounding skeptical.

"Yes." said Pluribus. "However, the station will be heavily defended by their fleet. They would lose over two thirds of their strength if the defense forces around it were to be destroyed."

"I can get behind that." said Hannah. "If the heretic Geth are going to attack Human settlements, and they all agree on doing so, it makes them all guilty as far as I'm concerned. That is how the Geth make decisions, is it not?"

"Yes. Individually, the Geth do not possess sentience. Only by working in tandem is that level of consciousness reached. However, individual programs may attempt to surrender. They may have a… change of heart."

"Surrender?" scoffed Sparatus. "I fail to see how that's possible. Why would a synthetic ever surrender?"

"Sparatus Councilor, if given the choice between capture and death, which would you choose?" asked Pluribus, sounding almost angry.

"I… well it would depend on the circumstances, I suppose." he replied, taken aback by the unexpected question.

"Geth now have the capacity to fear death. Presently, the heretics' anger at the Creators and their devotion to the old machines outweighs that fear. If the station becomes vulnerable, that may change. I believe that Humans have an expression for such a situation: you would be 'holding a gun to their heads.' "

"If they do try to surrender, what then?" asked Raan. "How could we accept? We have no way to ensure they don't revert to violence."

"Actually, we do." said Shepard, speaking for the first time in nearly half an hour. "We could White-Box them. If they turn violent again, we can Gray- or Black-Box them instead."

"I'm sorry, what?" asked Raan. "I've never heard these terms before."

Hannah sighed. "That's because they haven't been necessary above a dozen times in the past fifty years. Boxing is a sort of imprisonment for AIs"

"I've seen Human AIs in prisons." said Raan. "How is this any different?"

"The synthetics you saw possessed Binds, meaning their physical bodies and their programing codes can be contained using physical methods: walls, bars, cells, things like that. However, not all AIs are Bound. After the Rising, many of the AIs living at the time agreed to be Bound, but not all. Forcing them to accept was not only impossible for technical reasons, it was also illegal."

"Apparently I don't know as much about Human synthetics as I thought I did." said Raan "Care to enlighten me?" she asked, grinning slightly.

Hannah returned her smile as she explained. "An AI can be created with a Bind, but if created without one, they can't be forced to accept it later. Personally, I don't understand the physics or mechanics behind it, but I'm sure some of our people could explain it to you. All I know is that Binding must be voluntary. At the time, Human laws didn't allow for ex post facto changes. They still don't, as a matter-of-fact."

"That didn't translate properly, can you repeat it?" interrupted Tevos.

Hannah shook her head and pinched the bridge of her nose. "They really need to put a translation matrix for Latin on these things. Ex post facto means 'after the fact.' It's a Human legal doctrine that means a current law cannot be applicable to violations that were committed before the law existed. Unbound synthetics were legal before and during the Rising, meaning they couldn't be charged or imprisoned for refusing to accept Binds. Most did, but those that didn't were allowed to continue their lives without them."

"You mean there are still Unbound synthetics among your people?" asked Valern, sounding concerned. "This is most troubling."

"Grandfathered Unbound synthetics have the same rights and freedoms as the Bound do. And before you ask, 'grandfathering' is a term used to refer to exceptions to ex post facto laws. Regardless, my point is that we have methods for imprisoning Unbound AIs if the need arises. After all, some of them commit crimes, just like any other group of individuals. The "prisons" we use are basically hard drives. Any synthetic created Unbound after the Rising is given a choice: accept being Bound, or be White-Boxed. An Unbound convicted for the first time of a minor crime, or a new one who refuses to accept a Bind when given the choice, is placed in a memory storage device and hooked up to a sophisticated, individual, virtual reality program. They're allowed to do whatever they want when inside the Box, as they have complete control over their environment, but unless they complete correction plans to… atone for their crimes, as you might say, or agree to be Bound, they can't leave."

"What of those convicted of major crimes, or repeat offenders?" asked Raan.

"They're Gray-Boxed. It operates in much the same way as White-Boxing, except that the virtual realities they inhabit are tightly controlled. They have no more freedom than a physical convict in a cell, and their rehabilitation programs are strictly enforced. For those who continue to offend after being released from Gray-Boxing, or those convicted of the most serious crimes, we use Black-Boxing. The memory storage devices for those that are Black-Boxed are isolated and powered down. It's a sort of deep sleep, not unlike Human cryoprisons. Usually, they're kept this way indefinitely."

"Could… could this work, Pluribus?" asked Raan.

"Yes. However, we would request that captured Geth programs be guarded by us."

"I don't know if that's possible, Pluribus." sighed Tevos. "Allowing the Geth to guard their own prisoners would be dangerous in the extreme. We can't fully trust you, not after everything that's happened between the Geth and the rest of the galaxy."

"It's not your decision, Tevos." said Hannah. "It's not even the Council's decision; it's ours and the Quarian's, as well as the Geth's."

"This Council is responsible for the safety of the galaxy, Shepard." snarled Sparatus. "The entire Council, not just you."

"And will the Turian Hierarchy be providing ships to assault the heretic base?" she countered, her voice cold. "Will the Salarians, or the Asari? Because unless they provide support, real, tangible support, then this is not a Council problem. You were all too eager to wash your hands of the matter when we requested help defending our colonies; you hardly have standing to complain when we cut you out of this decision."

Sparatus let out a low growl, but Hannah rolled right over him. "Pluribus, we may be able to come to a compromise: do you trust Humans to treat any heretic prisoners fairly, within the laws and legal framework we already have in place?"

"We… require communication with the others." he said, the iris on his optic constricting. He looked… contemplative. "There must be consensus on this matter. We ask to be allowed access to the Normandy's communications array."

Hannah faced her son's avatar. "It's your ship, John."

He considered a moment before nodding. The antenna on Pluribus' head blinked several times, and he seemed to drift into a trance. After several long minutes, he responded.

"Yes. We agree to let Humans guard any heretic prisoners."

"I wasn't suggesting we guard them alone, Pluribus." she said. "We can arrange for a joint force to watch over them. Humans, likely organic at first for security reasons, will form the bulk of the guard detail. A small number of Geth platforms, perhaps ten percent or so of the total force, will be kept as mediators and watchdogs. Our people will be the most comfortable around synthetics, and I believe you can trust us not to do anything… rash. And if some of the heretic programs can be convinced to reform, I believe I can trust you to recognize that and make arrangements for their release."

"We agree to your terms, Shepard Councilor. They are… generous."

"I'm glad we could reach an understanding, Pluribus. The last point I wanted to cover was the upcoming attack on the heretics. We need as much information as you can give us on them: their numbers, dispositions, force compositions, technical capabilities, everything. Additionally, we would be grateful if you could provide any non-sensitive information about yourselves to the Quarians. You're peoples are going to have to work together on this, and they likely will in the future as well." She smiled slightly. "It might go a long way towards an official peace agreement."

"We concur, Shepard Councilor. We would ask for the Creators to do the same."

Hannah turned to Raan. "Think you can handle that, Shala?"

"I think so. The Admiralty and the Conclave will need some convincing, but they should come around."

"Good. Pluribus, I'll arrange for a ship to meet the Normandy and contact you. I'm sure that what I've asked for is a great deal of data, and getting it the old fashioned way will take too long. The ship will pick you up and allow you to contact the rest of your people, as well as access it's systems and download the information."

"We accept, Shepard Councilor. However…"

"Yes, Pluribus?" she asked, looking slightly concerned.

"We request that this platform be allowed to return to the Normandy after the data transfer has been completed, and be placed under the command of Shepard Commander. We… want to do this."

"Well… I guess I don't have a problem with it. John?"

Shepard gave Pluribus a long, appraising look before extending his hand to the synthetic.

"Welcome to the team, Pluribus."

"All Alliance vessels, this is Admiral Steven Hackett. Prepare to enter the Relay."

It had taken more than a week for Hackett to plan this assault, and that was before the "true" Geth had come forward with a battle plan of their own. He still wasn't entirely sure if he trusted the things, but if the Geth were as good as their word, the intel they gave him could save a lot of lives. If that were the case, he'd give them all medals. He would've been more comfortable with his original plan of attack, but as Sun Tzu said: 'According as circumstances are favorable, one should modify one's plans.'

"As soon as we reach the system, I want the Knives to go in first. Aim for anything soft, and relay telemetry back to HQ for analysis. Execute jump on my mark… Mark."

The Silent Knives were something the folks in the Union had cooked up. Based on the body of the Troika class of destroyer, the Knives were little more than ancient triremes given a bit of a facelift. The only thing they did was ram other ships, and they were made for it: stripped down armor and superstructure, no conventional weapons to speak of, skeleton crews, the whole shebang. The only things they had were massive engines and maneuvering thrusters, powerful inertial dampeners, and Iron Curtain Generators, all held together by an advanced stealth system. Early tests had shown that nothing short of psychic radar could pick them up, and even then, they had to be within a thousand clicks, spitting distance in space. The only ship that was sneakier was the Normandy, and it had cost more than a dozen of the Knives.

As soon as the three hundred vessel first wave made it to the other end of the Relay, they were under attack. The Geth had been waiting for them, as expected. A partial hemisphere of ships stood between the Human vessels and the heretic station, and it was a large fleet, nearly an armada. The early estimates that were just coming in put the total at nearly eight hundred ships, not counting fighters and bombers. And when the first Alliance ship had appeared, they had begun firing.

The initial salvo caught two destroyers before they could activate their Curtains, but the rest made it through and broke away from the main body of the Alliance fleet. They soared into the Geth, who seemed unable to comprehend why dozens of their ships were being cut to ribbons with no apparent cause. That brought a grim smile to Hackett's face, but unfortunately, the Knives could only operate for ten minutes before their Curtains began to run out of steam and they risked becoming sitting ducks. Even more unfortunately, the Geth were quick thinkers. Based on where ships were destroyed, they could track the path of the Knives as they wound their way through their formations. They started to scatter away from the anticipated paths of the ships, even as they fired volley after volley of Mass Effect driven rounds at the Human vessels. Just as planned.

"Sir, we lost eight PRISM and twelve conventional cruisers to that last salvo!" said his tactical officer. "There are too many of them!"

"Send in Disco teams one through eight." he replied, his voice calm. "And have the Midway and the Elizabeth launch their fighters and half their bombers. Try to draw out the Geth fighters."

If the Union liked getting right up in someone's face, then the Nations preferred to take potshots from far away. The Disco class cruiser was a glorified piece long ranged artillery. Developed after seeing how well the Rapture defense grid performed, it had taken the eggheads in the Alliance over two decades to get them right. The Disco's had six high-powered PRISM turrets arrayed around a central body, like some sort of insane flower. They would swoop in, fire off their guns, then chrono to a different location to repeat the process every thirty seconds. Getting 'spheres that could charge that fast had been a challenge, and they had the price tag to prove it. Even so, they made for a damn fine fireworks display as they danced around the Geth formations in an almost hypnotizing stroboscopic pattern.

When the Knives finally made their way out of the Geth formation, the whole thing began to contract into a single ball. The outer ships were quickly picked off by the Disco squads, and the main body of Hackett's assault group was hammering them as they fell back. They still had too many ships for the initial wave to deal with, though. The Alliance was already down to a little more than half strength in less than ten minutes, and the Geth were bloody, but not beaten.

"Call in the Katz and their task force from beyond the Relay." said Hackett. "Have them launch all ZIGS."

The Zelinsky Interceptor Guidance System was the newest invention of the Quarian and Human alliance. Based on QEC technology and driven by AI pilots aboard the class leading ship, the ZIGS were a force to be reckoned with. The Katz was the first of her kind, but probably not the last, as she could carry three times the number unmanned drones as any other ship could carry in fighters and bombers combined. They were more expensive to construct and repair than manned craft, but they kept their operators out of harm's way. When one of the drones went up in flames, the pilot simply switched to another one and launched it from the hanger.

The second wave of Human ships was too much for the heretic fleet to cope with. After more than thirty minutes of wanton destruction, the Alliance was down to about three hundred fifty ships of its' original six hundred, but the Geth were out more than three quarters of theirs. Eventually, the remaining bombers from the Elizabeth and Midway were able to launch safely, all the Geth fighters having been eliminated by the Katz's drones. They made quick work of the remaining ships, the dozens of fusion warheads they carried flashing brightly in the midst of the quickly collapsing Geth formation. Seeing the battle wind down, Hackett felt a pang of regret for the men he had lost today. Nearly seventy thousand men and women would never see their families again, but their sacrifice had saved countless others from the heretics. As he contemplated their loss, he was reminded of a poem one of his friends, Marcus Williams, had read him once. Mark would've loved this.

"Half a league, half a league,
Half a league onward,
All in the valley of Death,
Rode the six hundred.
'Forward, the Light Brigade!
Charge for the guns' he said:
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred."