Author notes: Just wanted to let everyone know that I've got finals coming up soon, so things may slow down some on the updates. I try to release one every four days or so, but that might not be possible until my exams are out of the way. We'll see.

Chapter 22: The Gift

"I see you've convinced your pet Krogan to see reason." said Kirrahe.

"No, I just appealed to his sense of reason." retorted Shepard angrily. "Believe it or not, Salarians aren't the only species that has one of those."

The STG operative didn't rise to the bait. "And how exactly did you manage to… reason with him?"

"By giving him what he wants, what his people need: a chance for a future."

Kirrahe didn't press for more information about Shepard's cryptic answer. "Regardless, we need to prepare for an assault on the base. Assuming, of course, that you're amicable?"

"I am. What's your plan?" By this point, most of Shepard's team had gathered around to listen.

"Basically, we use one of your nuclear weapons to flatten the complex."

"It can't be that simple." said Nihlus.

"It isn't." replied the Salarian. "The facility is protected by a gap generator. You won't be able to chrono in the nuke from here or in orbit, even if you wanted to. To top it off, we're still not sure how well the compound is fortified. A great deal of it is underground, so the bomb will have to be placed precisely."

"I assume you know where to place it?" asked Tali.

"Yes. The bomb must be positioned at the far side of the facility. Your ship can drop it off, but we'll need to infiltrate the base, disable the AA guns and gap generator, and pacify any resistance. While risky, I believe this plan can succeed if properly executed. I intend to divide my remaining troops into three teams and hit the front of the facility. While their forces are distracted, you can sneak a shadow team in the back and subvert their defenses."

"That's suicide." said Ashley, her eyes widening slightly.

"We're tougher than we look, but it's true I don't expect many of my men to survive."

"Then take some of my people with you." offered Shepard. "I can't be trying to sneak around with a team of ten, and they're some of the best in the galaxy."

"Well, I was going to ask for someone who was skilled in Alliance communications protocols." admitted Kirrahe. "Who did you have in mind?"

"I'll take Tali, Yuri, and Liara. My advice is to split the other six into three complimentary pairs: Kaidan and Ash, Pluribus and Nihlus, and Garrus and Wrex."

"That works for me. I need to brief my men."

"The same." replied Shepard. He contacted Pressley aboard the Normandy to have him begin filling out the paperwork for using a nuke, to which he reacted... poorly. When he finally stopped yelling and cursing, he grumbled an acknowledgement, and cut the line. Shepard chuckled and turned to his squad. "Tali, go get Yuri, and make sure he's in his damn armor. Everyone else, I need you to prepare for this. No heroics, no stupidity, and I'll see you on the other side."

"Heroics? You mean like taking on a Doom Fortress on foot, Skipper?" asked Ashley with a grin. The comment elicited a round of chuckles from the team.

"Especially no heroics like that."

After Kirrahe's rousing speech, the various teams had mobilized to their initial positions. All that was left was to begin the assault.

"Com check. Do you read me, Commander?" asked Kirrahe.

"Ten four."

"Good. We'll start our push. We'll try to reach the AA guns, but it might be up to you to finish the job."

"Keep your eyes open, Captain." said Shepard. "I'm sure you noticed, but they've got Alliance tech. Expect the unexpected."

"Understood. And if you see any way to undermine their defenses, we could definitely use the help."

Shepard's team began their advance towards the rear of the base. After a few minutes, they encountered their first pockets of resistance, which were relatively light. Unfortunately, the other three teams weren't so lucky. A constant stream of communications chatter kept Shepard informed of the situation out front.

"Sir, one of the Salarian teams is under fire from some sort of-" said Ashley before being cut off by a massive explosion. Shepard could feel it from where he stood, as the ground itself quaked slightly. "Fuck! That's a damn Grande Cannon! Sir, we need you to disrupt the com network feeding that thing targeting data, ASAP!"

"Roger that, Ash." said Shepard. A minute later, they came across a communications array, which Tali was able to hack in short order. As the shadow team progressed deeper into the facility, they felt no further explosions from the oversized artillery piece.

"You're a godsend, Skipper. That's almost enough to make me forget your little prank. Almost."

"Focus on the battle, Williams." said Kirrahe in a firm tone. "Take the heat off of Mannovai."

Shepard's team traveled further, encountering a bare handful of Geth platforms and drones, a testament to the effectiveness of the distraction teams. Just as they reached a second structure, a massive white beam came barreling in from the sky and slammed into the ground somewhere behind a series of rock formations.

"Jorrel is down!" yelled Kirrahe. "I thought they couldn't use PRISM sats for ground strikes!"

"They can't!" replied Kaidan frantically.

"Well obviously they can, LT." said Ashley, struggling to be heard over gunfire. "They must have an uplink somewhere feeding them meteorological conditions to compensate for atmospheric distortion. If we can find it and take it out, they won't be able to give us more than a deep tan."

"I'd like to see that on you, Ashley." teased Garrus. Then he let out a low growl. "All… of you."

Ashley cleared her throat loudly, and Shepard could just imagine her face turning the color of a beet. "Ah…"

"Shoot now, fuck later." scolded Wrex. "And this time, be quiet about it."

Ashley let loose a stream of curses over the com line, and Shepard couldn't help but chuckle. "Task at hand, people. I see a sat uplink on the roof ahead." He put a single sniper round into the fragile support of the array, and it toppled to the ground with a crash. "I think that solved our PRISM problem."

A few minutes later, Shepard's team approached what looked to be a resupply station for Geth drones. The moment before they rounded the corner, an electric hum filled the air, and Liara just managed to use her C-Dis to pull the unarmed Yuri to safety before he got cooked by a Tesla tower.

"Thank you, madam." said the psychic, brushing himself off. "This would go much easier if I had a weapon of some sort."

"Not a snowball's chance against a chainsaw wielding Terminator in hell, Yuri." said Shepard, picking off another rocket drone. "You're lucky Liara has the depth of character and good heart that she does. I'd have let you fry."

Shepard couldn't see his face, but he felt a flash of rage from the psychic which was quickly suppressed. "I will say this only once, Commander. When you have a tiger by the tail, you must take care that it does not devour you."

Shepard rounded on the man in a flash, his pistol flush against his helmet. "Was that a threat, Yuri?" he asked quietly.

To his credit, the man didn't as much as twitch, in body or in mind. "It was a warning. You know full well what I'm capable of, and unlike you, I will do anything to defeat the Reapers." His voice got immeasurably cold as he continued, and it sent a shiver up Shepard's spine. "It is my destiny, and won't allow you, or anyone else, to get in the way of that."

There was a long pause as Shepard considered killing the man where he stood. Even as his finger tightened on the trigger, he hesitated. 'Think first. His usefulness outweighs the risks. For now.' It was difficult, but Shepard brought his emotions under control and holstered his weapon. "We need to get past that Tesla tower. Any ideas?"

"Throw Yuri out and let it cook him." said Tali bluntly. "Liara can use her biotics to smash it while it recharges."

"I considered that. Unfortunately, there might be other towers later, and we may need him then. Liara, can you use your C-Dis to drop something on it? I think that boulder should work."

"I can try." She targeted the boulder in question, one nearly three meters across, and adjusted the positioning controls on the device before letting it fall in the approximate location of the defensive structure. There was a loud crash, followed by a massive explosion which sent the entire team sprawling to the ground and drove the wind from their lungs. Once his ears stopped ringing, Shepard peaked around the corner to see what was left of the resupply station in flames.

"Who puts fuel tanks and an ammo dump near a high voltage source?" asked Shepard incredulously, surveying the wreckage. "That's the most retarded thing ever."

"Skipper, what the hell was that?" asked Ashley. "Did you run into another Grande Cannon?"

"We just took out a resupply station for the Geth drones. They should let up on you for a while."

"Many thanks, Commander." said Kirrahe. "How close are you to the base?"

"We should be inside in a few minutes."

After making their way through what was left of the Geth and Krogan forces defending the facility, the team finally reached a rear entrance to the complex. Moving to a security console, Tali quickly hacked into it. "I've got control of base security. I can disable the alarm system, possibly even reroute troops to the far side of the complex."

Shepard shook his head. "The Salarians have enough problems as it is. Just disable them for now, and see if you can't get us a layout of the structure."

"Not a problem." A few moments later, a map of the base appeared on their HUDs. "We're in."

The moment the door opened, the fire team was rushed by nearly a half dozen Salarian commandos. They displayed none of their usual skill or training, and simply charged at the heavily armed group with no thought to safety or tactics. Shepard sent a blast of psychic energy into one, and was immediately thrown into the fight of his life. The presence he encountered in Benezia's mind was feral and savage, but it didn't hold a candle to the thing he faced now. He instantly withdrew from the Salarian's mind and put a bullet through his head. As soon as he did, his adrenaline high faded and he was struck with a splitting headache, which brought him to his knees panting.

"John! What's wrong?!" asked Tali, kneeling beside him. "Are you hit?"

"The… the Salarians. They're indoctrinated. But it's not like Benezia. It's much stronger. I tried to… enter one of their minds, and the… the thing fought me. It damn near ripped me apart."

"From what we observed of Benezia, I would say her indoctrination was partial." said Yuri, moving to inspect one of the fallen Salarians. "We were able to free her because of that. Whatever was done to these creatures is much more thorough. Even if you were able to retake their minds, you would likely find them empty shells."

"You can't know that." said Tali angrily. "We might be able to-"

She cut off as Shepard put a hand on her arm. "He's right, Tali. As much as I hate to admit it, death is a mercy for these people." He stood shakily. "Let's get this over with."

"I guess this is what Kirrahe meant when he said he'd lost some men." said Liara sadly. "I'm beginning to wonder if breeding Krogan is the true purpose of this facility."

"It doesn't matter." said Shepard, motioning for the team to follow. "Soon enough, it'll be nothing more than a smoking crater." Moving into the next room in the base, Shepard heard a small voice come from beyond the railing on his left.

"Hello? Is someone out there?"

Looking over the side of the catwalk his group was traversing, Shepard saw a series of containment cells built into the wall. The voice had come from one near the end of the line, and he activated his chronosuit to move in front of it. There was a single Salarian inside, who looked ragged and beaten, but relatively calm… at least, until he started speaking.

"What do you want?" he asked in an aggressive rush. Without waiting for an answer, he continued. "I told you everything. I… Who are you? Alliance, right? I knew someone would come. It tried to break me but it couldn't. I remembered my anti-MC training. I shut it out!"

"Slow the hell down." commanded Shepard. "Who are you, and how did you get here?"

"Private Menos Avot, Salarian STG. Captured while on reconnaissance six days ago. Glad to answer, sir. Never any questions from these bastards, just whispers and poking and cutting. I just want to get out and give them some payback. That's not too much to ask, is it?" he asked desperately.

Shepard didn't need to probe his mind to know the truth. "Private, you're indoctrinated. It's only partial, but you can't be trusted. However, I can break you free of it. It'll hurt like hell, and probably knock you cold, but if you can recover fast enough to make it back to the Salarian camp, you can get out of this."

"I… do it. Do it, before I change my mind."

Nodding once, Shepard focused on the Salarian's psyche. As he suspected, there was an indoctrinated presence in it, but it was no more powerful than Benezia's. In a less than a minute, it was gone, and Avot was picking himself up off the ground. Shepard blinked from a momentary bout of exhaustion, but quickly recovered.

"Thank you, Human. I'll remember this." He let out a short laugh. "I don't even know your name."

"Commander John Shepard, ASV Normandy. Now get the hell out of here. This place is about half an hour from being blown into the stratosphere."

He nodded once and hurried out, eager to be quit of the lab. Shepard quickly rejoined his team on the catwalk, where they'd been watching his actions.

"I must admit, I'm impressed. You did alone in one minute what took both of us fifteen previously." said Yuri with a ghost of a smile on his face. "If your powers continue to grow as they have been, you may eventually be capable of seizing control of an entire city by yourself."

"Able to, yes. Willing to, no." retorted Shepard. Without further conversation on the subject, he moved out and motioned for his team to follow. In the next room, there was a second Salarian, just like the first. He introduced himself as Lieutenant Ganto Imness.

"I was a member of the control group." he spat. "I was one of the lucky ones. I was forced to watch the rest of my team get turned into those mindless drones."

"Hate to tell you this, but you're not completely clean." said Shepard. "I can fix that, though."

"How, exactly?" he asked warily.

"Long story short, I've got psychic powers. Don't ask how, just roll with it. I can go into your mind and kill the thing trying to control you. After that, you're on your own."

"I can live with that."

"Brace yourself, this will only take a second." In truth, it took less than a second. The presence in his mind was miniscule, almost nonexistent, like a shadow of a shadow. A simple psychic push and it faded away, like smoke in the wind.

"That's it." said Shepard, opening the cell. "Get the clear of the base, and don't stop for anyone else. They're too far gone for you to help."

"Understood. Good luck, Human."

A quick trip up a nearby elevator led the team into a laboratory. The walls were lined with examination tables and scientific instruments, as well as life support tanks filled with Krogan clones.

"This must be where the Genophage research is done." commented Tali quietly. "We might be able to find the cure here."

"I sense civvies nearby. Yuri, help me keep them docile so we can question them. Tali, Liara, cover us." said Shepard.

Shepard exited the elevator and sent out tendrils of psychic energy towards one of the scientists, a Krogan. The moment he entered his mind, the presence controlling him attacked. Within a half minute, it was gone, and the scientist was picking himself up from the floor. Keeping a firm hold on the Krogan's mind, Shepard sent another stream of power towards a second scientist, this one Asari. He was able to fight off the indoctrination, but it was much more difficult, taking nearly two minutes, and the effort left him panting. By that time, the rest of the guards and husks in the room were dead, so Shepard made his way over to the Krogan scientist.

"Human." he growled. "Who are you? Why are you here?"

"I'll ask the questions." said Shepard, pushing firmly on the man's mind. "Name?"

"Weyrloc Droyas." he responded automatically.

"Are you the lead scientist on the Genophage cure?"

"Yes. My assistant and I have been working to complete the cure under Saren."

Shepard quirked an eyebrow. "It's not finished? How close are you?"

"It's not that it isn't finished, we just lack a viable delivery mechanism. We can rewrite individual Krogan on the genomic scale, but it takes too much time and too many resources. We're searching for a way to package it in a retrovirus, but we're not having much luck."

Shepard just shook his head at the oddity of a Krogan using terms like 'retrovirus' and 'genomic' in a sentence, and correctly at that. "I need you to transfer all the data you have on the cure to my omnitool, and then delete it completely from Saren's databanks. After that, you might want to get the hell out of dodge and make for anywhere that isn't here."

"I…" the Krogan hesitated, and his mind railed against Shepard's control. After a moment, it subsided. "I understand." He quickly moved to a nearby terminal and began pulling data and transferring it to Shepard's 'tool. After a few minutes, he stood. "Done. Cora, let's get out of here." he said, motioning for his assistant to follow. As the boarded the elevator, Shepard gave them one last nudge to ensure they didn't try to turn around and cause problems.

"Breaking indoctrination while holding the mind of another is quite a feat, considering how long you've been training your abilities." said Yuri approvingly. "It will take time, but eventually it will become second nature."

That sent a small chill down Shepard's spine. 'Second nature? Christ…' "Let's move. We've wasted enough time as it is."

Exiting the lab, the team was ambushed by a small squad of Geth, which they quickly dealt with. They entered a final door, and walked into what looked like a reception room, where Shepard could just make out a single Asari cowering behind a desk.

"Come out with your hands up." ordered Shepard firmly, leveling his pistol towards the desk.

"Don't shoot!" she pleaded, standing quickly and raising her hands. "Please, I just want to get out of here before it's too late."

"Too late? Do you mean before you end up working for a wanted terrorist and war criminal, before you get indoctrinated, or before this place gets blown to hell and back?" asked Shepard condescendingly.

"Please! I'm not a soldier, I'm a neurologist, and this job isn't worth dying over… or worse. I'll give you anything you want, just let me go."

"Let's start with some information, like your name, and what you do here."

"Rana Thanoptis. Saren hired me to study the effects of indoctrination on the prisoners, and… anyone else who's affected. My first test subject was the man I replaced. Sooner or later, Saren will want to dissect my brain, too."

"That's probably a lot sooner than you think." said Shepard. "You're suffering from early stage indoctrination."

Her eyes went wide with shock. "B-but I feel fine!" she protested.

"And?" Tali asked with a pointed look.

"I… oh Goddess, you're right." she said weakly, slumping to her knees. "It's so… subtle. I thought… I thought I had more time. Please, you have to help me!" she nearly wailed.

"Give me one reason I should do any such thing." said Shepard coldly. "Not only did you help experiment on Saren's victims, you don't even have indoctrination as an excuse for your actions. I should kill you right now."

"I can help you! This elevator behind me goes to Saren's private lab. I can get you in and deactivate the security." She stood and opened up her omnitool before entering a series of commands. "See? Full access to the lab and all of Saren's private files... Will you let me go?" There was the barest hint of deception in her mind, and Shepard leveled a hard gaze at her.

"Are you sure that's all I need to know?"

"I… wait, there's something else." She averted her eyes as she continued. "Saren has… powers. I'm not sure how to describe it. He can do… things. With his mind."

"Like mind control?" asked Tali worriedly. "John, if Saren was exposed to the beacon, he could be like you."

"Mind control?" asked Rana. "No, nothing like that. He can move things, even destroy them if he's angry enough. It's like biotics, but… not."

The revelation made Shepard break out in a cold sweat. "Telekinesis? That's not good. But if he can do it, why can't I?"

"Maybe the beacon effects different species differently." offered Liara. "Humans get telepathy and mind control, and Turians get telekinesis."

Shepard nodded. "I guess that makes sense." He activated his com. "Everyone, did you get that." he asked over the link. "If you see Saren, stay on your toes." A chorus of acknowledgements rang out in response.

"Wait, you have psychic powers?" asked Rana amazedly. She withered when Shepard shot her a glare.

"That particular piece of intel is damn important, and it buys you a second chance, Thanoptis. Brace yourself." She nodded, and Shepard entered her mind, quickly subduing the presence there, which was fairly weak. "I've broken you free of the indoctrination." She breathed a sigh of relief as he continued. "Now, unless you want to take a quick trip to the upper atmosphere, I suggest leaving."

"What?"

He chuckled grimly. "Did you think I was kidding when I said I was going to blow this place to hell and back? You've got about fifteen minutes before I detonate a two hundred kiloton nuke in the middle of this facility." She stared at him dumbly, her jaw working but no sound coming out. Shepard let out an exasperated sigh. "Fourteen minutes, fifty nine seconds, fourteen minutes, fifty eight seconds, fourteen minutes, fifty seven seconds…" he said, counting down. Rana let out a shrill wail and bolted to the door. Shepard could still hear her scream as her voice faded in the distance, and he couldn't help but chuckle.

"That was mean, John." said Tali, trying and failing to fight back a smile.

"Considering what she did here, I'd say her punishment was light." said Liara, grinning widely.

"Must we make these pointless detours?" asked Yuri, thoroughly killing the mood. "Your team is still fighting the Geth, remember?"

Shepard shot him an annoyed glance, but nodded. "Fair enough. Let's go."

After a few elevator rides, and several unlocked blast doors later, Shepard and his team finally entered what appeared to be Saren's lab. It was surprisingly empty, but there was a Prothean beacon on the far side of the room. Seeing it, Shepard motioned for the others to approach cautiously. He stopped a few meters short of it.

"Well now what?" asked Tali.

"The vision I received on Eden Prime was incomplete, right Liara? I'm guessing this beacon has the full version."

"That's quite possible, Shepard. Are you going to use it?"

Shepard considered for a moment. "If I do, you'll need to meld with me to get the vision, and I promised Tali I wouldn't do that again. Still, using the beacon could unlock more of my powers, possibly give me new ones. There's no way to be sure. I suppose you could use it, but we've no idea what kind of effect it might have on Asari. It could be nothing, it could make you a psionic god, or it could kill you."

"I… I'm willing to try. The vision could be vital to catching Saren."

Shepard shook his head. "Receiving the vision nearly killed me, Liara. I don't want you to take that risk. You're the only one with the Cypher, so if things go belly up, we need you." Shepard turned to Tali. "Tali, I made you a promise. I won't break it, but I'd rather Liara not do this."

Tali turned to Liara and gave her a long, appraising look. "Liara, let me make this clear: I don't like you doing this to John. It's nothing personal, and I still value you as a friend, but it makes me… uncomfortable."

Shepard chuckled slightly. "Tell the truth, Tali. She deserves it."

"I… alright. It makes me jealous, damnit. Just… let's get this over with, before I change my mind. Damn Saren and his ancestors for making this necessary."

Shepard nodded once, and then approached the beacon like he had on Eden Prime. When he got close, it grabbed him, and the vision began to poor into his mind once again. It was almost identical to the previous one, but there were other pieces that weren't there before. After it was over, the force holding him aloft disappeared, and Shepard fell to the ground panting.

"Damn. I'll never get used to that. Still, at least I didn't spend half a day unconscious, like last time."

"I remember using the beacon in Russia all those years ago." mused Yuri. "It's almost… nostalgic. Commander, you may wish to preserve the beacon for later use. With it, you could create an army of psychic soldiers. You could revolutionize the entire Human race."

That brought Shepard up short. 'The beacon can be used more than once. It probably won't last forever, but while it does… But it nearly killed me. And it created a monster like Yuri. I suppose we can be careful about who we trust with it, but even so... On the other hand, we might need this to fight the Reapers, and I can't destroy it out of fear. Damnit.' Shepard was snapped out of his reverie by a hand on his shoulder.

"John. I don't know about this."

"Neither do I. For now, we should hold onto it. We can decide what to do with it later. I'll slap a locator beacon on it, and we can have Joker chrono it aboard the Normandy"

Shepard did just that, and the team made to leave, when they were stopped by the appearance of a large, red, ominous hologram. When it resolved, it took the form of a Reaper. And not just any Reaper. When it spoke, its' ultra-bass voice seemed to fill the entire room, like a cloak of darkness, as if it were a physical object.

"You are not Saren."

Shepard refused to let himself be intimidated. "No shit, Nazara."

"Rudimentary creatures of blood and flesh. You touch my mind, fumbling in ignorance, incapable of understanding. There is a realm of existence so far beyond your own, you cannot even imagine it. I am beyond your comprehension. I… am Sovereign."

"I understand that the Reapers are gigantic mechanical bugs that get off on killing things. I don't need to comprehend bugs. I just smash them." retorted Shepard coldly.

"Reaper: a label created by the Protheans to give voice to their destruction. In the end, what they chose to call us is irrelevant. We simply… are."

"Not for long." said Shepard. "You may not realize it, but you're already dead."

"Ignorance born of overconfidence. Organic life is nothing but a genetic mutation; an accident. Your lives are measured in years, and decades. You wither, and die. We… are eternal. The pinnacle of evolution and existence. Before us, you are nothing. Your extinction is inevitable. We are the end of everything."

"I'm going to enjoy killing you."

"The cycle cannot be broken. The pattern has repeated itself more times than you can fathom. Organic civilizations rise, evolve, advance… and at the apex of their glory, they are extinguished. The Protheans were not the first. They did not create the Citadel. They did not forge the Mass Relays. They merely found them; the legacy of my kind. Your civilization is based on the technology of the Mass Relays; our technology. By using it, your society develops along the paths we desire. We impose order on the chaos of organic evolution. You exist because we allow it, and you will end because we demand it."

The speech from the monstrosity finally got to Shepard, and he found himself doing something no one had ever expected. He laughed. Not uproariously, not jovially, not even confidently. He laughed evilly.

"Reaper, I want you to remember my face. Burn it into whatever you have that passes for a memory. All things have a beginning, and all things have an end. Remember my face, and remember it well… because it's the last thing you'll ever see before I kill you."

The Reaper hesitated for a moment. "This exchange is over." The instant it finished speaking, there was an explosion outside the building, and the windows were blown inwards. Immediately after, the hologram vanished, and Joker's voice came through Shepard's com.

"Commander, we have a problem. That ship… Sovereign… it just dropped out of FTL, and it's moving to the planet. I don't know what you did down there, but that thing looks pissed."

"Tali, see if you can find the controls for the AA defenses and gap generator. We need to head for the breeding facility and blow this place to hell. Joker, meet us at the rendezvous point."

When Shepard's team finally made it to the location to set the bomb, they were met with the sight of the Normandy, which arrived just after they did. It set down, the cargo bay ramp extended, and the doors opened, revealing Shepard's team alive and well behind them, along with a good percentage of the Salarian troops. A half dozen of the ship's crew were laden with an Alliance tactical nuke, which they swiftly carried out to the coordinates, and began to arm.

"Alright, let's blow this popsicle stand." said Shepard. "I'd rather we chrono the damn thing in from orbit, but we can't deactivate the gap generator. Set up us the bomb."

When the device was in position, Shepard entered his personal activation codes, making sure it couldn't be deactivated. Just as he finished, there was a loud rumbling overhead. Far in the distance, a massive shape, as black as night itself, touched down on the surface of Virmire, and it sent up clouds of mist and spray from the sea. When they cleared, the outline of a Reaper resolved.

"OH SHIT!" yelled Shepard, his eyes going wide. "TIME TO LEAVE! EVERYONE, GET ON BOARD THE NORMANDY! JOKER, LAUNCH EVERY NUKE WE'VE GOT LEFT AT THAT THING!"

The Reaper began charging what looked like its' main weapon, a massive red structure in the middle of its form that looked like nothing less than a single, demonic eye. Just before it could fire, there was a series of flashes directly in front of it, and they made the entire team cringe in shock, temporarily blinded by the light of a thousand suns. Blinking repeatedly, Shepard managed to recover his vision fast enough to see the massive hulk topple to the ground with over dozens of rents, gashes, pockmarks, and dents of various sizes in its' metallic carapace. It landed in the sea with an enormous roar, and created a gigantic tsunami which began racing in every direction.

When the remainder of his team was recovered, Shepard began pushing them towards the rear of the Normandy, to usher them aboard. In the distance, the Reaper began picking itself up from the sea slowly, as if the nine nuclear warheads that had just detonated a few meters from it were nothing more than a minor setback, rather than a near crippling blow. Just before the team reached the ship, Shepard felt himself being pushed from behind by a massive wall of power, and was vaguely aware of his team flying into the hold beside him. When he picked himself up to his knees and looked back, he saw Kaidan beyond the closing cargo bay doors, awash in biotic power.

In that single instant, time seemed to freeze. Overhead, Saren was visible, shrouded in a black and purple swirling energy field. He was held aloft by nothing, or so it seemed from Shepard's vantage point. Saren let loose a massive blast of psychic energy, which seemed to creep towards Kaidan with agonizing slowness. The moment before it reached him, Kaidan closed his eyes, and his features became serene, calm, almost accepting. When the psychic bolt struck him, Kaidan simply ceased being, his entire body drawn to a single point before vanishing completely.

The Normandy began to ascend into the sky rapidly, beating a hasty retreat from the Reaper and the base. Saren himself seemed to realize the danger he was in and made a beeline for the still recovering Sovereign. Shepard saw all of this happen as if he were looking through another man's eyes, and it wasn't until the flash of a final nuclear blast appeared in the distance a minute later that what happened came crashing down on Shepard's mind.

'Kaidan. He's… gone. And he did it to save us. One more body on the pile… NO! I refuse to think of Kaidan like that. He was my friend, and he saved my life. He save all our lives. I owe him that much, at least.'

Shepard let loose a howl of rage and grief and loss, and it reverberated in the now sealed cargo bay.

"Goddamnit! Kaidan!" he yelled. His anger and grief were quickly subsumed by a hard, icy rage. "I swear, I'll catch Saren." he vowed, his voice shaky, but his resolve firm. "If it's the last thing I ever do, I'll find him... and I'll kill him."