III: Requiem

by RedCenturionG

The Collector threat is done; and the Normandy crew survived. The Shadow Broker has eyes watching a friend of Shepard's. Loyalties will be questioned, lives put on the line. And Peta will stop at nothing to get the girl of his dreams. In this, the crew is never safe. And in the end, Marcus Shepard will have to make a decision that could cripple his resolve forever.

32. Chapter 30 Requiem Pt2

REQUIEM

CHAPTER THIRTY:

REQUIEM PART TWO:

November 17, 2185

1137 hours.

Shuttle Dock A1, Project Base, Project Asteroid, Bahak System, Viper Nebula.

Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, Chief Scientist Amanda Kenson.

The hatch slid open, and two large blast doors slid apart, omitting the captured batarian shuttle entrance. At that point Marcus was already standing up, his hand gripping his helmet firmly as he followed Kenson out of the cockpit and into the main cabin, both of them waiting at the hatch for when they land. Kenson crossed her arms, eying the door with an impatience that warranted his look. Yet again, we are on the brink of a Reaper attack. I'd be impatient too.

He felt the shuttle land and the hatch shoot open, giving him a full view of what lay outside. An hour spent in the Aratoht Prison and he had gotten used to seeing worn-down structures, caved-in corridors and rotted metal, but in the base, everything was prestine clean and looked after, in comparison. The walls were a sterile white in color, with bright light illuminating everything. Numerous cargo containers littered the bay, and as he looked up, he easily recognized the familiar dark blue 'A', picture of Earth in the middle and everything, that served as the insignia for the Systems Alliance. And directly below it, shown holographically, was what seemed to be a...countdown?

"Welcome to Project Base," Kenson waved her arms around, smiling, as if showing off a prized animal, "Our base of operations for the duration of this crisis, and as hidden as hidden can be."

Ignoring the welcome, he pointed at the holographic countdown timer, frowning at her as he did, "What's this? A countdown?"

She nodded, looking at it grimly and seeming to gulp as she looked at it, "That's our countdown to the Arrival. When it hits zero..." her eyes met Marcus' in an instant and she gulped once more, clearing her throat, "The Reapers will have come."

He looked at the timer again. "We have six days until Arrival. Puts things into perspective, doesn't it?" Three Hundred Thousand will die so trillions may live. I will sentence all of them to die. To murder all of them, and in the name of the greater good. Who am I to decide that? Who am I to play god with the lives of thousands? What, will I justify it by calling it revenge for Elysium? For Mindoir? Is that how low I'm willing to stoop? To kill innocent people who had nothing to do with those raids in the name of-

"Commander?" Kenson pondered, and he was shaken from his thoughts, turning towards the scientist, who now eyed him with confusion.

"I'm sorry, what?" he asked again, clearing his head, "Sorry, I was trying to wrap my head around the sheer statistics. So many people are going to die, and there's nothing we can do to save them."

"Indeed," Kenson said again, seemingly unfazed again, "But it's for the best. Nothing can be done to help them, and they would only be victims to the Reapers when they arrived. You should consider this a mercy killing."

He snorted. I would if I could. If only I could fool myself so easily. He turned back to her, eying the countdown, before turning back to her, helmet now pinned under his arm as before, "Just how do you know this is an accurate countdown? It's not like the Reapers are telling you how long you have to live, so you must have gotten this from somewhere."

"It's accurate, I assure you. Down to the last millisecond," she informed him, nodding at the countdown as she folded her arms under her breasts, "Object Rho has been giving off pulses at a steady interval, every single one increasing in speed, although very slowly, per minute. Measuring the pulses, we have discovered that it is reacting to the Reapers' proximity. When the Reapers are one minute from arrival, the artefact will constantly pulse, and when they arrive, it will send out a pulse that acts as an EMP. Then you'll know that they have arrived. You've used the pulses to calculate the timeframe. It is extremely exact, have no worry."

"Oh, I'm worried," Marcus told her, standing straighter, and motioning to the door, "Just not worried about that. But by the amount of times you've mentioned this Object Rho to me over the past two hours, it seems important and crucial to your discovery. Do you mind showing me? I'd like to have some proof before I go off and butcher thousands," he said the last with contempt, still having not warmed to the idea. I never will. If I were Marcus Shepard, I would have not even gotten this far. But I'm not; I'm Commander Shepard, and he must never falter.

She nodded, noticing the contempt he had in his voice, but ignoring it as she began moving towards the door that exits the bay, "Of course. If you'll follow me, I'll take you to it. We're holding it in our central lab area. And yes, we know about the effects of indoctrination. We've got it well contained, I assure you. And if anyone had even begun to act odd, we'd have them locked up in an instant and being checked. We run a tight place here; nothing gets buy us without me or the senior staff knowing. And if any merc groups or batarians come sniffing around, we've got a battalion of alliance marines to keep us safe and provide security," Kenson smiled as they reached the door, "Hackett made sure we were well-equipped."

He nodded, turning back to the door. It, like the walls, seemed to be a bright white, with a single rotating circle ontop of it, on the right side, green haptic interface aglow in the middle. Kenson immediately tapped it, and it spread open, the door instead not splitting, but simply the whole piece of bulkhead slid off to the right side with a metallic grind. Kenson moved inside, Marcus not far behind as two marines wielding shotguns and wearing black armor stood to attention and saluted. Marcus returned the salute, his expression cold, "At ease soldiers," the soldiers in question nodded their understanding, and returned into guard position, whilst Marcus moved down the left and through a large corridor, filled with more of the pristine white color he'd seen back in the bay.

The walk through the base was long, but uneventful. They passed through relaxation areas with views of the asteroid around them, along with what looked to be the Alpha Relay itself in the background, and numerous other corridors that linked the prefabs and portables together. What was odd to Marcus was the sheer lack of any scientists; everyone he came across, save Kenson, seemed to be a marine, and were carrying weapons, or seemed to be checking them. He even felt their eyes watching him as he walked by, as if evaluating his every move. He couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't quite right.

Nevertheless, he managed to ignore those irrational feelings as he spoke up, speaking to Kenson as they passed through another door on their way to the lab and Object Rho, "How long would it take to get the fusion torches back up and running and this asteroid headed for the relay?"

Kenson snorted, barely saving him a glance as he explained what they had done to prepare, "Everything was almost ready when I was captured. It wasn't a question of 'could we', but 'should we.' But now we definitely know that there are no questions. We shall do so, for it could mean the extinction of all life as we know it. We cannot allow the Reapers their victory."

"Couldn't agree more doctor," he responded, "Lead the way." I can't believe I'm going through with this. The real Shepard would look for other solutions, and not go straight into mass-murder. Into...into genocide.

What other options are there? Unless you plan on sacrificing the Council to the 'gods', you might as well go ahead with it. You have no other choice, and no other options are provided. This is the final solution. By the galaxy more time, that's all you can do.

And yet it still made him sick to the core. Murder was murder, no matter how much you justified it. I will not become like the Illusive Man...I won't...

They continued until they reached a small elevator, both of them entering it and Kenson typing into the console. The lift descended, and silence fell on both of them. No words needed; they knew what had to be done. It was just getting the job done that was needed now. He squared his shoulders, stretching the muscles as his helmet began to press into his side, the discomfort annoying him, but he ignored it. There was more important things to worry about than a pain in his side.

Finally, the elevator arrived at the bottom and the door was already sliding open by the time they arrived. It opened to reveal a long corridor with a door to the lift, with the words 'Central Lab' etched into the top bulkhead above it. More marines stood around, and their eyes seemed to lock on Marcus almost immediately as he exited. Kenson moved past them, ignoring them as if they didn't exist and began to talk to a marine named Williams, while Marcus awkwardly stood behind her and waiting, feeling their marines on the back of his skull. It began to seriously creep him out. Why are they looking at me like that? I don't understand. Why do I feel like I'm surrounded by enemies? Something is seriously wrong, but I don't know what it is, for godsake.

Finally, Kenson finished speaking to the soldier, and he stood aside, tapping the interface and opening the door for them, allowing both to step inside. Kenson turned to him, moving to the side as she stretched out an arm into the room in greeting, "You first, Commander. I would like to introduce to you...Object Rho."

He nodded hesitantly at her, glad for a reason to just get away from the marines surrounding him. He moved past Williams and Kenson, stepping inside the massive lab, and Kenson wasn't far behind, the door closing behind both of them as they entered.

The lab itself was huge in sheer size. Observation windows aligned the entire room, giving them a clear view of not only the asteroid itself, but the space beyond it, the asteroid belt, and of course the intense blue glow of the system's mass relay was hard to miss. Directly above them, on the second level of the lab and on the other side was a office overlooking the main floor, and directly and the other side had a door similiar to theirs serving as another entrance or exit. But it was what was in the middle that caught his attention.

Sitting directly in the middle of the lab, and looming over all of them, was Object Rho. It was contained inside a ring of metal railings, and numerous consoles and scanners surrounded it, but once again, no scientists seemed to be present. Just where the hell is everyone? This base isn't run by just marines and Kenson. Where all the scientists? The expeditionaries? Once again, this felt wrong. And the artefact only proved his point.

Object Rho was definitely Reaper in architecture, that much was plain to see. It was basically just six to eight, metal arms; an alloy the same as that found on a Reaper's hull and of the same dull grey/red color, stretching out from a tiny center mass, only to reform in the middle at the top, and in the core of the artefact looked to be a constant crackle of dark energy, blue wisps of flame dancing inside. And just as he took a step towards it, a blue pulse shot outwards from it, confirming Kenson's theory. But that wasn't what enraged him. What confused him. What had him worried.

It was the fact that the artefact was wide out in the open. No containment at all. Open for everyone to see and its influence to touch all.

He felt a presence behind him, and he slowly turned to face Kenson, who seemed to be blankly looking at the artefact, and a familiar chill went up his spine. "Kenson...I...you have the artefact just sitting here..." he added with a dark tone, eyes forrowed with anger and confusion alike as he looked at her, "Right out in the open?"

Kenson didn't seem to answer his question, she just moved up and touched it, hand sliding across its smooth chrome surface, as if in awe of the object, "When we found it, it showed me a vision of the Reapers' Arrival. Go ahead, touch it. See for yourself."

He took a step back, keeping his eyes fixed on Kenson, who looked to be in a dream, "Kenson...this is wrong. This is completely wrong. You need to have that thing sealed up and contained...now."

She merely looked at him, snorting and waving a dismissive hand as she turned back to it, "Just give it a moment, Shepard. It'll give you all the proof you need. Come, touch it."

He knew he shouldn't, but he felt something in the back of his skull compelling him to move forward, to close the distance between himself and the object. Before he knew what had happened, he stood as close to it as Kenson did, and he felt the heat eminating from it penetrating his armor. He reached out his hand and touched the object, and within a moment, his eyes closed as a familiar pain entered his mind. A pain he recognized from two years ago.

It was the pain of a vision penetrating his pain, but this one was darker. It wasn't Prothean. It was far more horrifying.

He saw the darkness, followed by Harbinger's ominous and cold yellow eyes looking into his soul, "Shepard. Our Arrival is near. Your time has come." He screamed at the Reaper to get out of his head, and he saw other Reapers, ones who's names came to him surprisingly easy; Oblivion. Vanguard. Foehammer. Primal. Desolation. Pacemaker. They all raced into his mind, and he could not propel the onslaught. And as he watched on, he saw Harbinger, surrounded by Reapers of many different shapes and forms, all race towards a mass relay.

The Alpha Relay.

And just like that, the vision ended, Marcus opening his eyes to find the world to be a fuzzy haze. His helmet fell from under his arm, clattering to the floor as he disgruntedly fell backwards, before falling forwards on his knees, looking at the ground and shaking his head to clear his vision desperately. My god...Kenson was right, but the artefact...if Harbinger is speaking through the artefact, that means...!

He felt a hand on his hip, but he was too weak to stop it. The hand drew his Carnifex pistol, and before he knew it, the sound of a weapon extending was heard right behind him. Finally regaining some of his orientation, he turned and the world returned into focus, and the sight he saw should have shocked him, but it didn't.

Standing there, Carnifex aimed at the back of his head, was Kenson, her eyebrows furrowed in frustration and desperation, and he could see the sweat working on her brow. She spoke, this time like she was in a normal state, yet fully under Harbinger's control, "I can't let you activate those fusion torches, Shepard. I can't let you stop the Arrival."

I should have known she was indoctrinated from the get go. The way she acted, the way she talked about murdering thousands without even being fazed, the way she typed into that terminal at such a fast speed...only a host under Reaper control could do that. Damn it, why couldn't I see this coming? The marines' glances at him suddenly made sense now, and a forboding realization hit him. I'm in a base with a full battalion of indoctrinated alliance marines. Fuck.

He looked at her, meeting her eyes within an instant. He watched as the door they came through opened, a squad of marines lead by Williams walking in, their weapons aimed straight at Marcus. It dawned on him just what Kenson and the marine had been talking about at the door. This was all a trap. She lured me here. I need to get out of here and activate the torches. But how?

He turned to Kenson, who had her back turned, facing Williams, words flowing from her mouth, but he didn't recognize them; for he ignored them, trying to think of a way out of this as he looked down the barrel of his own pistol. Wait...she doesn't know I'm a biotic. I didn't use them in the prison...

Suddenly, he leapt up, grabbing Kenson's hand and violently twisting it to the left. Kenson let out of a screech of pain as the bone in her wrist snapped, and the carnifex fell from her grip and clattered uselessly on the ground. She quickly leapt behind her squad of marines, Williams ordering the squad to open fire on him. Marcus, having now got the upperhand, unholstered his SMG with one hand and used the other to form a biotic barrier around himself, the marines' bullets pelting harmlessly off his field. He heard Kenson shouting orders at them, and she looked angry at Williams. The soldier nodded, having reached an understanding, and then turned back to Marcus, nodding with a smirk.

Marcus frowned and was about to drop his field and open fire on the marines when a gunshot from behind sent the Locust flying from his grip and into the waiting hands of one of the indoctrinated troopers on the other side. He turned to deal with the marines now flanking him from behind, but wasn't fast enough as another blow, this time with the butt of a weapon to the back of his head, sent him reeling back onto his knees, disoriented. Kenson slowly moved forward, cradling her snapped wrist, but seemingly unfazed by the pain. She came to stand before him, looking down at him as if in pity.

Two men grabbed his arms and tried to subdue him, but he wasn't done resisting. Summoning all the strength he could, he tried to bring his cybernetics and biotics to bear but only roared in agony as he was hit with a biotic dampener, causing his biotics to dampen and disappear, and for him to bite down on his lip in sheer pain. He continued to struggle, but his cybernetics weren't enough.

Kenson kneeled before him, and he moved to turn away, but his eyes suddenly shot back to her own, eyes widening in horror.

They weren't her eyes anymore. Now they glowed a bright yellow; Harbinger.

"Do not resist. Give yourself over and be spared."

He ignored the words that left her mouth, but weren't of her mind. The words that seemed to penetrate his skull, and echo throughout his mind. He continued to struggle, while two men tied his hands behind his back, trying to keep him pinned. Marcus shot his head backwards, managing to impact the head of one marine and send him staggering backwards with a yelp, and through that he continued to resist against his captors. Again, Harbinger's voice spoke, never forgiving.

"You're galaxy is in sight. Your end is at hand."

"NOOOOO!" he yelled with pure anger and ferocity, desperately trying to break free, "I WILL NOT LET THAT HAPPEN!" he continued to wreathe against his restrainers, but they were able to put omni-cuffs around his wrists, putting his hands to rest. He soon felt hands on his back, and within seconds they had taken his pulse rifle from his back, removing it completely and handing it over to Williams, who examined the weapon with impression. He collapsed it on his back, giving Marcus a smug grin.

"Ma'am, this guy is really strong!" one of the marines behind him complained, obviously winded, "I don't know if we can restrain him for very long."

"Bring me the sedative. In a needle, if you please," Kenson said in her normal tone, but the eyes never wandered, and when she turned back around, her mouth moved once more, Harbinger's voice flowing out from her lips.

"The end of your species will come."

"No," he growled under his breath, desperately trying to squeeze free of the cuffs he was now in, "I can stop you! I will stop me! You can kill me, but my crew will never stop fighting you! It is your end that is at hand!"

Kenson simply shook her head, "Struggle if you wish. Your mind will be mine."

He spat in Kenson's face, the indoctrinated husk of her former self seeming barely fazed by the gesture, "Go fuck yourself. My struggle has just begun. And I'd rather die than become your slave. So go ahead, kill me if you wish. Your corpse will be my last wish, Harbinger. You'll be joining Sovereign before this war is over."

"You will be the first to witness our Arrival." It was as if the Reaper was simply ignoring retorts, taking them for the words of desperation that they were, and with that, no more taunts came from Kenson's mouth. Instead, Marcus was forced to watch as the marine from before arrived, handing Kenson what looked to be a syringe. She shook it, flicking her fingers against the tip to test its potency, before turning to him, reaching over to him!

NO-but it was too late. All he felt was the needle penetrating his skin, and a second later, being pulled out as its contents spilled into his veins. The effects would take a bit, but for the duration he was still awake, he met Kenson's gaze, managing to mouth what he wanted to say as his mouth started to become numb, "Kenson...please...fight...it. We must...stop the Arrival...before its too late..."

Kenson merely shook her head, nodding to the marines behind him to release him. They did so, and he wanted to get up and sprint away as fast as he could...instead he fell to his side like a rock, the side of his head hitting the cold steel floor as numbness over took his body, and he felt himself going sleepy. He felt Kenson looming over him, and his drooping eyes turned in time to watch her a she crouched beside him, along with her marines. She turned to Williams, speaking in her normal voice.

"Take Shepard to the med bay and lock him up," she said, although her voice was getting distorted due to the drug taking hold, "We want him alive..."

He didn't hear anything else...only the silence as his eyes fell and his body betrayed him, entering a deep sleep. His last thoughts before falling unconscious were of Tali. How he had let her down. How he had broken his promise. How he had doomed her to death, and he wouldn't even be there to die with her.

I'm so sorry, sweetheart. I should have been there. I love you. I love you. I love you.

And like a curse, those three words repeated throughout his head like a constant nightmare, never stopping, never relenting. It would be the longest sleep in his life.

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November 22, 2185

1101 hours.

Flight Deck, Normandy-Class Stealth Frigate Normandy SR-2, In Orbit over Aratoht, Bahak System.

Chief Engineer Tali'Shepard vas Normandy.

It had been six days now, and the Reapers' arrival was imminent. The whole crew knew it. They knew that at midday today, if that relay wasn't destroyed, the Reapers would arrive and all life in the galaxy would end as they knew it. They were all prepared. It had been why Marcus rescuing Kenson down on Aratoht had been so pivotal to their mission success; why she had allowed him to go in alone. She had seen the necessity of it.

But now six days had past, six days of her pacing the cabin in growing worry, sometimes not even getting any sleep. Even work in engineering hadn't been enough to keep her distracted. That was because there hadn't been a single communication from Marcus or Kenson. Not even a message to tell them he was okay. Just nothing. And she was starting to get worried. Keelah, what if the batarians got him and Kenson is dead and he's been captured? Oh please no...She shook that thought from her head quickly enough, not wanting to even entertain it. As it was now, she was on a mission of her own; to find answers.

She quickly and quietly approached the cockpit, marching up the flight deck while rows of onlookers watched on, not wanting to get in her way. She was angry, furious and worried; not a good combination for a shotgun-toting, combat drone-obssessed, killer combat engineer who just happened to be the Commander's wife. When it came to his safety, she was prepared to risk everything, including her own life.

She entered the cockpit, and seemingly in the middle of a conversation between EDI and Joker, and luckily for her, it was about the same thing.

"I'm telling you, something went wrong," Joker told the AI with intense worry and concern, nodding to Tali as she entered, "Even Tali agrees. And Garrus knows something is up. You don't just disappear for six days without even talking to your crew for a minute of it. Not our Commander. I don't like it. It reeks of a mission gone wrong."

EDI was quick to reply, "I did detect a Hegemony shuttle leaving the Aratoht prison six days ago. It was not following the scheduled flight paths in this sector, and due to the security alert that was issued in the prison, followed several minutes after by the take-off of the shuttle, it is safe to assume Kenson and the Commander hijacked this shuttle and left in it, so the theory that he is currently being held on Aratoht and has been captured is not true."

"Then he's at Project Base, as scheduled," Joker frowned, shaking his head as he swivelled in his chair, "Then why wouldn't he contact us? Surely they have communications up and running over there, so they would contact us right? Maybe they've run low on their landline connections? I knew they should have called Telstra."

Tali shot him a glare, one that would have melted steel and even sent Marcus Shepard running off scared in fright, "This isn't a game, Moreau. Something has happened to my husband, I'm certain of it."

"I'm inclined to be with Tali on this one," Garrus spoke up from behind them, arriving on the cockpit, "You don't just disappear for six days without telling anyone. Not our Shepard. I know him like a brother, and Tali knows him even better. Either he can't break radio silence, which I believe unlikely, or something has gone wrong."

"Either way, we do not have much time," EDI spoke up, her tone serious and solemn, indicating warning, "We have only an hour until the Reapers arrive and the invasion begins."

"Yes, thanks for that EDI. No pressure at all. Impending doom and everything," Joker shot down, "Um...can you be exact on the time we have?"

"Of course. We now have fifty-nine minutes, ten seconds left until Arrival."

Joker's look transferred to Tali and Garrus' and he made a purposely loud gulping sound, "Now I'm starting to wish I hadn't asked."

"I don't know about you guys, but I'm not just going to hang around while Marcus and Kenson are likely in trouble," Garrus declared, squaring his shoulders, "This lone wolf crap ends now. As far as I'm concerned, it ended as soon as he left Aratoht. I say we go to Project Base, find him and find out what the hell is going on."

"Is it possible that the batarians could have found the base?" Tali suggested, turning to the glowing pawn that represented EDI, "Maybe that's why he isn't sending anything?"

"Unlikely. I am linked into all batarian comm traffic, and the only batarian warship in the system in the BRS Glorious Point, which is currently patrolling Bastzuda. Apart from that, there is no other Hegemony naval presence in this system. Therefore, it is unlikely they have found the base, otherwise a larger military presence would have been detected."

Joker cursed, almost slamming his hand against the chair before remembering his brittle bones and simply landing it softly under the arm piece, "Yeah, fuck it. I'm going with Garrus' idea. We should go to Project Base and ask them what the hell is taking them and why the hell we can't see any fireworks coming from the relay."

Tali nodded in agreement, "I'll lead the entire squad onto the asteroid."

Everyone looked at her, Joker with a wide-eyed gaze and Garrus with a look of shock, "Tali, I'm not sure that's a-"

She whorled on him, ramming her finger within inches of his mandibles, "He is my husband. And ancestors be damned if I let anyone stop me from finding him! I will lead the squad into that base, end of discussion. As of now, I'm in command, am I understood?" When it got down to it, she found unusual pleasure in being in command. She suited it. Only because of Marcus.

Garrus snapped to a attention, nodding with a grin, "Yes ma'am. What are your orders, ma'am?"

She shook her head, allowing herself a small smile at his gesture, "Well first, you can knock off the 'ma'am' business. You call Marcus 'Shepard' in combat, so you can just call me Tali to avoid confusion. Second of all, I want you to rally the whole squad in the armoury. Tell them to suit up, get their weapons and get ready for a possible combat insertion."

Garrus raised an eyebrow at that, "You're expecting trouble? Kenson's an ally, she wouldn't hurt Marcus. They only want the same thing; to stop the Reapers."

"It's not Kenson I'm worried about," she turned away from him, moving down the deck and towards the armoury as she spoke, "Its him. Joker, you know what to do. Lock onto Marcus' coordinates and get us to Project Base, on the double."

"Yes ma'am!" Joker jested as she moved through the CIC. It was there and then that Tali'Shepard disappeared, and was replaced only by Brigadier General Tali'Shepard vas Normandy, of the Migrant Fleet Marines.

And her husband needed her help, whether he wanted it or not.

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November 22, 2185

1052 hours.

Medical Bay, Project Base, Project Asteroid, Bahak System, Viper Nebula.

Commander Marcus Lee Shepard.

I love you.

Those three words had berated and assaulted him the entire time he slept, never relenting or stopping. They cursed him, taunted him for his failure to keep his promise. Now he was in enemy hands, likely being indoctrinated, and he would be forced to watch everyone he loved harvested by the one enemy he should have stopped. I should have known. Damn it. I should have left Kenson to rot in that prison and found Project Base myself. That way, I wouldn't be in this mess.

But just as quickly as the assault had begun, it ended with the words echoing on the wind, but never truly progressing. If he were awake, he'd be frowning, but right now, he was terribly confused. Why did they stop? Was he dead again? He didn't understand what was happening. He tried to move, but remembered he was unconscious. Despite this however, he felt his arm move. He flexed his hand, and felt it flex. And before he knew it, he felt itchiness around his eyes, and his head began to feel fuzzy. What...? Am I waking up?

He heard a voice, a female voice. It didn't belong to Kenson, but someone else. He could almost make out the words she was saying, and he could tell she was nearby and logging them into a datapad just by the way she spoke, "Shepard has been sedated constantly for six days now. We've had to increase each dosage..."

Six days!? I've been unconscious for six days! FUCK! The invasion's today! Get up soldier! Get up and move! As if responding to his commands, his eyes seemed to hesitantly open, his body aching all over, but moving. The room around him was a haze, but he instantly recognized the sterile white walls as being Project Base. As he looked around further, he saw he was on a medical table, with numerous bits of medical equipment lying around him and observation windows aligning the room, where numerous desks lay and scientists worked. He saw two marines guarding the open doorway, and his eyes landed on the female, who turned out to be a female soldier, her hair a vibrant orange and her skin a pale, milky white. She held a datapad, and seemed to be pacing constantly.

"...It seemed like Shepard was waking up a moment ago," she scoffed, not even seeming to notice said spectre looking at her as he moved to sit, the marines and scientists all turned away from him, "It's probably just a glitch in the system."

He looked down on his body, and found himself wearing nothing but a pair of white that went down to just above his knees. Aside from that, he was basically naked. Damn. They've taken my armor, my weapons...He checked to see if his omni-tool was there, but that was absent as well, which meant no omni-shield, omni-bow, or omni-blade. Wait, what about my biotics? If I can get out of here, I can find my weapons and armor and destroy the relay before the Reapers arrive. I have to be quick though; god knows how much time we have left. I know they haven't arrived yet, or elsewise they'd have destroyed this place by now and I'd be impaled on a dragon's tooth.

He checked for his biotics, and grinned as he saw them brim around him, wrapping in cool liquid fire. Guess they thought I'd be too unconscious to use them. Boy, are they in for a big surprise. My cybernetics must have rejected the sedative eventually. He turned to the woman, and decided she was his first target, and let his biotics come to life. Unfortuntately for him, the sound of them being summoned was enough to be heard, and the woman stopped, rooted to the spot in terror as she turned to face him. Two pairs of eyes met, but both of them showed entirely different intentions. She dropped the datapad on the floor, Marcus hearing it clatter, and she began to rapidly walk backwards.

"No glitch! The sedatives aren't working!" She moved to reach for her pistol, but found there was none, and instead ran for the open doorway, past the marines. That gained their attention, and she pointed at Marcus just as he came to stand in the middle of the room, "Security! Take him down!"

By the time the two indoctrinated soldiers turned around, he was already upon them. One biotically powered fist shot forward, slamming into the helmeted face of one marine. The helmet bent inwards and the soldier was sent flying backwards, head snapped from the force of the strike and body barrelling uselessly into the ground. He turned to the second soldier, who was, to his credit, quickly raising his rifle to fire at him. He swatted the weapon aside, which fired a burst harmlessly into a wall on the opposite side. The soldier managed to punch Marcus in the chest, but that barely winded him and he responded by ducking low and sweeping his legs out from under him, causing him to plop down on the ground. Helpless, the marine just watched as slammed his foot down on his trachea, killing him instantly.

He turned to race out the door, only to stop as an intense, blue mass effect field raised infront of him, bouncing him back as he impacted it. He hissed, and turned to the woman standing behind the controls, arms crossed and looking smug. It was the orange-haired marine, and he watched as the scientists rushed from the room in fear, the soldier merely rolling her eyes and bringing up her omni-tool, likely to inform Kenson of his awakening. He needed to get out of here before she called reinforcements.

He looked around the room, desperately trying to find a way out of the room. But he saw nothing. Six days. Maybe Tali got sick and tired of waiting and decided to trace my omni-tool, if they haven't already thrown it out an airlock. He shook his head, trying not to think of his wife. She'll be fine, you just need to get out of here. Focus on getting out of here, and getting back to her. He doubled his scan of the room, until his eyes dropped on a set of racks were six LOKI mechs sat in collapsed form; looking to be in a fetal position, and deactivated. They sat on the otherside of the field, but what if he were to...

His eyes found a console nearby. He immediately jogged over to it, and he could see the woman's confused gaze looking down at him. Logging into the console and bringing up its holographic interface, he quickly found a subprogram that gave him direct access to the mechs outside; it was obviously added as a security measure incase of a lockdown. Now I can use it to my advantage. He pressed a few buttons, and looked up and watched as one of the LOKI mechs hummed to life, and stood up, Tempest SMG in hand and moving over to the unarmed marine, who stood there, oblivious to her imminent death. With the LOKI mech under his command, he programmed it to attack everything in sight and then detonate at the console controlling the mass effect field. He stood right infront of the glass where the woman stood, and merely crossed his own arms, this time looking at her smugly as the LOKI approached.

Muffled gunshots were heard and he heard her cry out for security just before the final shots pierced her shields and red blood exploded onto the observation glass, the LOKI still firing as her body slid off the console and onto the ground. And just as instructed, the mech arrived at the console and collapsed once more, followed by a loud explosion that blew up the terminal and shattered the window, almost showering him in glass if he hadn't moved away in time. Turning left, he could only smile as the field evaporated into nothing, and he jogged through it, running past the two dead marines.

Weapons. Armor. Omni-tool. Damn it, I need them. I need to find Kenson. I need to find Project Control and activate the torches to send this thing on its way. If I can convince Kenson to join me on the way, that'll be a bonus. He somehow doubted he'd be successful in doing that.

Saren was indoctrinated, and the closest he got to resisting the influence was by killing himself. Maybe that's all Kenson can really do. End her misery by ending her own life. And if that fails, I'll end her myself.

He moved through the room and up the steps leading into the main observation deck, which was now completely empty aside from the wrecked remains of a blown up console, and the mutilated remains of what used to be the female marine's body before the LOKI mech explosion blew her corpse apart. He moved past it, ignoring the smell as he, half-naked, made his way towards what looked to be the exit. Before he reached it though, he noticed something to his left and turned, seeing a half-unlocked locker. Moving over to it and opening it, he expected to find some armor he could wear or a weapon, but what he got was even better.

All this things; armor, weapons and omni-tool, were all stuffed inside the locker and they hadn't even bothered locking it. He picked up his helmet, watching as the Y-shaped visor glared accusingly back up at him. Getting sentimental, the alarm that sounded above him was enough to shake him from his thoughts. He heard Kenson over the PA system, "Shepard is loose! All fireteams near the medical bay, report there immediately! Remember, subdue and restrain! Hurt him alittle if you must, but do not kill him! We need him alive! Move! And whatever you do, do not let him anywhere near Project Control!"

With a speed almost as fast as lightning, he dropped his helmet and began pulling out his armor, first latching on his chestplate, then his shoulderpads, followed by his shinguards, boots, utility belt, bandolier...

By the time he was done, he was grabbing his weapons and holstering them, and had reclaimed his bag of thermal clips. He was also glad that the cloaking device hadn't been found, and was still wedged in the place he had left it. Good, Kasumi won't have to kill me now. Strapping his bandolier on, he quickly slammed the locker shut, and did a weapons and HUD check. With a sigh and a steel of his nerves, he turned to leave only to notice something holographically displayed above the locker. He saw it, and immediately recognized it as the countdown. He gulped.

00:00:59:10.

He had literally fifty-nine minutes until the Reapers came through the relay.

Not much time. I have to get this asteroid moving and get the hell out of here!

He quickly turned away and ran over to the door. He found it locked down, and quickly, his impatience and anger boiled into a terrifying hybrid mixture. I'M NOT GOING TO BE STOPPED BY A FUCKING DOOR!

His biotics lashed out and with a grunt of effort, ripped the door from its hinges, sending it flying forward and into a group of marines who had been guarding the door, crushing two of them. The last three immediately opened fire on him, only for his kinetic barriers to absorb most of the impact. In an instant, he was yelling as his pulse rifle rose up, took aim and roared to life, ripping through the shields of the first one and tearing into flesh, the marine crying out in pain as he slumped forward dead.

"Falling back! Cover!" the rear marine called out and, shotgun in hand, began retreating to the door at the end of the small hallway, but the marine covering him wasn't near fast enough to provide suppressing fire. Wrapping him in dark energy, Marcus tossed him into a wall on his right like a rag doll, the sound of breaking bones heard as his body fell to the ground in a heap. Locking onto the retreating soldier, he biotically launched forward, slamming into him at intense speeds and obliterating his ribcage in the impact, smashing his chestplate and sending him flying into an observation window right behind him, causing a spiderweb of cracks to appear.

He whorled to the left and moved down the corridor, a door directly ahead opening as two more marines rushed out, immediately taking cover as they attempted to pin him down. One got up and tossed a flashbang in his direction, but Marcus merely turned away, the flash harmlessly passing by, before he spun back around and sprinting forward.

Jumping up, he brought his leg up in a kick, and brought it down again, the force of it crushing one soldier's nose and causing him to fall to the ground in a heap. Marcus landed ontop of him, straddling his waist as his omni-blade came to life and in the same instant, launched towards the man's face. The marine swiped it aside, trying to roll away, but Marcus was faster, and his blade eventually found its mark, buried deep in his forehead. Ripping it out, it just as quickly morphed into an omni-bow as he aimed at the second disgruntled soldier and fired, the blast of superheated energy vaporizing his head in a single hit. He relieved one of the marines of his radio and linked it to his HUD before tossing it away. Both hostiles vanquished, he got up and rushed through the door, heading down another corridor.

Williams voice came over the radio, "Torras, Maxwell, report!"

He spoke into the radio in response, "Torras and Maxwell are dead. And I'm still alive. You'll have to do better than that."

"Fuck!" Williams cursed.

"Damn it, if Shepard's past them..." Kenson roared over the radio, clearly too desperate to care that he could hear her, "Where are those fireteams? Get them in there, now!"

Williams switched radios instantly, "Squads Trident, Megaladon and Jurassic, head for Project Control and protect it at all costs! Fireteams Ranger, Wilder, X-Ray, Tango, Piper and Angel, get your asses to the medical bay and reinforce fireteams Spice and Trojan and stop Shepard! Remember, incapacitated, not dead! Move it!"

He continued until he came into a mess hall looking area, but all the tables had been turned over and made into makeshift barricades. Before he knew it, three marines instantly peaked out from one overturned table ahead of him, two with assault rifles and one with a sniper rifle, and were already firing on him as he hid behind one support pillar.

"This is Fireteam Spice! We've made contact with the hostile! He's in the mess hall!"

"All fireteams, double time it ASAP!" Williams replied, his voice full of iron and conviction.

Better push forward before I'm boxed in. He immediately activated Kasumi's cloak and rushed forward, the three soldiers still firing at the pillar he hid behind even as he converged on their cover from the left. Raising his rifle, he took aim at the marksman with the Mantis Sniper rifle and fired two bursts, one penetrating his unshielded chest and the other blasting through his helmet, sending his body plopping down onto the floor. Leaping over the table, he slammed the butt of his pulse rifle into one marine's face, and turned to the other, ramming it into that marine's chest and pulling the trigger, emptying his guts into the wall behind him. Done with him, it was a simple shot to the head that finished off the third.

"Holy shit! This is Fireteam Trojan, Shepard just slaughtered Spice! We need that back up here now! Where the fuck are yo-"

Fireteam 'Trojan', as they ironically called themselves, were standing in the open, desperately trying to fall back. Using his biotics, he picked up the table Spice had used for cover and send it hurtling towards the team leader like a missile, the impact pinning him to the wall. The table exploded with the impact as well, splinters of wood digging into armor and skin as the soldier cried out in agony.

Rushing forward, pulse rifle drawn, he ended the agonized soldier's life and quickly downed the last two members of the fireteam with cold precision that only a geth could match. I need to get moving. Besides, these people are as good as husks. The good marines they once were...they were long dead. I'm just taking out the corpses.

He moved to the end of the mess hall and took one of the dead soldier's frag grenades, waiting at the edge. He heard voices behind it, approaching and his hand fingered the activation switch on the explosive. Just as the door opened, he tossed it inside, and leapt to one side.

The fireteam cried out in surprise before being engulfed in an explosion, the fragments ricochetting and killing anyone who managed to survive the blast. Moving inside, he found the mutilated remains of Fireteam Ranger and Piper, and the steadily retreating remnants of X-Ray. He pushed forward, his assault relentless.

He heard the fireteam leader of Wilder report over the radio, "Shepard is tearing us apart! He just took out Ranger and Piper, and X-Ray's been forced into retreat. We can't hold this position! We need mech support!"

"Regroup!" Kenson ordered, "I'm sending a YMIR mech your way to bolster you."

The next door took him into a large office complex, where he saw the remains of X-Ray, along with Wilder, Tango and Angel, taking defensive positions as they immediately opened fire on him. He rolled to the side, raising his omni-shield and deflecting all their shots as he equipped his Locust and rushed forward.

His SMG found its first target, tearing into the bewildered form of a private. He was taken down in an instant, the shot blowing clean through his helmet and forehead. He danced over his corpse, shield slamming into the form of a charging soldier, sending him falling onto the ground as the corporal was quickly put down as well.

"Get in there! Use the damn flamethrowers!"

He turned around and went into a crouch, bringing up his shield just in time to deflect a jet of orange flame that erupted from one of the fireteams' pyros, his M-451 Firestorm spewing hot death. Seeing the other marines taking advantage of the assault, Marcus formed an idea. Leaping forward, shield still raised, he slammed it into the pyro's face, taking him off balance. He let his shield arm hook the flamethrower under one arm, pinning it as his back came to face the soldier and his left elbow slammed into the marine's face. Stunned, the pyro could do nothing, but watch as Marcus assumed control of his flamethrower, turned it to face the other marines, and let it rip.

Hot streams of flame danced and crackled from the weapon as it engulfed three of the nearest soldiers, and then claimed a fourth and fifth who weren't lucky enough to get away in time. When their screams filled his ears as they burnt alive and tried to pat out the fires, he finally let go of the pyro, spun around and picked him up with his biotics, before sending him hurling into a group of marines compiling at the door, Locust emptying a clean shot into the pyro's tank on his back. He only watched as the tank exploded, and the resulting explosion consumed what was left of the enemy fireteams.

All marines eliminated, he turned and moved up the steps and through the door, holstering his SMG and equipping his rifle. He moved down the corridor, and his gaze was ice cold. Nothing would stop him. Not even his former alliance comrades. His indoctrinated former alliance comrades.

{Loading...}

November 22, 2185

1115 hours.

Shuttle Dock A5, Project Base, Project Asteroid, Bahak System, Viper Nebula.

Chief Engineer Tali'Shepard vas Normandy, Gunnery Master Garrus Vakarian, Major General Kal'Reegar vas Normandy, First Lieutenant Madi'Soi vas Ceresa, Second Lieutenant Jacob Taylor, Staff Commander Kaidan Alenko, Master Thief Kasumi Goto, Justicar Samara.

"Unidentified shuttle, you are not cleared to land! Break off now or we will shoot you down."

"You can try, bosh'tet. Garrus, hit it."

"With pleasure, General," and with a lopsided grin, the turian she called a brother hit the acellerator and shot towards the hatch, revving the engines up to full power and hoping the kodiak could survive the impact with the shuttle bay doors.

"Unidentified shuttle, break off! Oh fuck, they're not stopping! Clear the bay! FUCKING CLEAR IT!" the voice ordered, and Tali could only smile as she held onto the nearest bulkhead for dear life.

Their shuttle smashed through the blast doors with enormous force, sending its passengers flying all over and for Garrus' face to almost slam into the console; lucky for seatbelts, he guessed. Tali almost lost her balance, but managed to regain her footing and got up just in time to be slammed back down as the kodiak slammed into the floor of the bay.

The world became a bit of a haze as Tali tried to regain her bearings, shaking her head to regain some of her vision. Finally, it cleared up and she immediately got up, checking the cockpit and the cabin behind them for survivors, "Everyone alright? All of you, speak up if you aren't dead."

"I'm fine," Garrus winced, hissing as he unclipped his seatbelt, "Might have bruised my arm, but I'll be fine," he immediately reached under his seat and retrieved his Reaper sniper rifle, letting it collapse into his hands as he moved into the cabin behind him, "Can't say the same for this shuttle, though. She won't be flying ever again."

"Alive and ready," Kaidan called out.

"It'll take more than a crash to kill the prize," Jacob grinned, shaking his head as he retrieved his shotgun and helmet.

"Tell Garrus to stop worrying about me Tali," Kasumi pleaded, coming into view with an ecstatic wave, "I'm more than capable of taking care of myself," she seemed to look off to the side and shook her head, "Oh, is Garbear disappointed about not getting a damsel-in-distress, today? Well that's just too bad."

"I am unharmed," Samara informed her.

"I told Shepard, this and I'll tell you," Kal announced, Madi appearing at his side, "If I don't die in battle, then its death far too insulting to recognize. I'm not ready to die just yet."

"Glad to see we all made it in one piece," Tali declared, exiting the cockpit and making her way over to the cockpit, pulling out her geth plasma shotgun and letting it collapse into her hands, "Now let's go greet these people properly."

"They seemed pretty desperate to keep us away," Madi pointed out, using her weapon to smash the glass of the hatch, as the hatch was jammed shut from the crash, "Just makes this all the more suspicious."

"Indeed. Everybody, step back," Tali ordered, and they did as told. She raised her shotgun and fired thrice into the glass, eventually causing it to explode outwards, omitting them exit. She was the first to leap from the wrecked shuttle, followed by Garrus, Kasumi, and then everybody else. When they were out, they all formed around the shuttle bay. Tali looked up to see that the doors were now bent inwards, the mass effect field above the only thing stopping decompression. Fire licked at the bay's floors, and the shuttle was completely dead and trashed, "Well, we won't be exiting that way."

"That was our last shuttle too," Garrus sighed, shaking his head, "Why do you make me do crazy things, Tali? The Shepard gene really is inside. He's gotten into your head. Next you'll be dancing just as badly, and driving just as badly."

She shook her head, turning to the exit, "We'll just take one of their shuttles. Either way, its time to get some answers."

Just as she declared this, a few human looking soldiers, presumably alliance, due to the Alliance insignia sitting above them, entered, all armed with rifles and shotguns. She frowned at them, concerned as to what their intentions were. But she found them out pretty quickly when they raised their weapons at them. She shouted her orders almost as instantly, "Open fire!"

Her shotgun barked and ripped one marine's belly asunder, boiling the flesh beneath and killing him. Garrus' rifle coughed and the round pierced a second marine's helmet. Jacob picked up another with his biotics, and tossed him aside, and Madi let her avenger rip into the fourth and final one. All hostiles dead, Tali turned to them, shaking her head.

"Now we know what went wrong, not that it makes any sense," the quarian declared, "And if they've hurt Marcus, I swear I'm going to kill every last one of them."

At that moment, Kenson's voice came over the PA system, "Shepard is in Project Control! All squads, converge on that location! I don't care if he's ripping you apart, I want him stopped! And keep Project Control secure! If all else fails, I'm going to try and take the reactor offline! Williams, get to Project Control and secure it. Defend it to your last breath."

"Well, now we know that Shepard is just fine," Kaidan quipped, looking at Tali, "What should we do? Head to the reactor room and stop Kenson, or head for Project Control?"

She had a decision to make, and she knew which one was the right one, she just didn't want to admit it. But he needs my help...he could get hurt...killed...

But the galaxy needs you more.

Eventually, she reached a decision, turning to face her turian comrade, "Garrus, take Kal, Madi and Samara and head for Project Control; meet up with Shepard there. The rest of you, with me. We'll head to the reactor room and stop Kenson. She won't be expecting us."

Before she could leave, Garrus placed a hand on her shoulder, causing her to turn around. His eyes were full of shock and concern, "Are you sure, Tali? This is your husband. Shouldn't you lead the attack on Project Control, and my team will deal with Kenson?"

She shook her head, "Marcus has taught me a valuable lesson," her eyes met his, and her voice was full of conviction, with a taint of reluctance, "The mission must come first, especially if the galaxy is at stake. Go Garrus. And tell Marcus to stay safe, for ancestors' sake. If I learn you let him get himself killed..."

He helped up his hand in mock defense, smiling, "Oh don't worry, he'll be safer then safer. No Shepard without Vakarian, remember?"

She smiled, nodding, "I remember. Good luck, Garrus."

"You too, Tali."

And with that, they went their seperate ways. The battle to save the galaxy was now in full swing.

{Loading...}

November 22, 2185

1127 hours.

Project Control, Project Base, Project Asteroid, Bahak System, Viper Nebula.

Commander Marcus Lee Shepard.

Well, he had reached Project Control.

And now he was fighting for his life.

He had entered and right to the right was the main control console for the fusion torches. The countdown was also displayed on the monitors.

00:00:33:22.

Not much time left, he mused, need to get those fusion torches active now!

But before he could even reach the console, he had been ambushed. The three squads; Trident, Megaladon and Jurassic, had been positioned all over the room and had been waiting for him. As soon as he got inside, they had opened fire, downing his shields instantly, forcing him into cover before he was riddled with high-velocity rounds. They had tech armor, engineers overloading his shields every chance they got, combat drones flying around and to make it much worse, a few troopers with missile launchers and flamethrowers. Overall, he wasn't having fun.

And he only had half an hour left.

He peeked over cover, only to duck back behind as another maelstrom of heavy gunfire assaulted his position again. He heard Williams taunting him over the sound of the ambush.

"Give it up Shepard!" he spoke, clearly in the room with him due to the proximity of the voice, "You might as well sit back and watch the Arrival with the rest of us! The Reapers only wish to ascend us, not destroy us! If you could only see that, then you'd embrace them with the rest of us! Except this for what it is!"

No, he hissed in his mind, "Vigil seemed to disagree on Ilos! From what he said, the Protheans were completely annihilated by the Reapers! You are delusional if you think they aren't going to do the same to us! I stopped Sovereign, I can stop Harbinger and all the rest of them! The Arrival won't happen!"

"Oh, but it will!" Williams declared, voice oozing disappointment, "Its such a pity you're so unwilling to witness our pathetic forms blessed with perfection and immortality. But you will witness it, and when you do, you'll curse yourself for-"

Marcus peeked out, rifle raised and fired at the source of Williams' voice, hitting the man in his tech armor. Cut off, the soldier dived back behind cover, growling. Marcus dived back behind the console, reloading, "Enough of your drabble! I won't waste my breath on someone who's too far indoctrinated to see two feet infront of him. I will activate the torches, and you won't stop me!"

What answered was not Williams' voice, "So...BE IT!"

The voice, as always, penetrated his brain and did things to it that made him shiver. It echoed, and it invaded. But like always, he pushed it out, never once letting it take control of him. But he could never ignore the little pinch of fear it put in him just hearing that voice.

Sovereign may have been intimidating, but Harbinger is just a whole new level of...evil. Sounds generic, but that's the truth of it.

Omni-shield active, he moved to the left and deflected the fire aimed at him, pushing forward. He almost reached the console on the left but his shields burst at the last minute, and as he dropped his omni-shield for a split-second, a bullet found its way into his side, and he landed in a heap behind said terminal, growling in pain at the shot.

He checked his side, and saw blood seeping from his wound as he applied medi-gel to it. Two of the marines attempted to take him out while he was injured, but all they received was a mouth full of biotic shockwave as they were tossed away like sacks of meat, and he heard them cry out as they flew away.

Getting over the pain in his leg, he deactivated his shield and got out a flashbang grenade, tossing it over his head. He waited for the piercing, white noise it made when going off before he rushed out, gunning down as many soldiers as he could before the effects wore off. His first couple of volleys managed to split one engineer's head open, and he managed to catch another soldier by surprise with a shot to the shoulder, followed by a burst that tore into his throat. Turning left, he gunned down another two, before rolling into cover, using his omni-blade to kill another hiding behind cover. Once in cover, he reloaded, and just in time for the enemy to regain control of themselves.

"Where is he!?" Williams demanded, "Somebody tell me where he is!"

Seeing that there was a soldier directly beside the console he was at it desperately scanning the room, he unholstered his claymore and blasted her in the spine, tearing her body off the ground and into the air, turning her into a airborne strain of blood frenzy. Reloading his shotgun, he answered Williams' demands, "Give it a guess, asshole."

Right on cue, gunfire slammed into his position, "Keep him pinned! Prep some frags! To hell with that Kenson says; we're going to kill this fucking piece of shit."

Give it your best shot. He quickly dropped his shotgun and got out his pulse rifle, knowing that if he didn't thin out their lines soon he'd be overwhelmed, or flanked. He slipped into a prone position, and opened fire on one marine moving from cover to cover. He missed the first shot, and the second shot, but finally got her in the hand, stunning her long enough for him to split her head open with the fourth shot. Reloading he prepared to move onto the next target when he heard a loud explosion nearby.

"Sir, we've got new contacts!" one marine called out, "Four tangos, coming through the doorway! One turian, one asari and...two quarians!"

One turian, one asari and two...what!? He looked out from behind his cover, and smiled as he saw Garrus, assault rifle blazing, storm into the room, followed by Samara, who kept him shielded with her biotic barrier, Kal and Madi not far behind. Tali did get fed up with waiting. But where is she? Where are the others?

"What the hell!?" Williams cursed, "Switch positions! Jurassic, converge on Shepard's position, while Trident and Megaladon concentrate on the new hostiles! Shoot to kill! I repeat, I want them terminated!"

He watched as the eight remaining troopers in Jurassic squad turned and began moving to flank Marcus on the left. Obviously they didn't understand actual tactics anymore, as that movement left them wide open. Activating his cloak, he slipped out of cover, and began to sneak around to flank Jurassic as they attempted to flank him. He heard Kal cry out as one of his frag grenades detonated nearby, blowing apart one of the nearby consoles and sending one marine flying into the open onto the cold floor, where Madi promptly ended him with a burst of gunfire. He raced past the dead corpse and slammed head on into the marine lagging behind, rolling over his back and slamming his omni-blade into the soldier's face, before ripping it out, body tumbling to the ground.

He moved up behind and kicked another in the back of the knees, forcing him onto one, and then followed by tossing his last flashbang, disorienting the last six. Turning back to the seventh, he proceeded to snap his neck as the grenade went off, and he leapt in, cloak deactivating. He used his biotics to send a shockwave colliding into two engineers, sending them flying into the ceiling and crashing back down onto the ground again, and then he turned to the heavy wearing tech armor, where he reached in, primed one of his frag grenades, and then kicked him away. He didn't hang around to hear or see the resulting bang, instead turning to the last three, who were just recovering from the flash attack.

His pulse rifle tore into the flame tank on the back of the pyro, and once again it exploded, consuming the last two marines in a gulf of heat. The dead engineers slammed back into the ground, the sound of bones breaking as they hit. He wondered why they hadn't hit long before then, and realized he must have been so drunk on adrenaline that time slowed down for him. Did I...did I just kill three people in the face of a couple of seconds? That's insane.

He turned back around, Jurassic squad now dealt with, to see that Megaladon was essentially decimated. Bodies lay all over the control room, red blood collecting all over the place, with some missing heads, arms, legs, fingers and some even torsos. One trooper attempted to drag his bleeding comrade way, but a sniper shot took him down, followed by Marcus giving a mercy killing to the bleeding out trooper.

Trident was backed against a wall, with only four troopers left.

"Sir, Megaladon and Jurassic are gone. We need to retreat!"

"Very well! Kenson can deactivate the reactor anyway," Williams announced, "All of you, retr-"

Samara arrived from out of nowhere, landing directly in the middle of their path of retreat. They turned to rush the other way, but standing there was Marcus, armor soaked with blood and omni-blade aglow, while Garrus, Kal and Madi arrived at his sides, weapons drawn.

Williams' expression turned into one of sheer anger, "You cannot stop the Arrival!"

"I stopped Sovereign. I stopped Saren. I stopped the geth," he raised his rifle and aimed at Williams' head, "I'll stop you."

A gunshot was heard, and Williams' head blew apart, the geth rounds tearing his skull into shreds and causing him to fall backwards, dead. His last round spent, he holstered his rifle, and pulled out his Locust, slamming a fresh thermal clip into it as Williams' dead corpse hit the ground. The rest of the soldiers looked at him with empty eyes, and he merely shook his head as he turned to Garrus, "Remember those salarians on Virmire? The ones Saren had locked up?"

Garrus simply nodded, "I always will."

"You know what to do," was all Marcus said as he moved past Garrus and moved back up the steps into Project Control, the turian turning back to the group and nodding at Samara, raising his Mattock as he did, "Put them down."

Marcus only heard the gunfire as he arrived back in the room, heading straight for the main console, closing his eyes shut as he remembered those salarian STG agents. The ones Sovereign turned into mindless husks. It was a mercy killing, he told himself, they were already gone, their bodies just didn't realize it.

He stepped around the dead bodies of the fallen marines as he reached the console. An entire battalion of good men turned into servants for Harbinger to play with. They deserved better than this. I'll make sure they're remembered. He looked up at the mass relay in the distance, and remembered what he was about to do. The three hundred thousand lives lost here will also be...wait, what if I try to contact them? He looked at the time. Shit, only twenty-eight minutes left. It might just be enough time to evacuate. They could get a few hundred out at least...not everyone has to die...

He reached the console, bringing up the main interface. He could feel Garrus and the others arriving behind him as he began overriding Kenson's lockdown on the fusion torches. As Garrus reached his side, Marcus spoke, "I knew you guys would come for me. Well I should have known. Where are the others, though? Where's Tali?"

"She went to stop Kenson from deactivating the reactor so she couldn't stop the fusion torches," Garrus informed him, "If we quickly activate these torches, we can get to her, pick her up and get out of here before we reach the relay."

"Sounds like a plan," some childish part of him was annoyed that she hadn't come with Garrus to rescue him. She can't worry about you all the time. She's a woman; she understands the necessity of this. The galaxy's existence is at stake. All of life, knowing it or not, is depending on us to save them all.

He finally overrode Kenson's lockdown and activated the torches, and he watched them to come to life outside, one giant torch erupting in giant red flame as it slowly, but gradually, began speeding the asteroid towards the Alpha Relay in the distance. It was done; they had set their path in motion, and now it wasn't a matter of when the Reapers arrived; but when the asteroid hit the relay. The countdown didn't change however; it only moved up by two minutes. Shit. They had thirty minutes to escape this system before the asteroid reached the relay.

A VI's voice spoke over the PA system, "Fusion torches activated. Warning: Collision with mass relay estimated to occur in T-minus thirty minutes. Recommend immediate evacuation procedures."

Garrus nodded and was about to leave when he saw Marcus still typing at the console. He turned back to Marcus, telling his team to wait as he did, "Marcus, we need to go! You heard the VI; we need to go get Tali and the others, call the Normandy for evac and get off this rock!"

He shook his head, refusing to leave as he brought up communication protocols, "Can still save them...call them...tell them to evacuate...have to save as many as I can..."

He looked at him incredulously, "Who, Kenson? Shepard, they're trying to kill us! They're all indoctrinated; you can't save them!"

"Not them. Must reach Aratoht. Tell them to evacuate. Three hundred thousand lives. Cannot let them all die. Some may live. Hundreds...thousands, if we're lucky..."

"Marcus, what are you on about...?"

"I can save them, dammit!" His typing got more frantic, "We just need to-"

Suddenly, the console turned off. Marcus, surprised slammed his fists into the console in rage, "No, no, no, no, no, NO! I cannot-NOOOOOOOO!"

Kenson's voice came over the comm, "Shepard, do you have ANY idea what you've done!"

Marcus' voice was a growl, "You FUCKING BITCH! Reactivate the comms!"

"To hell with you!" Kenson shouted back, her face contorted in anger. She was in the reactor room, and seemed to be typing frantically at a terminal. She had a squad of marines around her, and there was no sign of Tali and her squad, "You want to stop the Arrival? FINE! But you won't be allowed to evacuate anyone! Let's see the great Commander Shepard choose! Sacrifice three hundred thousand, or embrace the gifts the Reapers offer! It should be an obvious choice!"

Marcus merely eyed her, eyes contorted in rage, "Kenson, open the fucking comm-"

"I said NO!" Kenson shouted, slamming her own fists into her terminal, "You must CHOOSE!"

"DAMN YOU!" Garrus almost jumped as Marcus seemed to animalistically growl at her, and for a second he thought the commander might break down and sob, but he merely responded in a lower voice, "Damn you...the torches will stay active...Garrus, let's go. We have to...we have to stop Kenson..."

He had never seen Marcus like this before. He looked so distraught, so defeated, so...ashamed? What the hell is going on? What does he mean by 'three hundred thousand.'

Either way, Kenson was shocked by his response, clearly expecting his morals to get the better of him, "Shepard, wait-"

Marcus raised his Locust and shot the console, her form disappearing just as a gunshot was heard on it. He turned to Garrus, his expression cold behind his helmet and devoid of remorse, "Come on. Tali obviously hasn't arrived yet. We have to kill Kenson and get the hell out of here."

Garrus held out his arm, stopping him, which subjected him to the spectre' venomous glare, but he wasn't fazed, "What did you just do?"

Marcus' glare diminished, and he pushed past the turian, refusing to meet his gaze as he walked away, "What I'm about to do is commit the worst attrocity in fifty years. Come on."

God, forgive me.

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November 22, 2185

1137 hours.

Main Reactor, Project Base, Project Asteroid, Bahak System, Viper Nebula.

Chief Engineer Tali'Shepard vas Normandy, Master Thief Kasumi Goto, Staff Commander Kaidan Alenko, Second Lieutenant Jacob Taylor.

Tali ran into the room, shotgun aimed first, with Kasumi and Jacob covering her flanks, and Kaidan covering their rear. It had been one hell of a fight getting to the reactor, but they had made it. Kasumi had complained about the lack of a tactical cloak, but Tali knew it had been worth it. Afterall, it got Marcus out of that prison alive. As they arrived inside the reactor room, they found it to be located within a ring of observation decks, like the ones they were in now, with a observation window giving them a good view. Inside was the reactor, standing as tall as a pillar and reaching all the way to the ceiling, glowing a brilliant aqua blue. Kenson stood at the controls, and a squad of marines protected her, but none of them had noticed them enter. Just as well, Tali thought.

"Jacob, blow that glass outwards. Give us an entrance," Tali ordered, summoning Kasumi and Kaidan to her side, "You two, get ready to enter and open fire as soon as you get a bead on your target."

"I still feel naked without my cloak," Kasumi joked, prepping her Locust, "But I guess I'll manage."

Tali didn't even acknowledge the joke as Jacob let the energy flow through him, and he let a biotic warp shoot forward, hitting the glass and blowing it apart with a resounding shatter. She didn't give out a war cry, she just silently charged and leapt off the deck, shotgun raised and landed on both feet down below, her shotgun raised and choosing a target before she landed. She deployed Chatika as she did and then fired at and killed one of the troopers nearest her, her plasma shotgun blowing his leg off, allowing her to blow his head off as well before pumping the chamber. Kasumi landed next, rolling to the side as she let loose a torrent of fire at another marine, downing him instantly.

Kaidan followed as the rest of the enemy squad opened fire, Kenson gasping in surprise, but quickly getting back to work. Just as Tali moved to aim her shotgun at another soldier, his assault rifle sights landing on her, a familiar, dark undertone came through her head as she fired and downed the soldier, a tornado of gunfire forcing her to take cover behind a support strut.

"Quarian, you still continue to resist. That is admirable. But your time is at an end. You will be ascended."

Harbinger. Kenson's actions...they make sense now. Herself and all these marines are indoctrinated. She ignored Harbinger's words however as she came back over and fired her shotgun again, directing Chitika to provide fire support for Kaidan, who was currently pinned by three pyros. The round she fired bounced harmlessly off the trooper's tech armor, but she quickly fixed that by hacking into her omni-tool with hers and overclocking it so it overloaded. Her tech armor exploded, and she gasped in surprise as Tali suddenly came back, and blew her torso off with a single blast of superheated plasma.

Another trooper moved to punch her in the visor, but she quickly blocked it, diving low and kicking him inbetween the thighs. He groaned in pain at the impact to his testes, and she quickly finisihed the job by ramming her weapon below his chin and pulling the trigger, his head erupting into a fountain of blood and gore. Disgusted, she kicked his corpse away, reloading her shotgun as she did.

She had been so taken up in the moment that she hadn't noticed that the battle had ended a minute ago. Every soldier lay motionless on the ground, dead. Kaidan cleaned his rifle, which seemed to be stained in blood red, and Jacob let his biotics die down alittle. Kasumi stopped to catch her breath, having not fought this hard since the Collector Base assault. Tali, assured that her team was alright, quickly turned to Kenson, who seemed to not have noticed the battle's results, as she still typed at the console. Tali cleared her throat, speaking loudly, sliding her shotgun into its clamp on her back as she pulled her pistol free, aiming it at Kenson as she slowly approached, "Step away from the reactor."

Kenson slammed her fists into the terminal, her eyes brimming with tears as she sobbed lightly, full of anger, "You've...you've ruined everything! Who the hell are you!? I can't...I can't hear the whispers anymore! I can't hear them! No, please come back! I need to hear the voices! They...they give me strength!"

Tali simply shook her head, coming within a meter of the indoctrinated scientist and still closing, "I'm Shepard's wife, Tali'Shepard vas Normandy in full. And you will turn around, doctor. Do it now, or so help me, you bosh'tet, I will end you."

"You've taken them away from me," Kenson mumbled, sniffing, but refusing to face Tali, her greying hair falling into her face every few seconds, "I will never see the Reapers' Arrival. Never be blessed with imperfection. I hate you. I hate all of you. But-"

She didn't get to finish as Tali lowered her pistol in hand and used the other to grab Kenson's shoulder and roughly turn her around, slamming her backwards into the console as she looked on at Tali blankly, the quarian coming to within inches of her face, pistol coming to her side, "Enough of this! Where is my husband? Is he hurt? Dead? So help me, if he's-"

"Oh, he's fine. The ignorant fool will never be blessed by the Reapers, but he's fine," Kenson mumbled, her eyes meeting Tali's with a malicious glare, "But you won't be. He'll be too busy cleaning you and me up to escape."

"Wha-" she felt a shuffling behind her and saw Kenson pull out a detonator from her pocket. Tali's eyes widened, as her eyes met Kenson's, who grinned sadistically, "At least I get to kill Shepard's wife. That'll give me some sort of comfort as I die."

Tali made to move away, but she knew she wouldn't escape in time. She turned to her team, trying to tell them to run, to hide. But she knew it was futile; they were just as doomed as her. She closed her eyes, waiting for the inevitable.

Suddenly, the sound of a biotic field was heard, and she assumed Jacob tried to save her. But as she listened, she heard a muffled explosion, but no heat washed over her; she wasn't thrown aside or obliterated. Turning around, she widened her eyes to see a biotic field hanging infront of her, Kenson reduced to nothing but a few slivers of meat hanging off the console and a large puddle of blood that had been splashed all over the place. Kenson was dead, but she and her squad had survived. She turned, but saw that it wasn't Jacob or even Kaidan holding the field. Then who...?

She turned to the right to watch as Marcus appeared, hand raised and body glowing in biotic fire, approaching her with Garrus, Madi, Kal and Samara at his back. Seeing her, he dropped his field and managed to catch her as she leapt at him, arms wrapping around him. He didn't return the gesture, merely patted her on the back, and that shocked. Letting go, she looked up at him to see a cold and fixed gaze; no warmth was held in it.

"Marcus, what's wrong...?" she tried to ask, but Marcus was already marching towards the exit elevator, ignoring the rest of them.

"Come on, we have to go," Marcus growled gloomily and his voice was ice, no love or caring in it, "We've only got twelve minutes before we hit the relay."

Tali looked blankly at his retreating form for a couple seconds, watching as he contacted Joker for pickup and collision and evacuation alarms went off throughout the entire base. Finally, she regained her senses and followed everyone else into the elevator.

It was going to be a narrow escape, but she was more worried about Marcus.

That expression...it had been full of melancholy.

{Loading...}

November 22, 2185

1150 hours.

Landing Pad, Project Base, Project Asteroid, Bahak System, Viper Nebula.

Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, Chief Engineer Tali'Shepard vas Normandy, Gunnery Master Garrus Vakarian, Staff Commander Kaidan Alenko, Master Thief Kasumi Goto, Second Lieutenant Jacob Taylor, Justicar Samara, Major General Kal'Reegar vas Normandy, First Lieutenant Madi'Soi vas Ceresa.

The Landing Pad was absolute chaos.

As Marcus and the squad arrived they saw cargo containers being lifted up from the pad and being thrown up into space by the sheer velocity of the asteroid's movement. The Alpha Relay no longer sat in the distance, and now was close enough to be loom over them as they closed in. Indoctrinated marines scrambled all over the landing pad, desperately trying to escape the destruction being beset upon them. He watched two kodiak shuttles, dressed in deep black from their days as a black ops group, lift off the pad and shoot off the asteroid, escaping their doom, but they would not escape the system in time and using the relay would only rip them apart in transit.

It got to the point where the marines didn't even bother trying to stop them as they ran past, all of them having dropped their weapons and fleeing to the nearest escape shuttle they could find. Marcus had asked why they couldn't just use the shuttle they came in on, but Garrus had told him that it was 'no longer available.' So they trashed it. Great.

They quickly came across the last kodiak, but before they could get in it, it took off, the last marine having gotten inside and moving for lift off. Marcus fired at it, but it was no use, and the shuttle continued to ascend. He cursed. The Normandy is still coming in to pick us up; it matters little. His eyes were drawn back to the looming relay, and he checked his chrono. A mere six minutes left. Hurry up Joker! They continued to watch the shuttle take off...

...only to watch as it exploded in a flash of light, and the debris disappeared behind them as the asteroid raced past. They all locked on in confusion until they saw what had destroyed appear behind them. They all recognized the black and red of the batarian hegemony.

It was a batarian light cruiser, and it was quite impressive in size, looming over them like a great predator ready to leap on its prey. Its guns lowered over the asteroid, ready to fire. They have no idea what awaits them. He preyed for their souls as much as he preyed for the three hundred thousand who would also never see it coming, and turned to the landing pad once more...

...only to be confronted by the gargantuan yellow holographic form of a Reaper looming over them, this one three times as big as Sovereign, but the hologram had reduced its size considerably.

Harbinger.

"Shepard," itboomed, "You have become an annoyance."

"Keelah..." he heard Madi exclaim over the comms and Kal could only look on in awe at the sentient starship. Everyone else watched in silence, Harbinger having not finished speaking.

"You fight against inevitability. Dust struggling against cosmic winds. This seems a victory to you, an entire star system sacrificed. But even now, your greatest civilizations are doomed to fall," the batarian cruiser at that point came to loom directly over them, guns now opening fire on the asteroid, but they barely felt the impacts, and it would not stop the impact, "Your leaders will beg to be harvested."

Everyone looked at Marcus, expecting him to say something great and heroic, inspirational and idealistic. But he didn't. When he spoke, his voice was cold, hard and absolutely without bullshit, "Maybe you're right. Maybe we can't win this. But we'll fight you regardless, just like we did Sovereign. Just like we did you. Just like I'm doing now."

He continued, pointing an accusing finger at the enormous ship, "However 'insignifcant we might be, we will fight, we will sacrifice, and we will find a way. That's what humans do. That's what we all do," he looked at his group, and he received hesitant nods, Marcus nodding back as he turned back to Harbinger, awaiting its answer.

It was predictable as always; plain arrogance always showing through, "Know this as you die in vain: Your time will come. Your species will fall. Prepare yourselves for the Arrival."

The hologram winked out of existence, and he checked his chrono, eyes widening into saucers. He looked around to see the mass relay smack bang infront of them.

00:00:02:07.

He also watched the relay sizzle and pop, followed by it glowing more brightly than before. He watched in horror as something shot through the relay, reappearing on the other side. The batarian ship turned its guns to reevaluate its new target, just before another one arrived. Both of them were two kilometers in size, and Marcus would recognize them from anywhere.

Reapers. Desolation and Primal.

They must have been the vanguard of the invasion, a scouting force. Even now he watched the two colossal behemoths, both of them the exact same design as Sovereign, spin to face them, charging their thanix cannons as their legs opened. As that happened, the Normandy arrived, airlock shooting open as Ken appeared at the door in full armor and breather helmet, holding an assault rifle. He looked disappointed.

"Ahhhh, nothing to shoot? That doesn't seem-" his eyes turned and he saw the Reapers dawning on them, "Crivvens! Get on board, NOW!"

Everybody leapt onboard, ignoring Ken as he slammed the airlock shut. EDI, for their sakes, overrode it and everyone rushed inside, and into the cockpit. Everyone that was, except for Marcus, who rushed straight for the CIC. Tali called out to him, but he didn't answer, and she simply turned back to the cockpit windows and watched as the Normandy shot towards the relay.

"Hold on!" Joker exclaimed.

The Normandy managed to dive inbetween Desolation and Primal, and shoot straight for the relay. Tali's chrono said they had forty seconds left, and urged Joker to high jump it. They were close, so close. And just as they hit the 15 second mark, they hit the relay, and the Normandy escaped, flying away at the speed of light to escape the doomed system.

It was then she turned and rushed into the CIC.

{Loading...}

November 22, 2185

1159 hours.

Main Bridge, Baktha-Class Light Cruiser BRS Glorious Point, Bahak System, Moving alongside Project Asteroid.

Captain Sargesh Trak.

Sargesh couldn't believe what she was seeing.

What the hell are those things!?

"What kind of ships are those?" her navigator asked, staring wide-eyed at the approaching contacts. She had never seen anything like them before.

She quickly regained her senses, "Quickly, all guns, bring them to bear! And open fire!" She could see a dull red glow eminating from both ships, and knew they were moving to attack, "Navigation, hard to port! Communications, tell engineering to reroute all power to the-"

"Wait, someone just used the relay!"

Sargesh turned and watched as what looked to be an alliance stealth frigate, Normandy-Class, if she guessed correctly, jumping through the relay, and disappearing into a flash of white light. Her brow creased into an angry furrow. Alliance bastards. But why jump out? They could easily take us. Why would they-

Her eyes danced between the asteroid headed for the relay and her mind connected the dots all too quickly. She stood up and immediately yelled at navigation, "Get us to the relay! NOW!"

"Captain-"

"Do it now! Full military thrust!" Sargesh yelled until her voice was raw, and she saw that the unknown enemy craft seemed to understand as well, as they began spinning towards the relay as well at faster speeds than thought possible, but all three were too late.

They all watched as the asteroid slammed into the Alpha Relay, and it split apart like a delicate toy. It blew apart in sections, the rings blowing outwards into space, while the pronged shape cascaded in on itself. The eezo in the middle seemed to collapse in on itself as the asteroid split, and then violently exploded, a great ball of intense blue light expanding outwards constantly, consuming everything in its path. The two unknown ships were quickly engulfed and disappeared, and Sargesh was blinded as it impacted her cruiser.

Before she died, she could safely assume she was the first to see the destruction of a mass relay.

And hopefully the last.

{Loading...}

November 22, 2185

1200 hours.

Combat Information Center, Normandy-Class Stealth Frigate Normandy SR-2, Asgard System, Exodus Cluster.

Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, Yeoman Kelly Chambers.

His hands grasped the railing of the galaxy map observation deck, and quickly scrolled down and selected the Viper Nebula, followed by the Bahak System. Zooming in and choosing 3D view, he watched as the mass relay's destruction was already in full swing. Project Base, along with the Asteroid, disappeared in an expanding sphere of blue light, followed by Desolation, Primal and the batarian cruiser all being blown into atoms in the resulting supernova. At least we took out two Reapers in the process. It didn't make him feel any better about it.

The ball continued to expand, cutting a path through the asteroid field, and quickly reaching Bastzuda. The gas giant was obliterated by the ball, and he watched, tears brimming and arms shaking as the blast impacted Aratoht, the blast disintegrating the planet into groups of asteroids, which were then reduced to nothing. Within the blink of an eye, three hundred thousand were murdered; turned into atoms. He couldn't watch anymore, and just as the blast consumed Bahak's sun and crawled towards Clogon, Urmula, and Yunaca, he turned away from the view, and almost ran into Tali, who was waiting at the steps. His wife and Kelly both gave him worried looks as he tore off his helmet. He looked calm at first as he just stood there, blankly looking at the ground.

"Marcus-"

It all went to hell with that one word.

With a thunderous roar, Marcus threw the helmet away with such force that it actually slammed into the wall and became wedged there, the sound making everyone in the CIC jump as sparks jumped out from the spot it impacted. Marcus looked like a demon, and Kelly looked horrified, her eyes locking onto him and backing away, almost falling onto her console. Only Tali had the courage to approach him as the rest of the squad arrived in the CIC, wearily watching him.

She placed hand on his shoulder, squeezing it, "Marcus, what happened?"

He looked up at her and only said a single sentence, his voice shakey and in a whisper, "Not here, in the cabin."

She nodded, taking his hand as they moved into the elevator, Marcus quietly and grimly hitting the button for Deck One. He looked sorrowfully at the deck, and Tali tried to figure out what was wrong. Why did this upset him so much? They had won. He should be celebrating.

The elevator arrived quickly enough and he quickly stormed inside, ripping off his chestplate as he reached the cabin and tossing it onto the floor, pulse rifle, bandolier, and thermal clips still attached and spilling onto the floor. He gradually began ripping off his armor and tossing it away in a hurried frenzy, obviously annoyed about something.

"Marcus, stop and tell me what's got you so angry," She stopped him as he took off his final glove, dropping it onto the floor as he sat on his desk, refusing to look at her. She took his chin and forced it up, making him look her in the eyes, "Marcus, tell me."

"Kenson, she forced my hand," he mumbled, a tear leaving his eyes, "She made me do it. I murdered them. And all I did was delay them."

"Murdered who?" Tali asked incredulously, "You destroyed a relay. The only ones dead are two Reapers, a crew full of batarians wanting us dead, more indoctrinated marines wanting us dead, and that's it. What are you so sorrowful about?"

"You really don't know do you?" Marcus asked, shaking his head as he looked back at the ground, "Of course you don't. I never told you. I was too busy cutting myself off. I forgot to mention it," he moved his eyes to look at hers once more, and this time he choked back a sob, "The relay...Kenson told me...there's enough eezo inside that thing that if were to be released, the explosion would be proportionate to that of a supernova. So yes Tali, we did just destroy a mass relay. And three hundred thousand lives along with it."

Her eyes widened in realization even before he said the last two sentences. Oh keelah, "Marcus, I'm so sor-"

"Sorry? Don't be sorry. You didn't murder them. You didn't press the button," he laughed bitterly, no humor in his voice, "I did. I chose to do it in the name of saving the galaxy. And you know what? I didn't save the galaxy. Because the Reapers are still going to come, and they're going to kill just as many people, and the galaxy still won't be ready. Harbinger was right; I did resist, and I gained nothing out of it but the blood of three hundred thousand on my hands."

She felt him get off the desk and push past her, moving into the center of the cabin. Before her very eyes, she saw the great Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, her husband, Hero of the Citadel, Lion of Elysium, Destroyer of the Collectors and the man who stared down a Reaper, collapse onto his knees and begin to weep into his hands.

She rushed over to him, kneeling by his feet and taking his head into her lap, smoothing out his hair as she rocked back and forth and spoke, "Sssshhhhhh...you did the right thing. Ssssshhhhhh..."

Marcus only listened. It wasn't alright.

There was three hundred thousand graves to atest to that.

"And now you know why there's one less system in the Viper Nebula."

- Marcus Shepard.

"Three Hundred Thousand murdered, who cares? We did alot worse in the Post Apocalyptic War."

- Reia'Inas pav Earth.

"Because that wasn't one person pressing a button. Those people knew their deaths were upon them, the ones in Bahak didn't. That's why it was so important. Why it was so...traumatic."

- Tali'Shepard pav Rannoch.

"I recovered in the end...but my soul...no, it never recovered. I still remember. I'll never forget."

- Marcus Shepard.

A/N:

Chapter 31 comes soon! Two more chapters after this one, and then an epilogue.

Don't forget to review! I definitely need reviews for this one!

Keelah Se'lai!