Everyone sat together, across from one another, their faces solemn as they rested their hands in their lap or on their knees. Commander Shepard quietly sighed, head hung as he steepled his hands, looking up a bit. "...how is he handling it?" Shepard asked of Ashley.
"He's NOT handling it." She murmured, holding a hand up to her face and moaning. "He's actually getting drunk in his room. He's been singing "Alcohol" by the Barenaked Ladies for an hour now and he ain't coming out."
"I'll...I'll go speak to him." Commander Shepard decided with a calm nod, the others looking about at each other before nodding in agreement. "He's not really dealt with the loss of family members like this. Liara, perhaps talking with him would help you as well."
"I could use someone to talk to." She admitted. "I'm...barely...holding on." The asari quietly confessed with a sigh. "At any rate, there will be time to speak and mourn later. We now know that Saren Arterius is seeking the Mu Relay."
"But until we know exactly where he's going, going to the Mu Relay doesn't mean anything. That relay could link to a hundred systems, we need more than just that to go on." Shepard commented aloud. "So we can't rush off blind. Let's all get some rest. Take a bit of the edge off."
Silence lingered in the air as slowly but surely, everyone rose up, making their way for the door before-
"Commander?"
Joker's voice broke through the silence as Shepard glanced up in the direction of the PDA system in the Normandy. "The Council's calling. They got your Noveria report. Shall I patch them through?"
"Yes." Commander Shepard remarked with a sigh, turning around and heading for the back of the room, knowing exactly what glowing, faintly reddish faces he'd be facing as he put his hands in his pockets, one thumb out on each side as he stared at the Asari Councilor.
"Is this report accurate, Commander? You found rachni on Noveria?" The startled Asari Councilor wanted to know, the clearly astounded Tevos terrified by the implications. The other two looked at each other before staring at Shepard, and the commander gave a curt nod.
"Yes."
"And you released their queen?!" The Turian councilor said, his voice filled with urgency and fury. "Do you have ANY idea what you've done?! How many generations until they overrun the galaxy like they tried to before!?" He would have torn at his hair had he HAD hair, but Shepard stood his ground and calmly folded his arms over his chest.
"This queen's different. She understands why her kind had to be wiped out the last time around, she doesn't want a repeat of that."
"You'd best be right about that. For if you are not, our children's children will pay the price for the mercy you bestowed upon them." Spartacus mumbled darkly, folding his arms over his chest.
"We will await your next report, commander." Valern remarked, the Salarian councilor calmly nodding with the others as the comminique ended, and Shepard sighed as he made his way out of the room, making a beeline for Nick's abode. He knocked, a loud burp ringing through the air before slowly but surely, the door opened and Shepard flinched. He could SMELL the bad alcohol on Nick's breath, the young man's hair was messed up and his face was haggard, his eyes almost sunken as he looked at Shepard.
"C-Come on-hic in." He mumbled, almost falling backwards, flopping onto his bed as Shepard stood in the room and stared at Nick, who picked up one of the many bottles that was not-quite-finished, downing another shot. He took in a long, deep drink of it, polishing it off before hiccuping slightly, staring up at Shepard with bloodshot eyes. "I used to think that alcohol was just for those with nothing else to do. That drinking just to get drunk was a waste of booze. But now I know that there's a time and there's a place where I can choose...to walk the fine line between self-control, and self-abuse!" He chucklingly sang out, ANOTHER bottle of beer popping up, flopping onto the bed nearby.
"The place looks like a damn recylcing center. Nick, this isn't good for you." Shepard remarked softly. "This isn't dealing with pain. At all."
"I don't wanna "deal" with it. I don't want to FEEL the pain. I want to be numb, and stupid, and dumb so the pain can slowly sink down, downnn...doooowwwwnnn into me. Deep enough so that when it tries to rise up again, it'll take a good, long while." Nick muttered, shaking his head back and forth, suddenly seeming so much older and sadder as Shepard pinched the space between his eyes and cringed.
"That doesn't actually work. And I'd know. I did the same thing when I first was dealing with killing people on the battlefield. It doesn't bury the pain." Shepard offered, sitting down next to Nick on the bed as the kid swished the bottle he now had in one hand back and forth. "...it doesn't help."
"...I don't want to feel. I don't want to think. I don't want to be anything but a big, numb NOTHING. Then I wouldn't have to feel like screaming every time I picture Lucas's face." Nick whispered out. "...I've snot-cried half my body weight out in between downing Budweiser. I don't want to feel like this. Like...less than shit."
"Telling you to toughen up isn't gonna help. Talking about it does. Follow your own advice." Shepard offered. "...Liara lost her mother. She could use someone to talk to. Someone who understands what it feels like to lose people you love."
Nick was quiet for what seemed to be a long time. Then, at last...
"I think Wrex should come too." He remarked. "He also had to kill his parent. And he's got a wisdom to him I envy. A simple, cut-through-the-Gordian-Knot type wisdom."
With a nod, Shepard rose up, helping Nick off the bed as they made their way over to Wrex, who was...interestngly...right outside of the medical wing.
"You thought of talking to her too?" Shepard asked, Wrex giving a calm nod as he and Nick left the commander, who rubbed his chin. He hoped it would go well. In the meantime, he decided to check in on everyone else, and left the medical wing as Wrex and Nick entered Liara's room, Liara sitting in a chair and quietly looking over a datapad.
"If you are here to bring me comfort about Benezia's death, you need not bother. She brought it on herself." Liara muttered, her tone more...cold than usual.
"Don't pretend it don't bother ya." Wrex muttered. "I hated my dad for what he did, but it bothered me to bury the knife hilt-deep into him when he tried to kill me."
"Yes, she was, but...she was not. I would like to remember Benezia as she USED to be, before her corruption." Liara confessed as she put the datapad down and Nick and Wrex sat across from her in different chairs.
"The ones we love don't really leave us. They live on in us." Nick quietly remarked. "It...huts to remember, but...I guess it's better to hurt than to not feel anything. Even if it doesn't always feel that way sometimes. What did you admire about your mom?"
"Her determination. Her intelligence. Her strength." Liara confessed softly. She closed her eyes. "That's...kind of you to say. I...I appreciate you being here. But I wanted to actually talk to you, Wrex. I know you enjoy being a merc. Immersing yourself in work brings you satisfaction. Comfort. You like that work. Do you...every worry that you're not doing enough?"
"I'm a fighter. It's what I do. I don't care that much about being a scientist or the like. I ain't made for being a leader." Wrex muttered. "I thought about going back. Maybe uniting the clans. I don't think I'd be good at it."
"You don't care what happens to the Krogans?" Nick asked, sounding a bit concerned. "I'm sorry, it's just..." Now he felt real emotion creeping in. Familiar emotion. Anger...disappointment. Confusion. And a faint sense of condescending annoyance. He instantly cringed. He was being bigoted, assuming that the "poor, stupid alien" didn't know what was right for him.
"I KNOW what you're gonna say, kid." Wrex muttered. "And you too, Liara. Look. What the fuck do you want me to do about it? I don't fight for lost causes. I'm no hero. But..." He took a long, deep sigh. "I admit, there's...a lot of Krogan mercs. A LOT. I keep running into them. WE keep running into them. And I'm..."
His deep voice got soft, low, and sad. "Half the time I'm paid to kill them. And I've been killing for a while. I took my first contract right after I left my home system." The red-eyed alien confessed. "It's good work if it doesn't kill you. You get to see the galaxy on someone else's money and most days end in a good fight. I did TRY more organized fighting. Private armies. It gets too messy."
"How so?" Liara inquired.
"I fight best on my own, or in small groups. Don't much like folks relyin' on me, and I bloody well don't like relyin' on them." Wrex admitted. "But you're all different. You got somethin' unique about you. Something new you bring to the table. It's a nice change of pace. Sometimes you act more like family than my own family did."
"...I'd raise a glass to you, but...I think I've had too many." Nick admitted, hiccuping a bit as Liara chuckled and focused as a nice mineral water bottle floated over.
"Mineral water?"
"S-Sure, why not." Nick said, Liara pouring all three of them a glass as they each downed it in one gulp. "To our family. To the Normandy Crew. To five bucks a bottle."
"SIX." Liara chuckled, pouring another glass.
Meanwhile, Shepard was talking with Garrus, the two sitting across from each other in the loading dock, sitting atop the MAKO. "We'll find Saren, Garrus. I promise you."
"I just...don't want him getting away with all he's done. And if anyone can catch him, its you. If there's anything I can do to help, ANYTHING...just tell me what to do and I'll do it." The Turian swore.
"Just make sure you're ready to go when we do." Shepard offered. "But I get the feeling something else is bothering you."
"It's this nagging little worry I have. What if..." Garrus cringed. "What if we find him, bring him back to the Citadel, and they refuse to act?" The Turian quietly inquired, his face darkening.
"I can tell this isn't really a question. Speak your mind, Garrus."
The Turian's voice was quiet and contemplative as he gesticulated with his gloved hands. "I know we try very hard not to kill." He admitted. "I know we try to hold ourselves to a high standard. I know you believe in mercy whenever you can. The thing is...in my opinion, Saren's too dangerous to be left alive. Too much could happen. He could escape, or the Council might let him go. If we find him...WHEN...we find him...we have to stop him permanently."
"I've thought long and hard about it." Shepard admitted with a soft nod. "But...if he won't listen to reason, I'll shoot his head clean through." He said, taking out his Paladin model pistol, turning it over in his hand. "He's had so many chances already. He has to understand the consequences for what he's done. But if we just kill him, we won't find out what he's really up to. He could have something planned where even if he DIED, it would still be implemented. We need to know what he knows." Shepard reasoned. "I don't want to kill him only to find out there's some nuke in the Citadel minutes from going off that only his voice-activated command could stop."
"Good point." Garrus admitted, Shepard bidding him adieu, and heading for the engine room, to check in on Tali as she examined a datapad.
"When this is all over, when my Pilgrimage has ended and I go back to my own people, I'll be proud to say I was part of it." Tali confessed to Shepard.
"An important part. We couldn't have done this without you." Shepard admitted, putting a supportive hand on her shoulder and giving her a smile.
"You've been so good to me. A lot of people treat my kind like second-class citizens. They just want my people to shove off to the Flotilla. But you've treated me as an equal. Thank you so much." Tali said with a smile before suddenly her datapad lit up, her eyes widening. "OH!" She gasped. "One of my online contacts has just alerted me. Information about that Turian you wanted, the one who stole Wrex's family armor!"
Shepard leaned over the datapad. "Says...something about Tonn Actus being on...Tuntau? What's that?"
"It's an ugly, rotten planet. And evidently, one of my Extranet contacts just dropped off some cargo for him on the planet. He's ordering a...uhoh." Her eyes widened behind the helmet. "I have good news and bad news. The good news is he hasn't sold the armor yet. The bad news is that he's bought very expensive and specialized alcohol for such a sale that's taking place tomorrow. We need to get there today if we want to stop Wrex from losing his family's armor!"
Shepard's eyes narrowed and he raced out of the engine room. "Joker! Gun the engines. We're heading to Tuntau!"
He gripped Joker's chair, staring out into the depths of space. Within an hour, they'd arrived at the planet, and Shepard was calling Wrex up to the bridge. "Good news, Wrex. I found Tonn Actus. He's going to be selling your grandfather's armor here tomorrow. So we strike now...and make him pay for his profiteering." He offered.
"You finally found him?" Wrex asked, eyes widening as he grinned in delight. "I can't promise I'll hold back, Shepard."
"I'll give you five minutes alone with him if you promise not to kill him."
"...deal."
...
...
...
...Virmire was a very lush, beautiful world. Vast oceans, tropical terrain, but often a haven for pirates and slavers. Most wouldn't want to go near it. But the team had gone there shortly after picking up Wrex's armor. A communique from a recon team had found evidence of Saren being present. Unfortunately the rest of the message was so mangled and useless the Council had been unable to comprehend any more of it.
So Shepard and his crew had made their way there, sure that the recon team would love a little extra backup.
...they weren't exactly jumping for joy.
"What do you MEAN this is all the Council sent?"
Shepard cringed. He hadn't been expecting this. They'd fought their way through several platoons of GETH, had taken down anti-aircraft towers, and had made their way, at long last, into a makeshift base set up on Virmire. The MAKO had torn over the long beaches of the planet even as blue lightning split the cloudy skies, the ocean roar pounding in their ears as they'd approached the captain of the recon team who'd sent out the original message. The place was filled with Salarians, led by the green-skinned, slightly "bearded" and white/black armored Captain Kirrahe, who's eyes had bugged out even more than usual upon hearing the bad news.
"Well...yes." Shepard had remarked. "Were you expecting more?"
"The Third Infilatrion Unit STG needed a bit more than just a dozen or so crew members from a single ship." Kirrahe confessed as he sighed and stroked his faintly orange, stubby "beard".
"I'm sorry, the transmission was garbled. So we went here to investigate." Shepard remarked as Kirrahe groaned and smacked his face.
"OHHHHH." He moaned. "I lost half my men "investigating" this place! The good news is we learned this is Saren's base of operations. It's crawling with Geth, intensely fortified, and he's using the facility to breed an army of Krogan, of all things!"
Wrex's red eyes went wide with shock. "How the hell is that possible?!" He whispered.
"APPARENTLY Saren has discovered a cure for the Genophage."
"He did what?!" Nick gasped out, mouth agape. They all stared at each other, amazed and startled. A cure?! For the Genophage? The disease meant to queel the Krogan population after their uprising now had an actual cure? And from Saren of all people! This...couldn't be.
"Without the Genophage, the Krogan would overrun the galaxy. And these Krogan are following Saren." Kirrahe remarked with a frown as Shepard rubbed his chin in thought.
"I admit, having the Geth work with him is bad enough, but having an army of Krogan would make him nigh-unstoppable. We have hard enough of a time with just his mechanical slaves."
"EXACTLY what I thought We must ensure that this facility and its secrets are all destroyed." Kirrahe said, slamming his fist into his palm.
Wrex growled, shaking his head back and forth. For once, there seemed to be real, genuine hope in his voice. "Destroyed? I don't think so. My people are dying. This cure could save them."
"If that cure leaves this planet, the Krogan will become unstoppable. We can't make the same mistake again." Kirrahe insisted, waving a hand in the air.
Wrex's eyes turned to dark red slits and he jammed a gloved finger in Kirrahe's face, making the Salarian step back. "WE ARE NOT A MISTAKE!" He growled before trotting off, grumbling darkly and pulling out his shotgun, firing off at fish into the nearby ocean.
"Is he going to be a problem?" An exasperated Kirrahe inquired, groaning a bit. "We already have enough angry Krogan to contend with."
"I'll go talk to him." Shepard offered with a nod. "What about your men?"
"We'll have to rethink our plan of attack. Give us some time to come up with a new operation." Captain Kirrahe informed the human commander, giving a nod at the crew before heading back to the white tents behind him as Shepard approached Wrex some distance away. At first, Wrex was silent. He just fired again at another fish before, finally, lowering the shotgun.
"This isn't right, Shepard. If there's a cure for the genophage, we can't destroy it." Wrex demanded.
"I understand how upset you are, Wrex." Shepard admitted. "I can tell you really DO care about your people despite what you like to pretend sometimes. But Saren's the enemy here, HE'S one you should be angry with."
"Really? Because he's created a cure for my people's sterility plague and you wanna destroy it. Help me out here, Shepard. The lines between friend and foe are getting blurry."
"You know it ain't that simple!" Shepard insisted, shaking his head as Wrex folded his arms over his chest. "It's not a cure, it's a weapon! And if Saren's allowed to use it, you won't be around to reap the benefits! NONE of us will!"
"That's a chance we ought to be willing to take! This is the fate of my entire PEOPLE here!" Wrex snarled, getting in Shepard's face, grabbing him by the chest before taking in a deep breath and stepping back a bit. "Look, Shep. I've been loyal to you so far. Ya did more for me than my family ever did."
JUST ONE DAY EARLIER...
"You ever watch human movies, Tomm?" Wrex asked, the terrified Tomm Actus stuck in a chair as Wrex held up a small box and grinned toothily.
"A...A little..." The Turian black marketeer confessed.
"One of MY favorites...is a little Earth movie called "Marathon Man". You'll be Dustin Hoffman, and I'll be the ex-Nazi dentist. Sound good?" Wrex asked, holding up a dentist's drill as he forced the Turian's mouth open with some tape.
"ERRGGHH!"
"Ees eet safe?" Wrex quoted, the drill whirring up.
PRESENT...
But if I'm gonna keep followin' you...I need to know we're doing it for the RIGHT...REASONS." He said, lifting up his shotgun, giving Shepard a deep, piercing look.
"These Krogan here aren't your people! They're test tube babies meant to be slaves so Saren can use and discard them like power tools he doesn't need anymore. Is THAT the kind of future you want for your people?" Shepard asked, staring back with equal accusation in his eyes.
Silence. For what seemed to be an eternity. Wrex's gloved hands quivered as he held the shotgun up. But then...he dropped it down. "No. We were tools for the Council once, and they neutered us for all our efforts. I doubt Saren would be so generous." Wrex wryly muttered. "Alright, Shepard. You made your point. I don't like this, but I'm trusting you."
Then, a few minutes later, Kirrahe called them over. They had a plan. Converting their ship's drive system into a twenty kiloton ordinance. A nuke, in essence. The facility was too well-fortified to just drop it DOWN on it. It had to be secretly smuggled in and detonated inside the facility.
"We'll infiltrate the base, disable all of the anti-aircraft guns within the interior, and pacify the ground forces." Kirrahe explained. "I will divide my men into three teams and hit the front of the facility. While their attention's on us, your shadow teamwill sneak in the back."
"You'll get SLAUGHTERED!" Nick gasped. "...I'm coming with them." He insisted, his eyes glinting with new light. "I'm real good at getting people's attention too. I can keep them alive and the center of attention good and long." He offered. "The rest of you can go in with the Commander in the Shadow Team. If...well, that's alright by you, Commander?" He asked, the Commander giving their medic a proud smile.
"I like it." He told their team medic. "We can work with this."
...
...
...
...Nick panted and heaved, feeling his chest rise and fall as he stood at the front of the platoon. Salarians surrounded him, Captain Kirrahe to his right as he looked out at the large expanse of Geth who were making their way towards them, only stopped a few moments later by a call of "WAIT" that echoed through the air.
Nick frowned. He knew that voice. He knew the half-masked form that made its way through the geth, green and blue among a sea of silver/grey/white. Kirrahe turned, seeing Nick's face and blinked. "You perhaps have met this Quarian before? I admit it's unusual to see one with their face exposed, even accidentally...and especially never halfway." He added, staring at the Machinst's face, as Themis Nar'Terra stepped forward, right behind several large Geth hulks who knelt down so he could step over them.
Smiling, he held up a gauntleted hand, and the gauntlet faded away, retracting into his belt as he lifted his hands up. "I think its time we really met. Face to face." He told Nick. "Perhaps when you finally realize what I am, you'll be less inclined to fight with me."
"...oh?" Nick inquired as Themis took off the purple, half-exposed mask, showing off his other side of his face. A more normal, calm face. A familiar face, with familiar features, and a nose and...and hair that...that so much resembled someone Nick knew all-too well. The features that came from his own family line.
"...Oh. My. GOD." Nick whispered. "You...you're..."
"Yes. My grandfather was your brother, David." Themis intoned. "Hello, great uncle. I've heard so much about you." He said, giving a cheery, smug little smile. "One shine really does know another."
"Uh...sir, I-I think they're dropping in Geth Collosi!" A Salarian lieutenant yelled out from behind, Kirrahe seeing Geth being airlifted in from the base to be stationed at the back lines of the large group of Geth before them as Nick stared in shock. It was almost too fantastical to believe. David, having kids. HIS brother. His blood right in front of him. And he had POWERS.
"...if...then...then why?" Nick asked. "My family would never have wanted you to use your powers to be...THIS." He said, gesturing around at the Geth.
"Why not? If it means helping others, its exactly what they wanted. And I used my technopathy to help Earth any way I could." Themis remarked calmly. "I got wealth to make sure my family was comfortable. I was able to spy on Earth's enemies through machine servants. I helped bring crime down. I put away racist bigots. Ah, but then came Saren, and I realized I had to find a way to keep my planet safe from the biggest threat of all...gigantic machines that could destroy entire civilizations. I learned of the Reapers quickly, and decided there was but one way I could keep Earth safe. Get in good with Saren...help expand my powers with whatever resources he could provide me, and they have been..."
His eyes glinted. "Considerable..."
"And lemme guess. You want to take control of the Reapers, is that it?" Nick asked, eyes narrowing intensely. "You think your power will allow you to Control them?"
"Of course. Can you imagine? Saren brings in the big, bad fleet of evil machines. Throw in throngs of screaming women and children!" Themis said, clasping his hands together, resting his head on them before beaming with delight and pride. "Then when everything's at their darkest, BA-BAM!" He held up a fist. "I step forward. I, a half-Quarian, Half-Human hyrbid, a MUTT, save the day. The child of two of the most disrespected races saves the galaxy, enslaves its would-be destroyers! It's a beautiful idea. Shakespearean, really."
"What if you can't control them?!" Nick insisted, stepping forward, spreading his arms wide. "Well? What if you can't get them to do what you want?"
"There's not been a SINGLE machine that hasn't done my bidding." Themis remarked calmly. "That's my power. Absolute command over machinery and technology. Some come. Don't fight me. Work alongside me." He offered. "Just imagine what the TWO of us could do. If you're really so frightened the Reapers won't listen, then the two of us would be a high-unbeatable force. With your unique skill and mine, we'll keep the galaxy safe forever."
Nick hesitated then. He looked up into those familiar features, that all-too-familiar face. Kirrahe's questioning voice seemed miles away as he stared, mouth slightly agape. To lurch out and grasp the familiar again was so tempting. And part of Nick so badly wanted to believe that Themis was right. That he COULD control the Reapers.
Yet the rest of Nick could only say one thing. "That can't be true. You can't trust him after everything he's done."
"...I wish I could believe you." Nick admitted. "I wish I could trust you to do the right thing. But after everything you've done, I don't think I can." He finally said, shaking his head. "There have to be lines you don't cross. And you've crossed them. You haven't earned my trust. I'm sorry."
Themis sighed, hanging his head as he put his helmet back on, his gauntlet flowing back on as Kirrahe's cry rang out through the air, guns being held high. "I'm sorry too." He admitted quietly.
"Day and night you're by my side..."
"FIRE!"
"Protecting me!"
A shimmering shield that barely stopped the onslaught of bullets that sailed out from Geth weaponry, and Nick shielded himself as best he could, his glimmering protection barely able to keep their assault at bay. The Salarians fired as best they could, then split off into groups into a pincer movement to assault the Geth from three sides as Nick held up a fist and clenched it tighter, his Omni-Tool playing celtic music that echoed across the waves. As flutes and violins filled the air, Nick swung his fist at an approaching Geth, knocking its head clean off before he raced towards a Geth collosus.
Themis smirked a bit behind the mask, leaping onto his own, standing tall and proud as he gripped the head, watching Nick scaling the beast. "Just like Grandpa used to say." He murmured. "You're just that reckless after all." He whispered, Nick managing to dig into the thing's skull with an Omni-Blade, forcing it to rampage about, smashing into Geth.
"Beats a horse, don't it?" Nick laughed as he kept forcing the Geth Collossus to slam into various robotic snipers and hulks. "Beats a flaming horse!" He proclaimed, holding his omni-tool high, the crack of sniper fire and the whizzing of bullets filling the air. It was a grand symphony of destruction, and he was going to make sure he got Saren's attention reaaaal...good.
But unbeknownst to Nick, Shepard and the others had uncovered a horrifying, terrifying secret. They'd found another beacon. Shepard had approached it, everyone hanging back, quietly gazing on as he reached out to touch the green light it was emanating. After all, he had the most experience with these things. He was touched by the Prothean race, in a sense. He could handle it.
He BARELY handled it. He cringed, panting and heaving, clutching at his skull as he sank to his knees on the catwalk before the beacon, seeing more of the horrific vision than he ever had before. He was now able to comprehend more. Much, much more. Now...now he could see a planet. He knew it's name. He...knew. He KNEW.
"I know where Saren's going." He whispered. "I understand." He murmured, rising up...just as something huge began to manifest slightly above the beacon, and they raced up the catwalk, approaching the ugly, faintly crusteacean, faintly insectoid holographic THING on display. It was, without a doubt, the ship. Sovereign, the ship Saren flew around in. And now as it gazed upon them...it spoke.
"You are not Saren."
"Well you're perceptive." Kaiden remarked.
"What is that? Some sort of VI interface?" Tali inquired.
"It looks far too advanced to be a simple artificial A.I like the help desk at the Citadel." Liara murmured as she rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "The design is also a bit...different. Look at the way the light pattern is. It's more...solid and less grainy when you really peek close."
"Rudimentary creatures of blood and flesh. You touch my mind, fumbling in ignorance, incapable of understanding." The deep, mechanical voice intoned.
"Oh no WAY is this a V.I." Garrus muttered as Wrex readied his shotgun and Garrus held up his own. "Perhaps you'd like to repeat that insult, you giant tin can?"
"There is a realm of existence so far beyond your own you cannot even begin to imagine it. I am beyond your comprehension. I...am Sovereign!"
For a moment, Shepard was quiet. But then...he understood. "No, you're not beyond my comprehension. I understand all too clear. You're not just some Reaper ship Saren found. You're an actual REAPER, aren't you?"
"Reaper? A label created by the Protheans to give voice to their destruction. In the end, what they, and you, choose to call is is irrelevant. We simply ARE." Sovereign intoned. Then...it slightly turned to look right at Shepard. "I have learned so much of you, feeble thing. You are...a nuisance. More so than others." It muttered. "Yet it matters not. All your efforts are for naught against us. Not even your Empowered can defeat us. Do you believe you are the only cycle to have those with unique gifts? For all their struggles, it meant nothing. None could match us. Not even your precious little magic." It added with an audible sneer in its voice.
Every single syllable seemed to be oozing with condescending smugness, intermingled with cold, pitiless cruelty like a bad mixed drink. It was as if the Reaper was speaking to a wounded ant it was seconds from crushing, and it barely considered the effort to step on them worth the satisfaction of hearing the "SMUSH".
"The Protheans vanished 50,000 years ago, there's no WAY you could have been there!" Liara proclaimed.
"Organic life is but a genetic mutation, and accident. Your lives measured in mere years and decades. You wither and die."
"Hey, Asari live for centuries, you stupid crab." Ashley snapped, blinking in surprise at how QUICKLY she'd rushed to defend Liara.
"Such things are paltry compared to us. We are eternal. The pinaccle of evolution and existence. Before us, you are nothing. Your extinction is inevitable. We are the end of everything." Sovereign proclaimed.
"Arrogant, aren't you?" Shepard muttered darkly. He was no longer afraid or disturbed by it. Now he was just pissed. This thing was even more condescending and smug than Saren on his worst day. "There's an entire galaxy of races who'd unite to stop you. You don't scare us."
"Your confidence is born of ignorance, not strength. The cycle can't be broken."
"What cycle?" Kaiden said. "The hell are you talking about?"
"The pattern has repeated itself more times than you can fathom. Organic civilizations rise, evolve, advance. And at the apex of their glory, they are extinguished. The Protheeans were not the first. They did not create the Citadel."
Shepard felt a bit of ice stab into his soul at this. The others looked at each other.
"They did not forge the mass relays. They merely found them. The legacy of my kind."
"Why would you construct the mass relays and then leave them for someone else to find?" Shepard demanded.
"Your civilizations are based on the technology of the mass relays. OUR technology. By using it, your society develops along paths we desire." Sovereign said, as if instructing a child. "We impose order on the chaos of organic evolution. You exist because we allow it, and you will end because we demand it."
"These freaks are...HARVESTING us." Wrex grunted in disgust.
"Letting us advance just so they can wipe us out? You're quite the sadists, aren't you?" Garrus growled.
"What do you even get out of this?" Shepard inquired, raising an eyebrow. "What do you even WANT? Slaves? Resources?"
Sovereign almost sounded amused for a moment. "My kind trascends your very understanding. We are each a nation. Independent. Free of all weakness. You cannot even grasp the nature of our EXISTENCE, let alone our motives."
"Oh I doubt that. For all your talk of how superior you are, you're a machine. Someone must have created you, cuz I know damn well that giant metal crab monsters AREN'T naturally occurring in evolution." Shepard said with a snort. "Who built you?"
"We have no beginning. We have no end. We are infinite. Millions of years after your civilization has been eradicated and forgotten, we shall endure."
"You are soooo lying." Ashley grunted, shaking her head. "Don't listen to him Shepard. I don't care if there's thousands of them. We can take him!"
"...thousands?" Now Sovereign actually sounded even more amused. "You insult me. We are legion. The time of our return is coming. Our numbers will darken the sky of every world. You cannot escape your doom!"
"Escape isn't on my mind. We're going to face you." Shepard proclaimed, pointing accusingly at Sovereign. "You don't scare me because you're not even alive. Not really. You're just a machine. And a machine can be broken!"
"Your words are as empty as youre future. I am the vanguard of your destruction. This exchange is over."
KRA-KRASSHHH! The windows shattered, the image of Sovereign fading as Shepard was alerted on his communicator. "What on Earth was that?"
"Sovereign! That big, freaky ship just pulled a turn that would shear any of our ships in half!" Joker admitted. "The good news is that once they saw it was on the movie, the Geth forces fighting Kirrahe's men have taken off with the Machinist. The bad news is it's coming your way! You need to get moving and fast!"
"We're headed to the breeding facility. Meet us there in...8 minutes." Shepard reasoned. "You can pick us up there after we set the nuke."
Running as fast as they could, they all tore across the facility, racing for the interior as Shepard was greeted by a familiar, welcome sight. Nick was still there, still alive, and most of Kirrahe's men were too. As they set up the gigantic, circular drive engine, shaped almost like a big brown bug, Nick shook Shepard's hand. "It was tough, but I was able to keep most of them alive. Though it meant forcing a Geth Collossus to run around the battlefield a lot. So what's the plan?"
"We're going to set the timer and blow this place sky high."
"I can handle that." Nick offered. "I mean, if anything goes wrong, I can activate it right away. I'm expendable, remember?" He remarked with a little chuckle. "Well...I always get out in the end. There's no reason anyone else should risk their life when I can do it freely with my "Get out of Death Free" card."
Shepard rubbed his chin, then turned to the others. "What do you think?" He asked.
"You SURE this is what you want?" Garrus asked as Tali stood up from the bomb, Kirrahe standing back.
"It's ready to go at any time." He remarked, tossing a small black, tubublar control to Nick who caught it in both hands and nodded.
"I can handle it, really. It's just pressing a shiny red button." He laughed, holding it up. "Being blown up by a nuke would only be the SECOND most horrific thing to happen to me today. The first was what happened half an hour ago, I found out who the Machinist is."
Shepard cringed. "Can't be any more shocking than what we learned."
"He's my brother's grandson. He's a Grey, like me." Nick confessed. "He thinks he can use his technopathy to control the Reapers."
"That IS a surprise!" Shepard admitted as Tali helped out Kirrahe with the device, readying it to explode. "But I don't think he could do it, since we just talked to one and I'm thinking it isn't quite so easy to control."
"Wait, you mean..." Nick's eyes widened as something clicked in his head. "Lemme guess. The big, freaky ship Saren flies in is an actual Reaper?" He hazarded as Shepard nodded.
"Yes, and it's even more arrogant than Saren is."
"Not possible." Nick laughed, almost giggling as Shepard smiled warmly at this, glad to see some life back in the formerly heartbroken young man's face. But then a biotic blast shot towards them and they all raced away just in time to avoid it. Everyone hid themselves behind large walls, behind boxes of supplies that had been left out, yet to be brought in, trying to find cover everywhere they could. Shepard fired off his pistol in the direction of Saren Arterius as he hovered on a floating platform with a small platoon of well-armed Geth that fired on the others, Saren intent on facing Shepard himself.
Shepard ducked down behind a nearby wall as Saren hopped down from the platform, using his immense biotic power to slow his descent. He looked calmly ahead, watching as Shepard ducked out from the wall and fired on him with his assault rifle, the blasts dissapating behind the biotic shield he had raised up.
"I must say, out of all the many, many humans in this world, you continue to impress me every single day." Saren complimented. "I applaud you, Commander Shepard. My geth were UTTERLY convinced the salarians were the true threat until Sovereign took off." He remarked, gesturing behind him as Shepard stared out from behind the wall. There it was...hovering perhaps only 400, 500 feet from the base...staring ominously down at them all. "You gave us an impressive diversion but I am afraid all your work is for nothing. I simply can't let you disrupt what I have accomplished here. You can't possibly know what's really at stake."
"Oh, we DO." Shepard snapped back. "We know Sovereign is a Reaper, Saren. It was very kind enough to grace us with its presence and we had a niiiiiice little chat about how it wants to end all organic life. Real nice pal you've partnered with."
Saren chuckled a bit as he gave Shepard a nod. "Ah, so you DO know. Then you know that they can't be stopped." He remarked, waving a hand in the air. "Don't mire yourself in pointless revolt. Don't sacrifice everything for the sake of petty freedoms. Or shall I remind you of how the Protheans fought, only to be utterly destroyed?"
Everyone bit their lip, or grit their teeth. They clenched their weapons tightly as Nick stood tall and proud over the small wall he'd ducked under, ignoring the water splashing around him as he pointed the Paladin model pistol at Saren, his face calm.
"TRILLIONS dead. Can you imagine the horror? I had but a minor taste of it, as have you. I know what it feels like to scratch the surface. It is a...disgusting, ugly, welling horror that builds up in your body. You feel like screaming endlessly and never stopping until at last you expel what you last ate out onto the ground, and even then...you've only a minor foothold." Saren whispered. "But..."
He shook his head. "What if they'd bowed before their invaders? Would they still exist? Isn't submission preferable to extinction?"
"Live free or die hard." Wrex remarked from behind some thick barrels.
"That's a fallacy you're invoking, Arterius." Liara yelled out.
"Better to die free than live a slave." Tali remarked.
"Oh, I would just ADORE being a servant to a giant robotic crab monster." Garrus snorted.
"It's in their name, you idiot. They REAP." Kaiden muttered.
"Its God alone whom I worship, not giant mechanical murderers." Ashley snapped.
"I'll tell you what I told Themis. They've done so many awful things, I can't trust them to do what's right." Nick quietly murmured.
"Any race willing to do genocide over and over again doesn't deserve the benefit of the doubt." Shepard agreed. "Do you seriously think those murdering machines will let us live?"
"Oh, Shepard. You and your crew illustrate why I could not bring this to the Council. We are organics. We are driven by emotion, not logic. We fight even when we know we just can't win." Saren said, shaking his head. "But if we work with the Reapers, make ourselves useful, think how many lives could be spared!"
Shepard had thought for so long he'd know exactly what he wanted to say. That he'd shout and curse and swear and Saren wasn't going to mess with him, and he was going to pay for everything he'd done, all the people he'd hurt, but now, listening to Saren, a new emotion was rising in Shepard that he hadn't felt looking at the Turian.
...pity.
"Once I understood this truth, I joined Sovereign, though I was aware of the...dangers. I had hoped this facility could protect me."
"But it isn't working, is it? You're afraid you're...indoctrinated, isn't that the term?" Shepard asked quietly. "Is that what happened to Benezia too? It indoctrinated her, then tossed her away like a cheap tool it didn't need anymore!"
Liara's eyes went wide as Saren flinched. He seemed genuinely hurt. "Benezia was-" He began to say angrily before trying to compose himself. "...don't...invoke her like that. Don't use her as some crude shiv with which to stab into me. I had nothing but respect and love for her. You will NOT dishonor her by calling her just a...just a TOOL."
"You're afraid you're turning into what she was turned into. Just a mindless puppet." Liara whispered.
"I have studied the effects of Indoctrination closely." Saren said, turning around and sighing, head hung. "The more control Sovereign exerts over the subject, the less capable it becomes. That's my saving grace. It still needs me to find the Conduit, so my mind is my own. For now. Though the transformation from ally to servant can be subtle, I don't intend to let it happen to me."
"Why are the Geth following Sovereign? Is it just the Machinist's bidding?" Nick wanted to know.
"More than that." Saren said with a little smile. "The technopath has been VERY useful indeed. It's been converting Geth to Sovereign's way of thinking. To the...Heretical side, you could say. They view it as a God. Though Sovereign itself is...insulted by such a title. It doesn't desire adulation. Still, they're very useful. They'll survive the coming Reaper invasion. If organic life is to survive, we must emulate them...and work alongside the Reapers."
"Why does Sovereign need the Conduit? Tell me what it is. Maybe we can stop the Reapers with it." Shepard wanted to know.
"The Conduit, Shepard, is the key to your destruction and my salvation." Saren informed the human, turning around and putting a hand on his chest. "Sovereign needs my help to find it. That's the only reason I'm not indoctrinated. So I'm not going to tell you much about it."
"You ARE indoctrinated, you just don't want to admit it!" Shepard yelled back.
"NO!" Saren roared out angrily, clenching his fist tightly, gritting his teeth. "Sovereign has promised me a repreive from the inevitable if I find it. This is my only hope."
"It DOESN'T have to be this way." Shepard said, stepping out from behind the wall, his assault rifle lowered. "Work with us. Together, we can stop the Reapers, stop the Reapers. We don't need to submit to them. Together, we can beat them!"
Saren's expression seemed...sad. His tone became mournful as he quietly hung his head and looked down to the side. "There was a time I believed that, Shepard. Do you know what I was going to use Sovereign for when I first discovered it, not long after my brother Desolas's death?"
Shepard blinked slowly, everyone just letting Saren talk. He had never seemed so...vulnerable. So pitiable.
"I was going to use it to take back Shanxi. Oh, THAT would show you apes, I kept thinking. I was so mad. So furious. I wanted to just...as you humans say...stick my middle finger up at all of you. To thumb my nose at you. To really show you up. It would have given me some small measure of consolation. I'd lost my family, but perhaps I could get back what he'd fought so hard for. Then when I opened up the main bridge section of Sovereign...when the doors opened and I first beheld its core, THEN..."
His voice dropped into almost a whisper, and his icy blue eyes went wide. "Then I realized what it was. I realized I was sitting in the belly of the beast, and could do nothing." He murmured. "I remained inside it for a week, panicking, fearful. I had no idea what to do. I thought of you." Saren turned, looking into Nick's eyes, Trojan blue into Hazel green as Nick softly stared back. "I thought...perhaps you could help. You, with your unique gift, and your endless kindness. There was a time even after you had defeated the Thorian when I felt my hope welling up in me. Perhaps...perhaps you were special." He said, turning to smile softly at Shepard. "If there was any human I could trust with such a task, it would be you...but I'm sorry, Shepard. So very, very sorry. I no longer believe they can be stopped. Not after all I have seen. All I have learned."
He sighed as he held his face in one hand, and took in a deep breath. "I take no delight in what I do. Believe me. But the Reapers are too powerful. They can't be beaten. They, like Sovereign, are machines, and THINK like machines. If I can prove my use, I become a resource worth maintaining. There's no other logical conclusion."
Nick looked over at Shepard, then glanced back at the nuke. The plan. Stick to the plan.
"You were a Spectre, Saren!" Shepard yelled. "You were sworn to protect the galaxy! You've broken that vow to save yourself!"
"I'm not doing this for myself!" Saren snapped. "Sovereign will succeed. It's inevitable. My way is the only way in which ANY of us survive. I am forging an alliance, a bonding between man and machine, but you...would undo that work. I can't allow that." He remarked, holding up a gauntleted, clawed hand. "And for all your skill...you won't be able to defeat me for a very simple reason. Everyone knows, at the end of the day...that you will not kill. That is your biggest strength, and weakness. You cannot defeat me without my death. And because of that...we know how this is going to end. Don't we?"
"I guess we do." Nick sighed with a shrug, one hand sinking into his pocket slowly, the other lowering the gun as he sighed. "But, um...they were sometimes known as the 12 Peers."
Saren blinked in surprise. "What?"
"The name comes from the "Palatine" Hill in Rome, and they were the greatest warriors of Emperor Charlemagne. Many of their most famous exploits are sensationalized, but they represented Christian military superiority against the Saracen hordes, and came to stand for everything good, pure and noble in a knight. As Alfred Lloyd Tennyson famously said..."
Nick smiled warmly up at Saren. "My good blade carves the casques of men, My tough lance thrusteth sure. My strength is as the strength of ten, because my heart is pure. Right maketh might. That's what its all about."
"What are you talking about?!" Saren wanted to know, frowning a bit.
"Well, my friend..."
Nick tossed something through the air from out of his pocket...a small bottle, a molotov cocktail he'd cooked up with a little extra something-something from one of the MANY beers he'd had just a few days ago. "That's a Paladin."
KA-BLAM!
The bottle exploded as the others ducked away in time to avoid the blinding light that shone forth, Saren reeling back, the Geth overwhelmed by the visual flare as Nick fired again and again, yanking out his other Paladin pistol and blasting away as the others barreled off, heading for the beaches as the Normandy touched down not too far off. Saren gasped, clawing at his eyes slightly before managing to reel back, gripping the platform he'd been on and soaring away as the Geth regained their senses. They fired on Nick as he raced over to a nearby wall, waiting for the Normandy to fly away, high away, to become just a speck in the distance.
At long last, what seemed to be hours passed though it was only mere minutes. The Normandy was gone, and Nick grinned in pride as he held up the detonator, intent on blowing everything up, intending to make sure nothing of the facility remained even as Sovereign rose up, higher, higher, Saren evidently climbing on inside.
His finger pressed the trigger as Sovereign fired a pulsating, horrific beam of plasma energy down, and Nick's eyes widened as the two explosive forces met.
It was the most agonizing, unbearable thing he'd ever, EVER endured. He seemed to scream endlessly as he felt his flesh peeling and then his muscles and then-
Nothing.
Absolutely nothing but the black surrounded him on all sides.
...
...
...
...they waited. And waited. They sat in the meeting room, everyone just staring at the door, waiting for him to inevitably walk on in, with that usual smile on his face, or to make a funny or sarcastic comment about his latest little death. They waited and waited.
But Nick didn't come. Their medic didn't walk through the doors. Nobody on the ship had seen him. It had now been a full twenty four hours. And they could only come to one horrible, terrifying conclusion.
"It must have been too much." Ashley murmured. "I guess...a nuke was the one thing he couldn't come back from? Could it be that...if nothing REMAINS of him then...then that's it? He's...he's gone?"
"If he was fully vaporized then...maybe that's right. Maybe there'd be nothing left of him to reconstitute. Or perhaps he simply pushed his luck too far, maybe his gift always had a limit and he never realized it until it was too late." Kaiden muttered.
"We all just sorta took for granted he could do this sort of thing. That he could do those amazing things and we'd not have to worry about holding back." Shepard finally admitted to them all. "That as long as we had that wonderful power he had, then...then none of us had to worry. He could always patch us up, bring us back, fix every mixtake, cover everything we hadn't covered. Now...he's really gone, isn't he?"
Shepard yearned not to feel himself. But though he dug his fists tightly into his knees, he took in a deep breath and spoke again. "Nick was...a wonderful, wonderful friend. A wonderful ally. He always tried to show that there was a different, better way we could go." He covered his face in one hand, taking in a deep breath. "I-I think...for all his faults, I feel defined by him in so many ways because of how long he fought alongside us. I just wish I could have let him known how much he meant to us and the mission."
"Then we finish this for him." Wrex offered quietly, everyone looking around at each other, and giving a solemn, firm nod.
"Yes. We can follow the precedent our little paragon set." Liara mused with a small smile. "...no matter how hard it might be."
"For the galaxy. And for our beloved medic, Mr. Grey." Garrus murmured.
"I hope he's happy. Wherever he is." Tali added quietly.
A solemn, unanimous nod...before they all, save for Shepard, rose up and headed to their rooms as Shepard took in a deep breath.
"Patch me in to the Council, Joker." He commented softly. "...we have...good news and bad news. That interaction with the Beacon revealed the Conduit's on Ilos. Now, maybe, they might actually LISTEN to me about something."
"Wouldn't that be nice..." Joker quietly muttered back. "Patching you through..."