Mass Effect Shepard Rises.
Shepard, Tali and Wrex had finally made it back to the Mako and Garrus, with no resistance.
As Shepard walked towards the Mako he found Garrus sitting on top of the tank, idly spinning his pistol in his right talon with a bored expression on his face.
Behind him, the huge door had opened.
As Shepard and his team came into view, Garrus jumped down from the Mako and placed his pistol on his right hip.
"There you are! Come on, Saren's got enough of a head start as it is."
Shepard nodded his agreement.
"Everybody in!"
As he stepped into the Mako, he crawled to the driver's seat and motioned for Tali to take the Mako's systems.
Once everybody was aboard and Garrus had taken control of the Mako's weapon systems, Shepard slammed his foot on the throttle and the Mako rocketed through the door, and into an underground tunnel.
The first thing the team had noticed was that the tunnel they were in had long ago been over-grown moss and roots, from trees growing above them.
As the Mako went down a slight mud path, the ground levelled out into a huge chamber with hundreds of pods sticking out of the wall.
"What are those things on the wall?!" Garrus asked as he opened the hatch and peaked out the top of the Mako.
Shepard slowed the Mako to a crawl, and used the on-board camera's to look around the room; he looked across at Tali who had her Omni-tool open, using its scanners combined with the Mako's.
"Looks like stasis pod's from my readings. There are hundreds of them, both above, and below us. Not one of them has power though, so if there was anyone inside... They've been dead for thousands of years."
Shepard shook his head and then floored the throttle again.
"Get back on the weapon's Garrus." He spoke with authority as he drove the Mako down another long corridor.
The room around the Mako changed again; to that of earth and mud, and again the Mako went down a slight slope before emerging into another chamber with hundreds of pods on the wall.
"Keelah ... More pods ... There must be thousands ... Maybe millions..."
Shepard turned to look at Tali.
"Hey! Stay focused, okay? I need my Quarian genius on top form."
He watched as her head turned towards him and her eyes narrowed in what he knew to be a smile. It always surprised him when he was able to tell her expressions, especially from so little on show behind that purple visor.
He turned back to the display in front of him.
"Shepard, I'm picking up strange power readings."
Shepard turned slightly to Tali.
"Are they Geth?" He asked, trying to split his attention between Tali and the display in front of him.
"No, the readings are like nothing I have ever seen..."
She was cut off by her Omni-tool beeping "Wait! Someone, or something has just sent me a map with a way-point on!"
Shepard opened his Omni-tool, and sure enough there was a map on his display. A sound of grinding metal echoed in the long corridor and a door on the right of the energy shield opened, spilling dust and stale air out.
"Looks like that elevator we were in earlier Shepard." Wrex spoke as he scanned the inside with his Shotgun and lowered it when it was clear. Having no other choice, from what he could see; there were no power cables or terminals they could slice to deactivate the shield. Shepard merely nodded.
"Come on then, let's see where this leads..." Shepard stepped into the elevator and turned to see Tali huddled over the Mako, her Omni-tool aglow as she typed on the display.
"Tali, what are you doing?" He asked as he crossed his arms.
"Just protecting the systems, in case the Geth decide to sabotage the Mako."
She fiddled around with her Omni-tool for a few more seconds before nodding and then running into the elevator.
Saren
Saren paced in front of his Geth, as they tried to activate the conduit.
So far it had proved futile... Again, a searing pain pulsed through his body and deep within Saren he tried and failed to fight the pain and message...
What is taking so long?
Inside Saren's mind, he tried again to battle Sovereign.
No, no, no, no! Get ... Get out of my head ... Get out of my head right now!
He screamed inside his own mind, but outside his mind, his body barely moved. Merely standing still. Unmoving.
You creatures of flesh and blood are inefficient! if you don't get the conduit activated, I will make sure your species is the first to be utterly destroyed while you watch!
As if to prove a point, a massive tidal wave of pain washed over Saren's body...
Blue blood dripped from his nose, and the blue cybernetics woven into his flesh glowed brighter.
You are mine, and mine alone!
The pain resided but didn't disappear. Saren turned to look back at the Geth surrounding the Conduit...
Suddenly, all of the Geth present dropped to their knees, their heads bowed.
A message delivered to the Geth; one that no living being could hear, and almost immediately they returned to work, and Saren could hear the Conduit start to power up with a low hum.
Shepard
The Elevator opened with a groan and Shepard and his team found themselves standing on a small bridge.
An old rusted terminal sat at the end of the bridge; stasis pods lined the walls on either side of the bridge. Slowly the team walked down the bridge in a circle, their weapons scanning the area for anything...
The further they got down the bridge, the more stasis pods could be seen. Some had even rotted into nothing over time and the whole area had a deathly feel to it ... Like a great tragedy happened and left a living scar...
The hairs on Shepard's neck stood on end, and a slight tingle ran down his back. The whole group must have felt it because as Shepard looked at them he could see each of them tighten their hold on their weapons, or in Tali's case, shake slightly.
"I don't like this Shepard, something feels off..." The Krogan huffed.
"I agree with Wrex on this one Shepard." Garrus noted.
Shepard glanced at Garrus.
"Hey! Listen! Let's just get this done and we can go. Stay focused."
He watched as Garrus took a deep breath, before nodding.
Turning back to look ahead of him, Shepard and his team continued to walk forward slowly... A hiss met his ears, and Tali's voice sounded in his helmet.
"John, I've set up a private comm channel for us... This whole area feels wrong ... Can we go? Please?"
Shepard smiled to himself before he spoke. "Tali, relax okay? Step closer to me if it makes you feel safer."
In the corner of his eye he could see Tali nod to herself before taking a small step towards him, and raising her shotgun more confidently than before.
"Thanks John. Now let's go get this Bosh'tet!"
As the group approached the terminal, a whirring sound echoed through the chamber and the terminal sparked to life. A moving hologram, glowing an orangey red suddenly appeared. Shepard looked at the glowing ball and turned to look over his shoulder at the group.
"What's this? Some kind of trap?" He asked and watched nearly everybody shrug or shake their head... All except for Tali, who looked at the glowing orb intensely.
"I-I think this is some kind of VI, like the one earlier."
Shepard turned to look back at the floating ball and was about to speak before being suddenly cut off. The glowing orb flashed, and a voice echoed around the room, seeming to come from everywhere.
"You are not Prothean, but you are not machine either. This eventuality was one of many that was anticipated. This is why we sent our message through the beacons. I do not sense the taint of indoctrination upon any of you. Unlike the other that passed recently. Perhaps there is still hope..."
Shepard watched as Tali stepped forward. "This is incredible! An actual working Prothean VI! Imagine what Liara would do if she could get her hands on this. And even I can understand it..."
He nodded and turned back to the VI as it flashed, and the voice echoed around the chamber once more...
"I have been monitoring your communications since you arrived at this facility. I have translated my output into a format you will comprehend... My name is Vigil. You are safe here for the moment. But that is likely to change. Soon, nowhere will be safe..."
Shepard stepped forward slightly and spoke, "Why did you bring me here? Every second I spend here Saren gets closer to unlocking the Conduit!"
He watched as the VI glowed before responding, "You must break a cycle that has continued for millions of years. But to stop it, you must first understand it, or you will make the same mistake as we did. The Citadel is the heart of your government, as it was with ours, and with every civilization that has came before us. But the Citadel is a trap. The entire station is actually an enormous Mass relay. One that links to dark space; the empty void beyond the galaxy's horizon. When the Citadel relay is activated, the Reapers will pour through. And, all you know will be destroyed."
Realization hit Shepard, like a ship hitting the mass relays, and he took a step back, "The Reapers can wipe out the council and the entire Citadel fleet in an single surprise attack!"
"That was our fate. Our leaders were dead before we even realized we were under attack. The Reapers seized control of the Citadel and through it, the mass relays. Communication and transportation across our entire empire were crippled. Each star system was isolated, cut off from the others. Easy prey for the Reaper fleet. Over the next decades, the Reapers systematically obliterated our people. World by world, system by system, they methodically wiped us out."
Shepard could feel his companions tense behind him, and looking over his shoulder he could see Garrus and Tali gripping their weapons tighter in their hands.
He looked back at Vigil, "Some of you must have survived?"
The glowing orb flickered for a moment before the voice echoed in the chamber again.
"Through the Citadel the Reapers had access to all our records, maps and census data. Information is power, and the Reapers knew everything about us. Their fleets advanced on the helpless systems. Some worlds were utterly destroyed or conquered, their population enslaved. These slaves became sleeper agents under Reaper control, taken in as refugees by other Protheans ... They betrayed them to the Machines. Within a few centuries, the Reapers had killed or enslaved every Prothean in the Galaxy. They were relentless, brutal, and absolutely thorough."
Shepard had enough of wasting time, "How do I stop them?! There has to be a way!"
"The conduit is the key. Before the Reapers attacked, we Prothean's were on the cusp of unlocking the secrets behind the mass relays. Ilos was a top secret facility. Here, researchers worked to create a small scale version of a mass relay. One that linked to the Citadel ... The hub of the relay network."
Shepard could hear shuffling behind him, and watched as Tali stepped into his field of vision.
"The conduit is not a weapon, but a back door into the Citadel."
Shepard looked around the room eager to just run after Saren, but he had a feeling this 'Vigil' needed to tell him something important.
"The Reapers created a race of keepers, and when the time came to attack, they sent a signal to these keepers. They were the ones who would open the Citadel Relay. The researchers here found the signal and changed it meaning that once the Reapers sent the signal, the Keepers would ignore it, trapping the Reapers in dark space. What we didn't predict, was the Reapers leaving a scout behind ... The one you call, Sovereign."
Shepard cut Vigil off before the VI could continue, "What has this got to do with Saren?!"
"The one you call Saren will use the conduit to get to the Citadel, and from there he will have control of the Keepers and the entire Mass relay network."
Shepard nodded, "Just tell me how to stop him."
"There is a data file within this terminal. Take a copy of it with you when you leave, and upload it into the master control terminal on the Citadel. It will corrupt the Citadel security protocols and give you temporary control of the station. It might give you a chance against Sovereign."
Shepard turned to Garrus, "Do you know where this master control unit is?"
Before Garrus could answer, Vigil answered his question, "Through the conduit. Follow Saren. He will lead you to your destination."
Shepard nodded and turned his back to Vigil.
He looked over his team, "Okay, Tali. Get a copy of the data file from Vigil and let's move."
He watched as Tali walked up to the terminal with her Omni-tool raised. After a few seconds, she turned to him and nodded, before sending the file to his omni-tool.
"Everyone back to the Mako! Saren has enough of a head start, and I have a bullet with Saren's name written all over it!"
thanks to both BlueSpartan107 and ConradVernerN7 for beta reading. as promised if you haven't Read Galaxy at War do so it wont disappoint its truly an epic story so please go ahead and read.