Chapter 20
The group all stared wide eyed at the hologram as it moved around and buzzed with some kind of static, indicating extreme age. It spoke, and just like before, it had a distinct, femenine tone with an echo that was almost mystical. "Obtaining chronological marker. Please hold..."
"What... What is...?" Jane stuttered, blinking rapidly, trying to ensure that what she was seeing was real.
"It said your name." Darcy muttered stupidly, turning to Hikesh. "You know this thing?"
"It is one of our computers." Hikesh muttered, stepping forward.
"Time-scale established." The hologram spoke. "One day, seven hours, and forty-two minutes since last activation. Reaper presence, negative."
"What sorcery is this?" Sif demanded, staring intently at the hologram. "What are you? And how do you know Hikesh?"
"Isn't it obvious, Sif?" Loki drawled, giving Sif an annoyed look. "It's obviously some kind of intelligence. No doubt created by Hikesh's kind. Am I right?"
"Yes." Hikesh nodded. "It is an advanced, non-organic intelligence system. My people created them using personality imprints or flash-cloning from brain cells."
"So it's an A.I.? Like in Star Wars?" Darcy said, looking at the hologram in shock. "That's so cool!"
"I am not familiar with the term you speak of, but Xegh Hikesh is correct." The hologram changed shape, flashing about before taking a new shape. The group, minus Hikesh, all blinked in shock as they recognized the familiar form of a Prothean outline. But this one was different. Curvier, immasculine.
Hikesh smiled. If he wasn't such a hardass most of the time, he would probably be jumping for joy. "A memory, of one of my people."
"Correct." The hologram nodded, a swell of happiness behind its voice. "It is most joyful that one of my creators is here to clarify the foundation of my existence. In the three times a sentient has visited this hub, you are the first Prothean in over forty thousand years to visit me. I am called Liaison. I was created with personality imprints from Lirahne Lanox, deputy director of the Yggdrasil Operation."
"Yggdrasil Operation...?" Sif said, blinking in shock. "What is this Yggdrasil Operation? And how can we understand you? You shouldn't be able to know our spoken language."
"I have been monitoring all sentient activity in the Nine Realms for thousands of years. I have programmed myself to understand the various languages and dialects of the races if the case of direct contact ever presented itself." The intelligence responded. "As for your former question, the Yggdrasil Operation was a top secret research program performed by the Prothean Empire's secure science division."
Like magic, the hologram suddenly changed shape, turning into a large holographic representation of a large cloud formation roughly in the shape of a tree. At the edges of each 'branch', was a planet.
"The project involved the observation and study of various inhabitants of the eight primary worlds of Yggdrasil, a cosmic formation named after an old Prothean dialect translated as 'pillar of secrecy.' Most research was done from Asgard, an advanced Prothean research facility also connected to the eight worlds through Yggdrasil. In Prothean, Asgard translates 'shining observatory'. For several decades, the scientists studied the development of Yggdrasil's native cultures, even tampering with the development of certain species. The one race that most of our genetic study was devoted to was humanity." A holographic image of two humans, a male and a female, materialized nearby. "Various subjects were brought to Asgard, where they were subjected to extensive genetic rewrite as part of a biological weapons division."
Sif and Loki's mouths nearly hit the floor as they gaped at this information. Sif's head was swimming with thoughts of shock, denial, and outrage. No. It can't be. He... Hikesh was...
Loki looked over at Hikesh, shock evident in his eyes. "You actually were telling the truth."
"Yes." Hikesh said, smirking. "I do that quite a lot. Yet people are always surprised."
"And for good reason." Jane said, wide-eyed, her sciency side getting the better of her. "This is huge! This changes everything! If the circumstances were different, this would be one of the greatest scientific discovery of the millennium!"
"It can't be." Sif said, shaking her head. "All these years. Somebody must have figured it out!"
"What is this place?" Darcy said, looking around. In response, the image of Yggdrasil and the two humans vanished, and Liaison took shape once more.
"This, is an irrigation center used by the Prothean scientists during the Yggdrasil Operation." Liaison explained. "After Asgard was constructed, the scientists heading the project reverse engineered technology from the Mass Relays to create a miniaturized interstellar warp process that your people call Bifrost. Whenever a time came that the Bifrost was out of commission, each of the eight worlds had facilities like this constructed for active transport."
"There's another Bifrost here?" Loki said, raising an eyebrow. "And in the other realms as well? How is it that no one has been able to find them?"
"The other facilities went dark shortly after the Yggdrasil Operation was deactivated, and were destroyed as a result of sabotage. This hub was kept intact by me, and was hidden from the outside world to avoid risk of Reaper infiltration."
"Okay, slow down for one sec, please?" Darcy said, waving her hands around and trying to process the information. "You mentioned Mass Relays? What exactly are those?"
"The Mass Relays are devices that were created by the Reapers. They utilized eezo to provide interstellar travel at greatest efficiency as a way of speeding up time between cycles. However, the Mass Relays have long since been destroyed. Very few traces of eezo remain in Yggdrasil, the biggest trace of it being its source. The Tesseract."
"The Tesseract?!" Sif exclaimed. "How do you know about the Tesseract?"
"The Tesseract is an artifact of immense power. I do not know where it originated from, but we Protheans discovered it long ago on a dilapidated world, hidden discreetly from the rest of the galaxy. Many races have utilized its power for their own development, humanity included. The earliest culture we know of that used the Tesseract was the race responsible for the conception of the Reapers."
"The Reapers?" Sif said, slowly. "You know of them?"
"Yes." Liaison said, and changed form again. The group all circled around the image, seeing what looked like a planet being bombarded from all sides by large ships. The ships were very similar to the mothership used by the Dark Elves, and the group figured they were the Reapers. "The Reapers were responsible for the destruction of thousands of civilizations throughout the millennia. Many have failed to halt their onslaught for millions of years, but conventional means have proven ineffective." As the intelligence said this, the planet in the hologram was bathed in flames, destroyed as the Reapers annihilated it. Then, the hologram vanished. "However, distant events have halted their cycle of extinction, leaving them trapped in dark space. Currently, I have detected only one Reaper outside of dark space."
"Yes. We have seen it already." Hikesh growled bitterly. "It was here on Svartalfheim. The Dark Elves are using it." Hikesh paused, frowning. "What did you mean before? When you said that distant events halted the cycle? What distant events?"
Liaison paused, before explaining. "After each extinction, the Reapers would enter prolonged states of inactivity to conserve energy, waiting out the next fifty-thousand years for civilizations to develop. Once they reached the pinnacle of evolution, they would fall prey to the Reaper fleets and face grueling genocide. Like the many races before us, we Protheans fought hard and valiantly, but in the end it was not enough. Fortunately, the scientists working on the Yggdrasil Operation survived, as the operation was a secret program that even our leaders were not aware of. The region was isolated and remote. The Reapers did not find us.
"After the extinction was completed, and the Reapers retreated back to dark space, the scientists entered states of hibernation, waiting until other cultures discovered them with hopes that an alliance could be forged to stop the Reapers. In the process, Asgard was abandoned and the augmented humans were left behind." The hologram waved its hand, and an image of a large space station with a disturbingly familiar structure appeared. "Over time, the humans developed their own society using the leftover Prothean technology. They became what the other races of the galaxy call Asgardians. As they changed, Asgard changed as well" The group watched as the structure changed shape, and Sif and Loki both gawked when they saw a perfect replica of the Asgard they were raised upon since childhood. "While the Asgardians flourished without any knowledge of their true origins, the Prothean survivors hid out on the other eight worlds, waiting for someone to find them. Nearly thirty-thousand years later, another race finally found them."
"What race?" Jane asked. Liaison waved its hand again, and the image of Asgard faded.
"The Protheans were not the only spacefaring race of our time. There were other civilizations, one that, while young at the time, constantly sought to rival our own strength. During their interstellar growth, they made a minor incursion into our territory. Tensions between us had always been high, and they were a stubborn people. Eventually, a small war broke out. Despite our superiority over them, they were capable warriors, and even though we Protheans won over them, the casualties were high. After the war, we drove the opposing race back to its ancestral homeworld, where we exhausted their resources and reverted them back to a primitive culture."
"You de-advanced an entire race?" Darcy said, slightly appalled. "What gave you the right to do something like that?"
"Your species cannot conceive of a galaxy that bends to your will." Liaison argued, looking up. The group followed the hologram's gaze, watching as a beautiful plethora of stars materialized above them. There had to be thousands, if not billions of stars and planets. The star map, as they guessed, rotated peacefully above them. "Every species, every nation, every planet we discovered became our tools. We rarely ever put the individual rights of other species into account. The enemy was no exception, and their persistence and hunger for power gave us no other choice."
"Are you saying that you enslaved the other races?" Jane said, looking disgusted.
"Every race has committed some form of atrocity, Jane Foster." Hikesh said, turning sharply at Jane. "I am not proud of what my species has done in the past. But I can name at least five other races who have committed worser crimes."
Jane crossed her arms and huffed, obviously not happy with the answer, but decided to let it go.
"What was the name of this race you waged war with?" Sif asked Liaison curiously.
"They called themselves the Kree. They are a nationalistic, imperialistic, and militaristic society from the planet Hala."
"Kree?" Jane repeated, puzzled.
"The Kree are one of the most advanced races outside of the Nine Realms." Loki said, furrowing his eyebrows in thought. "We have interacted with them on numerous occasions, although the meetings haven't always been on friendly terms."
"But the Kree still exist." Sif argued. "If the Reapers wiped out all advanced organic life, why weren't the Kree destroyed as well?"
"Our deprivation of their technology and their isolation on their home planet made the Reapers deem them to primitive to destroy." Liaison said. "A few centuries after the Prothean Empire was destroyed, the Kree were able to achieve space flight again."
"And you said they found the survivors?" Hikesh ventured. "How?"
"The Reapers." Liaison said. "The Kree learned everything about them after discovering a series of Prothean ruins on a planetoid in their home system. Among the ruins, they found flight telemetry from one of the ships that was used during the Yggdrasil Operation. From it, they were able to find Yggdrasil as well as the Prothean survivors, and awakened them from stasis."
"What do these Kree look like?" Darcy asked curiously.
In response, Liaison waved its hand again, and an image of a blue-skinned humanoid appeared next to it.
"Physically, the Kree are similar to humans, sans blue skin pigment. They are also higher strength level than that of a human, and require more nitrogen to breathe comfortably." Liaison said in detail.
"What happened after the Kree found the survivors?" Hikesh wondered eagerly.
"The scientists were interrogated, and from them, the Kree learned what had happened in the galaxy during their exile." Liaison said. "They also learned about the Reapers and their methodology. After some extensive deliberation, the two parties came to an agreement. Together, the Kree and Protheans sought out all Reaper technology, Mass Relays included, and sabotaged them to ensure the Reapers would not be able to return from dark space. The mission was long, but in the end the two parties succeeded. However, at the moment of our victory we were betrayed."
"What do you mean? What happened to my people?" Hikesh pressed.
"Still bitter over their defeat in the war, the Kree turned against the scientists and slaughtered them all. Determined to make it so that the Prothean Empire never existed, the Kree destroyed all pieces of Prothean technology in the Yggdrasil systems, destroying all transportation hubs sans the one you are all standing in. At the time, I was created to oversee the project's success, and managed to preserve this place and ensure that the Kree would not locate it."
"What about Asgard?" Darcy asked. "Why was it spared?"
"When the Kree approached Asgard, they saw that the Asgardians had already evolved to the point where Asgard was no longer recognizable to its original form. They had developed their own society by themselves, forgetting about the Protheans completely. Deciding to let the Asgardians develop peacefully, the Kree left Asgard alone."
"Did... did any of the scientists survive?" Hikesh asked, although he knew it was a fruitless question.
"Sadly, no." Liaison said, the hologram lowering its head remorsefully. It pointed a finger at Hikesh. "You, Xegh Hikesh, are the only Prothean I have detected in this system since. However, that does not mean other survivors do not still remain outside Yggdrasil. Others, like you, were sent out across the galaxy to warn other cultures about the Reapers before the Kree intervention."
"That's horrible." Jane said, feeling sad for the Prothean race despite what she had learned about their customs and methodology. No species deserved extinction. No matter what their crimes.
"Wait." Sif said, frowning in confusion. "If the Reapers are trapped in the void, how did one of them get here?"
"After each extinction, the Reapers harvest the genetic material of the conquered race, and use it in conjunction with machinery to create a new Reaper. When the fleet returns to dark space, the newly christened Reaper is left behind to monitor the development of civilizations, and then signal the rest of its kin so that they may return. The Reapers give these newcomers the title of Nazara."
"Nazara?" Loki said, glancing at Hikesh. "That's what you called the one we saw earlier."
"It's a Prothean word," Hikesh said. "meaning 'the one who sees'."
"The Nazara are distinctly smaller than the other Reapers." Liaison said, creating an image of two Reapers, one much smaller than the other. The larger one was bulkier than the one the group had seen, also sporting an extra pair of legs and three optic receptors. "Their size allows for much more discreet activity."
"That was small?" Darcy said, wide eyed. "The one we saw was huge! I can't imagine another one being bigger. Where was he when the Kree were destroying the Reapers' toys?"
"I do not know. But it is presumable that Nazara entered a state of inactivity as well so its energy sources wouldn't dwindle." Liaison said. "When it had awoke, it discovered what we had done, and was left alone to find some way of continuing the cycle."
"Continue it?" Loki said, lifting an eyebrow.
"Yes. As machines, the Reapers were programmed to follow a specific task." Liaison said. "It was the Reapers' purpose to cause death and destruction, and would not submit to the change in the cycle. Nazara's quest for finding a new method brought itself close to Yggdrasil, and when I detected its presence, I responded in the way my creators instructed. I sent out a signal across the worlds that warned the other races of the Reapers."
"Signal?" Darcy said, frowning. Then it hit her. "The broadcast! That was you?"
"My God." Jane said, slightly repulsed. "All those images... You were the source?"
"Yes." Liaison confirmed, nodding its 'head'. "Running playback: There is no escape. The Reapers, they come, and there will be no escape. All the stars go out when they come, and once they have, all is at an end. But listen, for there is only death if you do not listen. There is only small life.
"Ending playback. Those were the last few words of Ksad Ishan, head overseer of the Yggdrasil Operation. Before he died, he programmed me to forward this message to all worlds in Yggdrasil. As one of the most advanced intelligence systems in the Prothean Empire, I was able to access different forms of communications all across the worlds. I was even able to ripple through the mental plane, so that any race with some form of precognitive capability would see it."
"A bit too cryptic if you ask me." Darcy said, frowning.
"Well, we're here now." Hikesh said sternly. "You can stop playing it. Your broadcast is... damaging the other races. The humans included."
Liaison paused for a moment, and the machinery in the room seemed to hum lightly, before a device that looked somewhat like a large pillar went dark, the lights deactivating. "Signal ceased."
"Thank God for that." Jane huffed.
"Well, that solves one problem." Sif said, but then faced Liaison, glaring. "But there is still one more. The Dark Elves are in possession of the machine you were trying to warn us about. And we'd like to know why."
"That is mostly my fault." Liaison said, looking down in shame. "When I first sent the signal two years ago, a Dark Elf vessel that was hiding amongst the asteroid field that was in orbit of this world detected it. The crew onboard was awakened from their stasis and ventured to the surface here to investigate. Their leader, the one you call Malekith, found this place, me with it."
"Malekith?!" Sif, Darcy, and Jane all exclaimed simultaneously, shocked.
"He was here?" Sif said.
"Yes. He dissected pieces of this hub, depriving me of my primary functions cortex, rendering me incapable of defending myself and ceasing the signal. From me, he learned about the true history behind the Nine Realms, and used the Prothean technology here in conjunction with his own to enhance his forces in preparation for an attack on Asgard."
"So he was already planning an attack?" Hikesh asked. "What for?"
"He was searching for the Aether." Liaison answered. "He thought the answers to its location lay within Asgard itself."
"You know about the Aether?" Loki said, speaking for the first time in a while.
"Yes. Like the Tesseract, the Aether was a force that predated even the oldest of races. We found it here, on Svartalfheim, and the then primitive Dark Elves used it as the heart of their shamanistic culture. It was dangerous and nearly impossible to control. After several failed operations with it that involved a high casualty rate amongst our scientists, we abandoned it and left it here.
"For a time, the Dark Elves ceased tampering with the hub, allowing me to repair myself until my broadcast cortex was finally reassembled. I replayed the signal again, but my actions had even worse unforeseen consequences. Nazara had just entered the Yggdrasil system, and heard my call. Recognizing it as Prothean, Nazara came here, and encountered the Dark Elves. Malekith foolishly approached Nazara, and in mere moments, Nazara used its power to influence organics to take control of Malekith, using him as a puppet. Probing Malekith's thoughts, Nazara learned about the Yggdrasil Operation and the Aether. After learning the full potential of the Aether, Nazara formulated a plan to bring its kind back from the darkness."
"What do mean? What is Nazara planning?" Darcy probed. Another holographic image appeared, this one of a planet they all knew very well. Earth. They watched as several different portals materialized above it. Then, a red cloud spewed up from the Earth and into the portals. Slowly, the portals were all drawn together into one, gigantic doorway.
"The Aether can convert and manipulate dark matter, which is one of the topological elements of wormholes. With the Convergence fast approaching, Nazara seeks to manipulate Malekith into using the Aether to bend the trajectory of the Convergence to dark space, thus allowing the Reapers access to the galaxy."
A deafening silence filled the room as the group all stared in horror. From the portal, thousands of Reapers emerged, and in seconds the entire Earth was reduced to floating debris. Eventually, Jane, her voice weak, broke the silence.
"Oh... oh my god..." Jane said, putting everything together. "It makes sense now! Malekith is going to use the Aether to change the Convergence and link the Nine Realms to dark space. Then, the-the Reapers... they..."
"They'll pour through, and all life everywhere will be extinguished." Hikesh said, grimly.
"No." Sif said, shaking her head. "That cannot happen. We have to stop them."
"That is what I was hoping for." Liaison said in relief. "Even without the Mass Relays, the Reapers are smart enough to find new means of traversing the galaxy once they have returned from dark space. Even with the forces of the universe allied against them, the Reapers will be quite unstoppable, and death will be imminent."
"Well great." Darcy said dryly. "So... how are we supposed to get off this planet?"
"Through this hub, via the alternate transport." Liaison said. "Despite its age, it is still in use, and I can use it to manually send you anywhere in Yggdrasil."
"Perfect!" Darcy shouted, smiling like a kid who just won a prize at the fair. "You can get us to Earth, then!"
"Yes. Though you must make haste." Liaison urged. "My sensors indicate that Nazara is already en route to Earth, and the Convergence is nearing its climax. If not stopped, Nazara will summon its ilk and all life will come to an end."
"That's all the information we need." Darcy said, smiling. "Where's this Bonus Bifrost?"
"Follow the markers." Liaison said, and the group looked down to see a trail of lights blinking, leading to a doorway on the opposite end of the chamber. "They will lead you to the transport."
"Thank you." Hikesh said gratefully. "You have aided us greatly."
"It is a pleasure, Lieutenant Hikesh." Liaison said, the hologram bowing. "I am glad to have seen another survivor."
Darcy quirked an eyebrow at the Prothean. "Lieutenant?"
Hikesh shrugged. "I was in the military. I had to have some title."
"Hold on." Loki spoke up, staring intently at Liaison. "I need one more answer."
Liaison materialized in front of Loki, who blinked slightly, but remained stoic. "To what question?"
"You said before that this place had been visited at least three times since your creators left this place. Once was Malekith, another was us. Who was the third?"
Liaison paused, processing its old information. "Approximately four-thousand and eighty-six years ago, a young Asgardian came to this world after his people waged war with the Dark Elves. He stumbled across this cave and found me. He learned the true origin of his people, and expressed a certain degree of horror."
"Who was this Asgardian?" Sif asked, suddenly interested. She had a feeling, and hoped she was wrong.
"As I recall, this Asgardian went by the name of Odin. He was the son of the then-ruler of the Asgardians."
Everyone froze up, all bearing looks of shock and surprise. Sif displayed a look of horror. "Are you positively certain that was his name?"
"That is who he introduced himself as, yes." Liaison confirmed.
Sif felt faint, and betrayed. "H-He knew... All these years... Why hide it?"
"The answer is obvious." Hikesh said. "Power and influence. Odin hoarded the knowledge of my race for his own gain."
"That... can't be." Sif said, glaring. "I can't believe our king would keep this a secret."
"It makes sense when you think about it." Loki drawled, earning a glare from Sif. "Odin held considerable power over all of Asgard. If Asgard learned the truth behind its conception, Odin's position as monarch would be placed in grave danger."
"This place is thousands of years old, Sif." Jane explained. "That's more than enough time to make serious progress."
"That doesn't make it true!" Sif yelled indignantly.
"You can't keep denying reality, Sif." Hikesh growled. "Even a small amount of information could give any species an edge. Or are you truly insulted, to learn that you are merely a human with gifts?"
"I-I... I..." Sif stuttered. She looked around at everyone. "I just-I can't..."
"Um, hey? I don't mean to interrupt anything, but we've got a fleet of killer battleships ready to come and turn us all to ash." Darcy spoke up impatiently. "We can worry about whatever personal dilemmas we may have later. But for now, we need to move!"
"She's right." Hikesh confirmed. "We have to go now, Sif."
"I-Yes. Alright." Sif said, nodding weakly.
"Goodbye, and good luck. I will ensure to point the transport to where the Convergence is nearest." Liaison said, before fading away. The markers on the ground blinked as the group followed them down another corridor. At the end was a small room, which looked strikingly similar to the Bifrost.
"Deja vu..." Darcy said, a little creeped out by the semblance.
"So, how do we turn it-" Jane was cut off when it suddenly came alive, spinning around as particles of energy swirled before them. Just like the Bifrost in Asgard, a vortex opened. The group glanced at each other, before stepping forward and into the vortex.
As their persons were warped off at lightspeed, the structure slowly powered down, as did the rest of the hub until there was nothing but darkness.
*Edited this chapter. Minor changes in text. No biggie.
So, now the full truth has come to light. While there was a lot of revelation in this chapter, I can't say I was to happy with it. I'm sorry if I may have gone a little overboard with the dialogue, but I hope it was satisfactory. Next chapter, the group returns to Earth, and the final battle begins.
Now, to answer a few questions some of you might have:
* Nazara is an alternate name for the main Reaper, Sovereign, who is the main antagonist in the original Mass Effect.
* The Kree are an advanced alien race from Marvel Comics who recently appeared in an episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and will return in Guardians of the Galaxy, which comes out in theaters this August.
Review if you please :) but no flames. Later!