Unknown regions, galactic core
Shepard, Liara and Javik walked into the cockpit to firsthand observe the relay transit.
Tali and Chiktikka stayed behind in the tactical center to monitor the progress on their consoles.
The Normandy jolted in a familiar way as the relay hurled it half way across the galaxy, towards the next mass relay.
"Here we are…" Joker announced when they arrived to their destination.
Using the pilot's window, everyone began to explore their new surroundings.
There was no immediate danger visible. No debris field, black holes or exploding suns…
If not for slightly denser clusters of stars visible, Shepard would not even tell they were inside the galactic core.
The star system looked normal and was incomparable with the hellish environment beyond the Omega 4 relay.
Shepard was about to comment on that when Joker gasped at his sensor readings.
"Wow…"
"What is it?" she asked.
"Take a look at this..." he told them as he maneuvered Normandy into facing the mass relay.
It was their turn to gasp.
Its surface was scorched black, one of the relay's sides was blasted off and the rings were flickering erratically.
The relay was still working, but it was obviously heavily damaged on this side…
"Tali, are you seeing what we are?"
"Yes, Shepard" the quarian engineer nervously responded from her station over the intercom.
"What happened? Isn't the diagnostic supposed to detect things like this?! I thought it reported normal operations!"
"It did… and it still is. The diagnostic protocols must be corrupted"
Shepard cursed. "That's just great… can we use it to get back?" she asked.
"I think so… yes"
"Then we should head back immediately… while it is still working"
Her companions fidgeted at her words.
"We'll leave probes behind, but we cannot risk the relay collapsing. We'd be stuck here" she explained her decision, earning nod from Liara and grunt from Javik.
They were both looking forward to this.
However, even they did not relish the thought of being trapped in this system forever. It was killing them to have to just walk away from this, but there was no other way.
"We may have another option" Joker suddenly reported. "According to sensors… this relay has been like this for millennia! Our arrival did not change it at all"
Shepard was about to protest to that logic, but Tali interrupted her.
"He's right, Shepard. If it didn't blow up so far I don't think it will… hmm, curious."
"What now?"
"Just that it is a good thing you insisted on using the IFF… I think this relay is no longer save for normal transit protocols"
"My god… the relay is giving a nonsensical output on the normal mode. We would have been torn apart!" Joker seconded her as he read his own displays.
Earlier, Javik said the IFF was unnecessary. Had they followed his suggestion, they would be dead now. He made an annoyed grunt at being proven wrong again, but Shepard ignored him.
"All right… are you absolutely certain that we can use it to get back at any time?"
"Absolutely… the advanced transit protocols are still working fine" Tali reported.
Shepard shared a look with Liara. She could tell that her bondmate was scared. But at the same time, she had that eager expression. The one she got every time there was something remotely prothean or archeological within her grasp.
"Very well, then" Shepard decided. She reasoned that if the danger was not imminent, they could still fulfill their mission.
She also wanted Tali and Chiktikka to study the relay's condition more carefully before attempting another jump through it.
"We'll explore this system. However, I want a probe deployed here to monitor the relay. The minute the readings change in anyway, I want you to hightail it straight out of here… is that clear?" she told Joker.
"Yes, ma'am… probe deployed" Joker responded after few seconds.
"Ok, then. Take us in and start scanning the system…"
Basic sensor sweep told them that there were six planets in the system orbiting an ordinary K type star, slightly yellower than the earth's Sun.
Two of the outermost planets were gas giants.
The first and second were Mercury sized dwarfs. The fourth planet was like Mars – habitable, but too far away from its star to develop biosphere.
However, the third planet was in the ideal habitable zone… and a fully developed garden world!
After completing the basic survey of the other planets, the Normandy jumped straight there…
Ever since coming to the system, the Normandy has been continuously broadcasting set of messages.
The messages included the proclamation of Normandy's peaceful intentions and the basic information about the council space.
They also broadcasted the announcement about reaper's defeat, including videos of dead reapers.
Shepard and others figured that if the survivors were still alive, this would be the first thing they would like to hear.
The data was transmitted in digital format that was used by protheans 50 000 years ago.
Hopefully, the recipients would still be able to understand it.
To that end, all messages were translated by Javik and Liara and sent out in two different languages – prothean and ancient asari.
However, despite their best efforts, they received no response so far. Likewise, they encountered no signs of intelligent life anywhere in the system.
However, this changed when the ship arrived to the third planet…
There was a definitive sign of intelligent life right there, in geosynchronous orbit… and it was a big one.
"Keelah…" Tali whispered over the intercom.
Shepard had similar thoughts as she looked at the enormous, albeit terribly damaged structure hanging over the planet.
It was constructed differently than their version, but the design was similar enough that everyone immediately recognized it for what it was.
Especially Shepard, who nearly lost her life while trying to activate it.
The Crucible.
Or rather what was left of it...
Their own version of Crucible super weapon was kept on stand-by after the war.
The council wanted it to be ready for another use in case not all of the reapers were destroyed. But fortunately, no reaper survivors were discovered so far.
Under heavy guard, the Crucible was slowly collecting dust while floating around the solar system…
On the other hand, whoever built this Crucible clearly did not have the same luck using it as Shepard did.
There were indications of massive internal explosion visible all over its hull. The main spherical part was nearly torn in half with the internal mechanism exposed.
Its insides were burned and fused together into a single metallic slug.
Seeing the massive devastation before her, Shepard was unsurprised when no signs of habitation were reported on the garden world below.
"Scan the Crucible and the planet. I want a complete report as soon as possible" she ordered her people.
She glanced over at Liara, but the asari was already immersed in the sensory readings. What happened here was a great mystery.
Since Liara dedicated much of her adult life towards discovering secrets of the past, she was positively ecstatic at the prospect of studying this.
Shepard decided to let them work and walked out of the cockpit. On her way out, she grabbed Javik and pulled him along with her. The last prothean probably meant well, but his constant questions and suggestions were not helping anyone to concentrate…
As she walked, Shepard already began to formulate a theory about what happened here.
Blasted Crucible and blasted mass relay were definitely not a coincidence.
But she needed hard facts, not wild theories.
Later
"All right, people… let's hear it" Shepard called the conference room to order.
Liara and Tali were standing near the table with mountains of datapads in front of them.
The geth did not need them, but he was definitely 'excited' as his head plates kept flipping about, indicating intensive thought process was taking place.
Javik was leaning against the wall with his hands folded on his chest, looking impatient.
"First of all… the Crucible" she told them.
Tali took the stage at this point. She turned on a big display, showing the image of the crucible. She spoke as she read from her datapad.
"We can confirm that it is very similar to our own version of the device" she began.
"Clearly built for the same purpose and with the same goals in mind"
"Who built it?"
Tali looked uncertain for a moment before answering. "Difficult to know. But I would say that the protheans are the safe bet…" she announced.
Javik barely breathed at that.
"The Crucible schematics are amalgamated from several past cycles, however... this version has a design and construction methods consistent with known prothean technology"
Shepard nodded and looked at Javik.
"So your people did manage to build it after all…" she said to the last prothean.
"For whatever good it did them…" Javik mumbled back in gloomy voice.
Liara who was so far quiet was now ready to burst.
"Shepard, there is more! According to our analyses, this Crucible was fired approximately 48 500 years ago!" she quickly told them.
"That's 1500 years after the reapers supposedly killed the last prothean!"
Liara and Tali continued their presentation, showing them a detailed theory on what probably happened.
As it turned out, Javik was right all along.
Some of his people did manage to survive the reaper harvest… for another millennium and half.
They hid and isolated themselves in this system, safely away from the enemy's sensors.
There, they constructed the Crucible and tried to use it to destroy the reapers.
Shepard did not understand why they waited for so long, but Chiktikka had an explanation.
"The Crucible weapon is incredibly complicated machinery. Many rare elements required"
"If isolated to single star system, an extremely long construction period is a logical outcome…" the geth droned in his robotic voice.
Shepard was actually amazed that they even had a will to finish it at all. Working on the same project for more than a millennium was remarkable.
The society had to keep the same priorities, generation after generation…
She was not sure any contemporary organic race could do it.
But then again, the protheans were driven from a galaxy wide empire of trillions into a single star system. Something like this is not easily forgotten, even in 1000 years.
Unfortunately, the prothean's final effort was terribly unsuccessful. The day they activated the Crucible was the day their species died out.
Tali explained that part.
She confirmed that the mass relay damage was a direct result of the Crucible activation.
She was not certain whether the weapon could even reach the reapers while hiding in dark space.
Regardless, without the Citadel station to control the energy flow, the Crucible's energy never went beyond this star system.
Instead, it uncontrollably smashed into the mass relay and damaged it.
However, the worst part was that it had lethal influence on the planet below it.
Immediately named as Elerise, the Normandy's sensors found ruins of technologically advanced city on its surface. Definitely prothean in origin.
When the Crucible was fired, the energy wave caused fatal release of radiation that irradiated the planet and the surrounding area.
It was practically decayed by now, but must have been deadly back then. ,
Even if the protheans survived the initial blast, they could not survive resulting radiation sickness.
The Elerise was a rich garden world, but there were no signs of habitation on its surface younger than 48 500 years.
The prothean civilization survived 1500 more years than anyone thought, but in the end, it was still gone.
Everyone handled that information in their own way.
Shepard was impressed with their will to live and their unyieldingness.
They defied the genocidal machines and almost destroyed them for good.
And although their plan ultimately backfired on them, they went down fighting.
She saluted their courage.
Tali was focusing on studying the Crucible wreckage which was now officially the largest piece of prothean technology ever to be found.
She seemingly handled herself well, but it was clear what happened here affected her.
In many ways, the fate of protheans was similar to quarians. They were both driven from their home and their species reduced to almost nothing.
Their ancient civilizations just one disaster away from extinction.
She would be thanking ancestors tonight for keeping her people safe during their long exile.
While Liara no longer had any illusions about the people she once adored, Shepard knew that their fate was not indifferent to her.
No longer glorifying them as uniform saints, Liara instead focused on the individuality of the protheans.
Some of them were bad and some of them were good. But it was safe to say that all of them deserved better than this and Liara would honor their memory by telling their story to the galaxy.
Chiktikka did not show any reaction beyond the clinical curiosity that the geth sometimes had about organic behavior.
The only enigma in the room was Javik. The last prothean was now truly last.
His expression was unreadable as he studied the satellite images of the ruined city on Eleryse.
They all tried to cheer him up. This mission was his idea and even though it did not end the way he hoped, it was still going to rewrite the history books.
"I want to go down there…" he suddenly said, looking up from the datapads.
"I want to go into the city… I need to tell them the reapers are gone. That we've won"
"Javik… they're gone" Shepard said carefully.
"Then I will tell it to their bones!" he snapped at her and started pacing across the room. "Please…" he added after a while.
Shepard looked at him in astonishment.
He rarely pleaded.
"Ok, let's assemble a team and…"
"No! I have to go alone!" he protested.
According to his beliefs, the planet was now a burial ground for his people. No non-prothean was allowed to enter it.
"I can't let you go alone…"
"Indeed… I will go with him" Liara suddenly stepped forward.
Javik protested again, but Liara shut him up. "Have you forgotten, Javik?" she asked strongly.
"My people may have lived down there too… I have the right to honor their memory as much as you do!"
The prothean reluctantly nodded.
Liara winced as she felt a touch of cold metal on her neck and then a sting.
"There… this inoculation will protect you against the residual radiation for a while, doctor T'Soni" doctor Michel said.
"Combined with your armor, you should be absolutely fine"
"Thank you, doctor"
Dr. Michel nodded and moved over to her other patient who was already staring at her impatiently.
Shepard stood in the infirmary and was observing the proceedings.
Shortly after the reaper war, Dr. Chakwas finally decided to put her action days behind and settle down.
These days, she worked as a chief medical officer of alliance medical academy, preparing new generation of medical personnel for military service.
As her replacement, she recommended her friend and colleague who jumped at a chance to serve on the flagship of the Citadel Council.
Shepard missed her old friend, but so far, Dr. Michel worked to her full satisfaction.
"Are you ready?" Shepard silently asked her bondmate while the doctor began working on Javik.
"To see the ruins of the last prothean city? Ready" Liara said and smiled.
"For the company on the shuttle ride? Not really" she joked.
Even after writing a bestseller book together, Liara and Javik could not be called friends.
The last prothean was too arrogant and still considered asari as primitives.
It was hard to be friends with someone who saw you as inferior and would regularly tell you so.
Shepard smiled weakly in response before she held her bondmate's hands in her own. "Liara… please be careful down there" she urged her in serious voice.
After Liara gave her a solemn nod, Shepard tried to lighten up the mood. "Try to stay away from any stasis bubbles…"
They both laughed at that before Liara pulled her in for a kiss.
Even after decades of relationship she could hardly pull herself away from her bondmate in moments like this.
That's why she was more than annoyed when she heard Javik coughing for attention.
The doctor finished his inoculation and he was now looking at Shepard and Liara.
"Can we get back to work?" he asked impatiently. "Or do you wish to finish your mating ritual first, commander?"
Shepard just grinned at his remark as they let go of each other.
The first time Javik learned about her relationship with Liara was during the reaper war.
Back then, he casually informed her that mating with asari was pointless as one was not propagating their own genes.
In response, she informed him that he could go fuck himself. It was a good day.
With that memory on her thoughts, they all walked out of the infirmary as Liara and Javik went to suit up in their armors.