Earth, 2186 CE
Liara was sitting in a hospital chair near Shepard's bed, holding her hand. She has been there almost constantly these days. Ever since they told her that she should wake up any day now.
The crucible's activation injured her beloved, but the doctors fixed the worst damage. Now all they could do was wait and see whether her body could restore itself back to health.
The unmoving hand slightly jerked in hers and the asari looked up. Usually, it was only involuntary muscle spasms, and she would lower her head again in disappointment. But this time, she could see Shepard's eyes opening.
"Jane!" she exclaimed happily before pressing a button to summon the medical staff.
"Hi, Liara. It is so good to see you…" Shepard uttered in raspy voice and tried to smile.
Liara wanted to hug her, but did not want to aggravate her injury so she just gave her a peck on her forehead.
"What happened? Did it work?" Shepard asked.
"Yes, my love. The reapers are gone. We have won," Liara answered.
"How?"
"When you connected the Crucible with the Citadel, it discharged some energy into the relay network. It deactivated all reaper technology," she explained.
"So the relay is intact? And Earth? The Crucible did not explode?" she asked and Liara happily nodded to all her questions.
"There was no radiation? No space time anomalies?" she posed further questions.
Liara thought that Shepard's queries were strange but she answered them nonetheless. She suspected that her lover was still under the effect of the drugs. Liara wanted to calm her mind and so she told her everything that happened.
Suddenly, Shepard grasped her hand. "How is that possible?! You are lying… tell me the truth!"
"Shepard! You are hurting me!" Liara screamed as Shepard gripped her hand with surprising strength.
One that she should not be capable of in this state…
"Tell me the truth! What really happened to the reapers? Did they indoctrinate you all?" she kept yelling.
Liara shook her grip off before jumping from her chair.
"What got into you?!" she asked while staring at Shepard in shock. Then some shadow of understanding passed her face and she looked around the room suspiciously.
"I remember now…" she said while backing away from Shepard's bed in panic.
"This is not what really happened here… and you are not my Shepard! Who are you? What is happening?"
The Shepard imposter in the bed stared at her silently before speaking in alien voice.
"You are correct, Liara T'Soni."
The scenery around them changed as the hospital room disappeared.
Suddenly, Liara was standing in an old prothean city, filled with abandoned decaying buildings. There was a single armored humanoid standing in front of her, with their face hidden by helmet.
"I remember now…" Liara repeated. This was the place where she and Javik were captured. But she sensed that it wasn't real. The attackers were doing something to her mind.
"What did you do to Javik? What do you want from us? Who are you?!" she asked in anger.
"Your companion is unharmed… we are currently probing your minds," it casually informed her.
The thought of her mental violation made Liara sick and revolted and she tried jumping up and tackling the figure to the ground… only for her to pass right through as if it was merely a ghost.
She could sense a strange amusement coming from the creature as she gathered herself from the ground.
"You cannot harm me in this mental state."
"And as for who we are… you already know that," the masked figure continued without interruption.
"Protheans… you are the protheans," Liara deduced.
It was the only logical explanation. The system's mass relay was inactive until Normandy came along and they needed reaper IFF to get safely through. Nobody else could possibly reach this system as conventional FTL travel was impossible in the galactic core.
The figure nodded, confirming her thoughts. "Yes… we are what you call protheans."
As soon as the masked figure admitted its identity to Liara, its image changed. Its mask melted off and suddenly there was Javik's distant cousin standing before her – a male prothean, four eyes with a hammer like head.
The prothean noticed the change.
"Interesting that your mind gave me this appearance…" he noted with amusement as he examined his body.
"What else would I see you like?" Liara replied tersely.
She wondered whether the prothean species physically changed during its 50 000 years of isolation. She supposed that it was possible.
"Never mind," he changed the topic. "What matters is that you found our refuge…"
He stepped closer to her. "Tell me, Liara T'Soni, did the enemy send you here? Does your species serve the reapers now?!"
Liara understood then. At first, she was baffled why the protheans would attack one of their own. She saw them with her own eyes as they took down Javik. But it was all clear now.
"You think we are indoctrinated…"
The figure nodded. "By our estimates, the next reaper harvest is to occur just about now… you could say that we have been expecting you."
"Normally, we would kill enemy's servants on sight, but you and your friend are a special case."
Liara turned her head in anger. "If you have examined our minds, you know that we are not indoctrinated! That we have destroyed the reapers almost thirty years ago!"
The prothean nodded. "Indeed… and we believe that you believe that," he admitted.
"However, it would be a simple matter for the enemy to implant the memories in you… our ancestors recorded that the reapers would often use such deceptions."
Liara sighed. She wanted to yell at him for being ridiculous, but his concerns were not without merit. If their roles were reversed, she suspected that she would treat his stories with the equal level of paranoia…
Then, a thought occurred to her.
"What did you do to our ship?" she asked and the prothean paused for a moment.
"It detected our presence some time go… it is being dealt withas we speak" he told her.
Liara smirked even though she was petrified with fear for her bondmate.
"If you go against Shepard, you're as good as dead… she destroyed the reapers! The enemy you ran from! What do you think she will do to you?" she tried to sound brave.
If her taunt had any impact, the prothean did not let it show.
"Understand that we do not bear you any hate," he told her. "But there are too many suspicious circumstances surrounding your arrival."
"How did you arrive into this system? Our ancestors never managed to get the relay device working after their Great Weapon misfired."
"Eventually, they came to believe that the Crucible was just another of enemy's deception… and yet here you are, claiming that you used it to kill them."
"And why do we detect enemy's technology on your vessel?"
He kept spouting question after question until Liara was overwhelmed.
"How can I prove that we are telling you the truth?" she said in desperation.
"Show me everything," he replied. "Everything that led to the enemy's destruction… unfortunately, your companion had only partial recollection of these events."
Liara nodded. "Very well. I will show you everything"
"Leave nothing out…" the prothean warned her. "Your life and the lives of everyone on your space ship rest on you."
Liara swallowed nervously before she began speaking. "I suppose for me, it all started on one prothean dig site…"
As she began her narration, the scenery changed again. This time they were inside an abandoned mine. There was a young asari scientist trapped in a stasis bubble, desperately calling for help. Fortunately, the first human spectre and her companions came to rescue her…
Elsewhere in the system
"Steady…" Shepard whispered as she watched the tactical display.
As soon as the other ship popped out of FTL in front of them, she gave the order.
"Fire!"
Already primed and ready, Normandy's thanix cannon fired the round. A metal slug accelerated to fraction of the speed of light impacted the enemy's vessel.
"Direct hit!" a crewmember reported. "Their weapons are down… propulsion as well."
Shepard released the breath she has been holding.
"Excellent…"
"Joker, take us back to Elerise. Let's find Liara and Javik and then get the hell out of here!"
"Yes, ma'am. We are on our way."
Finally allowed to relax, Shepard slumped down in a chair in the tactical center.
She replayed the events of the past two hours in her mind…
After the protheans attacked them at Elerise, Shepard was forced to break off the orbit. In terms of raw power output, the prothean battlecruiser was much more powerful than the Normandy. Suddenly, Shepard understood how the protheans managed to resist the reapers for centuries.
The battlecruiser was shaped and armed similarly to Destiny Ascension – the flagship of asari fleet. In fact, it looked like an older and much smaller version of that vessel.
A century ago, the asari came up with plans for their new super-dreadnought literally out of the blue. Everyone, especially the turians, was baffled by its advanced technology. It was now clear to Shepard where the asari got their inspiration. Picking up schematics in the prothean archives on Thessia, they must have improved on the design with their own ingenuity.
Still, even the original prothean version was more than enough. In a stand-up fight, the Normandy did not stand a chance against them. Counting in their cloaking ability and it was an outright suicide.
But fortunately, there were also factors that played to Normandy's favor.
As Tali determined, the prothean ship was old. It reminded her of some of the older ships in the quarian flotilla, many of them dating all the way back to the Morning War. To keep them functioning for so long, they had to be constantly retrofitted and repaired. And since the quarian factories and shipyards were gone, mismatching alien components had to be used instead.
The prothean ship seemed to have a similar life story. An exact measurement was impossible under battle conditions. However, Tali suggested that parts of the ship's superstructure could still be original, 50 000 years old.
Another thing playing in their favor was the enemy's tactics.
While technologically advanced, the enemy's attacks lacked the finesse one would expect from someone as powerful. They were not bad, but certainly no match for Joker's pilot skills.
Shepard supposed that they had not much opportunity for training while isolated in the galactic core. Indeed, the enemy's tactics, while meticulous and orderly, seemed to be entirely text-book. There was no improvisation, no surprise, no guile…
It was like the battlecruiser was manned by recruits straight out of the training – very well versed in theory, but only minimal practical experience.
When Shepard realized that, she devised a plan.
First, she drew them away from the planet and into the open space. With the protheans constantly engaging their cloaking device, it was too dangerous to remain at one place for too long.
Seeing that the battlecruiser was going to follow her anywhere, she ordered an FTL jump to the fifth planet of the system – a gas giant. As soon as they were there, she had Normandy positioned in perfect angle to fire the thanix cannon when the battlecruiser would catch up with them.
By analyzing their technology, Tali theorized that they would have to wait for few seconds after coming out of FTL before engaging the cloak. Shepard was counting on that.
Predictably, the battlecruiser exited the FTL exactly where conventional tactics told them to and without the cloak… just as Shepard hoped for. Earlier, she realized that these protheans were using the tactics described by Javik in the Journeys with a prothean. She was glad that Liara made her read that book.
With the battlecruiser's sensors momentarily blinded by the gas giant's magnetic field, she was able to make a precise hit to disable it. She purposefully chose a non-lethal way to take them down that left them with a life support. She did not come here to start a war or wipe these people out.
But at the same time, she was determined to get Liara and Javik back…
Elsewhere on the planet
"So this is how you located us…" the prothean said as Liara showed him the image of the Archives on Thessia.
"Yes… we followed the few traces you left behind"
The prothean looked outside the temple, towards the Armali city.
"And your people still live on this world?"
Liara nodded. "Yes. And on the Citadel and many other worlds in the galaxy. The asari are strong part of the galactic community."
"Many of those things, we owe to the teachings you left us in your Archives," she admitted.
The prothean looked at her curiously. "Our Archives? They are on your planet, aren't they? That makes them your Archives."
Liara smiled. "I know a prothean who would strongly disagree with that interpretation…
"Javik thinks that since the Archives are prothean, they do not belong to us…"
"Because you are not protheans?" he asked her and Liara nodded.
"Most interesting," he remarked as he looked at Armali's horizon again.
Liara walked over to join him.
"I have a question…" she told him.
"We know that some asari came to this world with you… may I ask what happened to them?"
The prothean studied her for a moment before turning his head. "I am sorry. It is not my place to tell…" he said, dismissing her question.
"In fact, I think that I have seen enough," he suddenly told her, gesturing at the mental illusions around them.
Liara looked up. "So you believe me now?" she asked.
"Yes… I believe you," he said and made a prothean equivalent of smile before everything turned to black and Liara saw no more…
The Normandy arrived at the orbit of Elerise.
Immediately, Shepard ordered the second shuttle into the air to search for the missing ground team.
But before they could fly out of the hanger bay, Joker reported in panic voice.
"Shepard… you are not going to believe this. We now have two prothean battlecruisers approaching our position!"
Shepard looked at the tactical display and cursed. Things just got a lot more complicated.
Liara felt a life returning to her as she opened her eyes. She was sitting in some metal chair inside plain looking room.
She momentarily panicked when she saw two armored figures looming above her. However, they merely released her restraints and pulled her out of the chair.
"We have disabled your biotics, but they will return in few hours…" one of them informed her. The voice was heavily distorted by the helmet, sounding unnatural.
"Where are you taking me?" she asked as they led her to the door.
"Our leaders wish to see you… will you cooperate or do we have to restrain you?"
Liara spotted handcuffs hanging by the belt and realized that it was not an empty threat.
"I'll cooperate…" she said in meek voice. Without weapons or her biotics, she could not hope to escape them anyway. Her captors said nothing as they led her out of the room and into a corridor.
As they emerged she could see Javik being led out from the opposite doors – in handcuffs and snarling at his escort. He looked unharmed, but was very vocal about his predicament.
"I demand to be released immediately!" he yelled only to be manhandled by the guards as they led him into an elevator. Liara and her escort followed them closely.
Once there, Javik finally spotted Liara. His four eyes quickly scanned her for injury before addressing their captors.
"Let the asari go… she was only acting under my command. I am the one you want," he told them, surprising Liara.
"Is Javik trying to sacrifice himself for me?"
Her thought was cut short when one of the armored figures punched Javik into stomach. "Shut up!"
After the elevator reached its stop, they were led through yet another corridor before arriving at a rather lavish looking room. It contrasted their former prison cells immensely but right now, both Liara and Javik focused on something else.
Inside the room, there was a window with an open balcony and for the first time, Liara and Javik saw what was outside. Utterly speechless, they both walked onto the balcony with their captors following closely.
Liara could not believe the sight before her. In front of them was a vista of a huge megapolis as far as eye could see, teeming with life.
The numerous flying skycars suggested technologically advanced society.
And it was prothean.
The architecture was little different, but Liara imagined that Feros might have looked like this 50 000 years ago.
It was unbelievable.
"It's true… it's really true," Javik mumbled in trembling voice. He just saw a proof that not only did his people survive, but they also prospered.
They were both so captivated by the sight that they did not even see the large group of people entering the room.
"Behold… the Exarch of the Prothean Empire!" their captors suddenly announced. Liara and Javik turned to see unit of guards in ceremonial robes standing in the middle of the room. In their midst was their principal.
As that principal stepped forward into the light, Liara could not believe her eyes.
"It can't be, it just can't be…" Javik mumbled in shock before he fainted.
As the two battlecruiser slowly came upon Normandy, Shepard was barking order after order. She disabled the first ship by a trickery and deceit. Her chances of doing so again against two ships were slim at best.
"Send a message to the geth, tell them that we encountered heavy resistance and need immediate backup!"
"Joker, prepare to break orbit!"
She would have to withdraw for a while, although she did not know where yet. The relay was hidden and they could not risk FTL in galactic core to go somewhere else…
"Shepard… they are powering down their weapons!" Tali suddenly said and Shepard looked at the tactical display. The two ships were standing down. It was true.
"Incoming message, Shepard…" Joker announced. "It says that they wish to end the hostilities," he told her in slightly skeptical voice.
Shepard was relieved to hear that but first things first.
"You have captured two of my people… I want them returned immediately." she spoke into the comm channel.
There was no response for a while before she heard a familiar voice coming on the other side.
"Shepard, is that you?"
"Liara! Where are you? Are you alright?"
"Yes. Javik and I are in their capital city… we are fine. What about you?"
"Took a few hits, but nothing serious," she said before asking. "Why did they capture you?
"They thought we worked for the reapers…" Liara explained to her what happened. Shepard nodded. She suspected that that might be the case.
"I spoke with their leader. They apologize for the incident and wish to establish peaceful contact with the Citadel races."
"That's good to hear…" Shepard said before she remembered something. She had a strong feeling that it was really her bondmate that was talking on the other side, but she had to be certain.
"Liara… what are the names of our daughters?"
"Benny and Hannah… why?" Liara said in confused voice.
"Just checking if its really you," Shepard said with smile.
Tali who's been examining the incoming signal this whole time, gave her an all clear too.
"Shepard, they are going to have a victory celebration and want to invite us…" Liara said after a while, seemingly talking to someone in the background.
"Alright. We'll be there," Shepard agreed. A victory celebration for a war that lasted 50 000 years. She definitely wanted to see that.
"Then I will see you soon, my love"
"Wait, Liara!" she quickly added. "Who are they then… are they really protheans?"
"Yes. Yes, they are, but… well, you'll see" Liara said in a mischievous voice before closing the channel.
"Shepard… you have to see this. I think they are disabling their cloaking device," Tali said, pointing at the display of the planet.
Shepard was speechless as signs of advanced civilization started popping up all over their sensors. Where there were previously only empty basins and seashores visible, large megalopolises appeared instead. The hyper modern cities were surrounded by the supporting infrastructure – farms, power plants and garbage and water treatment facilities. The civilization on the surface was surprisingly concentrated in specific areas. Shepard supposed that this could be due to the cloaking device they were forced to use.
She briefly wondered how many people could live down there before the geth answered her. "We are detecting approximately 8 billion inhabitants on the surface…" Chiktikka reported.
"I bet that Javik loves this," Shepard thought. Not only were the protheans alive, but they were very far away from extinction.
The protheans transmitted landing coordinates to them and Normandy headed in the specified direction.
Meanwhile, Shepard sent a message through the QEC to hold off the cavalry for now. And not a moment too soon because apparently the geth fleet was just about to enter the relay at the Serpent Nebula…
Fortunately, they were no longer needed and Shepard told them to stand by. With any luck, a peaceful resolution might be possible after all.
One of the prothean cruisers took off to the gas giant to rescue their disabled friend while the other escorted Normandy to the planet's surface.
Normandy was pointed to a landing site in what Shepard presumed was the capital city. After the ship landed on one of the platforms, Shepard went into the airlock.
Two crewmembers accompanied her as a security escort. The sensors indicated that there was already a sizable crowd on the other side and they wanted to avoid any further incidents. Finally, the door opened and the crowd erupted in cheers when they saw Shepard emerging.
Shepard's mouth fell open when she saw the faces of the large crowd that was gathered in front of her ship. The dock officials were preventing them from coming too close, but that was not the surprising part.
Her first thought was that Joker must have taken a wrong turn somewhere and they accidentally arrived to a different planet.
But no. There was still a living prothean city around her as a testament to the fact that they were in the right place. Further, she could clearly see Javik standing among the gathered crowd.
Shepard was about to slap herself awake when she heard a familiar voice.
"Shepard!"
The human spectre looked in the direction and saw her bondmate as she finally pushed her way through the crowd. If not for her distinct armor, Shepard would almost overlook her.
The dock workers let Liara pass and so she and Shepard ran to each other before fervently embracing and kissing. They were both very much relieved to see each other again. After both of them made sure the other one was well, Shepard gestured to the crowd, silently asking Liara for an explanation.
Meanwhile Javik was sticking out like a sore thumb and looking very awkward as he was currently surrounded by a sea of… blue.
"They are asari, my love!" Liara told her with excitement reflected in her voice.
"All of them are asari…"
A/N: I originally wanted to post this chapter at the same time as the next (final) chapter, but I ran into some delay, so… here it is. The final chapter will be an epilogue to answer all the remaining questions. I hope to post it over weekend at the latest.
I wish to thank everyone who read this story this far. I am especially grateful to reviewers for their encouragement and suggestions. Thanks guys! :-)