Matryoshka
Disclaimer
Starcraft is the property of Blizzard entertainment.
Mass effect is the property of Bioware.
Any elements used in this story are used only in order to create a story for no monetary gain nor do I claim any ownership over them, beyond the names and characters unique to this story.
Protean ruins - Therum
Kaidan Alenko.
They had won, but no cheers of victory would be heard.
Silence filled the room as despair began to set in.
No one knows how it will end.
But Kaidan sure as hell didn't expect it to be like this.
"Joker!" Shepard began as he tried to reach the Normandy " Damm it! We can't get a signal out" he turned to the rest of the team. He watched as everyone looked resigned to their fates, for in their heart that room was already their crypt.
Kaidan continued to patch his ally up. He originally had nothing but distrust for the creature since he had confessed that he was the stowaway from Eden Prime, Kaidan tried to keep a close eye on him. Not trusting his intentions or motives he had harbored nothing but mistrust for the creature.
But now…
"Thank you, Kaidan Alenko…" Xiltar responded as Kaidan applied a pack of medigel to his torso. His wound had been deep, but fortunately it had failed to rupture whatever organ it had struck.
"No problem Xiltar" Kaidan replied in both appreciation and regret.
He understood that first contact with another alien species was something that the galaxy was never too keen on experiencing. But to find that a person of unknown origin and species had not only made it to the seat of galactic governance undetected but he had also aided in uncovering the truth behind one of the galaxy's biggest conspiracies was something that left Kaidan both amazed and confused.
And now this same creature was his ally.
Did he have the right now to mistrust him.
(Yes) the alien answered while speaking in his head (You were right to mistrust my intentions. Even at the council chamber, you should have acted had I possessed a threat to your kind… I would have done the same) Xiltar said.
That had been a defining moment in galactic history, but the worry in Kaidan's mind that something would go wrong had been too much for him to bear.
What if he attacked or antagonized the council and humanity was made to pay the price.
"Yeah, just…" Kaidan began but he did not know what to say "Nevermind" He rose to his feet and made his way to the rest of the team.
The protoss eyes trailed him.
"So, Shepard…" Kaidan heard Garrus say "What's your plan to get us out of this mess?"
"I'm open to ideas…" Shepard replied as he was unsure as to how they should proceed, waiting for a rescue team would be a mut point. The Normandy didn't come with excavation equipment aboard, unfortunately. "Xiltar already told us he couldn't manage to teleport out of here… but there has to be another way".
A moment of silence passed as everybody eyed the others "There might be another way out" the voice of the person they had rescued broke the silence and Liara's words got the group's attention "If we go deeper there might be another cave system we could use to reach the surface…" Liara concluded as she finished drinking some water from the canteen that Shepard had shared with her.
The odds of such a cave system existing were slim. Yet they decide it was most likely their only course of action.
They were in too deep.
"So be it. Liara see if the platform can take us down…" Shepard said and Liara did as he asked.
The doctor approached the platform's control once more and examined the device for a moment before pressing another button.
They slowly made their way down the structure.
Every exit they found was blocked by debris, so they continued to descend.
Slowly and slowly.
Kaidan made his way to Ashley and sat down next to her "Hey Ash. Quite a first mission, don't you think?" Kaidan said this as he tried to start a conversation.
She in turn layed down on the platform's floor and let out a sigh.
"If I'd known what it would have been like, then there wouldn't be a chance in hell of me coming along" She said before a smile appeared on her face "Heck! This is bound to be fun" She let out another sigh "If we don't die that is".
"What a downer Williams" Kaidan answered with a cheeky smile.
"And here I thought you would be the funny one" answered Williams in turn.
The silence between the two resumed. The platform descending at its own pace, slowly.
"Soo…" began Kaidan "you and the commander…" a frown appeared across Ashley's face.
"Me and the commander what?" Asked Williams in an irritated manner.
"Nevermind, Ash" Kaidan cursed under his breath. Williams just thought that his timing wasn't right.
Shepard.
He was bored.
After the first 10 collapsed corridors one tends to lose himself in the tediousness of such an ordeal as counting them.
He was truly bored, the rest of his squad had gone to different parts of the platform. Kaidan and Ash had decided to lay down and speak about something. Garrus decided to disassemble and reassemble his rifle as a form of entertainment, the time getting shorter between attempts. Wrex was teaching Tali a trick with his shotgun, as they both preferred the use of that weapon. Xiltar was just looking down at his wound, the patch was doing its work but something seemed to be bothering him.
That just left…
"Ahem!" Liara imitated a cough out loud in order to try and get Shepard's attention. He had been so focused on the rest of the squad that he had neglected to pay much attention to her "Commander Shepard?" she said with a tinge of irritation in her voice.
"Ah. Sorry, professor" Shepard replied with a tone of regret as he felt sorry for ignoring the professor. He rubbed the back of his neck as he thought of a way to excuse himself "I was just in my own little world" confusion appeared on the asari's face as she returned to him the now empty canteen.
"Your own little world?" she asked in confusion. Did she not know what metaphor was… no, that couldn't be.
She was a doctor for goodness sake.
"Sorry, it's a human expression"Shepard explained even as confusion remained on her face "Its just a way of saying that I was too focused on another subject".
She slapped her own face at this explanation "Goddess…" she removed her hand and showed her face once more "Sorry commander, human habits are a little foreign to me. I…" she trailed off as she looked down in shame"I hope I didn't offend you".
Shepard smiled at this "No offense taken" the asari looked back up and relaxed while she gave a faint and quick smile. Silence resumed between the two of them and the echo from the others filled the silence for the moment. "So…" Shepard began "I imagine you didn't manage to reach this deep down the structure before we arrived. Is that correct?" Liara began to look up as a smile formed on her beautiful face.
"Yes. Our excavation was only limited to the upper levels as we did not wish to disturb anything from this site" she paused for a moment before she turned to the commander "How did you know?" Liara asked.
"The lack of several companies worth of archeologists and your name on every news channel gave it away" Liara looked at him confused once again "That was supposed to be a joke" he clarified while mumbling. She then proceeded to cover her face once again in shame. Cute. "What is this place anyway?".
Liara tried to hide her bushing face as best as she could and then tried to explain to him what she knew of the place "Like most prothean structures we don't have an exact record of what may lay inside. Since there isn't an exact standard of how they built their sanctuaries we wouldn't be able to determine what this place was until we managed to get inside. I have seen other sites that have an uncanny resemble to the layout of this one" The asari then looked up as the upper levels were now but a dark shadow in the long gone distance "But I have never been to a site as deep as this one " Liara then looked at the commander and raised two fingers "There are two possibilities as to what this place is. It is either that of an old archive that was hidden for our civilization to uncover… or this is a tomb filled with empty graves and abandoned technology".
Shepard's curiosity was piqued by this "Why would the prothean build crypts so deep underground?" She looked confused at his question.
Was it not a costume of the asari to build crypts?
Realization struck her "Oh goddess, no. That's not what I meant by tombs" now Shepard was confused "The only site I have visited with a layout like this that wasn' some sort of small archive was what my teacher called a bunker".
"Bunkers?" Shepard asked as he remained confused.
"Yes. Superstructures with many traps embedded in them. Several archeologists have been lost to these places throughout galactic history" Shepard began to hum a tune. It was from an old vid her mother had told him about. The favorite of his father apparently "Those places I mentioned weren't meant to be crypts as my colleagues and myself have theorized. The structures like the ones I mean were built with a great capacity of people and also held several devices that we theorize must have been some sort of stasis chamber… But none has ever been recovered in either a functional state… or with its occupant inside".
Ashiver went down Separd's spine"And if this place is an archive. What can we expect to find in here" Shepard began, trying to stir away from the now grim subject.
Liara shrugged her shoulders "It could range from a repository of knowledge like a server room or it could be an excavation of some sort" she explained this and Shepard found something funny about an archeological site inside another archeological site.
Neat..
They continued to ride the elevator in silence for a little while longer before Liara asked another question.
"That creature called Xiltar… What is he?" the asari asked.
Shepard looked at her and looked as she was genuinely interested in the nature of the alien.
In truth he was also curious as to what he truly was.
"It's… complicated" Shepard began "He claims to be a creature from before the times of the Protheans and his technology does indeed look to be beyond our current level or that of what the protheans could produce".
Liara looked shocked for a second "An ancient… Has he told you the reason for his civilization's disappearance? How is it that he came to find you? How come we haven't met more of his kind?" the doctor paused midway through her questions as she turned towards the alien and saw that it was staring back.
"Why don't you ask him?" Shepard began "It seems that he wished to speak with you all the same" Even as the commander tried to reassure the asari, he could see that she was still a little apprehensive to approach "Want me to come with you?".
The asari thought of it for a moment before nodding.
The commander nodded back and escorted the doctor to speak with this ancient alien.
"Hello, Xiltar" Shepard began "How is your wound holding?" the commander could see that the protoss wasn't holding his wound anymore and seemed to be sitting in a more relaxed manner.
(I am fine, commander) Xiltar spoke into his mind. As the asari reacted with both surprise and curiosity he could tell that she was also listening to him (It would seem that your mind has some questions) the protoss placed a hand on his chest (My most sincere regret that your kin betrayed you, Liara T'soni).
Shepard could see that his words were true and the protoss did hold some pity for the doctor but the subject was still a fresh one in her mind and she would need some time to mend that wound to her heart.
Sheaprd decided to intervene "Actually. The doctor had some questions for you… Could you be willing to answer some for her?".
Xiltar nodded and looked at the doctor "What do you wish to know?".
Liara recovered a little and pondered her first question for a minute "Well… What are you?".
"My name is Xiltar of the Ihan-rii. I am a protoss" the protoss began to explain but saw that some confusion remained within the both of them "My race is that of the protoss while my kin are the Ihan-rii or 'great mentors' in the most common of tongues" Xiltar explained.
Liara nodded and most likely made some mental notes on her interactions with her (Well… Can you tell me something about your culture? Like… What was your system of governance? How did your people survive your cycle of extinction? When did your kind discover mass effect technology?).
Wait.
Cycle of extinction?
Shepard was curious as to why the doctor had used this expression but he was also as surprised to find the same confusion of his reflected on the protoss.
"..." Xiltar made a grunting noise "My kind were ruled by an ancient council of our most esteemed elders. I am the only one left of these elders… And I do not know what you mean by this cycle of extinction. And for your last question, the mass effect wasn't…".
Xiltar was interrupted midway through his explanation as the platform shook.
Not long after, the sight of the platform hatch began to be left behind qs they now began to descend into a gigantic cavern.
Everyone stood at the ready as they neared the base of the elevator.
They descended into another prothean structure that looked incredibly small compared to the elevator it presided over.
But this was wrong.
They reached the ceiling of the structure and began to descend into a gigantic chamber that could only be concealed in such a manner if it was half buried under ground.
The place was dark and was filled with a stench they could not describe and as they continued to approach the floor of the building something got their attention as they saw a particular sight just at the base of the platform.
"By the goddess…" Liara whispered as she and the rest of the group looked around once they reached the bottom.
What greeted them once they reached the bottom was a scene of both a calamitous and grim nature
They could not get a clear look at what laid beyond in that room because they were first met by a mountain of bodies…
All around the platform there were the remains of several long dead aliens as their mummified bodies piled atop each other in what must have been their attempt to reach the only exit of that place.
This was a scene of woe… and desperation.
After a moment of pause and mourning it was both Wrex and Xiltar who broke the silence as they began to push the mummified corpses in order to make a path out for the rest of the group.
Shepard was both glad and disturbed that they had not much qualms in desecrating the dead.
As a path was opened and the group left the confines of the platform they took a moment to look into the darkness. The room they found themselves in must have been massive ad their steps echoed into the endless blackness. Shepard could make out certain shapes as several slabs of metal adorned the floor of the chamber near him while he also saw what must have been some weirdly designed type of chair.
Shepard saw as green holograms flickered over the slabs from time to time. He theorized that they might have been some kind of advanced form of computer.
The platform from which they came began to rise and stopped right at the entrance of the structure, completing the patter of the ceiling and closing the structure for good. Leaving then in complete and utter darkness.
Moments later, lights began to illuminate the place in a dim but pale light and the group were welcomed to the sight no person had seen in millennia.
A massive chamber adorned with the same type of slab as he had seen before was the only sight they could find as they saw hundreds of this slabs filling the whole circumference of the structure.
The team decided to go to the edge of the chamber and as they continued to walk further away from the grim sight of the mummified pile they saw that some bodies remained there while far away from the rest of their kin.
Once they left the mountain of corpses far away, his group began to investigate the room around them.
The commander took the chance to take a closer look at the remains before them and saw what appeared to be a bipedal sort of creature with four eyes and a crest on its head.
Shepard approached one of the mummified corpses and was horrified to see that this particular figure held a slightly shorter one in an embrace that was to last for eternity.
He just hoped that this wasn't to be his fate.
Shepard looked to the side and was intrigued to see Liara as she also kneeled next to a particular body and reached with a quivering hand towards another one of these remains.
The commander approached the asari as she retracted her hand and looked at the approaching human "I… We may be the first people to see how the protheans even looked…" Liara began before she looked down in sadness "And we may be forced to join them soon".
The commander placed a hand on her shoulder and made her turn to face him "We won't be trapped in this place. There has to be another way out…".
A faint smile appeared in the face of the Asari as she nodded. She then stood up and began to search for a still functioning terminal while the commander followed closely behind.
They explored the room in earnest and found a still active terminal. They called for the rest of the team and once they made their way towards them, the asari activated the terminal and began to explore through its content "This… this is a treasure trove of knowledge… there could be centuries worth of data in this place alone…".
"Sorry to burst your bubble doctor. But there better be a map out of this place if you don't want us to end up like our friends over there" Ashley said and Liara shuddered at the soldier's response but continued to comb through the data.
"There is… information… names… references to eat this place was…." Liara continued to read through the text that was being displayed "Yes…. This place seemed to be a central hub for excavations made across this cavern. Let me see if any contain any references to any exit… there!" As she said this, the holo display showed what Shepard could only guess was prothean language. In the report was the image of rune that was familiar to Shepard. Where had he seen it? "This report makes reference to a primary excavation site. There they found a superstructure of unknown origin and theorized that the construct may reach all the way to the surface or have exits that lead to other caverns... They designated it as site Alpha" she read further down in the file " It shows that the structure they were studying is millions of years old! Wait there's more…" She returned to the symbol at the top "They originally called the race that built that structure as the Alephs but it seems they might have found the name of the race. It's…".
"The Xel'naga" Xiltar answered from behind them.
"How did you…" Liara began her question but stopped midway through it as she turned around to him. Shepard and the rest turned to follow her gaze.
And as they did this something caught their eye.
A small rune carved at the center of his armor.
The same symbol.
Afterword.
Mhm… mhm mhm mhm… mhm… mhm mhm mhm mhm… /°\
InSaNEC - Hello m8, I answered your question in the last chapter. It's in the afterword.
vmoneywashere - Thanks m8, I will tend to space my comedy a fair bit. But you will always find a laugh or two along the story.