CHAPTER 35: The Final Countdown

2185 CE

'Is everyone ready? If EDI can't find and squash the signal in time we may have company.' Shepard asked. The entire squad was in the cargo bay. We had finished installing and activating the Reaper IFF which meant that the Reapers could be coming by at any time. EDI was looking carefully to make sure we weren't transmitting the Normandy's signal, but if she failed to find and stop it in time we could be in for a tough few minutes. Assuming, you know, that we couldn't escape them in time.

The ship defense cannons were loaded and controlled by EDI. Everything was set.

All that needed to happen was the Collectors honing in on us.

'Are you sure about this Krell?' Garrus asked as we waited.

'I'm sure that they'll come after us. With EDI unshackled there's a pretty good chance we'll escape though.' I admitted.

'Well a pretty good chance is a damn sight better than the certain death I was promised when I agreed to join this shitshow.' Zaaed agreed.

'I'm just hoping the computer fails. I could use a good fight.' Grunt complained.

'Situation unlikely. Have seen estimates of EDI's processing power. If gambled, would bet on her.' Mordin replied.

'Been a while since I cut loose.' Jack supported Grunt.

'You two would have loved it on Aratoht. Kaidan unlocked his ancestral Human blood rage.' I revealed, reveling in Kaidan's visible blush at my announcement.

'The teacher's pet? No fucking way.' Jack protested.

'Wait, is that actually your name for him?' I laughed.

'What, is that funny to you or something?' Jack turned on me. Miranda looked horrified. Garrus looked gobsmacked. And Mordin's eyes were wide with shock.

'Jack, Kaidan once got a school shut down because he killed his biotics instructer with a 'full strength biotic kick!' His Turian biotics instructor. Almost started a fucking second contact war doing it!' I revealed.

'No way! Him!?' Jack denied, shocked.

'Look it up. It was really big news for at least a month. The Turians wanted his head.' I explained.

'Damn! With a rep like that no wonder he has the blood rage. Meek shrimp like him wouldn't hurt a fly without it!' Jack slandered Kaidan. It definitely wasn't true. Kaidan was perfectly capable of killing all kinds of things without tapping into his blood rage.

'I do not have a Blood Rage! Tell them Shepard!' Kaidan protested.

'I would, but I was there, Kaidan. I have to side with Krell.' Shepard revealed.

'You're trolling me!' He accused, only sort of unfairly.

'I've seen your type before. All meek and mild until the killing starts.' Zaeed observed.

'No... He couldn't, could he?' Tali asked, curious.

'I have a vid of the whole thing right... Hey, where did the file go?' I asked, checking my omni-tool for it and not finding it.

'Sorry Professor, but when I realized what you were sitting on, I just couldn't resist.' Kasumi confessed starting up the video.

Everyone had their favorite parts. Jacob appreciated Grunt's use of the Shuttle. Zaeed appreciated my tactical assessment. Miranda began staring at Kaidan with open lust after seeing just how powerful his Biotic abilities were even with an old L2 implant. Thane appreciated my rescuing Jella. Garrus, and Grunt, both wanted their own Jetpacks. Mordin appreciated the craftsmanship of mine and asked if he could examine it. I told him he could take a look after the battle, if there was one. Samara appreciated the efficient use of our resources to avoid unnecessary loss of our army. Tali was horrified at the mob destroying all that valuable equipment. Jack appreciated the entire thing.

Every last one of them agreed after seeing the expression on Kaidan's blood spattered face that he definitely had some kind of blood rage going on. Even Kaidan himself to his own horrified shock. Legion asserted that such a thing was impossible. The redundant organs that enabled a Krogan blood rage were just not present in Humans. I reassured him that Humans were the most Krogan-like species in Council space.

The only ones who didn't appreciate it were the Collectors. For whatever reason, they just never showed up.

'I have isolated and cut the signal which would have broadcast our location to the Collectors.' EDI finally announced.

'Take us to the Omega Four Relay, EDI. We didn't get all dressed up not to enjoy a party.' Shepard ordered

'Please confirm destination, Shepard. The Reaper IFF is online, but there is a chance that the Normandy may not survive the Omega 4 Relay. Once we are en route, we are committed.'

'That reminds me. Tell Joker that he's jumping the Normandy into a massive ship graveyard. also, there'll be defense drones.' I remember.

'Joker can hear you speak directly, Professor.' EDI replies.

'Right. Good luck, Kid!' I wish him.

'Let's go stop the collectors.' Shepard ordered.

'You got it commander. Plotting a course for the Omega 4 Relay. ETA is about 2 hours. I'll let you know when we arrive.' Joker confirmed.

Dear Liara,

We're about to hit the relay. There's a chance that Cerberus will go after you and the Shadow Broker ship if my precautions against them fail. If I do not return, I want you to know where the new office I promised you is. Do you remember after the third lecture I gave you back at the University of Thessia? You approached me after class to ask for extra credit and I gave you five sets of coordinates and asked you to identify which one had the most likelihood of holding a viable Prothean ruin on it? You came back and told me that four were equally likely, but the 5th was in the darkness between stars and so was unlikely to have a viable ruin? I know you took notes, and I know that you still have those notes. Your new office is at that set of coordinates. I've been using it to store my library. The VI controlling the site should answer to you. Your authorization code is 'Knowledge is Power.' It's one time use, so remember to set a new one. Assuming I survive this mission, which I think I will, I'll come by to visit with some old friends soon.

Love,

Gramps

P.S. Thank you for the book on citation. It's a wonderful and thoughtful gift for your old grandpa. I transferred it to an external drive and had the drive framed. And bronzed. You know, to keep it unopened and in mint condition.

Wrex,

I had some free time. Here's a blueprint for a mass effect powered ballistae of sufficient power to launch that buried treasure I told you about at a Reaper. It can be made from the parts in your standard Tomkah. I've included disassembly and building instructions.

Don't mess things up too bad while I'm gone.

Krell

Dear Aye-Aye,

Liara's moving soon. If you don't tell her now you probably won't be able to tell her later. If you don't do it yourself I'm telling Shiala about her half-sister next time I see her. They've already met.

Love,

Krell

2185 CE

I caught Shepard staring at a picture of Liara when I entered her room. 'Okay Shepard, we can all live through this thing if you choose the right people. So I'm gonna walk you through this. People who are dedicated to the mission will survive where people who aren't dedicated can't. There are a couple different times when you're gonna have to assign a specialist, or have someone lead your B team. We're gonna be guiding a specialist through a thermal vent. They're going to need to fit and know electronics well. They also need to be used to getting into tight spaces or ship repair type stuff. That's gonna be Legion, Tali or Kasumi. Now, your leader types are gonna be people who can lead a squad. You'll want practiced leaders, like Miranda, or better yet, Garrus.'

'Or you?' Shepard proposed.

'I... Yeah, probably, now that I think about it. But those two I'm certain will come through. We're going to need a biotic field to protect us against the Collectors' seeker swarms. And someone like Miranda or Jacob isn't going to cut it. You need someone like Jack or Samara.' I explained.

'Why not both?' Shepard countered.

'Both then. And another B team. That's Garrus or Miranda--'

'Or you.'

'Or me, again.' I agreed.

I didn't actually remember much about how the mechanics worked. I'd never actually bothered learning. I remembered Tali, or Legion, and Miranda or Garrus for leaders, and I knew Jack could get Shepard through the swarm just fine. But I didn't remember any of the mechanics of how the thing worked. What caused what. The only thing I remembered was that if you didn't have enough strength holding the line? Thane or Mordin would die. That was unacceptable. Mordin couldn't die until he'd at least taught the opening class at the University of Tuchanka.

Something needed to be done. The final problem was one of combat strength. At least that's the way it was presented in the games themselves. too weak an array of combatants and they wouldn't be able to hold the line. The solution then was simple. Cheat, and add not just one, but two combatants. Myself, and Commander Kaidan Alenko.

'There might be some of the Horizon colonists left. If we can save them then you're going to need to send someone with them to ensure they survive. Don't know anything about who to send on that. Finally you'll need a team to hold the line against the Collectors while you fight a half assembled Human Reaper, on foot. That means you want your biggest, beefiest people, like Garrus, Grunt and me protecting your ass while you and your squad fight it. Two squad mates is gonna be your limit here. any more and we all die. Even two is cutting it close.'

'Anything else?' Shepard asked.

'Yeah. The mission on Aratoht. In case I don't make it out of here.'

I took a deep breath, steeling myself.

'Okay. Here's how I know this used to go, before Kaidan: Hackett asks you to rescue a friend of his. A scientist named Amanda Kenson who was studying a Reaper tech artifact in an asteroid near Arahtot. She's being tortured by Batarians who think, correctly, that she's part of a secret Alliance black ops operation in the region. They want to know where their base is and what they're doing. You rescue her and she brings you back to her base where you realize that they've been studying unshielded Reaper tech and are all indoctrinated.'

'Wouldn't I detect that with my indoctrination scanning software in my helmet?' Shepard asked.

'Good question. I don't know. This was before I interfered on Illos and got us that software.'

'And you can't see the ripples after you interfered. Right. So... I didn't think to ask about indoctrination detection software without you? Vigil definitely had some since he mentioned we weren't indoctrinated.' Shepard asked.

'You were also in more of a hurry. Without me you'd need to get the cipher off of Feros first. You'd have arrived after him. You were probably trying to get there as quickly as possible.' I explained.

'Right. That makes sense.' Shepard nodded, clearly cursing herself for her own stupidity.

'Right. So you realize they're indoctrinated. Kenson reveals that the relay in that region is the Alpha Relay and that even with the Citadel blocking them, they can still use the Alpha Relay; allowing them access to the relay network in dark space and giving them the ability to attack at any time. She then reveals that the Reapers are arriving in like, an hour. They attack you and either you win, which is great, or you lose and wake up in the med bay and have to fight your way to your stuff and the controls.'

'Now, here's where the problem is. Arahtot, as you know, is a thriving colony with over a million people; and the only way to buy us more time to prepare against the Reapers is to slam an asteroid into the Mass Relay. This is known in most circumstances as a very bad idea. Doing so will basically destroy that entire solar system; but it will also buy us an additional 6 months to prepare against the Reapers. Finally, I have it down in my calendar as 'Relay Explosion' and it's the final definitive date before the Reapers attack. Should kick people into high gear.'

'Well this is a shitty position to be in.' Shepard groused.

'Feel free to warn your fellow Spectre, but I don't know whether can warn the Batarians that are left. The only way they can evacuate is by using the relay before it explodes, which means that if you give them the ability to escape you also give them the ability to try stop you and doom the galaxy to the Reapers six months early. We've changed enough that I have no idea whether we can afford to risk it or not. So you're going to have to make that call. Just remember that the galaxy literally cannot afford you dying. You in particular, I mean. '

'You know, before we met I wouldn't have even needed a second thought for this.' Shepard admitted.

'You've changed a lot since then. Almost all for the better.' I admitted.

'Almost?' Shepard arched her eyebrow.

'Well you did manage to die that one time...' I teased.

'I'll try not to die again any time soon.' Shepard joked back.

My mirth fled. 'Don't make promises you have no intention of upholding, Shepard.'

Shepard must have seen something in my eyes, because she stopped joking too.

'Right. I'll keep that in mind. Anything else?' Shepard asked.

'Not that I can remember. Once this mission's done, Kaidan and I need to be off the ship and back to Earth. After that I'm following my Granddaughter, which probably means I'll see you when the Reapers return.'

'It's a date.' Shepard agreed as I headed out the door.

I shot a grin back at her, over my shoulder before the automatic door cut off all sight of her.

It was finally time for the suicide mission.

Author's Notes: Like the title says. It's the Final Countdown (of ME2).