AN: This one was a bit wordy but I wanted to give a bit more back story. I have a lot of ideas about the years between Voldemort dying and the current date, and if I'd written them into the prologue it would have been twice as long. As it is this chapter was longer than I was expecting, and it was kind of awkward writing it. You'll see why as you read it. I'm walking a fine line between sticking to canon and coming up with my own bullshit. Also I'm trying to continue writing this while updating my other two stories at the same time, purely because I'm bored and want to see if I can keep three canons going together at once.
Chapter 3
"Yeah we used to burn petroleum to get around you can imagine what that did to our atmosphere. We still have drones circling the Earth scrubbing CO2 out of the air." Harry stated.
"Fascinating. My people did much the same, and it was worse when we discovered nuclear power. The polar region of Thessia is still dangerously radioactive from all the waste we dumped there." Liara commented. Over the past few days, stuck aboard the luxurious but relatively small cruiser with Harry, she had rapidly grown comfortable in his presence. At first she'd been concerned that he'd simply want from her what most men tended to look for in Asari, but when he didn't make a move she was able to relax. She was fascinated by him, and the unique perspective he had, having lived through so much.
"That changed after the war though. Oil supplies were drying up, all the wells that caught on fire didn't help." Harry said
"You mean the wizard war?" Liara asked. Harry shook his head.
"No the third World War." Harry said.
"I haven't had a chance to read into that. What happened?" Liara asked, almost salivating at the chance to absorb more knowledge.
"It's a pattern you've probably seen in your own history, and definitely in the Turian and Krogan histories. Population exploded, resources waned, territorial disputes started happening all over the world. The difference this time was that during the course of the European war, the secret of magic was revealed and that threw the world into chaos. For a while it as a war of muggles vs wizards, but then Russia started firing off nuclear weapons. After the Voldemort war, the magical population of Russia dropped dramatically and quickly, thanks to economic and resource problems. When Russia realized that all of its opponents had more magical resources, they panicked and took the nuclear option. The Russian military overthrew their president but by then the damage was done. The response to Russia's nuclear attack was swift and brutal, half of the country became uninhabitable. With them out of the way the rest of the countries were at each other's throats, and now they were fighting with magically augmented conventional militaries." Harry said, taking a sip from his water.
"How did magic affect combat?" Liara asked. Harry sighed.
"Liara it was awful. With magical healers bullet wounds were meaningless, a soldier could catch a bullet in the throat then be back up and charging the enemy's lines again in minutes. To get around this we used cursed bullets that would create injuries that resisted healing. In response to that advanced magically-infused armor was developed, and it kept escalating. The fighting was atrocious, it almost would have been better if the conflict had escalated to global thermonuclear war. For twenty six years, every day was a gift. You never knew when you'd be crushed by war machines, shot with cursed bullets, blown apart by a reductor curse." Harry said.
"Goddess.." Liara said.
"In the end, what stopped it was the famine. Magic can't conjure food, and all sides, both magical and muggle were starving to death. Billions died. Eventually the war ended because we all refused or were too weak to continue fighting, and our leaders were forced at gunpoint by their own soldiers to the negotiation table. After the peace treaties were signed, cleanup and recovery took decades. Earth still bears the scars of that war even though it ended over a hundred years ago." Harry said, leaning back in his chair.
"What stopped it from happening again?" Liara asked, intrigued.
"I think it's because we redirected our energy. We're a restless race, kind of like the Salarians. We have an inherent need to keep moving, and until the war we had focused that energy inward. After, we started pouring what extra resources we could into the space programs, and started exploring our system again. Everyone back home would constantly be watching the news to see what new things we discovered on the other planets. There was a lot of excitement when we found the Prothean archives on Mars, and when Charon disintegrated and revealed the relay... it was nuts. Everyone contributed to expansion of technology and exploration, we almost became single-minded about it. We also discovered about thirty years after the war that the magical population was exploding. Before there was roughly a 1 in 100,000 chance of a child born to muggles to be magical. Now roughly half of Human children are born with magic." Harry said. He was stopped from continuing when a notification on his ship's controls pinged.
"Looks like we're at the relay." Harry said, punching in some commands to his screen which caused the ship to approach and send the activation sequence to the relay. The ship shuddered as it entered hyperspace.
"We've got an hour to kill. So what's Thessia like?" Harry asked. Liara shrugged
"I grew up in Armali and left as soon as I got through college. I know the history but I haven't visited a lot of it." Liara asked. Harry frowned, but then got a wonderful idea.
"Ok then, new tactic. What can you tell me about the Prothean Empire?" Harry asked. Liara's eyes widened and she went into lecture mode, spending the next three hours regaling Harry with the knowledge she'd acquired in her archaeological digs. Most of it Harry already knew, but he was happy to see the maiden so excited. They both leapt and Liara shrieked when they were interrupted by a brilliant explosion of fire appeared between them.
They'd both brought their arms up to protect themselves, but Harry recovered first, realizing that the fire wasn't harming him.
"Liara, I think it's safe." Harry said, blinking to adjust himself to the bright light.
"Goddess, what was... Harry? What is that?" Liara asked, gesturing to Harry's shoulder.
"Huh?" Harry said, articulately looking to his right. He heard a happy trill of bird song as recognition dawned in Harry's eyes.
"Fawkes?!" Harry said incredulously.
*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*
"We'll see to it that he receives a proper burial, but right now I need you focused." Shepard said to Kaidan Alenko who was accompanying her on the surface of Eden Prime.
"Aye aye ma'am." Alenko said, falling in behind Shepard as they made their way across Eden Prime. Guilt stabbed at Shepard's heart but she stifled it ruthlessly. There would be time for self-doubt later.
"What the fuck is that?" Alenko asked, pointing at a soldier running for cover, throwing herself to the ground and firing at a pair of drones behind her. Once the drones were down she stood up and Shepard and Kaidan joined her just in time to watch a Geth impaling a colonist on what looked like a giant retractable spike.
"Kaidan Take them down!" Shepard shouted before withdrawing her wand and aiming it at the impaled human. She cast a wordless levitation charm and gently lifted him off the spike and lowered him to the ground. She rushed to him and sighed when she felt for a pulse and found nothing.
"Fuck!" Shepard shouted.
"Targets down Ma'am." Kaidan reported.
"Good work. You, Marine, what's your name?" Shepard asked, standing and approaching. The soldier stood up straight and saluted.
"Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams, Ma'am." Ashley reported.
"Are you hurt?" Shepard asked.
"A few burns and scratches, nothing major." Ashley reported.
"Where's your unit?" Shepard asked.
"I'm all that's left." Ashley said, looking down.
"Sorry to hear that, but now's not the time. For now you're with me. We're looking for a Turian Specter." Shepard said.
"Yes ma'am." Ashley said, checking her weapon. They started to walk away but stopped when they heard a low, mechanically distorted moan behind them. They turned, and to their horror they saw the dead colonist, whose skin was turning black before them get to his feet and start shambling towards them.
"What the fuck?" Kaidan shouted. Shepard wordlessly brought it down with her rifle. They stood there for a moment to see if he would get back up, he did not.
"We'll process that later." Shepard said.
"Lieutenant Commander, look!' Ashley said, pointing up to a hill above them. There were a set of prefab dwellings, one of which displayed the tell-tale red glow of a locked door.
*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*
A few kilometers away, Nihlus was sprinting between covered areas, firing at Geth when he couldn't evade them. Stealth had always been his favored weapon. He greatly admired his mentor, Saren, but while he never voiced it, he did not approve of his methods some times. Why slaughter a group of people when you could just as easily sneak around them? His musing was interrupted when he watched a dead human slide off of a retracted spike and start shambling towards him.
"Spirits..." Nihlus said before raising his pistol and bringing it down.
"What horrors are the Geth up to now?" Nihlus said. He continued towards where he expected the Beacon to be, and crouched behind a pile of boxes after hearing movement ahead of him. He carefully popped his head over and saw Saren milling about. Nihlus was wary, though. Saren's body appeared to be heavily modified. At first he thought it was a new style of armor but the closer he looked, the closer he could see hoses and wires mingling deep into the Turian's body.
Reaching into a pouch on his belt, he withdrew a small cube and attached it to the box in front of him, activating it with his omnitool. He looked down at the projected screen and quietly spoke.
"Shepard if you're reading this, something has gone terribly wrong. Saren Arterius, a council specter and my mentor is here, but he looks off. He seems to be mechanically augmented. I wasn't aware he'd had any modifications done, and he's pacing back and forth, something I've never seen him do. I'm going to approach him. If something goes wrong take this cube back to the council." Nihlus said, before standing and announcing his presence.
"Saren.. This isn't your mission." Nihlus said.
"Nihlus, the Council thought you could use some help here." Saren said
"I didn't expect to see the Geth here... The situation's bad." Nihlus said.
"Don't worry, I've got it under control..." Saren said before raising his sidearm and firing. Nihlus nimbly dodged the shot, swinging around and kicking at Saren who evaded it easily.
"What is the meaning of this?" Nihlus asked. Saren responded by raising his weapon again, firing several times. One bullet caught Nihlus in the side, and he staggered away, finding cover behind some boxes.
"You won't get away with this Saren. Whatever it is you're doing, someone will stop you." Nihlus said, grimacing as he looked down at the copious amount of blood leaking out of him.
"Someone like... that pathetic human who thinks she can be a specter?" Saren asked, firing repeatedly in the direction he'd heard Nihlus speak from. Nihlus winced as he caught a glancing shot on one of his crests but said nothing. He maneuvered slowly, trying to find a way to get to safety.
"I think you'll be surprised Saren. These Humans aren't so different from us. They fight with honor." Nihlus said, popping up and firing repeatedly at Saren who moved unnaturally fast out of the way, and out of sight. Nihlus groaned as he shifted his weight and ran with his head down to another position. He saw stars as the butt of a pistol collided with the base of his skull and he was sent sprawling to the floor. He looked up, struggling to focus to see his mentor standing above him.
"They are nothing. Especially in comparison to what is coming." Saren said, lowering the pistol to Saren's head.
"What are you talking ab-" Nihlus said but was interrupted as Saren splattered his brain all over the ground underneath him. Saren turned, entirely unconcerned and walked towards the Beacon, scratching his chin.
*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*
"Was that necessary, LC?" Ashley asked.
"He was losing it, and we don't need Geth finding them because he can't shut his mouth." Shepard said, as they walked away from the prefab. They eventually found what looked like a loading area, there were boxes and crates stacked all over, and Jane immediately noticed a small cube sitting conspicuously atop a box. She was connecting to it with her omnitool when she heard Kaidan shouting.
"Shepard, over here!" Kaidan said. Jane ran over and stared down in shock at Nihlus.
"Is that the Specter you mentioned?" Ashley asked. Jane nodded
"What happened?" Jane asked. She looked again at the cube and connected to it, watching the message Nihlus had left her as well as the video feed of his confrontation with Saren.
"Damn. This is bad. They went this way!" Shepard shouted, before standing and running towards the tram. When they arrived, after fighting off several Geth, Ashley detected the presence of several explosive devices. Ashley and Shepard were able to make quick work of them with banishing charms, so they continued down until they encountered a tall, strange looking obelisk, with several glowing green lights along its surface.
"Shepard to Normandy. We found the beacon, prepare for pickup." Shepard said into her communicator.
"What is that..." Ashley asked, yelling as the beacon grabbed a hold of her, and dragged her towards it.
"Williams!" Jane shouted, running over and shoving her out of the way, only to be snagged in the Beacon's grip.
"Fuck... I can't move. STAY BACK!" Jane shouted as she noticed Kaidan approaching to help. Jane pulled out her wand and tried every spell she could think of to stop herself from moving closer, but curiously none worked.
"Fuck... Harry... I don't know what to do..." She said, getting dangerously close. She felt the wand heat up in her hand and it started to glow brightly before a burst of warm, but not hot, flame appeared next to Kaidan and Ashley. When the flames died down, Harry stepped forward with Liara close behind him, just in time to watch the beacon explode and Jane collapse to the ground.
