Into the Howling Dark

by long night of solace

Hundreds of millions of years ago, Humanity, Forerunners and the SanShyuum, the tier-1 species protected the galaxy. But the peace never lasted as the threat of flood and the reapers brought the Milkyway to the edge of extinction. Now the warriors of the past needs to guide the future galaxy and stop history from repeating itself.

9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I don't own Halo or Mass Effect franchise

Author's notes: I see everyone's enjoying the story, but few have issues with retelling the Mass effect game and I totally get it. But it was intentional to keep it that way till the old factions fully reveal themselves. From there, the story will take its own turn and go in a different direction. It won't be following the games, not entirely.
Hope you enjoy the next chapter.

Chapter 9: Ghosts of the past

Location: Human Shield world - Iridescent,
Lambda-Gemini system.

Matriarch Benezia has been through a roller coaster ride ever since she made her way towards the unknown since Noveria. After that, its been one storm after another that she totally lost the perception of time. But in reality, its been 8 days since she made her way to the Halo installation, getting treated, talking with an ancient forerunner ancilla, learning more about the galaxy's grim and distant past, the truth about the reapers, finally making her way to an ancient human artificial world that houses a pocket dimension filled with a dyson sphere.

She came from a world where her people thinks they are the apex species in the galaxy and that they rule the cosmos. But little do they know that all they have seen is just 10% of the known galactic space. Learning about Forerunners, Ancient Humanity etc., were all both eye opening and jaw dropping at the same time.

Now she has seen a planet sized ring built by Forerunners and currently, stands on the surface of a world built by humans, a feat of astro-engineering she has never even heard of, even from her favorite Protheans.

"Follow me into the facility" Cortana said, a contender class human AI built during the final war with the flood and reapers, helping humanity and its allies fight through the hordes of these enemies for a century before the great purification was initiated. Benezia has acquainted with 2 AI in just 8 days which is much more than what she had seen after the quarian-geth war.

"Wait, wait for me!" Benezia said as she jogged towards the AI. Cortana vanished as the Asari reached a door. It immediately hissed and opened in 4 fragments which gave view to the facility's hall from the entrance. She was flabbergasted at the sight of the technologies she saw. She slowly made her way inside stumbling as he leg felt weak, not because she slipped or felt tired, but the sheer majesty of the hall itself.

"Unbelievable!" Benezia said as she looked around the machinery, energy pillars, hardlight holograms, panels and displays. There were also robotic drones looking different from the sentinels she encountered on Halo, floating and moving around what she assumed as routine check.

"Why do you keep saying that?" Cortana's hardlight form popped up as she worked on a holo terminal without making eye contact with her.

"No one in the current galaxy will believe me if I told them that humanity built this place" Benezia said still trying to keep her composure intact.

"I just accessed that primitive computer of yours which you call omni-tool. I downloaded your galactic codex. Its a bit-...disappointing. Every one including the current humans are using the mass relays. Its clearly a reaper tech since they started to show up at the same time they arrived in the galaxy the second time, with the flood. Though I have never seen this Citadel in my time, neither did anyone in the galaxy" Cortana said rubbing her chin.

"Wait, you hacked my omni-tool? When did you do that?" Benezia asked surprised. She was also wary about an AI hacking into her computer.

"The moment we met. It took me 10 microseconds to hack and download all the data and go through them" Cortana replied with a chuckle. Benezia was stunned in silence as this was no easy feat according to her.

"I can't believe it! I don't like an AI hacking into my systems!" Benezia chided Cortana which she didn't mind.

"No wonder, your people hate the AIs. After this Quarian-geth war, your council banned the use of AI permanently. Seriously!? This is such a primitive move. Huh, this galaxy is so screwed up if you face the Reapers alone" Cortana said which shut Benezia up as she was loss of words.

"Are you saying, back in your time, your people never had war between organics and synthetics?" Benezia asked curiously.

"Yes. Besides every species treated the AIs as family. They are individual beings with a mind of their own. Huh, its gonna be so much fun, when you get a chance to meet Offensive Bias" Cortana replied.

"What is Offensive Bias?" Benezia asked adding more to the current mysteries.

"A similar contender class AI built by the Forerunners. He is not much talkative like me. He was made for pure warfare. But he would definitely have more 'nicer' words about the current state of the galaxy" Cortana said with enthusiasm. But Benezia didn't like it as the knowledge of a similar powerful AI existing elsewhere made her stomach churn in fear.

"But lets talk about this Citadel. I see your species, the Asari along with Turians and these Salarians form the galactic council that passes the law. Did these Protheans you revere so much built them?" Cortana asked as there was no information related to the Citadel even from their own records.

"Maybe just the Citadel alone was built by the Protheans after all, even if not the relays. That could be the only explanation" Benezia said as she too was only assuming things. Learning the fact that Mass relays were not prothean engineering and that its a Reaper tech was alone enough to throw her out of loop and she hasn't reeled from that thought yet. If the Citadel turned out to be not Prothean, that would drive her crazy.

"Maybe-...but that remains to be seen. I could come there one day and learn about it. But right now, I have few mins of work here before we move to the hibernation facility" Cortana said as she manipulated the hardlight displays around her, working to bring the facility's network and other systems online.

"This flood you mentioned about, I have also heard 343 Guilty Spark mention the same multiple times. What are they exactly?" Benezia asked as she decided to talk to spend the rest of the available time here. Cortana paused for a moment to turn and look at her halfway to the left side before continuing her work. Her face was serious.

"They-...*SIGH*-...are a parasite of unknown origins. Before the war started, a long time ago, some mysterious cargo vessels containing canisters of organic dust crashed onto a remote human colony in the rim. Every life form including the humans and the sanshyuum allies who lived there were exposed to the dust, but nothing happened initially. The scientists who learned of this incident took samples of that dust to a research facility deep in human space to study them. But little did they know, that dust was manipulating the genetics of the life forms. It took centuries to note some strange behavior among them. Both humans and the wildlife suddenly started acting more aggressive, violent" Cortana explained as she recalled the incidents live from the data in her memory banks. Benezia was curiously listening to that, oblivious to the fact she wasn't ready for the next part.

"A millennia later, the exposed lifeforms started showing signs of visible mutation like extra growth in arms, limbs and bodies. Soon, the animals and humans started turning to cannibalism. This made the infection to spread much faster. Initially, the human military forces were killing them planet by planet. But it was-...too late. They didn't realize back then that this infection already spread through air, water and physical contact. By the time, we realized, it was too late-...the infection spread too fast and turned this biological contamination into an all out war against them. The parasite consumed a planet after planet full of life and turned them into flood biomass. This biomass gave them more neural processing power, a hive mentality that boosted their intelligence. At that point, all of humanity and their allies were at war with the flood. Then the Reapers came all of a sudden attacking other less advanced civilizations. But we pushed back. They were gone. Then a century later, the flood returned and this time, it had the reapers under its control making things worse for us. So the forerunners decided to pull the trigger on the biggest array of weapons in the galaxy to finish this fight once and for all" Cortana explained and Benezia who was horrified at the story while listening to her understood what she was referring to.

"The Halos. 343 Guilty Spark mentioned something about the great purification. I assume this was it" Benezia said to which Cortana nodded.

"By the goddess! This is too much! I curse myself for straying from my path. I shouldn't have found the Halo, this Shield world-...YOU!" Benezia spoke angrily as these were too much of unknown information and she couldn't fathom the things she learned so far. Cortana nodded in disappointment.

"And then what? Let the Reapers invade the galaxy again? Trust me, none of you are ready to face them. I see the ships, weapons, armors used, the defenses every species use, none of them are capable of killing a Reaper. If they return, the whole galaxy is as good as dead. Is that what you want?" Cortana rebuked at Benezia's rant.

Though, she only felt pity for the Asari. Its not her fault she feels that way. Cortana didn't reveal everything about their war as it would demoralize the asari so much. She learned from the codex that the current civilizations know very little about the Milkyway and the only things they know is that the Protheans had a great influence in shaping their society. Not sure if that was for good or bad in her opinion.

"Pull yourself together, Benezia! You came at the right time when you did. The threads of cosmic fate are never wrong as it intertwines on an individual. Now, you will be the harbinger of our arrival" Cortana said as she motivated the Asari. Benezia was a bit surprised with what she said, about fate like a sentient being would. This was the moment, she wasn't talking to an ordinary AI, like the geth. Back when she was indoctrinated, her focus was only on helping Saren and the Reapers. But, now being free of that bond, she feels overwhelmed.

"I apologize Cortana. I have lived a millennia with worlds of experience. Yet, I haven't even scratched the surface. A matriarch among my people were considered the wisest and the most powerful. But, after everything I've seen, I've heard, I understand that even at this moment, the learning process has never stopped. I now wish to learn everything about the past" Benezia said as she calmed herself. Cortana let a warm smile as she was happy to see that the asari has finally regained her conscience.

"I will, like I said. You will gain access to our codex. But be warned, not everything is for the learning. Some things we have seen in our time, we do not even wish it upon our enemies. Knowledge can be a very powerful weapon or it can be a bane. Our past rattles even the strongest of minds. So, learn at your own discretion" Cortana said as her voice expressed seriousness. Benezia was wondering what she meant by those words. She asked herself, could it be that worse as this AI claimed.

"I understand, Cortana" Benezia said with a nod. Cortana then took a small spherical ball, that fits a palm. She then handed it over to benezia.

"This holo-sphere contains everything you need to know. Now follow me. I have brought the main systems online. Lets head to the hibernation chamber" Cortana said as she walked towards another door in the other side of the hall. Benezia followed her. Cortana opened the door and it led to a narrow bridge. They both walked over the bridge and Benezia peeked beneath the bridge only to find an endless chasm which created a vertigo as she only expected to find another room, not an endless void with a bridge in a middle. This place truly intrigued her.

As they reached the end of the bridge, a door opened and they reached another facility. Benezia's eyes widened as she saw multiple huge pods in inclined direction. Each pod was like 10 feet tall. It was fully sealed, had dark silvered metallic texture and opaque, meaning she can't see what's inside. She saw the same drones moving here and there with multiple of holograms running some kind of program that had the projections of the same pods.

"Is this the hibernation facility? Are these pods-..." Benezia asked feeling awestruck at the sight of the structures.

"Yes, human entropy chambers. The survivors here are in temporal stasis" Cortana replied as she walked near one of the capsule and popped up a hologram in front. Benezia curiously looked at the capsule and it had the numbers 117.

"I have been meaning to ask you. You speak the present human language, these numbers are how humans write it. You also referred a term that is commonly used in human history, the Spartans. How did you know all that?" Benezia asked which made Cortana chuckle.

"We came first, Benezia. Remember? The present humanity is basically our descendants. Everything they have now came from us, the culture, the language. Its not the other way around. The genetic memories carried on to them that governed human evolution. But their advancements no longer follow our path. To be honest, we never expected our kind to show up after 480 million years, rather we expected life, taking other different shapes and forms" Cortana said as she pressed a few buttons in the hologram and activated the wake up sequence.

"So this chamber has this Spartan-117, you mentioned?" Benezia asked as Cortana gave a nod in acknowledgement. The entropy chamber hummed in response, with power as Cortana and Benezia eagerly gazed at the capsule.

...

Away from the darkness, stepping into the light, many images of life that was lived moved very vividly, as the echoes surrounded that gave voice to this lucid dream.

"You have been called upon to serve no just humanity, but for every life in the galaxy. The Forerunners and the Flood are a grave threat. You, the Spartans are the only force that stands between survival and the peace"

**break**

"Sir, Didact's promethean fleet is headed towards the Heian stronghold. But Flood is pushing its forces towards the human-sanshyuum space. What can we do now?"
"We will fight on both ends. This is what we've been doing for 4 centuries"

**break**

"Your kind needs to learn its place, Spartan! You are threat to the mantle! Humanity brought this sickness into this galaxy and now you have the galls to invade our territory? This transgression will be ended by my hands!"

**break**

"Great! Now these strange machines popped out of nowhere as if we don't have enough trouble already. Where do they even come from!?"
"Not sure. But we know what we have to do"
"You don't say, Commander!"

**break**

"Doctor Halsey, based on the communication interception, one word keeps repeating itself. 'REAPER'. These machines are attacking other species across the galaxy. They move through space at FTL speed by creating a mass free space around them"
"Hmm, interesting. How are we holding up?"
"Our forces along with the Forerunners, Covenant and the Sanshyuum are engaged in a 2 front war. The flood and these Reapers. Our intel already suggests the existense of a flood hive, a gravemind , somewhere in the galaxy"

**break**

"The Flood has returned and this time, they have those Reaper machines under their control. Not sure how that happened"
"Does it even matter, son!? They will all die the same!"

**break**

"The Criterion has approved the creation of Halo array. The Builder rates will start the construction tomorrow. The Flood and their Reaper pets have grown more bold now with the ancient precursor technology in their control. They have turned the very fabric of reality against us"
"Understood, Grand Edict. But how can the Flood even control Precursor technology!? This doesn't make sense!"
"Does it even matter, Lord of Admirals Terrance Hood? The only way to stop them is to remove the very essence of life, including the flood and reapers themselves. Any lifeform with sufficient neurological complexity will be dissolved"
"What about you Spartan-117? Do you and your warrior-servants agree on this plan?"
"We do, Didact. If the Forerunner Lifeworkers can help with conservation measures, they all can be moved into our dyson sphere to escape the Halo's pulse"
"Then, our SanShyuum fleet along with the Arbiter's covenant forces will keep up the pressure on the flood and the reapers in the delta quadrant until evacuations are complete"
"Me and my Kaidons will be more than happy to lend our blades against those vile beasts and the machines. The covenant will be ready for deployment on demand"
"So will the UNSC and forerunner fleet, Arbiter, Minister. Offensive Bias and Cortana will oversee the mobilization"
"Sierra-117, What is your next step?"
"Finishing this fight, Sir"

**break**

"This fight has taken everything from us. But we never stopped. Now that this war is over, life will flourish across the galaxy once again. I still don't know if the Flood and the Reapers are gone for good"
"Keep an eye out, Cortana. We will never know"
"It will be a long time until an organic being finds us. You know that right? I will miss you, barbarian!"
"Wake me-...when you need me"

**break**

...

Spartan John-117, commander of the UNSC Naval Special warfare, ancient humanity's celebrated hero slowly opened his eyes as the vision was blurred initially as it slowly cleared to reveal the inner side of the entropy chamber. He just woke up from a dream or more precisely, a real nightmare he went through before going into sleep. As the flow of entropy inside the chamber was halted, time and reality comes to a standstill. Thus for someone in the chamber, no matter how time passes for the outside observer, when they wake, it always feels like only mere seconds have passed. So to John, he felt he went to sleep only a minute ago and the memories of the war were so fresh. He was looking at the capsule's lid as a multi-dimensional scanner moved from his head to heel.

John's breathing was a bit erratic for a minute till he controlled his breath and cleared his mind. He realized he is awake, or rather awakened and he knew who might have done that.

"Cortana" he thought calmly. He tried moving his arms. That mere thought powered his armor and the visor lit up, bringing the HUD. His armor booted up and the visor display was running checks on his vital signs and armor integrity along with the status of its each and every feature. All came as green. The Spartan moved his arms as he could feel the flow of blood in his veins and placed his hands on the surface of the lid. A scanner took a print of his palm and acknowledged. The chamber's lid hissed and opened in 3 fragments to reveal the outside world.

Matriarch Benezia and Cortana watched as the entropy chamber hissed as the lid opened in 3 fragments. When its opened fully, they both saw a huge towering armored figure moving its arms. Benezia took a couple of steps back, bug eyed and feeling fear holding her in tight grip. This was a feeling she never had, any matriarch ever had for the matter.

The armored figure lifted itself out of the chamber and walked slowly placing its foot on the floor that let a heavy thud. Benezia saw the being was towering around 8 ft, looked big and broad, yet the armor was balanced between being sleek, slender and stocky at the same time, with many fragments of green metal underneath black body suit. The armor looked so advanced that she has never seen a piece of technology like this before, even in her widest dreams. The helmet appeared terrifying, with a design that could instill fear just by looking at it. The golden visor reflected Benezia's own self, it felt like that being was menacingly glaring at her.

"Welcome back to the land of the living, Commander!" Cortana greeted with a smile. The armored being turned to look at the blue skinned alien being and spoke for the first time.

"Identify yourself" it spoke. Benezia felt dumb as she couldn't utter a word due to panic attack. She couldn't move her lips to talk.

"Whoa, easy there Spartan! Her name is Benezia. She belongs to a race called the Asari" Cortana intervened quickly to prevent the Spartan from doing anything rash.

The Spartan was confused as he had never heard of this species name. But then, he realized he doesn't know how much time passed before he was awakened.

"How much time has passed?" he asked to which Cortana sighed.

"Its been 480 million years Commander. Benezia is the first organic to find us here in the shield world" Cortana explained. John was a bit stunned at the answer. He didn't expect to be breathing again, hundreds of millions of years into future. He understood, a lot could have changed in that time, several new species would have already rose and fell through the wheel of time. But there was one question in his mind.

"Why did you wake me?" the Spartan asked. Benezia found this Spartan's voice to be both calm, soothing and terrifying at the same time.

"Because, our old enemies have decided to show up. A Reaper is strolling across the stars and we need your help to kill it, Commander" Cortana answered as she brought the 3-D hologram of sovereign in the air between them. The image immediately triggered memory flow of the war with the flood and the reapers, flushing his mind. The wars he fought for a thousand years.

"What about the others?" the Spartan asked.

"Well, I need to check on them. Our UNSC, Covenant, Sanshyuum and Forerunner friends requires thorough medical checks as some of them entered the stasis with injuries and health hazards. I will keep you updated on that" Cortana responded to which the Spartan nodded.

"What is your name though? I know Spartan is just a term to refer you" Benezia asked.

"That is classified. You said a reaper is out there. But this ship doesn't show signs of flood infection" the Spartan said as he walked towards a hardlight terminal to pop up an array of hologram to establish connection with the deep space slipstream probes to check the status of the galaxy. Benezia was quite taken back by his stoic polite response.

"I am trying to connect with Charum Hakkor's HQ to run a perimeter scan along the galactic rim, into Path kethona, even the margins of the Andromeda where we still have our outposts, to check for the flood's entry. But you need to hunt this reaper before it makes any move to bring its friends along. Commander, there is one more thing. Humans also exist in the present day." Cortana said which made John stop working the hologram as he turned his head halfway to the right, though he didn't say a word. But internally, John felt a bit anxious and excited to meet the descendants of a race that was once a Tier-1 society. But he continued working with the console in silence as it displayed the connection status of the DS slipstream probes. He then turned to face them.

"What else can you tell me?" the Spartan asked in his grim stoic tone.

"Well, long story short? This galaxy is a much different place than the ones we left behind except a few things. But the presence of one Reaper makes me wonder if there are others too and the flood-...Judging by my calculations, nothing has changed over the times when we went into slumber. The Reapers and flood must have waited for us to go under the radar so that they can come back and continue their cycle of harvest" Cortana answered.

That was when the console beeped and the Spartan turned to look at the display which then popped up several key worlds, some of which were once occupied by the pre-historic species and some newly occupied. The spartan saw the genetic information of every species available, which the probes could pick up. But this is not enough. He needed to understand why the Reapers were not stopped in the last 480 million years. What happened in the mean time and how did the machines survive? What happened to the distress beacon they dropped and why was it not found before? So many questions with no answers. This galaxy was once again flourishing with life and that is all that the Spartan needed to understand what his next mission is, to protect them from the reapers and the flood threat. Now he has a chance to kill/capture a Reaper ship to get answers to his questions.

"Is there a ship online right now I can use?" the Spartan asked.

"I knew you would ask that, so already made preparations. A dawn class destroyer, 'UNSC Vengeance' in a dock, 100,000 miles north east. I will check the other ships and work on bringing them online" Cortana said as she brought a 3-D hologram of the ship in the air between the 3, as it appeared as multiple fragments and then assembled into a single ship that read out the design specifications.

UNSC Vengeance:
Specifications: 5kms long, 1.5kms wide and 1.2kms tall, molecularly engineered Titanium-Iridium degenerate alloy hull, positronic barrier shielding.
Propulsion: 1 primary and 2 secondary quasar engine
Translight engine: Human slipstream drive
Power source: Anti-matter fusion core.
Armament: Point defense laser cannons, plasma accelerators, Matter disintegration beam projector (Fibril cutter)

"Unbelievable! This ship looks majestic at 5 kilometers in length yet this is only a destroyer class!? No one can make a ship that big without burning millions and millions of tons of element zero. Fortunately, I take it you don't use the element zero at all?" Benezia asked awestruck at the design of the ship. The ship appeared wholly alien, with no match to the designs of current human vessels.

"Huh, our biggest ships are Titan class carriers at 20kms. The most powerful ones too" Cortana said casually as Benezia shook her head in disbelief and tried so hard not to get things over her head.

"Good, prep the ship. I am going for a ride" the Spartan said as he raised his left forearm and activated a holo projector. Then he pressed a button to activate all the armor modules, into battle ready mode.

"Aye aye commander" Cortana said as she sent a few command codes.

"What about me? What shall I do?" Benezia asked, now that she has accomplished what she set out to do, well unintentionally.

"You can come with me. Time to hunt this Reaper down" the Spartan said looking at the hologram of Sovereign, to which Benezia glanced at the AI. Cortana nodded in assurance.

"Don't worry. He will keep you safe. As long as the commander is with you, you needn't worry about anything at all" Cortana said with a smile. This somehow boosted her confidence even though she was wary of everything around her. She felt a calm, a feeling that everything is going to be alright.

"Thank you Cortana" Benezia said with nod.

"Anything else before you leave Spartan?" Cortana asked turned to look at the towering armored being. The Spartan paused for a second and answered.

"I need a weapon" he replied.

...

Meanwhile on Virmire...

Shepard, Garrus and Wrex left the facility that had the prothean beacon. They moved all the way back to the place where they saw Rana Thanoptis. From there, he made his way towards another door in the right that was locked before. But now it appeared damaged.

"Shepard, I am reading multiple hostiles below this path" Wrex said as he watched the scanner.

"Then lets be ready to roll" Shepard replied. The three made their way through the damaged doorway and jogged along the path in the spiraling platform. Once they reached the below level, they turned left.

*BANG* *MULTIPLE GUNSHOTS*

"Open fire!" Shepard barked as they took defensive positions behind barricades. There were krogan units, geth troopers, rocket drones and hoppers too.

"Garrus, snipe the hoppers. Those are pain in the ass. Wrex and I will deal with the others" Shepard said as he loaded his assault rifle. Garrus took out his sniper and aimed at the geth hoppers. Shepard and wrex used their assault rifle to take out the geth drones. They were sending barrage of rockets their way. While aiming for the drones, the other geth and krogan units were firing at them. Shepard raised a biotic barrier and got out of the cover. He then charged forward to the next barricade.

By that time, a drone fired a rocket that exploded near him, sending Shepard rolling.

"Shit!" Shepard cursed as he crawled his way forward and finally reached the barricade. Now he was in the close range. He readied a grenade in his left hand and had the assault rifle ready. He stood up and threw the grenade at the krogan. The grenade exploded sending the krogan back. Shepard used this time to open fire on the drones and destroyed them.

"Nice! Now time to take out the rest" Shepard muttered as he switched to the shotgun and fired at the geth troopers and the krogan. Shepard used biotic push towards the geth troopers which sent two units flying back. Then Shepard fired round after round of his shotgun at the krogan that destroyed his shield and burned his armor, revealing the flesh. Suddenly a sniper bullet came and pierced its head killing it instantly. Shepard turned to see it was Garrus.

Shepard and Wrex then charged towards the remaining geth troopers and killed them in close range with their shotgun.

"Guess, that's all of em. You see that gun above? Thats the geth AA gun. We need to disable it" Shepard said.

"Lets find the controls then" Wrex said and Garrus jogged behind them and spoke.

"Well, I already scoped the control terminal of that AA gun. Follow me" Garrus said as he jogged forward. Shepard and Wrex followed him. They turned left and made their way through a inclined platform and turned left again. They say a huge rotating device with a holo terminal.

"That's the AA gun control!" Shepard said as they moved towards it. Garrus popped open the hologram and ran through the buttons to shut it down. The rotating device lost power as it hummed down and stopped rotating.

"Yes! We did it, the AA gun is down!" Garrus said with a smirk.

"Well, you gotta finish the job, a hundred percent" Wrex said as he pulled out his claymore and shot the generator.

The device crackled with electricity and burst out with fire and smoke. Shepard and Garrus looked at Wrex with their eyebrows raised.

"What!? We don't want someone to turn it on again! Let's move!" Wrex said and suddenly multiple geth hostiles popped down from the sky.

"Damn! Take them all out!" Shepard barked as they couldn't find any cover, so had to rely on their shields and biotics for defense. Then they received a broadcast from Kirrahe.

"Whoa! Commander, whatever you did, it has taken off the heat from our side. We are moving in to blow the AA guns with the charges" Kirrahe said over the comm. Though Shepard didn't respond due to the heat they are receiving in their side.

"Stay close!" Garrus yelled as they stood back to back to back together. Shepard and Wrex pulled up biotic barrier and started to fire their shotgun at the approaching geth units. At point blank range, it only took one round per geth unit. Garrus resorted to assault rifle as he unleashed barrage of rounds that tore through the geth armor. Shepard used biotic lift on 3 geth troopers and fired his shotgun and killed them with his shotgun. Wrex sent an incendiary explosive that exploded and killed 2 troopers. Then he used his claymore to kill the other geth units.

Then suddenly the elevator in their right side opened and 3 geth units came out opening fire.

"Guess, that's our ride! Quick, get in!" Shepard said as he and Wrex charged towards the elevator with a biotic charge that sent the geth units flying and crash onto the wall. Shepard, Garrus and Wrex entered the elevator and closed the door and pressed the button.

"Well, we pissed off the geth so much" Shepard quipped.

"Well, they shouldn't have left the veil in the first place. Somebody forgot to tell them where they belong" Garrus replied. The elevator reached the next level above and the door opened to reveal a huge area with multiple tanks arranged in an array on both left and right side.

"What the hell is this place!?" Wrex asked looking around. They slowly walked along the path filled with water stream. Some tanks have krogans and the remaining were empty.

"So this is Saren's Krogan breeding facility" Garrus surmised.

"The more I look at this, the more my blood boils in rage. Would love to blow this place apart" Wrex said gritting his teeth in anger. He understood Shepard was right about Saren's cure. Its not a cure, its just a way for Saren to keep his kind around like pets.

"Well, that's the plan. Lets keep moving" Shepard said as they walked fast towards the huge blast door.

*BOOM*

They all heard a huge explosion and they turned towards the general direction to see the AA gun was blown to bits by Kirrahe's team.

"Huh, someone had a hell of a field day" Shepard said as he pressed a button in the console. The blast door opened slowly to reveal another open area. The three slowly walked through with their guards up. They saw no hostile forces.

"COMMANDER! YOU MADE IT! HAHAH! Bringing the Normandy to you, hang on!" Joker said over the comms after seeing Shepard in the sensors deep into the facility.

Then they watched the Normandy cruising towards them as they heard the rumbling sound and the air being torn by friction. The Normandy blew past them as it circled around and finally slowly approached them, coming near the ground. Shepard, Garrus and Wrex cleared the area to leave room for the vessel. The Normandy touched down as the landing gear made contact with the surface.

The shuttle bay door opened as the three walked towards it. A crewman along with Kaiden, Tali and Liara dragged the big bomb to the ground.

"So this big baddy is gonna carve a deep hole in this place, huh? Nice" Garrus commented with a grin.

"Is the bomb armed?" Shepard asked.

"No it will-..." Kaiden said before being cut by a broadcast.

Commander! Commander! Come in!" Ashley yelled through the comm and there was heavy gun fire.

"Ashley! Where are you? What's the status!?" Shepard asked with much concern.

"The geth, they have us pinned down here. COVER THE RIGHT FLANK! *MULTIPLE GUN SHOTS*"

"Damn it! Hang on, I am sending reinforcements your way!" Shepard said.

"Negative commander! The enemy has got us pinned down near the AA tower. You have to get the hell outta here! We'll never make it to the Rendezvous point on time" Ashley replied which made Shepard and the others tensed.

"Don't be stupid Ash! I am sending forces there!" Shepard said as he started to walk back and forth in tense.

"No Commander! Set the nuke and blow this place up. *SIGH* We know what we all signed up for-..*STATIC*" Ashley said as the line went static.

"Ashley!? Ashley!?" Shepard called out only to receive silence.

"Shepard, I can go and help Ashley. You take care of the bomb" Wrex said as Shepard was thinking fast rolling eyes in tense to come up with a strategy. That's when they all saw another geth drop ship flying over Ashley's position. An idea immediately sparked in Shepard's mind.

"Yes-...YES! The geth dropship! Tali, if you are in close proximity to a geth dropship, can you hack its systems and take control?" Shepard asked.

"I can try Shepard, but no guarantee" Tali replied as she understood where he was coming from.

"That's good enough. Tali, Wrex, Rendezvous with Ashley. When you thin the geth numbers, another geth dropship would definitely show up. Tali, you need to hack it and use it to get Ashley and others out of the place. We will meet in the Normandy" Shepard said. He wasn't ready to let anyone die on his watch. So he came up with a plan with no idea on the outcome. This may work or instead of losing one soldier, Shepard may lose 3. Whatever it is, remains to be seen.

"This might work. Wrex, you ready?" Tali asked. Wrex loaded his claymore with a grin and nodded.

"Lets move people! Kaiden, arm the bomb. Garrus, Liara? Lets keep this place secured" Shepard said. Tali and Wrex made their way to Ashley's position.

*MULTIPLE GUN SHOTS*

"What the hell! Move!" Shepard yelled as they were attacked by energy bolts. Kaiden tripped down as he crawled behind the bomb to take cover. Shepard, Garrus and Liara ran to find cover. Shepard turned around to take a look only to have his eyes widened in shock. It was the rogue turian spectre Saren Arterius.

"SAREN!" Shepard said as he fired his pistol at him as the rounds bounced off his shields.

"We meet at last, Shepard!" Saren said as he was hovering in a circular platform. The three found some cover to hide.

"What is wrong with his face? He looks more different" Liara asked as his face appeared more cybernetic than organic.

"He has always been an ugly bastard! Time to finish this off!" Garrus said as he fired his assault rifle and Shepard fired his pistol at Garrus. The kinetic barriers were strong enough to deflect all the rounds much to their surprise.

"I applaud you Shepard. My geth were totally convinced that the salarians were the real threat. An impressive distraction. Of course, it was all for nothing. I can't let you undo what I have accomplished here. You don't understand what is at stake here" Saren said.

"Sovereign is a reaper and you are under its control. That damned machine and its kind wiped out the protheans long ago. What else is there to understand!?" Shepard rebuked.

"You and I have seen the visions from the beacons, Shepard. You and I learned what the Reapers are capable of. They can't be stopped. Don't waste your breath and energy trying to defy for the sake of petty freedom. Look at what happened to the Protheans when they revolted. They are extinct. But what if they bowed before the invader? Don't you understand that submission is better than extinction!?" Saren said stressing his words to make a point. Shepard can't believe what he was hearing.

"Its not that simple, Saren. Life is not just about living. We take a stand to give meaning to our own existence. I would rather die than surrendering to those machines" Shepard chided back.

"Now you understand, why I never went to the council with this information. We are all governed by our emotions and will never understand the greater purpose. But if we work with the Reapers, if we make ourselves useful to them? Perhaps we could be spared. When I understood this, I helped Sovereign though I was aware of the risks" Saren said.

"Well, it wasn't going good as expected now, does it? You are afraid that you don't have control over yourself and soon become a full-time puppet for a Reaper" Shepard said angrily.

"I have been studying the indoctrination for a while. The more I understand, the less it exerts control over me. Sovereign wants me to find the conduit. I am a volunteer. But I won't let myself become a servant" Saren said.

"So the geth are helping you find the conduit because they too believe Sovereign can help them ascend to the next level by driving the reapers cause?" Shepard asked.

"Yes, the geth revere the reapers as a god, the pinnacle of their own evolution. But Sovereign doesn't cherish these pitiful worships. The geth are just tools. And if they prove to be useful, they will survive the coming storm and we should do the same, Shepard" Saren said.

"That is not true! Tell me what you about the conduit and together we can stop the reapers" Shepard tried to reason with him. Garrus was confused wondering why he is trying to appeal to his good side.

"I only know that Sovereign wants the conduit and it wants it faster. The only reason I've been kept around not indoctrinated" Saren replied.

"No! You are indoctrinated! Do you think Sovereign will let you live!? I spoke to it when I accessed the prothean beacon in this facility. The reaper doesn't care about us. Once your usefullness cease to exist, so will you! Did you know that Sovereign is afraid that it might lose!?" Shepard said which stunned Saren. He wondered what he was trying to convey.

"What are you talking about!?" Saren asked.

"Hundreds of millions of years ago, the reapers picked a fight with a wrong group and almost went extinct. It was our own ancestors, ancient humanity who were technologically advanced than anyone else. Sovereign told me that the machines almost lost the war. The Reapers are not as invincible as you think!" Shepard said which turned Saren's face gloomy.

"No-..that can't-...Its not possible! But-...but I once sensed fear in sovereign-...no this can't-...! What have I -...RAAAHHHHHHRRRR-...!" Saren started to scream in excruciating pain. Shepard, Liara and Garrus came out of the cover to see what happened to him. All of a sudden, Saren's eyes glowed red as he let a maniacal grin.

"Chat time is over, Shepard! *BAAM*" Saren said as he sent an energy bolt at their way which exploded and threw them back.

"Shit! Open fire on him!" Garrus yelled as the three fired their weapons at Saren. The combined assault started to weaken his shields. Saren immediately climbed on top of the circular platform and maneuvered around and fired energy bolts at him.

"Garrus, snipe him and take out his shields!" Shepard said.

"With pleasure!" Garrus said as he took out his sniper and shot a couple of rounds at Saren that made his shields flare. Saren was angry as he dashed towards Vakarian. But before that, Shepard and Liara did combined biotic assault on him that knocked him off the platform.

"Ahhh-...!" Saren grunted in response. Shepard then send barrage of rounds from his assault rifle at point black range. Saren then remotely controlled his platform to fire a missle. Liara noticed as she screamed from her throat.

"SHEPARD!" she yelled as she leapt upon him and saved him from direct hit.

*BANG* the explosion still knocked them off.

"Crap!" Shepard cursed as he felt the explosive force behind. But Garrus used his sniper to knock his shields out and sent a round straight to his shoulder which hurt like hell.

"Ahhh! Damn you!" Saren growled.

"Shepard! Come in Shepard! We have reached Ashley and Kirrahe's team and are engaging the hostiles. They are swarming us, but we are slowly thinning their numbers" Tali spoke over the comm.

"Good work Tali. Keep up the pressure!" Shepard said feeling relieved.

"Commander, I specifically told you not to come for me!" Ashley scolded the senior officer.

"Noted Williams. But no one's dying on my watch" Shepard said as he closed the channel.

Shepard then fired his assault rifle at Saren whose shields got restored. Shepard used energy draining biotic bolt that started to neutralize his shields. He then threw a grenade at Saren and took out his pistol and shot the grenade. The explosion knocked both Saren and Shepard down.

Shepard slowly regained consciousness as he crawled for his weapon. But then he noticed Saren charging at him and grabbed him by his throat and lifted him off the ground with ease. Shepard swung his legs and struggled to get out as Saren's tight grip was choking Shepard as he felt difficulty in breathing.

"Look! Another geth dropship! Wrex, give me cover! I am going to hack it!" Tali screamed over the comm channel which made Shepard happy as his plan to save the others worked. With renewed vigor, Shepard punched Saren's face hard.

"Ahh-.." Shepard grunted as he dropped Shepard and took a few steps back and rubbed his face. Shepard dived and caught the pistol and aimed at him. But Saren was already on the floating platform as he glared at him and flew away from the place.

"Hacking sequence almost complete! C'mooooooon-...you bosh'tet! Yes! Hacked into the geth dropship! Everyone, get inside the ship, now!" Tali barked as Shepard was relieved to hear that his other crew were safe.

Shepard went on check on Kaiden who just finished arming the bomb. But he was hit in the abdomen by Saren's bolt and felt weaker. Shepard grabbed Kaiden's arms and put him on his shoulder.

"Joker, where the hell are you!? We have lit the fuse!" Shepard barked over the comm.

"Headed over there, stand by commander!" Joker yelled as Shepard watched the Normandy cruise through the air at great speed and maneuvered itself to 180 degrees. The shuttle bay doors opened and Shepard, Liara, Kaiden and Garrus sprinted towards the shuttle bay. Once inside, Shepard immediately put Kaiden down.

"Joker, lift us up and wait till Tali brings in the geth dropship inside!" Shepard said as the Normandy lifted up in the air and slowly moved towards the sky. Shepard then from the bay door entrance watched the geth dropship cruising towards the Normandy. After a minute, the dropship slowly entered the ship and dropped to the floor. Shepard then closed the bay door.

"Joker, we have them! Now get us the hell outta here!" Shepard said.

"Yes sir! Hang tight people!" Joker replied as he flew the vessel at full throttle tearing through the atmosphere and finally reaching the outer space.

As the timer in the bomb counted to zero, a flare appeared on the planet side, a thermonuclear explosion that grew into the upper atmosphere. It was visible even after the Normandy was 100,000 miles away from the planet side. What was once there, no longer existed except a deep crater.

"We are safe, commander! We did it!" Joker said.

"Nice work flight lieutenant! Nice work everyone! This one is for the history books!" Shepard said to which other cheered. Then out of the geth dropship, Tali, Wrex, Ashley and Kirrahe's team, Rentola stepped out.

"Ashley, Tali, Wrex! You guys made it!" Garrus hugged them all in excitement. Ashley turned to look as Shepard with a smirk.

"That was a gamble sending Tali and Wrex to assist me. What if there was no geth dropship?" Ashley asked as she removed her helmet.

"Well, then I would have come to pick you all myself. Like I said, no ones dying on my watch!" Shepard said as he walked towards Kaiden who was still hurt.

"How are you doing lieutenant?" Shepard asked.

"Well, I am gonna need a paygrade hike, if you want me to keep serving the Normandy!" Kaiden joked to which Liara, Ashley and Shepard laughed.

"Liara, can you get him to doctor Chakwas? He needs that wound looked into" Shepard said to which she nodded as she held Kaiden in her arms and walked him towards the elevator.

"You did great work, commander. No wonder Ashley spoke highly of you when she was with us. You could have left us there easily. But you didn't. For that, on behalf of the STG, you have our eternal gratitude" Kirrahe said with a warm smile.

"No need for that captain. We are all soldiers, we look out for each other. Make yourself comfortable. I will ask Joker to drop you near Surkesh" Shepard said to which Kirrahe nodded in acknowledgement.

"Everyone of you earned rest. Freshen up and let us meet in the comm room after 12 hours" Shepard said.

"Well then, its been a long day for me. I am gonna have a nap. And Shepard? It was nice seeing that place blown up sky high!" Wrex said to which Shepard smirked as he made his way to the elevator to go to his quarters.

Shepard like others took a shower, had lunch. He then had Joker send the complied mission report to the council in detail. Then he had a good eight hours of sleep. He was reflecting upon the mission on Virmire. He recalled his conversation with Saren. Saren for a moment struggled to get out of Sovereign's control before it took him back. It was as Liara once mentioned. Saren was just another victim of Reapers. But he may have gone too far beyond salvation. Right now, his focus is only on stopping him from finding the conduit.

12 hours later...

Shepard, Garrus, Ashley, Kaiden, Tali, Liara and Wrex were seated in the comm room, 12 hours after completing the mission on Virmire.

"We stopped Saren, but he got away. Atleast he won't be making anymore test-tube krogan babies" Ashley said.

"But we learned something important in this mission. Saren wasn't riding a reaper ship. Sovereign is an actual Reaper. And if thats how ugly they all gonna look like, its gonna be a problem for us" Garrus quipped.

"What concerns me the most is what Sovereign told Shepard. The Reapers have been harvesting life for eons in the galaxy. Also it confirmed the earlier suspicions we had which was related to an old artifact we found on Casbin's moon" Liara said still unable to believe that ancient humans were very real.

"Yeah the humans fighting these machines millions of years ago? Not sure what to make of the crap" Wrex said with indifference.

"No Wrex, its not crap. Do you know what this knowledge can do? About an interstellar humanity that lived in the cambrian era? How did we not come across anything all these times!? There are no records or evidences of ancient humans on Earth or any other colonies" Kaiden said still anxious about the existence of a powerful humanity in the past. He even wondered if they existed to this day, how will humanity be treated. Certainly not looked upon by other races like they do now.

"So now that you have interfaced with another prothean beacon. I believe we have the full set of visions ready to study" Garrus said.

"Yes, this time, the visions were clear. I was able to see everything. It was as if I lived there, Like I was a prothean myself" Shepard explained as he vividly recalled the things the beacon showed him.

"Incredible Shepard! You now have the basic understanding of the Prothean's life force itself. Maybe I can take a look at that to see if we have the missing clues" Liara said.

"Well, it won't hurt to try" Shepard said as he stood up. Liara walked up to him and gently held the side of his head with both her arms. She then concentrated deeply to touch the memories. The next second she was overwhelmed with flashes of images. She watched all the horrors the Protheans went through, the indoctrination, the mysterious mutation giving birth to monstrosities that she has never witnessed before. Then the image switched to a mysterious planet with a ring structure which intrigued her a lot. Finally, the image ended in another world with lush green biosphere. This world was very familiar. She has seen them in her xeno-archeological studies.

Liara snapped out of the trance and almost fell down.

"Whoa! Easy Liara, what happened!?" Shepard asked as he held her and helped her to stand firmly.

"By the goddess! I have never seen such monstrosities before. Its not just Reapers, there was something else more terrifying than the Reapers. The Protheans stood no chance" Liara said as he heartbeat raced in anxiety and fear of the unknown.

"Terrifying than the Reapers? What were they?" Tali asked as she didn't like the idea of something worse than the Reapers existing. The Reapers were already terrorizing enough.

"Not sure. But that wasn't all. These images from the beacon were actually a warning sent out across the Prothean empire about Reaper invasion. A warning that came too late for them. At the end of the images, I saw a planet. It was lush green and I have seen its reference many times in my research in Protheans. I think I know where we need to go next. That planet is Ilos, the conduit is on Ilos" Liara said which made everyone glance at each other's haunted faces.

"Holy shit! We did it then! We go to Ilos and stop Saren and prevent Reapers from ever coming back" Ashley said punching her fists in excitement.

"Guess, we are nearing the end of the line, Shepard. This is it" Wrex said.

"Yeah, thanks to you all. Guess, going to Virmire first was not a bad idea after all" Shepard replied with a smile.

"But commander, we haven't been to Noveria and we don't know what's lurking there. Don't you think we should check that out too?" Tali asked.

"Why should we? Noveria is no longer useful to us. Saren will be on Ilos and our primary focus is to stop him. Maybe after this is over, we can head to Noveria and check it out" Garrus countered.

"But there is a problem, Garrus. Ilos can be reached only through the Mu relay and its deep inside terminus. No one, including spectres are welcome there" Tali replied.

"Saren is on Ilos and we are going there too. Nothing is going to stop us. I have already asked council to prepare reinforcements to attack Saren and Sovereign" Shepard stated firmly with no room for doubt.

"Then we will be ready to hit on your say, Shepard" Kaiden said with a nod.

"This council is dismissed" Shepard said as everyone returned to their stations.

Shepard made his way to the bridge and accessed the galaxy map in the CIC.

"Commander, we have received response from the citadel on the mission report. They have confirmed the reinforcements. Ambassador Udina wants us to report back to the citadel. The council is amassing a joint species fleet to deal with Saren and the geth" Joker said. Shepard smirked at the information.

"About damn time! It took them long enough to understand. Back to the citadel, Joker. I want the Normandy spear heading that fleet when Saren, geth and the Sovereign shows up" Shepard said as he walked away to his quarters.

"Aye aye, commander!" Joker replied.

...

Author's notes: I hope you enjoyed this chapter. There are only 2 more chapters to complete the first phase of this story and our beloved Spartan-117 has entered the game. He will be cold, ruthless and stoic super soldier we all know him to be. Also his face won't be revealed to anyone at anytime, so its up to you. The UNSC Vengeance is basically the prime cruiser you see in Halo 4 terminals which shoots energy streams that destroys planets. At last about Noveria, that is not abandoned. That will come in the later chapters.

See you all in the next chapter!