Chapter 11: Reignited
On reflection
hitting Commander Shepard with a mental bombshell after what he went
through on Virmire was not the best decision I could have made.
While the facility's
primary function was to crank out krogan shock troops completely
Genophage-free, it was also a testing ground for Sovereign's
indoctrination ability, to bring in even more people under his
influence without any obvious and intrusive cybernetic mutilation.
Shepard and the others left them to their fates, although from the
reports and footage I saw captured by Tali and Captain Kirrahe of the
STG they were either unresponsive or comatose. Poor souls.
It also didn't help
that Shepard found another intact Prothean Beacon in the facility and
got more of their knowledge beamed directly into his brain, with Dr.
T'Soni helping him make sense of it all.
There is also the
fact of what Shepard also discovered on Virmire. Sovereign most
likely explained it to him in a condescending tone but it's still
haunting nonetheless. The entire Milky Way Galaxy has an entire
network of Mass Relays, large structures that ships use in order to
blast at much faster speeds to reach other systems. I wasn't being
flippant when I described them as an intergalactic highway system.
But while the galaxy as a whole think the technologically superior
Protheans created them, the truth is they're about as old as the
Reapers. Worse still, their entire placement in the galaxy is to help
facilitate the growth of a galactic civilization exactly to the
specifications of the Reapers so when they arrive once every
fifty-thousand years they can efficiently eradicate the population.
And the key is the Galactic Citadel, the very center of power, would
be how the Reapers would come through to begin their harvest from
their safe abode in dark space.
The most widespread
means of travel for this entire galaxy is actually an intricate
spider web. Worse still, the Conduit that Saren has been looking for
this whole time will help call the spiders.
So in anger I just
slammed an elite military commander with at least three textbooks of
existential dread weighing on him after he got away from a near death
experience, left one of his soldiers and untold innocents to die, and
had more nightmare fuel of an advanced alien race being wiped out by
all-powerful sentient machines forced into his mind.
Alright, I think that
definitely makes me disqualified for a medal. In fact it seriously
puts me on the docket for some legitimate jail time. And a second
opinion on the whole sociopath thing.
The worst part of it
is Shepard finally figured out the origin point of all of his
visions: the lost Prothean world of Ilos. A planet whose system is
accessible through the Mu Relay. The origin of the Conduit. We could
finally end Saren's plans. And I finally had the opportunity to try
one last big plan to make things right.
And yet all of us
are stuck on the Normandy. Locked down on the Citadel because Shepard
brought all of this up to the Council. Their response to finding out
about Saren's plan was to deploy an entire fleet to the Mass Relays
leading to the Mu Relay and then put the entire the rest of the fleet
on standby at the Citadel itself, including the Council's own
flagship the Destiny Ascension.
To be fair, it's a
miracle his brain wasn't fully reduced to pudding when he told the
Council, and they still haven't fully bought the admittedly ludicrous
story of thousands of genocidal large machines heralding doom. But
they do know how big of a threat the geth are and just how dangerous
Saren can be, so they split the difference with mobilizing the fleet
and then docking the Normandy; it's focus is stealth and recon, not
war.
But I was still
fighting tooth and nail to get our butts to Ilos.
The fleet wasn't
going to be enough. Everyone on the Citadel was going to die. And the
Conduit isn't the only thing of value that Ilos holds.
It took some
convincing but I did manage to get some of the crew behind me. The
plan was to leave most of the team behind on the Citadel to keep up
the appearance that we were on shore leave while a skeleton crew
remained on the ship. The Council's ambassadors would arrive on the
Normandy in person for a final debriefing on Commander Shepard's
mission with Saren. The plan was to allow the council onboard the
Normandy due to Shepard's less than stellar mental state, and then
before they depart get the Normandy out of lockdown and take off to
Ilos with them in tow.
It would just be me,
Shepard, Jack, and Tali going into the unknown, with at least
several different war crimes and what can easily be construed as high
treason trailing behind us.
Everything was in
place and about to go off. I just had to check on Shepard. We needed
our leader after all.
I headed to his
quarters but stopped before entering. The last thing he'd want to see
would be an asari trying to comfort him after everything that
happened. But this had to be done, the galaxy was at stake and
despite how much I've learned, I'm not a hardened military commander.
I took some deep
breaths and steeled my nerves for the worst, then opened the door.
Commander Shepard
looked up in shock from his bed, Liara next to him topless and trying
desperately to cover herself with the sheets. I immediately looked
away in embarrassment.
“Sorry! I'll come
back later once you're decent,” I blurted out while trying to close
the door again, “but just know that it's important!”
Alright how the hell
did that happen behind my back? Of all the things I showed Shepard in
the mind meld, I tried to omit too much romantic intention. There are
certain things you just don't impose on a person and who you are
supposed to fall in love with is one of them.
Still, it made a
certain level of sense. Liara does harbor a certain love for the
human race, how much progress they make and how confidently they do
it in such a short amount of time. Short by asari standards of
course. And Shepard has effectively coordinated the resolution of
several major catastrophic incidents, and prevented terrorist
attacks, all while chasing after a rogue Spectre and trying to
prevent galactic extinction. In the span of about six months.
Then he vanishes
into his room, probably crushed by the weight of it all. And asari
are naturally maternal....
As I was mulling
that over I saw Dr. T'Soni leave Shepard's room dressed in her lab
coat again, her face a flushed dark blue. She threw me a quick look
of persecution, but I just gave her a genuinely warm smile back.
“Nice to see you
found someone, doctor,”
She shot me a small
smile before speed walking back to her lab.
I knocked on
Shepard's door just to make sure he was decent, then stepped inside.
“Hey,” I
mumbled.
There was an uneasy
pause.
“Hey,” he
responded back.
Truly, I am a master
of conversation.
I cleared my throat
and tentatively walked towards him.
“Look, Shepard.
I'm sorry. All of that was my burden to bear. You shouldn't have-”
“Variza, it's
fine.” He interjected.
“You're...fine
with being shown how your life will go?” I asked, puzzled.
Shepard sat down at
a desk near the wall then turned to face me.
“What was the name
of my friend that I lost at the battle of Akuze?” He asked, his
face like steel.
I was utterly
confused. Akuze was a battleground that Shepard was a part of. The
sole survivor of a mission gone wrong when a Thresher Maw tore apart
his unit. But his friend?
“His name was
Flint Adams. Had a wife and two kids. We got a long well enough on
shore leave. We even said once the mission was over we'd go biking
together back on Earth. I attended his funeral after the Alliance
found me.” he looked away every once in a while, his hand
noticeably tensing. It was definitely a strong memory.
“I'm sorry” was
the best thing I could respond with.
“So you don't know
everything about my past,” he responded and got up.
“Here's another
question then. If everything you showed me is set in stone, why did
our encounter with Benezia and Virmire go so differently?”
“Because I was
involved. Because I tried changing things. Because I tried changing
you.”
Shepard then clapped
a hand on my shoulder and actually gave me a genuine smile.
“Do you hear me
complaining?”
Wait what?
“Let's just say I
needed that reminder that sometimes there's more than just the
mission.” he said, reading my face.
He extended his hand
and nodded for me to take it. I didn't hesitate, his grip solid and
firm.
“You do realize
that I'm planning something highly illegal right now in order to save
the galaxy right?”
“I'm not that
surprised at all.” he said with a chuckle, “need some help?”
It went off without
a hitch. The Council Ambassadors raised a stink about basically being
taken hostage, but by the time they tried to hail the fleet to reduce
us to scrap we were long for the nearest Relay out of the system.
After that it was a matter of getting the Mu Relay through both Saren
and the Alliance's fleet. Thank the goddess for the Normandy's
stealth drive and the the giant armada-sized distraction.
Note to self, I may
have taken Shaira's lessons about asari culture I little too well.
We got into orbit
around Ilos, but the bombardment by Saren's fleet was too much for a
precise landing at the location of the Prothean ruins. Joker
suggested a near suicidal orbital drop of the Mako rover with us
inside it, taking the Council with us. I had a much better idea....
With some adept
piloting by Jack, our Kodiak shuttle breached the atmosphere of the
planet and got through some additional anti-air blasts by some Geth
Colossi. We hit the dirt hard and were on the ground within seconds.
Just in time to see
Saren and a squad of Geth Prime enter some sort of ancient elevator
in the Prothean Ruins, two large stone doors closing behind them.
I barked at Jack and
we both sprung into action. Throwing our biotic power at the doors
keeping them ajar, Shepard and Tali moving to cover us from geth
plasma fire.
Good news, I was
starting to keep pace with Jack in terms of strength and endurance.
Bad news was these ancient doors were clearly built to withstand
bunker busting bombs. We had maybe ten seconds tops before those
doors would close. Thankfully, we had a quarian engineer on hand, and
she is amazing under pressure.
I'd honestly explain
the physics and calculations she underwent in order to get the wedge
in the door just right, but frankly that's why she's a genius in her
field and I'm not. We slipped into the elevator, and the Council was
coming with us.
“By the spirits,
Shepard what is the meaning of all of this!?” The turian head
demanded.
“If we survive all
of this, our first act is to remove you from the Spectres and have
you court martialed!” The salarian dalatrass exclaimed.
But before the asari
councilor could get a word in, the elevator reached its destination.
“Key'lah. What is
this place?” Tali gasped.
“You're looking at
the resting place of the last of the Protheans, the remains of their
scientific initiative.”
“What are we
looking for?” Jack asked.
“Two things. A
still functioning Prothean VI program. Shepard should be able to
understand it thanks to all the Prothean stuff kicking around in his
skull. It'll tell us about the Conduit.”
“and the second
thing?”
“The plans for
something called the Crucible Project.”
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