Hello there,
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If you like how Shepard is a total genius badass, you should check Arrival : Ruptures to enjoy more of the same.
—
Viper Nebula
Bahak System
Aratoht
The Kodiak dropped Shepard, Thane, and Kasumi off near the base where Dr. Kenson was held by the batarians.
"I thought Admiral Hackett wanted you to do this alone?" Not that Kasumi wasn't delighted to not follow orders.
"Hackett can tell me what needs to be done, not how to do it."
There were no guards outside, nor cameras and sensors, and Shepard approached the front door, slamming his omni-tool on the controls. The door slid open, and he could see why the prison wasn't very secure.
It was rundown, barely any better than the krogan clan bases back in Tuchanka. The first hurdle on their way was a giant hole in the ground, one that Shepard circumvented by flying over it while moving his teammates.
The laser grid had its power relay on their side for some reason, and Shepard cut the power. A varren came charging, having heard the commotion, but sat down upon seeing Shepard.
"Ah, must have seen you as the superior predator." Thane commented, smiling. It was a rare sight, to see a varren terrified of any species, and one that he would treasure.
"Let's just go."
Following the path the varren came from, Shepard found another laser grid, and inside the cell beyond it, he could hear a human and batarians.
Carefully, he snuck through the lasers, followed by Thane and Kasumi, and hacked the door open.
Two batarians were surrounding a human tied to a chair, and Shepard slammed them to the wall, while Kasumi freed Dr. Kenson.
"Dr. Kenson, Admiral Hackett sent me. We are here to get you out."
"Oh, thank you, Commander."
—
By the time the batarians realized something was wrong, Shepard, Thane, Kasumi, and Dr. Kenson had already left after taking over a shuttle.
"Admiral Hackett was sparse on the details. Care to fill me in, doctor?"
"Yes, of course." Kenson informed them of the situation. Her team was searching for Reaper tech out on the fringes of this system and apparently had found something. It had shown that the Reaper invasion was imminent, and this system's mass relay would be their key to the galaxy.
However, the timeline had changed weeks ago, and the arrival of the Reapers would be in eight months from now on.
It had set alarm bells on Shepard's head, because there was no way they could have such an accurate timeline unless they were told, as the Reapers were unlikely to just announce their arrival like that.
Dr. Kenson and her team had drafted a plan to slam the asteroid they were using as their base to destroy the mass relay and further delay the Reapers.
Landing on the base, Shepard was taken away to the Reaper artifact, and Kenson was insistent on Thane and Kasumi staying back.
When all the secrecy and their attempt to take Shepard away came together, it meant one thing.
Everyone in the base was most likely indoctrinated.
Shepard pushed back on Dr. Kenson's demands, and the three of them were taken to the site of the artifact, while Shepard sent a message to the Normandy.
As expected, the artifact was not shielded, and the personnel gassed the entire room. Shepard lashed out with his biotics, pushing the indoctrinated humans away, and slapped his helmet on.
Kasumi and Thane disappeared into the shadows, one with a cloaking device, the other by pure skill, and began to pick the enemy off one by one.
The artifact was gathering power for something while they fought, and he knew it would not be good.
Using a guard as a meat shield, Shepard fired a biotic wave that tore a hole open in the door leading to the artifact, pushing forward under the constant but dwindling enemy fire.
"Damn you, Shepard, if you cannot be caught, then you will die!" Kenson screamed from the speakers.
Oh boy, she was definitely going to destroy the mass relay now.
"Kasumi, Thane, after her; leave the rest to me." He ordered, knowing the infiltrators were listening.
"Understood."
—
The hallways were narrow, and the enemy too numerous, but Shepard had an idea.
His biotics condensed in his left forearm, snapping to a tower shield that gave Shepard full cover. Shots peppered the shield but could not get through, while he took down the indoctrinated humans very quickly.
"Shepard, we are landing outside. What is the situation?" Garrus asked from the comms, having arrived just in time.
"Everyone's indoctrinated, and Dr. Kenson wants to slam this asteroid into the mass relay to kill me. I sent Thane and Kasumi after her." Shepard informed without even stopping.
"Got it. We'll mop up the resistance and meet you in the control room."
—
Shepard lashed the arm of the man holding the rocket launcher to the side, causing him to blow up his fellow guards, before shooting the man right between his eyes.
"Shepard, we were too late. Kenson already initiated the launch sequence and destroyed the control room with herself inside." Kasumi warned him, and Shepard cursed.
"Garrus, head to the reactor room and shut it down." He ordered, knowing this was their only chance to stop, and if not, slow down the asteroid.
"Commander, even if we shut down the reactors, it will be too late. The momentum will ensure that the asteroid hits the mass relay before any intervention is possible." EDI informed him, causing Shepard to curse again.
Breaking a guard's arm at the elbow, Shepard spartan kicked him to another man, and a laser bolt tore through both. "If we shut down the reactor, how much time will it buy us?"
"A week at the most, but we cannot lose any more time. The asteroid will reach terminal velocity in five minutes." EDI calculated that the fastest time they could shut down the reactor would only earn them a week, and every second after that would shorten the time.
"Send a distress call to Aratoht; tell them that Hegemony remnants are planning a terrorist attack and to evacuate the planet. Use my Spectre credentials." It's best to use these bastards as a scapegoat.
"Understood."
—
Grunt slammed the last indoctrinated human to the wall before shooting him in the face with his shotgun, while Garrus flushed the deuterium tanks and shut the reactor down.
With it, the thrusters went offline, and the asteroid stopped accelerating.
"Shepard, what now?" He asked for instructions while the team secured the reactor room.
Shepard came running from the hallway while Garrus was waiting for him on the comms. "We get the hell out of here and warn Admiral Hackett."
"EDI, did they start the evacuation?"
"Yes, but there aren't enough ships for everyone."
"Maybe we can nuke the asteroid?" A strong enough blast could redirect the asteroid and potentially save the system.
Shepard shook his head at Garrus. It was a good idea, but they didn't have the time. "We don't have one at hand, and the nearest Alliance base with a strong enough warhead is too far away. Same with the batarians."
"Damn it."
"EDI, send a distress call to the closest planets and bases; have them send ships for evacuation."
"Sending it now."
"Let's get the hell out of here."
—
"Chaos in the Bahak System. Hegemony remnants have launched a terror attack to crash an asteroid into a mass relay to destroy the system as revenge. Commander Shepard has delayed the attack, but the asteroid is on a collision course now. Batarian Republic ships are scrambling to the rescue. More on the evening news."
—
"Shepard, what the hell happened there, son?" Hackett asked.
He explained the events on Bahak System without the lies for the public.
"Damn it. And the Hegemony remnants?"
"To divert the attention. We can't have the Alliance and the Batarian Republic fighting, not when the Reapers are coming."
"Eight months, plus the six months we get due to the destruction of the relay. Not much time, but more than I hoped. Any word on what delayed the Reapers in the first place?"
"They are most likely preparing, since we have advanced weaponry unlike any the Reapers have ever seen."
"How are we doing on the Cerberus issue?"
"I almost finished a device to track the QEC. We will be ready to take them down as soon as I destroy the Collector base."
"Good work on both fronts, Commander."
—
The Phoenix Passing
The Sea of Storms
Heretic Geth Station
Legion had a problem.
The heretic geth were making a virus to change the operations of the main geth network on a fundamental level to bring them to the side of the Reapers. Legion had found the location and wanted his help in destroying the base to erase any trace of the virus.
Having the geth join the Reapers was not acceptable in the least, so he agreed to help.
"You know it's just our heat emissions that are hidden, right? They can look out a window and see us coming." Joker said, looking at Legion, frustrated at the blatant approach at the station.
"Windows are structural weaknesses. The geth do not use them. Approach the hull at these coordinates." Legion informed Joker, uploading a set of coordinates to the navigation.
Joker did not like the geth's tone and waved his arms like that of a robot, mocking Legion, but he stopped once Shepard gave him a look. "Access achieved. We may proceed."
—
"Alert. This facility has little air or gravity. Geth requires neither."
"Copy that. Let's move."
"Shepard-Commander. We concluded that destruction of this station was the only resolution to the heretic question. There is now a second option. Their virus can be repurposed. If released into the station's network, the heretics will be rewritten to accept our truth."
"Either way, these geth won't be a problem. But Shepard, think about this. If you rewrite the geth, they will join the others. Legion's geth will be stronger."
"Do the geth believe in free will? The right to make your choices, without being forced by anyone?"
"Yes."
"Then you must know, free will comes with consequences, and anyone capable of making their own choices must also face the results. If we release a virus to rewrite the heretic geth, it would be no different than brainwashing an organic lifeform."
"I know that they were once a part of you, and their destruction is not desirable, but the very future your geth seeks cannot be built if you brainwash the heretics."
Legion's flaps moved up and down, and there was a minute of silence as the synthetic considered Shepard's words. "Your reasoning is acceptable. We understand."
Inside the station, several geth platforms were locked in hubs while the programs inside exchanged data. Knowing they would eventually be caught, Shepard ordered the team into positions, and in a coordinated strike, they took out all the hubs, along with the platforms.
"We can assume control of any defensive turret. They will assist us briefly, then self-destruct."
Shepard nodded in the affirmative and gave Legion the go-ahead as geth units came pouring in. The rocket drones did cause severe damage and drew the enemy's attention, and the laser fire finished the rest.
More hubs were ahead, and the same as before, a coordinated strike took them out.
At the end of the hallway after the hubs, the heretic geth were in cover and refused to move.
"Get ready." Shepard holstered his pistols and launched a singularity. It was strong enough to rip the get from the cover, even with their shields, while warping the platings on the ground.
There were two supply rooms full of geth, with another room containing hubs that they had to clear out before finding the station's processors.
"Wait. We discovered copies of our current patrol routes in this database. This suggests the heretics have runtimes within our network." Legion stopped, only the flaps moving, the closest sign that the geth unit was confused.
"Why is that surprising? They were planning to brainwash you; spying is nothing compared to that."
"You do not understand. Organics do not know each other's minds. Geth does. We are not suspicious. We accept each other. The heretics desired to leave. We understood their reasons. We allowed it. There was peace between us." Legion explained, and Shepard understood the reason.
No geth had ever lied to another geth before, and just like a child, they could not comprehend the reason behind it.
"The heretics, for the lack of a better term, worship the Reapers. Perhaps they were like you once, but no longer. If their gods tell them to kill, they will kill. If their gods tell them to die, they will die."
"And if the old machines tell them to spy on us, they will spy on us." Legion finished Shepard's words.
"Exactly."
"If that is the case, why do organics allow religions to exist?" The synthetic queried, and the subject was spiraling out.
"Sure, religions can be used to manipulate the people, just as everything else can be. The solution is not to ban them, but to educate the people to the point they cannot be manipulated en masse."
Shepard's advice would hopefully mean that the geth would not have any more schisms, at least, not ones propped up by the Reapers.
"How do the organics combat this problem?"
"Send the memories of this place to the rest of the geth; tell them what being manipulated turned them to. The very thing the galaxy fears."
"We understand. The access terminal should be further ahead."
—
The ensuing fight was long rather than hard. Legion had quickly adapted to the laser rifle, and they had created choke points to destroy the heretics before they could spread.
As Normandy left the system, the station was torn apart by the violent explosions.
—
"Commander, Tali just went to have a chat with Legion. You'd better get down to the AI core."
Shepard scowled.
As if he did not have enough on his plate.
"Shepard. I am glad you are here. I caught Legion scanning my omni-tool. It was going to send data about the flotilla back to the geth." Tali was angry and had her sidearm pointed at Legion.
A potentially deadly mix.
"Creators performed weapons tests and were preparing to attack us. We believed it necessary to warn our people." Legion explained, and Shepard couldn't fault the synthetic for it.
"We weakened the geth by destroying that base, Shepard, but they're still a threat. I won't let Legion endanger the fleet." And Tali was right about her point too.
"Creator—Tali'Zorah acts out of loyalty to her people. She was willing to be exiled to protect them. We must also protect our people from the Creator threat."
"You can't let this happen, Shepard. I trusted you, and I worked with a geth on the team, but this is too much."
Shepard had enough of their back-and-forth and pointed at Tali, "First of all, lower that weapon."
She did, reluctantly.
"Second, your father was running experiments on the geth, and as far as I am concerned, it is no different than experimenting on a human, asari, turian, or any of the races out there." Even if it did not cause any physical pain to the units, it was still immoral and unethical.
"I know. But if the geth find out…"
"They would attack and cause a war that would leave both the geth and the quarians weakened when the Reapers arrive. Is that what you both want?" Shepard asked.
He would have to get both parties to make peace, after the Collector base, of course.
"We believed it was necessary to relay the information."
"To facilitate unit cohesion, we will not transmit any data regarding Creator plans." Legion conceded, seeing that a potential war would harm the galactic effort against the Reapers.
Tali, seeing that Legion was ready to make concessions, offered the same. "Thank you, Legion. I… understand your intentions. What if I gave you some non-classified data to send?"
"We would be grateful."
One more disaster averted.
Notes: With this, we caught up to the released chapters. Regular updates are every Saturday from now on.