[Book Three] Epilogue: Chapter 44: An End Once and For All

Chapter 44: An End Once and For All

Coming down the ramp of the galaxy map, Jane smiled at an open mouthed Traynor, who had nothing but awe in her eyes. She wasn’t the only one. Everyone else on the CIC was looking at her in reverence. It creeped her out a bit but she kept smiling and went to see Joker.

“Joker.” she greeted him.
“Commander.” He turned his chair around to look at her. “I think that was the greatest speech I have ever heard. Now when I’ll shoot down a Reaper, I’ll think of you every time.” he said, making her laugh.
“You’re going to think of me a lot then. Want to confess while you’re at it?” she joked back, making him laugh in turn.
“Nah, I’m good. Too much destruction and explosion around you. Besides, I’ve met a really cute N3 during our R&R before Thessia…”
“Really? Nice! I’m happy for you, Joker. And glad that you’re changed your mind about a relationship.”
“Well, with the suit, I don’t risk breaking a bone at every move anymore. That opened my possibilities.”
“Does she…”
“Know? Yes and she’s fine with it. I don’t know if it will last after the war but honestly I’m ready to give it a shot.”
“I guess everything is turning out alright for everyone.”
“Except for Cerberus and the Reapers.” he joked again.
“Yeah. By the way, speaking of relationships, did you know about Kaidan and Steve?”
“It’s official then? I knew they got closer during our guys night then closer during your party at your apartment but they have been rather tight lipped and discreet about it. Traynor didn’t notice anything and EDI for once didn’t babble.”
“I do not babble.” the AI denied strongly.
“Uh-huh.”
“I do not. At least not as much as before.”
“True. Ever since you got your organic body, you now know how to keep secrets a bit. That’s a huuuuuuge progress.”

Either EDI didn’t like the joke, or she joked back abecause Joker’s seats began to ‘malfunction’ by turning around erratically.

“Very mature, EDI.”
“I’m only three years old.”
“That explains so many things…”
“You do know that you perved on the synthetic body of a three year old?” Jane teased.
“... I think I’m going to be sick.”
“If you have to vomit, do it now. Soon you’ll be too busy shooting Reapers down. Speaking of, how long before…”
“Fifteen minutes before we arrived at the Charon Relay.”
“Alright. EDI tell the team to gear up and…”
“Everyone is already in the Cargo Deck ready to be deployed, thanks to Kaidan.”

Jane smiled at that. She spent the fifteen minutes in silence, looking at the lights of hyperspace until they arrived in the Solar system. They were the first but were quickly joined by other ships. From simple frigate to dreadnought. Every type of ship was present. From all space battle-able species, without any exception. Even the Leviathans that she had recruited on Desponia were present. Looking out the window, she saw the greatest military fleet that has ever been gathered in a single place. Hundreds, perhaps thousands of ships, ready to fight for their survival.

“Damn! That gives me so much hope.” commented Joker.
“That’s quite the sight.” Jane replied. “Is everyone here?”
“Turian, Geth, Quarian, Human and Salarian fleets are present. Asari and Batarian are arriving. Krogan too.”

Jane nodded and waited a bit more for everyone to arrive. Once that was the case, as if made of one body, the entire fleet moved towards Earth. The first thing they saw was the massive number of Reapers present. More than any planets or Homeworld have seen and for one good reason. The Citadel was here. Orbiting around Earth.

“Look at that, Commander. Rick was right for a change.” was the sarcastic remark Joker made.
“Yeah. And that will be costly for them. EDI anyway to…”
“I’m sorry, Commander but it’s impossible to reach anyone inside the station. I can’t even scan it to determine if there is life in it or not. The citadel is emitting a disruptive signal, just like on Rannoch. That will make it difficult to relay information between the fleets and Earth for coordination.”
“So no contacting Rick and asking him to open the Citadel. How are we going to do that?”
“London. There is a gigantic beam there connecting to the Citadel. It seems to transport matter from one point to the other.”
“Then send a message to every ship that will send troops to the ground. The target is London. I don’t suppose we could just land near the beam?”
“Unfortunately not. Reapers’ presence is very heavy around it. The best solution would be to land at the outskirts of the city and get in contact with the resistance for a regroupment.”
“Share that too. Joker, are you ready to be the one to start the battle?”
“By killing a Reaper, you mean? Aye, Aye Commander!”

Jane stood behind Joker, hand on the back of his seat. When she ordered him to fire, he didn’t hesitate and shot the Normandy’s GR-canon. The shot completely destroyed the small Reaper it hit and continued without stopping until it hit a big Reaper behind it, not destroying it but clearly damaging it, cutting off three of his ‘legs’.
With a smile on her face, Jane saw the other ships doing the same. Not all of them were successful because they were not equipped with the same technology as the Normandy was but that had an effect. The Reapers began fighting back. Giving one last look at what was happening through the window, Jane turned around and went down the Cargo Deck.

There, she made two teams. She had with her Ashley, Liara and Tali while Kaidan had Garrus, James and Javilk. James joked that it was a Men vs Women competition good naturally but it wasn’t. Kaidan’s was more damage oriented and Jane’s more sneaky oriented. EDI would join Jane’s team (and not because she was female) thanks to her stealth abilities. The objective for the AI was to help the resistance coordinates once they found and reached their headquarters. She was also the team kodiak’s pilot as Steve would be the other team’s.

When they left the ship, many shuttles were making their way down to Earth. She marveled at the sight of multiple squadrons of jet fighters fighting in formation against thousands of eye drones. The same one the team had to defeat when one of them infiltrated the Normandy during their fight against the Collector at their arrival beyond the Relay Omega-4. What amazed her even more was the shared shield ability they displayed. The one Rick had designed to boost shields’ strength but also spread their area of effect. The squadrons were very effective and their survival rate rose drastically with it.

When they landed in London, chaos was everywhere. Reapers troops and resistance fighting all around among ruins, debris, dead bodies… Jane had her share of battle but she never participated in something so brutal. She knew that it would be the case but actually seeing it with her own eyes was an all different matter.

When they landed the two teams were quickly separated by a small Reaper making a building fall between them. With no way to regroup, Jane ordered Kaidan’s team to rendez-vous at the resistance HQ whose location they got through short range comms and that EDI decoded. Her team made their way through several destroyed buildings until they came across a destroyed shuttle with a M-920 Cain in it. She wasted no time firing it against what she wrongly believed to be a Reaper that acted as an anti-aircraft cannon and destroyed it. The resulting shock wave destabilized the floor she was standing in and made her fall to the ground separating her for the rest of the team.

“Skipper! Are you alright?!”
“I’m alright, Ash. Thank god I’m a biotic, I would have made a big splash otherwise.”
“Commander the destruction of the Hades-cannon, had changed the topography, we can not regroup with you.”
“Damn it! EDI, is there a path to the resistance HQ?”
“Yes. Twenty feet to your right is an underground station. The resistance used the old tracks to move mostly undetected but it’s dark and Reapers’ presence is likely.”
“What about you?”
“With the big thingy destroyed, we can now be evac’ to the HQ. Don’t worry about us Jane.”
“Alright, do that. I’m joining you as soon as I can.”
“I’m sending you a map of the rail tracks. The station you’ll enter is Finchley Road.”
“Thanks, EDI.” ‘I hope the tunnels are not blocked, I’m fucked otherwise.’

The conversation over, Jane made her way to the underground. She was glad to have her helmet because of the night vision. There were no lights on in there and using the flashlight on her assault rifle would have painted a huge target on herself in this completely dark place. When she heard loud footsteps coming from a corner down the path, she kneeled down and leaned against the wall, immediately her armor camouflaged her. Despite being in the dark, Jane didn’t know if the reapers could see in it or not, so she didn’t take any chances. The fact that there were no lights from the footsteps but that the footsteps existed in the first place made her think that the Reapers could in fact see in the dark. She held her breath and went perfectly still when four Cannibals and a Marauder passed by her side without noticing her. She waited until she couldn’t hear them anymore before daring to move.

‘I’m going to kiss you so much for your big brain baby brother.’

Cautious, she continued her trek through the tunnels for at least half an hour. Every station she came across was blocked so she went on until she arrived at Baker Street. The tunnel she was in stopped there, blocked by a rock slide and the other one led away from HQ. With no other choice she took the exit and reached the surface. She barely walked out a few feets that she had to take cover to not be seen. From there it was  stealth and stealth only. Using the destruction of the infrastructures to blend in with her armor, she avoided many patrols and many fights. Again, she blessed her brother for being a genius. She didn’t think she’d have enough ammo to deal with all the enemies’ forces she sneaked past.

Unfortunately, her luck came to an end when she arrived in an open area. With no other choice but to engage into a fight, she began targeting the Cannibals. They were not the weakest but the most annoying of the group with their range and their ability to create armor from other reapers troops corpses. In comparison, Husks were way easier to handle but then again those were the weakest. She began to worry when troops kept coming and coming. First Rachnis, then brutes and if the screams were any indication Banshees soon.
She sent a request for help through the comms with her location when her ammo got dangerously low. When she was finally out of options she picked the lightsaber, activated it and began charging left and right. That wasn’t a viable solution however. A biotic charge required a lot of stamina and a prolonged use would be her doom.

‘Is it how it was for him on the collector ship?’

Deciding that she was wasting too much energy, she switched tactics. Changing from her open from all side position, she put herself against a wall and focused on a single point between her shoulder blades. From the nodule placed there she created a biotic barrier that spinned. Immediately she felt the difference in her energy drain which dropped drastically. She was particularly proud of this achievement after hours upon hours of practice. It was the first time she used it in a proper battle and she was glad she had trained for it.

That didn’t solve her problem however. She was still surrounded, out of ammo and pinned down like a sitting duck waiting for slaughter. She didn’t know how long she could maintain her position like that but she knew she would last as far as she could.

‘Hopefully, help will…’

Her train of thought stopped when from her right, Reapers began to be put down in a downpour of biotics and gunshots. Looking in the direction of her saviors, she saw  two dozen people. The humans among them she knew. A smile graced Jane’s lips when she recognized Miranda, Jennifer and her kids.

‘I admit, they grew up well. Damn! They’re really good.’

With the Reapers’ focus switching from Jane to her newly arrived support, she dropped the barrier and charged onward with a second wind, slashing any opponent she could without even looking back. When the intense battle was over. She rushed to her friend and embraced them both at the same time in a big hug.

“You have no idea how glad I am that you’re here.” she said after releasing them and opening her helmet to show her face.
“We might have an idea.” replied Miranda with a teasing smile.
“How come you’re alone?” Jennifer asked.
“I destroyed the Hades-canon, near Finchley and got separated from my team. Made my way through the underground’s tunnel.”

The whistle that Jen let out said it all about how impressed she was.

“We were in Edgware Road, when we got your SOS. We kept radio silence because you aired on an unsecured line.” Miranda explained.
“Ah! Didn’t think of that.”
“Nevermind. We called for an evac’ on our way, they’d be here soon.”
“Good. Now why don’t you two tell me what you’re doing here. And how come your kids are badassed now, Jen?” inquired a smiling Jane.

___________________________________________________________________

A few minutes after the reunion Jane found herself in a Kodiak on its way to Oxford Circus, the resistance’s HQ. There she regrouped with the rest of her crew and after sharing a few words and making sure that everyone was okay, she was led by a soldier to see Anderson.

“Shepard!” exclaimed the man, clearly happy to see her after so long. Jane smiled too.
“Anderson. It’s good to see you again.”
“That it is. Even better, you brought lots of friends. From turians to geth, including the batarians.”
“I promised you the greatest fleet the galaxy has ever seen when I left.”
“And you delivered.” he nodded. “Even more than what I expected. The last report I read was that you recruited the species that created the Reapers?”
“Long story, sir.”
“For another time then. Now, we just need to reach that conduit.”
“You’ve already been brief on the Citadel?”
“From EDI, yes. To think that all this time… Thank god we have your brother on our side. Where is he by the way? I haven't seen him yet.”

Jane grimaced, and looked outside through the big hole in the wall of the room they were in. Her eyes locked in the Citadel up in the sky that was clearly visible thanks to the light of the moon.

“Up there with my mother. They stayed behind when the Reaper took the station. We believe his plan was to lay in hiding and open the station at the right moment but it’s completely cut out from the rest of the world. Nothing goes in, nothing goes out. He’s unable to know that the battle started.”

‘Or he’s dead.’

Was the thought that crossed their minds but neither refused to voice it. After everything they went through they had faith that Rick was actually still alive.

“Come, Commander. We need to plan our assault on the conduit. By the way, Excellent speech you made. I don’t think anyone else would have done better. You should have seen the resistance. That lit one hell of a fire in them.”

___________________________________________________________________

Up in orbit, inside one of the archives’ vaults. Rick was doing his very best to not murder his mother. Have been for nearly three weeks now. When he put Dorothea inside one of the last shuttle to use the conduit, he was dumbfounded to see Hannah waiting behind him. He thought she had already left for Ilos. He didn’t say anything but his silence when he looked at her, spoke volume.

“I’m not abandoning you again. I did that more than enough times. No more.”

He didn’t answer to that and instead left the conduit area but not before placing an explosive charge on the conduit so the Reapers wouldn’t have direct access to Ilos. She followed him without a word until he took a sky car. Getting on the passenger seat, only then did she ask what the plan was.

“I’m going to hide in one of the vaults in the archives. It’s impossible to scan what’s inside. Then, when the time is right, I get out, make my way to the Tower and open the arms.”
“We are hiding. The population?”
“They get killed by the Reapers. They can blame their bad luck or their stupidity for not believing the Reapers would come. Besides, if we hide them with us, we’d get found out.”

Hannah had nodded in acceptance at that. She was no stranger to actions like that. She too was pragmatic. Her son’s and her safety was more important than the people on the citadel. They couldn’t risk the fate of everyone in the galaxy for a few millions people. She didn’t like it of course but she would not regret making that decision.

“That could be a very long time. We don't know what the Reapers will do with the Citadel.”
“They will move it to Earth. Probably.”
“Earth? Why there?”
“To break Jane.”

His words were grave but she didn’t comment on it. She understood the implication behind them.

“Why didn’t you…”
“I did. Gave EDI something to give to Jane. I couldn’t share that information openly. The remnants of Cerberus could have done something and TIM may have been free to do whatever he wanted. We would have lost.”

Hannah understood once again what he was implying. That would have been a disaster if the entire coalition was sent on a wild goose chase while TIM took control of the Reapers.

“What about food and…”
“Everything has been taken care of. Except showers and the bathroom but I don’t mind stinking and shitting in a bucket.”
“Your phobia?”
“... I’ll manage.”
“With me with you?”
“You’re not…”
“I am.” she answered with finality.
“... Thank god I stocked up more than needed on sleeping pills.”

The reapers never found them though most of the times Rick wished they did. Hannah had been relentless in her actions. Holding his hands, hugging him. He wanted nothing more than to beat her to a pulp but held himself back for Jane. His situation was perhaps the hardest he had ever been in. Thankfully, while Jane was the source of his holding back, she was also the source of comfort. He spent days, ignoring his mother and thinking of his sister. So much that the fact he was locked inside a vault with his mother was mostly forgotten.  He took pleasure in irritating her by keeping his helmet on the whole time. That too helped him a lot.

Everyday, for a short minute they opened the vault to change the air, multiple times. He didn’t open it fully but deactivated the kinetic fields surrounding them. Once a week he opened it fully to get rid of their waste and check on the situation in the citadel through his omni-tool. His first check was disheartening. Either some people found a way to hide from the station’s scanner or Hannah and he were the only survivors. The latter was more probable. They were now at the end of the third week and it was time for them to move.

“Why now?”
“‘Thea probably contacted Jane from Ilos within the day. Make it two weeks for all fleets to gather in the Horse Nebula then a week to travel to Earth. It’s quite possible the battle would start soon, is already underway or…”
‘Already over.’ finished Hannah in her mind.
“The latter is rather unlikely, though.”

With that said. He opened the vault completely and got out of it. Hannah followed him closely.

“First thing first. Get ourselves cleaned up. We can be smelled miles away. I don’t know if the Reapers have an olfactory system but I don’t want to find out.”

His mother nodded and they walked out of the archives prudently. Rick’s little program he gave Bailey during Cerberus coup still being in use, they were able to move undetected to C-sec academy. There they took a well deserved and long needed shower. Hannah, not wanting to let him out of her sight, joined him in the men’s shower. To his dying day, Rick would deny it but he acknowledged that his mother rocked her body despite her age.

‘She even has a bigger ass than Jane.’

He caught himself on the spot and tried to think of something else. Like Jane. Fortunately for him, he wore his helmet and Hannah wasn’t able to notice the look he had given her. What she did notice however was what was between his legs and praised Jane for the catch. That also had the unfortunate effect to push her to go for that incestuous threesome with her children even more. When Hannah finished first and was busy dressing herself up with spare clothes they had found in lockers. Rick used the opportunity to open his helmet and washed his hair and face quickly.

Once both were ready, they ransacked the spectre area for some armor. Weapons were almost not needed. Rick had his shotgun, gun, sniper rifle and his lightsaber on him. He gave her his Juno and tried to change the specs but Hannah stopped him.

“Those numbers are perfect for me.”

She picked a Medium Phoenix XXIII model and Rick almost laughed at that, restraining himself to call her ‘Pinkie’. For his part he chose a light Explorer XIX, model XX not being present. Finally, Hannah chose a HMWA XXX as her main weapon. Stocking up on genades they went to the c-sec evidence storage room to try to find something useful just in case but to no avail with the exception of a powerful bomb which according to the report was found in a ramen shop.

‘Go figure.’ Rick thought.

Once they were all geared up, Rick used a terminal and hacked away the security network, trying to find anything that could give them some information about what was going on.

“Good news, we are in Earth’s orbit. There is a beam connecting us down to the ground.”
“So we can escape if everything goes wrong? Good to know.”
“The good news stops there though. The beam is connected to the Tower. Not really an issue since we need to go there to open the arms of the station. The problem however is that there is a small Reapers presence in the Tower. And by ‘small’, I mean more than enough to overwhelm us. Lastly, the battle has started but I can’t tell for how long it’s been going on or which side is winning.”
“How come?”
“No information comes in and none comes out of the Citadel. I only know because the keepers are filling damage reports done to the station.”
“Damage? Why would our side hit the Citadel?” she asked in confusion.
“I don’t think they do it intentionally. The station is emitting a disruptive effect. Like on Rannoch. Pilots have to target manually at this point and communication is impossible.”
“We need to stop that. They won’t last long otherwise.”
“I agree. Problem is, the controls for opening the arms and the ones for the disruptive effect are not in the same location in the tower. We’ll have to split.”
“No.” she answered firmly.
“We don’t have a choice. The main accesses are blocked leaving us with an exhaustion port for the comms and a vent for the arms.”
“An exhaustion port?”
“It was a metaphor. Imagine a hundred feet long corridor which deals with the heat of the station. It’s like being in an oven or a microwave.”
“Not good.”
“Why are you complaining? You’re not the one who’ll go through it.”
“I’m not letting…”
“You are. I can’t go through that vent and opening the Citadel is more important than restoring the communication and the targeting systems. Besides, I wear a hazard suit. You don’t. You won’t go farther than twenty feet before being cooked alive. Keep the bomb with you. It might blow up if I take it.”

Hannah, grimaced but nodded, beaten by his logic.

___________________________________________________________________

Aboard his ship, Fleet Admiral Hackett was grimly reading the reports that kept coming. They were able to destroy the Reapers but not fast enough. For each Reaper killed three ships were destroyed and their numbers were staggering. Furthermore, they were fighting deaf and almost blind. They couldn’t properly aim at their targets and the communications were impaired making any attempt at coordination difficult. The latest news he got was that unit SWORD, the one that was tasked with running through the reapers troops on the ground and reaching the conduit had been decimated. No survivor and Jane was among them. In his mind, even though he refused to admit it, Hackett believed that they were done for and this was the end.

“SIR! Communications are back online!”
“Targeting systems operational!”

Raising his head from the report he was reading, Hackett had a dumbfounded expression on his face. Quickly recovering from his shock he immediately asked for answers.

“Why? What happened?”
“The disruptive signal from the Citadel had been turned off, sir!”
“Wald!” he said instinctively. “That son of a… Order a coordinated attack on the Reapers! We need a diversion for the Crucible to dock on the station. Get ships to protect it. No matter what!”
“Sir, the Citadel is still…”
“It will open! Open a com channel to the Citadel; frequency 783.98.56.” he ordered and after three seconds his com specialist signaled him it was done. He didn't waste any time in trying to contact Rick. “Wald? Wald?!”

He called out to the inside man who was the closest to give them victory but he got no answer.

“Damn it!”
“Sir! The scanners picked up something! Someone reached the conduit!”
“Holy Shit!” he said in a loud whisper. “She did it.” he whispered again, sure that this ‘someone’ was Jane. “We’re going to win this.”

For the second time since the beginning of the war. Steven Hackett smiled.

___________________________________________________________________

Commander Jane Shepard was in all kinds of mess. She had just survived the attack beam of the biggest Reaper she had ever seen when she charged the conduit but not without taking lots of damage. Most of her brand new chameleon armor was gone. Destroyed or melted. Thankfully her catsuit absorbed as much of the shock as intended although it didn’t absorb the barbell that went right through it and her side. Just under her lung. If she had to bet, she’d need a new liver.
The attack actually knocked her out for a bit. When she came back to the world, she saw only chaos and destruction. The entire platoon she charged with, was gone. Bodies or body parts everywhere. When they were not burnt to a crisp it was all very bloody. She had gotten up though. Back on her feet. She had a job to finish after all. She had walked with difficulty the hundred feet separating her from the conduit. Despite all the bruises and probably some broken bones, she had moved forward. Just as she reached her target a Marauder had come out from behind debris and shot her. The joke was on him; he hit her right in the liver area. One shot of her Juno later and her attacker was dead with a hole in the head.

Afterwards she took the conduit and landed in the Citadel. Landed was a big word, it was more like falling violently on the ground among hundreds of human corpses. Still fresh. Again she got up and walked down the only path available to her. A call from Anderson raised her morale drastically. She was happy to hear from him. She had thought that he died along with the rest of the platoon. After walking further she reached a part of the station that she had never seen. There she saw her mentor fiddling with a console but just before she could call out to him, she felt the mother of all headache and her body froze.

Out of Nowhere TIM showed up. From what she could see, his body had been augmented with Reaper tech. ‘Bad idea’ she had thought. Then the asshole, talked and talked and talked. About how his plan was a success. About how he won and would rule the galaxy through the reapers. And then he raised his hand in a gripping manner which led to Jane being in the situation she was currently in.

Her mouth shut. Teeth gritted. Her right hand, armed with her gun, raising and aiming at Anderson. She was doing her very best to resist whatever TIM was doing to her but it was too strong. He was too strong. Her arm kept raising until it was in a shooting position. She had turned out every sound to focus on stopping herself from pulling the trigger. Then she heard a gunshot. Her body and Anderson’s fell to the ground as if they had been held by strings which had just been cut. Then she heard a loud *thud* noise. Turning her head to look in the direction of the sound, she saw TIM on his knees. His face displayed shock. More importantly a blood red stain in the middle of his white shirt, expanded quickly and after a few seconds the man fell completely on his back and on the ground.

On her peripheral vision, she saw a familiar flash of blue and heard  another *thud* noise. This time when she looked, she saw her badly wounded brother that picked himself up with difficulty, sniper rifle in hand.

Inwardly, she smiled.

__________________________________________________________________

Rick felt himself lucky. For a moment there, he thought he would lose Jane like he had lost Analysse. Having her in sight but being too far to help her. But that was why ever since Eden Prime he had trained in using a sniper rifle. Why he always had one on him despite rarely using it. For a moment like this. He felt relieved when he finally put a shot into TIM, saving the woman he loved. This time.

That was not enough for him however. Rick had made a promise to the man and he well intended to keep it. Dropping down from his small merch, he made a huge biotic charge, landing him right in the area where his sister and the others were. Unfortunately between his wounded leg and what he just went through, his landing was less than stellar. He raised himself from the ground and went next to TIM. The leader of Cerberus was still alive but not for long, Rick had to act fast.

“The moment you thought you were smarter than me was the moment you danced in the palm of my hand.” That was true in a way. Rick had moderately predicted TIM’s actions just not the timing.

Opening his Omni-tool Rick began to play a song that made Jane snort (then groaned in pain) while TIM looked at him with murder in his eyes.

“I am the very model of a scientist Salarian~

I've studied species Turian Asari and Batarian~

I'm quite good at genetics as a subset of biology~

Because I am an expert which I know is a tautology~

Rick thought for a moment about letting the whole song and watched TIM die listening to him but instead he used his sword to deal with him like he did Kai Leng. Picking the head up he tossed it at Anderson who caught it by reflex.

“Don’t lose it, it’s for my mom.” he warned then limped to the console and opened the Citadel.
“Jane!”

Turning around, Rick saw Hannah run towards his sister and give her a hug. Immediately Jane cried out in pain and her mother backed off. Getting closer, he made Jane sit down, used what was left of his medi-gel to stop her bleeding and close the wound then sat beside her. Anderson sat on her other side while Hannah did so beside Rick.

“I can’t believe this is over.” Jane said while looking at the Earth that slowly appeared through the opening arms of the Citadel.
“You… You did well…” Anderson began in a tired voice. “The both of you. You can be proud, I know I am.”
“Yeah… Well.. Don’t expect me to do it again.” Rick announced, Jane leaning on his shoulder. “Gosh I think I’m going to sleep for a whole year.”
“Don’t rest yet. We have prime seats to watch the end of the Reapers.” chidded his sister.
“True. That is quite the view.” Hannah said, looking through the huge window, showing part of the space battle but more importantly most of Earth.
“Nothing is as beautiful as home from space.” commented Anderson, his eyes riveted on the blue planet.
“First time for me.”
“““Really?””” everyone replied, turning their head to look at Rick.
“Yeah. The only planet in Human space I put a foot on was Eden Prime. Before our fight against the Reapers. Speaking of home, Anderson?”
“Yes?”
“When are you going to make an honest woman of my sister? I found her personal effect in your apartment on the Citadel. Twenty years is a bit long don’t you think?”
“I… huh…”

Jane chuckled at Rick's words and Anderson’s reaction. She felt her mentor’s body tense and he clearly didn’t know what to answer to the passive aggressive words and tone her brother had used. Fortunately for the Admiral he was saved by Hackett.

“Commander, Wald? Are you there?”
“We are sir. With Admiral Anderson and Shepard.”
“What do you want, Stevie? We’re beat over there.”
“Nothing is happening.”
“What do you mean, ‘nothing is happening’?”
“Exactly that. The crucible is attached to the Citadel but nothing is happening. No spike of energy, no wave or radiation emission. Nothing.”
“Of fucking course. God…” Rick replied and with a grunt got to his feet, helped by Hannah.
“We’re… We’re on it, sir.” Jane added getting up too and so did Anderson.

The four reached the console and Rick began to fiddle with it.

“Anything?” asked Jane.
“I… I don’t get it. There is… Nothing here seems to be related to the activation of the crucible.”
“Are you…”

Anderson stopped what he was about to say, when a light shone on the ground, delimiting the slate they were standing on.

“What the…”

The slate began to lift them up in the air. Up and up until they reach a new area. Way bigger and way more open than the one they just left. With no way to go back down, they left the platform and walked forward until they came to an intersection.

“Welcome into my home.”

A young voice said. Behind the high pitch sound, Rick heard a darker tone, as if multiple people talked but the voice of the child was prevalent. Looking around he saw nothing until a weird blue hologram of a young boy appeared in front of the group.

“Who… are you?” asked Jane tilted her head to the side.
“I am the catalyst.”
“I thought the Citadel was the catalyst.”
“No. Not directly. The Citadel is just a part of me.”
“The reapers…” Anderson began.
“How do we defeat them? Do you know how we can do that?” Jane finished her mentor’s line of thought.
“Perhaps. They are my creation after all. My solution.”
“Solution? To what?” inquired Hannah. She didn’t like one bit what she had just heard, nor did her son.
“To chaos. To the cycle of death.” Rick answered and so did the Catalyst.
“Correct.”
“I don’t understand.”

“Jane, have you never talked with Javik? Nevermind. I believe that in each cycle, organics create synthetics to make their lives easier then the synths rebel, there is war and the organics perish. In other words it’s a cycle of chaos. The created fight to wipe out their creator breaking the order of things. We know the Reapers collect the DNA of at least one space faring species to make a Reaper. Some kind of archive or legacy so that in a way the species could live on and not be lost. They are preserved.”
“Yes. This is the only way I found to preserve life and stop synthetics to eradicate it. We created the cycles to stop the chaos. That is our solution.”
“But… The Reapers are AI. Synthetics. You are. That makes no sense.” Jane remarked aloud the contradiction.
“I am more than that. I was created to bring balance between organics and synthetics. To be the connection between the two but the solutions I brought forth all failed.”

“So you came up with a new solution.”
“The reapers.” whispered Jane, finishing Rick’s train of thoughts.
“Yes.”
“So the Reapers are some kind of reset button to make sure there is still organic life in the galaxy.” Anderson spoke up.
“While at the same time preserving in a grotesque way the species that become too advanced technologically wise otherwise they would end up creating the instruments of their destruction.” added Rick.
“Yes.”
“That’s… where is our freedom in this solution? Where is our free will?” Jane asked, completely gobsmacked at what she was hearing. She couldn’t believe it. That was so wrong in her eyes.
“Irrelevant.”
“The crucible… What does it do?” Inquired Hannah, bringing back the topic of the destruction of the Reapers
“It’s a power source. Alone it can’t do much. In combination with the Citadel and the relay network, it can release a tremendous amount of energy across the galaxy. It is crude but effective and with an adaptive design. We became aware of it many cycles ago and thought we eradicated it. Clearly, organics are more resourceful than we realized.”
“Of course we are, we’re trying to survive!” Jane exclaimed. “We’re fighting for our future. Without a future we have no hope and without hope…”
“You do have hope.” the Catalyst interjected. “More than you think. Your presence here is proof of that. No organics ever reached this place. The four of you are the very first.”
“It also proves that your solution doesn’t work anymore.”

The catalyst stayed silent for a few moments after hearing Rick’s words. When he spoke up again he agreed with the statement.

“That means we need to find a new solution.”

That was angelic music to the four humans present.

“Alright, any ideas?” Jane asked, turning to her brother.
“... Really?” he replied in a flat tone.
“You’re the genius here!”
“There is no need. When the crucible connected to the Citadel, new possibilities appeared.”
“Possibilities as in several?” Hannah questioned.
“Yes. You will have to act yourselves. I have no control over those possibilities.”
“Because they come from the Crucible, not from you.” said Anderson.
“That is correct.”

Lifting his arm and pointing to their right, the quarter saw a huge tube encased in metal lit by a red light.

 “It is now in your power to destroy the Reapers.”
“Good, let’s…” Hannah began but was held back by Rick not moving an inch. She was also interrupted by the Catalyst.
“But beware, the crucible will not discriminate.”

That piece of information made the human Councilor stop on the spot.

“What do you mean by that?” Anderson asked.
“All synthetics will be destroyed. Even part synthetics, like you.” replied the entity, looking at Jane which made her mother take a few steps back to her original position.

Cybernetics had been around for a thousand of years, who knew how many people had some in their body? How many would die along the reapers? Were the biotics counted in this because of their bio amp?

“The blast would not just end there, would it? It will have an effect on everything technological.” stated Rick. He didn’t like what he wasn’t hearing.
“Yes. There will be many losses but the damage done will be easy to repair.”

“What… What about the other possibilities?” Jane inquired.

This time, the catalyst half turned and pointed to the gigantic blue and white beam of energy behind it.

“Synthesis. By adding your energy to the crucible, a chain reaction would combine all synthetics and organic life creating a new life form. A new… DNA.”
“When you said combine energy, you don’t mean a few drops of blood, I presume.”
“No. Your entire being. You will die.” the blue holo replied to Rick.
“Wonderful. There won’t be differences between organics and synthetics, anymore, though?”
“No. Organics will lose the weakness of the flesh and be more… durable while still being organic. Synthetics will understand the meaning of life, of emotions. Both kinds will have an intricate understanding of each other because they would be the same with just the difference of the shell they are contained in.”

That sounded appealing to Rick. Understanding between everyone in the galaxy.

“What about the last one? The blue one.”

Anderson and Hannah looked at Jane, who pointed to their left, at the huge structure lit in blue light.

“Control.”
“Control? Of the Reapers?” the bewilderment in Hannah’s voice and clearly visible on her face was not missed by anyone present.
“Yes.”
“Shit. TIM was right.” muttered Jane.
“No. He was wrong. TIM believed HE could control the Reapers but he was controlled himself by them, that wouldn’t have worked. Isn’t it?” Rick corrected.
“You’re correct. We have been controlling him ever since what you called the First Contact War. Even more so since he upgraded himself with our technology months ago.”
“What does this control imply?”

That was a valid question from Hannah. If they could control the Reapers, humanity would be at the top of the food chain for thousands of years. It wasn’t something she was really interested in for humanity but the first option she was given killed her daughter and the second would change everyone against their will into something different. Different but supposedly better. It was too good to be true in her opinion.

“Total control of the Reapers. For that to happen, one of you needs to mix your energy to the Crucible. You will die, your corporeal form will be dissolved but your thoughts, your memories, everything that you are will be preserved. You will control us.”
“That sounds to me like the one who goes for it will become some kind of Chief Reaper, controlling the others.” Rick commented aloud.
“Yes.”

The catalyst said nothing more, leaving the four humans pondering in silence what they should do.

“Commander, the choice is yours.” Anderson declared.
“Me?!”
“Nice way to pass the live grenade to someone else's hand, Anderson.” commented Rick.
“I know it sounds like that but it's nothing further from the truth. Commander, you fought more than any one, sacrificed more than any one in the fight against the Reapers. You earn the right to choose.”

Jane looked at her mentor, who had an encouraging expression on his face then turned to her brother. She was surprised he was agreeing with this. Normally he would have already acted, doing what he wants and thinks is best without anyone input. Yet, despite his helmet, she knew he was looking at her. Waiting for her to make a choice. The right choice.

‘There is no way he would let me make the wrong decision. Is he testing me? Right now? After all this time? What do you want me to choose Rick? What’s the correct choice? How did you come to the conclusion of which one is the right one?’

She took a minute or two to think. Her brother already knew the answer to the dilemma they were in. Remembering that the two times she had tried to think like him she had been right in her conclusions, both with Brooks and the black box on the Normandy, Jane tried his tried and proven method again. After a few more minutes, she smiled and turned to her brother.

“Getting a spectre 101?”
“Kinda. It’s a bit different but kinda.” he replied with a visible smile from the open lower part of his helmet. “I’d like to know how you came to that conclusion though.
“What’s ‘getting a spectre 101’ ?” their mother asked, her children moving to the right.
“When you bargain, put an outrageous demand first and the demand you want last. The destruction of the Reapers was presented as the worst option so far. Death of plenty of people, death of all synthetics, technology severely impaired… In comparison with the two other options where only one person needs to die…” Jane began to explain.
“It’s a horrible choice. Too costly.” Anderson commented.
“Yes but it’s a trap. The synthesis solution… That reminds me of Saren. Both organic and synthetic and we all know how he turned out. Indoctrinated. A puppet to the Reapers. Maybe the advantages are real but…”
“Not worth it if we’re slaves.” Hannah finished, voicing her thoughts.
“Yes. The control option? Even worse. First of all, nobody should have that much power. Second, whoever uploads themselves in the Crucible will become a Reaper. And while the thoughts and memories will, allegedly, be intact, that person will lose their humanity and over time will simply change into what the Reapers are today. On the ship, we have discussed at large the topic of putting a human mind into a machine with EDI. Without an organic body, without neurotransmitters, hormones and everything else that help us make… us what we are… We would just be a machine. Logical and rational but nothing else. No different than the Reapers and the Catalyst. This option is the worst of the three in my opinion and that’s why it is presented last. Because it benefits them the most. In this, the best for them is the worst for us.”
“Then the worst for them is the best for us.” Anderson finished understanding where his protegee was going with her line of thoughts.
“So… How bad did I do?” she asked her brother at her side.
“You did very well, actually. You missed one glaring hint and the more subtle hints of the deception but they weren’t necessary to get to the answer.”
“Care to enlighten us?” Hannah asked.

Rick said nothing and kept walking, denying her request silently. A tug of his arm by Jane’s made him change his mind.

“When you think about innocence what comes to mind?”
“...Babies.” replied his potential future brother-in-law. “They’ve just come into the world. They have no bias, no prejudices. They… are brand new so to speak.”
“But can’t communicate. That’s why the Catalyst took the appearance of a child. To make himself… look good so to speak, innocent, a non-threat at the very least.” Jane added.
“You’re both correct. Next is… What do the colors red, green and blue make you think about respectively?”
“Red is linked to destruction. Like fires, explosions, blood… The enemy?” Wondered aloud Hannah.
“Yes. That association of red being the enemy comes from the Cold War between the USA and the USSR back in the 20th. It has stayed ever since. Blue is good, Red is bad.”
“Green makes me think of nature. Of grass and trees which is good. Anything medical too.” Anderson said.
“And Blue… is the color of the sea, of the sky. It makes me think of freedom, order and… good.”
“I wouldn’t have said it better, Jane. Old studies have shown that the color blue pacifies people, making them more at ease while red makes them more aggressive. That’s why on top of my explanation from earlier we unconsciously have the belief that blue is good and red is bad.”
“And the Catalyst was all blue… Just like the best solution for it whereas our choice was red as if it was bad. He really tried his best to influence our choice.” his sister realized with wide eyes.
“Yes and that hammered home that control was not the way to go and in a relative measure neither was synthesis.”
“What was the glaring point I missed?”
“It’s a faulty, stupid AI that created the Reapers. You don’t trust it. Period. No one in their right mind should.”

That made Jane snort at how obvious that was.

“For eons Reapers just reaped species with their superior technology. It was blunt force, pure and simple.”
“‘If violence is not the answer then you just didn’t hit hard enough’. “ Janed quoted her brother.
“Yes. They didn’t need to do subtle, they never had to, so the one time their method didn’t work…”
“They switched from violence to subtle in a last ditch effort but with only knowledge and no experience it failed.” Anderson finished the explanation.
“Yes. It’s like they picked a book about Manipulation of the mind and behavior for beginners in a hurry and didn’t have time to practice. Another proof that they are flawed AI. They thought that the knowledge alone would be enough. Another proof that EDI is vastly superior, she understands that she needs wisdom more than the knowledge to actually succeed. That is also why they brought the citadel here on Eartha nd not hide it.” Rick explained, making Jane laugh.
“A book for beginners! All this time… All this time they were outclassed! They mostly danced following your tune! You were always more dangerous to them than I ever was and they never…”

She stopped suddenly when she had a revelation. Her eyes grew wide in disbelief then she smacked his arm.

“I can’t believe you used me as bait all this time!”
““What?””
“Oh.” was all he said to express his surprise. “I’m surprised you found out.”

“You ass!” she shouted and smacked him again.
“What bait?” Anderson asked.
“With the exception of the mission with the Alpha Relay, Rick had been with me every time I confronted a Reaper. Virmire, each confrontation with the collectors and Harbinger, the collector base, Rannoch… Every time you were there, letting me talk and intervening when you deemed it necessary but they never saw you! The war would have gone very differently had they focused on you instead of me.”
“Pretty much.” he replied nonchalantly.
“Ooooh! We’re going to talk about this at home!” she smacked him again.
“Sure.”
“That's really interesting but that doesn’t solve the problem at hand.”

Everyone stopped in their tracks and looked at Hannah who definitely didn’t have a happy face.

“What problem?”
“You will die, Jane! That’s not… That’s not a sacrifice I’m ready to make. Not anymore.”
“... Why would I?”

Her daughter’s question shocked Hannah to the core.

“You heard that thing! All synthetics, all…”
“A big fat lie.”
“What?!”
“Think about it, mom. I’m almost certain that this tidbit of information about the synthetics dying with the reapers is a lie. That it said that to dissuade us even more to make that choice. We would condemn millions of people when with the other options we would just lose one. Logically we wouldn’t make that choice because the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, except it gave us that information and choice and it is the enemy.”
“... It… It makes sense but… You can’t know for sure if it’s a lie or not.”
“No, I can’t. The other options are definitely a no go though, so we’re stuck with this one. And it’s fine with me. However, I have faith, mom. I believe.”

The way Jane sait that would have convinced anyone to trust her. To trust in her, in her choices, in her decisions. That was why Hannah relented. That was why Steven Hackett had chosen her, because of her conviction which was infectious.
The grizzled Fleet Admiral, who had been quietly listening the whole time, smiled for the third time since the start of the war. Still the more the four of them dilly dallied the more people died.

“Commander, could you hurry up?”
“Sir?! You were still there?!” Jane said in shock.
“I was, you never cut the transmission. Now please…”
“We’re on it, right away. Though… How are we going to blow up that huge pipe?” she said looking at the said pipe in front of them.
“Bitcher, do you still have..”
“Here.”

Hannah pulled out the bomb they had taken from the evidence room at C-sec, from her back and handed it to Jane. The younger redhead took it and looked meaningfully at her brother.

“I’m excellent, Jane but not to the point of predicting we would need a bomb to blow this particular huge pipe. We took it because it could be useful, nothing more. I’m not god, I’m not omniscient.”
“... Sometimes I wonder… Arm it?”

Rick took a look at the explosive device and began to tinker with it. When he stopped, Jane simply walked toward their target and pinned it on it then walked back to the group twenty five feet away. As she returned, she saw Rick holding the detonator. Taking place by his side she waited for the fireworks but nothing came.

“What are you waiting for?”
“I already did one genocide with the Collectors. Your turn?”
“I did one too. More than 305K Batarian remember?”

Both turned to their mother and spoke in unison. “Torfan.” Then turned to Anderson.

“Want to join the club, sir?”

Hackett, who was still on the line, wanted to bash his head against the wall. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Neither did Anderson but he quickly caught his bearings and took the detonator from Rick’s hand.

“Eh, Why not?”

With those words, his thumb went down and pushed the red button of the detonator. The effect was immediate and the bomb exploded, destroying more than two thirds of the pipe. The blast had done the job and had been powerful. Perhaps too much since it pushed down the group.

‘Who the hell created such a powerful bomb for a simple Ramen shop?!’

From the ground, the four companions felt the consequences of their actions. The entire structure began to shake, they could hear an accumulation of energy right below them. It didn’t sound good.

“Commander, something is happening. A huge amount of energy is being generated and processed. Right at your location! Get out of there!”

Hannah helped Rick get up because of his broken leg and Anderson helped Jane who had no strength left. Both had held on on pure will until now and they were done.

“The conduit!” Anderson said, putting his charge’s arm around his shoulder and began walking as fast as she could and so did Hannah.

When they reached the platform that brought them to this part of the Citadel Rick simply jumped down towards the ground a hundred feet below. Ignoring her mother’s scream of terror, Jane followed in her brother's footsteps holding Anderson as tightly as she could. Thanks to her biotic training, she had no problem landing on the ground without any hurt.

“You could have warned me!” Hannah yelled at her son while walking toward the only exit of the room. Jane would have laughed had the situation not be so dire. When they began to hear explosions, Rick began doing small biotic charges, taking Hannah along with him. Again, so did Jane. Quickly they saw the beam down a dozen feet away.

“Don’t charge into it!”

Taking heed of her brother’s warning, Jane landed a few feet away from it. That was the last one for her. She was completely out of juice and Anderson had to drag her with him through the beam. Right behind the other pair.

The arrival back on London’s ground had been as violent as the one on the Citadel’s after using the beam. Her body was ejected with force and she landed against a destroyed Mako which was down on its side; Anderson landing right at her feet. Hannah and Rick fared a bit better. The latter landed on the ground and the former partially on him. Quickly, Shepard senior, rose to her knees and pulled up her son who ended up on his knees too.

“We made it.” Jane said with a smile that infected the others with her. However that smile turned to fear when she saw a Marauder, beyond her family, aiming at them.

“DOWN!”

In a flash, Rick pushed Hannah out of the way with his left hand. His right hand was raising at the same time, trying to put up a barrier. It was too weak. The Marauder’s first shot broke it. The six others broke him. It was a grouping that landed in Rick’s chest violently. So much that his body was pushed down backward.

“Noooooo!”

At the same time that Jane yelled in horror and despair, Anderson had picked up his own gun and pulled the trigger. He didn’t know if it was his shot to the head or the wave of red energy that went through them that killed the Marauder but it was dead. Trying to understand what had just happened for a moment, his train of thoughts was broken by the wailings of the one he considered his daughter in everything but blood. Turning his head, he saw both redheads hunched over the body of the man he had the utmost respect for. The oldest had her hands bathed in her son's blood, trying in futility to stop the bleeding. The youngest was removing his helmet then cradling his head with her dirtied hands, calling out, begging for him. The admiral knew it was to no avail. For the first time in eighteen years, Hannah Shepard saw her son’s face.

With his opened eyes devoid of life.

This chapter upload first at NovelBin.Com