The Reaper War

by Cole Price

  “Of course,” said Shepard.

  I stepped close, taking Shepard’s free arm and leaning my head on his shoulder as he looked down at Kolyat’s book.

  “Kalahira,” the young drell continued, “this one’s heart is pure, but beset by wickedness and contention . . .”

  Shepard took up the prayer: “Guide this one to where the traveler never tires, the lover never leaves, and the hungry never starve. Guide this one, Kalahira, and he will be a companion to you, as he was to me.”

  Thane nodded slightly, and then turned his head to the side, to look out the window at the Presidium.

  One last breath, like a sigh heard in a dream, and he left us.

  Shepard reached out to close his eyes. We all stood for a long moment in reverent silence.

  “Kolyat?” Shepard asked finally. “There’s something I don’t understand. His last moments were those of a hero. Why pray for salvation?”

  “The prayer was not for him, Commander. He has already asked forgiveness for the lives he has taken.” Kolyat turned to glance at Shepard’s face. “His wish was for you.”

  Shepard looked down at his friend one last time. “Goodbye, Thane. You won’t be alone long.”

  Then he turned away, leaving Kolyat in silent prayer.

  We moved out into the corridor, and got perhaps five or six steps away before Shepard simply stopped. He stood there, his back to me for the moment, head bowed and shoulders down, his hands hanging uselessly at his sides.

  Damn Cerberus to hell.

  I moved around him and glanced up into his face.

  Then I stood in his arms, holding him tightly, his free hand cradling my head against his shoulder, while his body trembled and the tears ran down his face like rain. For a long time we stood there, surrounded by the frantic activity of physicians trying to save lives, the misery of the suffering and the dying.

  Chapter 23 : Night Talk

  6 May 2186, Presidium Docking Ring/Citadel

  “Shepard.”

  Silence. I wondered for a moment if he had fallen asleep, but then I listened to his breathing and knew better. I lifted my head from his shoulder to look into his face, and saw his eyes gleaming in the light from the Widow Nebula, shining through the window above us.

  “Shepard?”

  “What is it, Liara?”

  “Are you all right?”

  “Yes.” His chest moved under my right hand, a deep breath. “No. Why do you ask?”

  “Something you said today, while we were at the hospital. I didn’t think about it at the time, but as the hours passed it began to concern me.”

  “Hmm.” His right hand came up behind me, brushing along my spine before it rested warm and strong on my shoulder. “Let me guess: when I said goodbye to Thane.”

  “You said he wouldn’t be alone long.” I shifted slightly, pressing closer to him. “It sounded rather fatalistic.”

  “I suppose so.” He stared up at the window for a few more moments. “I will admit to some doubts.”

  “About whether you’re going to survive?”

  “About whether any of us will. The Reapers are bad enough. With Cerberus stabbing us in the back every chance they get? I’m not seeing any way to win this.”

  I propped myself up on one elbow to look down at his face. “Does it matter?”

  “I suppose not.” He shrugged, reached up to run his thumb across my cheek. “It doesn’t really make any difference. We have to keep fighting. Have to keep hoping that God, or the Protheans, or sheer blind chance will come through for us. It’s all we have. I still have doubts.”

  I bent close to kiss him. “We all have doubts. That just shows we’re alive. Only the Reapers are always absolutely certain about everything. But even they can be wrong.”

  “I suppose.”

  He fell silent once more. I lay close to him, my head on his shoulder, my arm over his chest, my leg slipped between his, and just enjoyed the warmth of his presence.

  “There’s more to it, isn’t there?” I asked after a while.

  “I guess so.” He brought his other arm around to embrace me. “I’m getting very tired of watching other people pay for my mistakes.”

  “You’re thinking of Thane.”

  “I’m thinking of a lot of people. All the millions who die, every day that we fail to bring this war to an end. Three hundred thousand who died on Aratoht, because I couldn’t figure out a way to save them. All the good soldiers we lost on Tuchanka, because my plan went south. All the people who’ve died under my own command since Eden Prime. Kaidan. Mordin, and yes, Thane.”

  I held him quietly, knowing that more words would come.

  “I fucked up today.”

  More silence.

  “When Kai Leng threw that knife at you, I knew it was a distraction. I knew I had to keep my eyes on him, even if he killed you. I should have been the one going toe-to-toe with that Cerberus bastard. Not a sick, dying man who had already done more than enough for one lifetime.” He sighed deeply. “For an instant, I couldn’t think of anything but you. I let Leng distract me. Thane had to step in to save the councilor, and that killed him. It’s my fault.”

  “No. It’s Kai Leng’s fault. It’s the Illusive Man’s fault. Not yours.”

  “Yeah, well, the enemy is always going to do his best to hurt us. That’s why he’s called the enemy. We’re supposed to be faster, stronger, and smarter than they are.”

  I shook my head. “Shepard, you’ve been a soldier for years. You know better than to think you can win every single time.”

  “True.” He chuckled grimly. “It still stings like hell when I lose. Especially when people I care about have to pay the price.”

  “I certainly know that feeling,” I told him, remembering Ferris Fields.

  “T’Soni, you’re starting to talk like an old soldier yourself.”

  “Goddess forbid. You are clearly a bad influence.”

  “Hmm.” He took a deep breath, and I could feel his lips brush the top of my crest. “Don’t worry, love. I know what a situation like this calls for. You own your mistake. You learn from it. You move on and keep fighting.”

  “Yes,” I breathed.

  Finally we slept.

  * * *

  7 May 2186, Presidium Docking Ring/Citadel

  The attempted Cerberus coup threw the galaxy’s power structures into chaos. Yet the aftermath, our successful intervention to save the Council opened some doors that had thus far remained closed.

  For the first time, Councilors Tevos and Valern began open cooperation with the anti-Reaper alliance, committing asari and salarian resources to the fight. In return, the Council and the Spectre Corps wanted insight into Cerberus capabilities and intentions. Shepard found himself much in demand, presenting what he knew at meeting after meeting. Calls came in to Normandy as well, seeking the Shadow Broker’s advice, through me as “his senior representative.” Samantha Traynor and I spent many hours collating intelligence data for presentation to the Council.

  Meanwhile, the choice of who should replace Donnel Udina became the major question of the day. At first, the surviving councilors seemed reluctant to elevate any human, at least while the investigation into Udina’s activities continued. Then a breakthrough apparently took place in closed session, wherein Sparatus proposed inviting Shepard to serve as the human Councilor. One of my covert contacts gave me about five minutes’ warning of that proposal. In turn, I made a frantic call to Shepard to forewarn him. Thus when the Council contacted him, he could turn down the invitation gracefully, and make a sound counter-proposal.

  Since the demise of the Alliance Parliament on the first day of the war, Ambassador Dominic Osoba had acted as the interim Foreign Minister of the Alliance. He had a reputation as a talented diplomat, clever and intelligent, with none of Udina’s dishonesty or power-lust. No one could find any sign of Cerberus sympathy on his part. Both Shepard and Admiral Hackett knew and trusted him. To be sure, he was not an ideal candidate.
Since the Reaper attack he had shown signs of fragility, hollowed out by shock and personal loss. Yet when the Council offered him the chance to succeed Udina, he seemed to rally and accepted the opportunity.

  Osoba would not have all of Udina’s authority. The new acting Prime Minister of the Alliance would be the former Minister of Education, traveling away from Arcturus Station on the first day of the war, now under Admiral Hackett’s protection. Even so, Osoba would be able to carry out Udina’s most critical function: liaison between the Citadel Council and the turian-krogan-human concord that bore the bulk of the fighting against the Reapers.

  * * *

  Long after the end of his shift, Shepard finally returned to Normandy. When he arrived, he immediately called for a late-evening meeting of senior staff. Samantha and I arrived in the conference center to find Engineer Adams, Lieutenant Vega, and Garrus already waiting.

  Three minutes later, Shepard appeared, striding along the corridor to enter the conference center. Another officer followed about two steps behind him, wearing a formal uniform with both Alliance and Council insignia on her breast.

  “At ease,” he commanded the moment he crossed the threshold. “This is Lieutenant Commander Ashley Williams, whom I believe most of you know. Given her role in yesterday’s events, her appointment as a Council Spectre has been upheld. At her request, I have accepted her reassignment to Normandy, effective immediately.”

  This provoked a round of handshakes and warm greetings for Ashley. As it happened, only Samantha had no prior acquaintance, but she welcomed our friend as well.

  “Lieutenant Adams, Lieutenant Vega, Commander Williams is senior to you both. I’m therefore posting her as our new Executive Officer and commander of the Marine detachment, again effective immediately. This is not a reflection on either of you or your performance.”

  “Not a problem, Loco.” James grinned at Ashley, but he also gave her a crisp salute. “Glad to have you back, Commander.”

  Ashley smiled back. “Thanks, Vega.”

  Shepard turned to the engineer. “Adams?”

  “No objections here, sir. It’ll give me more time to mother the engines.”

  “Speaking of which, I also found some help for you down in the engine room. Gabriella Daniels and Ken Donnelly are back in Alliance uniform. I saw them in Admiral Saneyoshi’s replacement queue, so I snapped them up for you. They’ll report aboard tomorrow morning.”

  “The two engineers you had on board last year?” I noticed that Adams very carefully did not say while you were with Cerberus. “That’s great news, Commander. I like what I’ve heard about Daniels in particular.”

  “Glad to hear it. All right, Adams, Vega, you’re both dismissed.”

  The two men nodded and left.

  “All right, now for the next item of business. EDI, is Admiral Hackett available?”

  “Yes, Commander. Patching him through to you from the QEC.”

  The admiral must have expected our call. Less than ten seconds passed before the conference room screen darkened and we saw his image.

  “Shepard. I understand you have some news for me?”

  “I do, sir, and it may suggest our next assignment.”

  “Go ahead, Commander.”

  “Among everything else today, I had an encounter with an old acquaintance. Ka’hairal Balak.”

  I gasped in surprise, remembering an incident from three years before. “He’s still alive?”

  “Much to my surprise. Admiral, the first news I have for you is that what’s left of the batarian navy is going to come in to the alliance. Balak is apparently the Hegemony’s senior surviving military officer. I was able to persuade him to join us.”

  “Not going to ask how you managed that, Commander, but it’s still welcome news. How much of a force does Balak have to offer?”

  “Not much, sir. The Reapers nearly annihilated them over Khar’Shan.”

  “Admiral, my own network confirms that the Hegemony has suffered horrible losses,” I said. “The few reports I have out of their space suggest that the batarian species itself may be on the verge of extinction. The few million refugees fleeing into Alliance and Council space may be most of what remains.”

  Hackett looked even more grim than usual. “All right. I’ll assign Captain Marshall to coordinate with Balak and any other officers he can designate. I’ll also call Councilor Osoba and ask him to work with his colleagues to free up resources for batarian refugees. Sticks in my craw to extend a helping hand in that specific direction, but there’s no denying we need anyone who will fight, and batarians will certainly do that. Besides, as bad off as we humans are, we have at least a few more months before we stare extinction in the face. That puts us in a position to extend a little charity.”

  “That was my assessment as well. Thank you, sir.”

  “You said that was just the first piece of news. What else?”

  “Balak had an interesting story to tell. Do you remember Dr. T’Soni’s concerns before we left for the Bahak system?”

  Hackett’s eyebrows lowered, giving him the look of a predatory avian spying its next meal. “Something about the so-called ‘Leviathan of Dis.’ She conjectured that the batarians recovered a dead Reaper, and their contact with it exposed their scientists and military officials to indoctrination.”

  “Balak confirmed that hypothesis in every detail.” Shepard shook his head. “Apparently when the Reapers arrived at Khar’Shan, a lot of batarians who had been in contact with the Leviathan acted to tear down the Hegemony’s defenses. That’s how the attack succeeded so quickly and completely.”

  “Interesting, but what does that buy us now?”

  Shepard hesitated for a moment, then visibly gathered his courage and forged ahead. “Sir, I’m interested in what the Leviathan story implies. A billion years ago, something killed a Reaper. How?”

  “I would presume by applying a great deal of kinetic damage. That’s how all the dead Reapers we know about got that way.”

  “Maybe. What if there’s something more to it?”

  “Your point, Commander.”

  “We can’t defeat the Reapers by conventional means. Sure, they’re not absolutely impenetrable. So far in this war we’ve verified several Reaper kills. The problem is there are just too many of them, and they can easily afford to trade one of themselves for a whole task force of our ships. Most of the time the ratio isn’t even that far in our favor.” He glanced at me for just an instant, and then went on. “Our second option is the Crucible, but sir, I’m not sure we should put all our eggs in that one basket.”

  “Explain.”

  “Sir, think through the sequence of events. We know the Reapers are coming, we know there’s no way for us to defeat them by conventional means. We’re desperate. Then, just in the nick of time, Liara finds the plans for the Crucible, handed down to us from the Protheans. The timing stinks.”

  I shook my head and spoke up. “Commander, it may seem like coincidence, but that’s an illusion. We could not have discovered the Crucible earlier, because no one had the Cipher earlier. Without the Cipher, no clear translation of Prothean texts. Without a certain amount of desperation, driven by our awareness of the Reapers, there would have been no reason to search out those texts that discussed the Crucible.”

  “Maybe,” said Shepard. “I still think we’re being played.”

  I blinked, suddenly aware that my bondmate and I had fallen into a debate in front of our friends and the admiral. “By whom?”

  “Think about it. We got the Crucible design from the Protheans. Apparently they got it from their precursors, the inusannon. They got it from their own precursors, according to Javik. Where did they get it?”

  I saw it then. “You think the Reapers are behind it.”

  “Call it a nasty suspicion. If Sovereign wasn’t trying to snow us, the Reapers have been at this game for billions of years. Tens of thousands of extinction cycles. They must have backup plans for their backup plans. Wouldn�
��t it be just like them to leak the plans for this device? Give us vermin some false hope, a white elephant to soak up our last resources while they finish the task of extermination? Maybe even something that turns out to be the final stab in the back?”

  “Commander, is it your opinion that we should not build and deploy the Crucible?”

  “No, sir. It’s still the best chance we have. I would still be happier if we knew more about it. I would also be happier if we could find some alternatives, just in case. There’s a dead Reaper out there that we don’t know was just the victim of concentrated conventional weapons fire. With the krogan committed to the war, Normandy isn’t needed for front-line operations at the moment. I want to go investigate.”

  Just in time, I caught the glimmer in Admiral Hackett’s eye. It reminded me of the day I had first met him aboard Arcturus Station. On that occasion, I had watched while the admiral skillfully tested Shepard, before giving him exactly what he had wanted in the first place.

  Watch out, Shepard, he’s about to do it to you again.

  “Dr. T’Soni, do you concur?”

  “Yes, Admiral.” I spoke with confidence, playing my part in the admiral’s gambit. “Shepard and I haven’t discussed this in detail, but it makes a great deal of sense to me.”

  “Can you and your network continue to support the Crucible project while Normandy goes hunting?”

  “Certainly.”

  “All right then, Shepard. I agree as well, and I believe I have resources that may be of use to you.”

  Then Shepard saw it too. A smile flickered at the corners of his mouth. “What do you have in mind, sir?”

  “I want you to contact Dr. Garret Bryson, on the Citadel. He’s heading up a task force to investigate the Reapers. I believe he is several weeks ahead of you on this line of reasoning.”

  “Garret is on the Citadel?” I remembered the last time I had seen the human archaeologist. He and I had been working together on a dig in the Eramethos Mountains, uncovering the first clear evidence of Prothean visits to ancient Thessia. He had departed after about two months of work, speaking of a job offer from Admiral Hackett.