by Colin Cook
In response to this Alec turned and addressed all of us with a weak shrug.
"Guys I understand the need for it, but take it from one who's been through this sort of thing before, it wouldn't be ready in time, it would never be big enough…"
Before he could finish I reached up and grabbed him firmly by the shoulder, in a trusting brotherly sort of way.
"Even if it isn't, we can't just ignore the threat and hope that Shepard still has enough gas to rebound from the Reapers and then take on an Empire. This is what Yoda's
saying Alec, without us and the force that we can build with our knowledge and our talents they aren't going to stand a chance. If Viraden had managed to kill Shepard and
the others back at the Citadel, all he'd have to do now is wait for Saren to open the floodgates and let the monsters in, so that when the war started he would've just had
to watch both sides wear each other down and then come in and claim victory for himself. He'd have destroyed the Reapers with his forces and whatever powers he
possess, and then just turned around and enslaved whatever was left of the surviving races."
Alec blinked after I laid this new information on him, staring at me for a moment before shifting his gaze away from mine slightly, the faded look to his eyes showing that
he was thinking it over.
As he did this I turned back to the crew and walked over toward the end of the conference table, passing by Yoda before turning around on my heel and standing amidst
the horde that was starting to gather around me.
"It was only because of us, because of our involvement, our interference that he was stopped. Without the Replicators I would never have gotten to Michel's clinic in time
to save Garrus," I said to Alec and Yoda before panning my head around to everyone, jabbing a finger down towards the floor to firmly indicate all of us.
"Without you, the Replicators would never have come up with the idea to build the Iron Man suit in the first place," I continued, this time speaking directly to Alec with
another hand gesture towards him.
"We are all that stands between the people of this galaxy and Viraden's invasion. We are Shepard's guardians, and we are going to aid him in whatever non-destiny altering
ways we can while shielding him from Viraden's attacks. When the Reapers come, Shepard will need to use everything he has, bring everything he's got to the fight. And
we need to be there to fight alongside him and every other race that joins him, to send both the Reapers and Lord Viraden back into the dark pits from whence they
came!"
At this very moment something strange happened to me. Almost by some other force, as I spoke these words my voice began to deepen and boom throughout the
room like the voice of a Norse god. And just as strangely, as I made the final declaration, I clenched my fist and raised it high into the air.
Suddenly, as if on its own, the ring lit up and shot out a blinding ray of silver light in every direction, bathing the entire room in its radiance and dispelling every shadow
around us, fueling itself on my new sense of purpose and pure determination!
All of the Replicators gave out a squawk of surprise as the beams of silver hit them, causing many to trip and fall over each other as they all staggered backwards
uncontrollably. Even Yoda gasped and took a step back, his mouth hanging open slightly from the spectacle I was causing.
The only one who stood his ground was Alec, whose widened eyes were gleaming with a profound sense of wonder as he stared at me, his mouth half formed into a
crooked toothy smile.
"You are the Ring Bearer…" he breathed in awe, his smiley grin only widening even further.
I could barely believe what I was doing, it was almost as if the ring were telling my body what the best course of action would be before I actually did, guiding me through
my movements and words with just feelings and sensations alone. I hadn't actually known what the ring would do when I lifted it up and drew upon its power like that,
and yet at the same time I did. I wasn't being forced to do anything, it just felt like the right thing to do at the time. And even now, as I returned Alec's smile and looked
around at the crew, at my friends and comrades, I already knew what I had to say.
"With the Replicators abilities," I said, turning to look down upon Polly, who was looking up at me with the same kind of divine fascination that all of his brethren were at
the moment.
"With the Force." I turned to my other side to look down at our Jedi Master. At this point he had recomposed himself from his initial reaction, but was still staring up at me
with a wide thin smile and an unmistakable look of pride upon his wrinkled face.
Finally I turned back to Alec, my Guardian and right hand man. Bringing my own right hand down until it was level with my chest I walked back over toward him, the
blinding silver from the ring remaining ever present even as I stopped in front of him, its radiance illuminating the undersides of our faces.
"And with our knowledge combined as one, we can do this Alec. We can assemble an army capable of taking them both on, we can help Shepard turn the Reapers into
floating heaps of scrap! We can save this universe and drive Viraden so far away from here that he'll never dare threaten it again!"
The almost intoxicating feeling that had begun to course through my veins made my final words boom out almost twice as powerfully as they had before. And as I said
them I offered my raised hand towards Alec, the blinding light fading away in an instant and allowing us both to see each other clearly again.
I let out a laboured breath, the exhilarating feeling of the power I had just experience leaving me in a rush.
It took me a brief moment to regain myself before I spoke to Alec, my voice having now returned to normal.
"And then…we can go home."
Alec's eyes, which had been staring down at my offered hand, immediately flicked up to meet mine again as soon as I mentioned our own universe, the very universe that
we were trying to get back to by completing this quest.
"Are you with me on this one Alec? I can't do this without you," I said to him, my words filled with all the honesty and genuine feeling I had ever put into them.
There was a very short pause before Alec's usual gung-ho, good-natured self sprang to life in another wide and equally genuine smile right before he grasped my hand
firmly in his in a strong Bro-Grip.
"What? You were afraid I was gonna let you guys have all the fun?"
Right away we both burst out laughing, pulling each other into a tight hug.
"He's onboard!" I called back to everyone. A mighty chorus of hisses and cries rose up from the Replicators as they cheered in response to this outcome, many of them
waving or pumping the air with their pincer legs in celebration. As we both broke away from the other I could hear Yoda chuckling happily amongst the hissing before it
quickly died down and the horde began to scatter, all of them returning to whatever jobs they had been doing before this epic moment.
(Alright fun's over, back to work!)
"I can't believe I'm agreeing to this. First we get saddled with keeping Shepard's crew safe from behind the scenes, now we're going on to raising armies to fight against
merciless dictators, and the Reapers at the same time."
Alec shook his head at this with a deep breath of defeat, shrugging to himself before looking between Yoda and I.
"Its seems gents, that we are really getting our work cut out for us on this trip."
I gave another smile, proud at having convinced my Guardian into joining us in our insane new scheme.
Both of us soon began chuckling as we found the morbid fact of Alec's last statement to be uplifting in a weird way, but then I suddenly remembered back to the beginning
of this entire debate.
My proposal to have Jango join us had been the spark that had formed the idea to build our own galactic army. Now as I thought more on it, on Yoda's mentioning of
Jango having been killed just before the Clone Wars, I suddenly got an uneasy feeling about this little alliance I was going for.
"Jango worked with us out of necessity because we were all trying to get off the Citadel. Now that we are off, the only thing I'm worried about at this point is him taking
issue with working full-time alongside a Jedi, since it was Mace Windu that kind of…you know…" I began to everyone, looking over at Alec and making a quick slicing
gesture across my neck with my thumb, indicating the moment in Attack of the Clones when the purple saber wielding Jedi had decapitated the bounty hunter in the
gladiatorial arena on Geonosis. But to my surprise Alec suddenly scoffed and waved off my words.
"Actually I wouldn't worry about that too much, considering Jango himself said he didn't really care about the Jedi, mentioning that he truly didn't trust the Sith while he
was working for them."
A frown of confusion formed on my face as I heard this, causing me to shoot a look over at an equally surprised Yoda.
"What?" I pretty much stated to Alec in that same manner. Right away he threw up his hands with a shrug and nodded his head quickly, looking between both of us and
even a few of the Replicators that continued to scurry back and forth around the room.
"I know right?! That's pretty much what I said! According to him he actually despises the Sith because of all the damage they've brought upon the Mandalorian people
throughout their long history together." I absently shook my head, still just as confused as ever by this new information.
"That doesn't make sense; if that's how he always felt about it why would he even consider working for them in the first place?" I asked, scratching my jaw thoughtfully
as I processed this notion.
"Well just like you'd expect it was all about the profit their jobs offered, along with the perks he got from them. While he received his whopping paycheck, he also got to
have his pick of weapons, ships, armours, yadda yadda yadda," Alec began explaining while both the Master and I listened intently, soon being joined by Polly and Sparky
as the two Replicators moved over and perched themselves on the edge of the conference table so as to hear what was being said.
"But what really got him hooked was when they granted his request to have Boba created, an unaltered clone for himself by which he could teach and mold as his own
son. After that Count Dooku and the rest of the Confederacy pretty much had him on their own private leash, indebted to remain as their right hand man until the…the…
uhh Axel? Axel, you still with me?" Alec continued before breaking off after seeing my current reaction.
My eyes were wide; looking off into whatever negative space was behind the Guardian. The expression on my face had changed from that of confusion to a clear look of
inspiration.
"Axel, is everything working properl…" Alec began asking in a deliberately slow voice, waving a hand in front of my face to get my attention. But immediately I snapped my
fingers, a wide grin flashing into existence as my gaze met with his again.
"THAT'S IT!" I nearly exclaimed to everyone.
The startled Guardian could only shake his head in bewilderment with a blank look on his face.
"Huh…" he barely managed to blurt out before I reached up and clapped him firmly on the shoulder.
"Alec, you're a genius!" I declared to him, my toothy grin never leaving as I immediately cocked my right eyebrow high up. And just as immediately my forehead was
wracked by a fresh wave of pain from my bleeding cut, causing me to cringe again and momentarily wedge my eyes shut.
"Oww…ow, ow!" I complained to myself as I pressed the tips of my fingers against it, quickly turning away from the room and moving into the Med-bay in desperate
search of the miracle medi-gel that would hopefully stitch my head back together.
While I did this Alec's stupefied look had now turned into one of proud acknowledgement; an almost obnoxious grin spreading across his face as he refolded his arms and
leaned against the wall next to the door.
"Why thank you, I like to think I walk the line between awesome and genius every moment of my life. But what exactly did I…" he began after me in an oddly smooth
sophisticated voice, before suddenly getting cut off as the Med-bay's door let out a click and slid closed right in front of him.
The Guardian's smile dropped at this rude interruption, making him frown and turn to Yoda and the Replicators with a confused look.
"What did I say?" he asked them, jabbing a thumb at the closed door. The Replicators merely looked at each other and raised their legs in another imitation of shrugging
before returning to their repair work. Yoda on the other hand only chuckled deeply in his old voice before moving amidst the horde of machines to see if he could help in
any way.
"Really guys, what did I say?" the Guardian asked seriously as he moved after them.
"So what exactly makes Alec a genius?" Haxon asked after the doors had sealed themselves behind me, finally deciding to speak for the first time since his exclamation
about the Reapers devouring people.
It didn't occur to me at the time, but Haxon could actually be a really quiet person when he wanted to be, especially when really important debates or meetings were
happening. Instead of stating his opinion or interjecting in some way, he always chose to simply stay silent and listen carefully. (I.E. The interrogation of Kurath, the reunion
with Jarrod, and now with the issue concerning the building of a galactic army)
It was an endearing trait to his character, but it was also a bit unnerving in some ways. We never heard what his thoughts or feelings on the subject were, and he could
hear everything that was said during any conversations I had while I wore my Spectre armour, meaning no interactions I might have with anyone in the future could really
stay private as long as I had it with me.
I cringed again, pressing my fingers even harder against my cut to keep more blood from trickling out.
"You'll find out in a minute, but right now I would love to know where exactly the damn medi-gel is," I answered him through gritted teeth, the pain being worse then I
realized as I took a look around the room. The Corsica's Med-bay looked almost exactly like the one used by Dr. Chakwas on the Normandy-SR1, with the minor change
of it being on the right side of the ship rather than the left. The bay had several medical beds spaced out along the wall to my left, with numerous bright lights hanging
above each while the rest of the room remained shrouded in a pleasantly dim lighting.
"There is a medi-gel dispenser on the wall directly two meters to your left," Haxon directed, somewhat in an annoyed manner, after it became obvious I had no idea
where to find what I was looking for.
Turning in that direction, I slightly reared back in surprise once I saw the large red and white Alliance medical dispensing machine built into the wall pretty much right beside
me, looking exactly like the hundreds of other machines of its kind I had encountered during the several times I had played Mass Effect.
"Ah…right then," I voiced, more awkwardly than I wanted to, as I raised my left arm and activated my Savant-X.
Luckily from the Mind Mending I had done with the omni-tool back in Irwin's store, I already knew what was needed to change the desired medi-gel into its application
form and transfer it over to the tool itself. Raising my glowing hologram covered forearm to the main sensor built into the dispenser, I begrudgingly brought my right hand
away from
my stinging cut to the keyboard and tapped in a command that would activate it.
A series of mechanical noises suddenly emanated from the machine, along with a small bubbling sound coming from several tubes loaded with the thick translucent gel
visibly built into its sides. After that happened, a white scanning field hummed into existence, reaching out from the sensor and digitally connecting with the inner makings
of my omni-tool. The tubes of gel soon began emptying, their contents continuously draining down into the machine until the dispenser had sucked them dry. While that
was happening the scanning field fluctuated and hummed even louder, causing a small screen to activate above my omni-tool's keyboard. Displayed on its surface were
three red medi-gel indicators, all of which were quickly flickering and turning green from the converted medi-gel being downloaded into them. Once the process was
complete a small chime rang out from the dispenser before the scanner field and the machine itself shut down, followed by a small icon appearing on my screen that
showed the transference was finished.
"Well, I guess its time for my first taste of the Buckley's of the future," I said with a slight chuckle, one that I came to regret as the movement from it made my cut flare
up once again. Rotating my arm so that the underside of the omni-tool was facing up, I activated a small interface built next to the underside of my wrist. After the
needed mechanics sprang to life across the hologram's orange surface, I pressed a final button that would disperse one of the three new medi-gel applications throughout
my body, and hopefully heal this damn wound before it got any worse.
Right away, just like it would in the game, a humming yellow field flashed out from my omni-tool, enveloping and racing up and down my body for a brief moment before
vanishing with a humming beep.
"Whoa…WHOA!" I suddenly found myself saying as a very strange feeling began to wash over me. My right hand rose up to my forehead, my fingers brushing over my
bleeding cut. But to my surprise I quickly felt the cut disappearing, the skin and flesh that had been damaged smoothly sealing up within seconds. And it wasn't just my
eyebrow cut, I could feel the same strange sensation affecting the goose-egg I had received to the back of my head after the crash in Darren's hover-taxi, as well as the