Glorious Shotgun Princess (ME/Exalted) Thread #2

[GreggHL]

One balled fist extends into a thin wire and whips out, screaming through the air and deflecting off Shepard's extended hand. Wrapping it around her palm, she pulls and yanks the drone off its feet. A blue of motion and Kal'Reegar appears between them, slamming a fist into its chest and sending it flying sans arm.

A six armed giant lands behind him, swings and hits a flock of white butterflies before a velociraptor tackles him, claws becoming extended blades and lopping off two arms. Gunshots blast out the side of the drone's head, as pairs of bipedal drones leap over the carnage and at Tali.

She turns, cocking her shotgun and extending her free hand. Arcs of electricty zap one, and Shepard vaults over her and sends one flying with an uppercut.

Boot jets flare and she takes off, tacking a descending six armed drone and slamming it into the ground, bouncing off of it and sending a beam into the chest of a whip armed drone. Kal appears behind the wounded drone, gunshot to the back from his side arm blowing a hole before a gunshot to its head drops it.

Wuffles appears in a burst of blue electricity, back to back with Reegar as slender drones with eight arms converge on them. Kal ducks as one swings, Wuffles sending one flying with a punch, a kick between the Geth's legs sweeping a second off its feet as the synthetic sends it into the ground with a downward chop.

Two are crushed under a descending six armed drone, Kaidan slamming into a third in a burst of blue before grabbing his sword and diving into the fray. Kal grabs one, slamming it headfirst into the ground, grabbing its feet and using it as a bludgeon, sending one into the mouth of the waiting thresher maw before it becomes a krogan and begins charging into a massed group of drones.

A burst of blue lightning becomes a Geth Colossus, standing upright and firing off concussive blasts at the descending drones. Another group of drones mass, looking up before the ground they are on- and they as well- become a deep crater. And roaring, Javik flies out, up back into the fray.

Right in time to catch a screaming Liara.

"Calm yourself, Asari," he says, "I have you."

She looks down. Then back at the prothean. "If you have me, who has you?"

Shepard lands fist first, taking a drone down, grabbing another as it dives at her and blasting off its head. Unlocking her rifle, she tosses it to Kaidan before extending a hand and firing. The beam deflects off his sword and he turns to blast a line through the advancing drones. Taking off again, she drags the headless drone with her and tosses it into a running six armed brute just before the rampaging rhino impales it on its tusk.

The rhino leaps, becomes a thresher maw, and disappears into the ground before dragging down more drones. A sphere impacts, sprouting six legs and sparking antennae, the same red pattern of Seeker's drones painting over it before turning its weapons on the colossus-mech. And then a shuttle slams into its head and sends it reeling.

James climbs out of the wreckage as more shuttles and fighters dive in, Makos and Grizzly's leading the charge of the Eden Prime militia.

Landing in a crouch, Shepard extends both hands and fires. Two bone winged drones drop in fingerwidths distance of her. Next to her, Tali blows another in half with her shotgun, her shoulder mounted cannon pivoting and blowing the limbs off a six armed brute before Kal appears on its shoulders and tears off its head.

Liara lands next to Shepard, surrounding them both in a blue bubble as several four legged drones leap at them, pulsing it and sending them flying. "Thought you were still on the Normandy," Jane comments.

"Let's just say Kaidan has stepped up to follow your example," Liara breathes.

Jane cocks an eyebrow. "What, he started glowing, too?"

Clicking her tongue, Tali forms a holographic gun on her left arm and bisects a whip drone. "Not to cut into the flirting, but we're being swamped!" She clicks her omnitool, shotgunning the legs off a brute before Wuffles sends it flying with a kick. "Bosh'tet! Get your Orichalcum ass here!"

A flash of white, and the golden giant lands, rolling its head before charging into a mass of brutes. As they go flying, Jane takes a moment to tilt her head. "The fuck is that?"

"Autochthon when he's being helpful," Tali responds, "Also, if I may ask, where is it getting all these drones from?"

A bass roar fills the air, and the ground shakes as it lands. Standing dozens, if not hundreds of meters tall, it stands on four legs and casts the battlefield with the red glow of its row of eyes. The Reaper Destroyer roars, letting loose beams of crimson on both armies.

The fields burn as it advances, silent incineration of the drones and screams of the soldiers as blasts from overhead shuttles pepper it. But it ignores them, finally turning its gaze upon Shepard and her crew. Bracing its legs, the plates around its face part and it lets loose the blast. It burns through the air, ignites the grass beneath them.

And deflects off Jane's hand as she stands in font of her compatriots. It burns the ground, melts the gauntlet, and makes her scream at the brief burning pain. And then she blinks and sees the perfect circle of burned soil around her. Liara and Tali both stare at her.

"Oh ho ho, that is not okay," Shepard breathes, "Stay here. I'm going to kill a Reaper with my bare hands."

 

[GreggHL]

Tanks roll back, speeding down the battlefield away from the drones and the towering form of the Reaper. Soldiers hold onto the sides of the tanks or run, sending up flares as they race to safety. The drones follow. Or attempt to, as the first rounds of artillery tear into their ranks. Explosions rip through the battlefield, distant cannons firing on command to stagger the horde and the beast which leads them.

And through the dust and smoke, a single figure races.

The golden disc glows on her bare forehead, and the sunlight trails off her as she charges through the ranks of the drones.

"Shepard," Pria says, appearing on her shoulder, "I seriously advise against this course of action."

"Why not?"

Two six armed drones dive in. She leaps over one, hand standing on its head and slamming both feet into another. Boot jets flare, blasting a hold in one as she casually tears off the head of the other. Pria rolls her eyes.

"Because you can't outrun tanks. Yet."

She turns. The tanks are retreating, and she swears. "Right. Time to hitch a ride." Tapping her omnitool, her helmet closes over her head as the artillery strikes blast around her. "Let's test a theory. Garrus! I need a lift!"

The smoke parts, and Jane reaches out to grab the side of the charging velociraptor's arm. A single motion, and she lets herself act by instinct. What should be a solid ton of armor is light as a feather. What should be a complex motion is easy as a thought. And Jane Shepard twists in mid air and mounts the dinosaur bareback.

"Still getting used to the bullshit hack magic?" Garrus asks.

"Getting better. We're charging that Reaper."

"You have no idea how much I missed you, Shepard."

Hugging close to Garrus, the landscape blurs. They charge through the ranks, the roar of the explosions and the bass horn of the massive creature echoing. Blue plate encloses her face, white eyes and golden lines breaking the uniformity.

"Jane? It's Mom." The screen folds out in her right eye, showing her Hannah's face. "Admiral Hackett's in a dick fighting contest with a Prothean, I have the Orizaba and the fifth fleet in orbit of Eden Prime and what the Hell is going on there?"

"Reaper."

"Oh, of course." The image of Hannah smacks herself on the head. "And since Hackett and the ancient alien asshole are still arguing, I'll direct the Eden Prime forces. Serviceman Tolwyn, status of our reinforcements?"

"Relay active, Captain, should be here in five."

Hannah nods. The roar of the Reaper becomes louder as Garrus blurs to the side, missing blasts of red by fingerwidths. "Get us in staggered firing line with those destroyers. Serviceman Chung, get us a firing solution with our broadsides. We need..."

Her eyes go wide. The hologram flickers. "Well, shit. That's not our reinforcements, is it?"




"Just exited the Relay, Captain." The serviceman at the front console of the CIC brings up the image, fingers dancing on controls. Large, swept back. Faint flickers as it keeps appearing and disappearing. "It's making short FTL jumps and we can't get an accurate picture of dimensions."

It starts as a rumble along deck plates. The image of Javik's head disappears mid pronouncement, as the lights along the CIC of the Orizaba begin to dim. Hackett looks up, then back to Shepard.

"That can't be good."

Then, it appears in front of them. In front of their fleet. Five times the length of the Orizaba. Eight metal tentacles uncurl around its form, as a multitude of golden eyes open. The swept back body comes to two tapering points as it hovers above the world.

And every deck plate in the fleet vibrates at the sound of the deep bass roar.

 

[GreggHL]

"Just exited the Relay, Captain." The serviceman at the front console of the CIC brings up the image, fingers dancing on controls. Large, swept back. Faint flickers as it keeps appearing and disappearing. "It's making short FTL jumps and we can't get an accurate picture of dimensions."

It starts as a rumble along deck plates. The image of Javik's head disappears mid pronouncement, as the lights along the CIC of the Orizaba begin to dim. Hackett looks up, then back to Shepard.

"That can't be good."

Then, it appears in front of them. In front of their fleet. Five times the length of the Orizaba. Eight metal tentacles uncurl around its form, as a multitude of golden eyes open. The swept back body comes to two tapering points as it hovers above the world.

And every deck plate in the fleet vibrates at the sound of the deep bass roar.

"Firing solution, and..." Hannah says, "Fuck it. Serviceman Chung, you have permission to fire from the hip on that ugly son of a bitch."

The massive ship whirs about. Thrusters on the sides fire, moving it to face its bow towards the black ship, as capacitors running along the spine of the Orizaba come to life and spark blue. The barrel of the gun, a kilometer long, hums as the charge reaches critical.

And then every light on the ship shuts off. Emergency lighting bathes the CIC in a red glow, as Hannah stands and turns around, the ship rocking and Hackett grabbing the chair to keep himself upright.

The other ships begin to drift as well, weapons going silent and engines going dim. All as the massive Reaper turns to them, bathing the bridge in a golden glow.

You attempt to fire upon us with the technology and power we have left you. But, the forces of the universe bend to me.

The golden light bathes the bridge. The central hologram becomes a golden light, eight eyes blinding them and forcing them to avert their gaze.

Limited creatures of blood and flesh. You are brought before me and you stumble in ignorance. Incapable of understanding that which is before you.

Doors close around them. The ship locks itself down, blast shields clamping around the windows.

Your ships are no longer your own. This battlefield now belongs to me. Your actions have become wasted effort. And your forces now serve me.

"The fuck is this," Hannah growls, hand over her eyes, "Think he even hears me?"

Yes. Shepard. The eyes turn. They center on Hannah. You are the progenitor of Shepard.

"That's Captain Shepard." She brings down her hand, staring directly into the gaze of the Reaper, "And this is my ship. Identify yourself and give me a reason why I am not sending five kilogram slugs directly down your nose."

Half the eyes narrow. Your threats are as empty as your role in this battle. But we see similarities to Shepard. We are Harbinger. And this system is now mine. Gatemaker. Send the rest.


End Chapter 16

 

[GreggHL]

Because people have been asking how I'd do the plotline from the Citadel DLC...

----




Deep in the Citadel Archives, Shepard listens to her teams. So far, the Cat6 aren't giving them much trouble. Well, they shouldn't. Between her normal help and her supernatural help, there's not much a group of badly trained, heavily armed soldiers can do against them. Hand on her pistol, she nods to Vasir and Grunt, and then kicks open the door.

The frame flies off the hinges, and she enters the open room, noting the catwalks, the crossfire, the snipers. And Brooks, naturally, with an arm around her neck and held in plane sight.

"Seriously?" Jane asks, "We're playing 'hostage?' Is this supposed to keep me from having my turian friend snipe you from across the Citadel? Or maybe my ninja-thief friend from stealing your ability to hold you bowels?"

"Shepard," Brooks chokes, "Little less flippant, please."

"No, seriously." The caste mark flares on her. The light shines down and around her, dispelling the shadows. "You threaten me, you send armies after me, and you fuck with my files. Did you think I was going to hide?"

Brooks is thrown off the catwalk. Grabbing her in mid flight, Shepard tosses her to Grunt. And then the figure steps forward from the shadows, the darkness melting and parting for her, smirk on her face and cracking her knuckles.

"Who ever said anything about hiding?" Jane's own face looks down on her from the catwalk. "I'm Commander Shepard. I never hide."

She leaps off, landing kneeling on the floor with enough force to send Grunt and Vasir off their feet. Rising slowly, Shepard's double smirks, watching as Jane's face goes from confusion, to realization, to dark anger.

"Oh you bitch. You are not doing this now."

"I think I am," she responds with a nod, and sighs, "It's a necessity, you know. This entire war, this entire cock-up? All your fault." A shrug, as she walks around, stomping her foot to send Vasir and Grunt off their feet again as the spotlight shines down on Shepard.

"And what? You're going to waltz in and take my place?"

"More or less." She rolls her eyes. "I'll actually it better, in fact. This war will be turned around. The Viator will kneel at my feet and beg for mercy. And I will be proclaimed savior of the galaxy." She examines her hand, her fingers, pursing her lips. "A small step from 'savior' to 'ruler.'"

"I will punch you. And make you explode."

She cocks an eyebrow. "Is that a threat?"

"No, that's me calling my shot."

Shepard's fist lances out, framed by golden fire. Caught by surprise, her double bobs to the side as the gauntlet passes within hairs width of her face, the bow wave tearing a hole through the wall. Twisting around the strike, her fingers strike at the nerves and hit adamant, grabbing Shepard's wrist before the punch can reach her face.

"Oh, you solars," her double growls with a grin, "You're always so overconfident right before I kill you."

Shepard growls. The golden fire clashes with the fire around her double. "You and what army?"

And then the ceiling collapses, and Shepard looks up with a curse. Her double smiles. "My army."

 

[GreggHL]

They ride, charging through the battle. Through and between bullets, against the roar of the Destroyer. Through the chaos and explosions, through the din and smoke, past and through the hordes of drones.

The world blurs as Garrus charges through their lines, sending the once-fearsome foes flying as what was a raptor becomes a charging bull, silver and light against the black and red wall.

The horn blasts again. Garrus buckles, shifting into the Maw once more before his tail sends her flying. The blast strikes where they were, and she goes sailing through the air, just as the red lights on the inside of her helmet begin to alert her to problems. Like how the blast took out her jets.

Well, crap, she thinks.

Flailing through the air, pinwheeling through the sky towards the Destroyer, Jane Shepard finds it appropriate in this case to muse on whether or not this was the best idea. Charging at a Reaper.

What would Pria say in this situation? 'You're doing it wrong,' most likely. But...

But.

"But what if she's right?"

Breathing deep, the sounds of the battle still. This is...not a soldier, she thinks. This is not how soldier operates. This is not accepting the realities of the battlefield and using tactics. There is a horn blast, and Shepard bites her lip. Nervousness, she thinks. Not born out of fear.

But because this is completely insane.

A single phrase comes to mind. Something she practiced and practiced but always thought would be impossible here. Like running up snowflakes in an avalanche.

Feather Foot Style.

The red light blasts out, and she moves. Twisting in mid air, she lets the beam miss by fingerwidths, and pumps her legs. And to her amazement, Jane Shepard runs down the Reaper's beam and directly towards it.

This is impossible, she thinks. But she is doing it, and fuck it. The beam cuts out, but she keeps running, off of falling drones with impossible graces, off of shuttles on fly overs. Beams of blue cut into the horde of the drones, and she runs upside down on the hull of the Normandy as it flies over. She knows she can do this.

This is impossible. She should not be able to do this. But that voice in her head, the power running through her, tells her that she can.

A leap off her ship as it banks up, and she dives through the sky towards the Destroyer. It sees her, opens fire, and she runs down the beam towards it. A single, last leap, and she flies through the air towards the black beast. A single halo appears behind her, rotating and set in gold, light and green. Lines of green run up her, golden light gathers at her fist.

And for some reason, perhaps her own memory, perhaps something she rarely lets out to surface, or the memories buried deep within the Exaltation, she lets her voice boom over the battlefield like thunder from on high.

But whatever words she had, whatever she had to say, is lost over the sound of her fist impacting with the Reaper's hull. A golden flash lights up the sky light the sun, and the Destroyer goes flying.

 

[GreggHL]

The Destroyer flips, bouncing off its swept up back before landing in a crouch. It rises, stumbling back on its six legs before parting the plates underneath its eyes and letting out a glass cracking bass roar.

The eye at the center of its lower body flashes and it releases a gout of molten iron. It burns the air, bends grass, burns soil, and deflects off the armored fist of Jane Shepard.

Racing forward, the sundisc on her brow, she closes the distance as the Destroyer roars. Dirt and dust falling off its foot, the Reaper steps forward and drives its claw into the ground. Bent over, bass tones filling the air, it releasing the wave of liquid death just as she comes within striking distance.

The ground beneath the giant turns to liquid and then to glass. Angry red cracks spread out. The seismic shock can be felt for miles as the blast penetrates for kilometers into the planet. As the light clears, as the heat and force dissipate, the Reaper realizes a simple, terrible truth about the consequences of its act.

It never hit. Because it can now, through the smoke and haze, clearly see Jane as she grabs one of his feet, wrapping her arms around its claws and glowing like the rising sun.

She grits her teeth, roaring. But as with all things, the only limits to the Lawgivers are what limits they set themselves. The only limits are those they believe that cannot be surpassed. The foot lifts. Not by the volition of the Reaper, but by the will of the Exalted. A warbled cry issues forth from the destroyer as it rises. Held by one foot, held aloft, it can only roar as Jane swings it into the ground.

Molten metal blasts the ground where she was. But it was where she was, as she sails through the air. Golden sunlight gathers around her, gathering around her fist as the bass roar becomes higher and higher pitched.

The strike impacts upon the metal shell of the Reaper and sends shockwaves through the ground and sky. Clouds above part from the blast. The ground cracks, shudders, glass pulverizing and rising into the air as the Eezo generator is breached.

And then the air turns green. What was parched ground becomes black and rich, before stalks of grass burst through. The pillar of vermillion explodes from the Reaper, into the ground and into the sky, briefly tossing Shepard onto her ass as the tendrils of wood rise from it, pinning its remains to the ground as a tree taller than the Reaper itself rises.

Rich, thick leaves sprout. Vines and moss cover it- and the corpse of the Reaper- in a split second. For a brief moment, Jane spots what looks like faces within the tree- but dismisses it off hand. Still, she makes it a point to ask what the Hell just happened. Which she then promptly forgets, as the corpse of the Reaper shudders, and a red eye turns to her.

"Shepard." The voice is deep, rumbling. Thunderous and bass. But...young. Like Sovereign's, as if spoken by a child.

She takes a step back, one fist clenching. "You know who I am?"

"Harbinger speaks of you." The corpse shudders. Red lightning plays over it. "You have been Chosen. You resist. But you will ultimately fail."

She smirks. "Think I'm doing a good job so far. You're down, your big friend is next. And you're not dealing with me." Stabbing a finger at the dying, dead Reaper, she barely notices the color washing out, the warms around her from the flowing sunlight, "Because you're so focused on me that you don't even notice the galaxy uniting against you."

"This. Is the method. The Chosen unite. Against us." The red eye flickers. "And then the united force. Falls. The Harvest continues." Green vines wrap around the face, the eye. "Your victory. Is hollow."

Sunlight gathers on her fist. "It's the last victory you're ever going to see," she growls, "Tell your friends I'm coming for them." Stepping forward, she brings her fist back. "Better yet? I'll tell them myself."

The remains of the Destroyer shatter as the punch impacts. Where there was the black metal, more wood and vines appear, flash replacing them as the Reaper finally dies. Whether a side effect of the death, or simply something inside it being released, Jane does not know, or care to know. Instead, se gives one more parting glance to the forest sprouting where the Reaper once stood.

And turning, she races back to the battle. "This is Commander Shepard to all Eden Prime forces," she announces over her Omnitool, "And I am hereby ordering you to get that Reaper out of my sky!"

 

[GreggHL]

It was a curse. This is what he realizes. It explains so much; he always suspected, always wondered. As the exalts died and he examined their shards, it stood out to him; The extremes of their behavior. The sudden rages or melancholy. It all makes sense. Moreso than the imperfections of man, it was the imperfections of the Exaltations themselves.

"This is what you took advantage of, was it not?" Floating before the black mass, Autochthon looks his son directly in the eye. "You knew. You understood. You took advantage of the insanity they had been cursed with when you tricked Bright Star into becoming your servant?"

The darkness begins to bend. Begins to whirl. It takes form, letting in the light once more, but as it does they almost wish for the ignorance of the darkness. Standing taller than a Colossus, its terrible shape warping reality around it, pushing it away in horror. The whirring of blood soaked gears clicks in the digital space.

The black lightning crackles off its obsidian blade.

The Viator of Nullspace centers its pustular eye upon its father and its slave. "Of course I did, Autochthon. What more fitting a servitude for your champions than one they themselves elect to? What better a horror than one built upon compassion?"

The eye of Autochthon dips down. As the obsidian giant takes a step forward, black laughter echoes from its mouthless face. "You have, once more, brought this upon yourself Father." The blade traces upon the ground. The light shudders as the sword consumes it. "You cannot blame yourself. Simply join me. Let us find vengeance for these wrongs, together."

The world around them turns solid, then liquid. The creation of the Viator, the Relay Network itself, shudders from its presence. "The old hatreds, the old disease. Let us put those aside. Let us join, and complete my great work. Let us take the titans of a million million dead races. Let us show your hate and hunger to your brothers."

The eye turns to it. The silver iris narrows. "What?"

"All this, father." The pustular eye narrows. Spreading arms wide, the blackened giant laughs. "As I tried before. As I said before. I have taken the remains of the countless, and forged them into weapons. I have taken the corpses of worlds and made them an army unlike your Creation has ever seen."

The eye narrows. The sword jams into the ground as the Viator hovers in front of its maker-father. "And I will show your kin the rage you failed to do so aeons ago. I will feast upon their corpses as I take the Reaper horde into the mouth of Hell itself. And I do this all for you."

Laughing, the Viator rises. Sword out, the cracked gems of countless alchemicals embedded in his armor, the Blood Drenched Gear of Wrath laughs. "This is all I do, Father. In honesty. Without deceit. Do you not have words to speak? Do you have nothing to say?"

"I do." A spark of light. A grind of metal from an unsheathing sword. "Deep Cut."

The world inside the Relays is a wonder. A world which, for the sake of interaction between the Catalyst, the Gatemaker, and those it takes within itself could interact. A world which was fluid, but at the same time real. Conceptual, but clay to be molded into something solid.

Such as how a spirit could once more see itself as it was when it lived. Could once more carry the blade he did when he drew breath. And where, despite no longer being flesh and blood, he could still summon the Essence around him into a strike.

A flash of gold, and the Viator's blade- and his arm- clatter to the ground, just before a second slash of the golden blade sends the giant flying. Landing, breathing heavily, Leaping Sky turns to Autochthon.

"Maker, I appreciate that this is not a pleasant thing to deal with, but now is a good time to work up a plan!"

The black erupts. The discarded sword becomes liquid, reappearing on the arm of the Viator as it towers over them. Lines of red run up its metallic frame, leading up to its blood dripping eye. "Insignificant specular worm. I have given you IMMORTALITY and you strike against me? Catalyst, I order you to return to your place!"

Twirling the sword in one hand, he flashes his cockiest grin. Whether genuine or bravado, he doesn't let it see. "The Catalyst is dead." Swinging the sword in one hand, he points the blade at the giant. "I am Leaping Sky! And I am the Dawn!"

"I should have consumed your soul when I had torn it from your flesh." Two more arms burst from its sides. One hand holds a spear, the other a flail. "I am the Principle of Genocide. I am the Titan of Consumption. I am the Maker of Cycles, insect! Your Circle could not best me at the height of its power! And now you are but a ghost!"

A slow, measured laugh. Almost robotic, but picking up in pitch, in intensity, as the eye that is Autochthon floats next to the fallen Solar. "Yes, oh yes. You're a titan." The eye narrows. "A principle? A Primordial, who embodies concepts? Or so you tell yourself? Well."

A low chuckle from the god. "Now you are also making me unconscionably enraged, as you have done nothing in the past billion years but create measured insults against me." The eye narrows, faint flickers of golden light pouring forth. "And all I can think of, right now? What happened to the last few titans who made it a point to piss me off?"

 

[GreggHL]

The soldiers of Eden Prime soon learned to not fear the large, bulbous artillery cannons that Seeker would deploy. As, no sooner would it bring them online than Javik would split it in two, the Normandy would strafe it, or Lieutenant Vega would crash something into it. Eden Prime has been invaded twice at this point.
Their defenders learned to appreciate any and all kinds of help.

"This is Commander Shepard to all Eden Prime forces," the voice calls out, "I am hereby ordering you to get that Reaper out of my sky!"

What did not have to be rebuild was improved. This includes the ground to air colony defense cannons. On the perimeter of the main colony complexes, guns come online. Multi-barreled monstrosities, they were originally close to the yield one would find on a cruiser. Following two invasions and several days of oversight by a Dawn Warlord, this has been...modified.

Targeting sensors line up with the scorpion ship hovering over the battlefield. The seventeen cannons lining the main east most border of the Eden Prime settlement take aim. And with bursts of light and sound that can be heard all over the colony itself, they fire.

The transit time can be measured in eyeblinks. Each blast hits center mass, sending burning black metal raining down in chunks and flakes, drones shrieking in time with the pain of their source. They fall by the dozens, by the hundreds, still descending drones seizing up and crashing in a black hail.

A mighty groan, followed by the blasting of the bass horn, and the scorpion descends to the battlefield. Gouts of white fire burst from its sides as the red eyes on its underside glow. Legs extending, it crashes into the battlefield. Militia forces and its own drones scatter, a globe of azure blasting around it to deflect the cannon blasts.

Explosions dot the land around it. Bracing on the ground, the back plates of the Reaper explode outward, displaying lances before they open fire upon the descending shuttles. One by one, the ships explode against the hail of antiaircraft fire. Inch by inch, the Reaper pushes, the flames dying out and its skin shifting before returning unblemished.

It begins to rise, blasts of liquid metal from its tail creating a wall of flame between it and the militia. Which is parted as Javik leaps through, fist glowing as essence gathers around it. Twisting in mid air, he dives through the thanix beam and swings into the face of Seeker, sending it flying skyward.

Roaring in bass, Focused Expedient Seeker is sent flying, air burning in its wake. It flies out of the range of the cannons, of the artillery.

But directly in the range of the Normandy as it swoops down, diving directly towards the Reaper. But what launches from the ship is not torpedo or cannon. Instead, Seeker only finds a small, human shaped object descending towards it. And the first coherant word is spoken by the Reaper in ages.

"Shepard."

There is a blast of gold, a blast of sound and force as Jane Shepard's fist connects with Seeker's body. The punch distends metal, sends fresh gouts of flame ripping through its hull. And Seeker is once more send flying, downward and flailing, until it crashes into the ground and lays still.

 

[GreggHL]

The metal skin of the Orizaba shimmers, a glow emanating from the spider latched onto its hull. Light warping around it, flowing around it, there is a single pop in soundless space. And the Orizaba, all nine hundred meters of it, is gone. With speed defying its bulk, Harbinger turns from Eden Prime to the place where the dreadnought once hung dead.

And then two Destroyers explode, their hulls torn apart and limbs spinning off into space. In the dust and flame of the Reaper corpses, they can see the outline of the dreadnought. Red beams criss cross as the Destroyers open fire, but all they get from the wild firing is gouges in their hull as they hit nothing but each other.

Another Destroyer explodes, ripped from stem to stern. Then another, debris and shrapnel bouncing off an invisible hull. Their numbers reduced to a handful, the Destroyers swivel from side to side, urgent messages passing between them and towards Harbinger, demanding direction. And then the Orizaba appears, right next to the dreadnought.

With seventy eight cannons aimed directly at his face.

Seventy eight mass drivers fire off directly into the face of the Reaper. Several golden eyes burst. Kinetic barriers hold, but the force and the impact sends shrapnel flying. The blast scores the face of the dreadnought as jets fire on the side of the Orizaba. Bobbing and weaving, the blasts from the Destroyers only touch its shadow.

Inside the CIC, as the holographic sphere of the battlefield flashes with red as the dreadnought dances around the Reaper fleet.

"I'm going to order construction on the new dreadnought accelerated," Hackett observes, "Transfer your crew onto that, and maybe move my flag onto here."

In the captain's chair, Hannah grins. "You'll get the Orizaba when you pry it from my cold, dead hands. Iri, package deployed?"

The speakers crackle with the voice of the working girl spider. "Yes ma'am. Estimated time to completion is three minutes~"

Hannah grins wider. "Then let's get his attention off our fleet. Helm, take us to FTL. Set a course for the Utopia Relay."

The speaker crackles again. "Excuse me, but I had some of my drones work on the Mass Effect core to remodel it a bit and also make it something the Reapers can't control~. So, I sorta kinda reworked the effect to also create a space folding bubble around the ship to accelerate the faster-than-light acceleration!"

Hannah blinks, turning up and looking at Hackett. He cocks an eyebrow underneath his hat, before nodding to her, fixing his uniform, and stepping up next to her. "Please," Hannah says, "The honor is yours."

Hackett nods. "Helm. Warp one." He snaps out a finger. "Engage."

Barrel rolling like a frigate, the Orizaba weaves between two destroyers, blasting legs off with glancing blows of its broadsides. Banking, it accelerates past Harbinger, past the other Destroyers. The engines glow, a bubble of electricity surrounding it before it accelerates and disappears in a flash. The Destroyers roar, shaking the deck plates of the ignores Fifth Fleet before they, and Harbinger, disappear in pursuit.

 

[GreggHL]

The Reaper lays, broken upon the battlefield. Parts of its collapsed hull emit black smoke. All but one of its many red eyes are silent and dim, several burst and leaking blue, glowing liquid on the grass. It struggles to one long, spiked leg. And then it collapses, the metal groaning in time with the Reaper's own.

Focused Expedient Seeker has fallen. As Jane Shepard approaches it, however, she cannot shake the feeling that it is not yet dead.

"Pria." A barely audible click in her armor. "Give me a status report."

Silence, from her overly critical godly companion. Almost as if in response, almost as if baiting her, a section of Seeker's hull opens, to reveal a doorway just big enough for her.

No, scratch that. It's definitely baiting her. "I'm going to guess that if I want to kill it, the...core? It's inside there."

She turns to find her crew assembled in front of her. Normally, the prospect of walking inside a Reaper, into possible, more than likely death, would be something that would give most people pause. She sees none of that hesitation on them. Instead, she just extends a hand, and catches the rifle that Vega tosses to her.

"Saddle up. We have no idea what's in there. Three man squads and cover each other's backs." She checks the thermal clip, rolling her neck. "Let's kill a Reaper."

She walks in, silent, taking the lead. Even before this, even before all...this...this is what she did. Lead from the front. Acted as the tip of the spear, the blade of the sword. She went in first, hoping on her barriers and her training to save her if it were a trap. And this is no different. Into an abyss, with what she brings with her the only defense she has.

For a brief moment, as the darkness overtakes them, the flesh of the Reaper becoming something...else...she sees something. She feels warmth on her face, feels exhilaration not her own. Feels relief, and triumph at the same time, standing on a massive, grand platform before...something. Something she has no words to describe.

A great roiling mass before her, before the others. It shrinks, it shudders. It begins to coalesce into something. Something smaller. Something they can comprehend, put into words. Before two feet lower themselves upon the stage before them, and he stands as equal, extending four arms to their cheers.

And Jane steps forward, into something wondrous. Something massive. Something far, far bigger than the Reaper on the outside.

By entire measures of magnitude. What should be six hundred meters instead disappears into the horizon. What should be a simple interior of a ship becomes a great factory of infinite arms. Equally infinite assembly lines curve and spiral into the vanishing point, where liquid shapes are pounded and poured into drone form.

The uncountable machines filled every space and step. Working and churning in perfect step. But the noise was nothing. But silence. Which cracked their faceplates. But then they realized that the noise was absolute, deafening to the point where they could not hear it. Save for

The tone

Of violins.

"Welcome," Pria says, despite the noise, somehow, "To the Infinite Factory. We shouldn't be here."