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Chapter Text

The distant cacophony of crashing metal rumbled Shepard’s bones, the thick scent of smoke and the putrid, ambient stench of the place assaulted his nose. The Commander forced his eyes open, the display integrated into the shades he was wearing flashing as his shields recharged, the light-line emitters glowing blue as they returned, surrounding him in a faint aural blue.

Shepard grunted, pushing the chunk of metal off himself. His eyes flickered over to a tattooed arm sticking out from under another panel, and his breath hitched.

'Please, please don't tell me…' He thought to himself as he lifted the panel up, and Jack looked back at him. Shepard let out a relieved breath, before helping her to her feet. Looking around for the third member of his squad, he and Jack wordlessly lifted the third panel off Kasumi, helping her up as well.

"Commander!" Shepard at last registered Joker's voice calling through his radio with panicked terror. "Come on, Shepard, don't leave me hanging--do you copy!?"

Shepard lifted his hand to his ear, touching the earpiece. "I'm here, Joker." The Commander worriedly paced back and forth, his eyes already at work looking for an escape route. "Did the ground team make it?"

"All survivors on-board, we're just waiting for you." Shepard's breath, again, caught. Who hadn't made it?

"HUMAN." Shepard very quickly decided to put that thought on the backburner as Harbinger's unholy baritone rumbled the air. A cloud of seekers clumped together, swarming in front of the group, and Shepard drew his pistol. EDI must've still been getting the feed from his shades, because not a moment later, she sent him a navpoint to a rendezvous location.

Pushing Jack and Kasumi forward, Shepard remained in the back, giving the two cover from the Collectors that were storming the area to avenge their fallen brethren, and the twisted product of their masters' machinations that the team had destroyed.

"YOU'VE CHANGED NOTHING." Harbinger bellowed, as the team ran down the short corridor, Collectors storming in from seemingly every crevice in the base. It was at that moment that Shepard remembered once again that they came here picking a fight against a whole species, and they weren't out of the woods yet. "YOUR SPECIES HAS THE ATTENTION OF THOSE INFINITELY YOUR GREATER. THAT WHICH YOU KNOW AS REAPERS WILL BE YOUR SALVATION THROUGH DESTRUCTION."

Shepard sprinted toward the chasm EDI marked, really, really hoping there was a plan. The place was about to blow, and every Collector in the place was squarely gunning for them now, there had better be a plan.

In answer to his prayers, the Normandy hovered up from inside the deep pit. The sleek airlock hatch slid open, revealing Joker of all people on the other end, holding an assault rifle, giving the team covering fire. This must've been Joker's way of, at last, paying Shepard back for giving his own life for Joker's when the first Normandy went down.

Jack and Kasumi hopped in, before the base quaked, and a chunk of falling debris took out the platforms leading up to the ship.

'This is stupid… but it's my only plan.' Shepard gulped, pushing aside the part of his brain that was trying to stop him from jumping across a twenty-foot gap, and broke into a sprint. He waited for the absolute last chance, before he leapt across.

Shepard’s arms shot out, his eyes blazing with determination as he focused on the edge of the airlock's flooring.

He wouldn't land… but he could catch it.

Shepard’s hands clamped down on the edge, a flash of pain shooting through the nerves in his hands from the impact.

Shepard began to pull himself up, before a shot from one of the Collectors hit him in the back. Jack reached down to help him up, while Kasumi and Joker took care of the twisted husks firing on them.

Shepard steadied, and the Normandy began to move, tilting as it swung about, rocketing down a tunnel.

The four of them jittered nervously as the airlock went through the autocycle, them opened. They spilled out into the hallway behind the cockpit, EDI's synthetic tones echoing through the vessel.

"Detonation in ten." EDI reported. "Nine. Eight-"

"Yeah, I get the gist of it, EDI!" Joker, despite his brittle bones, flopped into his pilot's seat, and switched the Normandy's controls over to manual. "Everybody hold on!" The pilot immediately put the throttle to full, pushing the engines into the red zone.

"Detonation initiated!" EDI sounded just as the Normandy escaped the Collector Base.

Shepard gripped the back of Joker's chair, staring out at the gold-orange expanse before them, filled with shipwrecks, and he tensed.

"EDI," Shepard addressed, "Exactly how big is this explosion going to be?"

"Big enough, Shepard." She answered. He supposed that she was trying to keep him calm, but that had the exact opposite effect.

The Normandy shook as the base went up, the shockwave of the first explosion reaching it, before the rest of the base erupted into a miniature star, the runaway fusion reaction consuming it from the inside out.

Shepard gripped the chair tighter and harder, the metal warping under the stress.

"Mass Relay in range." EDI reported as the end of the Omega-4 relay on their side came into range. "Initiating transmission sequence."

"Come on, EDI…" Joker muttered, typing at the controls quickly. One of the screens showed a feed of the base explosion. The other shockwave was still coming, if it caught up to them, the Normandy wouldn't be able to survive the more powerful of the two.

Shepard felt the charge run through the entire ship as the bolt of energy from the relay latched onto them, before the ship was propelled to FTL. The view outside went black for a moment, streaks of blue-shifted light shooting by.

Shepard wanted to let out a breath… then the hairs on the back of his neck shot up.

His finely-honed danger sense proved to be right, though. A moment later, a flash of light took over the cockpit, and the Normandy rocked, like a plane hitting turbulence.

"EDI!" Joker shouted, looking at the readings. "The hell's happening!?"

"The spacetime corridor generated by the relay is becoming unstable." EDI answered, her tone distinctly implying confusion. "The Omega Relay must have been knocked out of position. But these readings are… strange."

"Worry about the data later!" Shepard snapped. "Keep us flying!"

"Shepard," EDI vocalized as alerts began to flash around the cockpit, "Something's happening. I advise you brace yourself."

That was all the warning any of them got, before another flash hit them, and they were all blinded and thrown to the floor, before the Normandy abruptly went calm.

"...okay, so, as far as rough rides go, that wasn't the worst I've ever had." Kasumi remarked, getting to her feet.

Jack huffed, pulling herself up by the wall. "Yeah, I bet you know a lot about rough rides."

Shepard shook his head, blasting out a huff of air. "The hell is going on?"

"...a relay malfunction?" Joker threw out. "Hell, I don't know."

"As long as everybody's in one piece, I don't think we'll have a problem." Shepard shifted, looking at EDI's avatar. "EDI?"

"Aside from injuries sustained from the battle, the crew are fine, Commander." EDI happily reported.

Shepard sighed, nodding. "Casualties?"

"The crew have returned unharmed, Shepard. No casualties."

Shepard felt the tension finally, mercifully, evaporate. "Thank God." He rubbed his face, now focusing on the problem at hand. "Okay, EDI, what happened?"

"I'm still determining that myself." The AI answered. "However, at the moment, I've come to the conclusion that the transit corridor generated by the mass relay collapsed, with us inside."

"It doesn't happen often," Joker looked to Shepard, as the Normandy's systems came back online, "But it can happen."

Shepard simply nodded at that. He didn't much care what happened, as long as the crew were fine. "So if the corridor collapsed, where are we now?"

"I don't know," Joker tapped at the controls, "Let me just- ...well that can't be right."

"Visual sensors confirm it, Mr. Moreau." EDI flashed.

"Then the sensors are wrong!" Joker retorted. "There's no way we could've wound up fifty-thousand light-years off course."

"For fuck's sake," Jack rolled her eyes, "Just tell us what the fuck's going on."

"I'm gonna need visual confirmation." Joker muttered, maneuvering the Normandy around, a planet appearing out of the cockpit.

"Earth." Shepard recognized, a smile making its way onto his features despite the situation. It quickly dropped in confusion upon realizing something. "Where's the defense fleet? The orbital stations? What happened?"

"That is the issue, Shepard." EDI flashed with confusion and worry of her own. "I can't detect any communications over the standard Alliance frequencies. Extranet servers and comm buoys are inaccessible."

Jack scoffed. "Might wanna check the ol' sex-toy's processors. She's got a wire crossed or something."

"If it were anyone else, I’d agree," Shepard replied, staring out, "But I know you guys are seeing what I am.”

“Earth with no signs of life?” Kasumi asked in response. “Yeah, me too.”

“That is not strictly correct, Miss Goto.” EDI spoke in response to the thief’s statement. “Scans show several cities on the planet’s surface, but it appears… underdeveloped compared to what we know. There is no Alliance presence in orbit, or on the Lunar surface.”

“That can’t be right.” Joker shook his head again.

“Joker’s right,” Shepard looked to the AI, “Even if something happened that knocked everybody back to Earth, there’d be debris left over. Traces of something.”

“I do not mean that something occurred that destroyed the local Alliance presence.” EDI began to explain, flashing, “It shouldn’t be possible, but several of the cities on Earth seem to have… reverted. They appear to be contemporary to early 21^st century development.”

“Okay, now you’re fucking with us.” Jack pointed at the hologram furiously. “You’re trying to tell us we’ve fucking time traveled? Bull shit.”

“How else do you propose to explain the sudden regression of infrastructure on Earth?” EDI shot back, sounding rather sassy at the moment. Shepard would’ve paused to question that for a moment… but then he realized that EDI must’ve been feeling at least as confused as they were, and this was probably her coping mechanism.

Still, being sarcastic wouldn’t fix the problem.

“We weren’t away for that long.” Shepard shook his head. “If an attack happened, it would’ve hit the extranet before we went through the relay.”

“Yeah, so?” Jack crossed her arms.

“So the Normandy was still connected.” Shepard reasoned, “Anything like an attack happening in humanity’s home system would be considered breaking news. Either it wasn’t reported, which means we have much bigger problems, or that EDI blocked the news feed, which means she already knew.” He turned to the hologram, raising an eyebrow. “So?”

“Shepard, I did not receive any news of an attack.” EDI flashed anxiously, the nodes of light making up her avatar flickering. “More to the point, I don’t believe an attack occurred at all. At least, not recently. If there had been, we would be seeing evidence on the planet. Weapons scars from orbital bombardment, mass destruction. The only oddities I can see are in Las Vegas, Hawaii, and San Francisco. These three on their own are alarming, yes, but nothing that would signal that a destructive event that ravaged the solar system occurred.”

“So if an attack didn’t happen,” Shepard crossed his arms, tilting his head, “What did?”

“Shepard, at the moment I can think of only two possible explanations.” EDI answered.

“And those would be?”

“The first is that the failure of the Collector end of the Omega-4 Mass Relay also caused a total failure in the component the relays use to counteract relativistic effects.” EDI answered.

Shepard raised an eyebrow. “I know about basic vacuum piloting, but not relativity. Explain.”

“In short: The closer an object approaches the speed of light, the slower time will affect that object. In essence, to the traveler, the rest of the universe will be moving faster.” EDI flashed, ’helpfully’ providing some graphs and charts. “However, the effect becomes the inverse when traveling faster than the speed of light. Time will, relative to the traveler, progress in the opposite direction. The Mass Relays and starship drive cores have systems in place that can mitigate this effect, but if any one of these systems were to fail, they could, theoretically, propel the ship back in time.”

“So, we’re time travelers now.” Joker shrugged. “Wish I could say that surprised me… Want to go stop Lincoln being assassinated? Or start a bank account?”

“Failures of this nature are so uncommon as to be nonexistent,” EDI entered in, “And typically, if the systems responsible for counteracting relativistic effects break down, the ship is usually long gone to a total drive core malfunction anyway. What exactly will happen if we try to interact with our recorded history, let alone alter it, is unknown.”

“Really?” Shepard wondered, raising an eyebrow. “There are species that’ve known about the relays for thousands of years, they’ve not done any research?”

“The systems responsible for preventing time dilation as a result of FTL speeds are poorly understood, at best.” The AI answered. “Black Box Technology, if you will. No one is willing to circumvent them simply because the consequences are totally unknown. In fact, it was widely assumed that experiencing time in reverse would be hazardous, if not outright lethal to organic beings.”

Shepard nodded. “So, then, option one is that we became trailblazers, again, and just have to find somewhere to go on-ice until we can all be woken back up. Option two?”

“Option two is that we have entered an alternate reality.” EDI answered, dead serious, and all stared at her. “I do not feel as… resolute in this assumption, but it an option we must consider.”

Shepard looked at Joker, “What do you think, is it possible?”

“I guess?” Joker shrugged. “Hell, Commander, I’m not an astrophysicist. All I know is that the readings we got were damn weird, then we wound up here.”

“Right,” Shepard nodded, “EDI,” He turned to her avatar, “Early 21^st century, that was when the planet-wide internet was getting popular, right?”

“The internet?” Kasumi repeated with a smile. “How cute. Planetary networks are just so… cozy, you know?”

“That is correct.” EDI intoned, though whether or not she was replying to Kasumi or Shepard was anybody’s guess. “Several of the satellites in orbit are connected to it.”

“Then that’s your job, EDI.” Shepard ordered, pointing at her. “Find out what the hell’s going on, whether we’re actually in the past, or if something just happened to the Alliance, I don’t care. Be ready to give me your findings. In the meantime, call the team to the briefing room. We may have just finished a suicide mission, but something tells me we’re not going to be getting the shore leave we all asked for just yet.”

---------

About twenty minutes later, which Shepard figured would be enough time for EDI to figure out what the hell was going on, he finally made his way back to the briefing room.

The place was in a state, but it was functional. All the squad members turned to face him, and he grinned.

“Guys, I don’t want to start this off by sounding cliché,” Shepard began, looking at each one of them, “But regardless, I will, because there just aren’t words for it. I’m so proud of all of you right now, and I hope you guys are feeling the same.” He looked at them all, the terminally-ill Drell, the vigilante who got his own team killed, the mercenary who was just doing this for a paycheck, among others. “They said it was impossible. We did it. They said it was a suicide mission--we survived. We got the crew back, and we stopped the Collectors.” He sighed, which meant it was about to take a turn. “So it really, really makes me reluctant to say this… but we’ve still got problems.”

“Shit,” Zaeed spoke up first, “Long as we’re not looking at immediate death, I’d say we’re doing pretty goddamn good.”

That got a chorus of agreeing nods, and Shepard chuckled to himself. “Well, that depends on your opinion about time travel.”

The squad blinked, looking at each other.

“Time travel, Shepard?” Garrus spoke up first, looking at the Commander. “You can’t be serious.”

“I hope I’m not.” Shepard looked up to the ceiling. “I’ll let EDI share what she’s found. EDI?”

“The Normandy dropped out of FTL over a planet greatly resembling Earth, at a stage of early 21^st century development.” The AI quickly filled the rest of the squad in, before moving on, “After accessing the local internet databases, I am forced to come to the conclusion that the Normandy did not go back in time.”

“That’s good.” Miranda spoke up, clearly not a fan of the idea that they’d gone back in time.

“Rather, we’ve gone sideways.” EDI tacked on.

“That’s bad.” Miranda quickly amended.

“Sorry, sideways?” Jacob questioned. “The hell does that mean?”

“To an alternate reality.” EDI explained.

“Think the reboot of Fleet and Flotilla compared to the original.” Tali explained.

Garrus immediately nodded in understanding, before his eyes widened and his mandibles flared, and he coughed awkwardly. “But how did that happen? We didn’t just… reboot the universe, did we? …did we?”

“The Normandy arrived at this position after a malfunction in the mass relay caused anomalous effects in the FTL corridor .” EDI recalled, pulling up the readings for assistance. “My current hypothesis is that a portion of the blast from the Collector base was absorbed by the mass relay we traversed, and with nowhere to safely disperse the energy, it was consumed to ‘boost’ our corridor.”

“Makes sense,” Tali shrugged, looking around at the non-techies to explain for them, “Mass relays work by creating conduits of mass-free spacetime inside them, like… artificial jet streams in deep space. Now, if the mass inside these conduits were lowered enough, by charging the relay with a significant amount of power above its normal operating capacity, spacetime inside the corridor would tear open.”

“Forgive me,” Samara serenely vocalized, “But I’m afraid I do not follow.”

“It’s like a white hole.” Tali simplified. “Black holes are objects with so much mass, they’re like sinkholes in the universe. White holes are similar, but not quite the same. Objects with so much negative mass, they push spacetime apart, like cracks in the universe.” She looked at the table, at the hologram of the not-Earth EDI was projecting. “But nobody’s ever been inside one. Anything that tried to go inside would be pushed apart… or crushed. No one knows.”

“If that’s the case, we’re lucky to be alive.” Thane mused. “The Normandy’s own mass effect fields must have kept us intact… or we’re simply lucky.”

“Right now, I’m not too picky.” Shepard looked to him, then to the AI. “What’ve you found out about the… other Earth?”

“The local history of this Earth appears quite similar to our own.” EDI explained. “Any deviations are so negligible as to be nonexistent. However, a significant divergence occurs in local year two-thousand-fourteen.” She paused for a moment. “The United States cities of Las Vegas, Honolulu, and San Francisco were attacked by… creatures.”

Shepard raised his eyebrow, curious, “What kind of creatures?”

“…I would like it to be known,” EDI began in response, “That what you are about to see is a legitimate video. It’s not a work of fiction, or doctored.”

“Just play it, EDI.” Shepard ordered.

“Very well.” The AI capitulated, blowing up the video on the screen. It appeared to be recorded by a helmet or bodycam from a paratrooper, dropping in formation in a smoke-choked urban wasteland. Through the wind, distant sirens, screaming, and crashes could be heard, and Shepard raised an eyebrow.

The video went dark as the troopers plunged into the clouds, before a small amount of light returned, courtesy of a blue glow coming from the ground below. The glow flashed, illuminating the entire scene, and the crew stopped for a moment, staring at what looked like reptile the size of the buildings surrounding it brawling with a strange, almost insect-like creature with many legs, almost like the Collector General.

“Keelah…” Tali breathed. “That can’t be real.”

“It looks like almost giant Krogan.” Miranda remarked.

“Physical resemblance likely superficial, at best.” Mordin corrected from the end of the table. “Both ‘lizards’ in appearance, but new specimen lacks several defining features of Krogan. Nutrient hump not present, center of mass lower, tail longer. Presence of dorsal fins on back, gills--indicates creature is aquatic, amphibious in nature most likely.”

“Professor Solus is correct,” EDI flashed, “The creature you are all currently referring to is referred to as ‘Titanus Gojira,’ colloquially known as ‘Godzilla.’”

“’God Incarnate.’” Kasumi mumbled, piquing the crew’s interest. “That’s what ‘Gojira’ translates to in Japanese. I guess that means the people here worship it.”

“It is known that organics vilify or idolize beings of extreme capability compared to themselves.” Legion mused. “Geth also share this impulse.”

“Well, I don’t know about you guys, but I’m not laying prostrate in front of that thing.” Jacob huffed, shaking his head.

“It would seem that Kasumi and Legion are correct.” EDI hummed academically. “I can find several references on the internet to ‘Titan Worship.’ There are also those who wish to kill the creatures.”

“People will fight about anything,” Shepard shook his head, “Any other divergences we should know about?”

“There exists a public organization dedicated to the study and preservation of these Titans.” She answered. “Monarch. It appears to have several bases across the globe. Beyond that, any divergences are not obvious enough to register.”

Shepard nodded, leaning on the table. “Good to know. And now, the question I’ve been dreading… can we make it back to Citadel space?”

“…I do not believe so, at least, not at the moment” EDI replied, the grew looking at each other with fearful gulps. “The Charon Relay is, at the moment, inactive. We are in this universe’s local year of two-thousand nineteen, almost one-hundred and thirty years before the discovery of the Prothean Archives on Mars. Furthermore, our drive core was damaged by the accident that transported us here. We have basic mass effect fields and weapons, but FTL is not advisable.”

“We need eezo to repair the drive.” Shepard instantly realized what she was laying down, looking to Tali. “If we get it, can you guys perform the repairs?”

Tali nodded. “The Normandy’s onboard production plants should be able to give us what we need, we just need the resources to feed into it.”

“If I remember my history correctly,” Miranda crossed her arms and looked at Shepard, “The Deseado Crater has a rather large stockpile of element zero from the Protheans’ research base.”

“How do we even know all that shit is still here?” Jack demanded, glaring at Miranda.

“Jack is correct.” EDI flashed, “Given the recorded divergences between our history and the history of the humans present, we cannot assume that the Prothean data cache on Mars is existent.”

“We should try, though, should we not?” Thane questioned, looking around for an answer.

The room fell silent as all of them looked to Shepard for an answer, only for him to be quiet as well.

“…EDI,” Shepard addressed at last, “How long will it take us to get out to Mars with what we have?”

“If we wish to maintain the fuel to proceed to Charon, three months.”

“And we have no idea what we’ll find for us beyond that.” Shepard grimly noted. “Is it at all possible that there’s element zero down on Earth?”

“Stand by…” EDI replied, the tiny lines on her form pulsing as she worked silently. “There appears to be a large element zero signature in antarctica. From the intel I can access, it appears to be a Monarch base, housing the corpse of a titan.”

“Those things are all biotics?” Grunt grunted, puffing out hot air.

“Logical in retrospect,” Mordin stroked his jaw in thought, “Creatures would collapse under their own weight, be unable to move themselves under own power. Natural biotics could generate passive mass effect fields. Perhaps not allow biotic powers, but could allow creatures to move… also prevent them from sinking into ground like quicksand.”

“If that’s the case, we’ve lucked out,” Shepard shifted, looking at the AI, “But EDI, you’re sure this thing is dead? Cause I very much doubt we’ll be able to kill one of these things with anything less than the Normandy.”

“According to the records I have access to, the creature has been encased in ice.” EDI answered. “By Monarch’s own understanding of titan biology, the creature would not be able to survive such a state.”

“All right,” Shepard nodded, “What kind of resistance are we looking at?”

“The facility is a military installation.” She replied, “I cannot give an exact estimate--their systems are too primitive.”

“It would probably be a safe bet to assume that they’re not going to let us waltz in and steal their giant monster corpse.” Garrus coughed. “If I had to give my professional opinion.”

“…why not?” Shepard suddenly looked up. He got an idea. A stupid, crazy, no-good idea… but it might just work. “EDI said it was an alternate reality, so we shouldn’t have to worry about breaking history.”

“Shepard…?” Miranda questioningly addressed, looking at him.

“It’s the twenty-first century.” Shepard replied, turning to gaze at her. “These people are still pretty optimistic about first contact with aliens. Their speculative fiction is full of it.”

“Okay…” Jacob crossed his arms, shifting, “So what?”

“Why don’t we use that to our advantage?” Shepard suggested. “Monarch’s obviously a research group, if their concern is preservation. We go to them, as travelers from a far-distant solar system. We ask for the corpse to sate our own scientific curiosity, and in return, we give Monarch data on alien biology. Flash-cloned organs, cultural stuff, things like that… You know, within reason.”

“Is that such a good idea, Shepard?” Miranda questioned.

“We’re not giving them mass effect drives.” Shepard gestured, “And we’re not uplifting them.”

“Interference in culture, potential contamination of unique perspective.” Mordin replied, before he sharply inhaled. “Less destructive than retrieval by force. Good idea, Shepard.”

“Exactly.” Shepard nodded, before turning to look pointedly at everyone else. “I don’t want to go in, kill people, and take their things. We’d be no better than pirates. We do this right.”

“Right.” Garrus nodded in agreement. “But you’re going to need someone to make contact. I don’t know about you, but not a lot of people here are diplomats.”

“You know how to work people, Shepard.” Miranda gestured to him.

Shepard’s eyebrows shot up. “That’s not… no.”

Jack shrugged, grinning. “Sugartits is right. You got a damn good tongue on you, and you know how to use it.”

Shepard’s face flushed pink, and he looked down, awkwardly coughing as he steadied and looked back up. “It might do these people good to see a human face. Or at least, someone that looks human.” Then, he looked to the Drell. “Thane, you’re good at spotting security flaws and keeping yourself hidden; I want you looking out for us while we meet with these people, just in case it looks like things are starting to go south. How well do you think you’ll be able to weather the snow and ice?”

“The cold typically saps the humidity out of the air,” The Drell rumbled, “If you’re worried about it making my condition worse, there’s nothing to be worried about.”

Shepard nodded, before turning to the rest of the group. “Garrus, Mordin, you’ll be with me. Everybody else will stay back on the Normandy just in case. EDI, tell Joker to find us somewhere to set down.”

“You want to take the Normandy down there? Are you crazy?” Tali demanded.

Shepard looked at the Quarian, patient. “If these people get it in their heads to try and take us for dissections or whatever, it’ll give them cause to think twice. It’s a human expression; ‘Talk softly, but carry a big stick.’ They see the Normandy hovering overhead, they won’t know what to think, except that if they try to hurt us, they won’t come out of it unscathed.” The ship lurched as Joker evidently got EDI’s message, and took them down to ground.

Tali, however, just shook her head. “I hope you know what you’re doing.”

Shepard smiled disarmingly, “When don’t I?”

--------

The thick blizzard surrounding the Antarctic base that was Monarch’s Outpost 32 was suddenly parted from one direction as the sleek, bird-like profile of the Normandy pushed through the storm, hovering over the base like a great big metal hawk.

The ship slowly descended, the shuttlebay ramp lowering, and four figures walked out, into the snow.

“Bodies.” Garrus grimly remarked.

“Something tells me we aren’t responsible for that.” Shepard also rumbled through his helmet, looking around.

“Bullet holes.” Mordin inhaled, scanning the corpses. “Dead before we arrived.”

“Then I’m willing to bet whoever’s responsible is still around.” Shepard reached around to the weapons dock on his back, taking the Geth Plasma Shotgun off his lumbar, unfolding it. “Didn’t want to go into another battle, but if it’s a base under siege, the researchers here could need help. Thane?”

“Going silent.” The Drell replied as they walked through the open door of the facility, and he vanished behind a stack of crates.

The remaining trio pushed forward, their eyes sweeping around as they walked through, before coming to a dead end, an elevator on the wall to their right.

“Subterranean base,” Mordin remarked as they entered the lift, hitting the button to take them down, “Specimen must be frozen under ice shelf.”

Shepard kept his grip steady as the lift came to a stop, and opened, allowing them into a large cavern of ice.

The Commander stepped out first, looking up in awe at the enormous beastly corpse frozen in the ice, its silhouette illuminated by the floodlights pointed at it. “Jesus…” He breathed, staring at it. The only things in his life he’d seen that came anywhere near close to that were starships. It had to have been as large as a cruiser, maybe even bigger. It would certainly rival the Normandy though, that was for certain.

It looked like a dragon or wyvern of sorts, with three heads that were bigger than most thresher maws, splayed out in the ice, frozen in the cold tomb.

“Something tells me it’s not going to be as easy as cutting the thing open and taking its eezo.” Garrus gulped, his breath clouding the air.

“Yeah.” Shepard agreed, bringing his omni-tool up for a moment. The HUD in his helmet flashed, marking heat signatures in the distance. “Heat sigs, dead ahead.” He outlined, leading the way down one of the catwalks built through a plastic tunnel, most likely to hold in the heat. “We have no idea who these people are, or why they killed the guards outside, if at all. Stay frosty.”

“…really, Shepard?” Garrus asked.

The Commander almost stopped when he realized what he did. “Pun not intended.”

“Shepard,” EDI radioed, “I’ve detected a vessel approaching our position. A frigate-sized craft, that has deployed two smaller troop transports. Transponders identify them as United States Military.”

“They must be coming here to investigate the base too.” Shepard frowned. “Pull the Normandy back to a safe position, see if you can contact the people on that bird. Give them our planned story and ask for a situational update.”

“Very well, Commander.” EDI went silent for a moment. “Shepard, I am detecting explosive signatures near your location. They appear to be excavation-grade charges.”

“And those heat signatures are moving.” Shepard replied, “Doesn’t take a genius to figure out what that means.” He led the team down the catwalk, turning a bend, stopping as they came across a group of people holding guns, dressed for the cold, and a… little girl?

For a moment, both groups stopped.

“Going somewhere?” Shepard asked first, before the guys with guns opened fire. Shepard’s kinetic barriers flared before he ducked into cover, the kid being led away by a blonde woman, and a man Admiral Hackett’s age. “Watch your crossfire, they’ve got a kid with them!” Shepard bellowed, popping out to blast one of the parka-wearing troops away.

“Shepard,” Thane’s voice crackled in the Commander’s helmet, “Soldiers have come from the lift. They’re heading to your position.”

“Damn it.” Shepard cursed, realizing this was getting very complicated, very fast. “Get topside and stay out of sight. Depending on how this goes, we might need to make a quick exit.” He ran up to another one of the rifle-toting goons, smacking her with the butt of his weapon. More gunfire echoed around, and Shepard’s head spun quickly, searching for the source. The team wasn’t under any more fire, which meant the chunk of the group with the kid that broke away must’ve gone around and hit the new arrivals.

Shepard spun around, running back down the corridor, hitting a button on his greaves. The small orange compass in the lower right corner of his vision flashed, offering a view of dots scattered around. The place had gone from damn-near empty, to almost completely full in no time at all.

“Shepard, the bombs!” Garrus hollered.

“Leave them!” The N7 ordered, “They won’t mess up much by freeing a corpse from ice!”

Garrus conceded that to Shepard, and they continued sprinting through the maze-like catwalks of the outpost. Midway through, Shepard decided his shotgun wasn’t doing it, and switched to the Vindicator battle rifle slung over his shoulder, putting down two more of the goons. He was fairly confident they were the bad guys, because the Marines that had shown up were shooting at them as well, so Shepard’s mind jumped to the conclusion that the people his team had run into were the bad guys, the girl was a hostage, and the Marines were here to deal with it.

He didn’t have all the variables… but he felt confident in that, at least.

Shepard and the team walked up a set of steps onto another walkway, the group with the girl dead ahead. A man in a heavy coat stepped out, blocking the path, and one of the bad guys dropped from a sniper shot, the ne’er-do-wells keeping a hostage stopping dead in their tracks.

They turned, the girl being led by the blonde woman, and they stopped again, seeing Shepard’s team cutting off their other route.

“What the hell…” The older man breathed, looking between Garrus and Mordin.

“I’m Commander Shepard, and this is my team.” He replied, keeping his rifle trained on the group. “Now, I don’t know precisely what’s going on here, but you’ve got a little girl hostage, which means the list of options in my head is getting really short. So,” He wiggled the battle rifle for emphasis, “Why don’t we all just cool it down here, okay?”

The stubbled, white-haired balding man leered, still keeping his gun up.

“Madison, Emma!” The man on the other side called. “Come on, let’s go!”

The girl turned around, looking at him, and Shepard raised his gun. “You know them?”

“Know them!?” The guy, with shaking hands, turned his pistol onto Shepard.

“Dad…” The kid breathed fearfully, and that was the answer Shepard needed. He kept the rifle pointed on the hostage-taker, as the goons surrounding him pointed their guns at everyone.

Getting a little girl out of a hostage situation would be good for first impressions, when it came to the Normandy crew.

Shepard kept the gun trained, watching as the girl--Madison according to her father addressing her directly--slowly drug her feet across, shaking in fear.

The blonde woman--who could only be Emma by process of elimination--then addressed her directly, and Madison stopped, backing up to rejoin.

“What the hell is going on?” Shepard, glared at the man, clenching his gun, as Emma reached down for the detonator on the floor. None of them had a clear shot, at least, not without hitting the kid.

The stubbled man did not answer, looking to Emma, as she flicked the cap of the detonator open, and pressed the button.

The catwalk rumbled as the explosives went off, the team being roughed around by the explosion.

Shepard opened fire, taking the head off the guy, before Emma went running past, carrying Madison, as the footsoldiers kept the team occupied.

“Damn it!” Shepard cursed as they brought the goons down. “After her! Go, go, go!” He ordered, boots slamming against the metal as the trio chased the two down.

“Wait!” The father of the kid bellowed as he caught up. “That’s my daughter, you’re not going after her without me!”

Shepard didn’t even throw a glance over his shoulder as they ran to keep up. “And who’re you?”

“Mark Russell--doctor, and what the hell are you doing here!? What the hell are these things!?” He demanded.

“Later!” Shepard replied. “For now, we’ve got to rescue your daughter!” He had no clue what was going on still, but Madison looked like she’d been coerced. She still needed saving.

The catwalks creaked and groaned as chunks of the ice came down, taking out the supports as yellow light flashed inside the newly-opened void.

“Commander!” Joker radioed in alarm. “EDI’s detecting getting electrical readings, big ones! Whatever that thing down there is, it’s not dead!”

“What?” Shepard turned to look, losing sight of Emma and Madison as they went into an elevator. A shadow flickered in the opening, and he gulped. Joker was right, the thing was alive. He looked back ahead, just in time to see the elevator holding the two females sealing. “Damn!” He cursed, spinning around to see the other elevator, and the marines piling in. “Go with them!” He ordered, climbing through the gaps, jumping and clinging to the bottom of the elevator as it went up. “I’ll see you on the surface!”

“Understood, Shepard!” Garrus replied, running off with Mordin and Mark to the other lift.

Shepard looked up and balled his fist, punching a part in the cabin that looked weak. He could hear the startled yelp of one of the two inside, before bullets whizzed out at him, hitting his barriers. The lift clanged as it stopped, and Shepard punched a panel on the bottom, knocking it off. He pulled himself through, and dashed out, looking around.

The Commander’s finely-trained eyes locked on the two running through the blizzard toward an aircraft, and he ran after them as they ran up the lowered ramp into the craft.

The blades spun up, and it began to take off. Shepard scowled, looking at it. He had the firepower to bring it down… but nothing that wouldn’t leave Madison unharmed, and that was his whole reason for chasing them to begin with.

As it began to climb, Shepard thought it might have been over… before he spotted one of the enemy combatants standing at the edge of the troop bay, along with Emma.

Shepard grunted, looking around. It was a stupid plan… but he could do it.

He clenched his fists, motioning with his arms out wide and bringing them in, like he was pulling something. He was pulling something, in fact. His body became surrounded with dark energy as he curled into a ball, glowing blue like a miniature neutron star. Then, he shot forward like a bullet, leaving nothing but a trail of sizzling air and streams of blue as the energetic cannonball he became rocketed up toward the craft. Through the haze of blue, Shepard could see the gunman’s shocked gaze, before he slammed into the man, propelling him back.

Madison yelped in shock as Shepard returned to normal, staggering. Emma drew her pistol, firing on him, the metal slugs hitting his armor.

Deciding quickly that he couldn’t kill a mother in front of her child, Shepard instead knocked her back, grabbed Madison, and ran over to the ramp.

“MOM!” Madison screamed, as Shepard ran and jumped out the back.

Shepard’s clenched his fists, himself and his passenger becoming surrounded in a blue glow, before they slowed, and they landed on the icy ground.

…ground that was very quickly cracking underneath them.

“Madison!” Mark came running over with the Marines, and Shepard’s squad.

“Dad!” Madison gasped, running for him.

“We have to run, we have to run!” Mark pulled her along, leaving no room for her to say anything as the ground cracked and caved in underneath them.

“Shepard!” Garrus ran over, breathing heavily. “This whole place is coming apart.”

“Right.” Shepard brought his hand up, running with the others as the base began to fall into the pocket torn open by the explosives. . “Joker! We need pick-up, now!”

“Mark!” A Japanese man came running over into the group as well, along with three others. “What’s going on!?”

“Hell if I know, we-“ He froze, stopping at the rumbling. “…you guys hear that?”

The group turned around, looking at the pit nearby. Orange fire glowed from inside, raging like the gates of hell, before something began to crawl out.

One by one, horned heads of gold rose into the sky, shaking off what must’ve been a thousand-years’ sleep, popping open their eyes.

Another, louder roar, the roar of engines tearing through the air, rumbled the chilly atmosphere, as a missile tore in from nowhere, striking the beast and knocking it down. It screeched in pain, and Shepard turned, as the Normandy came down, lowering the hatch for them.

“Everybody on board!” Shepard bellowed, his tone leaving no room for argument. “Now!”

The assembled group followed his commands and broke into a mad dash for the ramp as the monster stood back up, growling and screeching with fury. Lighting climbed up its enormous necks, and it spat out gold bolts of energy, slicing through the ground. Thane turned to look, his gaze falling upon a woman whose strides were just a bit too short to outrun it, and with biotic power at the last possible second, pulled her forward, throwing her as gently as he could into the Normandy.

Everybody else made it up just fine, before a missile was fired again, and the titanic creature was knocked back. The ship hovered away, everybody trying to hold steady, as the enormous force of carnage looked up at them, glowing yellow…

Before abruptly, it turned away.

“Alert.” EDI sounded as a blue shine began to glow through the ice from below. “Mass effect field detected.”

Shepard raised his hand against the blinding glow, trying to see, before the ice was smashed through from below, and an equally enormous, dinosaurian-like titan of incredible size burst through, crawling onto land.

Godzilla stood up, crushing down some of the spikes of ice underneath his gigantic feet. The reptilian growled, a furious grimace on his face as the spines on his back flashed.

The three-headed winged beast held out its wings, generating yellow sparks around it.

“Dominance display!” Mordin recognized quickly. “Suggests physical brawl to establish dominance imminent! Recommend retreating to safe distance!”

Godzilla roared, all of his primal fury and strength directed at the three-headed titan, and the golden dragon roared back, before it beat its wings and took off. Godzilla roared up again, in fury, before the looked at the Normandy, a blue glow shining in his gullet.

“EDI!” Shepard shouted, as the others began to worriedly shout. Not a moment later, the deck plating shifted, as the Normandy was spun around, the hatch sealed, and they rocketed off, into orbit.

Shepard sighed, going to wipe his brow before he realized his helmet was still on, and he looked to the rescues they’d brought aboard.

They all looked around, before looking at him, and he grimaced.

He had a lot of explaining to do.

Chapter Text

The mood on the Normandy was a little tense as the people from Monarch, out of the adrenaline-inducing situation on the ground below, suddenly realized they were on a craft bigger than anything that could fly in their time, with aliens, and holograms in the place. Shepard could see the soldiers and personnel talking, and so he finally decided to take the initiative, climbing to the top of a box.

“If I could have everyone’s attention!” Shepard bellowed, all heads snapping to face him, and he took the parade rest stance. “Thank you. I’m Commander Shepard, and you’re onboard my ship. Welcome to the Normandy.”

“Aliens…” One of the soldiers gulped, looking at Garrus with fear.

Shepard chuckled disarmingly, nodding. “The Normandy does have non-human crewmembers, yes.” Marines were soldiers, not cold-blooded killers, that should be true no matter the time. A gentle tone and comfortable body language should go a long way to keeping them calm when the culture shock hit. His hands went up, and he removed his helmet, watching as all the soldiers stared at him. “Who’s in charge of your group here?”

“That depends,” The Japanese man from before stepped forward, unperturbed, “On whether you mean our military forces, or our scientific.”

“Both is good.” Shepard nodded in reply. “If there’s a command staff with you, I’d like to speak to you all.”

“Son,” One of the Marines addressed him, a woman named Foster according to the nametag on her uniform, “I don’t know who you are or where you came from, but we’re in the middle of a delicate situation here. What were you doing on our battlefield? How did you know what was going on?”

“Come on,” Shepard idly gestured to Madison, who was still clinging to her father, sniffling and crying, “I saved her, that has to prove I’m trustworthy, right?”

“It’s the one reason I haven’t put a bullet in your head.” The woman growled back. “We lost a lot of good people down there; I’m not in the mood for games.”

“Colonel Foster, please.” The Japanese man stepped in, trying to calm her, before he looked at Shepard. “Her tone might be abrasive, but she is right. This operation was a secret. What were you doing at Outpost 32?”

“You would be…?” Shepard stepped down to meet him, raising an eyebrow.

“Doctor Serizawa,” He introduced, “Director of Monarch.”

Shepard nodded, his hand shooting out to shake Serizawa’s. “Pleasure to meet you, doctor. Sounds like you’re just the man I need.”

“Need for what?” Serizawa demanded, crossing his arms in suspicion.

“It sounds like your people are in a tough situation,” He recognized, looking the assembled group over, “My people are in one as well. I think we can help each other. If you’d like, we can take this somewhere more private.”

The N7 observed as the Monarch personnel looked at each other, before Serizawa looked back, nodding.

Shepard smiled kindly, gesturing. “Excellent. The rest of your team can make themselves comfortable, but for security reasons, I’ll have to ask them to remain on deck three.” He proceeded over to the elevator, stepping inside. He hit the button to take them up, and turned to size up the Monarch team. “All right, since we’ve got a little bit of time to kill, let’s get acquainted properly. “Commander John Sheaprd, Alliance Navy. Doctor Serizawa and… Colonel Foster,” He guessed, going by her rank insignia, “And you three would be…?”

“Vivienne Graham, Ilene Chen, and Rick Stanton,” Serizawa introduced, gesturing at person respectively.

“Effectively, we’re…” Graham cleared her throat rather awkwardly, shifting nervously. “Monarch high command, so to speak. Our team answers directly to the government.”

“I see.” Shepard nodded, gesturing. “You okay? You sound a bit shaken up.”

“Oh, it’s nothing, I just…” The woman shook her head. “We all came very close to dying down there. For a moment, I thought Monster Zero was about to try and eat me.”

Shepard inquisitively raised an eyebrow. “Monster Zero? That the three-headed creature from the base?”

“Yes.” Graham nodded, tugging at her collar as her eyes seemed to become unfocused and glassy… “I thought… I could see their eyes as we were running. I think they were having fun playing with us.”

“Well, you’re safe now.” Shepard gently replied.

“Yes, thanks to your… crew.” She reflected, the Commander noticing her focus returning, and her look turning to curiosity. He always recognized that look in scientists. “The… green-skinned man on your crew, I think he was responsible, but he was quite far ahead of me…”

“Oh, you mean Thane.” Shepard nodded, crossing his arms. “Yeah, he saved you.”

“And… he was an alien.” Graham breathed.

The Commander’s eyebrows furrowed as the elevator began to slow. “That won’t be a problem, will it?”

“No!” She quickly replied. “Not at all! It was just… unexpected.”

“I can see what you mean, I suppose.” Shepard turned to the door as it opened, “That wasn’t exactly the sort of circumstances you’d want to be in when you find out you’re not alone in the universe.”

“Right,” The glasses-wearing man scoffed, “Aliens. Next you’ll tell me you have psychic powers.”

Shepard chuckled in good humor. “Of a sort.” He led them past the galaxy map, the large and almost ornamental display catching their attention as easily as the Normandy itself. He gave a nod to Kelly as they walked past her, heading for the tech lab.

“I’ve never seen a warship like this.” Foster commented, though her tone did carry a bit of accusation in it. “What is this thing?”

“The Normandy’s one-of-a-kind.” Shepard replied, walking through the tech lab into the conference room. “There.” He turned around. “Just the room we need for a private discussion. You’ll have to excuse the mess,” He gestured around at the chunks of debris, “We just got out of a… sticky situation.”

“The hell happened?” Rick questioned, looking at a place in the wall where a power conduit had burst open before being sealed. “You guys get into a fight?”

“You’re exactly right.” Shepard nodded. “Now, you all have questions, I’m sure. Before you ask them, I’ll try to answer the ones that are probably most prominent in your minds first. Me and my crew are travelers from another world. We were caught in the middle of a fight for our lives, and while we attempted to escape, our ship suffered a systems malfunction. It spat us out here at earth. We have the materials to repair most of our ship, but the FTL drive we use requires an extremely rare element, and the only place we found it on earth was in the body of Monster Zero.”

“Which was why you were at Outpost 32.” Serizawa pieced together.

“Right.” Shepard confirmed, placing his hand on the holographic control, before a video of the battle recorded by his helmet was projected above the table. “Then we got pulled into the altercation with the enemy that attacked the base.” He brought up his omni-tool, fast forwarding through until he hit the portion of the footage where he shot the enemy leader. He wound it back a little bit, playing it back at normal speed.

“That’s Jonah,” Chen recognized, her eyes going wide, “You killed Jonah.”

“Who?” Shepard asked in response.

“Alan Jonah, ex-military turned eco-terrorist.” Graham quickly explained. “A day or so ago he attacked another of our facilities, kidnapped Madison and Emma, and set Mothra loose.”

“Wasn’t much of a kidnapping,” The Chinese woman bitterly commented, crossing her arms as she looked at the feed of Emma coercing Madison back, before she picked up the detonator and set it off, “She was with Jonah the whole time…”

“We don’t know that,” Serizawa interjected, “Not for certain.”

“It explains how they got through our security,” Rick agreed with Chen, pointing at her for emphasis as he chewed a piece of gum, “You don’t just do frontal assaults on Monarch bases. Not unless you have someone on the inside.”

Shepard thought for a moment as they came to a hold in the conversation, and his brain went into that mode where he had questions and was trying to figure out a way to prioritize them. “Mothra? Is it anything like the creature we saw here?”

“Not at all.” Serizawa shook her head. “Titans all have enormous statures, that is what they share in common, but each is a unique specimen by our understanding. Mothra is akin to a giant butterfly moth, with a drastically different lifecycle.”

Shepard nodded in understanding. A different species, that’s what the man was saying. “And this creature woke up as Emma was staging her own kidnapping?”

“Before,” Foster corrected, “But it all lines up.”

Shepard nodded. “And if she’s already woken up two of these creatures, then it’s likely those won’t be the only ones. Serizawa, Foster,” He addressed, turning to them with a serious look, “I’d like to volunteer myself and my crew to assist.”

“For what?” Foster demanded, crossing her arms.

“She attacked your base, woke up that monster, and is probably going to do it again to a different one.” He answered. “The Normandy possesses armament that can reliably hurt those things. I’m volunteering to help take them down--the hostile ones. In return, all I want are the minerals from the bodies.”

“You’re talking about dissecting-“ Rick scowled.

“Yes, I am.” He nodded. “Look, I admit, I don’t know much about the situation, but I can tell you, it won’t look good on you guys that some old man, a psychotic mother, and her daughter were able to lead an assault heavily fortified bases and release lifeforms of mass destruction. You need Russell dealt with, as fast as possible, before she can release one of those things in a heavily populated area. The Normandy has state-of-the-art sensor equipment, even relative to our own technology. We can find her faster than anybody else on this planet. We can help you solve this problem when no one else can. All I’m asking in return is that you help us solve our problem.”

“We still don’t know what is going on.” Chen pointed out, looking between them. “Why Emma wants to release the Titans, why she would team up with Jonah to do it.”

“We don’t.” Shepard agreed, “But I’m willing to bet there’s someone who can tell us.”

-------

“Keep your eyes on this, please.” The aged, almost matronly woman wearing a futuristic lab coat told Madison as she held up something like a penlight just in front of her face. She’d introduced herself as Doctor Chakwas, and Mark (who’d been run ragged by seeing his daughter in a kidnapping situation, then seeing Shepard dive out of the Osprey with her kicking and hitting back) asked the doctor to check Madison over.

Chakwas had made it clear she couldn’t force Madison into a physical, but the teenager went along with it anyway. If she didn’t, she’d have her dad looming over her like ominous clouds on a windy day. Best get it over with so she wouldn’t need to deal with his hovering.

She was going to have questions thrown at her anyway… It was for the better if she didn’t need to deal with her dad too.

Chakwas looked at the holographic tablet in her other hand, codes flashing by on screen.

“…what is that?” The teenager inquired after a moment, quiet. “You never said.”

“This is what we call a ‘ultrasonic stethoscope.’” Chakwas answered patiently, happy to explain, or at least, happy to make Madison comfortable. “Most omni-tools have an integrated, although less powerful version, for use in their medical suites. This one has a hundred times the resolution you’ll see in any of them.”

“Any reason I’m staring at it?” Madison questioned in response.

Chakwas smiled, a light chuckle making its way through her lips. “To give you something to focus on other than your father pacing outside the windows.” The weathered doctor chewed her lip, looking inquiringly at Madison. “It’s also showing an elevated heart-rate. Are you quite all right?”

“…yeah, fine.” The teenager shifted, looking around, away from the woman.

“For what it’s worth, I’m certain that Shepard didn’t intend to frighten you.” She gently placed a hand on the teenager’s shoulder. “The Commander can simply be a bit… Brash, at times. He hates seeing innocent people being harmed, especially children.”

“…you don’t know what you’re talking about.” Madison replied, crossing her arms and looking away.

----------

Miranda thinned her lips, switching the security feed being sent to her terminal away from the medical bay, clasping her hands as she leaned forward on her elbows. The feed went back to the conference room, showing a simmering debate between Doctor Graham and Shepard.

“You’re not interrogating her!” Graham glared, “She’s a child.”

“If all this was Doctor Russell’s plan, then Madison went along with it. Either willingly or unwillingly, there’s the possibility she knows something. Besides, I’m not saying interrogate. We just talk to her.”

In Miranda’s opinion, both sides of the argument did have merit to them. Madison could potentially have valuable information, but on the other hand, she was only thirteen by all appearances. An interrogation could be… taxing on the young girl. Then again, Shepard probably really did only mean to ask the girl questions.

Before she could muse on it any further, her console flashed a proximity alert, as someone approached her office. She quickly closed the security feed entirely, and watched as the door opened.

She was expecting it to be one of the crewmen, maybe even Jacob, so count her surprised when she noticed Garrus’s bird-like silhouette enter the room.

She said as much. “Garrus. Color me surprised; you were the last person I expected a visit from.”

“Aside from Jack, you mean?” Garrus asked in response, shifting his balance slightly.

Miranda’s eyebrows shot up, before she found a chuckle escaping her. Okay, she had to concede that was a good point. “Yes, aside from her.”

“Well, someone’s got to turn in these damn damage reports, and since Shepard’s busy meeting the local riff-raff, it’s got to be you.” Garrus replied, his mandibles flaring before he held up his hands. “No offense.”

“None taken. I’m aware the crew like to keep their visits to me at a minimum--and I’d prefer to keep it that way.” It was, on her part, due to the crew’s fear of her ‘ice queen’ exterior--an aspect of herself she’d carefully cultivated. She was perfectly capable of holding a civilized conversation, but every moment someone tried to be buddy-buddy with her was another moment she wasn’t getting things done, and usually, the things she needed to get done were things that were fairly serious. “The perks of being third-in-command.”

Garrus nodded, passing over the datapad he was carrying. “It’s not as bad as it looks--the damage to the Normandy.” He quickly elaborated, just in case. “The shuttlebay’s shot to hell and being held together with duct tape and kinetic barriers, some of the power conduits ruptured throughout the ship--so we’ve got plasma scorches in some parts, Shepard’s fish tank shattered open and spilled the water throughout the place, Tribble the Space Hamster is MIA but Hadley swore he saw it scuttle across the medbay floor a few hours ago, and the disco ball Joker installed in the fixture above the mess hall table shattered.”

Miranda sighed, rubbing her face. She was fairly certain that the last three items were jokes, but she still heard the first two. Busted power conduits were no joke. They could adapt around it, reroute the power through other systems, but if they got into an actual firefight, there was a chance the whole grid could overload, and they’d be dead in the water. The shuttlebay situation wasn’t as severe, but the fact remained--they needed to enact repairs, soon, else they might find themselves in an even trickier situation. “The good news?”

“That was the good news.” Garrus sighed, looking at her with a grave expression. “The bad news is… EDI got back to me with a report. She and Legion have been crunching the numbers and it’s not looking good. She says even if there was a way for us to replicate the accident that sent us here, there’s no guarantee we’d survive… and the chance of it sending us back home is basically zero.”

“You’re kidding.” Miranda instantly accused in response, her heart skipping a few beats. It had to be some cruel joke, either on Garrus’s part or on the part of the universe. She didn’t survive a suicide mission just to be told she couldn’t go home at the end of it.

“I wish I was.” Garrus empathetically replied.

“EDI,” Miranda turned to the AI terminal on the wall, “Is this true?”

“I regret to inform you,” EDI appeared, “But yes. I can not adequately simplify the physics, but in short, even if we could generate the extra power needed to replicate the accident, force a mass relay to absorb it like the Omega-4 relay, and if the Normandy made it through the anomaly during the infinitesimally-small window that it would be open for, there would be no way to control our destination.”

“We’re stuck here…” Miranda bemoaned, leaning into her hands. “At some… backwater twin of Earth with giant monsters running about, with no plan and no backup.”

“We’ll be fine.” Garrus reached out, awkwardly stopping before he could pat her on the shoulder, and coughed, turning to the window. He gazed out on the blue planet below, tilting his head. “I’ve always wanted to visit Earth. Never got the chance--C-Sec doesn’t usually pay well enough for travel off the station, unless you want to use vacation time. It’s much… darker, in person.”

“Pollutants in the atmosphere.” Miranda explained, walking over to join him. “The Alliance was well on the way to cleaning up the atmosphere, repairing the ozone layer, getting the trash out of the oceans… These people technically have the ability to do it, but not on a wide, easy scale like we can.”

“Damn shame.” Garrus shook his head. “It’s a beautiful planet.”

“It really is.” Miranda nodded in agreement, pointing out the window. “That landmass sticking off of Canada there? Alaska, I think. It has some of the most famous scenic vistas on the planet. I actually went there on business once, caught myself staring at it more than once.”

“Well then, since it looks like we won’t be going home, maybe we could go down and get some proper looks at it this time.” Garrus threw out, just as a suggestion.

“Are you… asking me on a date, mister Vakarian?” Miranda turned to him with a strange look on her face.

Garrus’s mandibles twitched in surprise, before he coughed awkwardly. “W-Well… It depends on your opinion of men with scars… and non-humans.”

“Human or not,” Miranda began in response, “You’re a dependable man, and loyal. I could think of a worse person to chaperone me.”

“Damned by faint praise.” Garrus chuckled, shaking his head. “No, no, I know, coming from you, that might as well be hanging the stars themselves.”

“Besides.” Miranda looked away from him, out on the planet below. “If EDI’s right, about us not being able to go home… I have a feeling the Normandy crew is about to get much more familiar with each other anyway.”

“Right.” Garrus nodded in agreement. “So… how about it?”

“It’s a date, Garrus.”

--------

The door beeped as it opened, and Shepard, the guy who’d dragged Madison out of her mother’s view, entered, and Madison had to fight the urge to glare at him. Walking alongside were Doctors Serizawa and Graham.

Madison gulped, as her dad hung around outside, looking like he wanted to enter, but couldn’t. So… it was finally going down. Well, she wouldn’t let them interrogate her, she’d die before that happened.

“Doctor,” Shepard looked to Chakwas, “How’s she doing?”

“Aside from some minor stress fractures, young Madison is perfectly fine.” She replied.

Shepard nodded, gesturing to the door. “You mind?”

“Certainly not.” She replied. She knew Shepard well enough to know that his weakness was children. Had it been an adult he was questioning, she’d insist on staying, but she didn’t have to worry about him roughing up an actual kid.

…plus, there were two other adults in the room.

With that, Chakwas exited, and the door closed behind her.

“So,” Shepard addressed Madison, clearing his throat, “How’re you holding up?”

“Fine,” She glared back, “For someone who was yanked out of a chopper by a human cannonball.”

“Madison,” Graham gently addressed, walking over to her, “Your mother is… well, she’s doing something very, very bad, you know that, right?”

“I’m not stupid,” She hissed back, “Don’t talk to me like I’m a five-year-old.”

“You’re not,” Serizawa stepped in, looking her in the eyes, “You’re a very intelligent young woman. Which is why I know you know your mother is in very serious trouble.”

“Waking up titans isn’t a crime-“

“It isn’t,” Shepard leaned against the window, “But killing people is. Your mother went along with Jonah’s group willingly--that makes her an accessory, at best. At worst, they’ll assume she pulled the trigger on a few of those people herself. And depending on how the two creatures she’s already woken up react, she could be on trial for mass murder.”

“Your mother kept you with her,” Graham gently took Madison’s hands, “Did you hear anything about what she was planning? Why is she releasing the titans, what does she have to gain, do you know which one’s going to be next?”

“…if I knew anything, I wouldn’t say.” Madison crossed her arms, turning her head away.

Shepard shook his head, pushing off the wall and straightening up. He could read people like a sixth sense, and right now, the way she was holding herself made it abundantly clear she was telling a fib. “This isn’t a game, Madison. If there’s something you know, we need you to tell us. If you don’t, you know what that will get you? Tried as an accessory too.”

“Shepard…” Graham looked at him warningly.

“No,” Shepard crossed his arms as he stared Madison down, “She wants to play in the big kids’ pool, she needs to know what she’s getting into. Your mom is hostile and has already helped out a group that has killed several people. By keeping silent, you’re aiding and abetting her, even if not by hand. Depending on how all this goes, there’ll be consequences for you.”

“They won’t put a kid on trial.” Madison retorted.

“Depending on the crime, they might.” Shepard replied. “Madison, I’ve heard good things about you from these two.” He gestured to Serizawa and Graham. “They say you’re smart, quite possibly the smartest person they know. Part of you has to be smart enough to realize this isn’t something you can dodge. You’re not in trouble, but if you don’t say something, you’re going to be.”

“That’s enough!” Graham barked, her head snapping to face Shepard.

“No…” Madison softly spoke up, swallowing a lump in her throat. “I’ll… I’ll talk… I won’t get in trouble if I do?”

“You’re a smart kid but you are just that--a kid.” Shepard replied. “If you tell us what you can, then it’ll look like you were just coerced into going along with your mother. If you stay silent about it while she’s not around, then it becomes aiding a criminal. Make sense?”

“Yeah… yeah…” Madison slowly nodded, readjusting herself. “Mom… she wants to release the titans. She rebuilt the ORCA to do it.”

“We’ve come to that conclusion,” Serizawa gently replied.

“I didn’t,” Shepard looked between them, “What’s an ORCA?”

“It’s this machine,” Madison began, “She explained it to me once, like… every living thing generates soundwaves at frequencies we can’t hear, but we can feel. Like when someone comes into a room and they’re angry and you can just tell something’s wrong even if there’re no other tells. Bioacoustics. The ORCA can make those soundwaves to try and stimulate animals into behaving certain ways.”

“The first use of the original device was to keep whales away from the shoreline, or out of areas where whalers would prey on them.” Graham recalled. “It worked to fool the whales, yes, but it wound up beaching a whole pod. After that, Emma joined Monarch and brought the research with her. We were going to try and use it to communicate with the titans.”

“Communicate?” Shepard’s eyebrows shot up. “They’re animals, aren’t they?”

“Yes, but like no other animals on earth.” Vivienne retorted. “We’ve been studying them for decades, most of the behavior we’ve recorded shows higher reasoning functions. If we could just find a way to bridge the gap…”

“We would be a step closer to a harmony between man and nature the likes of which has never been seen.” Serizawa finished, almost reverent.

“But obviously it changed from communicating with them,” Shepard shook his head, looking to Madison for an answer. “She wants to control them? What for?”

“She doesn’t want to control them.” Madison refuted. “She wants to let them run wild.”

“What?” Serizawa demanded, his eyes blazing.

Madison shrunk back slightly, gulping. “She said it would help the planet… like controlled burning of a forest. Sacrifice part of it so the whole thing doesn’t collapse.”

“She can’t seriously believe it’s a good idea.” Shepard crossed his arms. “Can she?”

Madison shrugged. “San Francisco, Las Vegas, Hawaii… they’re all overgrown by nature now. That’s what she wants to do… She thinks we’ve grown faster than the earth can sustain, if we keep going, everything will just… end. But she thinks that if the titans get released, then the biosphere will be stimulated into recovery.”

“So… this is how Hell on Earth begins.” Graham, muttered, shaking her head. “With good intentions.”

“It doesn’t matter how good her intentions are,” Serizawa frowned, “She is meddling with things beyond her control.”

“Sounds like she knows that good and damn well already, she just doesn’t care.” Shepard leaned against the wall again.

“She expects all of the titans to wake up and start gunning for humans.” Graham remarked. “But nothing we’ve seen shows that the titans are actively hostile to humans, they simply don’t care. Even the attacks Madison mentioned were caused by titans undergoing natural behavior, not out of a grudge towards humans.”

“It doesn’t matter.” Madison murmured, “She’ll find a way to make it happen.”

“Then we’ll find a way to make sure she can’t.” Shepard resolved. “If we know which titan she’s going for next, we can cut her off at the pass. Do you know which ones she was planning on?”

“I…” Madison stuttered, “I can’t…”

“Madison,” Shepard looked her dead in the eye, “We need to know.”

“So what!?” She snapped. “So you can kill my mom!? She’s… bad, yeah, but she’s still my mom!”

“I won’t lie,” Shepard began honestly in reply, “Killing your mother isn’t off the table. But I will do everything in my power to make sure it doesn’t come to that. But there are also hundreds, if not thousands of innocent people at stake, mothers with their own daughters and sons… do any of them deserve to die so your mother can outrun the consequences of her actions?”

Madison froze, locking up, before she shook her head. “No, that’s not… that’s not what I meant.”

“I know it wasn’t.” He nodded. “But it’s going to become that if we don’t do something. We need your help, Madison. Please, will you help us?”

The girl looked down, a dozen scenarios running through her head, most involving her mother getting killed because of her own plans. She wanted to stay quiet… but every time she tried to double down on that, the reminder that there were real, actual people that would be hurt because of it flared up.

She remembered all those restless nights because her parents were up fighting, each one blaming the other for their inability to cope with Andrew’s death. The sheer venom and toxicity that tore their fractured family apart.

How many other families would this plan be dooming to the same fate? She’d thought about that… even asked her mother a few times before it all was properly set into motion. ‘We’re doing this for Andrew.’ Emma had always said, which didn’t make sense, but it did get Madison to quiet down about it.

But if Andrew was here, he wouldn’t stand for people being murdered in his name. No decent person would.

Madison realized in that moment; yes, she would do what Andrew would have wanted.

“Isla de Mara.” She listed off, looking up at last. “The next one she wants to awaken is Rodan.”

Shepard nodded, looking up. “EDI, tell Joker to set a course. Keep an eye out for any air traffic in the area, you see an Osprey with the same tag as the one that took Russell out of Antarctica, let me know.”

“Aye, Commander. ETA: twenty minutes.”

“Thank you, Madison.” Shepard told her with a faint smile. “You did the right thing.”

“Yeah.” Call her crazy, but it was hard to reconcile that with the fact that she was helping people fight her own mother.

Shepard then turned to Graham and Serizawa. “Tell your people at that base something’s coming their way. I’ll prep my team, then we’ll be all ready to go.”

----------

The Normandy dipped into the atmosphere, soaring high above the ground below like a leaf on the wind, trails of vapor being left in its wake.

Pacing around in the CIC, Shepard checked his gear over again, and again, and again. “Okay, EDI, talk to me. What intel have we got about this Rodan?

“Titanus Radon,” EDI answered, “Discovered in 1991 in Isla de Mara’s local volcano, local folklore refers to him as a demon of fire-“

“I like the sound of that.” Grunt rumbled, a feral grin splitting his face.

“And some worship him as a fertility god.” The AI finished at last, earning a round of awkward coughs.

“Interesting.” Samara raised a single solitary eyebrow, but her calm and collected expression never left her face. “But not unexpected. Birds are a symbol of virility in many cultures. Though being associated with a deity referred to directly as a demon is surprising.”

“Heh, depends on which parts of the body he’s setting on fire.” Jack laughed. Samara wasn’t taken aback by the statement, however.

“Do we have to have this conversation now?” Shepard sighed, rubbing his face in exasperation, before he looked up again. “What’s the situation look like down there?”

“Monarch forces are working to evacuate the local populace, but progress is slow. Shepard, a tropical storm is heading for this area. It could severely hamper rescue efforts.”

“Show me.” He ordered, walking up the ramp over the galaxy map. It activated, instead showing a small globe of the earth, highlighting their local surroundings.

“Yeah, that thing’s coming in fast.” Rick, at a console that had been quickly re-jiggered to coordinate data from Monarch, whistled. “It’ll be here before too long.”

“Any sign of Emma?” Shepard questioned, looking around. “Unmarked aircraft, people going away from the evac center instead of toward it?”

“Negative, Commander,” One of the crewman looked up, “Our sensors aren’t picking up the transponder signal we tagged either.”

“I knew it wouldn’t be that easy.” Shepard sighed. “Keep looking.”

“Shepard, the storm continues to approach. It will make landfall in five minutes.”

“Then we’re running out of time…” Shepard bit his lip. “We might have to tell people to just take shelter. If we don’t…”

“Shepard-Commander,” Legion strode out of the elevator, their optic rotating and dilating, “We have a suggestion.”

“Is that a robot?” One of the Monarch people, Sam Coleman, chuckled quietly albeit excitedly. “Cool…”

“We are an autonomous platform containing one-thousand-“ Legion began to explain, before being cut off by Shepard.

“You can give him the full details later. Right now, if you’ve got a suggestion to get those people out before the storm hits, I’m all ears.” Shepard demandingly looked at the Geth.

The automaton’s panels flared, and they nodded. “We suggest neutralizing the storm.”

The CIC went quiet for a beat, before somebody spoke up.

“Sure, neutralize the storm! While we’re at it, we’ll crack cold fusion and solve the grand unifying field theory!” Rick shot back, shaking his head.

“It is possible for a vessel of Normandy’s capability.” Legion monotonously replied. “Precisely-modulated mass effect fields could be used to generate counter-currents of air at the center of the storm.”

“Or we could just, you know, fly around it.” Joker suggested, throwing his ideas in just for fun.

Legion, however, seemed to take it literally. “Inertial dampening systems would not be able to compensate for the overwhelming g-forces, organic crew would be killed.”

“But you’re talking about using the drive core to stop a storm!” Joker bit back. “Gravity could invert! We could all be torn apart from the inside out! We could collapse into a singularity!”

Shepard shook his head, asking the one he figured would have an answer, the ship herself. “EDI, is it possible?”

“Our margin for error would be slim, Commander,” EDI replied, “The Normandy’s drive is designed to generate mass effect fields that are far removed from the ship, but its capabilities are not limitless. If we overextend the drive, we could lose power. The Normandy would fall, or worse, the core could overload.”

“Basically, don’t fuck up, yeah, I got it.”

“All right then,” Shepard leaned on the railing, “It’s a stupid plan, but it’s the only one we’ve got--that town has to be evacuated. Joker, take us in.”

“Roger, going storm-chasing on the double.”

Chapter Text

The Normandy shook and shuddered as they passed into the envelope of the tropical storm. Shepard’s hands clung to the galaxy map railing as everybody else jumped into combat harnesses, just in case.

“Shepard!” Rick bellowed, grunting as he was shaken around. “We’ve got trouble! Big bird just clawed his way out of the volcano, and he’s heading this way!”

“What!?” Shepard rocked as the wind battered the ship. In response to his query, the galaxy map activated, showing a view of volcano and the surrounding areas, a blip that was airborne being highlighted. “Damn it, this was all for nothing!?”

“I wouldn’t say so!” Chen gasped, keeping herself steady. “He’s coming right for us!”

“For us!?” Shepard questioned. “What the hell for!? Are we in his airspace!?”

“That’s a very likely possibility!” Graham replied, swinging as the ship rocked again.

“Shepard, I’m detecting an anomaly in the heart of the storm.” EDI alerted, “It’s a mass effect field.”

“Mass effect…” Shepard paled, nothing on earth in this time could generate them… except for titans. “It’s Zero! Joker, turn us the hell around!”

Suddenly, the entire ship shook like it was struck by something, and Shepard was nearly thrown to the floor.

“Too late, Commander, he knows we’re here!” Joker replied in a panic. “Everybody, brace for evasive maneuvers!”

The Normandy suddenly dipped as it dove straight down, Shepard nearly loosing his footing and flying back into the elevator doors, had it not been for the railing he could grab. The ship leveled out and he regained his footing, as the galaxy map updated yet again to show a yellow blip in the heart of the storm, the interface designating it as Monster Zero, the red blip approaching the storm tagged as Rodan.

“First Rodan wakes up and makes a beeline right for us without a second thought, and Zero shows up all the way from Antarctica!?” Shepard questioned, staggering as the ship rolled. “Damn it, Joker, what’s going on up there!?”

-------

“Sorry, do you want to be alive but shaken like a soda can, or steady and dead!?” The pilot snapped back as alarms in the cockpit raged. The outside was a haze of ash-grey clouds, only broken occasionally by flashes of sickly yellow lightning. “Fly us into a storm system Joker, nothing bad will happen Joker.” He grumbled as the proximity sensor howled away.

Monster Zero was riding inside the Normandy’s slipstream, getting closer by the second.

“EDI, get that bastard off our ass!” He growled.

“Acknowledged, activating rear GUARDIAN array.”

Joker looked at the status board, gulping and crossing his fingers as the icon began to glow.

On the outside of the ship, the flat portion on the stern of the Normandy’s primary hull flashed red for a moment, the metal grid glowing as it charged. A moment later, Monster Zero’s center head suddenly suffered what appeared to be a spontaneous explosion--in actuality the highly focused laser hitting its target dead on-sight.

The center head shook as the rest of it kept flying, and all three heads roared, the bolts of lightning in its storm getting even more intense.

“All right, screw this!” Joker decided. “Everybody hold tight, I’m turning this baby around!”

“Joker, what are you doing!?” Shepard bellowed from the back of the CIC.

“Introducing my friend to my other friend!” The helmsman replied. He hit the controls, and the Normandy nosedived. Had the crew not been strapped in, or in Shepard’s case possessing a really good grip, they would’ve been tossed around like ragdolls.

Joker kept pushing the helm down, the Normandy going upside-down relative to the ocean below, before he rolled it back the right-way-up.

“Alert: Rodan is directly ahead.” EDI sounded extremely calm despite the situation, too calm for Joker’s tastes.

“That’s kinda the idea!” Joker huffed back in response. “Keep your eyes on that thing, let me know the last possible second to pull up, or down, doesn’t matter!”

The three heads of Monster Zero snapped and snarled, trying to shoot out to bite down onto the Normandy. Joker was fairly certain the plating could hold… but he didn’t want to find that out. It was probably a safe bet to assume that something as big as a small cruiser could chew through a small cruiser.

“Ten seconds, Jeff.” EDI sounded as the flaming pterosaur’s silhouette burned through the storm clouds up ahead. “Nine seconds. Eight. Seven.”

Joker focused on the readout, placing his hand on the panel.

“Six. Five. Four.”

The alerts blared in his ears as Monster Zero grazed the kinetic barriers of the ship. Up ahead, Rodan extended his clawed feet out, ready to catch and rip the ship apart.

“Three. Two. One.”

Joker slammed the helm down as the barriers outside flashed blue, Rodan’s gargantuan claws scraping the shields as the Cerberus craft dove underneath it.

For a moment, all seemed to go silent.

Then, the Normandy shook as the impact of the two titans colliding rocked the boat, so to speak.

“The two titans are now occupied with each other.” EDI happily reported. A quick glance over to the external rear feed confirmed as much, as two of Monster Zero’s three necks clamped down onto Rodan’s wings, yanking them apart, while the center head shot out and tore into Rodan’s neck. The living inferno howled and screeched, attempting to fight back before he was thrown into the ocean.

Joker had barely let out a sigh, before the proximity alerts began to flash, again. “Jesus Christ, just keep them coming why don’t ya!?”

---------

Shepard staggered, clutching his head as he tried to keep steady. Heavy organ, skin, and bone weaves, and Joker’s piloting was still the one thing that reliably made him want to hurl.

“Shepard, long-range sensors have detected an incoming missile.” EDI projected a hologram of the rocket tearing through the air.

“Jesus, they launched a nuke!?” Rick hollered in shock.

“I cannot say for certain,” EDI replied, “I also can’t access the internal guidance computer; the technology is too primitive.”

“Oh…” Serizawa breathed out in frustration, “I am going to kill Stenz when I see him.”

“EDI,” Shepard began to ask in response, “How much damage is it going to do?”

“I don’t know,” She admitted, “But a large amount of people still remain in Isla de Mara. If the device is detonated, they will most certainly be exposed to radiation, if not the shockwave.”

“And what’ll happen if we shoot it down?”

“Nuclear devices are highly intricate pieces of technology. If it is destroyed before it hits its intended target, the explosion will be significantly less powerful.”

“Then as soon as that thing gets in range, take it down.” Shepard ordered, watching the view of the battleground with bated breath

“Understo- wait.” EDI cut herself off, projecting a blue blip on the map. “Godzilla has entered the combat zone.”

“He’s here too?” Shepard questioned, before the Normandy sharply dipped, tossing him around. “EDI!?”

“We are being fired upon.”

“God damn it, all the others he could pick a fight with…” Shepard growled to himself, holding onto the bar.

“Missile in range of GUARDIAN lasers. Firing.”

------

Godzilla looked up at the giant metal bird, roaring as he blasted out a stream of glowing blue fire at the vessel. Overhead, a rocket tore through the atmosphere, careening down toward the ocean. A moment later, a blast from the Normandy took out the missile, a burst of green light washing over the area.

Godzilla gasped, stumbling back like a human who’d just been punched in the throat. He croaked and groaned, rumbling as he sunk into the water, before his eyes closed all together.

Before they did they flickered over to the golden abomination, springing out of the ocean like it’d won, cackling madly as flew away, utterly disinterested in the sight of the battle.

--------

Shepard sighed as the Normandy finally, mercifully, became steady once again, and he clutched his head, nursing a quickly-incoming headache. He really regretted not harnessing up, but if he had, it would remove his ability to see the galaxy map. No good.

“EDI, report.” Shepard ordered, looming over the display with gritted teeth.

“The explosive has been destroyed, with a significant amount of its payload being released--albeit not all of it.” EDI answered.

“The big guys?” Shepard inquired in response.

“Titans Godzilla and Rodan have been incapacitated by the device.” She answered. “Vitals appear largely normal, but delta wave activity suggest the two are entering stages of unconsciousness.”

“A healing sleep,” Serizawa mused, gulping, “If a single strike could knock them out… I dread to imagine what the weapon would have done if it detonated properly.”

“Maybe our problems would’ve been solved,” Shepard sighed, ignoring the impertinent looks that remark earned him from the Monarch scientists. The CIC groaned and warbled, an ethereal bellow from outside the ship propagating through the armor plating.

“Shepard,” EDI sounded alarmed, almost panicked, “Monster Zero’s roar, it is… Titans across the planet are awakening.”

“What!?” Serizawa’s head shot up in shock, questioningly looking at the map image across the way.

“Outpost fifty-five, Arizona.” EDI zoomed out, highlighting the area on the globe while projecting a picture of a strange, shell-like creature with a shell like body, long spindly legs, and tendrils hanging from its mouth. “Titanus Scylla.” Another blip flashed on the other side of the planet, and it spun around, the picture changing to a quadruped with a large shell-like back made out of deciduous terrain. “Outpost sixty-seven, Germany. Titanus Methuselah.” The globe spun around again, the picture becoming that of a large squid or cuttlefish-like creature with bony horns. “Outpost forty-nine, Loch Ness. Titanus Leviathan.”

“Jesus…” Rick breathed in horror. “She’s won… Emma got what she came for…”

“No…” Graham quietly shook her head, listening to the warbling cries of the three-headed dragon outside. “I don’t think this is Emma’s doing.”

Shepard leaned on the railing staring at the feeds all being thrown around by EDI. “Meeting room. We need to figure out what to do.”

--------

“That mission was a complete clusterfuck.” Colonel foster hissed, glaring at Shepard. “First Zero shows up, then Rodan claws his way out, Godzilla takes potshots at us, and to cap it all off, now titans all over the planet are running rampant.”

“Hey, don’t look at me.” The Commander held his hands up. “I agree with you, but I don’t know what exactly you expect me to do about it. Russell’s won. The titans have woken up, they’re rampaging, and innocent people are caught in the crossfire.” He frowned. “The only thing we can do is try to find that ORCA, and shut it down.”

“I’m not certain that would work…” Chen muttered, hunched over a screen showing live news feeds of the titans’ rampages. “These attacks are coordinated, but there’s no way she could direct so many all at once… not without giving away the Orca’s signal. The only other source could be-“

“Monster Zero,” EDI finished, her avatar being projected at the head of the table. “The roar we heard before the mass awakening effectively triggered the event. I can’t say with certainty what it would be like for titans themselves--mind control or simply a very persuasive argument to follow--but Normandy’s systems… reacted to the signal.”

“Wait, your ship itself responded?” Coleman questioned awkwardly. “That’s not… no way.”

“I hypothesize it ties into the reason why Monster Zero, Godzilla, and Rodan targeted the ship despite there being more immediate targets in-range.” EDI flashed, projecting a hologram of the Reaper IFF, and an array of sleek, metal components, curved and spiky, glowing red in the image. “The Normandy has several systems of… I hesitate to use the word biological, but they are not of technical origin either.”

“…your ship is alive?” Graham questioned, trying to wrap her brain around it.

“In a sense. It is my body.” EDI answered. “But that is not precisely what I meant. Many of the Normandy’s components are of Reaper origin.”

“Reapers, huh, search me, but those don’t sound good.” Rick muttered, shifting.

“They’re not.” Shepard confirmed. “They’re sentient starships, but they seem to be beyond machine.  Closer to living things than spacecraft.”

“In short, the Reaper technology that comprises a great deal of my hardware and code base reacted to the signal.” EDI explained. “Like a reflex action. Upon Monster Zero’s call reaching the Normandy, systems directly attached to the Reaper components experienced a surge of activity. I hypothesize that the bioacoustics titans project are similar to Reaper signals. From that, it can be extrapolated that the inverse is true to the extent that local titans perceive the Normandy as one of them.”

“Wait a minute…” Shepard’s brow furrowed, his finger raising as he pieced something together. “The titans all have natural mass effect fields you said…”

“Sorry,” Foster leaned on the table, “For the un-initiated?”

“Mass effect tech’s the foundation for galactic civilization, in our experience.” Shepard rattled off. “It’s based around element zero; you expose it to a charge, positive or negative, and it could generate a field that could raise or lower the mass of whatever’s inside it. Our civilization uses it for damn near everything--weapons, medical tech, the artificial gravity of the ship you’re standing in, and faster-than-light travel. Now, EDI thinks the titans have natural concentrations of the element in their bodies, which you know is why we came to Antarctica. But any titan with a lot of element zero would be big, probably the big boss, and the Normandy’s got the single most powerful drive core in the galaxy, save for what you’d find on some dreadnoughts…”

“The Titans view the ship as one of their own.” Serizawa finished.

Shepard nodded. “And a threat big enough to immediately demand being taken out.”

“This is bad, Shepard.” Garrus looked at the Commander gravely. “The Normandy’s good, but our barriers barely held up out there. The weapons, the shields, they’re meant for ship-to-ship, not fighting giant monsters.”

“They’re really more like animals-“ Coleman tried to correct.

“Be that as that may,” Shepard looked around the table, “Right now we only have a weapon we can fire once before the element of surprise is busted, no plan, and no backup. In a straight fight, it would be suicide. We need something better than that.”

Foster crossed her arms, tilting her head skeptically. “And how do you suggest we do that?”

“Zero’s the source of all this, right?” Shepard recalled, leaning on it.  “So that means we need to take it out. That removes his signal. If Monarch’s right about the titans, then we shouldn’t have to worry about them continuing their rampages.”

“So your solution is to just kill the boss and leave it like that?” Mark demanded incredulously. “What if you’re wrong, huh? These things are like nothing else on Earth, but they’re dangerous. We don’t know that they’ll step down.”

“We don’t know that they won’t.” Chen retorted.

“You willing to bet the lives of people on it?” Mark fired back, the entire group falling silent. “The titans might be unique, but they are only seventeen strong.” He pointed out to Shepard. “Are you willing to bet millions of lives on them suddenly going passive cause Larry, Curly, and Moe there aren’t calling the shots?”

“You’re suggesting we kill them,” Shepard supposed, crossing his arms, “Doctor Russell, even if I wanted to, I don’t think the Normandy could do that. Not if they could sense us coming.”

“No, I’m saying we take a page out of Emma’s book.” Mark replied tilting his heard toward the starboard side of the ship. “You guys have got a tech lab here. I say we build another ORCA, use it to put them all back to sleep, and smash the everloving hell out of it.”

“Are you insane!?” Serizawa bellowed, shooting to his feet. “Emma is already dabbling in forces beyond our control, now you wish to do the same!?”

“We don’t have a lot of options!” The other doctor shot back, “She’s hiding god knows where with the ORCA, none of us can track her down, and every minute we burn by debating ethics is another where people are dying.”

“We got close,” Coleman shrugged sheepishly, “She woke up Rodan, we must’ve just missed her.”

“Actually, Mister Coleman, according to the logs I was able to access by wireless uplink to Outpost fifty-six, the security systems and speakers were overridden via remote.” EDI corrected.

Mark pointed at EDI’s avatar for emphasis, pointedly looking at the assembled, “Exactly. Emma’s been planning this for years, you don’t think she can’t override a security system?”

Shepard nodded, giving the man that at least before he himself looked to EDI’s avatar. “Couldn’t you trace it back to where it came from?”

“I could not--the antiquity of local computer systems compared to myself makes them… difficult to navigate.” The AI sounded frustrated with that admission, even a little ashamed. “I vastly overestimated the processing power available to local machines. When I injected my cyberwarfare suites, the outpost’s security network suffered a fatal crash. I have attempted to correct for this, but even a basic sluether program is too taxing. I’m sorry, Shepard.”

“Don’t worry about it, EDI.” The Commander sighed. His head bowed slightly as he shook it, before he turned his focus to Mark. “You really think you can build a whole new one of those things?”

Mark gave a quick nod in response. “Your computer can help me with that, easy. The hardest part is going to be getting it to sound natural.”

“Then EDI will help you with that.” Shepard nodded. “With any luck, once Emma realizes none of the titans are attacking, she’ll come out of hiding trying to fix it.”

“Shepard,” Samara suddenly spoke up, “There’s something I wish to try.”

The Commander turned to her, quizzically raising an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

“If the Monarch personnel are correct, that Godzilla has intelligence comparable to most other sapients, then it may be possible to communicate with him.” The Asari suggested. “Since the Normandy cannot oppose Monster Zero in a one-to-one fight, it might be for the best if we allow Godzilla to fight for us.”

“Yeah, we’ll just ask him to put it all the line for the guys he’s been trying to kill, are you out of your blue mind!?” Rick demanded.

“Your sarcasm does not become you.” Samara calmly retorted, and Rick blinked… before just shutting up.

“He does have a point,” Foster conceded, “They’ve been doing nothing but trying to shoot this thing down when they realize it’s in their space.”

“Besides,” Graham entered in, “There’s no guarantee he would understand our language.”

“He likely would not,” The Justicar concurred, calm and upright as she blinked, “But my species possesses the ability to meld our nervous systems with others. Most use this for reproduction or to have a good time, but it can also be used to enable the transfer of knowledge between two individuals.”

“Wait, your species?” Chen repeated. “You’re not human?”

“The Asari bear quite a resemblance, but I assure you, I am not a human woman wearing blue paint and prosthetic makeup on my head.” Samara replied, facing Shepard again.

“Can you really do that, meld with Godzilla?” Shepard questioned carefully, frowning. Melding was a big part of the Asari culture, but though it was theoretically possible to link with anything, there were some things the Asari just didn’t. “Wouldn’t that be committing bestiality or something?”

“If Godzilla is intelligent as Monarch suggests, then no.” Samara calmly answered. “If he is not, then I will gladly surrender my dignity to ensure he does not attack us again.”

“Can Asari even meld with something that big?” Garrus wondered, leaning on the table.

“It is possible.” Samara nodded. “The key is not the size of the creature, rather the complexity of the nervous system.”

“…then we’ll do it.” Shepard nodded in resolve. “Samara, while Russell works on the ORCA, you go down and try to convince Godzilla not to fight.” He looked ahead, chewing his lip. “With any luck, this plan will go better than the last one…”

---------

Madison aimlessly walked around the halls of the crew deck, trying to occupy herself some way. It was all very confusing, if she had to be honest. A spaceship with humans (had these guys been abducted only to make their way back around, or was it proof of parallel evolution?), with aliens on board, high-tech sci-fi shit…

All of it was doing well to distract her from the fact that her mother had turned into a genocidal mass-murderer, but those thoughts were very quickly intruding back into her mind.

She needed to find something to do. A tall order, since the frigging alien spaceship didn’t seem to have any recreational facilities.

She was contemplating finding a duct to sneak into, to see if she could maybe get to the other decks without alerting Big Sister, when she saw the tall, lanky, grey alien-like scientist walk over to the kitchenette to procure a snack.

Curious, since the only aliens she’d seen were from a distance, she got closer, but still tried to keep out of sight.

He seemed to be humming as he chewed on a piece of some bark-like food. “My xenoscience studies range from urban to agrarian…” He sung to the tune of Modern Major-General, tapping on the holographic gauntlet on his arm. He turned around and walked away, and Madison watched as he passed her by without a care in the world, heading for the medical bay.

She quietly stalked behind him, hanging outside the open door.

“Asari-Vorcha offspring have an allergy to dairy and…” He absent-mindedly typed something into a terminal, before turning and heading on his way again.

Madison became quite curious as to what he was doing as he walked around the ship. What could he be up to? Maybe if she asked, he would answer.

“I can make a simulation of a virus and release one, too.” He continued, proceeding into the observation room next to the crew quarters and the women’s restroom. “Or solve a theorem with techniques that most scientists do eschew. I know of subjects ranging from the civilized to barbarian, I am the very model of a scientist Salarian.” He walked to the window, inhaling. “Human, should speak. Know you’re there.”

Madison jumped with a startle, coughing. “You do? But I-“

“Small ship.” He turned around, looking at her. “Can hear footfalls, few ways to effectively hide. Was aware of being observed. Should inform you: crew trained special forces operatives in most cases, jumpy in others. Following could be hazardous to health.”

Madison gulped, fiddling with her hands. “Oh, I wasn’t trying to follow you to hurt you or anything, I was just… curious.”

“Curiosity understandable,” He nodded, “First contact not occurred with your civilization, aliens novel in your experience.”

“I…” She shrugged, “Yeah. Sorry.”

“No apology necessary,” The alien smiled disarmingly, “Mordin Solus, Professor, Chief Scientific Officer aboard Normandy. Doctor Russell’s child, yes? Pleasant to meet you.” He held out a hand, and she took it, noting with some surprise that he only had three fingers.

“Yeah, I’m Madison, and you’re an alien…” She mumbled, staring at him in disbelief. “A real, live alien.”

“As opposed to fake, dead one?” Mordin humorously retorted.

“Well…” She shrugged slowly, “Yeah.”

“Meant nothing by it; icebreaker phrase. Humor constant in all species, good for easing tension.” He rattled away, “Can tell you’re nervous. Unfamiliar lifeform, but curiosity overriding self-preservation instincts. Have nothing to worry about, Normandy crew civilized  people.” He inhaled, closing his eyes for a moment, before opening them. “Still, advise staying away from Jack. Tattooed woman. Wouldn’t hurt child, but crew refer to her as ‘emotional time bomb.’ Also literal one, could rip apart ship if angered. Dealing with her akin to walking in minefield without protective barriers.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Madison gulped, before trying to change the subject away from the fact there was a woman who could kill all of them with a thought on board. “You’re the scientist… so why aren’t you helping my dad with the ORCA?”

“Bioacoustics not field of specialty, considered pseudoscience in my experience, lack necessary experience to assist.” Mordin explained quickly. “Would be more likely to hinder than to help. Assisting in other ways, turning attention to other avenues.”

“Yeah?” She leaned forward curiously. “Like what?”

“Scoping areas for potential installation of aeroponics bay.” The scientist answered. “Dextro food stores partially destroyed by power conduit overload in storage cabinet. Some remain, but unable to gauge how long repairs would take. Food stores could run out before then. Have to remedy the problem.”

“Dextro?” Madison repeated, tilting her head. “You’re talking about chirality, right?”

Mordin’s brow shot up. “Very perceptive. Most children do not easily grasp it, have to be explained later.”

Madison shrugged with pride. “I do a lot of reading. Science makes the world go round.”

Mordin nodded. “Yes. Always good to expand knowledge base when not hampering others. Back on-subject; two crewmembers dextro-amino acid based, Garrus and Tali. Can’t consume food of opposite chirality, could kill them.”

“So you need to grow them special food.” Madison continued, nodding in understanding.

Again, the Salarian professor nodded. “Packets of dextro seeds in emergency stores, contingency in event of crash-landing. Should be able to modify to increase growth rate and yield. Can also do same for levo-amino stores, decrease frequency of resupply stops.”

“You guys are all going back into space after this is done?” Madison asked, crossing her arms. Don’t get her wrong, she wasn’t attached to the crew, not by a long shot…

But this ship was cool. And to imagine everything they could learn just by studying it.

“Have to, Earth not suited to long-term habitation of alien crewmembers.” Mordin replied, looking to the view of the planet outside the window. “…might go on a sightseeing tour before departing.” He turned to her. “Perhaps would like to assist me with aeroponics development? Need to assess different seed types, choose high-yield breeds. Play with genetic synthesis. Could learn something.”

Madison’s eyebrows shot up. An alien scientist was asking for her help. Sure, probably as like his equivalent or an intern or whatever, but still, it wasn’t every day you got to help an alien.

..plus, she had been looking for something to do.

“Yeah,” She quietly answered, “Yeah.” Madison repeated, nodding with much more certainty. “That sounds good.”

“Excellent, will begin at once.” He smiled, turning to exit.

Madison followed quickly, not expecting him to shoot off so quickly. “So what kind of scientist are you?”

“Multidisciplinary.” The Salarian answered as he led her into the lift. “Genetic engineering, physics, basic biology, engineering. Many of Normandy and crew’s upgrades researched and developed by me. Also studied other cultures, way of viewing development and values of society.”

“Is that why you were singing tunes from the Pirates of Penzance earlier?” She asked, her lips twitching. “That used to be my favorite movie when I was a kid. I had a crush on the Pirate King… You know the Pirate King tune?”

Mordin grinned, taking a deep breath. “Oh~ Better to die to a Thresher Maw with shotgun blasting roaring raw-“

The rest of the crew on the deck let out a disappointed sigh as the elevator door closed, and they were robbed of Mordin’s magnificent tenor.

---------

The Normandy’s Kodiak shuttle fell through the sky towards the ocean, coming up on what appeared to be a small island floating a few miles off the coast of Isla de Mara.

In actuality, it was Godzilla, still knocked out cold from the missile’s payload. Taking care not to land on the enormous reptile, the hatch opened, and Samara hopped out, gently floating down onto his scales. The shuttle then pulled back, hanging at a comfortable distance just in case.

“All right, Samara, we’ve got eyes on you.” Shepard radioed, his voice tickling the inside of her ear. “If you need to stop, just say the word.”

“I appreciate the gesture, Shepard, but that will not be needed.” She returned, lightly stepping on the gigantic beast’s skin. The Justicar mused for just a moment that ants must’ve felt similar, before she pushed the thought out, and prepared herself.

If she was not careful, Godzilla’s sheer presence could overwhelm her. She could lose herself, or worse, if it all flooded into her, it could burn her out. But it had to be done, and she’d see to it that it was.

Samara gently knelt on the titan’s scaly skin, touching her hand to his rough, leathery exterior. She could feel the beating of his enormous heart, the inferno in his center tempered by the many meters of flesh between the source and the outside, and the electrical jolts from his sleepy neurons firing.

Putting it off no longer, Samara pressed her hand to the titan’s skin.

“Open your mind…” She willed, hoping that if some part of him was aware still, he could hear her. “Embrace eternity!”

Samara initiated the meld, her eyes going black as all outside stimuli were cut off, preventing her from being ripped out of it except at her decision. It was something she had done innumerable times before, for fun in her Maiden stage, but never before had it been like this.

Most melds were, for lack of an adequate term, equal. The two joined would mix with each other, like… tea and sugar. The sugar would be dissolved, but the tea would forever have its taste altered. In this instance, it was almost totally different. Though she had initiated the meld, Godzilla’s presence dwarfed her. To use another analogy, Samara was swimming in a choppy ocean, the waves crashing down atop and threatening to subsume her.

The centuries-old Asari was, compared to him, just another ant. An ant that had lived longer than the others, but still so tiny compared to the titanic beast.

And try as she might, Samara couldn’t fight forever. Despite her best efforts to keep calm, she was pulled under, yanked into the meld.

------

She sees herself hatching into a world filled with others like her, yet also not like her. A world of beasts that can move mountains, drain oceans, and leave storms in their wake. Yet surrounded by ones so similar, she is the only one of her kind known to exist. The last. Hunted to extinction by parasites who would rape the earth until it was a dead husk of the world, unfit to support even their own ravenous expansion.

She decides that they shall not be allowed to continue. She’s the only one of her kind left, no others will experience what she does. If they fall in line, they will be allowed to exist. If they do not, they will perish. That is the law that rules for many epochs, her law. Those who attempt to subvert it are punished. None are given exception to it.

Many do not try, though there are some. The Apes try, but she exterminates them all. Knocks them down to a few, exiles them to an island from which they cannot escape. The others are apes of a much smaller stature. Humans. They forge horns carved from the corpses of her fellows, the blaring they generate a painful scratching that drives all but her mad. She considers destroying them, but the fools wind up destroying themselves, turning the Ones in their thrall against each other without stopping to considering that they themselves are in the crossfire.

The world prospers under her guidance, until They come. An abomination that speaks in strange tongues that worms into the mind, driving them all to madness. She fights against it, wins, but can’t kill it. Her only hope is to entomb it and make sure none can ever go there.

She’s broken, exhausted, ready to rest… then Others come. Metal Ones, descending from the sky in numbers that block out the light of day. They’d been waiting to strike, waiting for her kin to become weak. The One that was Many did that well enough for them.

There’s no fight, even if she wanted there to be. They’re too weak, softened by her own actions, the actions of the humans, then the Abomination. As the Metal Ones tear into the Earth with streams of red fire, robbing the natives of their air, their food, and their drink, the only hope she and her kin have is to hide. To go into hibernation and wait.

She wakes up sporadically, waiting to see until the rest of her kin are ready to awaken as well, until one time she awakens, hears the call of the parasites, and growls. None of the others have awoken to keep them in check. If nothing is done, they will overrun everything. Not even the humans in their new nests of metal and glass would be able to do it. She stops them, then returns to the world she left behind, content to explore, to see what all has changed.

Until she hears one of those damnable horns again, and follows it back to where the Abomination had been sealed. She is too late to stop what has been set in motion, finding the Abomination and one of the Metal Ones. They both escape, and she follows them to the warmer regions, only to be hit by something that stole her air from her.

She feels the mind brush against hers, and her world expands.

---------

He remembers being born, surrounded by sisters, cousins, aunts, and grandmothers from hues of the deepest purple to the lightest blue. Much of his childhood is spent on Thessia, until he becomes old enough to explore the galaxy. Like most other Asari Maidens, he spends his time wandering, seeking adventure, even winds up shipwrecked for a time on a little blue backwater near Batarian space, meets an interesting fellow named Shakespeare before they are finally rescued and brought back to civilization. It all comes to an end when he joins a band of mercs finds out what his comrades are planning. He feels the call of something greater, turns on his corrupt fellows, and turns the slaves free. After that, he settles down.

He has three beautiful daughters, his own flesh and blood. It takes a turn for the worst when the eldest melds for the first time, and her partner dies. She has the markers of an ardat-yakshi. Tears are shed, fear sticks to them all like a salve, all he can do is try to comfort them. All three have ardat-yakshi markers. It’s a problem he can’t fix, a problem he made just by bringing three new lives into the world.

Mirala says as much. She refuses to go to the monastery. She doesn’t just run away, she flaunts her condition. Kills people without remorse, then plays the victim. He doesn’t wish it, but Morinth as she renames herself has to be stopped. He is the only one who can do it.

He chases her across the galaxy for centuries, his wayward daughter always managing to stay one step ahead. All too often, he comes close to losing his way, flashing back to the little toddler she used to be, before he finds a way to rationalize it. Mirala’s dead, another victim of Morinth.

He finally gets close on Illium, before he is stopped, held by a police officer. A human walks in, different to most others. For a moment, he can see the infinitude of eyes staring out through the man’s own, before he recognizes the man as a fellow servant of justice. The man introduces himself as Shepard, and he asks for help with a mission. He gets the name of the ship he needs to track down Morinth, and he goes with him.

As time goes on, he integrates into the crew of the Normandy. Follows Shepard like he hasn’t anyone else. He’s oddly deserving of it, like no other human he’s met. Compassionate, but not soft enough to be taken advantage of. Strong, but also strong enough to know when to be kind. He’s seen pain, and evil, and suffering, just like he has. A kindred spirit, almost. The difference is that he sought answers in the Code, Shepard created his own. He helps to stop Morinth, and after all of it is done, he does not talk, does not offer empty platitudes, or condemns him for doing what had to be done, Shepard just sits and understands. He understands like no one else does.

The Commander is thirty-one. He considers for a moment that, perhaps once upon a time, Shepard had a child... one that he also lost. Whatever the reasons for the Commander’s understanding, he does not question them. He is grateful for it, even once they go through the Omega relay. They see what the Collectors had done, the unholy mockery of the humans the aliens had stolen and melted down. They just barely escape, before they are flung far away from home.

He’s confused, he doesn’t quite know what to do. This new world has very little in common with their old…

Until they discover Emma Russell’s machinations.

There will always be evil to fight. And he will fight it until his dying breath, even if that means dying.

Chapter Text

The mood was tense in the meeting room as the Monarch crew and Shepard looked at the vid feed from Godzilla. For the past half hour, Samara had been joined to the enormous titan, unmoving except for the rise and fall of her chest that signaled her breaths.

“How long is this mind meld gonna take?” Rick questioned, frowning.

“No clue.” Shepard answered. “If she doesn’t come out of it after a few hours though, we might need to bring her out manually. That’s why the shuttle’s out there.”

It was at that moment that Graham let out a breath, standing up quickly. “With respect, I can’t just sit around and wait. The tension in here is thick enough to cut.”

“You’re right about that.” Shepard rubbed his face, weary. “Us standing around in a cramped room doesn’t accomplish anything. You guys can go stretch your legs for a bit, I’ll stay here and watch the monitor.”

“As will I.” Serizawa nodded.

“You sure about that, doc?” Rick inquired, grabbing his jacket.

“Yes.” Serizawa smiled, though it did admittedly look forced. The stress of the situation must have been getting to him. “Go explore the alien spaceship.”

“Thanks doc!” Rick threw over his shoulder, running out the door before anything else could be said.

Graham rolled her eyes as Chen followed, looking at him questioningly. She could see that he wasn’t all right, but Serizawa was the sort to clam up, and hard. Damn near nothing could make him open, not until the inciting event had passed. “I’ll be on… what did you say the crew deck was?” She directed to Shepard.

“Deck three.” The Commander answered.

Graham nodded, turning to Serizawa. “I’ll be on deck three if you need me.” She said to her old mentor, before turning to exit. She walked through the lab, Mark on one end trying to get the new ORCA up and running, Madison and Mordin on the other hand…

“Alas, poor Yorick!” Mordin held a glass sphere with a plant sample inside in front of him, gesticulating theatrically. He then looked to Madison. “I knew him, Horatio. A fellow of infinite jest-“

Mark slammed his head on the table, groaning loudly.

Vivienne looked to Madison, seeing the girl’s eyes twinkle, and she smiled back. Madison always seemed to be so… melancholy. It was good to see her lighten up. Madison waved, and Vivienne gave a light wave back, before walking out of the lab.

Reasoning that the people in the CIC were all probably working and thus shouldn’t be disturbed, Vivienne walked over to the elevator and headed down to deck three.

The moment she arrived… her ears were assaulted by a discordant harmony of shouts.

“Bullshit!” Jack slammed her hands on a table. “Hot dogs are hot dogs!” She argued vehemently with the Krogan across from her, pointing furiously.

Grunt shook his head, indignantly throwing up a hand. “It’s two pieces of bread with meat in between it. Sandwich.”

Vivienne hadn’t even realized she’d stopped to stare until someone spoke up next to her.

“Grunt accessed the local internet,” She jumped and turned to see the alien man with large eyes who’d saved her life in Antarctica. Thane, if she remembered correctly. “He discovered the debate about hot dogs and sandwiches.” The Drell continued, looking at the sight from afar with his hands clasped behind his back. “I don’t know what he was trying to accomplish by starting it in here. A fight, perhaps.”

Vivienne nodded, glancing at the sight, then to Thane. His green skin was bright in the lights, and that got her mind buzzing. Was he from a jungle planet, where camouflaged skin would help hide from prey? No, his species were more than likely the predators. To tell you the truth, her mind was positively buzzing. No one else seemed to jump on it because of the current situation, but there were aliens here, whole different global ecosystems of evolution, whole new cultures, everything.

Finally, she looked back at the sight. “Yes, she certainly seems like the kind of woman who enjoys a fight.”

“She very much is.” Thane rumbled, stiffening before his eyes went wide. “A merc rounds the corner, on patrol. He freezes, looking intently at dead air. I look from my perch, following his sight lines. The smoke is distorting against Shepard’s cloak. The merc raises his gun; he is dissolved in a mist of blue fire. Jack has her hand in the air, a grin on her face. Our cover is blown. Every merc in the warehouse comes to investigate, she flushes in delight. I whisper a prayer to the gods before jumping down. They’re all dead now, I can only ensure the process is painless.” He took a breath, blinking with two sets of eyelids, before shaking his head. “My apologies.”

“Um, no need.” Vivienne replied, confused at first. “What was that? Some sort of flashback?”

“Yes.” Thane nodded, shifting on his feet. “My species has a form of eidetic memory. We can remember things with such perfect clarity, it is as though it is happening again.”

“Really?” Vivienne curiously crossed her arms. “You can remember everything?”

The Drell nodded once. “Almost. I suspect if we could remember the trauma of birth, we would never recover.”

“Hey, mantis-man!” Jack bellowed, finally realizing they were there. “You going to stand there staring, or are you gonna say something to me?”

Thane cleared his throat, unclasping his hands.

“Perhaps we should take this conversation elsewhere?” Vivienne suggested. “If you’re not in the middle of something, that is.”

“I do not.” Thane answered as he turned to her. “Truthfully, I have very few duties on this ship. Company would be appreciated.”

The Monarch scientist nodded in response, and gestured, letting him lead the way as the conversation in the galley raged on.

“Zaeed, where are you with those fucking cookies!?” Jack demanded.

“I’m not your goddamn butler!” The merc bellowed back. “You want to eat raw food, tear yourself a steak off a bear or something! Chocolate chip cookies warrant some goddamn patience!”

Vivienne blinked, looking at Thane as he led the way to one of the observation rooms, usually Samara’s stomping grounds, but empty due to her excursion. “You let that man make your food?”

“Zaeed is a surprisingly good chef.” Thane replied as he strode into the room first. “…besides, I would rather take my chances with his cooking than Gardner’s.” He walked over to one of the benches, sitting down as Vivienne mirrored his movements across from him. “Thank you for offering to speak with me. I don’t get very many visitors.”

“You don’t?” The woman tilted her head, “Whatever for? The crew’s not prejudiced, are they?”

“No.” The Drell shook his head. “At least, not anymore. If they had been, they quickly learned otherwise. The only one who takes issue with me is Jacob, and that is more because of my lifestyle than out of racism.” He leaned forward on his legs, holding his knuckles. “But they do give me a wide berth, nonetheless. Rightly so if we’re being honest. I am an assassin.”

“Assassin?” Vivienne repeated, straightening up. He didn’t look like a trained killer… but that was probably the idea. The best assassins were most likely the ones that hid in plain sight.

“Yes.” Thane rattled, nodding. “I understand if you wish to go now.”

“No,” She shook her head, leaning back, “At least, not yet. You did save my life. I… owe you, I suppose.”

“You do not,” He calmly refuted, turning to look out on the Earth below, “But thank you. Is that why you’re speaking to me now?”

Vivienne went quiet in contemplation for a moment. That was definitely the case, yes, but if she said it was just so they’d be some measure of even, that would be a lie. It was just… decent, she supposed. “Partially. Why’d you do it?”

“Save you?” Thane inquired in response.

“I saw you, you had to stop for a moment to use your powers. You could’ve died.”

The Drell did not answer for a few seconds, contemplating. “Biotics are... difficult for me to use on occasion, yes. But had I not acted, you would have died. I could not allow an innocent life to be extinguished. Especially not if it was to preserve my own. I am not worth it.”

“Don’t say that.” She reflexively retorted, shaking her head. “I’m sure you’re a great man.”

“Perhaps I may be, but I do not mean I’m not worth it from a self-worth standpoint.” Thane went quiet for a moment. “I’m dying. It would be a senseless waste to allow someone to die for me, when I’m fated to perish soon anyway.”

“You’re dying?” Vivienne repeated, her face falling. “What’s wrong?”

In response, the Drell assassin shook his head, resigned. “It’s known as Kepral’s Syndrome. In short, my species is native to an arid world, an environment similar to the Gobi or Mojave of your planet. Very little water exists on the surface and in the air. Thus exposure to overly-humid environments can saturate the tissue in our lungs, destroy the ability to absorb oxygen. The damage varies from case-to-case, but in my instance, it’s terminal.”

“That’s… awful. Isn’t there something that could be done for you?” Vivienne inquired, tilting her head. “Lung transplants? Artificial ones? Cloning?”

Thane looked down, contemplative. “Theoretically. But the Normandy doesn’t have the facilities for it, and I don’t believe your people have the technology.” He looked at her, offering her a kind smile. “Thank you, but it’s quite all right. I’ve… made my peace.” He got to his feet, walking over to the window, looking down on the Earth below them. “I shall spend the final days of my life as I have since I was diagnosed. I’ll travel, perhaps right a few wrongs, and in the end, whether the goddess of oceans sees fit to take me gently or otherwise, I shall go without resistance.” He mused, gazing at the human homeworld. He relaxed his stance, turning around. “Thank you, Doctor Graham, for speaking with me.” He offered a slight bow of his head before stepping out of the observation room, leaving Vivienne on her own.

The Monarch scientist felt a mix of pity, remorse, and embarrassment, feeling that she blundered her way through all of it.

She sighed, rubbing her face as she looked out on Earth. Everything looked so picturesque, tranquil. If it hadn’t been for Monster Zero’s storm raging over the eastern seaboard of the US, she wouldn’t even be able to tell the world was ending.

She got to her feet, and resolved to head to the galley.

They had to have alcohol somewhere on this ship.

---------

Hours passed as the crew went about their business, while Shepard and Serizawa kept an eye on Samara, and Mark continued working with EDI to remake the ORCA signal. Eventually, so much time passed, the auto-dimming of the lights triggered as the ship shifted into after-hours mode. Most of the Cerberus crew went off-duty, the night crew taking over, except for the main team and Monarch personnel.

For the fifth time in the last hour, Mark sighed, rubbing his face in exhaustion. The brute-forcing of the ORCA signal had been going well, until they hit an unexpected roadblock. The ORCA signal was a very precise mix of bioacoustic signals from all sorts of titans. The AI could analyze the signal from the short snippet that had been recorded at Antarctica, but it was a very short snippet. The last part they needed was too indistinct for EDI to analyze, courtesy of Madison’s screaming voice in the recording drowning it out.

The door to the tech lab quietly opened, and Shepard walked in, as alert as ever. “Any luck?”

Mark shook his head, rubbing his eyes as he yawned. “Whatever Emma used to make the signal, it’s like nothing I’ve ever heard.”

“Madison can’t help?” Shepard inquired.

“No,” The doctor rubbed his face in frustration, “She was taught how to operate it, but Emma didn’t tell her what signals she used. Probably in case she got second thoughts; Madison wouldn’t be able to do something about it.” He looked at the Commander, “Any news about your Vulcan lady?”

“Well, she woke up for a second.” Shepard answered, leaning on the table. “Fainted right after. The telemetry from her omni-tool says she’s just unconscious. Probably will put her in the medbay till she wakes up.”

“Her people do that a lot?” Mark asked, crossing his arms. Shepard had to give it to him, the Monarch people were taking the whole aliens thing pretty well. Maybe because they dealt with giant monsters on a daily basis, so anything else seemed underwhelming by comparison.

“In my experience, yeah.” Shepard nodded, recalling the melds Liara preformed on him back during the hunt for Saren. “It usually takes a lot out of them. I have no doubt she’ll get back up though.”

“We’ll see,” Mark muttered, shaking his head as he turned to look back at the ORCA data, “I still say it’s a mistake. Talking to a titan…”

Shepard frowned, his eyebrows furrowing. “You seem to be a bit… sour on the idea of them.” He noted, “Everybody else in Monarch seems to respect them, if not like them. Why not you?”

“What, so you can look at me like I’m stupid too?” Mark questioned in response.

“I didn’t say that.” Shepard shook his head.

“No, but everybody else rolls their eyes when I make valid goddamn points,” Mark growled. “Everybody else has got their heads so far up their asses about these things that whenever I try to make my case, I just get thrown out as a titan-hater. You know what that’s like? To have something taken from you and then be told you’re invalid for thinking that way?” He looked down at the terminal, fiddling with the holographic keyboard. “They might be right about them being marvels of nature… but they’re dead wrong thinking we should let them run around and let innocent people get caught in the crossfire.”

“Sounds like you’re speaking from personal experience.” Shepard remarked, raising an eyebrow.

“Yeah, I am.” Mark’s expression steeled as he leaned on the table, getting on Shepard’s level. “You know How many people were in San Francisco? Las Vegas? Honolulu? Thousands--hundreds of thousands. You know how many titans there are? Not even two-dozen. And I told them, that if we kept prioritizing the lives of animals over human lives, we’d all be feeling the consequences. Now look.” He gestured to the window, out of which Earth could be seen, and the raging torrent above the Americas.

Shepard’s hush extended for a moment, “…you know, something tells me it’s a bit more personal than just ‘the needs of the many.’”

It was Mark’s turn to go quiet, and he did for a long while, thinking. Shepard could see the micro-twitching of the man’s muscles as he reflected on the memory, reliving it. “I had a son. Andrew. It was just a normal day, we were going to go to the park… then Godzilla and those things showed up. We took off running, fast as we could. I had his arm in my hand, Emma and Maddie were in front of us…” It was at that moment that Mark began choking up, shaking. “Somewhere down the line, he must’ve slipped out. I didn’t even realize till it was too late.” He held his hand over his mouth as Shepard just listened, waiting for Mark, trying not to push. Eventually, Mark sucked it all in, and breathed slowly, in and out. “Every time I look at one of those things, that’s all I can see. Andrew, the people like him who had their whole lives ahead of them…”

“Just to have it all torn down by something you never could’ve prepared for.” Shepard finished, murmuring quietly. He looked over to Madison, the girl sleeping with her head and arms on a desk, Mordin now fiddling with what looked like drive core schematics with Tali on the other end of a chatline. “…I had a daughter once.” He admitted, looking to Mark at last. “I was just a young, dumb kid on the streets of Earth, only sixteen… she changed me. Joined the military so I could provide for her.”

Mark, for his part, seemed to guess that this wasn’t going to end happy either. “What happened?”

“I struck a deal with the Alliance,” The Commander replied. He did not sound taxed or drained, nor tearful, simply numb. “They’d set me and her up on this little colony out of the way, Elysium… we got attacked by pirates. The Batarians had come on a slave run, looking for revenge on us for pushing into their space. We managed to repel them, but they got a few people… my daughter included. She was six years old.”

“Jesus.” Mark breathed in horror.

“None of the pirate ships made it out of the system.” Shepard closed his eyes with a sigh. “They found her in one of the frigates they took out, floating in the debris. I didn’t know what to do. At first I just felt numb, then… angry.” He clenched his hands. “Just pure and utter rage. I wanted every single Batarian in the galaxy to pay for what they’d done. Almost made good on it too.”

“What’d you do?” Mark blankly asked, almost dreading the answer.

Shepard shifted, clearly ashamed of what he’d done. “There was this star system on the edge of the galaxy, Bahak. Home to over three-hundred-thousand Batarians. The Reapers were going to use it as a staging point to lead an assault on the galaxy. I destroyed it.” He sighed again, rubbing his face despondently. “I told myself it was to stop the Reapers, to save more lives in the long run. Part of that was true… but I think on some level, some part of me was trying to get revenge, and you know what it got me?”

Mark shook his head.

“All it got me was a hollow feeling, another nightmare to add to the ones I already have, and those that knew it was me calling me a terrorist and a genocidal maniac.” Shepard finished, looking Mark in the eyes. “I know it’s not one-to-one, but killing them to make yourself feel better isn’t the answer. That’s the problem with revenge, you make it your life’s goal, and when it happens, what are you left with? Nothing, except the knowledge that you just took another father, another brother, another son out of the universe.” He thinned his lips for a moment before continuing. “Sometimes, the best way to make peace with our demons…” He shrugged slowly. “Is to forgive them. Or do you want to be like Emma? So stuck in one way of thinking it’s almost led her to destroy the planet?”

“…I don’t know if I can.” Mark shook his head.

“If the titans are as intelligent as you all say, isn’t it worth a try?” Shepard questioned in response. “These aren’t things that exist only to destroy. They’re living things with minds of their own. And if you can give peace a try, maybe they can too.”

“…maybe.” Mark granted quietly. “I can see why you’re in charge of this place.”

“Damn right.” Shepard chuckled, before a blue light started glowing nearby.

“Shepard,” He turned to find EDI’s avatar, “Godzilla has begun moving.”

“Keep an eye on him, EDI.” Shepard ordered, “But I doubt it’ll do us much good without a way to stop Emma’s ORCA from taking control.”

Mark suddenly took a breath, straightening up. “Wait a minute… I’ve been looking at this all wrong.” He suddenly began looking at Shepard with an expression of slowly dawning realization. “Everything we’ve been using to recreate the ORCA signal, it’s all been titan signals. Godzilla, Mothra, the MUTO Prime, every alpha titan Emma’s come into contact with over the years. That’s why they respond to it, it’s all alphas. But there’s another alpha frequency in there that we can’t make out. I’d assumed it was another titan, but what if it was a different alpha predator?”

Shepard curiously raised an eyebrow. “Like what?”

“Us--humans.” Mark answered, typing. “Think about it. How many species have we domesticated over the years to suit our needs? Dogs, cats, sheep, horses, too many to count.”

“Okay, that…” The Commander blinked as his eyebrows went into his buzzed hairline. “That actually makes some measure of sense. What made you figure that out?”

“Like you said, the titans are intelligent.” Mark looked up. “And the only other intelligent species on Earth are humans.” He looked back down, hurriedly typing. “It’s not going to be a perfect replica though, signals vary slightly between each individual, all we need to do is find a close-enough match…”

“That will not be required, Doctor Russell.” EDI flashed pridefully. “I have isolated the frequencies we need. Applying it to the device now.”

“Wait, what?” Shepard questioned, “Where’d you get it?”

“I compared the signals on board the Normandy to the partial signal in the field recording.” The AI answered. “One person aboard was an exact match: Madison.”

Mark stiffened, looking to his daughter. “Emma used her…” He clenched his fist. “Pulling her into a plan to start a titan war wasn’t enough, she had to use Madison as a science experiment?”

“It’s likely that Emma could not find a person to analyze without arousing suspicion and used Madison as a baseline while she was asleep or otherwise unaware.” EDI hypothesized, projecting a waveform of the signals over the table. “But why she would choose to use another person instead of herself is confusing.”

“It could be any number of factors.” Mark grumbled. “Stress, genetics, environment… age.”

“We’ll ask her when we bring her in.” Shepard swore with a nod. “And with the ORCA, we’re one step closer to making it happen.”

“Shepard.” EDI appeared over the table. “Samara has awoken in the medbay. She wishes to speak to you.”

Shepard cocked an eyebrow, looking at Mark, before he nodded. “All right, EDI. Send word to the Monarch people, tell them to meet us down there.”

“At once, Commander.”

----------

Once again, the medbay was a small hub of activity as the senior Monarch personnel, Shepard, and some of the Normandy crew gathered inside, viewing the person sitting upright on the bed. Upon seeing Samara in-person, awake and sitting up, Shepard let out a small breath…

Before he noticed her eyes, unfocused, staring dead ahead at nothing.

“Samara?” Shepard gingerly approached. “Are you all right?”

“I am fine, Commander.” She blinked, staring right past him.

“No, she isn’t.” Chakwas crossed her arms. “That move she pulled caused minor hemorrhaging in her brain. Her visual cortex has been completely burned out.”

Serizawa covered his mouth, as they all looked at the Asari Justicar, looking ahead.

“Rest assured, it will not interfere with my duties.” Samara calmly directed to the Commander.

“That remains to be seen-“ The CMO began, only to be cut off when Samara began speaking again.

“Low-level biotic fields can be used as feelers to navigate.” Samara explained. “It is one of several techniques a Justicar learns during the course of her training. However, the issue of my sight is not the pressing issue at hand.”

“You’re right,” Shepard took a step forward with crossed arms, “We can fix your eyesight later. What’s the situation with Godzilla?”

The Asari took a deep breath, meditative and reflective. “I have learned a great deal by joining with him. Many things… But I know what you are asking specifically. He will no longer attack us.”

“What?” Mark questioned skeptically, “Just like that?”

“Indeed.” Samara nodded. “Your scientists were right. He possesses an intelligence on-par with most sapient life. Self-awareness, complex reasoning, even emotions such as grief, rage, pride, joy, and love.”

“Incredible…” Serizawa breathed, glancing at Graham. “You are writing this down?”

“Of course.” She nodded, scribbling on a notepad.

“So you managed to convince him to step down?” Shepard probed, trying to get a definitive answer.

“Yes.” The Asari gladly confirmed, and Shepard let out a sigh of relief. “But our assumption of his reasons for attacking us were only half-true, Commander. The titans--Godzilla, at least--do not view us as another of their kind. They see us as a Reaper.”

“Oh…” Garrus mumbled, taking a deep breath. “There are Reapers here, too? That’s not good.”

“No,” Shepard agreed, “But if there are Reapers, there might be relays. We might be able to find a way home.”

“Commander,” Garrus cleared his throat, “About that-“

“Later, Garrus.” Shepard told him, before turning back to Samara. “So how did you get that to happen? Did you speak to him?”

“No, but I did share myself with him.” Her eyes darted around, trying to find stimulus in vain. “He saw my memories. What I’ve done, the enemies I’ve faced. Most importantly, he witnessed my arrival to the Normandy, our mission against the Collectors and the Reapers, and our arrival here. I did not get words from him, but I did feel it. He’ll refrain from striking us, if we do the same for him. He does not care about the ORCA situation--yet. His focus remains on Ghidorah.”

“Uh, what did you call it?” Rick blinked.

“Gonorrhea,” Garrus turned to him, “It’s this disease you humans carry-“

“Ghidorah,” EDI corrected before that conversation could go any further, “Appears only a handful of times in ancient historical texts.” She outlined, turning one of the medbay windows into a screen, showing snippets of ancient writings and cave paintings, but very little else. “It is referred to by several different titles. ‘The One Who is Many,’ ‘The Abomination,’ ‘The Great Flood,’ and simply ‘The World Eater.’”

Jacob huffed, “Just a ray of sunshine this guy is.”

“They must have been extremely terrified of it,” Chen noted, “Even Godzilla has benevolent titles attached to him.”

“Because Godzilla, for all the destruction he may cause, seeks only to protect his kingdom.” Samara replied, speaking with the authority of someone who had been in his mind. “That is the same with any other Titan. But Ghidorah is different. An outsider. It is not native to this world.”

“Hold on,” Foster interjected, “Are you telling us that the three-headed monster out there is also an alien?”

“I am.” Samara nodded. “I witnessed its arrival through Godzilla’s eyes. It came from space, a storm surrounding it wherever it went. Its method of communication could not be understood, and all who met it either were killed or enslaved by its words. They did battle, and he was victorious… then the Reapers attacked.”

“Yeah, that still doesn’t make sense to me.” Shepard frowned. “Reapers only harvest spacefaring civilizations.”

“While that is the common assumption,” EDI began, pulling up photographs of different planets from all over the galaxy, “We are uncertain of the criteria that the Reapers use to initiate their harvest. Space travel could be the impetus, but it has also been argued among those that do know of the Reapers that discovering element zero could be the triggering event. If that were the case, it would account for the industrial and pre-industrial civilizations destroyed by the Reapers, as well as explain why they attacked the Titans.”

“Regardless of the reasons, Godzilla and his kin could not stand against them.” Samara continued. “They had come out of a war triggered between themselves by humans wielding horns that acted as the ORCA does. Ghidorah’s attack thinned their numbers even more. Whether Ghidorah was a tool for the Reapers or if they merely took advantage of its attack, I cannot say. But the end result was the same. The titans went into hibernation, awaiting the day the Reapers would leave.”

Graham inhaled, looking up from the notepad. “We’d always assumed it was because of falling radiation levels.”

“Doesn’t change the facts,” Foster mused, “Monster Zero’s still going on a rampage, and we still have to stop it.”

“I don’t know if we can,” Mark muttered, frowning. “If it’s an alien, there’s no guarantee it’ll respond to the ORCA’s signals.”

“We’ve got to try.” Shepard resolved. “If the ORCA doesn’t work on it, that still means Godzilla can go after Zero, without any of the other titans making mayhem elsewhere. And if we don’t need to worry about getting taken down, we can help.”

“Commander!” Joker hollered over the PA. “We’ve got the two big guys heading for each other! Looks like they’re going to make landfall in Boston!”

“Boston?” Rick repeated with a disgusted scowl. “What the hell for?”

“The ORCA is transmitting.” EDI flashed into existence, bringing up news headlines showing a sudden cessation of Titan attacks.

“Emma.” Mark looked at it with furious eyes. “What the hell is she doing now?”

“Stopping herself?” Chen suggested, looking to him for agreement.

“…EDI,” Shepard spoke up on a hunch, “A hypothetical: what would happen if the titans continued to run rampant? What if Ghidorah kept this up?”

“According to my current predictions, a runaway effect that even beneficial titans could not compensate for.” The AI hypothesized. “Enormous amounts of smoke, dust, and debris would be released into the atmosphere, triggering a runaway global warming effect, or an effect similar to an impact winter. Pollutants from destroyed oil rigs, refineries, tanker ships, coal plants, and similar facilities would taint the ocean, irreparably damaging it. There are only seventeen titans in counting according to Monarch’s files. Significantly more would be needed to mitigate, if not reverse the damage.”

“The exact opposite of what she wanted.” Shepard turned around to face them all. “Madison said Emma was doing this to save the planet, remember? Only she got more than what she bargained for when she let Ghidorah loose. EDI, where’s that ORCA signal coming from in Boston?”

“I’ll have to extrapolate the location from local microphones in the area.” EDI replied, pulsating. “Please wait.”

“Hopefully she doesn’t burn the whole grid out…” Rick muttered.

“Complete.” EDI answered, bringing up a map of the area. “Location: Fenway Park.”

“That makes sense,” Serizawa rubbed his jaw thoughtfully, “A discontinued Monarch bunker was close to that location. She most likely had intended to wait inside while her plans proceeded.”

“It would also explain why she was able to remotely trigger the release of Rodan.” EDI sounded happy that she finally was able to put the mystery together. “Security cameras in the park are linked to an external server system via the internet. I can access them. Emma is inside.”

“Then this is our shot.” Shepard straightened up. “We can get in, grab Emma, bag the ORCA, and get out before those two show up and get to fighting.”

“So, uh, should I take us down, then?” Joker inquired.

“You know it.” Shepard nodded, before looking to his team. “Everybody take an adrenaline stim, then get ready to go to ground.”

“Aye aye, Commander.” Joker sighed, obviously not a fan about taking his baby into the eye of the storm, again. “Course set for Fenway Park… Bring back some Sox merch for me!”

Chapter Text

Only a day, maybe two, after the suicide mission to the Collector Base, it could be said that the Normandy was embarking on another suicide mission. The crew got secure for general quarters, the ground team got suited up and ready, and Joker took them in, keeping the ship level in the vast, alien hurricane.

“Alert: ORCA deactivated,” EDI sounded, “Locking on to last location.” Fenway Park was still highlighted… along with an enormous thermal signature. “Enemy activity detected. All personnel prepare for combat.”

“All right, team.” Shepard held onto one of the hand grips in the shuttle, looking over the entirety of the Normandy’s ground team members, even Samara (who he was vehemently opposed to bringing into a combat situation since, you know, she was blind at the moment) but she had insisted, and subsequently threatened into him doing so. “The objective is Emma and the ORCA. You spread out and find her, if you come across any people though, get them to safety, understood?”

A chorus of ‘Yes, Commander’ was his response.

“All right, we’re in as close as possible without us being in the sight lines of that thing!” Joker’s voice crackled over the speakers. “Godzilla’s heading in; you guys get out here and we’ll head on ahead to draw Zero’s fire!”

“Understood, Joker.” Shepard nodded. “Keep her safe.”

The bay doors of the Normandy opened, the ship not even slowing down as the conical kinetic barriers kept the aerodynamic drag down. The shuttle rocketed out, before the Normandy broke off slightly, heading in a circular path around the battleground as opposed to dead-on into it.

Unaware of the fly-sized shuttle compared to him, Godzilla waded into the shallow water surrounding Boston, taking deep, heavy breaths, his animalistic features twisted in rage. The alpha titan native to earth growled, drawing a vast gulp of air, the spines up his back flashing as the radiation coursed through them.

He spat every bit of power he had in himself out at once, the bass-heavy roar reverberating throughout the place, shattering the glass in nearby buildings, quaking the ground, and vaporizing the air as the beam of atomic power shot across the vast gap separating the earthbound titan and the golden hydra. So absorbed with playing with the human inside the stadium, it didn’t even realize until it was too late.

The beam struck, Ghidorah howling in shock as it plunged into the ground.

The three heads wriggled through the air, looking at their enemy, each one screeching back in defiance as the body got back to their feet. The lightning in the storm surrounding them flashed faster, furiously pounding the ground and buildings nearby, and illuminating the metal, bird-like silhouette quickly coming up from behind it.

-------

“Thanix cannon charged and ready.” EDI announced, the targeting reticle in Joker’s view flashing steadily.

“Yeah…” The pilot grinned, “It wanted a taste of the Normandy? Let’s give it a little sample!”

“Beginning attack run.”

---------

Ghidorah stomped, cracking the earth beneath it as it stood upright, warbling threateningly at Godzilla. He charged across the landscape, clearing the walls encompassing the stadium.

Godzilla snarled, breaking out into a lumbering sprint, the buildings around him shaking and coming down as his titanic footsteps shattered the foundations around him. Ghidorah’s heads shot out, and Godzilla brought his arms up to meet them, the impact of the massive objects colliding so quickly ringing throughout the area like a bell.

Godzilla growled, grunting as he grappled with Ghidorah. His thick hands clamped down around the two heads, and he yanked them apart, his head shooting out to meet the middle one. It collided, and the head was knocked back, dazed for just a moment, before it shot out and clamped down on Godzilla’s neck.

The enormous reptile bellowed in pain, before a crack of thunder rung throughout.

Two beams of light rocketed out from twin barrels mounted on the Normandy’s underside, striking Ghidorah in the back.

The three-headed dragon screeched, letting go of Godzilla as a deep gash was carved in its back, the liquid metal of the Thanix cannon quickly cooling and hardening, preventing Ghidorah’s wound from healing.

Ghidorah’s heads snapped to face the starship, yellow light climbing up all three of its necks, before Godzilla slammed into the beast, knocking it down, away from Fenway Park. The Normandy darted over to join, pulling the battle away, and giving the shuttle ample room to land.

The craft hadn’t even touched down, before the team jumped out, weapons at the ready though they weren’t liable to actually do anything.

“All right, people!” Shepard hollered over the howling winds, the impacts of Godzilla and Ghidorah fist fighting, and the roars of the giant lifeforms. “Spread out, find that woman!”

“Doctor Russell!” Jack sing-songed as the team obeyed Shepard’s orders. “Come out so I can kill you, bitch!”

Shepard turned to chastise her, before he was thrown off balance by another impact. Turning to look, he beheld Godzilla and Ghidorah brawled, slamming into skyscrapers and each other. It was like watching two mountains fight, debris being launched off their bodies into the surrounding landscape, water falling down them like rivers.

“Shepard!” Tali shouted over the torrential storm, “I’ve found something!”

Shepard spat out a bit of dust-tainted water that got in his mouth as he spun to look at her. He rushed over, looking at what she was viewing, a collapsed support strut, the remnants of the announcer box formerly overlooking the park. Tali had her omni-tool active, scanning the area.

“My omni-tool’s picking up the ORCA under there!” Tali explained, before the ground shook again.

Another reminder that they were on the clock shaking the ground, Shepard grabbed the strut, lifting with all his might. Had he been normal, he probably wouldn’t be able to lift it, but the muscle and bone weaves he had held up, his skin rippling with the strain as he pulled it up. Tali quickly yanked the ORCA out from under it, and he let it drop.

He looked around, seeing the flashlight beams from his team’s guns sweeping the area. “Any sign of Emma!?” He directed to them.

“I’m not getting anything!” Kasumi replied first.

“No human-life signs detected in the vicinity.” Legion calmly reported, his glowing optic breaching the darkness.

“She must’ve set the ORCA then ran.” Miranda supposed, “She could be anywhere!”

“Long-range detection identifies one human life sign.” The Geth vocalized. “Northeast relative to our current position.”

“All right, you heard the man!” Shepard hollered over the storm, as they ran back to the shuttle. Before they could enter it, rays of bright light punctured the clouds, flashing all colors of the rainbow. “What the hell is that!?”

Samara, despite not having her vision, looked up right into the source of the light. “Mothra.”

A loud, high-pitched trill rung through the air as an enormous butterfly moth with swirling flames on her wings and glowing eyes broke through the cloud cover, glowing like a miniature star.

“Oh my God…” Tali gulped in terror. “It’s a giant bug.”

Mothra swooped overhead, glowing blue particles trailing behind her as she glid, seeding the rainwater and falling to the earth below. Mothra cried as she spat out a glob of silk, pinning Ghidorah to the ground. The enormous moth swept over Godzilla, more of the blue particles her wings were exuding falling onto his body, healing his wounds upon contact.

“…wow.” Jack breathed, herself and the rest of the team enraptured by Mothra’s arrival. The shockwave hit them, and they suddenly broke out of their trance, realizing they were still in a battlefield. The team ran back into the shuttle, taking off.

Shepard took the helm, keeping them moving fast and low through the city. “Legion! I need those sensor readings!”

“Storm patterns are obfuscating sensors,” The Geth replied, “An exact location cannot be determined.”

“Then give me a general one, damn it!” Shepard cursed, as Ghidorah broke free from its bindings, knocking down one of the buildings nearby. It just barely missed the shuttle as it slammed into the ground, the small craft continuing on as the battle raged on behind them.

The Normandy zoomed past Mothra, as the light in the clouds began to glow a volcanic orange. Rodan appeared out of the thick, soupy haze, swooping down right in a course to meet Mothra. The starship fired two disruptor torpedoes, forcing Rodan to alter his course. One careened wildly off course and hit a skyscraper, bringing it and the surrounding block down, as the other came back around, hitting Rodan in the back.

The fiery pterosaur screeched and slammed into the ground, carving a long, deep scar into the earth, before he tried to climb back up, disoriented. Mothra landed on his back, sending her stinger right through his back, close to his heart. The demon of fire screeched, before he fell, his eyes darting around as whatever poison Mothra pumped into his body was quickly redistributed and he was paralyzed.

Mothra took back off, refocusing on Ghidorah.

“Distance closing, one kilometer.” Legion reported as Shepard spun the shuttle around, “One-half kilometer. One-quarter kilometer. Fifty meters. Position determined; residential building.”

“Good work!” Shepard complimented as he brought the shuttle in for a landing. He ran back to the main cabin, out the hatch with the rest of the team. The Normandy blasted overhead, as Godzilla grabbed Ghidorah, slamming the other titan into a building.

One of the dragon’s heads latched onto a nearby power station before it flared its wings, a spiderweb of the unearthly yellow lightning shooting out in all directions, blasting Godzilla and Mothra away and zapping the Normandy. The ship’s deep blue barriers flashed alarmingly as the charge went through it, Godzilla stumbling back into a building as Mothra slammed into the ground.

Godzilla panted, holding himself up by a building, glaring at his old nemesis. Mothra trilled as she pulled herself up, ready to keep fighting.

The members of Shepard’s team coughed and heaved, getting to their feet. The Commander looked to the building nearby, the houses all joined together, now leveled into a pile of rubble.

“Shit!” He cursed, running over. He set his omni-tool to scan for vitals, and got a weak ping in return. He followed it over to a collapsed wall, shattered picture frames and a fireplace around it. It had used to be a living room, the Russells’ living room going by the pictures. He found an arm sticking out from under it, and he lifted the wall off, finding Emma underneath, out cold and covered in cuts and bruises from the event. He coughed, spitting out dust as his omni-tool blared medical alerts. Her vitals were fading, fast. “We need to get her back to the Normandy.” He grunted, throwing her over his shoulder, heading back to the shuttle.

Godzilla drew deep, wheezing breaths, the spines on his back flickering weakly, as he tried to keep his balance. His gaze fell beyond the three-headed abomination, upon Mothra’s comparatively small form getting back up, and he let out a puff, the glow strengthening as he prepared himself. Mothra jumped onto Ghidorah’s back, and the dragon began to buck, trying to throw her off. Mothra’s stinger shot out, but she missed her target, the sharp spike running right through the golden hydra’s wing.

Ghidorah howled as green liquid dripped from the wound, the toxin keeping it from healing as he succeeded in throwing Mothra off. While he’d been doing that, however, Godzilla had stomped up close, pulling the attention of the rightmost head onto him. He grabbed the head, and with his enormous jaws, clamped down on it and squeezed as hard as he could. The head screamed as it was ripped clean off, and the remaining two turned their focus on Godzilla as well. They zipped toward him, sinking their teeth into his flesh.

Mothra jumped onto Ghidorah’s back again, one of the remaining heads breaking to strike at her, only to be met with her enormous stinger.

The head screeched as the squelch echoed for miles, alien blood flooding out from the wounds.

The last head glowed, spitting out gold lightning in one final act of defiance against Godzilla. The reptilian titan roared back, and blasted his own beam of radiation back in retaliation, right into the head’s eyes.

Ghidorah spasmed and kicked defiantly, as Godzilla bit down, and ripped the last head off, the body finally going still as the one head keeping it moving was torn away. Godzilla tossed it up, catching the torn end in his gigantic gullet, chewing and swallowing it down as the head writhed.

As the horns disappeared, Godzilla took a deep breath, and let out an earth-shattering, triumphant roar into the sky, the sound touching all corners of the planet as Ghidorah was, unequivocally, defeated.

From the Normandy, Joker watched the view, his jaw hanging open.

“…You know, a wise man once told me:” Joker stared, not even blinking. “Jesus Tapdancing Christ.”

-----------

The news feeds flickered by as the reports of Ghidorah’s death and the confirmation that the titans were no longer attacking circled like flies. It wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows--several cities across the planet, a great deal of them capitals, had been destroyed--the death toll hadn’t even finished being calculated yet, and there were people out screaming for blood.

But for now, right now, inside the Normandy… everything was all right.

Well… mostly.

Shepard turned away from the feeds on the screens above the table in the galley, over to the medical bay. He watched as Chakwas checked Samara and Thane over, their post-battle physicals taking longer than usual, then he looked over to Emma Russell’s inert form, crossing his arms at the sight.

“You saved her.” Madison’s voice quietly said from next to him, and he turned to look at her for a second, then back into the medbay. “She tried to kill you, kill everyone. Why?”

“I told you I wouldn’t kill your mother unless I had to.” Shepard replied, “I keep my promises.”

“…thank you.” Madison whispered, looking inside.

“You should go.” Shepard advised as Chakwas emerged from the medbay. “She won’t be up for a while, and we did just save the planet. Find your dad. I think you two have some things to talk about.”

“Right.” Madison nodded, biting her lip before she hugged him. “Thank you. Really.” She wished him again before going off.

The Commander sighed, rubbing his face as he looked at the matronly medic who approached. “Doctor. How are they?” He questioned, worried that because they took longer, that meant there was a problem.

“The picture of perfect health.” Chakwas answered, before she clasped her hands behind her back, her gaze turning serious. “As in: literally.” She passed, him a datapad, showing him a scan of a chest, the image clear and uncloudy.

“So it’s an X-Ray.” Shepard shrugged cluelessly. “A respiratory system.”

“It’s an assessment of Thane’s respiratory system.” Chakwas sternly replied, reaching over to swipe to the last slide. “That’s a scan of his lungs when he first came aboard. The cloudy parts you see are scarring, tissue damage on account of his Kepral’s Syndrome.” She outlined, pointing to the malignant, cloudy mass, before swiping to the next slide. “This one is from a few minutes ago.”

“…he’s completely healed.” Shepard blinked, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion. “I don’t understand, I thought his condition was terminal?”

“It was.” Chakwas corrected, “Now I can’t seem to find any trace of it whatsoever, even in other parts of his body. And Mister Krios doesn’t seem to be the only one.” Chakwas took the datapad back, typing into the controls. “Samara’s vision is slowly returning--she still can’t make out shapes as of yet, but she can see color. Garrus’s scars from the gunship have healed. Mordin’s seems to have de-aged by about twenty years. And Tali’s suit suffered a breach, but there does not appear to be any infection from it. Plus a few minor medical conditions I’m not at liberty to share for the rest of the squad.”

“That’s…” Shepard looked at the comparisons himself, blinking in awe. “That’s incredible. What could’ve done it?”

“I’m not sure.” Chakwas admitted, chewing her lip.

“Wait…” Shepard blinked, raising a finger. “Mothra was letting out this blue… powder, I suppose. It got into the rain, fell on Godzilla--healed him right up. Could it have had an effect on us?”

“It’s possible. In fact, I’d say it’s likely.” Chakwas held her chin in thought, her lips twitching. “The other alternative is spontaneous cellular regeneration in the entire ground team at precisely the same moment. The only person it visibly hasn’t affected is you, and I would say that it didn’t need to on account of your augmentations. I’d need to run further tests to determine the extent of all of it, but suffice it to say, the crew don’t need me to coddle them, for the moment.”

“Nah, you don’t coddle.” Shepard chuckled, shaking his head in good humor. “You baby us. Totally different thing.”

“Indeed, and if I didn’t feel like my job was threatened by a giant moth, I’d slap that smug look off your face.” The aged doctor retorted.

Shepard only kept laughing, shaking his head, before he heard a beeping. He brought up his omni-tool, and sighed. “It’s always something…” He muttered before walking off.

--------

The Normandy’s cockpit airlock opened, allowing Shepard (in his Cerberus uniform with the logos filed off) to step outside and walk across the improvised walkways of scissor lifts onto the solid ground on the other side.

Serizawa was an honorable man, quick to hold up his end of the bargain. Once the situation cooled down in Boston, he sent people in to recover the corpse, and to harvest the nodes of pure element zero in its body. He’d even given the Normandy access to a drydock facility. For actual boats in this time since starships still weren’t a thing, but it was the facility for one USS Argo, an airship that had a wingspan as wide as the Normandy was long, so it was an easy fit. Shepard almost hadn’t taken him up on the offer, but then Mordin and Tali had approached him with a proposal for retrofitting the drive core. There was a lot of tech speak, and something about giant starships heading to Andromeda, but the gist of it was that the core could be modified so that it could recycle the static charge it generated, negating the need for the Normandy to discharge its drive in the magnetosphere of a planet. Hydrogen scoops could also be used to collect fuel. He wondered why that wasn’t something they’d considered before, but apparently it was reverse-engineered from Sovereign, and miniaturization was particularly troublesome. Shepard gave the order to go ahead with the mods while the ship was repaired, but that meant a total overhaul of the ship’s power plant in addition to the drive, meaning they’d need to get planetside and jack into the local grid.

But though Serizawa was honorable, a man of his word… the people he worked for were decidedly not. There had, of course, been questions about where all the Monarch senior staff vanished to during the crisis, and though they’d tried to plug leaks and keep it hidden, word about the Normandy got out. Leading to… this.

“This is outrageous!” Serizawa bellowed, standing across from a man in a Navy Officer’s uniform.

“No, I got a better word: It’s bullshit!” Rick glowered, shaking his head.

“The crew of that vessel have done nothing but help us!” Chen pointed furiously, looking ready to bust heads.

“Be that as it may,” The Admiral replied in a tired voice, “I have my orders.”

Shepard approached, clearing his throat. “Is there a problem here, Admiral…” He glanced at the man’s name tag. “Stenz?”

The Admiral looked at Shepard, suspicious, like the Commander was something wearing a skin-suit.  “Am I to understand that you’re the commanding officer of that vessel?”

“I am.” Shepard nodded, standing stiffly with his arms behind his back.

Stenz cleared his throat. “Then on the authority of the United States Government, I’m afraid I’ll have to seize your vessel and its technology. You and your crew are hereby under arrest.”

“Really, what for?” Shepard facetiously crossed his arms.

“For nothing!” Serizawa raised his voice. “This is an unconstitutional and unlawful order!”

“They’ve kidnapped Monarch personnel and trespassed on government property.” Stenz replied, straightening up. “We’re well-within our rights to arrest them.”

“Actually, you are not.” Legion clicked, breaking off from where he was assisting with the spacecraft’s repairs, looking to the Admiral.

“Monarch is an American organization-“

“Your authority only extends to those who choose to recognize it.” Legion’s mechanical pupil dilated and spun, apparently accessing data stored… somewhere. “We do not.”

Stenz turned to the Geth, straightening. “Are you really sure want to pick a fight with us?”

“You cannot fight an enemy that does not exist.” The Geth replied. “Search your databases and you will find no evidence of Normandy’s time here.” The synthetic crew member idly boasted, Shepard’s lips twitching in response. “We can also access personnel files and records, as well as mission information. Should you attempt to arrest Normandy’s crew or procure the ship, we will retaliate. Your records will not remain unmarred.

Shepard crossed his arms, looking smugly at the Admiral.

“Are you blackmailing me?” Stenz demanded.

“We are simply letting you know where you stand.” Legion answered. “You are facing a technologically-superior force. You will not win. We recommend your immediate withdrawal.”

Stenz stared Shepard down for the better part of a minute. The Admiral broke first and looked at his men, nodding, and they began to back off. “We’re not done here.”

“I rather think we are.” Shepard retorted as he crossed his arms. The US military goons backed off, turning and walking away from the drydock.

Shepard watched them retreat, huffing as he shook his head.

“I haven’t seen anyone make Stenz back down like that.” Foster remarked, watching them go.

“He just hasn’t met anyone like me. What was that guy’s beef anyway?” Shepard wondered, crossing his arms.

“Nothing,” Serizawa turned to the Commander, “Stenz is a man resolute in his convictions. Fortunate when they happen to be the right ones, but troublesome when they don’t align with yours. I doubt that his attempt to browbeat you was anything personal. But it has proven, if nothing else, your crew will need to repair your vessel quickly. I doubt the military will be content to leave you alone forever.”

“Right.” Shepard concurred, staring in the distance as Stenz and his marines got into a VTOL and took off. “My crew are the best of the best. They’ll have it done soon.” He turned to the doctor, offering a hand in friendship. “I just want to say: Thank you for this. The Normandy’s in… a tough situation.”

“So were we, up until a day ago.” Serizawa returned, shaking the Commander’s hand. A ringing came from his pocket, and he pulled out a phone in an Otterbox case, sighing. “That would be our liaison to the Senate, or at least, what’s left of it. I have to take this.” He stepped away.

“So, what’re you guys going to do now?” Rick questioned, shoving his hands into his pockets. “Till you get your ship fixed, I mean.”

Shepard contemplated, looking back at the ship. “Well… my crew’s been looking for some shore leave for quite some time.”

That was an understatement. They’d been firing on all cylinders since the Collectors took the crew, and according to Chakwas and EDI’s scans, he was under more stress than he was during the Skyllian Blitz. He could really, really use some time to unwind. They all could.

Yeah… shore leave seemed like a good idea.

…

Until he remembered that they were the crew of the Normandy, and this would be liable to turn into a Banned From Argo situation and not a relaxing excursion.

…maybe until repairs were finished. That way they could get away quickly.

----------

Days passed as the Normandy remained in the drydock, the personnel intermingling and striking up friendships. Over the course of that time, most of the Monarch people came on board to watch Emma, waiting to see when she woke up. A redundant task, given that EDI was perfectly capable of doing so, and if she was not, Chakwas could handle the task fine, but it was the principle behind the matter. Emma was a Monarch problem the Normandy crew didn’t have to deal with, so Monarch could pick up the slack.

During that time, Vivienne had come on board, taking her watch with a book and a mug of some non-specific liquid from the Normandy’s galley that could, with generosity, be called tea. Her phone sat on the table nearby, listening for any updates on Godzilla and Mothra. After Godzilla ate Ghidorah’s god damn head, he and Mothra just dropped off the scope. Barnes had cheekily suggested they were celebrating like all married couples do… before flushing as he realized that, yes, that was probably what was happening… somehow.

It would be fascinating to study… if they could find them. …and if it wasn’t a breach of privacy.

Vivienne glanced up from her book into the medbay again, the giant windows in the place serving well to make sure that she didn’t have to actually be with the genocidal mass-murderer. Motion flickered out of the corner of her eyes, and she glanced, seeing Thane jogging around the crew deck, wearing not the futuristic business suit that was his usual ensemble, but something more obviously suited to exercising.

“Doctor Graham.” He nodded respectfully in her direction as he walked over to the galley, getting a bottle of water. It was at that moment, she realized she was, perhaps, being rude by staring. It wasn’t her fault, she was just amazed by how… human-like he was.

Monarch had theories about aliens, of course. It was why Ghidorah being one wasn’t such a big shock, in addition to meeting the crew of the Normandy. But in all of those, the common thread was that whatever aliens were out there, if there were any, were so alien as to not have recognizable intelligence, or to be godlike compared to them.

…plus, Thane appeared to be rather fit despite being lanky and, you know, dying.

“Thane.” Vivienne courteously replied. “Getting some exercise in?”

The Drell nodded, “It used to delay the progression of my condition. Now, I simply do it because I enjoy it.” He contemplatively looked at his hand, seeing the faint beads of sweat, so thin they were almost non-existent. “Though I’ve not been able to do it to this extent for quite some time.”

“Oh, yes, I’ve heard about that.” She politely smiled, not knowing what Thane made of it. “Mothra’s healed your team up quite nicely.”

Thane made a sound of agreement, his head bobbing up and down. “She has. A remarkable feat. Chakwas doesn’t know what to make of it.” He went quiet for a beat. “Though if she did, I suspect she wouldn’t be working as a military doctor on board a starship.”

Vivienne chuckled, “Well, I’m glad to see you’re taking it in stride.”

“It is all I can do.” Thane replied, his eyes darting around, and down, “If the gods see fit to grant me new life, it is not my place to throw it away.”

Vivienne looked at him, shocked for a moment. “You’re mad you’re not dying anymore?”

“Perhaps mad is too strong a word,” Thane thinned his lips, thinking about what he was to say. “I do not feel animosity. This is a new opportunity for myself, I recognize that. But I am also… saddened.” He admitted, looking down. “There are those who I expected to reunite with, in the afterlife. Now I am forced to keep them waiting ever longer.”

“Maybe,” She granted, looking at him, “But don’t you think they’d rather you live your life to the fullest and be kept waiting, rather than have you die before your time and be reunited with you now?”

“It was my time, I had come to terms with that.” Thane calmly retorted, his voice low. “…but I see what you are trying to say.” He looked up, suddenly renewed. “Perhaps you’d like to join me, doctor?” He suggested.

“What, on a run?” Vivienne asked in response.

Thane nodded in confirmation. “If Doctor Russell awakens, EDI can page us.”

Vivienne looked at the window. Well… better to do her time doing something productive rather than waste away watching a mass-murderer in dreamland.

The Monarch scientist looked back to him with a smile. “I’d like that.”

----------

Shepard sat in his cabin, reading over the reports from the departments on the ship. The breaches in the shuttlebay were finally fixed, the drive overhaul was proceeding swimmingly, the repaint of the exterior hull had scrubbed away the Cerberus logos, and everyone had recovered from the suicide mission just nicely.

Call him out for jumping to conclusions, but he wagered everything was gonna be just fine.

The door to his cabin beeped as it opened, and a figure walked in. Looking up, Shepard grinned. “Garrus. Done with those calibrations?”

“For now.” The Turian rattled, glancing around, troubled. “Listen. We need to talk.”

Shepard’s eyebrows shot up. “Okay… What’s this about? Tali mess around with the gun’s systems again.”

“Heh,” Garrus chuckled, it sounding forced, which really made Shepard worry, “No. Nothing like that.” He took a breath, shaking his head. “Listen, there’s something that you need to hear. I was going to tell you earlier, but we got busy, and EDI told me and not you because she didn’t want you to worry-“

“Garrus,” Shepard cut him off gently, “It’s okay. Whatever I need to hear, I can handle it.”

Garrus sighed, slowly nodding. “EDI’s been running the numbers. The likelihood of us being able to get home is so low, it might as well be impossible.”

Shepard froze, his heart skipping a beat. “Impossible? We know what caused the accident that sent us here, we can recreate it-“

“This isn’t a vid, Shepard.” Garrus refuted. “There’s just too many things to juggle that could destroy the ship if any one goes wrong. And if it all went right… there’s no telling where we’d end up. She’s not even sure we’d end up back home.”

“But…” Shepard turned around, leaning on his desk. “There are Reapers here. We could mess with the relay-“

“Still doesn’t change it.” Garrus weakly shrugged. “I’m sorry, Shepard.”

“…I promised you all I’d get you guys home.” Shepard closed his eyes, fighting the urge to lash out.

“Some part of us all knew the suicide mission was going to be a one-way deal.” Garrus looked at him patiently. “You’ve kept us all alive. That’s good enough for me, and I know it is for the rest of the crew.”

“…yeah.” Shepard swallowed, taking long, deep breaths. “I just… I hope everything’s all right. Back home.”

“That’s all we can do.” Garrus nodded. “Hope, and keep going. Besides… all EDI said was the accident that brought us here couldn’t be replicated. There could be people out there with tech we can’t even dream of.”

“You really want to go exploring the galaxy?” Shepard questioned. “After all this?”

“It sounds like just what we need, a nice, calming wander around without any world-enders to deal with.” Garrus crossed his arms, “And I know the rest of the crew would agree. We all stick together, especially after all that’s happened.”

“…You know what?” Shepard looked up, smiling. “I think that sounds just fine. We could use some extended relaxation.”

“Exactly, so think about this like an opportunity.” Garrus advised. “And remember we’re all behind you.”

Shepard nodded, wondering how long that would stay true for when word got out.

“Shepard,” EDI’s voice entered the cabin. “Doctor Russell is beginning to awaken in the medbay. Since it was your choice to bring her back, I believed you’d wish to know.”

“Thank you, EDI.” Shepard replied, before looking up. “And don’t think that this means we’re entirely square. You and I are going to have a discussion about keeping vital information later.”

“My intent was not to go over your head, but rather to keep you from worrying.” The AI sounded chided, and slightly ashamed. “I will go along with any punishment deemed suitable.”

Shepard nodded once, before walking away, back on a mission.

Garrus sighed, hoping he didn’t just make a colossal mistake. Shepard needed to know, but that didn’t mean he wanted to know.

--------

Shepard had dealt with many people in his life. Murderers, slavers, terrorists… none so infuriatingly unrepentant as Emma Fucking Russell. Anyone who had just tried to kill the planet would more than likely be quiet. Contemplative. Thinking about the story they’d feed to justify their actions.

Emma, on the other hand, was not.

“This doesn’t look like a Monarch facility.” She remarked, slowly looking around. She was still bound to the bed, held down by handcuffs attached to one of her bruised arms.

“That’s because it isn’t.” Chakwas sighed.

“Then where am I?” The doctor demanded, almost petulant. “I was about to die in that house. How did I get here?”

“What’s the matter, doctor?” Shepard chose that moment to speak up, sardonically entering with crossed arms. “Disappointed?”

“You…” Russell hissed, trying to get up only to be yanked back by the cuffs. “Where’s my daughter?”

“Let me see…” Shepard theatrically looked up, seeing the Monarch people come sprinting, likely having been alerted by EDI as well. Emma did used to be one of them, after all. “Playing video games with a member of my crew, I think? Kasumi let it slip she had a copy of Halo Infinite. That’s been their existence for the past three days.” He chuckled, before he turned serious, looking at Emma with blazing fury. “She’s safe. A lot safer than she’d be around someone like you.”

As they entered the medbay, the Monarch people had decidedly… less kind things to say.

“Are you out of your god damn mind!?” Mark bellowed first, standing at the threshold and quaking with rage.

Emma, for her part, scoffed, looking away. “That’s a fine how-do-you-do.”

“You almost committed genocide!” Mark hollered. “What, you want me to say ‘thank you’ for almost killing us all!?”

“For saving the world, yes, I would.” The woman hissed back, scowling.

Mark made a strangled sound, shaking, motioning with his hands in vain before he threw one of his hands up. “You’re a real piece of work, you know that?”

“And you aren’t?” She retorted, cocking her head questioningly. “You, who for the longest time couldn’t go a day without a bottle in his hand? I’m the piece of work?”

Mark could’ve punched clear through the glass, he was so angry. “I’m not the one who used our little girl to make a weapon!”

Emma scoffed, looking away. “Of course you’d see it as nothing more than that.”

“Why’d you do it?” Mark demanded, getting closer. “Some… part of you had to know it was wrong.”

Emma rolled her eyes, shaking her head. “You could never see the patterns. Anything to do with the titans after that day, you wanted it gone. Out of sight, out of mind.”

“And you decided the opposite.” Chen guessed, entering the conversation.

Emma’s head snapped to the woman, and she nodded. “You’d understand, Ilene. Your family’s been picking apart the rumors around the titans for years. Every titan we’ve seen on-record has history behind them. People worshipping them as life bringers. Destructive forces, yes, but only when we push them to that point. And now look at every place the titans have made landfall. Teeming with new life, new growth. Every place we have destroyed, they’ve healed.”

“And before you knew it, you were hatching a plan to commit genocide.” Shepard crossed his arms, glowering.

“No, not genocide.” Emma shook her head. “Humanity will survive, that’s what we’re good at... but as things stand, there cannot be peace with the titans. Not as long as the people who run the world now feel threatened, or want to exploit them.”

“…and what gives you the right?” Mark questioned, shaking with barely-contained fury “You know what happened to Andrew, what in God’s name told you it was okay to do the same thing a million times over?”

“I don’t need your approval, Mark.” Emma turned her head up at him. “And fifty years from now, when humanity is thriving like we never have before, everyone will thank me. Say I’ve lost all you want. The Titans are up and about, just like I wanted.”

“You won’t get to enjoy it, inside a prison cell.” Chen spat.

“Exactly.” Shepard concurred. “Come on, let’s give her some time to think about how much trouble she’s in.” He turned around, going to leave. The rest of them shot accusatory looks at Emma, before they walked out as well, save Mark, who hung at the door.

“Madison, you used her bioacoustics for the ORCA.” He pressed. “Why?”

“Does there have to be a reason?” She questioned in response. “Besides a mother’s love?”

Mark shook his head in disappointment, stomping out of the medbay. The door sealed shut, and she flopped back on the bed, staring up.

The only thing she could do now was think.

----------

Before long… it was time. The Normandy’s repairs and modifications were complete, the crew had come to terms (mostly, but that’s a story for another time) with them being stranded in another universe, Emma had been taken into official custody of Monarch and the US government, and now, all that had to be done was the saying of goodbyes.

“I still can’t thank you enough, Commander.” Serizawa shook Shepard’s hand.

“Nor can I.” Shepard returned the handshake.

“I envy you.” The man admitted, looking at the starship. “The world you’re going to.”

“…you could come with us.” Shepard suggested, looking over the Monarch personnel. “Any of you.”

“Thank you, but… the communicators are enough are enough for me.” Serizawa replied. “I have enough trouble staying inside Castle Bravo. Let alone a starship.”

“The tech would be cool… but yeah, if it’s anything like Star Trek, fuck that.” Rick agreed, and Chen nodded in agreement.

One person, however, seemed to be thinking about it.

“What about it, Maddie?” Mark turned to his daughter.

“What, you mean,” She pointed up, “You’d let me go into space?”

“No.” He shook his head. “I’d let us go into space. Besides,” He looked away, scratching the back of his head. “Might be a good idea… People are not going to be happy with us once your mother goes on trial.”

“Yeah…” Madison looked down with a grimace, remembering her part in the plan. “…can we at least take our stuff?”

Shepard chuckled. “I’m sure we can carve you guys a space out. Besides, this is just the launch from the drydock. We can stay in orbit for a little while.” He looked between the father and daughter, bouncing on his toes. “Might do you two some good to get away from earth for a while. Less reminders about how the world almost ended.”

“All right!” Madison grinned. “We’re going to get to go into space.”

“That we are.” Mark agreed, still sounding unsure, but the alternative was staying on Earth, where his ex-wife was a criminal… his daughter could be implicated… and regardless of the Normandy crew’s trustworthiness, he wasn’t going to just send her away to keep her safe. Not without him going as well.

“All right,” Vivienne spoke up, crossing her arms. “I’m coming with you.”

All double-took, looking at her.

“What?” Rick spluttered, “Graham, you’re not exactly a bold explorer-“

“No,” She admitted, before looking at the Russells, “But if you think I’m going to let these two go get into trouble without someone to reign them in, you’re dead wrong.”

“This is impulsive and irresponsible,” Serizawa sternly addressed her, before his lips twitched, “Send pictures.”

Shepard laughed, looking the group over, realizing he needed to step away from what came next. “I’ll finish up the final preparations. You guys take your time.” He said, spinning on his heel to walk back aboard the ship.

Rick puffed out a bit of air, shaking his head. “Just invite the whole of Monarch, why not?”

“Oh, be quiet.” Graham playfully rolled her eyes. “We’re going to come back.” She said, before giving Serizawa a hug, as Chen spoke to Mark and Madison.

“You have thought about this?” He worriedly asked her. “You’re not just taking off on a whim?”

“As much as I would like to, no.” She admitted, glancing to the family nearby. “But if they’re going to go venturing into deep space on some half-cocked plan to make sure Madison doesn’t get hassled for her part in Emma’s plan… they could use a familiar face with them.”

“It was rather… out of field.” Serizawa agreed, looking at the two. “Madison, I can understand, but Mark?”

Graham turned around, to see Rick now speaking with them. “…Emma always said he had a habit of running from his problems.”

Serizawa nodded in agreement. “Then make sure they don’t run into problems for us, yes?” He suggested with a slight smirk, poking her gently for emphasis.

“Right,” Mark and Madison came over, the father looking anxious, “We’re ready to go… on a spaceship… into space.” He mumbled, turning to look at the craft.

“Come on, dad, it’ll be cool.” Madison gushed. “Think about everything that could be out there! We already know aliens exist, and alien titans!”

“I know, kiddo.” Mark chuckled, shaking his head. “…Just wish it were under better circumstances.”

“I’ll miss you guys.” Chen came over, pulling them all in. “You come back as often as you can! The holidays, birthdays, whatever! If you don’t, I’ll get Rick to build us a spaceship so I can hunt you down!”

“We will.” Graham returned with a laugh.

The Monarch team split apart, shooting lingering looks at each other as the Russells and Graham walked over to the ship and stepped inside, the airlock sealing behind them.

---------

Shepard stood over the galaxy map, a chime that alerted him to the ship being ready to take off sounding. He cracked his knuckles, leaning on the railing. “Okay, EDI. Say I wanted to bypass the Charon Relay because the people on this planet aren’t ready to deal with their own messes, let alone aliens. How long would it take us to get to Arcturus?”

“At cruising speed with our modified drive, approximately one week.” The AI answered.

“Then tell Joker to lay in a course.” He ordered, seeing the Russells and Graham coming down the corridor. “As soon as our new crew get their belongings sorted, I want us underway.”

“Yes, Commander.”

He gripped the railing, watching as Kelly directed them on a proper tour of the ship now, helping them get set up somewhere. “EDI,” He addressed, “Play me something from my personal files. Something to set the mood.”

“Now playing We’ll Meet Again by Vera Lynn.” EDI answered, and Shepard straightened up, looking at the map with a hunger in his eyes. A hunger to see, explore, to take in all that he could.

“A whole new universe out there…” Shepard leaned on the railing, “Let’s see what we can find.”