Friday Snippet
From Mass Effect:Absolution, Chapter 12: 4th Movement of the Odyssey.
The elevator doors opened, and Sebastian jogged onto the command deck, closely followed by Tegan and the others. The rest hung back at a respectful distance while the two men entered the turian AI's glowing orb of virtual space. Emrys was busy, standing amongst the stars, watching several locations in real-time.
Emrys's demeanour was unsettling. Sebastian had never seen him act like this before. He had repeatedly told Sebastian that the Abby would be the safest place for their family and that they would ride out the invasion together on an utterly untouchable ship. Emrys had always been so cold about it, but now something worried the AI. Was this just old residual directives to protect his people resurfacing, or something else?
Emrys's avatar stood in the centre of simulated space, shuffling viewports, enlarging images, and wiping them away. Nebulas, stars, and systems revolving around him made Sebastian's head swim. He stepped forward and interrupted, "Ems, speak to us."
"The batarians are finished. They didn't stand a chance. The Reapers used their system as a gateway to the entire galaxy," Emrys reported. "They have since divided their forces, half journeyed to the Apien Crest and are currently moving world to world, intent on systematically wiping out the turian race. Palaven is on fire, entire colonies destroyed in a matter of moments, tying up most of the turian fleet in their home systems.
"The rest of the Reaper forces have moved onto Sol and Earth. I am sorry, my friends, this was easy for them."
"No…" Sebastian could barely believe what he was seeing. His lament was accompanied by similar gasps of disbelief from the rest of the crew. At the same time, an uncharacteristically stoic Tegan stood behind him and took his hand, resting the other on his shoulder.
"It is a sound strategy," Emrys continued. "The two council races that could have potentially offered any resistance, trapped, struggling to defend their homeworlds against impossible numbers. They are effectively cut off from one another. No help for either is coming."
"What about the asari, the salarians?" asked Kat from behind.
"And the quarians!" piped up Yin, "We have the largest fleet in the galaxy."
"The quarians are too busy gathering strength on the outer rim, ready to throw themselves at the geth. While the asari are paralysed by indecision, the salarians retreat to the relative safety of their own remote system. All are safe for now. Very soon, they will not be. Where do you think the Reapers will go when they finish with Palaven and Earth?
"The harvest has begun, and it will be plentiful. The fractured species of this cycle have practically given themselves to the invaders."
Unable to tear his eyes away from the viewports, Sebastian felt sick. He didn't wish to see Earth under siege, but he couldn't help but watch this galactic tragedy unfold. So much death and misery, and for what? Why were they doing this? "You sound almost in awe of them," he said.
"It is hard not to be," Emrys admitted, "everything they have done in the last fifty-thousand years has led to this point. They have become very good at farming this galaxy. Expertly planting the technological seeds from which you grow, leaving sentinels behind to keep an eye on the crop, filtering out the weeds, and gathering enough followers to sow the correct amount of descent.
"What looks like mindless slaughter to you has been planned to the smallest detail to optimise this galaxy-wide extinction event. Think of the simulations they must have run, and the calculations needed to ensure this time would be faster and more efficient than the last. That plan now executed flawlessly to terrible effect."
"There must be something you can do?" Tegan's voice broke as he spoke.
"I may be able to take out a system or two," replied Emrys, "but their numbers are too great. Unless we have the means to hit them all simultaneously, we will be ineffective at halting the invasion. With every world they conquer, their forces grow."
Live images of the invasion of Earth and Palaven filled the walls around them. Emrys was tracking the movement of every single Reaper, and they were here in unbelievable numbers. Moving in great dark clouds across the galaxy, arriving in systems instantly and en masse via the relay system. Each capital ship may seem small next to the size of the Absolution. But Emrys was correct; there were so many of them, he'd never take them all out before being overwhelmed by the swarm.
Emrys had warned of the coming invasion, yet Sebastian had always lived in the moment without really thinking about how it would be the day the Reapers arrived. How he, an old soldier, would feel so helpless, stuck out in space on a ship, safe from the conflict. All he could do was sit and watch while his siblings-in-arms fought and died. It was killing him inside.
The image of Palaven enlarged and filled the centre of the room. Emrys strolled around it and then stopped.
It broke Sebastian out of his shocked silence. He knew from experience whatever caught Emrys's attention had to be a big deal. "Whoa," he exclaimed softly, numbness creeping over him, thankful for something else to think about other than Earth, "That's a lot of Reapers for one small moon. What do you think they are doing there?"
"Yeah, they just waltzed straight past Mars," agreed Tegan, "hit Earth after flattening Luna from orbit. What is it about that moon they find so bloody interesting?"
Emrys wrapped an arm around his own waist, resting his chin on the closed fist of his free hand and stood pondering the Reaper's activity. The humans hadn't failed to notice the slight quiver in his mandibles, which was never a good sign.
"Ems, what is it?" Sebastian asked. What can be worse than this?
"Menae," Emrys said finally, "the Hierarchy considers it to be of vital strategic importance. A matter of global security. It has become a symbol for the turian people. They believe if they lose Menae, they lose Palaven. What they fail to realise is that they've already lost. The Reapers do not care about one small moon or its symbolism; they don't even care that they've just killed the Primarch.
"Contrary to turian belief, the strategic importance of Menae means nothing to the Reapers. They are there because they are looking for something." Emrys turned to face his expectant crew. "Menae is the birthplace of every turian black project, Sebastian, including me."
"And this is a problem for us because?" Sebastian wondered aloud.
"The facility where I was created lies in a vault deep underground, through a complex network of tunnels. It was sealed when I made my escape," Emrys turned back to the 3D image of the small silver moon, now displaying detailed internal schematics, "Menae is riddled with such abandoned facilities."
Sebastian's eyes widened, and he suddenly felt cold, "The Reapers know this?" He asked.
"Of course they do. The Reapers have always known of my existence. I have blocked them from my network since I came online."
"Okay, so why do they need to find this place now? What's there?" Sebastian asked, although he feared he already knew the answer.
Emrys's frame stiffened. He clasped his hands behind his back and rocked on his toes before admitting. "My command codes-"
"Gods," gasped Nana; she appeared next to Faith and took her hand. The two looked at each other and then back to Emrys. Kat's mouth fell open, and Yin glanced for the exit.
"Oh, shit!" exclaimed Sebastian; that was the last thing he wanted to hear. He let go of Tegan and turned, bringing his hands up to cover his ears. Perhaps, if he couldn't hear any more, then this shit wouldn't be real.
"Can't you just change them?" Tegan asked with a shrug.
"No. It's not like just changing a password," Emrys huffed, "it is written into my base code. I cannot change it any more than you can change your DNA."
The colour drained from Tegan's face, "Seb, we are fucking fucked," he concluded.
Sebastian put one hand on his hip and pinched the bridge of his nose with the other, sighing deeply. "So if the Reapers get a hold of those codes, they get you, full access to the relay network, the Abby and her weapons."
"Correct," said Emrys. "We cannot destroy the facility from orbit; it is too deep. Only boots on the ground can do this."











