145 Chapter 145
Liara seemed a bit confused about everything Kunou and Valerie just said, she didn't know what a yokai and vampire are, but whatever they were, it seems that they were also long-lived species and it was at least interesting to hear about them.
But Shepard suddenly spoke up "I've got my own theory about why the Protheans disappear".
Liara, once again seemed confused though she then said "With all due respect, Commander, I have heard every theory out there, the problem is finding evidence to support them, the Protheans left remarkably little behind.
It is almost as if someone did not want the mystery solved, it's like someone came along after the Protheans were gone and cleansed the galaxy of clues.
But here is the incredible part, according to my findings, the Protheans were not the first galactic civilization to mysteriously vanish, this cycle began long before them".
Harry frowned, he already had his suspicions about what this whole situation was, but he wasn't sure yet, now he heard this new theory about such a cycle happening before even the Protheans, and that made him even more curious "How did you come up with this theory? You just said that there was hardly any evidence".
Liara nodded "I have been working on this for fifty years, I have tracked down every scrap and shred of evidence, and eventually, subtle patterns start to emerge, patterns that hint at the truth.
It is difficult to explain to someone else, I cannot point to one specific thing to prove my case, it is more a feeling derived from a half-century of dedicated research.
But I know I'm right, and eventually, I will be able to prove it, there were other civilizations before the Protheans, this cycle has repeated itself many times over".
Le Fay hummed and then decided to ask something, that she has been wondering about for a while now "So if the Protheans weren't the first, then who was? What sort of beings were they?".
Liara shook her head "I don't know, there is barely any evidence on the Protheans, even less on those who came before them, I cannot prove my theory, but I know, I am right.
The galaxy is built on a cycle of extinction, each time a great civilization rises up, it is suddenly and violently cast down, and only ruins survive.
The Protheans rose up from a single world until their empire spanned the entire galaxy, yet even they climbed to the top on the remains of those who came before them.
Their greatest achievements, the mass relays, and The Citadel are based on the technology of those who came before them... and then, like all the other forgotten civilizations throughout galactic history, the Protheans disappeared, I have dedicated my life to figuring out why".
Shepard turned his gaze towards Harry, the dragon god knew what Shepard was asking about by his look alone, so he nodded, Shepard needed to share what he had learned from the beacon with Liara, this way they might get some more information or at least a confirmation.
Shepard nodded and then turned his head towards Liara "The Protheans were wiped out by a race of sentient machines, the Reapers".
Liara seemed rather confused and surprised with what Shepard just told her "The... the Reapers? but I have never heard of- how do you know this? What evidence do you have?".
Harry stood up and walked to stand beside Shepard, he then began to explain "There was a Prothean Beacon on Eden Prime, we had secured it but it somehow got activated and Shepard got caught in it after rescuing a teammate.
The Beacon then downloaded a massive amount of information, directly into Shepard's mind, the process knock him out for a while though and the information is still settling in his mind but he's been able to get some of the information in form of dreams and visions, that's how he knows".
Liara looked down and seemed to be lost in thought, she stayed like that for a few seconds before looking up "Visions? Dreams? Yes... that makes sense, the beacons were designed to transmit information directly into the mind of the user, finding one that still works is extremely rare.
No wonder the geth attacked Eden Prime, the chances to acquire a working beacon... even a badly damaged one, is worth almost any risk.
But the beacons were only programmed to interact with Protheans' physiology, whatever information you received would have been confused, and unclear.
I am amazed you were able to make sense of it all, a lesser mind would have been utterly destroyed by the process, you must be remarkably strong-willed, Commander.
Ashley then spoke up "Okay, this isn't helping us find Saren or the conduit".
Kunou giggled and grinned at Ashley "Someone is getting jealous~"
Ashley glared at Kunou while she gave her a very mischievous smile, Valerie giggled "Well, if Liara wants to drop her panties because of Shepard's will, then let her! I doubt he'll mind".
Shepard raised an eyebrow but didn't confirm or deny that statement, meanwhile, Liara blushed and turned her head towards Ashley "O-of course, you're right, I am sorry, my scientific curiosity got the better of me, unfortunately, I do not have any information that could help you find the Conduit or Saren".
Everyone nodded though they felt a bit disappointed, Shepard then said "I don't know why Saren wanted you out of the picture, but I think we'll be a lot better off if we bring you along".
Liara nodded and stood up "Thank you, Commander, Saren might come after me again, I cannot think of anywhere safer than here on your ship, and my knowledge of the Protheans might be useful later in".
Wrex then grinned "Her biotics will come in handy when the fighting starts".
Shepard nodded in agreement "Good to have you on the team Liara".
Liara smiled "Thank you, Commander, I am very gratef- whoa! I am afraid I am feeling a bit lightheaded".
Kaidan sighed "When was the last time you ate? or slept? Dr. Chakwas should take a look at you".
Liara shook her head "It is probably just mental exhaustion, coupled with the shock of discovering the Prothean's true fate and what happened down on the ruins, I need some time to process all of this.
Still, it could not hurt to be examined by a medical professional, it will give me the chance to think things over, are we finished here, Commander?".
Shepard nodded "We can talk again after you've seen the doctor, the rest of you... dismissed!".
Joker then spoke via intercom "Mission reports are filed, Commander, you want me to patch you through to The Council?".
Everyone left, while Harry chose to stay behind with Shepard, Shepard smiled knowing that Harry wanted to be present during the report to the Council, so they wouldn't be any problem.
Shepard nodded to Harry and then spoke up to Joker "Patch them through, Joker".
Joker wasted no time to respond "Setting up the link now, Commander".
Suddenly, A hologram of The Council materialize in front of Harry and Shepard, Tevos immediately began to speak "We've received your report, Commander, I understand Dr. T'Soni is on the Normandy".
Sparatus then said, "I assume you're taking necessary security precautions?".
Harry raised an eyebrow "You assume too much, we know what we're doing".
Sparatus flinched, but nodded, Shepard smiled at what Harry said, he then said, "Liara is on our side, the geth were trying to kill her".
Tevos shook her head "Benezia would never allow Saren to kill her daughter".
Valern then piped in "Maybe she doesn't know".
Sparatus then spoke up as well "Or maybe we don't know her, we never expected she could become a traitor".
Harry huffed "That's a lot of maybes being thrown around and none of those are helpful, you're just wasting time, the fact of the matter is that geth were looking for Liara and wanted her dead".
The Council members stayed silent, they didn't know why, but for some reason, they felt that Harry was angry at them or at something at the very least, Valern wanted to change the conversation and then said, "At least the mission was a success".
Sparatus scoffed and both Tevos and Valern sighed knowing he was about to complain "Apart from the utter destruction of a major Prothean Ruin, was that really necessary, Shepard?".
Shepard frowned "The geth were crawling all over those ruins, we were lucky to make it out alive".
Harry sighed "Sparatus".
Sparatus flinched and turned his head towards Harry, the dragon god glared at the turian "Are you going to bitch about every little thing we do? We're not playing games over here you know?
We were in a constant battle against the geth in that ruin, it's too bad it was destroyed, but we were busy fighting and staying alive, maybe calm the fuck down no?".
Sparatus frowned "But you were there, you could have done something to prevent its destruction. your powerful and have all kinds of abil-".
But Harry cut him off "So what? I'm not there to prevent every little thing from happening, I'm there to support Shepard and keep the squad safe, I couldn't care less about some old ruins.
Besides, if you expect me to do something about everything that has gone wrong in the galaxy, then perhaps I should start by killing all the turians or at least leave them on the edge of extinction like they did the krogan.
Or perhaps I should make the salarians unable to reproduce, with their short life spans, they would die out pretty soon, still want me to use my power to right every wrong in the galaxy?".
Sparatus looked very spooked right now, Valern too, so he quickly tried to save the situation "Of course, not Lord Potter, we apologize for assuming, and Commander Shepard, the mission must always take priority".
Tevos wanting to help mellow things out a bit then said "Good luck Commander, remember we're all counting on you".
The hologram dissipated soon after that, leaving Shepard and Harry alone, Harry scoffed "Ignorant fools, I really don't like Sparatus...".
Shepard chuckled and shook his head "I'm pretty sure he's going to need to change his pants after that, he looked terrified when you mentioned the krogans".
Harry smiled and then stretched "Well, I'm going back to my workshop, I have a few things to work on but do come by later, I want to hear what you think about the pistol, maybe we'll be able to give it a few upgrades too by the time you come down".
Shepard nodded and watched Harry teleport away, he then cracked his neck and decided to go rest in his cabin for a while.
-----
A few hours later, feeling refreshed and well rested, Shepard went to go check on Harry, he was very interested in speaking with him about the pistol he made, plus he was also very curious about what sort of upgrades Harry could make to the pistol.
So with that in mind he made his way to Harry's pocket dimension, it still amazes him how different it seems in there compared to the rest of the ship, but he has to admit that he quite liked the place.
Being surrounded by nature felt good to him, always had, eventually, he reached the building that is Harry's workshop and went inside.
He found both Valerie and Harry working on something on top of a table, curious about it he approach them and took a look at what had their attention.
He raised an eyebrow when he found a set of armor, it was a standard issued Alliance military armor, one you could find any Alliance marine using during battle, but it had some runes already carved into it.
Harry suddenly began to carve another rune as he spoke to Valerie "Alright, this should stabilize the rune clusters... and make them work together easier".
Valerie nodded "We're going to need to come up with some sort of protective plate to put over the rune clusters for now".
Harry nodded as he finished carving the rune "For the prototype, it's a must, but once we made sure the rune clusters work and the enchantments last, then I'll be making armors from scratch for the crew, I'll use something really strong to make sure the enchantments and runes don't get damaged".
Valerie nodded "Still this prototype should be pretty good for a while, not only do the enchantments make it impervious to anything, but they will also cycle the energy of the shields better.
That will keep them strong and stable, plus it will make the recharge time way faster! This will help Shepard and the rest a lot~".
Harry nodded, Shepard, smiled, and then spoke "With what I heard so far, I have no doubt this prototype armor must be amazing already".
Harry blinked while Valerie jumped a bit, Harry then chuckled "Well shit, you actually surprised me and made poor Valerie jump, congratulations Shepard.
You're one of the lucky humans who can say they startled a vampire and lived to tell the tale".
Valerie pouted "Hey! I was distracted! Rune carving and enchanting is very serious business! Plus you were surprised to Harry!".
Harry smiled and nodded "I don't deny that; that was my fault, I sometimes get to distracted in my crafts that I forget to pay attention to my surroundings, all creators have this flaw, Val".
Valerie pouted a few seconds more but then smiled showing she wasn't really upset, Shepard however looked curious "I didn't take you for an inventor Harry, that's very surprising".
Harry smiled "I know, it's easy for everyone to assume me to be a fighter and whatnot, but I have always been interested in things like forging, enchanting, alchemy, synthesis, and even technology.
It all started in my childhood, in the first world I ever visited, I got my hands on a magical artifact called an alchemy pot and spent hours writing and combining all sorts of things, to make other things.
It became a passion and eventually, as I learned other crafts and skills, I began to make all sorts of things and research almost everything I could get my hands on".
Valerie giggles "Despite all of his power and crazy amounts of abilities Harry has, he's first and foremost a creator, then a teacher, and finally a father!
Yeah, he can fight and destroy universes, but the fact that he can make stuff and not just destroy has made him well-respected in Neo Kyoto.
He doesn't belong to any guild but he's always helping all of them and making all sorts of amazing things for the benefit of our faction".
Shepard smiled, he learned something new about Harry, and he can honestly say that it made him respect his friend even more.
Anyone can be a killer, a soldier, or something along those lines, but not many could call themselves a creator and have the respect Harry does from his people and his loved ones.
It was something to be respected and admired, at least it was to Shepard, so he smiled and then said, "I see, that's amazing Harry, makes me glad to have you in my corner".
Harry smiled "Just wait until we explain what the armor can do, it's not completely ready but give me some time in this time dilation and I should have it ready before the next mission".
Shepard nodded "That sounds great, so tell me, what were you working on with this armor?".
Harry nodded and began to explain "Well, back on the planet we found Liara, I noticed how your shields would take the brunt of the damage from attacks on you.
Well until they shattered, that's when I noticed the recharge time and how many shots it usually takes for shields to shatter".
Harry stood up and then want on his desk, he then opened a hardlight hologram, showing Shepard taking fire and then having to take cover when his shields shattered, then it showed the time it took for them to recover.
Harry pointed at the hardlight hologram "The shields can take about seven shots from a pistol, about two shots from a shotgun at close range, fifteen shots nonstop fire from an assault rifle, and one shot from a sniper rifle".
Valerie then spoke up "Of course, this is just using standard issue weaponry, mods, different brands, and customization also affect the amount of damage shots do to the shields.
That also applies to the armor as well, we used a standard issue Alliance military armor to start with, it has the lowest specs as well, which gave us a base in numbers we could work on".
Harry nodded and then walked over to the Armor he was Enchanting, while Shepard looked very interested in this data, he inwardly wondered if anyone else ever thought to do this kind of observation on armor and weaponry before.
Meanwhile, Harry reached the armor and continued to speak "This also applies to humans only, we haven't had the chance to test other types of armor.
Le Fay is gathering that data though, soon as she's done, we will start to work on armor for everyone".
Shepard nodded "All of this must have taken you quite a while to do, and all of this research as well, I hope you guys aren't overworking yourselves".
Harry smiled at Shepard "You don't have to worry, we don't need to sleep or even eat, we do so just for the taste and to be lazy, but we also make sure we rest".
Shepard nodded, it was good to know that Harry and the girls weren't overworking themselves, Harry then began to explain what he had done to the armor "Alright, the enchantments on this armor will make it far more efficient.
Starting with the energy absorption and cycling enchantments, the energy absorption enchantment will actually absorb any type of energy that hits the armor and store it, energy like kinetic force qualifies as well.
Then the energy cycling comes into play here, this enchantment will cycle the energy stored into the armor and cycle it around to feed the shields, this will double their durability and increase their restoration and regeneration speeds.
Even if the shields shatter, they will regenerate in about half a second soon after, in other words, the more you get shot at, the more effective and powerful the shields become".
Shepard widen his eyes in shock, what Harry had done was already enough to put any armor out there in the market, to absolute shame.
Valerie then spoke up "Of course, there's a limit on how much energy the enchantments can absorb and contain, so it's still a good idea to dodge and not get shot at all.
Though we already have a good idea of how to fix that issue, the only problem we have is the materials used in the manufacturing of the armor, they don't lend themselves to enchanting".
Shepard looked a bit intrigued but soon decided to ask about what he just heard "What do you mean?".
Harry wants the one who decided to answer, Shepard's question "Well these armors are assembly line made, so they lack the intent and effort that a hand-made armor would have.
When it comes to magic, emotions play a big part in everything, which is why enchanters either make their own artifacts or have someone else personally make them.
These armors are almost emotionally dead, so enchantments do not tend to either work well or even attach themselves to them, luckily I can make it work for the prototype.
But when it's time to create the real deal, I'm going to have to make the armor from scratch, as I did with the pistol".
Shepard stayed silent for a few seconds "... I never thought I would ever learn about something like magic, honestly? It all sounds so complicated".
Harry smiled "Magic is a science on its own, with all sorts of branches that someone could take and learn from, it usually takes many years to master a branch which is why we have different guilds back home.
Each guild focuses on one branch and teaches the next generation of people, interested in learning that branch, it's one of the reasons our home is far more advanced than the rest of the other factions".
Shepard crossed his arms "I see, but if takes many years to become a master of a branch of magic, then why are you a master of many?".
Valerie giggled "He might not look it, but Harry is very old Shepard, he has lived multiple lifetimes and has had the time to learn and master all kinds of things".
Shepard looked a bit surprised but not by much "I see, I figure that was the case, there are times when you speak, where it seems that you're talking from experience.
It certainly adds weight to your words and makes others listen to you, I've seen it happen to Wrex and Tali".
Harry scratched his head but smiled "Well, most of the time I do speak from experience, I've seen a lot in my life, Shepard, trust me when I say, that there are not many situations that would surprise me".
Shepard nodded "I bet, but that does make me curious about everything you've seen, the places you've been, and the things you've learned along the way.
Unlike any long-lived species we have in this galaxy, you have gone to other realities and met all kinds of people, I can't even imagine the sort of things you must have seen".
Harry looked up for a bit but then smiled "It certainly has been an interesting journey, and I'm more than happy to tell you some about it later if you want, but right now we went on a whole different tangent" Harry lightly laughed "For now let's get back to the armor okay?"
Shepard nodded "I'm looking forward to learning more about your life Harry, but yes let's get back to the armor".
Harry smiled and then went back to explaining the armor enchantments "Alright, besides those two Enchantments, I also added a few useful ones.
The standard self-cleaning and self-repairing enchantments, along with passive healing enchantments and just to make sure, an environmental protection enchantment as well.
I would have added more, but the armor and the materials it's made out of, wouldn't be able to sustain them.
We already tried on a few more, but the enchantments overwhelmed the armor and it began to quickly deteriorate, so six enchantments is the safest number for now, or at least until I start making new ones from scratch".
Shepard was definitely awed at what Harry had done, to a standard issue Alliance Armor, everything he had already done, was enough to make the armor far more efficient than any other out there in the galaxy.
Valerie then spoke "Once Harry starts making armor, he will be able to make it stronger and even add more enchantments, but that will take some time and research.
Plus he also wants to try materials of this world and see what works best, while Le Fay is also doing research on alien physiology, which will help Harry make the best possible armor he can for everyone, that way you guys won't be so squishy!".
Shepard sweatdropped at being called squishy, but he couldn't argue with Valerie about it, especially since to her a vampire, humans and aliens might seem really squishy.
Harry chuckled "Well yes, it will take some time, but at the very least I can have some prototypes ready soon enough, now! Let's get to the real fun stuff! How was the pistol?".
Shepard nodded and took out the pistol Harry had made and put it on the table "This was single handily the best firearm I have ever used in my whole career.
It's stable, accurate, the recoil is almost null, and not having to worry about overheating, let me relax and really focus on the battles, but it's not only that, it was also very powerful, one shot was enough to shatter shields, geth were easily taken down with one shot after, well except the big ones, those usually took more than three shots.
Then against live enemies, well you saw what the pistol did to that battlemaster krogan that tried to get in our way".
Valerie walked over to the pistol and picked it up, she then took it to Harry's desk and put it inside some sort of machine Shepard didn't recognize, soon enough she turned it on and a hardlight hologram of the pistol materialize onto the top of Harry desk.
Then all sorts of data began to scroll down on a hardlight hologram screen that appeared behind the pistol hologram, and both Valerie and Harry began to read through it.
Valerie hummed and then began to speak "Looks like the enchantments and materials held on, there's no deterioration either, the pistol is still working at one hundred percent".
Harry nodded "It seems, that its performance was also above expectations, I really expected it to not work that well, but boy do I even surprise myself sometimes".
Valerie giggled and then turned her head towards Shepard "We already prepared two upgrades for the pistol Shepard, but can only do one at the time".
Shepard raised an eyebrow "Why?".
Valerie immediately began to explain "We need to see how well the upgrades and new enchantments mesh with the current ones, and if changes in the gun need to be made.
It's safer to add one upgrade at a time, so we can collect data and see its performance, it will also help us see what needs to be improved".
Shepard nodded "Understood, what upgrades are available?".
Harry smiled and then proceeded to tell Shepard what could be done to the pistol "The two available upgrades right now are the charge shot and special ammo swap".
Shepard raised an eyebrow and was immediately curious about what the upgrades would do, Harry noticed this and immediately explained "Charge shot does as advertised, it will allow you to hold down the trigger and charge a single shot with energy.
Once you let go of the trigger, the pistol will then shoot a big orb of energy, this orb will explode on impact and causes the same amount of damage as a grenade".
Shepard nodded and began to think about how useful the charge shot would be for clearing big groups of targets "What about the special ammo swap?".
Harry smiled and then began to explain "I noticed how there are different kinds of ammo available to use in this world, depending on the enemy and situation, a different kind of ammunition would come in handy.
However, the loading time it takes to swap ammunition, could be dangerous and even not worth the effort, so I created a whole new enchantment!
The special ammo swap will allow you to swap ammo via voice command, the enchantments will swap ammo in a second after the command is given, pretty cool huh?".
Shepard was once again very surprised and impressed, having different types of ammunition is a must for everyone, but most would equip the ammo before beginning a mission.
It would take too much time and would be too dangerous, to swap ammo mid-mission, so if some sort of unknown enemy were to appear, then that would be some pretty bad news to them.
It was what had happened in Eden Prime, no one expected synthetics and zombies to attack, if they did they would have equipped adequate ammo and the geth wouldn't have been able to get away with what they did.
But everyone in Eden Prime got caught with their pants down, and there wasn't much anyone could have done against the geth and their sheer numbers.
Shepard looked down and began to think about which upgrade to choose, both Valerie and Harry were more than happy to let him think, so they went back to reading the data.
A few minutes later, Shepard came to a decision "Harry?".
Harry turned his head towards Shepard "You decided which upgrade you want?".
Shepard nodded "I'll take the special ammo swap, tactically speaking, that enchantment would be the most useful to us right now, after all, we aren't just fighting geth".
Harry smiled and nodded "Alright, the upgrade will be done by the time we go to the next mission".
Shepard grinned and was feeling a bit excited, he then decided to ask Harry something "Do you think you can make pistols for the rest of the squad?".
Harry grinned "Already on it! I needed the data on your pistol first, but I had already begun to make the components for more pistols, though I will have to get more materials to make one for Liara.
But other than that, I should have pistols for everyone soon, Valerie is also working on researching the other type of weaponry as well, so soon we'll be able to add the same enchantments to all kinds of firearms".
Shepard nodded and grinned "That's great, thank you, Harry, everything you've done will really help us in our mission to make Saren pay".
Harry nodded "No problem Shepard, always happy to help".
-----
Sometime after, Shepard decided to check on the crew, so Harry went with him as well, Valerie stayed behind to continue to work on the upgrade and armor, everything was practically done anyways, all she had to do is scan and keep watch to make sure the enchantments mesh well together.
So after coming out of Harry's pocket dimension, both Harry and Shepard went to the mess hall first and see who was there right now, they found Kaidan just finishing eating.
So they sat in front of him and greeted him, Kaidan smiled at both of them "Commander, Harry, what are you both up to?".
Harry smiled, while Shepard nodded "I'm just checking on some of you, how is everything?".
Kaidan nodded "Well, things were pretty close down there in that Prothean Ruin, we were all very worried about you guys.
Until we saw a massive ass dragon burst out of the ground and fly into the sky, I'm pretty sure someone screamed like a little girl when we saw that".
Harry chuckled and shook his head in amusement "It wasn't my intention to scare anyone, things got a bit rough down there so I decided to do something about it, luckily I was just in time.
Valerie and I can survive a lava bath, but Shepard and the others? Well, it wouldn't have been pretty".
Kaidan nodded "No doubt, glad you were there to help them, Harry".
Harry smiled while Shepard nodded in agreement, he then turned his head towards Kaidan "What do you think of everything that went down?".
Kaidan hummed for a few seconds but then said "Is this an official evaluation, Commander, or off the record?".
Shepard sighed but had an amused look in his eyes "Alenko when it's just you and me, you can consider it off the record ".
Kaidan nodded and had a small smile on his face "That's a generous attitude, okay, I think there's something wrong with all this.
This Saren is looking for records on some kind of galactic extinction, but The Council is still acting up and not being very helpful.
I dread to think what sort of attitude we would have to deal with if Harry wasn't here, but all of this shows that something is still off, sorry, Commander, there's writing on the wall but someone isn't reading it".
Harry nodded "Yeah, I'm very well aware that they're helping because they're afraid of me, they don't particularly believe everything we're telling them, but at least they aren't getting in our way".
Shepard sighed and nodded in agreement to Harry's words, he then said, "The Council doesn't want to believe something is wrong, I'd call it human nature but...".
Kaidan nodded "Yeah, I hear you both, I... it just seems like a group that's been around as long as The Council should have seen this coming, sorry if I got too informal, protocol wasn't a big focus back in BAaT".
Shepard shook his head, he wasn't one to worry about protocol much anyways, Harry looked up and sighed "This isn't the first time I've seen leaders, politicians, and important individuals be stubborn and ignorant.
You're right, someone in their position should have seen this coming a mile away, but livings beings are always too ready to dismiss things right in front of their faces if it means they don't have to deal with it.
It's an irresponsible way of doing things, especially because the lives of many are in their hands, but sometimes there's nothing we can do to make people take their heads out of their asses.
All we can do, is our best to prevent things from happening, even if it means becoming enemy number one".
Kaidan looked down and began to think about what Harry just said, it certainly made sense what he told him, though it still didn't make him happy about the situation.
