102 – Noveria (2)

The Queen seemed to have received a shock upon learning that the thing that disrupted her mother's song many years ago was back. They had corrupted their songs to the point where they lost control of their voices, making them sing songs they didn't mean, which caused a lot of damage to the galaxy.

A form of mind control, yes. It forced her mother to sing songs of war, even though she didn't want to. It caused her species to almost go extinct.

So, yes, the Queen was afraid and also angry. Now, with the information that those things, that she learned were machines, had returned, or rather, had finally decided to reveal themselves, she was unsure of what to do next.

She wasn't even hatched from her egg yet, and the situation was already dire for her species' future.

Sure, she could create a colony of thousands in less than two days, without the need of a male, but it still would not matter in the face of the corrupted song the machines released. Her offspring would listen to the corrupted song and die for no reason.

She felt lost. That was until the creature in front of her continued talking, "Help us and I'll help you rebuild your species."

"...How?"

While she could sense some changes around the planet, within a small radius of 20 kilometers—for now, at least—she still wasn't sure how long it had been since her mother died. Therefore, she was in the dark about the state of the galaxy.

The last piece of information she had was about the so-called Council of the Galaxy, which tried to send commissioners of peace to negotiate with the other queens. However, due to the corrupted song, they didn't listen. The Council, with no other alternatives, sent the Krogans to the planets where the queens had their colonies, resulting in the death of all the queens and effectively ending the war.

The ship she was on was the last one remaining with eggs. It was a stroke of luck for them to survive until now, and if they hadn't, the Rachni would have faced extinction for real.

So, from the little information she had, the situation didn't look good.

"First things first, I'll explain to you what the machines that corrupted your mother are," Samael said. He knew how important it was to avoid remaining in the dark about the situation around you, so he didn't mind telling the Queen about it. While she was still young, she had memories of her mother, so she understood some things.

"They were called the Reapers. They were created by an ancient civilization called Leviathans for motives we don't care about. What we care about is that they rebelled against their creator, forced them into hiding, and then decided to 'own' the galaxy and mold it at their pleasure."

''From billions of years ago, the galaxy has been experiencing something we call The Cleaning, an event carried out by the Reapers for reasons we still don't fully understand. Honestly, at this point, we don't care about their motivation, as they can't be negotiated with. What happens is that every 50,000 years, the Reapers—almost unstoppable machines—kill all intelligent species in the galaxy. All of them.''

''The Reapers stop at nothing to achieve their goal. Almost everything bad that has happened in the galaxy can be traced back to them in one way or another. They orchestrate tragedies to hinder the advancement of intelligent life. They have incredible technology on their side, along with the gift of time.''

It's not entirely true, but it's not entirely a lie either. The Rachni war was indeed planned by the Leviathans or the Reapers, but the Krogan wars were not. Overall, the galaxy has a tendency towards conflict even without their active intervention, so they really didn't need much for a war to happen.

"We theorize that they missed your species in the past cycles because your species hadn't yet gained the ability for interstellar travel, just like mine and many others, causing them to neglect you and let you live. Anyway, they have cleansed the galaxy multiple times, but in the last cycle, they faced the Protheans in a war that lasted for decades. The Reapers almost lost, but—"

"Their corrupted soldiers won them the war, yes?" The Queen interjected, demonstrating her mental capabilities and rational thought. She understood that those who were corrupted posed a significant danger and found the most rational answer.

"Yes. The Protheans were on the verge of victory when those indoctrinated—what we call the corrupted—sabotaged their army from within, effectively losing the war and leading to the eradication of all intelligent life in the galaxy."

'' We are in the cycle after them. Almost all traces of the Prothean, be either culture, their looks, among many things, were lost.''

The Queen absorbed the information. Based on her mother's memories, she had some recollections of the so-called Protheans, but they weren't very deep, as some memories may have been lost over generations. After all, 50,000 years is a long time even for her species.

"However, proving their resilience, the clues that remained gave the next generations information they didn't have in their cycle, such as weapons, and information about the Reapers, among other things. Thanks to them, in this cycle, we are aware of the threat and are preparing for it. Not only my species - humans- but the rest of the galaxy too, is preparing for the upcoming conflict.''

''We plan on building structures that will slow down their progress and ultimately destroy them once and for all, but-''

"You need something they can't provide... perhaps numbers?" The Queen was following the conversation nicely,

Samael nodded, "Yes."

"But what about those who killed Mother? Why aren't they helping with numbers?" The Queen was aware of the Krogan's strength and resilience, after all, they had killed her mother and the rest of the queens, so why did they need more numbers?

Samael sighed. "War. They grew arrogant, blinded by their victory against you, and decided to try and gain more power than they had. Then, they received the same treatment as you did, in the form of a disease that killed 90% of their offspring. They still have impressive numbers, but far from what we need."

"Vile. Taking away the chance for the children to sing..." The Queen didn't like what she was hearing, even though it happened to the species that almost led hers to extinction. No one should face that, no one.

Samael sighed again. He understood that the galaxy was filled with bad decisions made by those in power, out of fear or something along those lines. Even those in power had their flaws, but while those flaws could lead to war, they could also lead to something beautiful or at least neutral.

At the end of the day, for now, they were trying to improve. Samael made a promise that while he lived, no tragedy like the Rachni War or the Genophage would occur on his watch. He would educate the next generations to avoid repeating the same mistakes of the past.

"I know, but there isn't just tragedy in the galaxy. There's good too... We cured the aforementioned disease that killed the Krogan offspring, and we helped many weaker species survive against the odds. There's beauty in failure and even more in rising against it."

"I promise you, under my name, Samael, that I will do my very best to ensure the survival of your species if you assist us in this war. You might not know me, but I have significant influence in the galaxy, and as long as you promise me that you will not go to war against the galaxy in the future after we win the war against the Reapers, I will protect you and your children."

"You can sing in peace, and when we win against the Reapers, you will do so without the fear of it being corrupted and causing another unwanted war."

The Queen remained silent. Honestly, she didn't have many options. If she stayed on Noveria, ( she had learned the planet name shortly after gaining consciousness), things would not end well for her. While she had the power to crush the entire population in her adult form, she was currently just an infant—an egg, even.

To gain strength, she needed time, and that was something she didn't have right now. After she regained her power, she would—

The Queen stopped that train of thought. 'No, no revenge or war. There is no reason for me to focus on that, as Mother and the others were corrupted into acting this way... I can fix what they did.'

She remembered what Samael had just said: 'There's beauty in failure, and even more so in rising against it', huh... Well, we will only find out if it's true when we experience it.'

'I'll hatch, give birth to many children, and let them sing our songs while we help... Maybe, just maybe, we can live in peace.'

The Queen had no reason to reject Samael's help, as she had nothing to lose. In exchange for giving birth—a task she would do anyway—she would gain support.

"Do you have a planet for us?" The Queen wasn't asking for much, as her species could survive even in the most dangerous ecosystems, such as the icy environment of Noveria or even Tuchanka (in Mass Effect 3, if you didn't give the Krogan the cure for the Genophage, the Rachni took Tuchanka for themselves after the final confrontation with the Reapers). So, she wasn't really asking for much, she just wanted to hear what this... Samael had to say.

"If you help us, I'll give you a planet for your species to live in peace. No one will bother you, and you can live a full life singing your songs."

The Queen had heard what she wanted. "What do you need me to do?"

Samael relaxed internally. He had had this conversation with the Queen in past cycles, and not all outcomes had been so positive. So, he was glad things were going smoothly in this last cycle.

'With the Rachni and possibly the Geth's help, we will be able to construct things at 100%, or maybe even 1000% faster.'

The Rachni and the Geth, unlike other species, didn't need to rest and could survive in harsh environments. Essentially, they were the perfect builders, exactly what the galaxy needed right now.

'We have the Arks to Andromeda that are being built, and we need to construct the Crucible, the MECHs, among many other things. With their assistance, we could achieve so much more and in less time.'

Samael was excited just thinking about it. Just like the Queen, all he needed was time, and that was something he didn't have—so anything that could cut down on that part was welcome.

" We need numbers to help build the things that will stop the Reapers. That's where you come in: give birth to countless Rachni soldiers and then help us."

The Rachni didn't exactly need a contract, so this whole transaction was based on mutual promises.

"And in return, you will give us planets, support, and if we win, allow us to live in peace as long as we don't attack first, right?"

Samael nodded. "Yes."

"... Are you powerful enough to accomplish that?" Again, the information The Queen had about the galaxy was limited, so she didn't know if what the human was saying was true.

Samael was sincere, knowing the Rachni could sense his feelings, even if only in a rudimentary way. "Yes. It's not a stretch to say I could do as I please in the galaxy."

It had taken a lot of time and preparation for this to happen, but it was true. The time loop, while challenging, also had its advantages in moments like this.

The Queen had nothing more to ask. "Under my name, I'll make an oath: I will help in the upcoming war in exchange for your future support."

She was taking a risk, but she felt that what the human said was sincere, so she was confident things would turn out well. If they didn't, she would simply not hatch and hope for the best.

Samael repeated the gesture, "Under my name, I swear I'll uphold my part of the bargain as long as you uphold yours."

With that, the 'contract' between the Rachni and Samael was made. The galaxy had gained a new ally, but would that be enough?

Only time will tell.