Vanguard

December 18 th 2188 Citadel

Tevos was fast feeling that she was playing a game where she did not know the rules. First the Raloi disappeared. A year after they were introduced to the galactic community, their Relay closed and the comm buoys the Asari had positioned in their system went silent. It was as if they were the Batarians again except they knew that the Raloi had not been at war with anyone.

Then Batarian space which had been closed, had opened, but only half of it. They'd investigated but what they had found had not been reassuring. Khar'shan had been ruined. There was almost nothing left but more worrying was that there was no debris either. There was no evidence of the race who had done this. They had only managed to piece together a small bit of information from the wreck of a comm buoy.

The video had been enough to make hardened Asari Commandos shiver. It showed one alien who was proportioned remarkably like an Asari cutting through Batarian troops as if they weren't there. Nothing had touched the alien and there was literally no other data available. The older asari commandos had watched the movements and had noted their smoothness, but they had also commented on the strength. Either the aliens were stronger than asari or they were enhanced. They couldn't tell.

Despite their best efforts to keep it confidential, the video had been leaked to the extranet and the population was torn. Half wanted the Council to find and then eliminate the new alien race on the grounds that they were even more dangerous than the Krogan, the other half were screaming that the alien race should be given whatever it wants. Several Krogan had actually made inquiries as to where they could find the alien as they thought it would be a good fight. All of that meant nothing. The reactions had faded over time because there was literally no further information that could be given.

Perhaps what was even more worrying was the parts of Batarian space they could not get to. The Relays were closed at choke points. Whoever had commanded them closed, knew exactly what they were doing and were militarily minded. Between the devastation on Khar'shan, devastation that was mirrored on the other Batarian worlds they had accessed, the video of an alien soldier killing Batarian troops and the complete lack of any debris, it was clear that there was something moving in the shadows.

And the last had been the disappearance of the Quarians. Tevos wasn't sure if it was connected to everything else but she couldn't help but feel that it was. A race, no matter how annoying, did not just disappear without a trace. But they had. Not even the STG probes could find them. Oh they could find individuals, but they'd always been able to find individuals, those left on planets because they had performed some minor transgression on the Migrant Fleet but they couldn't find any Pilgrims. That was worrying.

But what did that mean?

"It means Councillor, that you and everything you hold dear are about to be squashed like a bug under the might of an empire that you won't even see coming."

The words shook her so badly that it was only belatedly that she looked up. "Saren!" she breathed the name, surprised. The Council Spectre had been out of contact for a while.

"Councillor." His greeting was crisp and proper.

"You've been gone so long, Saren." There was no accusation in her voice, just inquiry as to what could take so much time for the Council's best Spectre.

"It was necessary."

Tevos nodded. "It must have been. What have you found?"

It was hard to read a turian, especially one who had removed his colonial paint. For a non turian, the movement of the paint could help one detect facial expressions but Tevos didn't need any assistance to see the grim lines the Spectre's face drew. "It's bad Councillor. It's more than bad. We are standing on the verge of a war worse than the Rachni Wars and the Krogan Rebellions combined."

"No!"

Saren didn't reply. Instead he raised his arm, and linked his omni-tool with the chamber's video feeds and Tevos was surprised when an asari matriarch appeared. One she would never have thought to see with a Council Spectre, Matriarch Benezia. She was a very respected woman, but she was not one to embrace war. The sight of her made Tevos' stomach fall and the back of her throat went slick with worry.

"Tevos, as Saren says, it's bad. Imagine that a Rachni and a Krogan breed. Then to add insult, have the spawn look like asari," the Matriarch gestured towards the vid of the unknown alien that was playing in a loop. "If they had of come out with an asari temperament then that would have provided no issue but they didn't. They take the aggression of the Krogan and the territorial nature of the Rachni and bring out the worst in both."

"Goddess…" Tevos breathed.

Benezia wasn't finished. "By themselves, the war would have been brutal, vicious, bloody but eventually would have been our victory. The problem lies in their allies." The Matriarch shunted a hologram towards Tevos. It showed a ship, at least she thought it was a ship, it looked strangely organic. It took her several moments to realise it was displayed with the Destiny Ascendant to provide scale.

"Sentient Machines," Benezia said, her voice cold.

"Geth?"

"Not Geth. Geth are innocent babies compared to these. These are older than the Asari Race. They are older than all our races combined and they exist for one reason and one reason only, to destroy organic life."

"Then why is this race working with them?" Tevos gestured to the unknown alien.

"Foot soldiers," Saren spoke again. "They are strong, fast, reasonably skilled and intelligent so that they may operate independently in the field. They don't breed as fast as the Krogan but they can breed fast enough, especially with the territory now available to them." He pointed at a Galactic Map that showed the darkened areas of closed off space and Tevos felt a chill in her soul.

"The Raloi are gone. I couldn't save them and when their Relay reopens Turvess will be the same as Khar'shan. The Quarians might still be alive but they are lost. We can't get to them, so we can't save them. And as you are already aware, the Batarians exist only in the Terminus Systems, beyond Council control. And that race there," Saren pointed to the vid recovered from Batarian space. "They are as good as extinct as well."

"What? How!? They are serving them," Tevos objected, pointing to the image of the strange ship.

"For now," Saren said, his voice sad. "But when their job is over, the machines will turn on them. They will destroy their planets with mass strikes, making them habitable only to bacteria."

"No…"

"Unfortunately yes," Benezia's voice was sharp. "I mourn for them as much as anyone, Tevos, but we have to look to our own survival."

At this the Asari Councillor shuddered. "How?" she demanded. "They can close Relays so that they could potentially take us Relay by Relay…" She didn't bother continue, but there were so many ways they could be defeated that way. "Goddess," Tevos whispered as a new realization came to her. "If I'd have known this… I would have… the Batarians…"

"I understand, Councillor. If you had of known, you would have ordered considerable aid for the Batarians, despite their reputation," Saren said.

Tevos nodded before she pulled her mind back. The Batarians were gone. She had her own people to save. "What can we do?"

Benezia smiled at her. "We can fight."

"How?" Tevos returned to that question.

"It will not be easy Councillor, there will be sacrifices and first you will have to accept an … unconventional ally."

Tevos wasn't so confused that she missed the particulars of Saren's wording. "Unconventional?"

"He is one of the sentient machines."

"What?"

"Calm down!" Benezia snapped.

"The Sentient Machines were created to preserve life but over time, they have become corrupted," Saren said. "The one I speak of, Sovereign, remembers his original purpose. He's been trying to find a way to stop his brethren for the last fifty thousand years and he was falling into despair before I found him."

"Are you telling me that…?" Tevos didn't finish the question.

"Yes, Tevos. They are responsible for the destruction of the Protheans and many other races. We have to be united if we are to stand against them."

Tevos took a deep breath. And another. She had known this was big, she just never imagined it was this big. One wrong step would result in the extinction of the asari and every other sentient race and already she shuddered to think of the losses that would come in the years ahead. But not to fight would be to meekly accept extinction at the hands of a synthetic and she would not allow that.

"What can I do?"

Saren and Benezia shared a long look between them before they turned back to her, their expressions considerably more relaxed than earlier. She realized with a start that they had been afraid that she would not listen, would not believe them and Tevos put on her best smile. It was unbelievable but the evidence was clear and for the sake of her people… she had no other path.

2188, Sol System, Harbinger

Shepard was asleep. He'd upgraded her cybernetics which had only increased her connection with him and after she had trained herself to what she considered an acceptable level she had been going through his memories again. It was all a part of the process and while she shifted through the information he possessed, he was learning about her. It was a fair exchange. Her mind was laid before him and he could see her life. He now knew exactly why she was the way she was and where her stubbornness came from.

Outside the framework was finished and he was beginning to fill in sections. It was almost as if he was taking on a new skin and it felt odd. His orbit close to the sun meant that the casing of his new form felt warm. His drones were beginning to work on some of his internals. His main cannon was still operational but he would have to power down at some stage to fully upgrade. His old form was making the center but his hull was lifted in so many places to allow linkage with the new structure. In all the years he had existed he'd never been this exposed. There were three things keeping him calm.

The first was that most races of most cycles would never be able to get this close to a star, though they could still potentially fling asteroids at him which lead to the second thing keeping him calm. With the rest of his kind in residence in this system, no organic would get close, and thirdly the presence of his organic and the knowledge that she would fight for him was also reassuring in a strange way. He never would have believed that an organic could calm him but she was. Even asleep he could feel her resolve.

Shepard was watching the history of the cycles again but this time she was attempting to see how each civilization would fall if they had of been left alone. It was an interesting exercise to watch. At first it had been obvious Shepard was just guessing but as her knowledge increased, she began to see the little things he did and her assessments were soon paralleling his own. Her predictions didn't match his exactly but as she went through the history of each race they were coming closer and once or twice her predictions had surprised him. She paid attention to different triggers than he did and while the outcome was the same, her scenarios sometimes played out with quite surprising alternative actions. It was actually fun watching her and if Harbinger had of been organic he might have been purring with interest.

He wasn't, his interest remained clinical but he was interested and as Shepard assessed each race, learned their names and history she merged further with him. It made him feel and after eons that sensation was precious. Organics meant nothing to him. Organics still largely meant nothing to him but Shepard... she was different, different in a way he never thought he'd experience. Stubborn but quick and strong. Her presence calmed him, filled him and as he watched her sleep Harbinger realized that while he had forced many truths upon her, he had equally compromised for her beliefs and he had compromised without realizing it, simply because it was what she wanted. It made her happy, which made him happy. Which was synthesis. The joining of them both. Knowledge changes everyone and her knowledge had changed him.

Mentally he shivered, quivering as he felt the power of synthesis surge through him. This was what he had waited an eternity for and he would enjoy every moment of it. And as for the new entity they would become, he could cherish the organic she had been, just as she cherished his synthetic form. Some species may survive the cycle. That was her influence on him. He recognized it but did not fight it. It was the way of synthesis.

2189

The other three Sovereign Class SOCLs emerge. They are a similar size to Cenkin and again they distribute themselves in the Colonies. They are 8 km long though one provides a photograph of Harbinger against the sun. From the angles it is obvious that Harbinger will be bigger than the others. The now retired Admiral Kohaku simply reminds the others that Harbinger had said his class was 'beyond Sovereign' and this merely proves it.

Several SOCL, SIL and Systems Alliance Engineers begin drawing up designs for new Systems Alliance ships. The SOCL have the capacity for FTL travel not relying on the Relays and their weaponry is more advanced. While not every secret is shared, the SOCL provide the human scientific community with a great many hints and designs for new weapons, new shields and even for a forge to create the metals found in the Relay are drawn up and prototypes made. The SOCL watch, providing occasional advice, with the air of proud parents as each prototype is tested and production models ordered.

Some SIL raise concerns that they are too much countering Harbinger's policies but the SOCL are not concerned. They indicate that he will understand their views when synthesis is complete.

The first few SOCLs emerge over the Quarian planets. The newly synthesized Quarians attempt to explain what has happened but the process is met with less than universal approval. Quarians are accepting of cybernetic augmentation, but the actual sharing of a mind with a synthetic… it was sharing their minds with the geth! Surprisingly what quells the argument, but not for all, is agreement. The newly synthesized Quarians fully agree they are sharing their minds with a Geth like entity, but then they point out that such merging means that synthetic and organic have reached a new understanding. They will not fight each other, not to the point of death. They have disagreements, but those disagreements are in the nature of a Captain's Gathering. Usually the goal is in sight, just that the path is under dispute.

For the humans, another 9823 Capital Class SIL Partners are found. Several divert to colony worlds to begin synthesis. Sol System has seen many and while many resources are being shipped in by SIL drones they are taking up much of the Charon Relay's capacity. Spreading out is not desired, but is the only choice. The most isolated and best defended Colonies are chosen for synthesis and the SOCL guardians are reinforced by SIL though the numbers of SIL are lessening when compared to the SOCL. Of the one million SIL approximately 500,000 have found synthesis and ignoring those who require non humans, it is estimated that in another 30 years all SIL will have found their organic. It seems unthinkable that so much has happened in one Cycle but when the choice for synthesis was made it should have been instantaneous, except it was already too late for those species. The SIL took this to mean that this cycle would have been one fought bitterly, one where the species united to fight against them. It had happened before, but they had always splintered. But if the organics of this cycle were the ones meant for synthesis then they were the ones who would end the cycle… Fate wasn't something they believed in… but the tides of history were such a delicate thing.

April 8 th 2189, Omega

Aria rattled the ice in her drink as she thought. Four months ago Tevos had called her needing a favor. Now that had been amusing but it had been a relatively tiny thing and Aria had wondered why Tevos even bothered to ask her but the Councillor paid well and that was that. She'd wanted to speak to a salarian.

It had taken a month or so to arrange but it was hardly beyond her ability. What was interesting was that the salarian, reputedly one of their best scientists, had vanished three weeks after the conversation. Now Aria didn't keep track of where people in Omega went unless they interfered with business… like that Archangel. The Turian behind the sniper had been amusing and well worth the effort it had taken her to warn him when the mercs finally got their act together to join forces against him. He'd taken her warning to heart, made a pre-emptive strike on the merc leaders in a way that could not be misinterpreted, shot the traitor to his team in the head and then hauled arse out of there, taking his team with him to be guards at some boring archaeological dig site or something. He owed her now and she'd collect but generally there were so many coming and going and disappearing all the time that it would be a nightmare and it didn't matter. Most on Omega were replaceable. After all, one thug was very much like another.

But the timing of the disappearance had aroused her curiosity especially since Tevos had called again. Apparently the Councillor could not find the salarian which meant that Mordin must have moved to somewhere that had even less loyalty to the Council than Omega. There weren't that many places like that though Aria didn't know where Mordin might have gone and she was disappointed that she had not taken the opportunity to bug Tevos' conversation with Mordin. She'd thought about it at the time but it had been too much hassle… A decision she was regretting now.

When Tevos had called again, there had been something in her eyes that was desperate. Aria remembered that. Tevos was a Councillor, what did it matter if one salarian could not be found? Tevos seemed to think it important, though she was more interested in obtaining samples of the race the Batarians had been at war with.

The Batarian pirates admitted the Hemegony had been in a war with an unknown race readily enough if you asked them. They even had a few slaves of that race. They were remarkably like Asari but the slaves the Batarians had were beaten into submission and they did not speak any recognized language. They spoke something because she'd seen them talking to each other and most knew a smattering of Batarian but it was not enough to ask them for details about their kind. Most likely they wouldn't reply. Beaten or not, if they knew how their race had defeated the Batarians they were not eager to share. Tevos wanted every slave of that race she could get and she was paying well. They were being shipped out to some facility the Council wouldn't admit existed.

It was odd but something told her it had to do with the Quarians disappearing and the way the Batarian war ended. Obviously it would make sense to research the race but why did you research the race with one of the salarians best…

Ah… Aria smiled. It was an unknown race but one that was potentially highly aggressive and able to fight. "Oh Tevos," she sighed. Genophage. The Councillor was so obvious. No wonder she wanted Mordin. Though at least Tevos was showing a remarkable viciousness and will to be prepared. Maybe she hadn't gone completely soft.

Aria drained the last of her drink and got up. So Tevos was preparing for war. So be it. The Council could fight who they wanted. Omega would remain Omega. It always had and it always would.

2189, Sol System, Shepard

Shepard stretched. She felt light. She felt complete, yet she knew the process of synthesis was not complete. They were close yet there was something holding them back. Harbinger said it was because the outer shell was not yet finished, but she thought it was something else.

As time had progressed, and she had no real idea how much time had passed, they had spoken less and less. It had not been lonely and they'd spoken less simply because she simply knew what Harbinger wanted, what his thoughts were, just as he knew hers.

Even when they were together… Shepard blushed. She'd had partners before but no one had been really serious but Harbinger… he put them all to shame. She supposed it had something to do with sharing each others mind. They weren't meant to be two beings and they'd proven that more than once. It was odd though, he hadn't taken pleasure in her until she turned it back on him. He'd been surprised but Harbinger had accepted it in the end and she felt that the sharing of such made them closer, though to her Harbinger felt good. It was hard not to when he could electrify every one of her nerves and could create an avatar that fitted perfectly. But really in the end, it wasn't all the things he could do it was the fact that he just felt good. There was no other way to describe it and she'd reveled in their closeness… But… Harbinger was holding back on something.

"Isn't it time you told me?" Shepard demanded.

"Told you what?"

" What happens after synthesis is finished."

"We become one being and we return to Earth orbit."

The soldier in Shepard rebelled slightly at that. "It might be boring to an organic but you are no longer organic. Leading is what I… what we do."

" To continue the cycle?"

Harbinger was silent at that and Shepard waited. He'd never really said what would happen after synthesis and she had never thought about it. In hindsight that was a stupid move, she should have considered the future. She knew why the cycle had begun, but synthesis was a method for ending the cycle. Once all the SIL found partners, there was no reason to continue the cycle, not if they could show the organics the path.

"Synthesis was a method of ending the cycle," he admitted, "but we are not in that cycle and the same mistakes will continue."

"No," Shepard objected. "You said we can lead, so we lead. We show the organics the path to peace. We show the synthetics the same."

He remained silent. For all that he was the leader he could not order that. Not without approval.

"In all the memories you showed me," Shepard continued, "none of them tried synthesis. None of them tried joining to become one. You've said synthesis is the end of the cycle, so we lead them into the end of the cycle, the end of every cycle."

"I… I cannot," Harbinger said finally and Shepard sensed his reluctance.

"Why not?" the demand was instant and Harbinger felt Shepard reach into his memory, searching for the answer. He made no move to stop her. She reached back to feel his beginning, to feel the logic behind his creation, the force of will and the driving force behind the cycles.

Then she saw the Intelligence. The one who directed Harbinger's movements. The one directed to preserve organic life. The ancient star ship felt his organic's surprise. "That? You have to obey that?"

The Intelligence was housed in the space station the galaxy called the Citadel. Humans hadn't ever seen it but they knew of it through information collected from the Batarians and Shepard knew about it from thousands of Harbinger's memories. She knew more about the station than anyone in an instant.

"Yes," Harbinger answered her question. "That is the Catalyst. That is the beginning and end."

Shepard looked at the memories again, seeing the Catalyst, the intelligence that had driven Harbinger in the Cycles. "No," she said the word with force. "I will not accept that. I will not live with that."

It was a typical organic reaction but Harbinger was pleased and Shepard felt his pleasure. "The cycle is ended. We will show both organics and synthetics the way to the future, because we've already embraced that future. All the SIL have. There is no reason to continue the cycle, when the end is in sight."

Harbinger said nothing. There was nothing he could say but he impressed upon his organic his pleasure at her spirit, her fire. Her argument was logical and with her strength of conviction when they become one, it would become his belief. The loss of the feeling of allegiance to the Catalyst was one part of synthesis he would enjoy and was certainly one part he doubted the intelligence had foreseen.

"We had best finish this then," Harbinger said. "I need to bring our… my secondary weaponry online, before the final mergence of our minds."

" After that, we should probably go have a chat with your creator to tell it that the game has changed."

"I will enjoy that."

Shepard nodded but then she surprised him again. "And after that conversation, we'll have a chat with the Intelligence's creators… It's past time they learned their place in the galaxy." Harbinger caught the teasing in her voice. The Leviathans had created the Intelligence but they tended to hide. So long as they remained in hiding, there would be no need to deal with them and Shepard already acknowledged that. But she was militarily minded. The worst case was always planned for. And now that they had reached synthesis… If the Leviathans interfered, they were in for a surprise.

They shared a laugh, their minds wrapped up in the other. Even their language was changing. While they might still use the word 'we' it would not be long until they both said I and only context would tell which body they referred to.

2189 In Citadel space, Valern retires as the Salarian Councillor and is replaced by Esheel. She confronts Tevos about the asari's continued search for Salarian Scientist Mordin. The argument is rather public but the outcome is not and three weeks after their argument the two seem to have resolved all their differences and are seen to work closely with Council Spectre Saren Arterius and Asari Matriarch Benezia. Sparatus offers no comment on the situation, except to shake his head and mutter about 'women's issues'.

October 17th 2189 Citadel

"Unknown ship! You are trespassing in Citadel space, heave too or we will have no choice but to open fire!" Vice Admiral Oidat of the Destiny Ascendant stared at the screen showing the ship as if she could will it to obey her.

It was huge, dreadnought class but of a design no one had ever seen and it had come through the Relay without any warning. Then it had made its way towards the Citadel. Scans were coming up blank. Presumably the ship's shielding was blocking their scans. It hadn't fired on any of the Citadel's defense fleet, it hadn't made any transmissions and if the scans of its wake path were to be believed, it was not leaving any emissions.

"Belay order!" Oidat recognized Councillor Esheel's voice. The Salarian Councillor spoke slightly slower than her predecessor but not by much. "All ships of the defense fleet, you are not to fire!"

Now that was a bit too much! They were here to defend the Citadel against unknown situations exactly like this one!

"With respect Ma'am!" Oidat objected. "It cannot be allowed to approach the Citadel!"

"That's where you are wrong, Vice-Admiral," this time it was Tevos who spoke and the Asari Councillor's holographic image appeared along with the rest of the Council. To Oidat's trained eye, Sparatus looked slightly annoyed but he was keeping quiet.

"Ship initiated contact with the Citadel," Esheel said, taking pity on the defense fleet to explain why they should not fire. "Not with us, with Citadel! Keepers are going wild and the Citadel's arms are moving."

Oidat glanced at another screen. Sure enough, the Citadel was changing its configuration, seemingly in response to the unknown vessel. It was slowly unfolding six… legs which had been tucked tight to its underside. On the inner side of one of the Citadel's arms, panels began falling back which looked like they would fit the spread of those legs almost perfectly. It certainly looked like the Citadel was welcoming the unknown ship.

"By the Goddess! Councillors… Do we have any idea who that ship belongs to?" Oidat wasn't the only one who breathed the question and she wasn't entirely certain the question shouldn't be what that ship belongs to but at this point in time, questions like that were academic. As she watched, the vessel, two kilometers long from stem to stern cruised passed them. It altered its trajectory slightly as it got closer to the Citadel but apart from that slight re-orient, it did nothing.

The watching defense fleet, and by this point probably most of the Citadel's citizens watched the ship as it moved closer and closer to the Citadel. It was dwarfed by the station but if it fired, or if it impacted it was large enough to do significant damage. But it did nothing of the sort. The ship slowed, and the legs seemed to twitch slightly before with a display of skill that would have most pilots weeping, it just slid its legs into the waiting holes while the rest of it glided into place, coming to a perfect stop flush against the hull of the Citadel.

She'd been breathing as she watched the massive ship maneuver itself to dock with the station but Oidat, like everyone else held their breath now as they watched. If it was to do anything now would be the time but the ship remained inert. As they watched most of its running lights dimmed and the Citadel's arms returned to their original position with the new occupant attached.

Silence reigned and for the first time in a long time Oidat realized she was waiting for the hammer to fall.