17 – Priority: Eden Prime (3)

It took a few long minutes until Samael managed to calm Jack's mother, Natasha, down. '' Easy, drink this.'' He passed her a cup filled with water and sugar.

After the whole thing happened, Samael had guided her to a nearby food place, and they both were now seated.

The woman took the cup with trembling hands and gulped it down in one go. She then looked at Samael and said, ''What you said to me... is true?''

Samael sighed internally, 'What the fuck did I do? Why did I do that? To be honest, I subconsciously thought it would be somehow a weird conversation, but I went ahead anyway... Well, the cat is already out of the bag, and if I don't have a plan, I just have to improvise.'

While Samael would never admit it, he did have a few screw loose on his head, thanks to the constant loops. Is just that he controlled himself so well that it rarely shows this side of him.

That act just now was one of the few times it has happened in this cycle.

'' Yes. I hacked into this organization, and in a stroke of luck, I managed to arrive at your daughter's files. It filled me with rage reading that, so I decided to take some action. I came here to invite you to follow us as we rescue your daughter.'' Samael then passed the files he had on Jack to Natasha, who started to read immediately. '' Of course, we will also save the others who were there as well.''

Well, his objective is Jack, but he doesn't mind helping others along the way.

She was relieved to see her daughter alive, but angry about what they had been doing to her since long ago. ''... Are you sure she is still alive?''

Samael nodded. '' Based on the documents, she has the privilege of being the greatest human biotic to ever live. So, while she was tortured quite a bit, she is still alive. And she might need her mother to help her heal.''

Natasha finally recovered a little and looked at Samael with suspicion. '' Why, though? I'm just a nobody to her, as she doesn't even know I exist. Probably this organization made a lie I sold her or something along those lines. Besides, I doubt you would do all this because of the kindness in your heart.''

She was right on the money on both sides, as Cerberus did lie about her selling Jack. The girl spent her childhood and teenage years hearing that from her torturer. But Samael really wanted Jack on his crew, or even if she didn't join, to have a better life. She deserved that.

'' To be honest, I kind of wanted to recruit Jack into my mercenary group. My mercenary group is called Last Defense, and this is our portfolio and what we do.'' Samael passed Natasha the files to his group. He was telling the truth to her, as he wanted her trust.

By the way, this is also the first time he met Natasha in all his cycles, so he was happy with this new experience.

After a few minutes of reading, Natasha was surprised by the scale of LD, and seems to have made a decision, '' I died on the day Jack died. I only lived for unknown reasons and will probably die in a few years thanks to cancer. So, I want to at least meet my daughter before I die. When do we leave?''

'' Soon. Take a few days to sort things out here on Eden Prime, and then when we are ready to leave, I'll come and get you.''

'' Got it. Do I need to take guns?''

''Trust me, you won't need it.''

Then, Samael spent a few minutes explaining to Natasha where he was located, among other things necessary for her to know, paid the bill, then left for the digging site, hoping they had already reached Javik, while Nathasa went home to prepare a few things.

Based on what she saw about Last Defense, they were 'trustworthy', or so the file says. She didn't have a choice but to believe them, because the group that had her daughter also looked powerful. But she would not leave her fate in the hands of others, and she would do her best to face them.

As this might be her last run, as she was going to a dangerous place, she would sell everything she had, buy a few guns and an armory, and leave the rest to Jack. In the event she died, her daughter would have a few hundred credits to rebuild her life.

' If they prove to be trustworthy, I don't mind my daughter, Jack, going with them. Who knows, I might even join them.'

Chuckling to herself, about the absurdity of the situation Natasha prepared herself mentally for the future.

Also, she cried a lot more thinking about what her daughter went through in her entire life, while she lived oblivious to all that was happening to her baby.

It filled her with rage, and she vowed to make Cerberus pay the price.

The only reason she didn't expose them to the world, is because Samael asked her not to. He said they had connections with the government, and she didn't doubt him, as it was close to impossible for a group to do so many nefarious things and remain unknown.

Someone was protecting them from above.

But, Samael did promise her revenge, and she will not hesitate when the time arrives.

--

By the time Samael arrived at the digging site, there seemed to be a commotion among his crew.

'Finally!'

He hoped they had reached the target as he rushed ahead.

Sure enough, in the digging site, the crew found something there like an entrance to a base. Everyone didn't know what to do, with this situation.

Of course, they knew they were digging for something, but Samael never told them what it was. When they finally dug up enough, they found an old base, probably from an alien species, as the humans arrived only a few decades ago and this base looked much older.

They didn't know what to do.

Miranda had advised them to wait for Samael, so they did just that. She also ordered the place to be locked down so others could not see what they found. She had a gut feeling what they found here was extraordinary, and soon she was going to know if that was right.

But that didn't stop the gossip around the area and amused the crew. '' Dude, how does Samael know this?''

Just when the member of the crew mentioned that everyone remembered that it was Samael who told them to dig in this place.

'' This...''

'' What the hell, is he a seer or something?''

That was one more obscure thing in Samael's history. The young man somehow beat a veteran at only 10 years old, created a base for young people in the slums, made a new Med Gel, made a ship so advanced it looked like it came out of a movie, a multi-trillion dollar company, and now could have potentially found something valuable from an older species.

Samael's legend only grew. It was still contained within San Francisco and his friend, but in the future, the entire galaxy would come to know of his feats. But that is a story for another time.

'' What did I miss?'' Just as everyone was in the middle of the conversation, Samael arrived.

Miranda looked a little relieved. ''We found this.'' When she pointed at the entrance to where the entrance to the base was, she noticed Samael's eyes shine.

''Good job. Miranda, Veronica, John, and RR are with me. The rest should block any people who try to come here, no matter who they are. You guys are going to experience something incredible in a few minutes, so please hold your curiosity for a few minutes.''

Everyone nodded, and the four humans plus an android entered the base where Javik was.

'' Oh, before I forget. RR, film everything.''

''OK.''

It was dark, so everyone used their omni-tool as a flashlight to shine their way. There are some unknown letters on the wall, ones that Veronica and John didn't recognize, but Miranda, Samael, and RR did.

Well, Miranda knew the basics of the basic, but it was enough for her to recognize it was Prothean, but not what the letter was saying.

'' It's Prothean!'' Miranda's voice was full of surprise. It was to be expected, as the only traces of the Protheans left were a few things. Based on only that text, this could very well be a Prothean base no one knew about. That meant if word of it went out, that they found it, things could get troublesome for them, as anything Prothean was highly sought out by all races across the galaxy.

Just as Miranda was going to raise her concerns about this whole situation, as this would mean they would be entangled a lot more with the Council and other races/species, she heard Samael say, '' Those who enter, be prepared to die. We are at war, with extermination close. But our spirits never die, as long as our enemies are still alive! If they want war, we will give them what they want until we take our last breath.''

The other three looked at Samel with shock and said, ''You know Prothean?''

'' I do.'' He learned from Javik and Liara. The text was roughly translated by him, but the undying will of the poet was transmitted through it.

'' Good to know. Please translate for us if you find any other texts.'' All precautions went out of Miranda's mind when she noticed that Samael, who was at the same level as her, was calm. Which means things were still okay for them.

'' No problem.''

So for the next hour or so, the humans and the android went through Javik's base, and as Samael continued to translate the text, finally, the group arrived at a place called "the resting place of the future warriors.''

Miranda said, '' Hmmm, it could mean a cemetery of sorts, or... a place where they put the stasis pod! We could have a living Prothean!''

At that last part, she was almost screaming. You could not blame her, as having a Prothean alive was something the galaxy never dreamed of having. In the middle of it all, she forgot the place didn't have electricity anymore, meaning the pod must have stopped working ages ago.

'' We will see when we enter the place.'' Samael then easily pushed the door, thanks to the place not having power, and entered the place. Sure enough, hundreds of stasis pods were scattered around.

Veronica, Miranda, and John were excited at the beginning and checked every single pod they came across, while RR just followed Samael. They soon realized, however, that all of them were long dead, only a few of their ashes still remained.

While those 3 were cursing their luck, Samael and RR went directly to Javik's pod. Sure enough, the Prothean, or Revenge incarnated, was lying there, sleeping for 50.000 years.

' Hello, old friend. It's time for you to wake up and help me destroy the Reapers once and for all.''

By this time, Miranda noticed Samael wasn't with them, and when she searched for him, she saw him looking at a pod with a strange gaze. It was relief mixed with happiness, almost like you just found a family member who survived an accident.

' Could it be...'

She then started to run towards Samael.

Veronica and John noticed her running, saw Samael over the pod too, and rushed to the place.

Sure enough, they found Javik there. Miranda was the most animated of them all. '' Oh my god! We will make history.''

She also knew this would somehow put a target on LD's back, as the whole galaxy would pay attention to them for a period of time. But that didn't matter, as finding a Prothean alive was worth it.

Just then, Samael translated Javik's text, which others put outside his stasis pod.

''Our last hope to defeat the Reapers was Javik, but that too failed. We are betrayed by those indoctrinated, and in a last-ditch effort, we decided to save him to help fight the Reapers in a future cycle. For future generations, if you find him, I hope you still have time to prepare for them. The specimen inside the pod is our last struggle and our last hope. He carries the will of our race, and he will get us our Revenge!''