Whew -- finally done with the nexter chapter of Berlitz' story. Are you ready? Here we go!
Chapter VIIWith no time to waste, Berlitz and her team landed on Rannoch. She initially wanted to take Tali with her, but with the Quarian fleet still combatting the Geth in the system, she ultimately decided it would we wiser for Tali to stay on the Normandy. One of the fleet’s sanest admirals was already missing in action and hopefully Tali could prevent the others from doing stupid things.
The situation on Rannoch was bad. The Geth had installed anti-aircraft guns around the jamming tower, three in total. Cortez had narrowly avoided that their shuttle got shot down, but the Quarians were less lucky. Wreckage and dead bodies were lying everywhere. A few seemed to have survived the crash, only to get killed by the Geth.
Berlitz and her team encountered only one survivor, a man named Dorn’Hazt, just a civilian and cleaner of engine parts before this damn war. He never even held a gun! He confirmed what Berlitz already suspected: they
had to find Zaal’Koris, otherwise the civilian fleet was doomed. Dorn’Hazt himself was already beyond saving and before he drew his last breath, he asked them to tell his son, Jona, that his father made it to the homeworld. Jona… where did she hear that name before?
No matter, they had to move.
Geth resistance at the last two AA towers was heavy, but the fight was basically won when they managed to secure the turrets for themselves; even the Geth Primes stood little chance against a barrage of turret fire. When both EDI and Garrus completed their jobs of disabling the AA towers, they could finally contact Zaal’Koris… and not a moment too soon.
As expected the admiral insisted that they’d save his men and leave him behind, but eventually Berlitz managed to convince him that she needed him to have a chance at securing peace between the Quarians and the Geth. When they had finally located Zaal’Koris, Berlitz destroyed the Geth attacking him with little problem. When the admiral made it aboard the shuttle and tried to contact his men, he heard only the beeps and crackling noises of the Geth.
*
There wasn’t much time for R&R, given the fact that there was still a Geth server that needed to be disabled, but Berlitz made sure the team had a few hours for themselves. Instead of taking it easy, however, the crew seemed busier than ever. For example, Javik decided to check out the crew deck, where he trolled James (who was baking eggs of unknown origin) and, of course, got into an argument with EDI in the AI core. Gee, Javik, surprising that “synthetics will always turn on their masters” when you treat them like crap! Berlitz decided to tell both of them to knock it off and remind Javik about the fact that EDI saved their lives more times than she could count.
She then went to annoy Liara, but the Asari apparently had the same idea.
“Hey Liara, what’s hap--”
“Perhaps we can talk later?”
“Oh. Sure, I will come back in a fe--”
“Ready for the next mission?”
“Eh, sure, I gue--”
“Thanks for coming by, Shepard.”
“Yeah… no problem.”
Berlitz could’ve sworn she heard that blue devil laugh when the door of her cabin closed behind her.
After her discussion with Javik, it must have been nice for EDI to have someone -- or something -- on board that could understand her a bit better than organics. Legion didn’t get, however, why EDI would install herself in such an inefficient platform. This new body of hers was apparently “top heavy”. Well, that was one way to put it… Joker didn’t seem to mind, though, and EDI herself was content with the fact that organics did not percieve her as a threat, which would make enslaving all organics that much easier.
Wait, what?
*
Their next mission was destroying a geth server that directed a fighter squadron targeting Quarian liveships with attacks that could cripple the fleet. Berlitz wondered why they couldn’t just drop a bomb on it, but Legion subtly reminded her that the geth runtimes could just transfer themselves to another server on the planet and continue their attack.
“Well, Legion, how
do we destroy this server, then?”
“You will enter the Geth Consensus and destroy the Reaper code directly, Shepard-Commander.”
Garrus immediately vocalized his protests, while EDI seemed intrigued, but otherwise remained silent. Berlitz just wondered how that would even work. She wasn’t even a machine! Legion already had a solution, however, as the Geth had adapted and severely fine-tuned Project Overlord, making it possible for an organic to safely enter the Consensus. According to Legion, telemetry data predicted a high chance of succes. Well, that was comforting…
Legion then proceeded to jump out of the shuttle and make the necessary preparations, while Cortez dropped Berlitz, Garrus and EDI off nearby another entrance to the server.
Berlitz and Garrus were armed and ready, but EDI ensured them that she felt no Geth in the vicinity and that it was safe to enjoy the sunset on Rannoch. Granted, it was a beautiful planet. Still, better be safe than sorry and so Berlitz kept her finger on the trigger of her trusty magical Avenger rifle.
EDI was once again right, of course. They encountered a few Geth platforms along the way, which were either inactive or shot by, presumably, Legion. They encountered the friendly Geth platform deep within the server facility, where he announced that it would be best if Berlitz went into the Consensus alone. She had figured as much, as Garrus and EDI had to stay guard to make sure nothing would happen with her body while she was experiencing virtual reality.
The uploading took place in a sort of stasis chamber, reminiscent of the sleeping pods on the Normandy. As for the procedure itself, well, it was hard to explain. It was comparible with the feeling you get when an elevator takes you from ground level to the top level of a skyscraper in a few seconds.
The Consensus itself was… bizarre. Legion had taken the effort to make things look familiar for Berlitz, but only succeeded partly. On the one hand, she could understand what she saw, but on the other, everything looked alien. The general atmosphere reminded her a bit of those prefab building she often visited when she was hunting Saren, though.
The remainder of the mission was simple enough. A gun magically appeared in her hands (but not the Avenger) and she had to destroy orange blocks with it, which represented the Reaper infection. Sometimes there was a big blob of gray blocks floating in the “air” with several infections attached to it. When she had removed those, the blob would disintegrate and show her a scene dating back to almost 300 years ago, showing the creation of the Geth, their rebellion and ultimately their victory. It was… refreshing… to finally see the other side of the story.
Once back in the world of the living (although Joker would get her to doubt that later on the Normandy), she recieved the news from Admiral Raan that the mission was a succes: all Geth fighters were disabled and rendered inactive. Not all Geth from the server were erased, though… A whole squad of Geth Primes suddenly came online and proceeded to surround her, Garrus and EDI. Without informing them, Legion had convinced these Primes (or better: the runtimes within them) to join their cause. Berlitz was happy with the considerable firepower these Primes added to the cause, but it made her wonder about Legion… he had never withheld information like this, so why start now? What had changed? Legion said it was because he didn’t trust the Quarians, but that was a lame excuse. He could have easily told her inside the Consensus, where no Quarian would’ve heard them.
Trust issues aside, the mission was a succes and with the return of Admiral Zaal’Koris to the Civilian fleet, all preparations were made for the final assault on the base that spread the Reaper signal.
*
In an attempt to make up for ruining his work on a Spectre report (“Since when do Spectres need to fill in reports anyway?”) by having him geek out the entire evening about being uploaded to the Geth Consensus, Berlitz decided to take Kaidan with her to liberate the Geth from the Reapers. Tali’s involvement in the mission was a given of course.
The plan was simple enough. Legion had located the base from which the Reaper signal was spread, but an orbital strike was impossible because of the jamming towers the Geth built. An option would be to go in on foot and manually take out the towers, but Admiral Xen had developed a device that rendered such an approach unnecessary. Instead, Shepard and her team would infiltrate the base and target the Reaper structure that was spreading the signal manually with a targeting laser that enabled the Normandy to make a precision strike on the base. The laser would only work once, though. After using it, the Geth would likely adapt their jamming towers to block its signal, too.
In the shuttle to Rannoch, Shepard found out why Legion was behaving oddly. He had shown her on the Normandy that every single Geth program upgraded with the Reaper code would become a fully evolved AI. And as it turned out, Legion still had remnants of the Reaper code inside him. Berlitz was not amused. If the true Geth really wanted for peace to exist between them and the Quarians, then they weren’t exactly helping by keeping this hidden from her.
Legion was acting suprisingly subdued after that. If Berlitz wouldn’t have known better, she could’ve sworn he was… ashamed. He denied it, of course, but Berlitz suspected he was already on his way of becoming a fully evolved AI. She did not say it, though, because the shuttle was close to landing and they now needed to focus on the mission.
The first part went surprisingly well. They experienced a minor setback when the Geth closed the underground structure that housed the signal transmitter, but with the help of Legion it was open again in no time. Berlitz had a nice view of whatever the Reapers planted down there, aimed the targeting laser and ten seconds later, the Normandy dropped a bomb on it.
On my back again… and Liara’s not even here.EDI had warned her that she should get some distance and it turned out she wasn’t kidding. What was worse, however, was that the Reaper structure wasn’t destroyed… in fact, it was very much alive and very pissed! That was not just some random Reaper structure they were targeting, it was a Reaper Destroyer!
Luckily, Legion had already secured an escape vehicle with which they escaped the base. The Destroyer, however, wasn’t to give up so easily. Berlitz tried to damage it somewhat with the mounted turret on the verhicle, but that was a wasted effort of course. If even an orbital strike couldn’t destroy it, then a simple turret wouldn’t harm it either. Legion proposed escaping, but then the Geth would only fall under Reaper control again and all their effort would be for nothing. No, this was going to end here and now.
An orbital strike at the Destroyer launched by the Quarian fleet gave her an idea. Normally, its armor renders the Destroyer almost completely invulnerable to enemy fire. When it is targeting something -- or someone -- however, its “eye” is vulnerable. It was impossible for the Quarian fleet to make such a precision strike without help, but Berlitz still had that targeting laser on her back…
She ordered Legion, Tali and Kaidan to get safe, while EDI synced the whole Quarian fleet to her targeting laser. She would take on the Destroyer on foot, by herself. As weird as it sounds, it was one of the most exhilarating things she had ever experienced. And it worked. It took four precision bombardements, but it worked!
As the Reaper lay dying, it spoke to her.
“Shepard.”“You know who I am?”
“Harbinger speaks of you.”Berlitz asked what the purpose of the Reapers was, but the Destroyer just said that organics were too inferior to understand. In words reminiscent of those of Sovereign on Virmire, the Reaper “explained” organics represented chaos and the Reapers were there to bring order to the galaxy again. It was… inevitable. Berlitz respectfully disagreed.
The Reaper was dead, but the conflict between the Quarians and the Geth wasn’t resolved yet. Because of the signal loss, the whole geth fleet was in disarray. Han’Gerrel, of course, saw this as a chance to destroy the Geth once and for all. Legion, however, had a different idea. He could upload its own upgrades to the Geth collective, thereby helping the Geth achieving true intellegence without sacrificing their independence. Tali pleaded not to do it, because the upgraded Geth would surely make short work of the Quarian fleet.
Despite that, Berlitz could not get herself to deny the Geth their final evolution. But that didn’t mean she was going to give up on peace, though.
“Legion, upload the code. Tali, see if you can call off the fleet.”
“Uploading. Ten percent.”
Tali panicked. “This is Admiral Tali’Zorah. All units, break off the attack!”
“Belay that order! Keep firing!”
Dammit, Gerrel!“Twenty percent.”
“I beg you not to do this, Legion,’ Tali pleaded to the Geth.
“We regret the death of the Creators," he answered, "but we see no alternative. Forty percent.”
Berlitz decided to step in.
“No, nobody else dies today! Legion, keep going. All ships, this is Commander Shepard. The Reaper is dead. Stand down.”
Tali and Zaal’Koris immediately chimed in, saying that Berlitz spoke with their authority. Han’Gerrel still wouldn’t give in, though.
“Negative. We can win this war now! Continue the attack!”
“Sixty percent.”
It was time to do what she did best: talk.
“Your entire history is you trying to kill the Geth. You forced them to rebel. You forced them to ally with the Reapers!”
“Eighty percent.”
“The Geth don’t want to fight you. If you can believe that for just one minute, this war will be over. You have a choice. Please. Keelah Se’lai.”
A few seconds of silence passed. Then, finally, Han’Garrel gave the order.
“All units... Hold your fire.”
There was peace between the Quarians and the Geth. However, there was still a sacrifice that needed to be made.
“Error, copying code insufficient. Direct personality dissemination required. Shepard-Commander, I must go to them, I am.. I’m sorry, It’s the only way.”
“Legion,” Tali said softly, “the answer to your question… if you have a soul... it is ‘yes’.”
“I know, Tali. But thank you. Keelah Se’lai.”
Legion turned around and faced the horizon. He fell first on his knees and then on the ground. The lights in his body faded. The Geth known as Legion was no more.
*
Berlitz sat beside Tali on the ground of Rannoch. They had just achieved peace between the Quarians and the Geth, but neither of them was particularly excited. They had just lost a friend and Tali had lost even more in this stupid war. But it was finally over now. She had a home. And she would help Berlitz take back
her home, too.
Retour en haut
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I loved your TopShep pic!
I would have wished for more variety of hairstyles... 2 of the buns are practically identical...
absolutely great - keep us posted. Gave me a broad grin this morning and the pics are gorgeous 
