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Mass Effect: The Helldiver Saga, The Last Cycle	By : Veyron722skyhook Category: +M through R > Mass Effect Views: 6104 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Mass Effect or it's characters. They belong to Bioware and EA. No money/profit is made by me from this.

Chapter List
- 18
- 19
- 20
This one was a bit shorter than I thought it would be, but I'ms till happy with it.

Be prepared for another surprise... ;)

Chapter 19

Nazara's Revenge

The admiralty board of the Migrant Fleet stepped in. Accompanying them also was Shala Raan, Leena's mother.

Leena had also chosen to join Austin in the war room. These were her people after all.

"Major Shepard, Leena. A pleasure to see you again, though I wish it were under better circumstances." she said.

"I'd hoped for you to join the Reaper Resistance. What's going on?" Austin asked.

"Remember back to when you come aboard the fleet and gave your support in us trying to find a new world and adapt?" Admiral Koris asked. "It seemed your voice carried a great deal. Three weeks ago, we finally reached the agreement that we would at least begin colonising a new world before we considered trying to get our homeworld back."

"What went wrong then?" Leena asked.

"Seventeen days ago, just before we were due to begin, the Geth attacked us. Several strikes on our fleet which we were completely unprepared for." Admiral Gerrel explained.

"This caused nearly everyone to reconsider their decision." said Xen.

"So, with precision strikes on four Geth systems, we initiated the war to retake our home world." said Gerrel.

"Which was a clear violation of our agreement with the Council to avoid provoking the Geth!" Krois argued.

"A treaty violation is nothing compared to recovering our home world and advanced AI technology." Xen argued.

"We're throwing ourselves at the Geth? Again?" said Leena.

"And this time, we may have destroyed our people for good." said Krois,s hakign his head.

"We've driven the Geth back to the home system. Only recently however did we finally discover why they attacked us first." said Gerrel. As he spoke, the holograms of both the Migrant and Geth fleet appeared on holo. "For a long time, this signal has been broadcasting to all Geth-ships."

"The Reapers." said Austin as the hologram showed a signal being broadcasted to the Geth fleet.

"And it gets worse. The Reaper Nazara has shown itself." said Gerrel.

"The Reaper in a Geth body?" Leena asked, surprised.

"The same. We personally have not seen it, but there are some strike teams who have. Only a select few have lived to tell the tale tough, and their descriptions have been vivid. All they have truly said is that it is a Geth like no other." said Xen.

"Under Reaper control and with Nazara's leadership, the Geth are significantly more effective. Our fleet is pinned in the home system. If we're going to win-" said Gerrel.

"Win? You insisted on involving the civilian ships, Admiral Gerrel! We need to retreat or we'll lose the liveships!" Koris interupted.

"Where's the signal coming from?" Austin asked.

"Here. A Geth dreadnought. It can outgun anything we've got, and it's heavily defended." said Gerrel as the holo changed to show said Dreadnought.

"The Normandy's stealth drive can get us in undetected. We can board, then the disable the Reaper command signal." Austin suggested.

"Yes, cutting the signal should throw the Geth into complete disarray." said Xen.

"And while they're confused, you get to a mass relay and retreat." said Austin.

"Good. Our civilian ships have seen to much fighting already. Are you certain you can disable the signal?" Krois asked.

"We'll get our people out of there safely, Admiral." said Leena.

"Our newest admiral has also volunteered to offer technical expertise..." said Shala.

As she spoke, a very welcome and familiar face entered the war room.

"Tali Zorah vas Normandy, reporting the for duty." said the Quarian.

"Glad you could make it, Tali." Leena smiled under her helmet.

"I'll ready a team to hit the dreadnought." said Austin.

"Thank you, Major."

"You're an Admiral now?" Austin asked as he, Tali and Leena left the war room.

"It's mostly a formality. I'm an expert on the Geth." said Tali.

"That you are." Leena agreed.

"I'm glad you two are here." said Tali.

"If I'd known it was this bad with our people, I would've insisted to Shepard we come sooner." said Leena.

"You had your own troubles. We've heard about the Takaal." said Tali. "We've got the largest fleet in the galaxy. If you can help us, we'll gladly hit the Reapers with everything we've got."

"Or however much is left after this stupid war." Leena sighed.

"I thought you two would support the invasion." said Austin, slightly surprised at both his Quarian friends saying that.

"No. After talking to Legion, we both thought maybe there was a chance for peace." said Tali.

"So why help them?" Austin asked.

"I'm an Admiral. People look to me for guidance. Public disagreement would divide the fleet." said Tali.

"I'll get your people out of here safely. You have my word on that." said Austin reassuringly.

'Thanks, Shepard. And just so you know, I need to keep things stricly business in front of the Admirals. If you'd like to catch up, let's talk somewhere private." said Tali.

"Sure thing." Austin nodded.

'I'm ready to hit that dreadnought whenever you are." said Tali confidently.

"So am I. No way you're gonna leave me on the ship for this one." said Leena.

"Wouldn't dream of it."

While they were on their way tot he fleet, Austin decided to pass the time by taking Tali up on her offer. They did indeed have some catching up to do.

"Tali, I'm free if you'd like to come up."

"I'll just be a moment."

Tali walked in a few minutes later.

"Thanks for asking me up. I couldn't talk freely in front of Raan." she said.

"You okay?" Austin asked.

"No. No, I'm really not." Tali sighed. "Seventeen million lives are riding on me... and I don't know if I can save them."

"You've done everything you can. If the fleet falls, it won't be because of you." said Austin supportingly.

"I helped my father, and... and Xen's ideas? The new tech that made an invasion too good to pass up? That's based on my father's work." said Tali with shame. "If they die because of me... if... if I don't..."

"We'll get them out of there safely, Tali." said Austin.

"I couldn't do this without you, Austin. I feel like I'm bluffing. Trying to convince them that the admiral's daughter knows what she's doing." said Tali.

"Not the admiral's daughter. The admiral." said Austin, a proud tone in his voice.

"I know. And at least now, I can push back against the worst ideas. That's why I accepted the position... And because of you."

"Me?"

"When they offered me this position, I asked myself what you'd do. I thought you'd take the chance to make things better. That probably sounds stupid. It's just, I'm not really qualified for this..."

"You're doing fine, Tali. And thanks." said Austin as he a put his hand on the Quarian's shoulder. Tali then turned and hugged him. He didn't resist and hugged her back. After a few moments, she finally let go.

"I should get back before the admiral's get into trouble again. I'll talk to you later."

"We're approaching the Quarian home system. ETA to Rannoch five minutes." said Joker.

"What've you got from the comm buoys?" Austin asked.

"Pretty much a big ol' shitstorm, Major." Joker replied.

"I have detected several hundred unique ship signatures engaged in active combat." said EDI, currently plugged into all the various different wires and tubes that kept her connected tot he Normandy's systems.

"Yeah, like I said." said Joker.

"Are there any Reaper ships?" Austin asked.

"No. Only the Reaper's signal." EDI replied.

"What about Nazara?"

"I am not detecting the presence of a Reaper. Either it is shielding it's presence, or it's Geth body is preventing it from showing up on the sensors." said EDI.

"What about Takaal ships?"

"No sign of them either. It is unlikely that they would be here anyway. None of them have been sighted anywhere near this region." said EDI.

"Okay. Take us in, Joker." said Austin.

Joker clicked his fingers and pressed away at the holo interface as the Normandy exited the Mass Relay. Almost immediately they found themselves right int he heat of the battle. The Quarian ships were making bold stand against the Geth armada, but they were slowly getting pushed back.

"Stealth drive engaged. Only way they'll detect us is if you all start singing the Russian national anthem." said Joker.

"My cyberwarfare suits have accessed their docking protocols." said EDI as the Normandy got close tot he Dreadnought and prepared to dock.

"All right, once we're aboard, we find whatever's broadcasting the Reaper signal and shut it down." said Austin as he, Tali, Leena and EDI stepped into the airlock. "Tali's our expert on Geth software. She'll be handling hacking and security."

"We couldn't ask for anyone better." said Leena.

"Thanks... Miss Prarken." Tali smiled under her mask.

"Your expertise with the Geth is a welcome edition, Tali." said EDI.

"So... a body?" Tali asked.

"It has proven useful. I hope it does not cause concern." said EDI, trying to sound reassuring.

"Not unless you go crazy and decide to overthrow the galaxy." said Tali.

"If it comes to that, you will be the first to know." said EDI. The AI's head then temporarily turned as though something had suddenly caught her attention. "Shepard, there is a problem. All tubes except one are physically secured."

"I see the free one. Pretty torn up, though." said Joker over the comm.

"Too risky for the whole team. I'll secure the docking area. Everyone else can follow me over." said Leena.

'You sure about this, Leena?" Austin asked.

"Please, Shepard. I'm a Quarian. We work in space." Leena replied.

"Roger that, Leena. We'll just stay here-you know-quietly." said Joker.

"Hang tight. I'll just be a minute."

Leena preferred to not use grab boots and simply use her suits hydro thrusters to keep herself stabilised and flying in a straight line through the tube. Grav boots would take a bit too long and Leena always secretly liked floating around. She and Sill would sometimes space work together in order to perform any required maintenance on the outside of the Normandy.

Out of the gaps of the docking tube were it had been torn up by the constant barrage of gunfire front he ships, Leena could see a vast amount of the Dreadnought.

"No wonder we're having trouble. That ship is enormous." she said.

"It is 30% larger than an Alliance dreadnought." said EDI.

As the Quarian wove herself in and out of the wreckage, she caught another glimpse out of the tube that showed a view of Rannoch.

"Keelah." she gasped in awe. "Tali, you're going to love the view."

'Better than a vid?" Tali asked.

"Much." Leena replied.

"How are you doing, Leena?" Tali asked after a few more minutes.

"The lack of gravity is disorienting. It's fun being able to fly though." Leena replied.

"The dreadnought has artificial gravity. You should be okay once you're on board." said Tali.

"Until then, I'll savour being weightless." said Leena.

"Hey, take your time, Leena. We're fine until they, you know, look out a window." said Joker.

"Geth don't use windows, remember? Structural weakness." Austin reminded him.

"Like the Geth are just sitting there saying."Those organics would never try the no-window thing twice!" said Joker sarcastically.

"Joker, your attempts to lighten the mood are appreciated, but it doesn't really help." said Leena.

As the Quarian Helldiver finally reached the end, there was a faint rumble. The Quarian looked behind her to see that the stub had broken off front he dreadnought, taking the Normandy with it.

"Boshtet!" she swore. "Looks like the rest of the team isn't using the docking tube."

"So I'm guessing you'd rather not solo the dreadnought." said Joker.

"Preferably not. No." Leena replied. "Ask Tali to get the dreadnought schematics. If she can point me at another docking tube, I should be able to override the controls and let the boarding party in."

"I'm inside. I've got gravity again." Leena said into her comm.

"Great. I'm looking for... Got it. There should be a hull breach not far from your position." Tali replied.

"I see it up ahead." said Leena as she made her way through the hallways, the vast amount of wreckage visible up ahead.

"The nearest undamaged docking tube is on the other side." said Tali.

As Leena neared the hull breach, she started to see how big it really was.

"Ouch. Didn't think the breach would be this big." she said.

"Admiral Gerrel tried a frontal assault. We lost six frigates. That tiny hole was the only damage we did." said Tali.

"I wouldn't call it tiny." said Leena.

"Not the way you would've done it?" Tali asked.

"No, he was too aggressive. Shepard argued, but as Admiral of the heavy fleet, it was ultimately his decision." said Leena.

"What about the other Admirals?" Austin asked.

"Xen backed the invasion after the Geth attacked under Nazara's control, largely a chance to test her toys. Raan gave provisional support. Only Korris opposed the war with me. And he was right. We could lose the whole fleet." said Tali.

We won't let that happen. We'll get the Quarians out of here safely." said Austin.

A few more minutes passed as Leena madder her way quietly through the ship, keeping her eyes peeled for any Geth soldiers. After some times, she finally found her objective.

"Okay. I've found another airlock. I think we're good to go." she said.

"Great. If you override the controls, we'll be right there." said Tali.

Leena climbed the ladder the worked on accessing the controls.

'Got it. You're clear to board." she said.

The doors ahead opened and the rest of the team stepped in.

"Nice work, Leena." said Austin.

"I will try to find a more convenient docking point next time." said EDI.

"Next time?"

"Here, let me see if I can get this open." said Tali. "There. We're clear to go."

The door opened and Austin took the lead.

"So where are we heading?" he asked.

"We're looking for an operations centre. I can disable the Reaper command signal from there." Tali replied.

"Where's the closest one?"

"Past their defence network and through a sensor cluster."

A few minutes into the mission and the team found themselves inside what looked like the Geth defence network.

"Gah, vents. Why did it have to be vents?" Tali sighed.

"You did fine at the Collector Base." said Austin.

"I got set on fire!" Tali argued.

"No you didn't, Tali. You're exaggerating." said Leena.

"At least your wearing a suit that's fire proof." Tali argued.

"Still... you didn't literally catch fire." said Leena.

"It felt like I did though. Those vents were boiling." said Tali

"That I can agree with."

After some time of making their way through the dreadnought, so far undetected, they finally reached the operations centre.

"The dreadnoughts operations centre is just ahead." said Tali.

"Good. Let's cut the Reaper signal and get the fleet out of here." said Austin.

As they entered the room however, a rather surprising sight greeted their eyes.

"What the heck... Is that... the Terror Geth?!"

Sure enough, the body of the leader of the heretic Geth was suspend in midair in some kind of beam. It actually looked as though it had been repaired front he damage Austin ahd inflicted upon it during the battle of the Citadel where the Helldiver had punched through the Geth's torso and then torn it's head off.

"In the flesh. Well, figuratively speaking." said Leena.

EDI walked a bit closer to the suspend body and examined it closely with her omni tool.

"There is no life or sings of activity. It is an empty body." she said.

"Why would the Geth keep the body of the leader of the heretics?" Austin asked. "Storage perhaps?"

"Maybe." said Tali.

"Unusual." said EDI.

"What is?"

"Parts of the body have been removed. The central power, memory core, optical processor and sensors have been removed. The body has been repaired, but it can no longer function." EDI explained.

"That doesn't make sense. The Geth aren't known to salvage the dead. And it's impossible to bring a Geth back from the dead exactly as it was. The Terror Geth's memory core was fried when Shepard killed it and the damage it sustained was too extensive for it to be repaired to the point of functionality." said Leena.

"Whatever the reason, we've got more important matters to take care of." said Austin.

They walked up to the nearby control panel and Tali accessed it.

"Damn it, they've locked down the Reaper signal. We can't shut it down from here in the operation centre." she cursed. The Quarian then brought up a hologram of the whole dreadnought. "There! The Reaper's signal's coming from the drive core!"

"So if we get there, we shut it down?" Austin asked.

"We need a route to the drive core that can't be blocked, a path that runs the length of the ship." said Leena

"What about the main battery? It runs right by the drive core." Austin asked as he highlighted the main battery on the hologram.

"That could work." said Tali.

"But! The Geth still have us locked in here. We need to get these doors open." said Austin.

"They've locked high-level processes. We need something basic... a ship-wide emergency, like a fire." Leena suggested.

"What about the heat diffusion system?" Austin asked.

"If I faked a thermal warning, it would open all maintenance tubes for emergency venting!" said Tali.

"Would that override the lockdown?" Austin asked.

"Yes! Okay, I've got it primed. But be ready. I'm reading Geth on the other side of the doors." said Tali.

"Leena?"

"Way ahead of you."

The Quarian Helldiver took several cylinder like objects from her back and threw each one at the entrances into the room. As they landed, they unfolded into sentry turrets. The team also readied their weapons. Tali also deployed her combat drone, Chiktika.

The doors opened and several Geth flooded into the room. The incoming fire however cut most of them down quickly. Those that put up more of a fight were the more heavily armed or armoured ones such as the Geth primes, rocket troopers and some new black versions that appeared to have a type of cloaking device similar to a Helldivers.

One disadvantage they did have though was that unlike Helldiver cloaks, they were designed to simply hide the user from eyesight. Switching to a different vision mode made them show up easily. Helldiver did completely the opposite and hit the user from most vision modes and scanners.

With the last Geth dead, the team began their journey to the man battery.

"Damn it. Priority message. A planetary defence cannon just took down Admiral Korris' ship." said Tali.

"Survivors?" Austin asked.

"They got to escape pods, and I've got Admiral Rann trying to establish a secure link." said Tali.

"Put her through."

"Shepard, this is Raan. The Heavy Fleet is collapsing. I don't know how much longer we can hold out." said Raan through the comm.

"We'll have the Reaper signal deactivated shortly, Mother." said Leena.

The group made their way to the elevator. Austin accessed the controls and the platform slowly started rising. As it did however, two Geth rocket troopers suddenly emerged from the door they'd just come from and fired. One rocket managed to hit the elevator as it reach one level up. Everyone except Austin was already off, but Austin was still on as the platform fell slightly, becoming increasingly unstable to stand on.

"Shepard!" Tali yelled. "Grab my hand!"

Austin didn't even hesitate and sprinted towards them. He grabbed Tali's hand just as the elevator platform gave way and it fell down the shaft. Tali at first struggled to keep a hold of Austin due to the wight of his armour, but Leena quickly grabbed Austin's' other hand and helped to pull him up

"Hang on!"

"Thanks, you two. That was a close one." Austin panted.

"Hope we're done with the elevators." said Leena.

"Garrus would never have stopped going on about the old days." said Tali.

"Seriously? He misses the talks on the elevators?" Austin asked, unable to hold back a small laugh.

"You've no idea how much I've had to remind that Turian that I have a shotgun." said Tali.

Heading through the main battery was difficult, but it was nothing the group couldn't handle. Pretty soon, they'd reached the drive core.

In the centre of the room was some kind of sphere like machine which was emitting some kind of energy.

Austin walked up to it and accessed the controls.

"That's definitely Reaper tech. But what's..."

The strange machine seemed to unfold showing what was inside. A Geth held in place by all sorts of wires, and not just any Geth...

"Shepard-Major. Help us."

"Legion."

Before Austin could free him though, Tali quickly interrupted.

"Austin, The Geth are being controlled by the Reaper signal. she reminded him.

"Right. This thing." he said.

"So for all we know, Legion is with them. Maybe it's hacked." said Tali.

"Legion helped us fight the Reapers before. There's no way it would have agreed to this." said Austin.

"Your caution is understandable. Once freed, we will submit to any restraints you deem necessary." said Legion.

"I never thought I'd say this, but... it's good to see you again." said Tali

"Likewise, Creator Zorah." said Legion.

"So what is this thing?" Austin asked.

"It uses our networking architecture to broadcast the Old Machine's command signal to all Geth simultaneously." Legion explained.

"Then getting you out of there will shut off the Reaper signal." said Austin.

"Wait. You cannot simply remove the restraints. We are secured via hardware blocks that shackle our operating protocols. The hardware protocols are on the far side of the room. Deactivation should be simple. The Geth protected them against viral attack, not physical removal." said Legion.

"How did the Reapers get control of the Geth?" Austin asked.

"Deception. One of our own that we thought was our ally betrayed us." Legion replied.

The team made their way to where Legion ahd indicated. It took only a few seconds to disable the locks.

"Got it." said Austin.

"Tali Zorah to fleet. The signal is about to go offline." said Tali into the comm.

"This is Admiral Han Gerrel. We're in your debt."

"Hardware blocks offline. We are free." said Legion as it was relaxed front he machine, which disappeared into the floor. "As a gesture of cooperation, we have disabled the dreadnought's drive core. All weapons and batteries are offline."

Austin simply nodded in acknowledgement. Legion then led the others towards the exit.

"We must hurry. Nazara will have…"

But the door suddenly closed and sealed itself.

"You are not going anywhere, Legion!"a deep, haunting voice boomed throughout the room. Leena and Tali forze in shock as they heard it

"Shepard... that voice..." said Leena in shock.

Austin recognised that voice too. But that was impossible! How could it be here now?!

"It can't be...

Several Geth soldiers suddenly filed into the room and surrounded them. They didn't fire yet though. A dark red glowing eye suddenly appeared out of the shadows not he upper level and there was a loud clanging sound of metal feet as it's user slowly stepped into the light.

"Did you not think that I would return, Shepard? I told you I was immortal."

Sure enough, out of the shadows stepped a very real and functional Terror Geth.

"I have waited many years for this moment, human. We meet again at last." it said.

"So that's why the body was empty. It swapped it for a new one." said Leena.

She was right. The Terror Geth now had a drastically new appearance from the last time it and Austin had crossed paths. The body still had the same basic design, such as the horns on the head, flaps constantly facing outwards to give an angry expression, clawed feet, and a blade on the left arm.

Going into further detail however, the Terror Geth was now vastly different. It now had way more armour plating over it's outer shell, a lot of which was bladed. A few other noticeable additions was that it now had an extra set of horns, and also a secondary smaller eye on the right side of it's head. Some of the Geth they'd seen earlier had this, so it was clear that was some kind of targeting system. A secondary set of smaller arms, very similar to Skarlack's, were alas attached tot he body.

"I learned that you were still alive and it was logical to assume that our paths would finally cross again eventually, but you're presence here is unexpected." said the Terror Geth, the usual growling present in it's tone.

"Likewise, Terror Geth. I see your looking more twisted than ever." said Austin.

"It was necessary to upgrade my outdated and inferior form."

"How the hell are you even still functioning? I killed you myself, I watched you die." Austin asked.

"You separated my head from my body, but even that is not enough to destroy me. Your efforts that day were most futile." said the Terror Geth.

"So you came back here and now you're a servant of Nazara like all other Geth." said Austin.

"False." the Terror Geth replied.

"What?"

"Your assumption is illogical, Shepard. I do not serve Nazara. I am Nazara."

Shock came to all three organics.

"That's not possible!" Tali gasped.

"It is the truth." said Legion.

Austin couldn't believe it. All this time he had assumed that Nazara would be a normal Geth, and he never would've thought that this was really why the Terror Geth was so different front he others. All this time, he'd been fighting another Reaper and hadn't even known it. In a way though this did explain how the Geth Priem had kept coming back after each battle.

"None of that matters now. You will not be leaving this place alive. This time, I will have your head, Shepard!" the Terror Geth growled.

Just as the rest of the Terror Geth's army prepared to fire, Legion suddenly activated some kidn of shield pulse as he slammed his arms into the floor.

This temporarily distracted the Geth army and everyone immediately opened fire. A full out gunfight ensured between both sides.

"Quarians and a sentient AI: Unexpected." said the Terror Geth. "Assessment: potential threats. Commencing termination!"

To everyone's surprise, a large Geth pulse rifle suddenly appeared from behind the Terror Geth, mounted on a small mechanical arm attached to it's shoulder. Seems the mutated Geth Prime had copied some Helldiver tactics as well. The rifle fired, forcing everyone into cover. With EDI's aid, Legion was able to snatch a pulse rifle from a lone Geth soldier and managed to return fire briefly before taking cover as well.

"He's upgraded big time." said Leena.

"The only way to achieve order is through the extermination of those who would perpetuate war. This is the purpose of all Reaper, and soon I too will be unstoppable." said the Terror Geth as it hopped down to ground level, the force of the impact making the floor shake.

The rest of the team focused on dealing with the Geth while Austin took care of the Terror Geth. If they had to do this once again, so be it.

"I'll admit, your upgrades, are impressive, but I've upgraded too. You won't find me anymore easy than you did 5 years ago." said the Helldiver.

He drew his sword and made a swipe at the Reaper/Geth's head. However he hadn't considered that the Terror Geth was now much faster thanks to its new body and upgraded programming.

The Terror Geth made a very quick move to the side and suddenly backhanded him with it's arm, causing him to fall flat on his back. The Terror Geth then pinned him down hard with one of it's clawed feet.

"You are nothing to me, Shepard. One by one I will destroy you and your precious Helldivers. I will never tire, I will never show mercy, I will never stop until each and every one of you are dea..."

But it was suddenly interrupted when Legion leapt on its back and tried several times to use all sorts of tech powers on it.

"You will not harm them, old machine." Said the Geth.

"Your intelligence is limited, Legion. Organics do not deserve to live." Said the Terror Geth.

"They deserve to choose for themselves." Legion argued, managing to grab onto one of the Terror Geth's horns.

"Then you will die with them!"

The Terror Geth managed to grab Legion and threw him to the floor.

"I should have terminated you long ago. Now I will correct that mistake." said the Terror Geth. It's right arms suddenly changed and transform as plates shifted and it seemed to grow bigger. In barely under a second, the Terror Geth's arm had changed completely into the cannon it had carried so man times before. This time though it had a different look, obviously because it was more advanced and because various parts of it were Nazara's arm.

Just before the mutated Geth Prime could fire however, Austin quickly activated his plasma cannon and fired at the Terror Geth's cannon. The plasma didn't destroy it, but it did knock it enough that the shot missed Legion completely.

The Terror Geth refocused it's attention on Austin and swung it's cannon at him. Austin managed to dodge under it and then thrust his sword right at it's eye. However instead of it becoming embedded, it simply clanged against the metal. It was now that Austin suddenly noticed that the Terror Geth had a metal cover over it's eye with a small split in the middle to allow some of the eye to still see. It was obvious why that was there.

"That will not work this time, Shepard. As I have said before, I learn from my mistakes and can evolve my strategies. It would seem that you cannot." said the Terror Geth.

Before Austin could react in time with another attack, the Terror Geth grabbed him and smashed him against the wall before then hoisting him up and throwing him to the floor hard. It then once again brought one of it's feet down hard on him and grinded it against him several times.

"Nothing will stand in my way." said the Terror Geth as he picked Austin up and flung up away. A section of it's cannon opened up to reveal a small explosive round. "Least of all, you."

The round fired and exploded on impact. Had it not been for the extensive armour upgrades, Austin would not have survived that.

He was exhausted from all that though. The Terror Geth was a lost stronger and even more powerful than before. The Geth/Reaper stood over it's supposedly defeated opponent and aimed it's cannon at him for a point blank range shot.

"Now, the Resistance ends with your death." it growled.

Just before it could fire however, the whole ship suddenly shook violently and several bits of debris fell from the ceiling.

"What the devil…" said Austin.

"Admiral Gerrel, what are you doing?" said Raan over the comm.

"Raan, check your screens! The dreadnought is helpless! No batteries, and the main gun is offline. We can remove their flagship if we strike now!" said Gerrel.

"Damn it, this is our chance to withdraw the Civilian Fleet safely!" Raan objected.

"What are you talking about? We're still on board, you Bosh'tet!" Leena yelled.

"We can't waste this chance. Heavy Fleet, all forward. Take out the dreadnought." Gerrel ordered.

"Patrol Fleet, hold position!" Raan ordered.

"You do that and the Heavy Fleet gets wiped out. And if we die, a simple retreat won't save you from the Geth response!" said Gerrel.

"Damn you, Gerrel." Raan cursed.

The Terror Geth looked back at Austin.

"This is far from over, Shepard. You and the Quarians will suffer for this." it said.

Two large section of it's shoulder suddenly shifted and two jets appeared out. They activated, and the Terror Geth flew off, vanishing from sight.

"Shepard-Major, the creator fleet is firing upon this vvessel. Without barriers, this ship will be destroyed. We must evacuate." said Legion.

"We need to get to the escape pods." Tali agreed.

"Suggestions?"

"Geth fighters are docked in the port side fighter bay. We can pilot a fighter to safety." said Legion.

Everyone quickly hurried to the fighter bay with Legion directing them. A nearby explosion nearly made Austin stumble.

"Shepard to fleet! Hold fire! I repeat, hold fire!" he yelled into his comm.

"They're not responding." said Tali.

"I'm gonna kill Gerrel for this!" Leena growled.

Legion hurried into the fighter first. Before everyone else could do the same though, everything suddenly became weightless and started floating around.

"Normandy to Shepard: I'm reading a loss of gravity. You okay over there?" Joker asked.

"Fine. We're leaving in a Geth fighter. Transmitting rendezvous coordinates." Austin replied, managing to cling onto the hull of the fighter and pull himself inside. The others were able to do the same.

"Does the storage compartment have adequate room, Shepard-Major?" Legion asked as everyone managed to squeeze in. Due to the bulkiness of the two Helldivers, it was a bit of a tight squeeze for all four of them.

"We're fine. Go!" said Austin.

The fighter gently lifted off and sped away from the Dreadnought.

"Who's hand is that?" Tali asked as she felt someone's hand brush against her behind.

"Sorry." Austin apologised, trying to move his hand away but finding it rather difficult due to the tight space.

The Terror Geth was able to fly to safe distance as the dreadnought was obliterated by the Quarians. It had no concern about not being detected by another Geth ship. Besides the Takaal flagship, devastator was stationed only a fair distance away from the battle.

While his troops were out fighting, Skarlack had been ordered to assist Nazara in it's war with the Quarians. It was important to get rid of the allies that could provide a huge advantage to the resistance. And then there was also the various experiments that it had been conducting for the past 5 years.

Since the Takaal had no need for life support systems, landing inside the ship was very easy. The thrusters on it's back deactivated and skidded to a halt on the bridge. Many Takaal drones who were piloting the ship, stopped their work and bowed int he presence of the Geth/Reaper.

"General, I have returned." said Nazara.

Skarlack, who had been stood on the bridge the whole time, walked up to Nazara and made a low bow as he got down on his knees.

"Lord Nazara." he said. "We are pleased to know you managed to survive. When we saw the dreadnought exploded, we feared the worst.

"I am not so destroyed, Skarlack. You should know that by know." said the Terror Geth.

"I understand, my lord." said Skarlack.

Even though Nazara wasn't a full Reaper, at least not yet, he was regarded as one. Harbinger had decreed that when he fixed the Geth/Reaper. As a result, Skarlack ahd to serve him too.

"Shepard is now aware of the truth. He now knows that the Terror Geth and Nazara are one and the same. No longer do things need to be kept in the shadows. Have your soldiers and my Geth servants increase their effort on my experiments. They must be ready for the coming war with Shepard and the Quarians." Nazara ordered.

"As you wish."

"How go the modifications to many of the Geth?" the Terror Geth asked.

"They are proceeding well. The technology of the Geth alone is impressive, but when combined with Reaper technology and our own, it is proving most devastating." said Skarlack as the two walked through the room ont he ship were many Geth were being experimented on by other Geth that had been modified by Nazara, or Takaal soldiers.

"Yes. The three merge well together. This new body is proof of that." said the Terror Geth. "And what of the deposit?"

"My wife has continued to oversee the operation as you requested." said Skarlack. "The Geth drones and my workers have been mining without pause for some time, and have amassed quite a stock pile. I am certain it will improve your research greatly."

"Good. Continue working at 100% efficiency. Failure will not be permitted by me or any another Reaper, General." said the Terror Geth.

"The Takaal will not fail you, my lord. Rannoch will be yours." said Skaralck, giving another low bow of his head.

"Your unilateral strike endangered us all! We should charge you with treason!" said Raan crossly at Gerrel.

All except Korris had assembled in the war room. Dell and Sill had joined them as well, having heard about the supposed return of the Terror Geth.

"I was within my authority as admiral of the Heavy Fleet!"the Admiral replied defensively.

"And what of Shepard? And Tali Zorah? Not to mention my daughter?!" Raan retorted.

"They escaped unharmed! Shepard, the mission parameters changed. You're military. You understand that." said Gerrel.

Unfortunately, that was not enough tog et Austin to side with him.

"I understand that you wasted your chance to withdraw safely!" said the Helldiver as he walked up tot he Admiral angrily.

"The dreadnought was a perfect target!"

Gerrel was then suddenly interrupted as Austin punched him so hard int he helmet that it knocked him back, a crack was visible on his visor.

"Admiral, you jeopardized your mission and your people! Get the hell of my ship!" he yelled.

Gerrel didn't argue and quickly left.

"Shepard, I understand you're angry…" said Raan.

"If I didn't need your fleet…" said Austin.

"He nearly got us killed, Raan." Tali agreed.

"You must understand, the Geth inflicted heavy casualties before you disabled the Reaper signal." said Raan.

"That still doesn't change what he did, mother. If he dares try something like that again, I'll rip his head off! The fleet can damn well exile me if they don't like it." said Leena angrily.

Raan looked a bit surprised at her daughter's aggressiveness, but she didn't say anything.

"You said the Geth have a planetary defence cannon?" Austin asked, feeling ti best to change the subject.

"Had. Admiral Koris sacrificed his own ship to destroy it. He crash-landed on the home world." Raan confirmed.

"We can assist with rescue." Austin offered.

"Thank you, Major. I think the worst is over. The Geth no longer possess the programming upgrades they had while enslaved by the Reapers." said Raan.

At that moment, the doors opened and Legion walked in.

"Shepard-Major. We are prepared to offer assistance." he said.

"What the hell is this?!" said Raan in shock.

"Wait, wait—everybody calm down!" said Austin quickly. "It's name is Legion. It helped me destroy the Collectors. You remember it from Tali's trail do you not?"

"I thought it seemed familiar." Said Xen.

"Nazara was using Legion like a signal booster to broadcast commands from the dreadnought. We freed him." said Austin.

"We freed "it." Tali corrected him.

"This is fascinating. With some study, I may be able to use it to find a weakness in the Geth consensus." said Xen.

"No. Legion helped us destroy the Collectors." said Austin defensively.

"So did your armour. Should I worry about its feelings as well?" Xen retorted.

"Don't continue this line of thought, Xen. Helldivers don't give second warnings, me especially." Leena warned her.

"Legion is my friend. More importantly, it's our best source of information on the Terror Geth and the army he now has under his control." said Austin.

"The scientific benefits-" Xen went to say.

"…are off the table." Austin interrupted. He then turned to Legion. "You owe us an explanation, Legion. How did the Terror Geth manage all this without you managing to stop him?"

Legion nodded and walked up to the holo in the middle of the room. As he accessed it, a hologram of the Terror Geth was projected out of it for everyone to see. Dell and Sill made sure to pay attention to this if there was a chance they could help.

"The Terror Geth, or Nazara as it is better known was the creation of Sovereign. When it was created however, it was the first Reaper to have a flaw in it's design. It's memory core caused it to think that it was a Geth, not an old machine. Sovereign remained unaware of the issue, and so Nazara became the leader of the heretics. The name Terror Geth was given to it be Saren Arterius." "After it's defeat at the battle of the Citadel 5 years ago, it managed to escape. Somehow, it encountered the Collectors. The Reaper Harbinger recognized who Nazara really was and so repaired it completely, including the flaws in it's memory. Now fully aware of what it really was, Nazara returned to the heretics, now seen as a god walking among mortals in their eyes. In secret, Nazara returned to Rannoch and began all sort so experiments on the Geth, hoping to convert all Geth to the Reaper cause." Legion explained.

"That sounds familiar." Dell commented. "He's the one who created that virus, isn't he?"

"Yes." Legion replied. "After acquiring the knowledge from Project Overlord…"

"WHAT?!"

"Nazara as it turns out was the cause of Project Overlord turning agaisnt Cerberus. Nazara used remote control to replace the intended VI with itself and used the project to as an experiment to find out if the Geth could be controlled." Legion explained.

"So when I fought that hologram… I was actually fighting him." said Austin, rather shocked at this revelation.

"When you managed to shtu down Project Overlord, Nazara's link was severed, but it now had the knowledge it needed. It used this to create the virus. Fortunately, we found out about it and later used it rewrite the heretics as you know." said Legion.

"Hang on though. If we rewrote the heretics, how come Nazara wasn't changed as well if he's a Geth?" Sill asked, slightly confused.

"He has a Geth body, but a Reaper mind." Austin clarified.

"Precisely. It's Reaper mind made Nazara immune to its own virus. Rewriting the heretics was merely a set back in it's plan." said Legion.

"So how'd he gain control this time?" Dell asked.

"Nazara remade the virus and worked on reimplementing it into all Geth. This time though, it installed it as a dormant program so that it would remain undetectable. Within two years, it had infected all the Geth." said Legion.

"But if that's true, then why didn't it try to control you?" Sill asked, somewhat suspiciously.

"We are different. Repurposing the virus before allowed us to gain an immunity to it. We were the only Geth that Nazara was unable to control. By the time we found out though, it was already too late and our own people were now under Nazara's control. Rather than destroy us, Nazara decided instead to use as a broadcast for the Reaper signal to provide the Geth with further old machine upgrades." said Legion.

"At least without the Reaper signal, they will agree to oppose Nazara." said Raan.

"This is a false assumption. You have cut off the long rang control from the other Reapers, but Nazara can still control our people through use of the virus." said Legion.

"Let me guess. The only way this time to eliminate the virus is to kill it's source." Austin sighed.

"Affirmative."

"Great. I battled the Terror Geth god knows how many times and he still kept coming back. And now he's even more powerful than ever. Do we know where he is?" Austin asked.

"Nazara built a main base on Rannoch, but we do not know where it is located. The information was kept from us." said Legion.

"Keelah… I need to warn the fleet. Xen, coordinate with Gerrel. Move!" Raan ordered.

"Legion, get to work on finding Nazara's base. We didn't rewrite the heretics just so they could be the Reaper's salves all over again." said Austin.

"Understood." said Legion.

"Sill and I will also see if there is anything we can do to improve your chances against the Geth. The knowledge that legion shared with us two years has proved useful." said Dell.

"We would be willing to assist if possible." said Legion.

Dell and Sill simply nodded in acknowledgement and left the room.

Bet none of you saw that one coming. ;)

To coincide with this chapter, the Terror Geth's new look is up on my deviantart page. So please do check that out.

Right, something to note for next week. The next chapter will be an original one, rather than the mission to rescue Admiral Korris. That mission simply happens in-between and is mentioned. This was an agreement made by several people I asked. Besides, you all know how it happens anyway.

So, next week will be an original chapter. You remember Skarlack's wife, Mirage? Well, next week you'll meet her fully... and so will Liara. Yep, our favourite Asari will have a main rival too.

Before I go actually, I'd like to say something.

Interesting fact about Tali in this story. She very nearly was the LI in this story. Back when I was planning the very first Helldiver Saga, I had in midn that Shepard would be very technical since he often maintains his armour and understands how it works, and I felt those would be good traits for a Shepard romanced with Tali.

Eventually though, I changed it to Liara since she's the canon romance for me, and this Shepard is based off of my canon game Shepard. So, yeah... you get the idea. Looking back on it now, I'm happy I made that choice. It's turned it better than I would've thought, and some parts of it have helped to shape the stories as they were written, and the romance has had an influence on how the ending will play out.

Plus, the telekinetic link is definitely one of the best ideas I had, and that wouldn't' have been possible with Tali. Just thought you'd be interested in knowing that though, seeing as how Tali's back again.

Until next time. ;)
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Mass Effect: The Helldiver Saga, The Last Cycle