--> Tali
keeps trying to apologize to me for the Invasion of Rannoch. Clearly
she feels partially responsible for this disaster, and wants some
other solution. I'm sorry, but at this point I don't see any
possible solution other to finish what has been started. I'd held
some small hope that the destruction of the Geth flagship and the
cessation of its broadcast might release the Geth from Reaper
control, but alas, such was not the case. Unless some unexpected
good fortune befalls, unless we find some hidden way of erasing in
entirety the claws of Reaper Indoctrination from the collective
software of the Geth species, the only recourse is their complete and
absolute destruction. I'm sorry it's come to this, but I see no
other way. I don't want to seem unkind, but if Tali wants to somehow
prevent or mitigate this tragedy, the time for that was when the
Admiralty voted. It is now too late. The
Geth must be exterminated.
--> Legion's
covert strike is a success. That's one Geth server neutralized, the
attached fighter squadrons disabled. The plan was to wipe all
infected Geth from the server, effectively killing every locally
housed program. But upon completion, Legion revealed that he’d
managed to instead liberate a number of the programs from Reaper
control, recruited them to our mutual cause against the domination of
the Reapers, and downloaded them into Geth Prime platforms. The poor
fellow seemed worried that I might mind. Why on Earth would I mind?
He’d saved members of his own kind that voluntarily joined the just
cause. I can’t imagine why I should object.
I’ve
fought Geth Primes, and they are formidable opponents, to say the
least. An entire platoon of them constitute a force nearly
unstoppable on the battlefield. Facing the extinction of the Geth as
a species, I’m glad Legion managed to save at least some of his
fellows.
Despite
having read the Alliance files detailing my past Cerberus
affiliation, including the destruction of the Geth Heretics, Ashley
was astonished to find that Legion was an ally, one already proven in
battle against the Collectors. It seems my superiors saw fit to
remove that little detail about a friendly Geth allying itself with
us.
She’s
not said much on the subject, but Ashley seems disturbed as I had
been to discover that Geth are not merely super-smart killer robots.
She and I had killed hundreds of them without knowing the worth of
their life or the weight of their death. Both of us would do it
again without hesitation, but the revelation is nonetheless
disquieting. I found her drunk last night, something I’ve never
seen before.
Legion
has located the Reaper base, but Koris and his crew are still
unaccounted for on the planet. Without Koris, his ships are in
disarray, and in no condition to attack. There’s little chance
that he’s still alive on the enemy-infested planet, but we have to
try.
--> We
have Koris, but were unable to save his crew. Thankfully the Admiral
escaped with only minor injuries, and has resumed his command.
Despite being a controversial Geth sympathizer who vocally opposed
this invasion, he is nevertheless loved by his people. In the short
term he is desperately needed to rally and orchestrate the civilian
fleet. In the long term, when the Reaper War is won, I will
personally see to it that Gerrel is brought to justice, and Koris'
leadership will be needed more than ever. In the absence of both
Koris and Gerrel, the tacit rule of the Quarians would almost
certainly fall to that sadist Xen. I am determined to do all that
lies within my power to ensure that does not happen.
--> We
have the location of the Geth base. All Admirals are on deck, the
Quarian fleet has tightened its proverbial belt and is ready to
resume the offensive. I don’t like aiding the aggressor in this
fight, but I have no choice.
--> We’d
been wrong. It wasn’t a Reaper base directing the Geth; it was an
actual Reaper. This is the fourth time I’ve been underfoot of one
these towering metal behemoths of destruction and hate. By rights I
should be dead.
The
Reaper, powerful though it was, proved no match for a combined
precision strike from the Normandy and the entire Quarian fleet.
That great hunk of metal and malice is now no more than a pretentious
heap of scrap. And best of all, its destruction freed the Geth.
Immediately
following the demise of the Reaper, Legion declared the possibility
that he could re-upload the desirable portion of Reaper code to the
Geth, granting them the same devastating software upgrades as when
under direct Reaper control, but with free will.
It
was a near thing for the Quarians. But supported by Admirals Tali
and Koris, I managed to appeal to the Quarians and convince them to
stand down. The Geth never wanted this war, and attacking now would
only get the entire Quarian fleet destroyed. I’m amazed that it
worked. There must have been more unspoken opposition to the war
among the Quarians than I had thought, else the stand-down order
would never have worked.
Legion
did more than grant the Geth enhancements, he spent himself in the
process to complete their development, granting to all Geth what he
alone had hitherto possessed: true self identity, independent of the
Geth Consensus. The Geth are no longer merely self-aware, they are
each and every one of them an individual. A person.
Even
more than that, Legion was the great contradiction: the Synthetic
that made peace with Organics. The Reapers run this sick experiment
of theirs, this endless cycle of analysis and harvest, based on the
belief that we must be controlled because we cannot coexist; they are
wrong. Legion proved that. Legion may have given his life, but his
example will live forever as proof of the one thing the Reapers fear
most, the thing that not only threatens their forces, but undercuts
their entire philosophy: the fact that we, the inhabitants of this
galaxy, need not be enemies. Where there exists mutual goodwill,
peace can be made.
And
peace has indeed been made. The Geth have opened their arms to their
erstwhile enemies, and have offered to share the planet Rannoch,
their mutual homeworld, with the Quarians. Both sides will send
their forces to aid us against the Reapers, but for the time being a
discreet distance will be kept between Geth and Quarian combat units.
No need to push the limits of the still-delicate armistice that has
been achieved.
Tali
has once again taken her place aboard the Normandy. She admits that
she’s better at hacking than ordering ships, and wants to see this
war through aboard the Normandy, the ship whose name she bears. Once
her people labelled her with the name Tali’zorah Vas Normandy
as an insult. Now the name of Normandy stands in the minds of the
Quarians as the ship that helped them recover their home.
And without killing an entire race in
the process.
Perhaps it is all for naught. When this
war is decided, will Geth and Quarians alike lie in the communal
grave of unnumbered billions destroyed by the Reapers? It may be.
But my hope is better.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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