29 Prothean Designs

--> We got the data. Liara says that it is indeed plans for a weapon capable of defeating the Reapers.

The Mars Archives were overrun by Cerberus, commandos sent in to steal the same information Hackett sent us to collect. It seems the moment word of the Reapers’ arrival spread, everyone jumped at once. In the ensuing fight for the data on Mars, Lieutenant Commander Ashley Williams was critically injured by a Cerberus robot disguised as a scientist, the same infiltrator that opened the gates for the Cerberus strike team. The Normandy was launched in emergency, and lacks a full crew. At this time, a doctor is especially wanting.

While we have seized both the data and the Cerberus robot carrying it, it is unclear if Cerberus received transmission of some portion thereof (it is a large file). We've sent the information to Admiral Hackett, and will be presenting our findings to the Citadel Council alongside a formal and urgent request for immediate military aid. The Citadel is Ashley’s best hope for proper medical treatment. She has to hold on a few hours.

It seems Cerberus has thrown their customary habits of deception and guile out the blooming airlock. Their standard approach with the rest of humanity is one of subtlety, manipulating events from the shadows without leaving a trace. There was no trace of subtlety in the Mars attack. Their mole vented most of the main facility, killing almost everyone inside. The rest were slaughtered by the Cerberus commandos that assaulted immediately thereafter. So far as I know, Dr. T'Soni is the only survivor of that assault. Why Cerberus has abandoned all pretence of care for human life is beyond me. It's the basis of their entire ideology, their only claim to moral legitimacy, the assertion that they fight for Humanity's interests. Perhaps it should come as no surprise; they'd hardly be the first human cult of the civilized era that slaughtered humans in the name of the “Greater Good” of Humanity. The question is, why now?

Their method itself seems flawed. Why march in and slaughter everyone if all you really care about is obtaining the data? They could have just as easily had their infiltrator copy the data and slip away with no one the wiser. Trying instead to not only steal the data but also wipe the servers clean while slaughtering all Alliance personnel assigned to the archives tells us that the Illusive Man no longer simply thinks he knows better than the rest of Humanity, it seems we are no longer to be trusted even with our own defence.

But why would he object to us building this device ourselves? Perhaps he fears the likelihood of a joint operation with Humans and Aliens working together, with more potential for leaks and infighting. Perhaps he wants more than anything to ensure that it is Cerberus that enters in the eleventh hour with the super-weapon to save us all from the Reapers, Cerberus's crowning moment of heroism and triumph, with the lives of a few soldiers and scientists on Mars being seen as an equitable trade.

Whatever the reason, whether the Illusive Man is motivated by security interests, building the device in absolute secrecy to a degree that the Alliance will not be capable of, or if he was attempting to ensure Cerberus status as the saviour of the Galaxy, his means thereto tell clearly the cost. Whatever the Illusive Man used to believe and to stand for, he now sees human lives as being secondary to his primary goals. I had hoped when the Reapers came that whatever was left of Cerberus would set aside its aloof and hostile pride and unite with us. It seems that is not to be. Mars establishes two things: firstly, Cerberus is a force to be reckoned with, and secondly, that in this war, they are an enemy. Not the enemy, to be sure, but an enemy nonetheless.

This Prothean device poses substantial questions. The proposed construction will require tremendous resources to build, and despite its resulting power will be unlikely to exceed the firepower-to-investment ratio of standard combat vessels. The weapon may indeed be capable of destroying Reapers, but it will only be one such weapon, if we even succeed in finishing its construction; one weapon, one target for the Reapers to destroy, and boom, all of our last-minute efforts and resources pinned on one massive investment are gone in a single stroke. It’s been many years since the short story Superiority was required reading for military officers. It is true that we cannot hope to defeat the Reapers conventionally; in a straight-up fight we lose through insufficient firepower, in a running fight of attrition, they grow stronger as we grow weaker. In order to win, we have to cheat somehow.

This Prothean device, in order to fulfil its purpose, cannot simply utilize provided material through known methods. It will have to use either a technological trick, a secret scientific breakthrough as great as the discovery of mass effect technology, or instead tap into another power source, greater than what we can through normal means utilize. Maybe I’m drawing to much of a distinction between those two options. If it fails to do either of these things, then our narrow window of time would be better spent conducting emergency production of frigates and cruisers.

We don’t know a lot about the device yet, but Liara says that the plans are incomplete, as was its construction when the Protheans lost. It’s missing a piece referred to only as “The Catalyst.” Clearly a code word of some sort, we’ve no idea what the Catalyst is, but it had better be good. I hope we’re not making a big mistake.

My every instinct tells me that this is a losing proposition, that the only tactically sound option is to evade, “meet strength with weakness and weakness with strength.” But there’s nowhere to run to, nowhere the Reapers will not follow to hunt us down and destroy us. We have no choice but to stand and fight. And pray.

Launched as it was in emergency without a full crew, the Normandy is potentially vulnerable to insufficient engineer oversight. Ashley grabbed Joker, Adams, and a handful of maintenance and security personnel. Nothing like a full complement, all hands will be pulling long shifts in order to ensure the Normandy remains at peak efficiency. It's a lot to ask of the crew, but at time like this, we cannot afford a malfunction. There will likely be a great many Alliance personnel in our embassy at the Citadel who will jump at the chance to sign on to the Normandy. Not exactly regular, but at a time like this no one will care. We need every able-bodied man and woman engaged in this fight, and desk-workers everywhere will find themselves dropping their datapads and picking up tools and weapons, and the sooner the better.

Citadel is in sight, docking clearance granted. There's a lot of ships here.  Nimble and knife-like Salarian frigates, graceful and sleek-skinned Asari cruisers arrayed with glistening ribbons of light, ponderous Turian dreadnaughts with their signature wings and couched stance.  Let's see if we can't persuade the Council to put them to use.

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