The Cybermen on Menae

~Nerdiant~

1

The silence was deafening. The soft footfalls of The Doctor echoed loudly as he paced the TARDIS engine room. It had been months since he last seen his companions, but The Doctor hadn't noticed. Right now, he was in the middle of a string of thoughts and was speaking to Old Girl once more.

"Funny thing about the Silence. They should have known that technology would catch up to them in the end. If they truly orchestrated the course of human history, you would have thought they would have put some sort of safety parameters in their design. Maybe a 'safe word' or a big red button. Oh, I always liked a big red button! Especially when it says 'do not press…'" The Doctor smiled to himself and then looked at the running engine. "So Old Girl," he said softly, "where should we go next? I haven't been to Midnight in some time." Then he frowned a bit, thinking back to that particular day, "Maybe that's a bad idea. I do hate repeats."

Swirling around the engine console, the Doctor began to flip switches, turn knobs, and press buttons. He suddenly had a destination in mind, and this time he hoped for a peaceful adventure. And if he was lucky, maybe the locals wouldn't even know his name.

2

"Base 2122, please come in." The intercom sounded loudly in the central command chamber, the background static filling the air. "Base 2122, please come in. This is Palaven Command, Base 2122, do you copy?" The audible click signaled the end of the transmission, leaving the command chamber of Base 2122 silent.

At Palaven Command, the turian soldier looked up his superior and shook his head, "Commander Sir, there is no response coming in from Base 2122."

His superior looked down and sighed heavily, "Dammit, what happened down there? Get me an answer." Straightening up, the Commander looked to the other soldier sitting at the secondary communications console, "Get me General Corinthus now!"

With a nod, the soldier began to dial in to the main base at Menae, "Menae base, this is Palaven Command with an urgent message for General Corinthus."

After a few second, the General's deep voice was heard over the intercom, "This is Corinthus, Palaven Command. What is it?"

Before the Commander could response, the soldier hailing Base 2122 interrupted him, "Sir! I am receiving a message from Base 2122."

The Commander nodded and responded quickly, "Full audio now!" With a flip of a switch, the soldier connected Palaven Command and Menae to the base.

"We are the Cybermen. Your species will be reborn as Cybermen. You should not fear us. Cybermen will remove fear, anger, sadness, happiness. Cybermen will remove the hierarchy. You will become like us."

3

The TARDIS materialized slowly upon the cliff of the desolate land. The whirling, whistling sounds of the TARDIS cut through the sounds of weapon fire, but no one would have noticed the event. With a thud, the big blue box solidified beyond the line of sight of the base's watchtowers. The doors flew open and the Doctor jumped out, spinning around to check his new surrounds.

"Oh lovely! I don't think this is where I wanted to go as I've ever been here before." He stuck out his tongue to get a taste of this foreign air, his eyes looking up to the dark sky to see if he could identify the stars. Swishing the taste of the air in his mouth, he grimaced and wiped his mouth on his sleeve.

"And that confirms it. No, I definitely have not been here before. The taste is…strange." Then the sounds of the battle in the distance began to fill his ears, along with the shouts of soldiers giving orders and the rapid firing of cannon weapons. With a few slow steps The Doctor looked around the TARDIS, and his eyes widened from the sight. Before him he could see a large planet burning, and upon the ground he stood on he saw the biggest mechanical beings he had ever seen.

"No," he said to himself, "I have not been here before." Laying a hand on the TARDIS, he looked at the battle scene, "Why here? Why this place?"

4

The transmission from Base 2122 ended abruptly, and then started again,

"We are the Cybermen. Your species will be reborn…"

The Commander slammed the button to end the feed, "No more!"

General Corinthus, still connected to Palaven Command, yelled angrily over the loudspeaker, "What the hell was that Commander? What the hell are Cybermen? What has happened to Base 2122?"

The Commander looked to his men, and shook his head once more, "General, I don't know what happened. We had lost contact with them only thirty minutes ago. We had seen that the distress alarm had been activated, but no other warnings had been sent to us."

There was a momentary pause before the General spoke once more, "Commander, coordinate with Base 2120 and get a squad to that base immediately. It looks like we have another hostile force on Menae, and I want them gone."

The Commander signaled to the Communications hub connected to Base 2120, "Yes sir, we'll deal with this."

"Good, Corinthus out."

5

The Doctor had been walking to the base he saw from the cliff, his eyes fixated on the burning planet above him and the large monstrosities before him. Another war, he thought to himself, there will always be another war. His mind raced with questions and he was determined to get his answers. Where was he and whose planet was that? Were the monstrosities the aggressors or the defender?

It wasn't long before he stood in front of metal wall that protected the base. There were strange markings on the outside of the large iron gate and a banner flew high a few meters away from where he stood. He waited there for a moment, allowing the TARDIS time to gather information about the species that occupied this moon, and hopefully translate the symbols on the door.

Whistling to himself, he was glad that the security at this base was nonexistent outside these walls. He gathered that the species here would not give him a warm welcome.

After a few minutes, the markings on the wall began to shimmer and reshape themselves. He nodded his approval of the Old Girl's ability to translate any language anywhere.

Finally the last number took shape and he knew which base this was. Base 2120.

6

"This is Base 2120, Palaven Command, what are our orders?" The young turian stood at the Communications hub, his finger pressed on the button. He had only been at this base for a few months and even though the Reapers had been neutralized there were still the rogues that had to be dealt with. On Menae, the majority of the Reaper forces had been destroyed, so dispatching the remaining Reapers was easy. Especially for a turian who was considered to be the lone expert on the Reapers.

"General Vakarian, sir, your orders are to take a squad to Base 2122 and deal with the hostile force that has commandeered our base. We believe that they have killed the command unit there or have taken them hostage." Garrus stretched his free hand a bit, holding down the anger of a base being lost to them,

"Do we know who the enemy is, Palaven Command?"

Silence, then, "Yes sir, they have identified themselves as Cybermen."

Garrus looked away from the console to his Second-in-Command, who offered a shrug, "Could you repeat that Palavan Command? Did you say Cybermen?"

"Yes sir, Cybermen. They offered no more information. They keep repeating the same message. They speak of rebirth and the removal of emotions and the removal of our Hierarchy."

Garrus scoffed under his breath, "Yeah, we'll see about that. Palaven Command, we'll set out right away. Vakarian out."

Garrus released the button and looked to his Second, "Arkavius, notify the squad that we're leaving for Base 2122 in 20 minutes." Arkavius saluted quickly and made a dash to the barracks, leaving Garrus alone and staring at the map of Base 2122. Cybermen, he thought to himself, Shepard would have loved to have seen that. He shook his head quickly as though the action would clear his head,

"None of that Vakarian," he said out loud, "None of that." Grabbing his gear he made his way to the door. He had a small problem to take care of.

7

"Base 2120," The Doctor said to the strange air around him. "Hmm, never saw a base I didn't like. Except for the ones I blew up, but those were naughty bases." He wrung his hands together excitedly, forgetting that he was in the middle of a war, with beings he had never seen before, on a moon he knew nothing about,

"I don't see a doorbell. I suppose I should just knock." Raising his hand, he prepared himself to knock on the large gate, when suddenly it began to shake, the large creaking noises of the old rusty gate making him step back. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out his Sonic Screwdriver, his only protection. Holding it before him, he took a few more steps back, as he began to hear the voices from behind the wall.

As the gate lowered, the Doctor looked at the beings behind the gate and was astounded by what he saw. A new species! A very strange, yet beautiful species. They were unlike anything he had seen before. They tall and oddly proportioned with small waists, wide hips and broad shoulders. He noticed that these beings only had three toes and three fingers and a strange skeletal structure. Their exoskeleton was evident through their heavy armor, and he noticed their distinctive facial features. Almost avian in nature, these beings had mandibles around their mouths and horns extending out from their skull. The facial markings on these beings varied but the Doctor knew that these were clan tattoos or war paint, not unlike some of the earlier human cultures. As the gate thudded on the hard earth a line of these creatures began to walk out. An escort squad by the look of it, as large transports soon followed them.

Well, the Doctor thought, now is a good time as any to make my introductions. And with that thought, the Doctor began his approach, his psychic paper in his hand (just to be safe).

"Hello!" he said cheerily, holding the paper in front of him, "I don't mean to intrude, but I am," he turned the paper to see what it said, and raised an eyebrow, "I am from the Citadel Embassies," he said with a lot more confidence than he felt. "I, uh, am an Ambassador." Smiling widely, he held the paper in front of him. Surely hostile beings cannot smile this wide.

The lead creature held up a hand, and the rest of the line and the transports stopped in their tracks. The being began to speak quickly, and the Doctor could only nod at the completely unintelligible language spoken in an oddly soothing, flanged voice. New language and no reference language for the TARDIS to work off of, he thought, of course.

After a few minutes, the lead creature held up his gun and gestured to the Doctor and the other beings began to approach him. Not hostile, just cautious. Keeping the paper up, he said again,

"I am from the Citadel Embassies; could I speak to the one in charge?" The lead creature turned to the one standing next to him and gestured to one of the transports. The other being nodded and ran towards it. The cautious one made one more step towards the Doctor and spoke again, this time, the words started to form,

"...did the Council….the embassy on Earth?" The Doctor nodded quickly at the last phrase, "Yes, I'm from the human embassy on Earth. I'm just a good old human Ambassador! That's who I am. Very human!" The lead being nodded and soon the line began to break up as they made way for the one who was obviously in charge. As the being approached him, the Doctor noticed that his face paint was a dark blue, a strange visor covered his left eye and that the scar that ran down the right side of his face was not only physical but emotional.

"An Ambassador from Earth," the one in charge said, a slight tinged of disbelief in his voice, "So tell me Ambassador, what is your name and what brings you to the turian moon of Menae?"

The Doctor smiled sheepishly and slid the psychic paper back into his coat pocket, "Ah good, you must be the one in charge of this fine group of turians!" He walked towards this turian with his hand out,

"Ambassador John Smith, it's a pleasure to meet you!" The group's leader narrowed his eyes a bit, and shook the Doctor's hand, his three-fingered grip applying just a bit too much pressure on the Time Lord's hand,

"General Garrus Vakarian, Ambassador." Freeing his hand, Garrus gestured to his men to stand down, "I will ask again, Ambassador, what brings you to Menae? We were not informed of your visit."

The Doctor, fully understanding the danger he could be in, nodded quickly, "Yes, yes, well, a surprise visit never hurt anyone, did it? Except for when someone doesn't like surprises, then it can get a little hairy. But, yes, I had heard about this fabulous moon and I just had to see it for myself." He gestured to the burning planet above him. "And also the planet above," he looked at Garrus and his tone turned somber, "What happened to the planet up there, Garrus?"

Garrus, turned and looked up at the planet, noting how the fires had died down since the last time he looked up there. Progress was moving slowly, but the rebuilding efforts had started to speed up now that they were done with the Reapers. Looking back at the oddly-dressed Ambassador, Garrus' shocking blue eyes blinked a bit, "As an Ambassador, you should know. Everyone knows what happened to Palaven."

The Doctor adjusted his red bowtie a bit, "Well, yes, of course I know. Big burning planet up there in the sky, mechanical monstrosities on this moon, I know what happened. But I want you to tell me what happened to that planet, Palaven."

Garrus shook his head slightly, "I would tell you what happened to my homeworld, but we have orders and we must follow them." He made a one-finger twirling gesture to the men behind him, "Everyone back in formation, we have to get to the base and remove the Cybermen threat from this moon."

The Doctor stared at Garrus for a brief second, a hand involuntarily reaching out to the rather tall turian, "Cybermen? Did you say Cybermen?"

Garrus turned and nodded slowly, "Yes, Ambassador, it seems that our base has been overrun by these Cybermen." Seeing the knowing look on The Doctor's face, Garrus confirmed it, "You know these Cybermen?"

The Doctor sighed softly and looked apologetically to Garrus, "I know them Garrus, and I am sorry, but the men at the base are gone. The Cybermen have them and there is no saving them." Stepping up to Garrus, he placed his outstretched hand on the turian's armored shoulder, "But I can help you stop them."

Garrus looked down at The Doctor, "Very well Ambassador, follow me."

8

The trip to Base 2122 was a shorter one than the Doctor had expected, but it gave him time to brief Garrus on the dangers that now occupied the base. Garrus, stone silent, listened to all of it and only asked a few clarifying question. The Doctor was impressed with this leader's calmness. Apparently this soldier has seen his share of battles, the Doctor thought as he looked at Garrus giving orders to his men.

As the transport came to a stop, the door opened and the men began to pour out. Garrus was the last to leave, with The Doctor trailing behind. As Garrus stepped down, he put a hand up to stop the Doctor.

"Ambassador, it would be best if you stayed here. From what you have told me, these Cybermen are a considerable threat. I would hate to lose you." The Doctor shook his head, declining the offer, "No, I must go with you. This is important, and I must see what's going on."

Turning his head, Garrus considered the Doctor's request,"If you're going in there, then I suggest you take one of the assault rifles from the armory."

The Doctor shook his head once more, "No guns."

Garrus made an audible humph and turned back to the base, "Your call, Ambassador. Move out."

9

Garrus and his men moved quickly to either side of the doors as the doors began to slide open. With a quick glance, Garrus looked into the main hall in to see what awaited them. His visor's reticular zoomed in and out giving him information about life signs and environmental hazards. Seeing none of these, he gestured his men forward, assault rifles at the ready. As the turian squad flooded into the main hall, the Doctor did a bit of scanning of his own, his Sonic Screwdriver making it's familiar chirping noise as he gathered data. Flipping it open, he analyzed the information. No life signs. Well of course not. Life signs would mean life, and there is no life here.

Garrus glanced sideways at the Doctor as he held up his omni tool to conduct a wider-range scan.

"Arkavius," he said to his Second, "lead half the men into the barracks, I want to see if we have any survivors. The rest of you, we're going into central command. Let's see if we can get some answers." The men saluted and began moving towards the barracks and the command center. The Doctor followed a distance behind, his eyes watching every movement, listening to every sound. He braced himself for that familiar clank clank clank of the Cybermen's footsteps.

"It's only a matter of time," he said to no one in particular.

10

Central Command, the heart of base 2122, stood empty. The screens that served as the base's eyes and ears were filled with static, and the hubs that surrounded the main screens were silent. As the squad entered the center, Garrus made a beeline to the central computer, tapping into the system to see if he could get either a video or an audio feed. The Doctor, sonic screwdriver in hand, went around the room, collecting what information he could.

Suddenly the main screen blinked and the static was replaced by a visual recording. A lone turian's voice could be heard over the loudspeakers.

"Palaven Command, this is Commander Octavias, Palaven Command come in. We have been overrun, I repeat, we have been overrun. Mechanical men have taken control of the base. They came out of nowhere!" The turian looked behind him as an audible bang was heard, the sounds of something trying to come into the command center. "Palaven Command, we need reinforcements, I don't…" And then there was silence as the feed was abruptly cut off.

Garrus bang his fist against the console, and looked to the Doctor. "Ambassador, I need answers. What has happened to the men here? We had a whole squad here, how could they have been taken by surprise like this?" Straightening up, Garrus made his way to the Doctor, "What happened here?"

The Doctor, whose eyes still lingered on the view screen, mumbled something to himself and as he looked to Garrus, he spoke quickly, "Cybermen. Yes. I don't know how they got here, but here they are. They will not stop until they have turned each and every one of you." Putting his sonic screwdriver away, he continued. "They believe that they are perfection. A perfect synthesis of organic and mechanical life. They use organics only for their brains, and they remove everything else that makes you sentient." Now that he had a captive audience, the Doctor continued, "You will soon see these Cybermen, but they will not attack unless provoked. They will choose to capture you first. The ones you will see will undoubtedly be your comrades, but you must not hesitate to fire on them. You cannot save them."

Garrus sighed and looked at his men, "Just like the Reapers. Very well, men, let's move out." Before he could finish his orders, a call came over the loudspeakers again, this time it was Arkavius.

"General Vakarian! We have found them! The Cybermen, they are here in the barracks. They have walled off a section of the barracks. I don't know why!" Behind him a scream came as one of the men was taken down and gun fire rattled through the feed, "Our assault rifles have no effect on them Commander! The bullets are bouncing right off them. Commander, should we engage in hand-to-hand?"

The Doctor looked at Garrus and shook his head emphatically, "Garrus, tell you men to run! They cannot defeat the Cybermen in hand-to-hand." Garrus eyed him briefly, before pressing the button to respond, "Arkavius, retreat. Get back here to Central Command."

"Yes General! Men! Retreat!" Arkavius shouted and as he began to turn to run, a Cyberman appeared before him. Over the loudspeaker, the Doctor heard the all-too-familiar mechanical voice, "We are Cybermen, you will be reborn as one of us. Or you will be deleted." Arkavius screamed as the Cyberman grabbed him, its strong metal hands crushing the turian's armored arms. Arkavius made a quick move to headbutt him, but the Cyberman proved to have much stronger armor than the turian exoskeleton could handle. An unconscious Arkavius soon slummed into the Cyberman's arms and was taken to the sectioned off portion of the barracks.

"Arkavius!" Garrus shouted at the feed, "Arkavius!" Slamming his fists once more, he took a few moments to collect himself be he looked to Doctor. In a voice filled with quiet rage, Garrus spoke,

"You know more than you have told me, Ambassador." Moving slowly away from the console, he made his way to the Doctor, his steps measured and purposeful. "You come here and you claim to be an Ambassador. Yet you know about these Cybermen, a race that I have never heard of before, and believe me Ambassador, I have seen all the races spanning the Terminus systems, Council space and I have seen what lies beyond the Omega-4 Relay. I have never seen these things before, and here you are, telling me about what they can do." Stopping right in front of the Doctor, Garrus' loomed over him, "Now tell me, Ambassador, who are you and what are you doing here?"

The Doctor looked up at Garrus, taking in the intensity of his eyes, knowing that any more attempts at subterfuge would be a serious mistake. "Yes, you're right Garrus. Allies shouldn't lie to each other, yes you're right." He extended his hand once more, "I'm the Doctor, I'm a Time Lord, and I am not from these parts."

11

Garrus stared down at the Doctor's hand, and reached out to shake it once more.

"So you're not human." It was more of a comment than a question, but the Doctor answered nonetheless,

"No, not human. We came first." Releasing Garrus' hand, he looked at the view screen and then to the men that had been listening in the entire time.

"Well then, now that you know who I am, let's see what we can do about these Cybermen." Looking around the central commander center, he spotted these strange tools sitting on a table.

"What are those?" Making his way to the table, he picked one up, sonic screwdriver in hand and did a quick scan. Flipping the screwdriver open, he looked at the results. "This is technology I have never seen before."

Garrus approached the Doctor and took the tool from his hand, "This is an omni-tool." To demonstrate, he held out his left hand and a strange orange console appeared out of the blue. The Doctor looked at it in amazement and clapped, "Oh what a beauty! What does it do?"

Touching a few keys on the tool, Garrus explained, "This is multipurpose diagnostic and computer tool. It is mainly used for hacking, decryption, and repair." Holding his hand out, the omni-tool extended into a blade, "And it can be used for close-quarter, melee combat." The blade folding back into the orange console, "It also allows us to activate an incendiary or electrical attack when necessary."

As he spoke, the Doctor was deep in thought. Yes, he thought, this is what we need. This is perfect.

"An electrical attack, you say?" The Doctor asked, his excitement rising as he was now able to see a plan form in his mind. "Electrical currents, yes." Taking out his sonic, the Doctor held the omni-tool in his hand, and allowed the screwdriver to do it work. Once he was done, he handed the tool to Garrus,

"Put this one on. I think you'll like what I did to it." Garrus nodded and took of his omni-tool and replaced it with the enhanced one. Turning it on, the omni-tool's hologram was no longer orange, but light blue. "Doctor?" Garrus asked, "What have you done?"

The Doctor grinned broadly as he looked to his creation,

"Oh a bit of this and that. I modified the electrical current within the device so that it not only beams a single ray of electricity, but it can also be manipulated and focused."

Garrus held out the omni-tool and out shot a beam of electricity. He expected the beam to go somewhere, but it did not, it stayed in front of him, hovering. Looking at the Doctor, Garrus clenched his fist and to his delight, the beam of electricity crumpled into a ball. With a flip of his wrist, Garrus sent the ball of electricity flying to the far side of the room, and there it impacted the wall with a burst of light.

"This…will do." Garrus said to the Doctor and motioned for his men to come to the table.

It was time to gear up.

12

Garrus held up a hand, signaling his men to stop their advancement. Now was the time for stealth because if what the Doctor said was true, this base now housed over 100 Cybermen/turian hybrid soldiers. The Doctor kept his distance behind the squad of turians, his sonic screwdriver at the ready. Cybermen, he thought, how did you get here?

The clanking of the Cybermen's synchronous march echoed in the hall leading to the barracks. To Garrus, these were nothing but slow moving machines, but he knew not to underestimate the enemy. The fact that the Cybermen got the drop on the soldiers stationed here earned them a bit respect. Still, a part of him wondered how that could have possibly happened. Wouldn't the sensors have detected them? Garrus shook his head to clear his mind. Now is not the time, he thought.

After a few silent minutes, Garrus signaled his men to move forward. Crouching low, he kept his tall frame from sight. His men started to move from wall to wall, keeping the line of sight clear. If there was a crate before them, they used it to keep cover, door frames became a perfect spot. Soon, they arrived at the door leading into the barracks. The Doctor, now caught up with them, made his way to Garrus and spoke in hushed tones,

"Garrus, I know that you will want to avenge the soldiers here, but now is not the time for rash decisions." Garrus nodded once as he kept his eyes to the door,

"I understand Doctor, and you're right, I would like to go in there guns blazing."

The Doctor placed a hand on Garrus' shoulder, "I know, as would I. In fact," The Doctor stood up and made his way to the door, "shall we?" And with that he knocked.

13

"Hello in there!" The Doctor yelled loudly, "Anyone home? Cybermen I know you're in there! Come out, the Doctor is here to see you!" Garrus looked hesitantly at his men, and motioned for them to stand. As they came to the door, a mechanical voice responded,

"Doctor, Doctor who?"

The Doctor laughed gleefully and clapped his hands, "Very good, very good indeed. It's the Doctor! You thought you could escape me, but I tell you what, old friends, I have found you. I know who you are and I know how you got here!" He banged on the door once more, "So let me in and I will introduce you to my new friends!"

The door slid open and before them stood a Cyberman. Tall and metal, it stood there stiffly, with its large head looking at them through dead, black holes. This once was a strange one though because unlike most humanoid Cybermen, this one had the facial structure of a turian, complete with the horns jutting out of from the skull. The rest of the body; however, was humanoid. Garrus did a quick intake of breath and the Doctor held out a hand behind him, hoping to calm the angered turian.

"Let's see here," The Doctor looked at this Cyberman with wonder, "you are something new, aren't you Cyberman? Or is it Cyberturian? Taking on the features of the races you murder now? Were humans not enough? Now you come here and see who else you can bring into the collective?" He dropped the hand that he held behind him and squared off against the Cyberman, 'You should have stayed away from here. You should have kept running."

"Cybermen do not run, Doctor," the mechanical voice said matter-of-factly, "We are the Cybermen, we will turn these beings into a new race of Cybermen. This world will soon be ours."

The Doctor shook his head and sighed, "I really wish you hadn't said that, because you see," he gestured to Garrus, and Garrus came around, his blue omni-tool held out in front of him, "my friend here, General Garrus Vakarian, knew these men that you took. And he doesn't like you on this moon, and he would like for you to leave his people alone."

The Cyberman took one step back and held out his left hand, its gun aimed right for Garrus, "Lower your weapon, or your will be deleted!"

"I don't think so," Garrus replied as the electric ball shot out from the omni-tool and hovered in front of the Cyberman. With a quick flick of the wrist Garrus sent ball crashing into the Cyberman, rendering him disabled. Walking towards it, he pulled out his assault rifle and hit the paralysed Cyberman with the butt of it, dropping it to the ground.

"Thank you, Doctor" Garrus said before signaling his squad, "Men, find every single one of these bastards and cut them down. Look for survivors if you can." With that, his men saluted and began their deadly assault on the remaining Cybermen.

14

The battle at Base 2122 was a short one by turian standards. In the end, 175 Cybermen were rendered disabled, but sadly, no survivors were found. Out of Garrus' men, only 23 fell to the Cybermen. To Garrus, that was a victory. Bittersweet as it was.

Garrus had found the contraption that the Cybermen has built for creating Cybermen. He stared at the blades and the remains of his falling comrades, and cursed under his breath. He now had the hard task of informing the families, but he knew that these were proud turians and they would be remembered for their bravery.

After speaking to Palaven Command, he turned his attention over to the Doctor, the funny looking humanoid in the brown coat and red bowtie. A Time Lord, he had called himself. Maybe, Garrus thought as he approached the Doctor.

"Doctor, it seems that my people owe you a debt of gratitude," Garrus said as he extended his hand out to the Doctor. "Palaven Command, in particular Primarch Victus, would like to thank you personally."

The Doctor once again shook Garrus' hand, but declined the offer, "No need, Garrus. But I would like to know more about you and your people." He began to make his way outside of the base, and looked up to the planet that loomed overhead.

"You told me that you would tell me about Palaven, and what happened there." Garrus stared up at the planet and nodded,

"I did," and slowly he began to talk about the turians, about Palaven, and about Menae. He went over other races of the galaxy, races that the Doctor had never heard of before, like the asari, the krogan, the salarians,

"Silurians?" The Doctor had asked. "No, Salarians," Garrus had responded.

Garrus spoke of the First Contact War with the humans, and the Doctor smiled.

"Humans," he said, "They always find ways to survive and thrive." Garrus nodded in agreement and The Doctor saw the sadness in his eyes. Remember to ask him about that, the Doctor thought. There is something there. Something that remains hidden.

At the end of the retelling, Garrus talked about the Reapers and about the devastation they had caused over the last four years. "The Reapers are what happened to Palaven. Just like every other major planet in the galaxy. Their presence was meant to be the beginning of the end of our people and of this cycle." He looked to the planet above and continued, "But she stopped it." He laughed a bit, "It was amazing Doctor. She ended hostilities between races that the Council was never able to do. She created unlikely alliances and she brought all the council races together to defeat the Reapers. I can see why you like humans as much as you do, Doctor. They are resourceful and they are determined." His blues eyes looked down to the Doctor, and his mandibles flexed in what the Doctor could only assume was a smile,

"You would have liked this particular human, Doctor. Commander Shepard." The Doctor nodded and smiled in agreement, "I am sure I would have Garrus. Tell me, what happened to her?"

"In the end, she sacrificed herself in order to destroy the Reapers. At least, that is what the Council has officially said. No one knows that happened up there in the Citadel, with the Catalyst. All we know is that there was an explosion and the Reapers started to shut down, one by one." He raised his hand and pointed to area where they could hear faint gunfire. "There were a few rogue Reapers, those who believed more in self-preservation rather than going down with the ship." Garrus dropped his hand and looked back to the Doctor, "We are still destroying the remaining Reapers and hunting down the rest of them. We are rebuilding, and we are experiencing a peace that we haven't felt in decades."

The Doctor smiled widely and patted Garrus on the shoulder, "Good on you, mate. A galaxy of peace! My kind of place!"

Garrus nodded and eyed the Doctor for a second, "When you were talking to the Cybermen, you told them that you knew how they had gotten here. How did you know?"

The Doctor smiled and placed his hands in his pockets, and rocked a bit on the balls of his feet. "Parallel universe. Only explanation." Garrus looked at him dubiously, as he was not sure if the Doctor was making a joke or telling the truth.

"A parallel universe?" Garrus asked.

The Doctor, an expert on parallel universes, could only confirm, "Yes. You didn't think that your universe was the only one? There are many of them, Garrus. There could be billions. There could be a billion Garrus' running and gunning. Doing good, being bad. Some could be the Executor of this C-Sec you spoke about. Others could be Primarch." Garrus scoffed at that one, but a small part of him liked the sound of it. The Doctor laughed beside Garrus but then fell silent for a minute or two. Speaking softly, the Doctor spoke about something that he hadn't talked about in some time, "I know well of parallel universes, Garrus. I had to leave a friend in one." He looked at Garrus and smiled sadly, "Nasty business, parallel universes. Especially when the window closes."

Garrus paused a bit before responding, "When we first met, you told me that you were a Time Lord. What does that mean?"

The Doctor glanced to the cliff were he had left his beloved TARDIS before looking back to Garrus, "My people, the Time Lords, can control time and space. Well, control is a bit of a big word isn't it? Perhaps it is best to same that we're companions of time and space." Pointing to the cliff, he continued, "Upon that cliff lies my TARDIS. Time and Relative Dimension in Space. It means that I can go to any point in time be it the past, the present or the future…" He could have rambled on it is hadn't been for Garrus' quiet stare. If the Doctor could guess, he would say that it was a look of surprise.

"Anywhere in time?" Garrus asked quietly, thinking and processing what he had just heard. The Doctor turned to him and asked the question for him,

"Is there somewhere you would like to go, Garrus?"

15

The TARDIS was unlike anything Garrus has ever seen before. Bigger on the inside, he thought to himself, amazing. The Doctor had shown Garrus the way to the TARDIS, and along the way had explained what it was. "Now once you see it, you may feel the urge to say every word from 'amazing' to 'fantastic.' Don't worry, I have heard them all." When Garrus' eyes fell upon the TARDIS, the vivid blue police box resting on the cliff with the dark night of Menae serving as its backdrop, Garrus only shook his head. Ravings of a madman then? Was his only thought but once the Doctor opened the door, he quickly changed his mind. Not ravings, no this is real. This is amazing!

Walking up the ramp that lead to the TARDIS console, Garrus watched at the Doctor flipped a few switches and pulled a lever down. Resting a hand upon the last lever, the Doctor stopped and turned to look at his new turian companion. "Garrus, are you sure that this is what you want to do?"

As he approached the console, Garrus nodded, 'Yes, Doctor, I'm sure." The Doctor watched him quietly, and so Garrus continued, "There is an old Earth saying, 'time heals all wounds.' Well," Garrus said, his voice dropping to an almost inaudible level, "this one is deep."

Pulling down on the lever and turning a knob, the Doctor responded, "I understand Garrus. But if I do this for you, you must promise me one thing." Another switch flipped followed by a pressed button. "You must promise me that you will not try to save her."

Garrus watched the Doctor in silence, the meaning of the Doctor's words filling his ears. "I will not try to save her; you have my word, Doctor."

The Doctor moved around the console quickly, as he began to set the destination for his friend.

"I hope not Garrus. The tricky thing with time, is that events are fixed. You will want to go to her and you will want to warn her. But believe me," he spun on a heel to face Garrus, "there are worst things that can happen if you decided to change the course of history. Her death is a fixed point in time. Her victory over the Reapers is a fixed point in time. If she is warned, she may not follow the course." He walked up to Garrus and stared him in the eye, "You must not warn her, you must not touch her, you must not speak to her. Do you understand?"

Garrus nodded slowly, acknowledging what he had been told. "Yes, Doctor, I understand."

The Doctor smiled, relieved that he understood, but deep inside he was not sure he could trust Garrus. He knew that once Garrus saw her, he might very well go against everything that he had just agreed to. Rose had done it before, and the Doctor had trusted her explicitly.

"Then let's be off!" The Doctor exclaimed as he made way his back up to the console. Pulling down on the last lever, the TARDIS engine began to run.

16

"Shepard!" Ensign McIlroy 's strong Irish accent called out to her, "Lieutenant Commander Shepard, if I could have a word with you?"

Shepard had been on her way back to her quarters before she heard her name being called out. Turning, her eyes caught the sight of man waving at her. One more thing, she thought, this better be the last question McIlroy before I go on leave.

Running up to her, McIlroy paused and caught his breath. Saluting quickly, he asked his question, "Lieutenant Commander Shepard, I'm glad I caught you. I hear you're going on shore leave?"

Shepard saluted in return before responded, "Elysium. I thought it would be a nice change of pace."

McIlroy smiled broadly, "I have no doubts Lieutenant Commander. I know you will have a good time there. Well deserved! I was wondering one thing. When you return, do you think I could pick your brain about the N7 program?" The earnest look on his face reminded Shepard of the time she was first considered for a spot.

"Of course Ensign, anything you want to know, you come find me. Now, if you'll excuse me?" McIlroy nodded and saluted once more. Shepard saluted in kind and turned away from him. A nice time in Elysium will do me some good, she thought, a nice, quiet, peaceful time.

As she rounded a corner, she disappeared from sight.

17

The Doctor looked up to Garrus, but said nothing. Garrus stood still as he watched her speaking to the younger man before saluting and walking away. He hoped that she would at least turn in his direction, but he knew better. He did not belong in this time, and he was not a part of her life. Yet. But still, the sight of her brought him some peace. Speaking to the Doctor, he made a motion to her as she left, "It is strange Doctor. I know she died on the Citadel, but here she is. Alive. Alive and living in a world that has not seen the Reapers."

The Doctor could only pat him on the shoulder gently, for his clever words were failing him now

"Come on Garrus," he managed to say, "it's time to go home."

As they walked away from the busy corridor of the Alliance Academy, Shepard rounded the same corner once more and looked towards their direction.

But saw that no one was there.

18

The Doctor had dropped off Garrus at Base 2120 and was once again alone in the TARDIS. A Cybermen threat, a parallel world and a new friend.

"Tuesdays, eh?" The Doctor smiled widely as he put up his feet on the TARDIS console, his thoughts drifting back to his adventure.