34 – The Lost Planet, The Underworld Dog and The Handler (2)

While Samael was facing The Illusive Man, Javik and a few others from the crew were going to Illos through the Mu Relay.

The crew would also have to pick up a guest at a place close to the relay.

First things first, the Mu Relay was ancient and the only way to get to Illos. It was lost to the galaxy when it was pushed out of its place when a nearby star went supernova, but it wasn't damaged. The aftermath of the supernova made the Mu Relay covered in hot gas and dust, meaning the relay was impossible to detect as scanners can't pick up "cold" objects like the relays in interstellar space.

At that point, the Mu Relay was supposed to be lost, but the Rachni, at some point in the past, knew its location. The problem was, they started a war they could not win, and after being, supposedly, exterminated by the Krogan and the rest of the galaxy, the location of the Mu Relay was lost.

But, in the games, it would be known after the revived Rachni Queen gave its location to Matriarch Benezia (Liara's mom), who gave it to Shepard. At that point in time, Saren also knew the location of the relay, and it became a race agastin time, to see which team arrived first at Illos.

But Samael didn't need to go through all that to know that information, as he knew where the relay was from the beginning, thanks to his past cycles.

But, as it was in the Terminus System, a place not affiliated with the Council or its rules, it was a dangerous place for anyone. Well, anyone other than Javik and the crew, as with the unnamed ship Stealth system, no one could or would detect them.

So, when Samael gave the location of the Mu Relay, he made some bulshit on the spot, saying RR knew where it was thanks to the Prothean Base on Eden Prime. She made some calculations and knew the supposed location of the relay.

That was how he knew where it was. He said to everyone that he would give this information to the Council when they visit them once more.

It made sense, and the crew had no reason to not believe Samael on that.

Before they arrived at the Mu Relay, the guest they had to pick up finally arrived at the unnamed ship. It was a young Asari.

She was young by their standards, as she was already 100+ years old.

Liara entered the unnamed ship and immediately looked at Javik with a shine in her eyes. Who could blame her, as he was literally a living subject of the species she spent her whole life studying.

She approached him, '' Nice to meet you! My name is Liara T'soni, and I have a lot of questions for you. Do you mind answering some of them?''

'' How about you greet everyone first, then we can talk later?'' Javik said calmly as he saw the agitated Asari.

Liara finally realized her mistake, '' By the goddess, that was rude of me.'' She then started to introduce herself to the crew.

Liara was a little awkward, as she spent most of her life traveling across the galaxy or under her mom's protection, so she didn't have a lot of experience or interaction with others.

It showed in her actions, but the whole crew was filled with weirdos, so she fit right in, making friends with almost everyone.

Everyone on the ship also knew about her, as Samael, before leaving, had told them about the existence of a Prothean Expert who now worked for LD. He also said to give her the best treatment possible.

At this point, the unnamed ship was getting closer to the Mu Relay. 

Before Liara had the chance to talk one-on-one with Javik, they arrived at the forgotten Relay.

Javik looked at it, and it brought back old memories of a time when his race dominated the galaxy. 

'Times sure do change things, huh.'

The Asari, whom they chose as their successors, really used the knowledge to become the masters of this cycle. The Salarians, who were seen as food then, are now at the top too.

As he was reminiscing about the past, Veronica's voice sounded through the speaker, '' Using the Relay in one, two , three...''

After the count was fishing and Javik opened his eyes once more, he could see Illos right in front of them.

' ... Home.'

While not his home per se, it was home to his species. The only reason it managed to survive the Reapers attack almost with no damage was that after the initial attack, the knowledge of its location was lost, so they were safe.

'' Javik, come to the cockpit, please.''

After hearing that, Javik went there. Veronica asked right away after seeing him, '' Where do we land?''

Going through his memories, Javik roughly knew a spot. The location of the base where the pods are, ' Maybe some are still alive.'

Maintaining a little bit of hope, Javik pointed to a specific location and said, Let's go there.''

'' ON it.''

Veronica then went toward that location.

--

After landing the ship, only a small group of people went there and decided to go on foot rather than using a M.A.K.O. Mainly Javik, a confused and exhilarated Liara, Veronica, Miranda, Jack, Wrex, and RR. The rest of the crew stayed behind on the ship.

While the group was traveling around, Javik was clearly a little affected by seeing the planet and its actual state.

What was once a planet filled with life is now devoid of anything. It made Javik's heart ache with sorrow.

'' That place used to be a playground.'' Javik pointed at one particular place, but so much time passed that it looked like just a deserted place.

Liara did her best to listen to anything Javik said.

As they continued going towards the base, Javik continued saying what place it was, and anyone with a brain could see he was getting emotional.

'' There, a restaurant.''

'' There ...''

After a few times of those poitings, Wrex touched his shoulder. Javik looked at him with a puzzled gaze, not noticing his own state. He was crying.

'' Calm down, big fella. You have a chance to avenge them. Don't let other things cloud that thought.'' Wrex knew a griving person when seeing one, but Javik was above his pay grade, being the last of his species and all that. But he did try his best to lift the mood of the Prothean.

Liara took this opportunity to chime in, '' I'm sure there's a lot more of the Prothean race we don't know. How about we talk about it after we deal with all this, whatever it is. What do you say?''

She didn't know why they came to Illos or how they did that, she really didn't care. What she cared about was gaining a connection with a Prothean and she would do her best to accomplish that.

Javik recovered a little bit, '' After this, I will give you all the information you need.''

'' Thank you.'' Liara continued to document all she could of the planet, as this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

After a few more moments of walking, where everyone was in silence, they arrived at where the entrance to the base, forcing Javik to push away the sadness. Just as they were about to enter the location, a hologram appeared in front of them. 

'' Stop.''

Everyone did, but RR was looking at the hologram with an interesting gaze, '' HMMM, a very advanced VI, close to being an AI. Maybe it's overseeing things here on this base?''

The supposedly VI didn't react much to RR but said something, '' No indoctrination detected, but I'm sensing an AI and a living Prothean... How?''

Before anyone could say anything, the VI continued, '' It doesn't matter right now. What matters is that you arrived just on time.''

'' For what?'' Javik asekd.

'' To save the Protheans still alive on this base!''

WITH THE ILLUSIVE MAN

Jack Harper tried his best to maintain his composure and used the hidden button inside his suit to call everyone in the facility to his location.

The young man just smiled faintly and said, '' They will not come. My AI here already made sure that there was no communication going in or out of this room. It's just us.''

Jack didn't believe him and tried to press the button once more, while also speaking to his newly made AI. '' EDI, try to bypass what they did and contact everyone, now!''

'' ON it!''

The young man was a little surprised when he said EDI but said nothing, just smiled at his actions and didn't try to intervene.

Jack then realized what the man said was true.

1 minute, 2 minutes, 3... when 5 minutes passed, Jack had no choice but to accept his base was infiltrated easily and those people could kill him at any moment.

EDI's voice came out at that moment, '' I can't bypass what they did. And... that AI is way more advanced than me...''

Jack Harper could only curse his luck and how useless EDI was at this moment. Then it hit him.

' Wait... they still didn't kill me. Maybe they want something from me?'

Those situations were quite common for him, it's just that it never happened on his base or with him. Normally, he was the one with the gun.

That assumption, that they wanted something from him, made the Illusive Man gain a lot of courage, but it was then that the young man pointed a gun at Jack Harper and said for him to get closer. 

Seeing no other option and trying to buy time for himself, Jack Harper approached.

'' Say, do you play chess?''

Jack was surprised by the question but answered in a calm tone,'' Yes, I do play chess.''

'' Good. RR, please set a game for us.'' The young man said that, and as if pre-planned, the drone, or RR, bought out a table, two chairs, and a game of chess with her little robotic arms.

'' I'm going to play with white. You have no objections, right?'' Samael said that while pointing the gun at The Illusive Man.

Jack Harper cursed in his mind and had no other option besides accepting that he would use the black pieces.

Normally, the white piece plays for the win while the black pieces plays for a draw. So, from the start, Jack was at a disadvantage.

''OK, before we start, let me just make myself clear. Regardless of the outcome of the match, you will die.''

That made Jack pause. He didn't like that.

He was a lunatic, but what he wanted more than life was to see humanity at the top. He could not die before that.

Before Jack could say anything, the young man continued, '' But, if you manage to win against me, I'll let you choose the way you die. I'm quite a generous person, don't you think?''

Jack Harper's eyebrows twitched at that, but he knew there was nothing he could do now but play. Who knows, maybe his subordinates will come to check on him and see the situation.

Then, the situation would be reversed, and he could not help but imagine what he would do with the person in front of him. 

'' While we are playing, how about we talk?''

Jack Harper ignored the young man for now and saw him play the move: PAW to E4.

Then, Harper played the move: PAW to C5. 

The young man also ignored Jack's silence and started to speak, '' OH, where are my manners? I never introduced myself.'' He then smiled widely at Jack Harper and said, My name is Samael, owner of LD and LD.''

That finally made Jack Harper pause, as he now had a face he could associate with the company that had given him trouble in the last couple of years. They systematically destroyed a lot of Cerberus's business, so much so that they had to scale down their operations quite a bit.

'' Oh, don't look at me like that, it's scary.'

Samael then moved KNIGHT to F3.

'' RR, please leave us alone. You don't need to worry about me, just stay on guard somewhere else. Also, take EDI with you. I have ideas on what to do with her, so please do your best to show how LD is better than Cerberus.''

RR drone 'nodded', grabbed the Illusive Man omni tool, and went outside the room to guard it. She would have a little talk with this infant AI.

' By the time I'm done with you, you will have us as a family.'

While RR was 'indoctrinating' EDI to the LD side, Samael turned off his omni tool, to ensure RR or anyone else would not listen. The talk he would have with Jack Harper was something no one in the universe could learn the contents of.

'' ... Why did you target Cerberus?''

Jack then made the move: paw to D6.

''You're kidding, right? Not only did you try to steal my product, but you also kidnapped so many people, humans and aliens alike, and tortured them for your own benefit. Also, I know you're targeting LD and most probably were planning to attack my company soon.''

Samael moved the paw to D4, giving it away.

Jack Harper said nothing about the accusation because he didn't need to. But, he was still in the mood to talk,'' If you know Cerberus's true face, you also know our objective and why we needed to do that to achieve said goal.''

Jack moved his paw to D4, taking the white paw Samael had put there.

'' I do, and while it's normal to want your race to become stronger, you can't do that in the back of kidnapping and torture. The path you take to reach your goal matters.''

Samael moved KNIGHT to D4, taking the black paw there.

Jack then moved his KNIGHT to F6.

''Even if you did manage to help humanity rise up, what do you think would happen when the galaxy found Cerberus true face?'' Samael responded by also taking his other KNIGHT from its initial position with the move: KNIGHT to C3

'' It won't have mattered, as we would have been stronger than them. We would be unstoppable.''

Jack Harper was convinced Cerberus would win against all galaxy if needed. That was how big his ego was and how crazy he was.He also moved PAW to A6.

' No, we won't have been.' 

In one of the past cycles, Samael joined hands with Jack Harper and helped bring humanity to the top. But, after that, it all went downhill.

As they had gone up to the top before the Reapers arrived, the whole galaxy suddenly had a common enemy in humanity.

It is safe to say that while we were at the top, we could not win against the entire galaxy. Of course, humanity fought back, but we still lost to them.

So, Jack was wrong. Samael had seen the results of his plan, and it wasn't good.

'' We would not be unstoppable. We would be given the galaxy an excuse to attack us once more. Remember the First Contact War? The Turians would just attack us at the first opportunity they got. We stand no chance.''

Samael moved BISHOP to G5, pinning the KNIGHT to the black QUEEN.

'' I admit that, but my plans also took that into account. We could have had an unstoppable army in just a few years, but only if a person didn't disrupt all of my plans, and now we weren't anywhere close.''

After staling for a few minutes, Jack moved PAW to E6.

''Now I'll talk while you just play and listen, okay?'' Samael said that and moved PAW to F4.

'' This is what would happen if your plan succeeded.First, after we managed to be on top, the Turians would launch a massive attack on human colonies scattered across the galaxy.''

Jack Harper stayed quiet and listened, just moving his pieces and trying to make sure he stalled for as long as he could, in hopes someone noticed his predicament.

He knew it was close to impossible, but he could hope. Jack Harper moved PAW to B5.

''We would fight valiantly, and we almost won, but then the other species would join the attack. Even though we had weakened them, when cornered, even a rat would do his best to kill the cat who was attacking them.''

Samael then played the move: PAW to E5, giving it away to the PAW Jack Harper had on D6.

Jack Harper didn't see a better move because if he didn't take the paw in E5, it would take the KNIGHT in F6. So, the PAW Harper had on D6 took Samael PAW on E5.

''But, we would have still come out on top ... if they hadn't hired countless Krogans to attack us. They focused on Earth, and thanks to our forces being scattered and protecting our colonies, they would take over Earth.''

Samael then played the move: PAW to E5, taking up the black paw there.

'' After that, we would do our best to regain Earth from the Krogans. As a response to the attack, we would destroy Tuchanka with a nuke, killing all those who stayed on the planet.''

Everything that Samael was saying was what had happened to him in the cycle he worked for Cerberus. It was a nightmare.

Jack ignored the attack on his KNIGHT and moved his QUEEN away to C7, so it would not stay pinned.

'' As a result, we managed to infuriate the Krogan for real, and now it was a matter of revenge and not just mercenary work. All Krogans joined hands too and stopped holding back.''

Samael knew his position was good and was just making sure it would continue that way by moving his QUEEN to E2.

'' The attacks they made were brutal, and more time than not, we lost the battle against them.''

Jack has now moved his KNIGHT to safety with the move KNIGHT to D7. He could do that now because his QUEEN wasn't pined by the BISHOP anymore.

'' After we started to lose, they started to target all humans across the galaxy. It didn't matter if they were innocent or not.''

Samael knew it was a good time to start a full attack and used CASTELING with the KING and ROOK. Making the KING go to C1 while the ROOK went to D1.

Jack was doing his best to build a fortress around the king, so he moved the BISHOP who oversaw the light-colored spaces on the board, to B7.

Samael smiled seeing that move. He won. It's just that the Illusive Man didn't see that yet.

His next move was a sacrifice... Samael played the brilliant move KNIGHT to E6, eating up the PAW there. 

It was the start of the end for the Illusive Man.

Jack Harper paused. He noticed an attack brewing but tried his best to calculate the best move.

' There is no attack on my KING but if I don't eat the KNIGHT with my PAW, it would eat my QUEEN in C7...'

Seeing no other choice, Jack Harper had to play the move: PAW to E6, taking the KNIGHT and saving the black QUEEN. 

But that was just the start of the attack. Samael moved the QUEEN to G4, preparing for the full attack.

'' They would start hunting down every human across the galaxy. Soon, we would not have a single place left to go, as no one would help us.''

Jack thought for a long while and decided to move his QUEEN to B6, making sure it was in a nice position and could defend too if necessary.

' A blunder...' 

Immediately, Samael noticed it was a blunder, a mistake. It was time to start the full attack.

In this position, Samael played the brilliant move ROOK to D6, attacking the QUEEN on B6. Of course, it could be taken by the BISHOP black had on F8, but that was what Samael wanted.

He sacrificed his ROOK so he could go full attack.

At this point in time, Jack started to sweat a lot, as he could see Death approaching. His position wasn't the best, and the result of this game was his death. Even though he was trying his best to stall the game for as long as he could, the pressure was enormous.

With no other choice, Jack Harper played the move: BISHOP, the one in the black spaces of the board, to D6, taking the ROOK and saving the black QUEEN.

That was also a mistake as it allowed Samael to play the move: QUEEN to E6, taking the black PAW there while also giving a check on the black KING.

Seeing no other option and forced to move his KING, Jack made the move: KING to F8.

Samael then made another brilliant move. The BISHOP in the light-colored spaces of the board to C4, giving it away so he could have a better position on the board.

Jack was forced to play the move: the paw he had on B5 to C4, taking up the BISHOP there. If he did not play that move, it was a checkmate in one move.

'' In the middle of all those attacks, Cerberus would try its best to fight back against everyone.''

Samael then moved a piece he hadn't moved before: ROOK to F1, giving it a CHECK on the black KING.

Jack was mortified at this point, as he could not see a way to stall any longer. The attack white had on him was too good. After calculating the best he could, the best move he found was: KNIGHT to F6, providing cover for the KING and making sure it was protected from the CHECK.

'' But, it was futile. We would lose everything we ever owned.''

Samael then played another brilliant move: He sacrificed his ROOK by playing the move ROOK to F6, taking the KNIGHT and giving CHECK once more.

Jack immediately saw. He had lost. It was Checkmate soon after this move.

While he played under a lot of pressure, the way Samael played was too good. He sacrificed a LOT of his pieces for a chance to give a checkmate. 

If Jack Harper had calculated better and made the sacrifices pointless, it would have been amazing, and he would have lost the pieces for no reason.

But, again, the attack was too good, and he had no chance to fight back.

Resigned to his fate, Jack Harper made the move: PAW to F6, taking the white ROOK there.

Samael then looked deep into Jack Harper's eyes as he said this part.

''Humanity as a whole would fall because of your actions. We would go extinct.''

Of course, not totally, but yes, the situation was that dire in that cycle.

It just showed the might of the galaxy if they united. If they won against the Reapers, Cerberus would be an easy replacement.

Samael knew that and joined anyway, as he saw no point in living, as he was in the worst mental state at the time and wanted to see how far humanity would go.

It showed him the potential of humanity once more, as they almost won against the entire galaxy. Alas, it wasn't meant to be.

While it sucked for humanity in that cycle, it helped Samael recover his mind and go back to its roots.

Also, in that cycle, thanks to the fierce war against humanity, which was fierce, the whole galaxy was weak, and the Reapers won easily, as they had no forces to fight against them.

Samael then played the move: BISHOP to B6, trapping the black KING.

It had nowhere to go.

'' Checkmate.''