119 – Leviathans (2)

A WEEK EARLIER

Samael was in his ship, one of LD Standard, which he had modified. They weren't as extreme as the ones on the Phoenix, but they were enough to ensure his safety in any situation.

In this ship, he had many things: weapons, an M.E.C.H that allowed him to reach where the Leviathans were located, and various other equipment. He had gathered everything that might help heal his mind.

His mind had been bothering him for a long time, and after experiencing many events that solidified something was wrong with him, he was forced to confront the issue head-on.

Despite all of this, he still needed to make some calls to ensure that things would run smoothly during his absence. Even though he would never admit it, he knew that his presence was a boost to the morale of certain individuals, who just happened to be in positions of power across the galaxy. Therefore, he was making arrangements for things to continue running smoothly in his absence, no matter how long it lasted.

He contacted the Shadow Broker and relayed some information ahead of time. He spoke to Tevos regarding Shepard and various other matters, and talked with Councilor Anderson and Castis, Aria, and so on.

It was a lot of people to reach out to, and by the time he finished, a whole day had already passed since he left Earth. He was only hours away from reaching 2181 Despoina, the Leviathans' lair.

To say he didn't want to go there would be an understatement, as the Leviathans were hardly trustworthy. But as had been mentioned many times before, he had no choice. They were his last hope.

He decided to take a nap after the calls. Honestly, it was tiring, managing all that took a mental toll few could handle with just sleep. Luck for Samael, he was one of those few.

HOURS LATER

Samael found himself in a strange place. It was all white, yet for some reason, he recognized it. But from where, he couldn't tell.

He stood in that place for a few minutes until he decided to walk around. As he did, he was suddenly confronted by an indoctrinated Yagh. For some inexplicable reason, instead of attacking, the Yagh walked to his side and joined him.

"What is happening?"

At this point, Samael realized that this must be a dream because nothing made sense. Before he could contemplate further, an indoctrinated Salarian joined them, forming a trio.

Less than four seconds later, another indoctrinated person joined the throng, quickly followed by more and more. Within a minute, millions of indoctrinated individuals were gathered behind or beside Samael, following his every move.

This bizarre walk continued until their numbers swelled to billions. Suddenly, there was a shift in the atmosphere, and they all focused their gaze on Samael, who had moved to a distance, staring back at them.

Before he could say anything, the billions began to attack.

Samael wasn't caught off guard by this, as he had expected it from the beginning. However, the sheer number of attackers was overwhelming, and he had no weapons, only his fists.

The first Yagh to join him was the first to strike, but he was also the first to fall. He attempted to leap onto Samael, who dodged backward, making him fall to the ground. Samael seized the opportunity to stomp on the Yagh's head, killing it.

"OOFF!"

But that was enough for a Salarian to catch up to Samael and tackle him to the ground. Samael effortlessly escaped, gripping the Salarian's neck, breaking it, and throwing the corpse away. He faced the billion-strong horde of indoctrinated individuals with no fear in his eyes, "Come!"

With that, the indoctrinated charged at him. To his credit, he took many of them down, but eventually, he was overwhelmed by their numbers.

There were many of them—humans, asari, turians, and even Leviathans.

Instead of attacking him directly, they circled around him slowly, preparing to kill him. Just as they were about to strike, Samael woke up. He was sweating and panting, clearly affected by the nightmare.

Samael got up from the bed and headed to the bathroom. He stared at his reflection with a thoughtful gaze, using his remaining eye. Nightmares were normal for him, but this one felt unusually real.

'I must be doing something right if my mind is sending me this now…'

Shaking those thoughts away, Samael washed his face and stepped out of the bathroom. What greeted him was a planet.

'Finally.'

He had arrived at the Leviathans' home. After taking a nap, he woke up right above the aquatic planet. It wasn't big, but the thing that caught anyone's attention was the fact that the planet was almost entirely water, with very few landing spots.

Since this was so early in the timeline of the games, there was no outpost for him to land at, so he decided to jump into the water. With the right equipment, of course. Even he would not be able to reach their home without the M.E.C.H.

After gazing at the planet for a few minutes, he went to the cockpit of the ship and dove into the atmosphere. It didn't take long for him to exit it, and now he just needed to head toward the creature's location.

He didn't want to waste more time, so that's exactly what he did.

---

WITH THE LEVIATHANS

A ship was seen floating above the Leviathans' lair. They were aware that someone had entered the planet, but have been hiding from the Reapers for so long, they didn't see the need to reveal themselves.

After all, it wasn't like the planet never got any visitors. They were usually from an inferior species, so they ultimately just ignored them. If necessary, however, they sometimes scrambled the minds of those unfortunate souls to avoid risking their location being discovered by the Reapers, or just kill them.

The creatures thought today would be just like any other time a visitor came, but it wasn't. The ship was literally floating above where they lived, which attracted the attention of many, leading to a few discussions about it.

"Should we deal with the inferior species now or wait a little longer?"

The Leviathans viewed themselves as the apex of the galaxy, considering all other species inferior. They referred to everyone other than themselves as such.

"I say let them be. We have no idea what they want, and honestly, we can deal with them whenever we want."

Some of them agreed while others didn't. While they were discussing this, one of them noticed the ship above them open its hangar, bringing it to the others' attention. "Look, the ship opened... and it seems someone is going to jump."

A flash of realization crossed their eyes. "Could it be they found our location?"

"I doubt it."

"Then how can you explain this situation?" one of them asked as the person above plummeted into the ocean, dropping at a high speed toward their location.

"...Maybe I'm wrong. How do we deal with this? The standard?"

The standard was mentioned before: kill to avoid any unnecessary surprises in the future or mess with the inferior species' minds until they go crazy, and then let them go.

Before they could reach a consensus, the M.E.C.H. arrived at their doorstep. Their location was still hidden, but from the expression on the human in front of them, they knew he was aware of their presence.

The Leviathans were roughly aware of the state of the galaxy, so they understood the species that inhabited it during this cycle. They had gathered this information from the unfortunate souls who visited their planets. They possessed an ability that allowed them to control the minds of those with weaker wills, almost like indoctrination.

Ultimately, they were curious to hear what the human wanted to say, as their last information about the galaxy was from a year ago. They needed to know what was happening.

Soon, the "door" to their hideout—a massive boulder—was moved, granting access to the human in front of them.

The M.E.C.H. moved closer, clearly displaying no fear or hesitation. This alone piqued their curiosity, so they initiated the conversation by directly projecting their voice into the human's mind.

"Human, what do you want from us, and how do you know of this place?"

They started small, just talking, and didn't directly probe the human mind. They could do that later, so for now, they wanted to satisfy their curiosity about the human in front of them. However, their communication could only occur through a form of telepathy, as they were literally at the bottom of the 2181 Despoina ocean.

"I came here to ask for help," Samael stated plainly. "You are the only ones who can provide it."

"With what?" The Leviathans decided to ignore the fact that Samael had not answered all of the question.

"With my mind. I fear someone under the Reapers' control may have done something to it."

When Samael mentioned the Reapers, a commotion ran through the Leviathans, with one of them asking urgently, "How do you know about the Reapers?!"

Usually, the residents of the galaxy only learn the machine's existence too late, so they figure that since the human in front of them mentioned the machines meant only one thing: the Reapers had already started the 'cleaning'.

This was dangerous for the Leviathans, as the Reapers sought to eliminate every last one of them, regardless of the cycle. That was why they, considered the apex species, had to hide for more than a million years.

Samael decided to be honest. "The Reapers have attacked the galaxy. We killed one of them, but he promised to bring more."

Upon hearing that, the Leviathans made the decision to kill the human in front of them, fearing he might reveal their existence. They also planned to relocate their lair just in case.

However, before they could act on their plan, the human continued, " So, I came here to-''

"We will not join the battle against them."

The Leviathans never joined the fight in any other cycle. They claimed it was because they knew the galaxy would lose, so there was no reason to engage. In summary, they were cowards.

One vein in Samael's temple popped, clearly indicating his frustration with them, but he did his best not to show it as he said, "I only want you guys to heal my mind. I can handle the Reapers."

The Leviathans found the situation amusing. An inferior species declaring that they could take on the Reapers, their creation, was laughable. "And how do you plan on doing that?" one of them asked.

Samael dropped some of his pretenses. " I need you to check my mind first. When you were doing that, you'll find out."

He lowered a few of his defensive mechanisms so the Leviathans could access his mind. "But be warned: Don't look too deeply. I have no idea what might happen to you."

Samael was being honest. The help he needed didn't require them to delve deep into his mind, so they would be safe. But if they were curious, they would have to enter a part of his mind that even he didn't want to explore. After all, it had already killed many intruders in past cycles, mostly Asari and a few other species that could enter a mind.

They tried to attack Samael's mind, but ultimately failed and ended up dying a meaningless death.

The Leviathans laughed at him, and one of them volunteered to enter Samael's memories. "We will see about that."

Without any warning, it entered Samael's mind, searching for information. In the meantime, it might even take a look deep into the inferior species to see what Samael knew.