This side story takes place after chapter 80

--

Diana Allers looked at the message she got not long ago. She had reread it many times, but until now, she could not believe it.

It was a simple message, coming from one of the few sources she had that was connected to the Shadow Broker.

' The Reapers are real. The Geth are helping them.'

Almost everyone that knew about the Reapers, regarded them as a fairytale that others tell children in order to scare them. But now, it seems the fairytale turned into a nightmare that turned into reality. Even worse, it seems the Geth, which were a plague to the galaxy, had joined hands with the monsters.

Then, attached to that message was footage of Thessia being attacked... something she didn't know had happened until now.

( AN: LD had the habit of filming all their battles, and then RR or EDI would edit the footage and release it to the public if Samael wanted. The fight in Thessia was no different and he gave the complete footage to the Shadow Broker, who then passed it around to everyone)

So, you have to understand why she was shocked to the point of not knowing what to do. The first thing she did was check with her two seniors, Emily and Khalisah al-Jilani.

Ever since they met months ago, they maintained contact and shared news. And now Diana had what she considered the most important news in the last few years. Not even Javik being alive nor the news about evil organizations and slavers mattered in front of this.

"Did you guys receive the footage too?" Diana asked in the group chat, then sent the footage and what her contact said. Sure enough, Emily responded immediately.

'' Yes... I honestly don't know what to do.'' Emily wasn't dumb. She knew a lot of reporters received this footage and news, as if even Diana, who could be considered a newbie, received it, so would others. Still, she wasn't sure if they should post it.

'' They deserve to know.'' Khalisah al-Jilani was a simple woman who wanted to bring the truth to everyone. Even if the truth was bad.

''Other channels would probably post anyway, so we should do the same.'' Emily already sent the footage to her superior and now the decision was in their hands.

Diana sighed internally. With a touch, she sent it to her boss, who most likely already had that news in hand. Now, it was above her pay grade.

'' I only hope things don't get worse from now on.'' Diana knew most likely it was just a wish, as the Reapers are real. They even attacked Thessia, and from the footage, the planet took quite a beating.

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At what Diana sent, Emily responded, '' ... I have a few friends on Thessia. I can't contact them and after seeing the footage, I'm worried. Do you guys have any contacts on Thessia?''

Diana said no, but Khalisah al-Jilani said, '' I can try and use my connections. What are their names?''

'' Thank you! Their names are -''

Diana had a feeling reading the conversation. This would become normal in the future, looking for their friends after the Reapers attacked.

She could only hope it was just a feeling.

---

While the 3 journalists took it surprisingly well, the rest could not be said for other civilians. Even though the upper personnel of the governments knew about the Reapers before this, now it was everyone.

After the journalists received the footage, every planet posted about Thessia being attacked, the Reapars being real, and the Geth now probably being more active. It started a chain reaction, with everyone now being on edge.

And just like Samael predicted, and based on what happened in past cycles, panic took over, even more so seeing the Geth being more active.

Even the Citadel, a symbol to everyone, was in turmoil.

'' CALM DOWN! CALM DOWN!'' Garrus, who was now higher up in the C-Sec, after taking out the bad roots, was trying to calm the public. After they received the news, everyone now wanted to leave the Citadel, causing chaos.

Garrus was leading the officers and trying to appease the situation, but the panic was too strong. Also, the Turian was thinking about what to do from now on.

' I can't stay here.'

He was feeling restless. Sure, he could help with the chaos here on the Citadel, but so what? The galaxy would still be in danger. And he didn't like that.

Garrus had a family to protect, his father and sister. Taking a look at his omni tool, Garrus looked at his contacts with a calm face. He came to a decision, ' It seems its time for me to join the fray.'

His position in the C-Sec probably will be given to others, but from what he saw and heard about the Reapers, this battle would be almost impossible to win.

Almost.

With a sigh, Garrus sent a message to his contacts.

ON EARTH

Panic took over. People started to buy and hoard food unnecessarily. Even though the government knew about the Reapers beforehand, they thought the threat was in the future, so they didn't make any preparations for a situation like this.

When the public heard about the Reapers and what happened to Thessia, they rushed to the markets, who also didn't know what to do, and bought almost all their stocks.

When the higher-ups finally reacted, it was too late. The rich had hoarded the food, while the poor could only watch.

That caused riots in many cities across the planet. But, San Francisco was one of the rare exceptions.

LD headquarters was located there and even though initially there was panic in the city too, Tarzan had acted and stopped the hoarding. The man didn't care if you were rich or not, he was fair regarding the food situation.

Besides, he knew it was futile, as most likely the fight against those machines was in the future. Still, the public was in a panic so they acted dumb.

LD had also sent soldiers to control the population. The riots never had the chance to start in the city.

Tarzan and LD managed to make San Fransico stay calm, even though under force. No one hoarded resources and things were safe.

The other cities and countries also sent forces to try and contain the situation but conflict started to happen more and more.

The same was happening on all planets, with a few exceptions, like Palluven, as the Turians were a military society, so besides the initial surprise, they were ok. Same as Tuchanka, the Krogans were raring to fight.

Still, now everyone in the galaxy knew about the Reapers and were instructed to tell authorities if they saw one.

What will come out of this, only time will tell.