Chapter 3: Mobilizer
Hey! Just wanted to take a few lines and give everyone a bit of a rundown of my plans for the new year. Obviously, this story will continue and be my number one priority where FF is concerned. Second is a tie between Dragon Age: The Fade Walker, and The Shadow Walker. Probably gonna put up TFW in a few weeks, as soon as I finish the first chapter (Inquisition is hard to write for!), and then that
Normandy SR-2. In orbit over Menae, Palaven's largest moon.
The team piled in the shuttle and headed for the surface of the moon. Not much info was available, as most of the moon's data was classified during the Krogan Rebellions. The vid screen showed the Turian homeworld, and it was bad.
"Oh, no. No. Palaven." Liara said.
"We have an old friend there." Shepard told James, who looked confused.
"A very good friend." Andrea added.
"Holy hell, they're getting decimated." James said.
"Strongest military in the galaxy and the Reapers are obliterating it." Shepard said.
"Was it like this on Earth?" Liara asked.
"Yes." The rest of the team said in unison.
"I'm so sorry."
"Yeah."
"Commander, the LZ is getting swarmed." Cortez told them.
"Ashley, open that hatch." Shepard said.
A second later, the hatch was open, and they saw the husks climbing the rock wall in front of them. The team opened fire, and killed them all before the shuttle landed.
"If you're looking for command, it's around the corner, past the first barricade." A Turian soldier told them.
As they approached the barricade, they found a trio of Turian soldiers aiming rifles at them, but when they came into view, the soldiers lowered their weapons, calling them friendlies.
"That's nice." Andrea said.
They went in and found the Turian commander at a terminal being briefed by his soldiers.
"Tobestik, get your men up on that north barricade. Sergeant Bartus, find a way to get that comm tower operational."
"Yes, sir."
"Sir."
The two other Turians left as Shepard and company approached.
"General?" Shepard asked.
"Commander Shepard. Heard you were coming, but I didn't believe it. General Corinthus."
"I've come to get Primarch Fedorian."
The General stopped dead at those words. "Primarch Fedorian is dead. His shuttle was shot down an hour ago as it tried to leave the moon."
"Fuck." Andrea said.
"That makes things interesting." Ashley added.
"That's going to complicate things." Shepard said.
"I'm sorry, I hear he was a good man." Andrea said.
"And a friend. He would have made an outstanding diplomat."
"So what happens now?" Shepard asked.
"The Turian Hierarchy provides very clear lines of succession." Liara explained.
"Right. General?"
"With such heavy casualties, it's hard for me to be certain who the next Primarch is. Palaven Command will know."
"However…?" Andrea began.
"However, at the moment, contacting them is impossible. The comm tower is out. Husks are swarming that area; we can't get close enough to repair it."
"Bet we can." Andrea said.
"Thank you. I'll take care of things on this end."
"Well, the Husks await."
Around the barricade, they found the comm tower, and Sergeant Bartus and his men.
"Husks at the tower swarmed us."
"We got 'em." Andrea said, flaring her biotics and readying her MA37.
She charged towards the tower, generating a Nova attack as she got near. She jumped into the air and slammed her fist into the ground, killing the three Husks around the tower. More came, and were handled easily by the team.
Andrea was already at the terminal at the base of the tower, trying to repair it.
"Son of a bitch. I gotta go up. Keep me covered." She told the team.
She climbed the ladder and found another terminal.
"Cortana?"
"Give me a second…"
She waited while Cortana repaired the connection, and was ambushed by a Husk from behind.
"Fuck!"
The Husk threw a clawed hand at her, which she caught and threw off the tower.
"Got it!"
"Shepard, main satellite connection is back up."
"Got it. General, comm tower is operational."
"Roger that. I'll contact Command."
"More inbound!" James said as more Husks stormed the tower. Andrea jumped down and slammed her boot into one as she threw another with her biotics, but there were more coming. A few minutes later, Corinthus contacted them again.
"Commander Shepard, come in."
"Go ahead."
"I have information from Palaven Command. Please return ASAP."
"On our way. Let's go."
They hauled ass back to the command post, and found General Corinthus once again hunched over the tactical display.
"What have you got?" Shepard asked.
"As your partner said, succession is usually simple, but right now, the Hierarchy's in chaos; so many dead or MIA."
"I need someone. I don't care who, as long as they can get us the Turian resources we need."
A Turian walked up the ramp across from them, cradling an M-97 Viper Sniper rifle. Andrea smiled as he came up. He was an old friend from their days with Cerberus.
"I'm on it, Shepard. We'll find you the Primarch."
"Garrus!" Shepard said.
"Vakarian, sir! I didn't see you arrive." Corinthus said as he saluted.
"At ease, General." Garrus said.
"Good to see you again. I thought you'd be on Palaven." Shepard said.
"If we lose this moon, we lose Palaven. I'm the closest damn thing we have to an expert on Reaper forces, so I'm… advising."
"James, this is Garrus Vakarian. He helped us defeat the Collectors. He's a hell of a soldier. And a great friend." Andrea said, as James was the only one who didn't know Garrus.
"Lieutenant. Good to see you too, Liara. And you, Andrea."
"You too." Andrea said.
"Good to see you in one piece, Garrus." Liara added.
"General Corinthus filled me in. We know who we're after."
"Who?" Andrea asked.
"Palaven Command tells me that the next Primarch is General Adrien Victus." Corinthus told them.
"Victus? His name's crossed my desk." Liara said.
"Know him, Garrus?" Shepard asked.
"I was fighting alongside him this morning. Lifelong military. Gets results, popular with his troops. Not so popular with military command. Has a reputation for playing loose with accepted strategy." Garrus explained.
"You think he can get the job done?" Andrea asked.
"We all know conventional strategy won't defeat the Reapers. Right now, he could be our best shot. And I trust him."
"Okay. Let's get him on the shuttle and get out of here." Shepard said.
"Commander! Shepard, come in." Joker hailed.
"Can this wait, Joker? We're in the middle of a war zone."
"We've got a situation on the Normandy, Commander. It's like she's possessed. Shutting down systems, powering up weapons. I can't find the source."
"I need the Normandy standing by; we may have to bug out." Shepard said.
"Should I go back and take a look?" Liara asked.
"Do it."
Liara left for the shuttle.
"Garrus, you said you were with Victus this morning?"
"Yeah, but we got separated. He went to bolster a flank that was breaking. Could be anywhere out there."
"We're trying to raise him, Commander." Corinthus told him.
"Incoming Harvester, headed for the airfield!" James told them as a dragon-like Reaper troop flew over and to the airfield.
The Turian defenders rained hell on it, but it didn't go down.
"General, tell Primarch Victus we'll rendezvous here. In the meantime, let's go take care of whatever that thing dropped off."
"Coming, Garrus?" Andrea asked.
"Are you kidding? I'm right behind you."
"James, that you breathing so hard?" Shepard asked as they neared the airfield.
"Air's just a little thinner than I'm used to is all. Adrenaline's better than oxygen any day."
"Until you die." Andrea commented.
The airfield was empty, but as the team walked in, Reaper forces began to pour in. Some husks, supported by a new kind of Reaper troop.
"Is it just me, or do those things look like Turians?" James asked.
"They are, Lieutenant." Cortana told him.
"That second voice is really creeping me out, SC."
"Get used to it." Andrea rebuked.
They took down the Turian Reapers, called Marauders, and then focused on the Husks. One managed to get behind Andrea, and climbed on her back.
"Ah! You mechanical bitch!" She shouted as it started clawing at her.
She reached around, grabbed its head, and slammed it to the ground. She then brought up her boot and smashed its head into the ground.
"Die, will you?"
"Losing your edge, SC?" Ashley asked.
"Shut it. I haven't fought Reaper troops in a long time."
"You've never fought Reaper troops."
"Exactly."
They went back to the command post, and the General contacted them.
"Shepard, come in."
"Go ahead."
"Still trying to raise the Primarch, but we've got trouble back here at the main barricade. If the Reapers breach it, we're done."
"On our way!"
The team took off running, and Andrea reached the barricade first, since she was a Spartan, and climbed the ladder up. She got on the turret as Husks rained down in front of the barricade. The turret tore through the Husks, and with the team supporting her, Andrea made easy work of them.
"Just picking 'em off. Maybe I can do three at a time. Wahoo!" James said.
More husks, more turret fire, more banter from the team.
"Okay, come on! Who's next?" Garrus taunted.
As the next wave dropped down, James made an interesting, and accurate, comment.
"Yeah! Like fish in a barrel!"
"No shit, LT!" Ashley added.
"What?" Garrus asked.
"Old human saying. 'Like fish in a barrel'." James explained.
"They're on the barricade!" Garrus said as Andrea blasted one that had climbed up.
"What was that, Garrus?! I couldn't hear you over the sound of Reaper Husks being torn apart!"
"Never mind."
Then another new Reaper troop smashed down in front of them. It was a hulking mass of flesh and cybernetics, and it was pissed. Definitely Krogan, with that attitude.
"What the fuck!?" Andrea shouted.
"Holy hell! What is that thing?" James added.
It roared, and charged the barricade. When it smashed, Andrea was thrown off-balance and had to jump, landing right in front of the thing.
"Ah, shit! Shit! Shit!" She yelled as she got up and ran for cover.
"Really wish I had my Widow right now!" She said as the rest of the team came down.
"You and me both." Garrus added.
Andrea grabbed her MA37 and M7 SMG and started firing with both. The damn thing didn't go down even when she had used three magazines from both.
"What the fuck! What is this thing, a fucking Krogan!?"
"I hope not!" Shepard added as he let loose a bolt of fire from his omni-tool, and it finally went down under the combined fire of the team.
"Holy shit." Ashley said.
"Shepard. Corinthus here."
"What's the word on the Primarch?"
"Still can't get a stable comm link."
"Okay. We're going on foot. Shepard out."
"This should be fun." Ashley commented.
"Target practice." Andrea said as she reloaded her MA37 and M7.
"Garrus, take us to the last place you saw Victus." Shepard told the Turian.
The latter took point and led them through the ruins of Menae.
"How far?" Shepard asked.
"Should be pretty quick, unless we run into trouble." Garrus answered.
"And we always do." Andrea said.
They slid down a small slope, with Andrea just jumping it, and got a good view of Palaven.
"Damnit. Look at Palaven. That blaze of orange. The big one. That's where I was born."
"That's rough." James said.
"I know the feeling." Andrea added.
"Still have family there?" Shepard asked.
"My dad. A sister."
"How bad is it?" Ashley asked.
"Three million lost the first day. Five the second."
"How's your military holding up?" Shepard asked.
"Look around. That should give you some idea."
"You're putting up a good fight." Andrea said.
"For now. But how long's it take before the fight's kicked out of you?"
"About as long as it takes to kill us all."
"If only they'd listened to your warnings about the Reapers, Shepard. We might have been ready."
"Maybe. Hard to figure how you prepare for something like this." Ashley said.
"I have an idea." Andrea said.
"How?"
"It's a long shot. And it's pointless now, anyway."
"Could help for the next war."
"You think there's gonna be a 'next war'? Hell, there might not even be a 'next year' for us."
"Real optimistic." James commented.
"I have a damn right to be. I watched my home get turned to glass, and my parents along with it. I was five years old. For the next twenty years, I watched planet after planet become balls of glass, and I had to watch from the bridge of a spaceship. Then I watched my entire team die around me within the course of a damn week, and there was nothing I could do for them. Then all the shit with the Collectors, and now this. How am I supposed to feel?"
No one got to answer, as the group was attacked by Husks. They all went down easily.
"Shit, I hate those things. And New York is crawling with the creepy bastards? Never should have left Earth." James said.
"It's gonna be bad all over." Garrus said as they started walking again.
"Leaving the fight just pisses me off."
"But you're here asking Victus to do the same thing. Leave the fight to make nice in some boardroom."
"This summit is the only chance we've got. None of us is beating the Reapers alone." Shepard said.
"UNSC could. Kick their asses from one end of the galaxy to the other, and make it hurt." Andrea commented.
They found a pair of Turians near the crash of a fighter.
"Soldier! You okay?" Andrea asked.
"Yes, ma'am. We'll make it."
"Have you seen General Victus?" Garrus asked.
"Half-hour ago. Headed south."
"Okay. Good luck."
As they kept walking, a Turian fighter screamed in overhead, and was taken down by a Harvester.
"Whoa, shit! Look out!" James yelled as it crashed not thirty feet in front of them.
"That was a little closer than I'd like!" Garrus said.
"I'll say." Ashley added.
Andrea and Shepard took a look at the crash site.
"No survivors. Damnit!" Andrea said.
"Crash like that, it's not surprising." Garrus responded.
"So, Loco… You really think this summit will work? I mean Asari? Salarians? Where's the Krogan and Batarians? Where's the meat?" James asked Shepard.
"It's not that easy."
"The Batarians took the first hit when the Reapers arrived. Not much left of them. And the Krogan have never forgiven us for the Genophage." Garrus explained.
"Right. Turians sterilized 'em." James said.
"Salarians came up with it."
"And the Krogan hate them both for it." Shepard concluded.
"So they won't be joining us."
"Too bad. I fought with a Krogan. They're tough sons of bitches."
"No shit." Andrea added.
Silence as they walked along, complete and utter silence.
"You know Mordin kept Maelon's research data on the Genophage immunity, right?" Cortana asked Andrea.
"Yeah. Something tells me that's going to be a factor soon."
They heard the sounds of fighting nearby, and the Reaper in the background was getting closer.
"That sounds bad!" Ashley said.
"Okay, double time! No Reaper is taking this Primarch from me." Shepard said.
"Right behind you!" James said.
They ran for the camp nearby, and found the Reapers already dropping troops in. Husks, Cannibals, and Marauders all attacked the team.
"Sir, we got backup!" A Turian soldier shouted.
"Shit! Brute!" Ashley yelled as said a Brute roared and charged at them.
Andrea grabbed her sword and kukri and flared her biotics as adrenaline flooded her system.
(Spartan Time)
She ran right at the Brute, and vaulted over it, ramming her shortsword into its back to support her, and then slicing and dicing with Emile's kukri. Last but not least, she removed her sword and cut its head off as it fell.
"Hah! Take that, you son of a bitch!" She said as more Reaper troops flooded the area.
"Okay, boys, now's our chance!" General Victus yelled from cover.
The Turians popped out of cover, and hailed bullets onto the Reaper troops, bringing them down seamlessly with help from Shepard's team.
The barricade on one of the small enclosures lowered, and Victus walked out.
"General Victus." Shepard said as the team approached.
"Yes."
"I'm Commander Shepard of the Normandy."
"Ah, Commander. I know who you are. And you as well, Staff-Commander." He said, indicating to Andrea. "I can't wait to find out what brings you out here. Vakarian, where did you go?" He then asked Garrus.
"Heavy Reaper unit on the right flank? I believe your exact words were 'Get that thing the hell off my men'."
"Appreciate it."
"General, you're needed off-planet. We've come to get you." Shepard began.
"It will take something beyond important for me to leave my men, or my Turian brothers and sisters, in their fight."
"Fedorian was killed." Garrus told him. "You're the new Primarch."
"You're needed immediately to chair a summit and represent your people in the fight against the Reapers." Shepard added.
Victus was silent as he walked towards them, behind them, and looked at the battle-scarred Palaven.
"I'm Primarch of Palaven? Negotiating for the Turian Hierarchy?" He asked, doubt edging his tone.
"Yes."
"I've spent my whole life in the military. I'm no diplomat. I hate diplomats." Victus said as he turned around.
"Makes two of us." Andrea said.
"Then you understand my reluctance."
"What makes you think you're not qualified?" Shepard asked.
"I'm not really a 'by the book' kind of guy, and I piss people off. My family's been military since the Unification War. War is my life. It's in my bones. But that kind of passion is… deceptive. Can make you seem reckless when you're anything but."
"War is your resume. At a time like this, we need leaders who've been through that hell."
"I like that. You're right." Victus said.
"And honestly; uniting these races may take as much strength as facing the Reapers." Andrea said.
"See this devastation, Primarch? Double that for Earth. I need an alliance. I need the Turian Fleet." Shepard said.
"Give me a moment to say goodbye to my men." Victus said after a pause.
As Victus walked away, Garrus walked over.
"Without him down here, there's a good chance we lose this moon."
"Without him up there, there's a good chance we lose everything."
Garrus stared at a Reaper nearby. Sovereign-Class.
"Look at that, and they want my opinion on how to stop it? Failed C-Sec officer, vigilante, and I'm their expert advisor? Think you can win this thing, Shepard?"
"Yeah, I don't know, Garrus. But I'm sure as hell gonna give it my best shot."
"I'm damn sure nobody else can do it. For whatever it's worth, I'm with you."
"Welcome aboard." Shepard said as he shook Garrus' hand.
"Are you ready, Primarch Victus?" Shepard asked.
"One thing." Victus said as he walked back.
"There's always 'one thing'." Andrea commented.
"Commander, I appreciate your need for our fleets, but I can't spare them, not while my world is burning. But if the pressure could be taken off Palaven…"
"Even the II's couldn't do that." Andrea said.
"That's a pretty tall order." Shepard added.
"We need the Krogan. I can't see us winning this thing without them. Get them to help us, and then we can help you."
"The Krogan…" Shepard said in disbelief.
"Looks like your summit just got a lot more interesting." Garrus said.
The team walked away, back to the Normandy, with Victus in tow.
"I have a bad feeling about this." Andrea said.
"Me too." Garrus told her.
So, yeah. The Krogan. We all know how that goes down, especially with the most badass of 'em all (Well, maybe it's a tie.) representing the Krogan. It'll go up soon, I promise!