Bioware owns Mass Effect. The OC's are mine.
Chapter 34 - Mutually-Assured Destruction, Day 12 Late Evening
A/N: Royce cried; he wanted it to be his turn.
Staff Lieutenant Royce Mason grunted off a sigh of exhaustion as he took a seat on an impromptu chair that just happened to be a flat rock at the more-or-less perfect height to be used as a chair, feeling the fatigue and stress of the day getting to him. Clearing the Atrium had been hard as hell, and the Australian-born man and his Chaos Legion had been put through their paces taking out every single Reaper that had been holding off the interior complex of the Shaigur Defense Array. Chief Tech Specialist Elias Korvan and Engineer First Class Vian Torvas had seen multiple drones to recon the area for any possible lurkers and strays that might have been in the Atrium, while Tech Specialist, First Class Vona Arterius and the Krogan Scout, Urdnot Darg, had kept a vigilant watch at the top of the ramp leading up to the main complex building of the Defense Array.
It had taken them almost twelve hours, but they had done it; they had taken over the Ship-Killer Complex.
Royce took off his helmet, having worn it for… 28 hours? Ever since they left the Tomkahs the previous day. The sweat from his face and in his head made it slick and smelly, and the inside of his helmet smelled like a wet, sweaty gym sock. Sitting down, the N6 felt the fatigue seeping into his bones and muscles, the prolonged fighting having taken its toll both on himself and the members of the Chaos Legion. The worst had been the Quarian Biotic, Eloa'Varis nar Tombay vas Thessia, whom had her face plate broken from a Husk that had tried to use her head like a punching bag. Chief Tech Specialist Elias Korvan had saved the day, and her life, by putting his helmet on her head. The rest of them had received minor wounds, nothing that some MediGel couldn't cure. Yet food, water, and sleep were needed by all, and rightfully so. You could make person go only so far until exhaustion took its toll, no matter how tough or good they were.
The Australian-born man heard a pair of footsteps coming up behind him softly, and a small turn of his head showed him that the Asari Vanguard, Asha T'vara, was approaching him. The sight of her made him smiled, which he shared with her. The blue-skinned woman returned the smile warmly as she took up residence beside him, sitting on the same flat rock, giving off a sigh of appreciation as she did so.
"Goddess, who knew it would feel so good just to sit down on an uncomfortable rock?" The Asari quipped, eliciting a gentle chuckle from the Human Marine. "Vian said he was able to establish communications with the Krenjin Outpost, and we are in contact with Urdnot Wreve. He'll be sending support to hold this position, as well as somebody who knows to activate this complex." Asha tossed her back to the Shaigur Defense Array, in which they held the control room at the top of the complex. Elias and Engineer First Class Vian Torvas had looked at the many panels, levers, knobs, and buttons that would activate the great machine that would activate and run the five massive artillery pieces, and had no idea how it worked. Who would have guessed that the Krogan would make something so dumb that no one could figure it out? Royce chuckled at the thought, thinking of some of the old vids of World War II Navy ships, which had used much of the same principal to perform artillery strikes. He had been surprised to see fuses and mercury switches as the most technological device used. Of course, it could have been that the Krogan had only been that advanced over fourteen hundred years ago, but then how had they been able the threaten the Galaxy during the Rebellions then? Royce suspected that the reason that the Shaigur Defense Array was built this primitive because it would deny Turians and Salarians access to it. It wasn't a bad plan.
"Well, we'll have everyone bunker down and get some sleep." The Human Marine said, looking over the the Asari, who was giving him a nod of his head. "This place is ran off a nuclear reactor, which might take a few days to spin up to optimal capacity. Once we get it runnin', I don't doubt that the Reapers will come for this place to evict us all. Thankfully, there's only one entrance… and we're looking at it. Say what you want about the Krogan, but they know how to make a defensive position. We've got the high ground, as well as cover and protection. The Reapers come," the N6 indicated the winding ramp that they had to use to get into the Defense Array's Control Room, "and they'll be under fire the whole time without any cover or anywhere to run. Turn this sucker into a carpet of corpses of those who tried and failed."
"When can we expect reinforcements, or at least Greve's forces?" The Asari asked.
"Greve should be here tonight, he messaged me that they'll be movin' under the cover of nightfall; somethin' about using the native wildlife as a distraction." Royce shrugged his shoulders, feeling the knots bunched up in his muscles. "Reinforcements will come tomorrow mornin', and they'll either be holdin' off in a stand-off perimeter, or they'll come here to relieve us. I don't suspect that it'll be that easy. Nothin' ever is when it comes to the Reaper."
With the guard rotation and sleep plan in place, Royce stood in front of the large console that controlled the Shaigur Defense Array, looking at the many levers, buttons, screens, and dials on a physical platform. There was no haptic interface to use, no holographic console to bring up, and no data port to insert an OSD. Everything on the panel was analog; unhackable. It isn't too long ago that Humanity was using something like this to win wars, yet he had no idea how to work it at all. The Krogan were smart; facing an advanced race, they invented something that would stump a technologically-advanced foe. Despite the galaxy's view on the Son of Tuchanka, the Krogan weren't stupid, only desperate. That desperation might give them the edge they need now that the Reapers had come.
Night came in full swing and Royce stood at the entrance of the Defense Array with three other members of the Chaos Legion. Jorgal Thrak, Engineer First Class Vian Torvas, and Cpatian Preitor Gavorn had the first shift, the Krogan armed with the Human Marine's M320 Vulcan Cannon, the merc obviously enjoying the feel of the chain gun in hand. Preitor had Thrak's M76 Revenant in hand, with his T24 Phaeston set up in front of him on a waist-high concrete barrier, while Vian had a sentry turret program running, scanning the main approach while the Engineer took shelter behind a good bunker point, armed with a M12 Locust. Royce himself had his M96 Mattock extended in on hand, rest the butt of the weapon on one hip, the barrel in the air, while he looked out in the gloom of the Atrium. He was waiting for Urdnot Greve to arrive with his company of Krogan, but they were running late. According to the Krogan mercenary, his species wasn't known for their timeliness, and Tuchanka was not known to favor good luck. The N6 didn't like the fact that Greve was late, especially since the Battlemaster was the one with the personnel that could start the Ship-Killer cannons. If something happened to them… he wasn't sure what he would do, but Royce knew that without the Defense Array, the Krogan DMZ would soon fall to the Reapers, just like the Sol system and the Apien Crest.
"Relax, Human." The Krogan mercenary said to Royce, one of his eyes looking over to the Human Marine. "Urdnot Greve is a Battlemaster; centuries of experience fighting. If Greve says he'll be here with the necessary people, he'll be here if he has to drag their broken bodies."
"That doesn't feel very reassurin'." The N6 said, shaking his head with a rueful smile. The Krogan 'harumphed' as he looked out to the empty Atrium, the chain gun in the Krogan's hands pointed to the most likely avenue of approach. Royce looked out as well, seeing nothing in the gloom of the empty old cluttered plaza. He turned on the Thermal Scope on his Mattock, looking out to the depths of the Atrium, slowly scanning the several paths that existed to reach the enormous plaza, filled with its columns, barriers, and many other illusionary ways to slow an army down. Nothing showed up on the Thermal Scope, no heat signatures popping up into view, and so Royce let the Mattock hang low, crossing diagonally across his chest as he looked over to the Turian Engineer, Vian Torvas. Vian seemed to know Royce's unasked question, pulling up one of two OmniTools, and the Turian checked for any sign of movement on the proximity motion sensors that he had seeded throughout the Atrium, to better alert whoever was on watch. The Turian looked up from his OmniTool and shook his head, telling Royce once more that there was no sign of either the Krogan detachment, or any Reapers.
"Pity this place was designed to interrupt local radio signals." Captain Preitor Gavorn sighed, adjusting Thrak's Revenant in his three-fingered hands. "Could have solved this problem with a simple short-wave burst transmission but nnnoooooo…" The Turian drew out the word with a smile and a glance to the Krogan that stood watch with him, "the Krogan just had to build a last stand position where there are no hopes of calling for reinforcements."
"We built it just for you, you Turian dosh'qua." Jorgal Thrak replied with a chuckle, making the Turian chuckle as well. "We didn't know just how advanced the Turians or the Salarians were when the Rebellions began, so we made things as… primitive as possible. We didn't want you stealing our technology or using it against us. Now we've forgotten how to make such things, having to rely on your weapons and to fight your wars."
"We did the same thing, back durin' the First Contact War." Lieutenant Royce Mason said, thinking about the stories he had heard from the veterans of the War that was only 29 years before. "We had no idea what we were fightin' or what the aliens were capable of, so we sent in ships and weapons that we were fairly certain that the Turians wouldn't be too impressed with. Of course, that was before we even knew what a Turian was." The Human Marine's statement was answered with silence as the four of them held the watch over the Atrium. "We had a Project back then that was cuttin'-edge technology, that would help the aveage soldier continue fightin' against the Turians as we held them off. We found ourselves goin' up against drednaughts when we barely had ships that were ranked as Destroyers. The Project was to help heal the wounded, to get them to fight longer, and to get them back in the fight. Back then, it was known as 'Miracle Medical Amnigel'."
"Sounds nice." Engineer Vian Torvas replied simply.
"Yeah, it was." Royce chuckled. "The guy who made it is named Phillip Sirta, Doctor of Medicine and Research. You now know it as 'MediGel', and Doctor Sirta created the Sirta Foundation. Guy's made billions off of your wars… and he gives MediGel to the Alliance military at a 75% discount rate."
"Ha! I like him!" Thrak said in a jovial tone. "Gets richs off his enemies, and ensures his friends will survive. He'd make a good Krogan." The Blood Pack mercenary nodded his head. "My fathers' Rite of Passage was on Suen, fighting off the Rachni. He told me of how some of the most revered Krogan were their scientists; Krogan who fought with their brains, who could make dozens of warriors stronger by making better weapons, armor, and tools. A Krogan who was an inventor or a creator was cherished for his gifts. Those days have sadly passed." The mercenary shook his head, looking over to Royce. "I envy you, Human. When we fought the Turians, we were driven back and given no mercy. When you fought the Turians, you at least had the Asari to intervene. No one intervened on our behalf. And it was our fault."
"We intervened, Thrak." The Human Marine spoke quietly, though he didn't doubt that both Turians could hear him. "A Human was responsible for gettin' the Genophage cured. Your people can overrun us with a million brats before the year is out. In ten years' time, you could be havin' lots of construction workers rebuildin' your planet. That's what the Krogan need; a worthy goal, not a worthy fight."
"You… may have something there, Human." Thrak replied with a slow nod of his his massive head. "We didn't have great warriors back then like we do now, because we couldn't afford to fight that way anymore. My people are almost extinct, but now we have hope. What will we do with it?"
"M.A.D." Royce replied, looking to Thrak, who gave the N6 a quizzical look. "Stands for 'Mutually-Assured Destruction'. When two powerful groups make somethin' so terrible together to keep the other from destoryin' each other, it's called a Cold War. That's what started the Krogan Rebellion; you had people, and the Asari and Salarians couldn't compete and they knew it. Now you just need to find somethin' to do with all those kids, otherwise you're not going to have much of a choice. Start by rebuilding Tuchanka. Praise artists and engineers. Sponsor inventors and poets. Encourage charity and humility. Instead of tellin' a Krogan kid that he must be the best warrior, tell him he can be the best at whatever it is he wants to be. And come up with a professional sport to get them from killin' one another. Like Varren Rodeo or Thresher Maw Ridin'."
"Got movement in sector two." Engineer First Class Vian Torvas called out, looking at his OmniTool, pressing a few buttons on the Haptic Interface Unit. "Fifteen strong, humanoid… pulses and organic. Looks like Krogan."
" 'Bout time."
A/N: Sadly, I think this was one of my weaker efforts. Spent a week rewriting this, and sadly this was the best I could do with a bridge. I swear I'll make it up in the next chapter. You know, guns, explosions, violence; that kind of stuff we all know we love and enjoy.