He sent word. Altogether, the squad assembled in the hangar bay armory and gathered their equipment before Kaidan walked in a few minutes later. As he drew their attention, Major Alenko made an announcement.
"Squad," he said with authority, "we're meeting up with the resistance leader today and hitting the League's manufacturing facility. For them, it's a big score for much-needed supplies. For us, it's an intel grab. Simply put, we don't have a good read on the League, and the council needs to know about the current - and likely future - ruling party on the batarian homeworld. Hopefully this initiative will help."
"We are siding with the rebels?" asked Javik.
"We are following a lead they brought to our attention," Kaidan explained diplomatically.
"What are we expecting to find?" asked EDI.
"That's anyone's guess," Kaidan answered. "The League relocated to this island specifically to keep their activities concealed. Even Liara's network hasn't been able to break through."
"Yet," Liara interjected.
"But there are rumors," Major Alenko continued. "The rebel leader accused them of using indoctrination technology akin to those used by Cerberus during the war, and we've seen some combat elites employing high-tech equipment we have not seen before. Hitting this plant could give us some answers, or maybe clues."
"- Or, maybe nothing," the volus Ninju pointed out.
Kaidan shrugged. "Well," he replied, "the disruption will likely strike a blow against the League, which will at least buy us some more time for our investigation. C'mon." Major Alenko's squad continued their preparations as Kaidan grabbed his own weapons and armor.
The shuttles were back inside the hangar bay, as the Normandy's repairs now allowed the ship to lift off the ground again and open the entryway. Once ready, the squad broke into their assigned teams and boarded the shuttles. Joker readily lifted the Normandy off the ground, allowing the shuttles to depart.
At a designated meeting zone, the resistance chief waited with three armed guards, including the big one and personal decoy, K'Tova. Once the shuttles arrived, the chief directed two of his men to one of the shuttles, and then joined Major Alenko's shuttle with K'Tova at his side. Major Alenko offered a handshake, which the chief reluctantly returned with marked suspicion on his face. Kaidan understood but did not dwell on it.
"Welcome aboard," said Kaidan, in an effort to be accommodating. "You know what, I apologize, but I did not get your name at all."
"Saheer," the chief answered tersely.
"Saheer," Kaidan repeated. "Nice. Major Alenko, council Spectre and Systems Alliance Cybermarines Division. But you can call me Kaidan."
"I know," said the chief. "We know of many on your team."
"Right," said Kaidan, rubbing the back of his neck. "We get around."
"It is difficult to trust the council's agents," said the chief, "or Alliance, given our history with both of them. Some of my fellows feel that I doom our people to your influence forever by involving you at all, and it would be better to just let the League take back the planet. You saw the fight that broke out between us."
"Yeah," said Kaidan. "I understand those concerns, somewhat. Back when humanity became part of the galactic community, groups like Terra Firma were formed in fear of us being assimilated and losing our culture."
"Were I not in charge," the chief admitted, "I may have even been one of them. But, looking at it from this perspective … our fight looked hopeless, and then we encountered your squad. Just the thought that your squad's help might be the only chance at victory? … I could not say turn it away. I understand their fears for what this decision might lead to, but I had to believe some chance is better than none. We are not in a position to be choosers."
"I hear ya," said Kaidan empathetically. "Being in command shows things in a whole new light."
"I was not in charge when our company arrived here," the chief explained. "The former commander was my uncle, but he was killed in action, and many losses later, command has fallen on me. I have some management skills, while just about the rest of these guys are simple grunts that need someone to lead them, so I reluctantly accepted this position. But at this point, I believe they have resigned themselves to fate, and are only following my lead with the expectation that they will all die here anyway."
"What about reinforcements?" asked Major Alenko.
"Our army was decimated by attempts at trying to take this shit island," Saheer reiterated. "We are holding back remaining forces in the event the League inevitably tries to reclaim what they lost. But many were lost, and we fear they have since grown stronger than our estimation. Nonetheless, we did try to get a couple more ships across, but something sank it, just as your ship was brought down from the sky."
"Damn," Kaidan remarked. "The League is really committed to keeping enemies out of their territory."
"You see the lengths they have gone to ensure that none will oppose them," Saheer pointed out, "from outside and from within. Whatever doubts you may have of us, I can assure you this current regime will be no ally of yours."
"If your side is so much weaker than the League's, why haven't they taken the fight to your settlement and just wiped you all out already?"
"They're trying," Saheer answered, "to do exactly that. So we have been moving our settlement around, continuously, to avoid them until we are ready."
"Really?" Kaidan responded. "We had you pegged since before we arrived. How is it that the League can't track you down on their own turf when we could do it so easily?"
"We do not leave this region," Saheer explained. "It is not easy to hide from the League's death squads, but we know their patrol schedule and general tendencies, and found a few holes. We rotate our camp's location between three 'soft spots' we identified. None of these three spots are very far from the others, which may be why you believed to know our location. The farther we try to move, the greater the risk of us being discovered."
"Hm," Kaidan muttered. "I guess our collection-device compensated with its range."
"You are correct, however," Saheer admitted. "We are only delaying the inevitable. We are just one misstep away from them cornering us and forcing us into one final battle which would likely spell the end of our efforts out here."
Kaidan looked aside at Saheer's companion. "That K'Tova is a real prize-bull of yours."
"Typically, he's the type that would be leading an army like this," Saheer explained. "Batarians respect the meanest, strongest guy in the room above all else. K'Tova made it clear that it's not his place to lead, though, only follow. He knows his limits, I think. K'Tova is at his best in a fight, not planning and strategizing. However, his imposing presence makes him an excellent decoy."
"Arriving at Batarian People's League manufacturing facility," EDI announced over intercom. Slowly, the Kodiak shuttle glided into an inconspicuous spot just outside the premises and towards the back of the factory's front entrance. "We have not been detected."
Opening the side hatch, Kaidan stepped out, M-7 Lancer assault-rifle aimed firmly ahead as he found cover behind some shrubs. EDI, Liara and Miranda followed, with Saheer and his bodyguard trailing the four of them. James's team arrived in their shuttle a few seconds later and caught up.
"… We're planning to blow this place to hell, right?" asked Jack as James's team joined Kaidan's. "That's what Shepard used to do, and I'm always up for a good explosion."
"The facility is fireproof and heavily fortified," EDI responded. "We lack the munitions required to destroy it."
"Hmm," Kaidan murmured. "Jack has a point, though. If we find anything we don't like, we cannot let the League recover from this assault and continue their operation."
Looking out across the loading bay, the backdoor facility entrance was being guarded by a pair of guards. Two sniper rounds- one from Ninju, and one from James – a piece took care of them.
"Too easy," said James. "Coast is clear."
"Everyone inside," said Kaidan, leading the squad over to the facility's backdoor entrance. The door required a passcode or scanned ID entry. "Look for an ID on the guards."
"No need," said Saheer. "Enter 9835MKE4 on the door console."
Kaidan punched in the code, unlocking and opening the doors. Together, the twelve of them infiltrated the plant. Upon entrance, they found themselves within some sort of shipping center, with cargo crates all around the room. Immediately, they were spotted by a few workers inside.
"Intruders!" shouted one them. "Securi-" Bullets flew and the plant workers did not get a chance to alert the guards, though it was likely that Kaidan's team would have to fight through them sooner or later.
Major Alenko used a Harmonic ability to scan some nearby crates with his eyes. "Weapons," said Kaidan. "Military grade."
"We'll want to haul these out," said Saheer, looking over at his bodyguards. Taking their cue, the batarians started picking up these boxes and carried them outside. Two doors led to the rest of the facility from the shipping center.
"Let's split up again," said Kaidan. "James, you and your team can take the passage on the left. We'll take right."
"Copy that."
Kaidan led the way as he and his squad ventured down a dark hallway. Harmonically, Kaidan emitted an invisible pulse that scanned the length of the hall, detecting all security devices along the way. With access, Kaidan disabled motion-sensors and froze the image on all cameras from the moment before he and his squad entered the hall. Undetected, Kaidan and his squadmates met no resistance. Near the end of the hall, they came across two doors, one with a sign reading [HOLDING CELLS].
Quizzical, Major Alenko tagged the door console to the holding cells and it opened to a room full of locked cages, containing what looked like political prisoners. At the far side of the room, another door opened, and a League worker appeared at the other side before spotting Kaidan's team and running back and shutting it behind him. Kaidan tried to get a shot off and stop him, but missed. As the prisoners noticed Kaidan and his squad walking in, they went crazy, all begging for their release. Kaidan ignored them and pursued the frightened League worker.
As Kaidan tried to override the lock on the door console, he heard an explosion from within the room, the walls trembling from the impact. Shocked, Kaidan paused, then finished the override before entering the room. Inside, he found many scattered machine parts within a very confined space and the League employee lying lifelessly on the ground, which was marked with a distinctive ashy black circle.
"Goddess," exclaimed Liara. "Whatever he was hiding in here must have been very sinister, and valuable, to have protected it at the cost of his own life."
"Brainwashing," muttered one of the prisoners. "Anyone who goes in that room doesn't come out the same again."
"Whatever goes on in that room," added another captive, "it affects the controller too. Nobody comes out of it normal, just … dazed, and babbling things."
"Some kind of a brainwashing device?" Miranda speculated. "Affecting the user as a side-effect, maybe."
"Saheer did suspect some sort of indoctrination," Kaidan pointed out, "but he believed they were being forcibly implanted."
"Use of an external device for indoctrination would suggest remote-control," EDI hypothesized.
"Disturbingly similar to the Reapers," Liara commented.
"Could it be a Harmonics-based device?" Miranda suggested.
"That's possible too," said Kaidan. "But I know of some omnitool applications can Harmonically block out signals that compromise higher cognitive functions."
"Please," begged various prisoners again, "let us out!"
"Given what took place here," said Miranda, "releasing these prisoners might be dangerous."
Major Alenko eyed them carefully. "Hmm," he murmured. "They're not showing any tell-tale symptoms." Kaidan paused for a moment, thinking, and then freed the prisoners by overriding the lock on their cell consoles. "Down the hall," he directed them. "Find Saheer in the warehouse and he'll get you guys back to camp."
"Saheer?" one of the freed prisoners responded. "You … you fight with us?"
Kaidan nodded. With that, the half-dozen prisoners scrambled to find their fellows.
"Their chief can decide what he wants to do with them," Kaidan concluded. "Not our problem either way, though. C'mon, let's investigate the next room."
James's team headed into the heart of the plant, where large machines and conveyor belts were actively running, along with work-stations that altogether formed a maze in the middle of the room. However, something was missing.
Said James: "Shouldn't there be wor-" when the arrival of armed guards interrupted him.
"Trespassers," cried one of the hostile batarians, "get them!"
Immediately, James and his squadmates found cover behind some of the stands and tables that formed the labyrinth of work-stations in the area. James turned to his squad. "Alright," he said under his breath. "Do a perimeter, Lola. Buggy, you follow along and give her cover from behind. Shorty, stay back and keep watch."
Jack smirked and pulled out her shotgun, knowing lots of unlucky batarian bastards were about to meet her in close-quarters. Adept's Ally active, Jack moved a step faster while her image turned blurry and ghostlike. Javik kept his assault-rifle close and trailed Jack, hustling just to keep up with her "walk." Ninju activated a cloak that allowed him to move completely undetectable for a short time. After furtively positioning himself in a corner of the room with two clear lanes he could aim down his rifle's sights, the volus set up his pylon, which periodically recharged his shields. In the meantime, he spawned a recon-drone, which gave him feedback on enemy position every time it detected one and allowed him to attack them remotely. James pulled out his M-11 Wraith, activated the devices in his armor suit Harmonically, and moved to the center of the room, where there was a staircase leading up another level.
Turning a corner, Jack found a trio of unsuspecting guards just a couple feet ahead of her. Her lashes ready, Jack hopped over and smashed a tidal wave of biotic energy down upon them. In so doing, the three of them perished instantly. This unsubtle takedown drew attention her way from the loud, crashing noise it produced, but for Jack, that was just a perk.
Javik spied two more guards coming from behind and eliminated them. Another pack of guards came after them from all corners. In Jack's experience, the worst strategy when facing an enemy horde was to stay in one place. Doing so just made it easier to get overwhelmed. Instead, Jack moving around the immediate vicinity in a small circle, taking out every batarian in her path. Between her shotgun and biotics lashes, the guards had no answer for Jack, whose carnage now left a pool of blood on the floor that marked her territory nicely.
Out on the boundary, the volus Ninju picked off his targets that entered the room from a side door. His recon-drone remained up front to draw enemy attention, which he could control Harmonically to electrocute enemies, highlight weak spots in their armor, or overheat omnitools and biotic amps to throttle their attacks for a short time.
James had his Wraith shotgun aimed ahead, taking out three armed guards on the way to the center of the room. Before walking out into the open, Vega checked the upper level above for snipers. It looked clear, so he proceeded over to the middle of the room and headed towards the staircase, where a dozen more guards were coming down in his direction. But he was ready for them, counting to three before hurling an unpinned frag grenade in their direction, taking out most of his targets. Three remained, grievously wounded, before Vega walked by with his pistol and put them out of their misery. At the top, James found the power controls and shut down the factory room machines one by one.
James reported his team's progress over the radio: "Powering everything off over here. Lots of stuff getting made here: weapons, electronics, some machine parts. Not anymore, though."
"Good to hear," said Kaidan over the radio.
Nearby, James spotted a datapad and took examined its contents.
"And, hmm … found a shipment schedule. Looks like those parts I was talking about are for ships, vehicles. Hundreds of units, all being picked up and hauled out to… a shipyard in Keismal."
"Shipyards?" Kaidan responded. "Damn, maybe all this nonsense about military conquest is not a ruse, after all."
"Also," James added, "next page: accounts, showing massive sums of money being moved from the treasury to keep their production running over here. Yeah, I think you're right, Rocco."
"Alright, well, tell me what else you find over there. Out."
In another room down the hall, Kaidan and his squad entered what looked like some sort of laboratory, though there were no workers present. Perhaps they knew of their squad's break-in and fled, Kaidan figured. No matter, it allowed Major Alenko and his compatriots to investigate undisturbed, at least for the moment. Kaidan picked up a datapad lying next to a computer console.
[It makes sense: rank-and-file gear for the rank-and-file soldiers. We are a long ways away from our goal, so our top combatants must get priority. Fortunately, the mercs have been worth every credit. Blue Suns and some Blood Pack have all come with better weapons and armor than most of them, not to mention experience.
Anyway, the search teams that went investigating one of the Hegemony's top-secret military files have delivered: artifacts – Prothean, maybe – that hold vast information. Another science team has been mining it out for data. We've put their findings to good use. Upgraded weapons and equipment for the troops, mostly. We are also dabbling in this Harmonics stuff. Apparently this artifact offers some ideas on that front as well. Normally I am not one for following alien trends, but we do not want to fall behind the rest of the galaxy with something like this. And our guys out of the other labs say that these artifacts, coupled with the breakthrough of Harmonics, could give us something other species do not have. We've developed some prototypes – powerful, but crude, and the effects on our subjects have been all over the place.
But our Squad Elites look good out there. If we can make them a staple of our military, it will be a true force once again.]
Kaidan tossed the 'pad aside and shook his head a bit at yet more talks of expansion and an empire. These batarians were truly mad with ambition. However promising this government may have seemed at the beginning, it was growing apparent to him that they had lost their way.
"Some information here on the Harmonic devices used by squad elites," said Liara, at a computer console. "Though, not much that we do not already have."
"Hmm," Miranda murmured, at another terminal, waving Kaidan over. "An experiment, it seems like…"
[Hope the Keismal team knows what they're talking about. These mercs are a valuable commodity for us, and this one in particular was expensive. Still, it's hard to argue with their results so far, and if they're right about this, the payoff will be huge… literally.
Given our lack of numbers, we need to be able to do more with less. The Reapers knew how to make use of disposable resources. We can mimic what they had with husks. Though the victim is long dead, the body is a vessel still usable, it just needs the right parts. Reaper minions require their puppeteer in direct control, however, or they're no good. Our model needs at least some independence. We do not have enough men to just pilot mindless drones.]
"Some sort of supersoldier," Kaidan surmised.
"Just like Cerberus," said Miranda, slightly glaring. "Same old story. It might be useful tech, but it's too easy for unqualified researchers to create something too powerful for them to handle and end up with a disaster."
"Major," said EDI, examining machine parts at another workstation, "some tech samples. Little different than the ones we've collected, but there may be some modifications."
"Then let's grab what we can of them and take it back to the ship for study," Major Alenko ordered.
A wide entryway marked the opposite end of the room, sealed shut with the door console coded red to indicate lockdown. Kaidan spotted another active computer terminal nearby the door. The four of them walked over and took a look at the contents of the terminal.
[Subject is tightly bound and shackled. It took all eight of us to do so, but he's secure and no threat to us. We've spent the past couple weeks integrating modifications, augmentations. All of our efforts therein have been successful.]
"Another one," said Kaidan, moving on, "dated today."
[Our work on the subject is almost complete. Some finishing touches are required, and can be finished within the next two days. Can't wait to see it in action. Our army has held off one final assault on the rebel peasants just to test him out against them (as if we did not notice their pattern of hiding between three mucky foxholes). I am confident that this monster will wipe out the whole of their fighting force on its own, though it will be accompanied with some provisional League forces just in case. We'll have to give him a name soon. I suggest "Vacknar," fictional legend of an indomitable stone beast that laid entire dominions to waste, and dying only after bringing an entire world-war unto itself.]
Their eyes altogether widened as they finished reading the account.
"Whatever they were working on is likely through that door," said Miranda. "We lack the time and resources to claim it for ourselves, and we cannot risk it being used against us. It must be destroyed, now."
"We do not know what we're dealing with," Liara objected. "Just leave it here, Major. We may end up fighting it later anyway, yes, but it's not necessarily better to do it here and now. With luck, it will remain locked away in this holding cell for the duration of our mission."
"And then what?" Miranda countered.
"The logs say that the subject is restrained," EDI pointed out. "We can first take a look at it ourselves before deciding on a course of action."
"And one would think that if it were loose," Miranda added, "we'd have heard it scrabbling around inside, but we've heard nothing from within."
Major Alenko nodded, and proceeded to override the lock on the door console. Once unlocked, the console turned green, and the doors opened to reveal the experiment subject: a krogan, lying in rest, with Blood Pack tattoos and on his skin, the same emblems imprinted on the armor, marks of extensive implants and augmentations across its body, even some bulky machine parts attached onto its epidermis. Most worryingly, the krogan sat atop seven fresh batarian corpses, and the holographic cuffs around its wrists and feet were not attached to kinetic bindings as they should have been.
The creature was unbound.
"Oh no," Liara whispered, "no-no-no-no-no!"
Then it awakened. Getting up, it looked at them and let out a fearsome roar, standing menacingly before them.
Major Alenko quickly noticed as the krogan supersoldier crouched down and planted its foot in the ground, snapping out of a momentary daze to yell, "KROGAN CHARGE – MOVE!"
The four of them dove away as the krogan behemoth stormed ahead. As they got up, the krogan turned and pointed his hand out to them. Kaidan squinted, then identified the attached mechanism that replaced the subject's normal hand and digits – it was the barrel of an M-76 Revenant machine gun.
"Vacknar" fired off high-velocity rounds from its hand in their direction. Just like a Cannibal from the Reaper War, thought Kaidan. Only, this weapon was deadlier. Aside from five sturdy lab tables, the room did not offer them a whole lot of cover. Against a normal krogan, that was problematic. Against whatever they were facing, Major Alenko feared it could prove fatal.
They needed a plan, but also had to know what they were dealing with, Kaidan reasoned. Harmonically, he probed his omnitool for the Tactical Scanner app. Once found, he readily took the hostile krogan's reading, which created a virtual display image for all to see that highlighted the target's weak spots and revealed the strength of his fortifications with flags, reading: shields – 2,340 pt, barriers – 1,800 pt.
"Take down the barriers!" Kaidan ordered. "We need detonating biotics!"
"I've got it," said Miranda, using Tactical Timer to set up a long combination chain in virtual-space.
[EDI:OVR/MKA:ENDMIR:ENV/LIA:THRMKA:REV/MIR:WRPEDI:OVR (approx. dmg. val: 1806 pt)]
Together, the quartet unleashed devastating tech and biotic attacks on their krogan target, breaching its barriers. However, the krogan weathered the detonations' massive impact and charged again, destroying one of the lab tables behind which Liara had taken cover. Its attack sent her airborne, hitting the wall and leaving her knocked out, unconscious.
"Liara is down!" cried EDI.
"Keep up the pressure," Major Alenko commanded. "Don't hold anything back!"
Kaidan kept his assault-rifle firing steadily while his omnitool fired off tech attacks Harmonically. Miranda periodically overloaded the krogan's shields with her own device while also charging up and firing her Acolyte pistol. EDI unloaded her shotgun and spawned a decoy near the krogan, which it attacked fruitlessly before the virtual image powered down. Half the beast's shields remained. Then it turned to the real EDI and charged her position, taking out yet another lab table. EDI rolled out of the way promptly and avoided most of the impact, but Vacknar proved nimble and turned back sharply before EDI could move any further. EDI got up to find herself within arm's length of the monster. In response, she swung some punches and kicked the weak spots in Vacknar's armor, doing some damage beneath the creature's layer of kinetic shielding. Vacknar grabbed EDI and tossed her forcefully at the wall, rendering her mobile platform inoperable.
"NO!" Major Alenko shouted, crouching down into cover and steeling himself before getting back up and firing. About a quarter of its shields remained. Vacknar fired his machine-gun and forced both Miranda and Kaidan back into cover. When he paused, however, Kaidan – switching to his Paladin pistol – lined up a shot right at the creature's weapon hand. With three straight shots, the barrel was had broken, now wildly misfiring its bullets and practically useless. However, Vacknar then raised two additional cannons out of its shoulder-blades. Turrets, providing rapid-fire backup for the hostile krogan. As if that wasn't enough, the krogan revealed another cannon under the wrist of its opposite hand, which fired off three charged electric shots akin to the main gun of a Geth Prime.
Quite irked, Miranda responded bitterly, "How many weapons does this thing have?"
Kaidan blew off the turrets with his pistol after they stopped firing, but the underarm pulse cannon proved more difficult to hit. With shields nearly depleted, the krogan charged Miranda's position, though she was ready for it and quickly shifted to another covered spot. Kaidan continued whittling down its shields. The krogan charged at Miranda again, and though she avoided its attack once again, there remained only one more viable source of cover for Kaidan and her left, and they were both fully aware of that fact.
"No choice," said Major Alenko stoically, standing up and leaving cover, effectively making himself the krogan's bait. "Cover me."
Before she could even respond, Kaidan engaged the krogan supersoldier out in the open. Though Miranda did not like seeing Kaidan risk himself, she realized the necessity of it and determined to do whatever it took to bring that monster down. Kaidan had his rifle out and continued firing on the krogan and dodged the Krogan's first charge. Miranda overloaded its shields and eliminated its protective outer layer. Vacknar was now taking damage as Kaidan and Miranda's shots chipped off its armor plating and drew some blood from its tough, leathery skin. It turned and fired its pulse cannon at Major Alenko, but its shots were easy to avoid. Frustrated, it charged again. Kaidan moved aside readily, but the krogan had adapted to its target's tendencies, this time anticipating Kaidan's evasion and self-correcting rather than charging straight ahead as before. Again showing its surprising agility, Vacknar lowered its shoulder on Kaidan and knocked him back.
"Kaidan!" Miranda cried worriedly.
Kaidan felt the wind knocked out of him and struggled to get back on his feet, while the krogan sought to finish off his prey. Major Alenko looked up and saw its pulse cannon aimed at him, and rolled aside to avoid its shots, but lacked the strength to make a full effort. Two of the cannon's shots hit him, eliminating his tech-armor, biotic-barier, and kinetic shields. Once again, the krogan charged, giving chase as Major Alenko hurried dashed away. Kaidan then tapped the Harmonic device under his boots and mapped out a trajectory from his position traveling above his pursuer and ending behind it. Using his biotics, Kaidan fired and executed an impressive backflip safely outside the krogan's path, this time managing to stay on his feet upon landing. With the krogan momentarily confused, Kaidan shot it from behind with his Paladin and spawned a hex-shield in front of himself. Vacknar fired upon the shield, hoping to destroy it, but Kaidan rerouted power from his recharging kinetic barriers to the hexagonal cover in front of him Harmonically. In so doing, the hex-shield remained, though on the verge of collapse. In response, Vacknar rushed ahead, to take out the barrier and Kaidan behind it in one fell swoop.
Kaidan dove out of the way, though not before he rigged the hex-shield to explode upon collapse. The ensuing blast momentarily crippled the relentless krogan, and amplified the effects of Kaidan and Miranda's tech attacks against it for a short time. However, just as normal krogan recovered from seemingly-mortal wounds with their redundant nervous system and regenerative tissue, Vacknar recovered and attempted to fight on. Major Alenko countered with reave biotics, which blocked the creature's regenerative abilities. At that moment, Vacknar appeared vulnerable once more, kneeling and bleeding profusely as he took damage from both sides.
Suddenly, the krogan started bleeding waves of electrical energy. Dismayed, Kaidan and Miranda seized their fire and looked on. Disintegrating rapidly, Vacknar shed his skin and much of his armor to reveal a synthetic skeleton underneath it all, now taking on a husk-like appearance before several loud and powerful electrical shocks 'revived' him. To the horror of Kaidan and Miranda both, Vacknar got back on his feet with shields recharged, ready for another round.
Kaidan holstered his pistol for his assault-rifle again, letting loose another barrage of gunfire. It was a good thing the M-7 Lancer was an older model that did not require clips, because he would have depleted its supply a while ago. Miranda had exhausted the ammunition available to her Acolyte pistol and switched to her Hornet SMG. Vacknar lumbered forward, firing off its pulse canon at Kaidan, who dodged its predictable shots. Vacknar stepped forward a couple more steps and contracted into a defensive stance. Kaidan froze, taking a step towards the monster before it lashed out, roaring loudly and discharging an unstable wave of electrical energy that caught Kaidan in its radius. His barrier greatly weakened, Major Alenko tried to compensate using energy-drain from his omnitool, only to find that his handheld device had also been affected by the blast and malfunctioned.
Vacknar bull-rushed him, but Kaidan rolled out of the way while the krogan charged straight ahead and missed. Kaidan's omnitool recovered, and before Vacknar could try again, Kaidan spawned a hex-shield in front of him. Wary of the explosive effect, Vacknar suddenly turned his attention to Miranda and charged at her cover. Miranda saw the krogan coming and had time to react accordingly, but the enemy nonetheless eliminated all cover from the area. It appeared that Vacknar was no longer taking Major Alenko as bait and instead sought to eliminate the weaker prey. Miranda was tough, but was not equipped to hold off the krogan supersoldier for very long.
In a bold final act of defiance, Kaidan tapped his Commodore's Dashboard app and directed Miranda to hit the fiendish superkrogan with a biotic warp field and position herself behind him. Miranda complied as Vacknar planted his foot in the ground and charged behind her. Channeling as much biotic power into his omnitool hand as he could muster, Major Alenko took the incoming enemy head-on and delivered a powerful blow into its armor's center capacitor, simultaneously unleashing his biotics and an overload tech-attack from his omnitool which altogether detonated a devastating tech- and biotic-explosion. The impact sent Vacknar flying back and hitting the wall, hard. Exhausted from the biotic discharge, Major Alenko walked over, panting, and then pulled out his Paladin pistol to finish off the krogan monstrosity once and for all.
As it lay crippled on the ground, Kaidan fired the last four shots left in his Paladin at Vacknar. In disbelief, he stared at its lifeless body until he felt a hand on his shoulder, and turned around to see Miranda standing beside him with her rare and wholly rewarding smile of approval.
"It's over," she said, "the beast is dead."
Sweating, panting, hearts still pumping, their eyes met, and Kaidan smiled back at her, proudly. Not breaking eye contact, Miranda's joyous expression slowly turned serious. In a moment where time itself seemed to stop, Kaidan and Miranda instinctively drew their faces closer to each other's, eyes shut, when they were suddenly interrupted by the sound of pained groaning from the far side of the room. It was Liara, dazed and recovering from the blow she sustained in the fight. With that, Kaidan and Miranda snapped back into the moment, blushing and smiling embarrassedly.
"We, uh, should probably get EDI's platform repaired back at the ship," said Kaidan, in a sheepish attempt to act normal. "Or – something."
"Right," Miranda concurred. "She took a bad hit. Let's, er, check on Commander Vega's progress."
Coincidentally, James and his squad appeared in the lab a moment later.
"Swept the other side, Rocco," Vega announced. "Something was messing with your radio, though, so I– holy…"
James spotted the dead krogan supersoldier's synthetic corpse on the ground, and EDI's platform also lying on the ground.
"Long story," Kaidan responded. "I'll tell you the whole thing back on our ship. EDI's platform may need attention, but, the damage should be fixable."
"Aye aye, Major. We picked up some a few more tech samples and made sure to throw a wrench in their machines on the way out. Quite literally, for some of them."
"Nice," said Major Alenko. "Alright everyone. Let's head back to the ship."