I really had to over think and rewrite this chapter a bit. Missions are the hardest thing for me. I don't want to tamper with the game to much, yet keep it personal. I hope I achieved that in this chapter. Please drop a review or a message. Let me know what you think of it ;)
Shepard stood by the galaxy map, pondering which mission she would do first. She had three choices: Helping the Turians on Tuchanka, help the Krogans with the Rachni or Grissom Academy.
A few hours ago Victus acted mysterious. There was a problem on Tuchanka, his men were pinned down by the Reapers, but he was reluctant to share why the hell they were there in the first place. After the Primarch was gone, Wrex also presented a problem to Shepard. Something about a missing team, who where looking to confirm if the Rachni were back. She really wanted to go to Grissom first, but pleasing everybody so she could form an alliance was the utmost important thing. God I hate choices like this. "EDI, how long will it take Cerberus to reach Grissom Academy?"
"Calculated from the first signal we received and the average speed of their ships it will take them another 3 days, 8 hours and 25 minutes. Do consider there is a 9.32 percent deviation."
"Is there a possibility that we can go to the Attican Travers and Tuchanka and still manage to reach Grissom Academy in time?"
"There is an 82,43 percent probability that you will be on time."
"Thank you EDI." Alright. Grissom as last then. She bent over the Galaxy map again. They were already in the vicinity of Tuchanka and the Attican Traverse was not far behind that. Ok let's do this then. "Joker, set course for Tuchanka. Garrus, Vega, get prepped for the mission."
Shepard went down to the cargo bay to tinker some on her weapons. She felt bad that she had chosen another mission then Traynor's. Afraid that Traynor might feel like she didn't take her serious, so she decided to send her a message on the omnitool:
From: Shepard, Q
To: Traynor, S
Hi Traynor,
Sorry that we're not on our way to Grissom. It really was a good catch, but the stakes of forming an alliance are too high. I need to do these first. I hope we're still in time.
Q. Shepard
She pressed sent. Before she could even walk to the weapons bench her omnitool bleeped:
From: Traynor, S
To: Shepard, Q
Hello Shepard.
No worries. It is like chess, sometimes it is better to sacrifice a piece to protect the king. I hope we are on time as well.
S. Traynor
PS Stay safe.
Shepard felt that rush of warmth again, just like the first time she touched her hand. Unfortunately she couldn't enjoy the feeling for long. Wrex walked into the cargo bay and directly fired questions at her. "Is the cure for the genophage already done?"
"No Wrex, it is not."
"Then why are we on our way to Tuchanka?"
"The Primarch asked me to help some of his men out."
"His man? Turians are on MY planet? WHY?" His face started to turn red from anger and his fist where balled again." The last time Shepard saw a rage like this in his eyes was during their hunt for Saren when they learned he had a cure and was breeding a Krogan army. They had to destroy the facility and the cure along with it. It took a significant amount of swearing to get through in Wrex his mind, there was unfortunately, no other option. "Calm down Wrex. I don't know the details, only if we could help him out."
"I am going to go to him and get some answers!"
"Don't do that Wrex." Shepard ordered with a stern voice. "We will know the details soon. Just please calm down."
"Hmpf." He grunted. "Fine, but if something goes wrong, I'll tear his head of!" He turned on his heel and walked away. Great…. An angry Krogan… just what I need… She threw one of the magazines of her sidearm that she just picked up through the cargo bay. "Ey Lola, take it easy!" Vega shouted to Shepard from the other side. "Keep that rage for the battlefield." She looked at Vega, and that was enough for him to know to keep his mouth shut again and kept his hands up in surrender. "Ma'am, we're nearing the planet. I am ready for take off." Cortez sounded on the omnitool.
"Thank you Cortez. Let's go." Before they landed, the mission didn't turn out to be anything they could've imagine. It started with the mission parameters given by EDI. They were supposed to find the son of Primarch Victus, which already was going to be tough, but to make things worse, Victus and his men were surrounded by Reapers, worst of all they were surrounded by Collector ships. "So a secret mission on Tuchanka is especially odd. Any thoughts?" Garrus asked.
"Nothing has come through any of my networks." Liara replied over the headset.
"Well whatever it is, my gut tells me it is going to be bad." Shepard said. While navigating through the ruins, they had to fight of heavy Reaper resistance, the worst Shepard ever seen, beside the Collector ship she had been in. She helped out a few of Victus's men, whom found their own way back to their Lieutenant, before they finally reached the main crash site. They were greeted by Lieutenant Victus. "Commander Shepard, my men and I are in your debt. Thank you for saving so many."
"What happened here?" Before Victus could reply a Turian soldier grabbed him at his collar and faced him. "He screwed up!
"Stand down soldier!" Victus replied calmly.
"These men are dead because of him!" The soldier pointed to the pile of bodies with one hand, his other still around his collar.
"I said stand down!" Victus voice sounded dangerous this time.
"HEY! I just saved all your asses, so everybody calm down!" Shepard intervened. "Lieutenant, what's going on here? Shepard demanded.
"I made a bad call, this is all on me" Victus turned his head away in shame. "I chose caution and clever tactics over a head-on-attack…. My men paid the price."
"That's life! Deal with it! We have to go on."
"Of course, it is…. it is just fresh. Our mission is still a failure. When we've stabilized the wounded, we will head back to the fleet."
"So you're abandoning your mission?"
"We're down over 30 men! It'd be suicide!"
"Depends. What exactly did you come here to do?"
"There is a bomb here on the planet, we came to defuse it."
"What the hell! A bomb?! How big!" Shepard almost shouted to Victus. Garrus wanted to say something to Victus, but Shepard put her hand against his chest, silently pulling rank. Something she didn't do often.
"Enormous. Cerberus has it."
"Cerberus? And you want to abandon this mission? ARE YOU INSANE?!" Shepard spatted saliva on Victus face while yelling at him… The anger raised to a new height in her. "You need to finish the mission." She tried to get a grip on her emotions again.
"Haven't these men sacrificed enough?"
"They signed up for these kinds of sacrifices…. And so did you!"
"My men have lost hope, Commander. Even if I wanted to finish the mission, they don't."
"Then make them want it. That is your job as a Lieutenant."
"But…. how?"
"Their sacrifices mean others never have to face what they faced today. Remind them that those sacrifices have no honor if the mission fails." Really? I need to tell you how to motivate your men? Gosh. Victus turned around and gave a whole speech to his men. Shepard didn't listen to it, she turned to Garrus and Vega.
"Soooo…." She said.
"Well this makes things more interesting." Vega stated.
"That is an understatement, James." Garrus had a grave look in his eyes.
"Why does Cerberus have a bomb here?." Before someone could even try to give an explanation, Victus walked to Shepard. "We're a shell of what we were…. We could use your help."
"Yeah, well I wasn't planning to leave, until Cerberus is kicked of this damned planet. Send me the NavPoint."
"Thank you Shepard. This will give us some time to do some recon, to see what we are up against." Victus and his men walked away. "Traynor." Shepard talked into her mic. "Could you patch me through to Primarch Victus?"
"Yes ma'am." a few seconds of silence. "You can talk to him now."
"Shepard, what can I do for you?" The Primarch asked.
"Don't play innocent with me!" Why the hell didn't you tell me about a bomb on Tuchanka?! Why would you hide such a 'minor' detail." Shepard mocked at him. "What else are you hiding for me?!"
"I have nothing for you!"
"Are you shitting me? For an alliance to work I need to goddamn trust you!"
"Our friendship is new, Commander. Would you have trusted me with information that puts your people, earth, at risk?"
"Why would I want to jeopardize our alliance by lying to you now? That doesn't make any sense." The Primarch was silent for a moment.
"When I was a General I could pass these type of decision up the chain of command, now I am all I have. These kinds of decisions weigh heavy on me." A silence fell. Shepard was ready to disconnect their connection but before she could the Primarch spoke again. "Commander, one more thing. "Thank you for saving my son." The connection was disconnected. Shepard was ready to hit the mountain she was standing in front of, but Vega grabbed her fist…. "Lola, I understand this is frustrating, but this is not the way to deal with it." Shepard looked at Vega, first with fury, but quickly calmed down. "You're right." She sighed. "How much time before we have to be at the rendezvous point?"
"An hour" Traynor sounded through her intercom again. "It will take you 30 minutes to get there." The unexpected voice of Traynor made her inside flutter and it was getting harder for Shepard to deny her true feelings for Traynor. How come, why…. why now?! Let go Shepard, you're on a mission now… "Shepard, are you okay? I am noticing a peak in your body temperature and heart rate, and not for the first time." EDI sounded almost concerned. "Maybe you should consult with Dr. Chakwas about this recurring events."
"That's not necessary." Shepard answered, giving herself an invisible facepalm. No no no no…. really? Ok get a grip now… "Alright. Garrus, Vega, how are your guns and ammo? Do we need to go back for resupply?"
"Good to go Lola"
"I am fine Shepard."
"Then let's move out… I rather be there too early then too late." After almost half an hour of walking through the ruins of what used to be Krogan society at its height, Shepard, Vega and Garrus neared the rendezvous point. They received a transmission from Lieutenant Victus. "How are you holding up?" Shepard asked.
"We're holding up."
"What can you tell me about the Cerberus bomb?"
"It…. it is not Cerberus, Commander. It is…. Turian."
"What do you mean with 'Turian'?"
"It was planted there centuries ago, after the Krogan Rebellions. The bomb was a safeguard against another galactic war."
"Brutal, but it makes a certain kind of sense." Garrus looked at Shepard before he continued. "Put the Krogan down hard if they tried anything." Shepard wanted to reply, but decided it might be better for their friendship to not say anything. "Right now, we focus on disarming the bomb." She finally said.
"Yes, but Cerberus found it. Detonation means all-out war between my people and the Krogan."
"Well you got yourself to blame for that…" The words slipped before Shepard realized it. "We should go." She continued.
"The 9th platoon will cover your flank." After these words from Victus the communication ended. Shepard massaged her temples. Something she came to do more and more often lately. After a deep breath, she picked up her M15-Vindicator. "Time to kill some Cerberus…" The only good thing of this mission.
Shepard hoped that they could move in undetected for the first few meters, so they could find a good vantage point and surprise them, but lady luck was, as per usual, not with them. From the moment they walked into the ruins, they were spotted and shots were fired. To make the best of the situation, Shepard finally released her anger, let the darkness take over. She ran into the line of fire while her suit repelled all the types of incoming projectiles. She shot the soldiers one by one with her rifle, which was set on 3 burst rounds. Ideal for organics. The moment her mag was empty, she threw the rifle aside and roared like a beast whilst running to her next victim. Once close enough she ripped the knife of her omnitool through the body and jerked it up, almost slicing him in half. Vega and Garrus kept close behind Shepard to make sure she wasn't flanked. Shepard looked around to find her next victim, but found none. While panting, she looked at the bodies that were once in her path, feeling satisfied. The darkness in her finally had a chance to roar, this time the darkness in her was a good thing. Vega and Garrus looked at her, slightly terrified. They have seen their commander do many stupid things, but this, this was beyond it. Garrus put his hand on her shoulder, which made Shepard jump around, with her knife ready. The adrenaline rush hadn't settled down yet.
"Shepard, calm down." He said softly. "Are you feeling OK?"
"Yeah, fine" Shepard still panted. Why?" Garrus eyes looked down, at a gaping hole in her suit. "Because of that." He nodded at the wound. Shepard looked as well. "Hmm guess one of them had a lucky shot." She looked at Garrus and started to laugh. "It's nothing… Flesh wound I guess… Could you be a dear and apply some medigel on it?" Garrus obeyed her order and pulled out one of the medigels. Shepard moaned in discomfort when the gel made contact with the wound. After letting the gel settle in for a few moments, they gathered their stuff again and continued on to the bomb site, hardly any resistance left. Victus his team had less luck with the resistance… but, he assured Shepard that they would make it.
After Shepard arrived at the dig site, her jaw dropped. The bomb was huge, and Cerberus managed to dig it out. "I hope Victus knows what he is doing, we won't get a second chance" Garrus said.
"We're moving to the control station." Victus informed Shepard.
"Roger that, we are on our way." Shepard replied and the three of them sled down the slopes of the ruins to the bomb site. They were awaited, again, by a wave of Cerberus soldiers. This time Shepard decided it would be better to play it a bit more safe and stayed in cover. Garrus and Vega were also in cover behind a huge piece of concrete on her left. The fighting was intense. At some point they thought they had the upper hand…. And at that moment an Atlas was dropped between them and the bomb. "Oh you have to be shitting me!" Vega mumbled.
"I thought you liked these kinds of things James." Garrus looked at him with a twinkle in his eyes. Shepard noticed that Lieutenant Victus got impatient and went for the controls of the bomb. "Could you guys just take the damn Atlas down? Victus is already at the controls. We need to defend him so he can bypass the bomb." Vega nodded and moved around so they could circle the Atlas. They kept pounding the Atlas with all they had. After a few minutes cracks started to appear in the glass dome protecting the soldier. Garrus took this opportunity, got his sniper rifle, aimed it and exhaled at the moment he pulled the trigger. The bullet penetrated the cracked glass and blew the head off the soldier. "WHOOOH Nice shot esse" Vega shouted while clearing the area.
"Commander, firewall is down." Victus informed Shepard. "I'm in!" But then he noticed that Cerberus hacked the trigger mechanism, the joyous in his voice disappeared. "Spirits…. It is set to detonate."
"Disarm the damn thing!"
"I can't! I have to separate the trigger from the bomb! Now! Cover me Shepard!" He directly climbed up one the arms that suspended the bomb in mid air. When he arrived at the top, he opened the latch with the controls to overwrite the mechanism in it. "Almost there Shepard." POP POP POP sound filled their ears. Shepard looked up, noticing that something was wrong. Only three pops instead of four. A panel fell down and landed beside her feet. "Victus, what is happening?"
"One of the triggers is jammed, I have to manually release it." He pulled out a cylinder.
"Victus!" Shepard shouted at him, but the last thing she heard from him was "Victory at any cost." A second cylinder fell down. The last trigger released and the trigger mechanism fell back in the hole it was dug out from, together with Victus. All that Shepard could do was watch it happen.