Chapter 21: Sins of the Past
As you can imagine, Wrex was less than thrilled to hear that the turians had put an entire platoon on the krogan homeworld.
Victus wasn't happy either. Mostly because I had opened my big fat mouth. But what was I supposed to do? "Hey, Wrex! I know the genophage cure isn't quite ready yet but we went to Tuchanka anyway. Had to meet up with some turians. Yeah, that's right: we've got turians milling around on Tuchanka. How many? Um, a platoon? That's not a lot, right? Why were they there? Who knows? Why were we meeting them? 'Cuz the Primarch said the Reapers had them pinned down and I know how concerned you'd be by something like that. Oh, by the way, sorry for not telling you earlier. We're still buddies. Right? Right?"
Yeah. Didn't think so. "Look, Wrex," I said. "I know you're upset. That's why I'm telling you beforehand—so you don't get blindsided. And that's why I'm going down there—to stay on top of whatever's going on there and make sure no one gets screwed. Because let's face it: I have a better shot of getting to the bottom of this than you do.
"And Victus," I said, "I know you're upset too. You wanted me to keep quiet and I didn't. But if I didn't say anything, once word got out—and it would, trust me—any chance of getting that krogan aid would grow a hell of a lot slimmer. If this mission went sour, it might become next to nil."
Someone once said that a compromise is an agreement where no one walks away happy. This definitely qualified as a compromise.
It was on that note that the squad suited up, boarded the shuttle and flew down to Tuchanka. "Geez," I whistled as I read the sensor analyses, "this crash site's a nightmare. EDI, try to raise Lieutenant Victus."
"Yes, sir," she nodded.
Garrus shook his head. "For a turian commander, what happened here is… let's just say the turian code is not forgiving. And that it's his son is bad for the Primarch. Especially since…"
"Yes," I prompted.
"Look, Victus is a hard worker and a dedicated soldier. But he doesn't have the achievements or accomplishments that would warrant his promotion to Lieutenant, much less gaining command of his own platoon. Promoting family without merit can bite you in the ass. What's strange is the Primarch knows that." (1)
"And yet the Primarch has done it anyway," Javik frowned. "Why—"
"Commander," Cortez interrupted. "I have to land well back from the main crash site."
I looked at the projected LZ. He wasn't kidding. "That the best you can do?"
"Yes, sir, but the Reapers seem unaware of our presence. You might get the jump on them."
"All right," I shrugged, "set her down. Let's save this platoon."
We hopped down onto the soil of Tuchanka. It was just like I remembered: hot and oppressive, with nothing but rock and ruins of buildings as far as the eye could see. "EDI?" I said, getting on the comm. "Did you raise Lieutenant Victus?"
"Yes, but the connection is bad," she replied.
"Patch me in." I waited a few seconds before making my introductions. "This is Commander Shepard, Alliance Navy. Do you read?"
EDI wasn't kidding about the quality of the connection. There was a lot of static and background gunfire. I could still make him out, though: "This is Lieutenant Tarquin Victus of the Ninth Platoon. We're pinned down by Reaper Harvesters and are taking heavy casualties. Also, there are pockets of my men scattered along the crash trajectory."
Okay. Trajectory… "Lieutenant, I need you to fire a flare so I can find your position." Victus sent one up almost immediately. "Got it."
"Things are getting worse by the minute," Victus said frantically. "My men are dying!"
"Lieutenant, I need you to calm down. We're heading your way. Lieutenant? Lieutenant?" I shook my head. "This sounds bad. Let's move."
"Sounds worse than I feared," Garrus murmured as we walked along. The others didn't reply as they were too worried about the Harvester flying overhead. I didn't reply as I was too busy scanning a weapons upgrade.
"A secret turian mission on Tuchanka is especially odd," Garrus continued. "Thoughts?"
"Nothing has come up through any of my networks," Liara said.
"The Hierarchy must be aware of the Primarch's plan to gain krogan support, and how badly that plan could be jeopardized should word of their presence become widespread," Miranda said. "For them to approve this mission suggests things are particularly dire."
It was on that foreboding note that we climbed a nearby ladder and walked single-file through a narrow passage between a crumbling wall and a tall rock face. Prime ambush territory if ever there was one. But we didn't run into a single hostile. Maybe Cortez was right. Maybe the Reapers didn't know we were here.
We emerged into a wider area, where we could see something up ahead. At first, I thought they were some of the turians Victus had mentioned.
I soon revised that assessment. "Shh!" James warned. "You see them?"
"Husks," EDI identified.
"Quick," Garrus said. "Spread out. We don't want them to call for backup."
There were three husks milling around. I quickly assigned one for each team and counted down from three. Streams of plasma and biotic energy hit them in unison. The follow-up attack created a series of explosions that was particularly intense given the confined space. I quickly salvaged some spare parts—could it be that the husks were kleptomaniacs as well?—and climbed a ladder.
Upon reaching the top, I spotted an escape pod. But there were no survivors.
"Looks like they successfully evacuated, only to get taken out by a Harvester," Liara said.
"Died in the explosion?" I guessed.
Javik crouched down and examined them. "And then pulled out to be eaten by husks."
On the slim chance that we were wrong, I looked at them myself. Sadly, they were all dead. Most of their weapons were either damaged in the crash or were models that we already had. The exception was an M-9 Tempest submachine gun. I was scanning it when the back of my neck started to tingle.
"Shepard," EDI said suddenly. "I detect gunfire."
She was right. I motioned for the squad to stay back while I scouted ahead. "Okay," I said when I got back. "I got a visual on the enemy. At least a pair of Cannibals… and there's an escape pod just beyond. Looks like the turians are in tough. Here's the best part, though: the hostiles don't know we're here."
"Surprise on our side for once," Garrus grinned. "I like it."
"What a novel experience," Miranda agreed.
"Exactly," I nodded. "Let's go."
I struck the first blow. Or first three blows—it took three shots to take out one of the Cannibals. While Team Two dealt with the other one, I checked my HUD. More hostiles approaching up ahead, with a few more trying to flank us. Leaving Teams Two and Three to deal with the former, I led Team One to the right. Only two Cannibals. Liara pulled one of them into a singularity, which EDI promptly detonated, while I took the other one out with my sniper rifle.
The other teams were having similar success. Naturally the universe had to correct that. "Harvester!" one of the turians yelled. "Incoming Harvester!"
"Plasma and biotics," I told my squad. "Light it up!"
The Harvester quickly flew away, but not before we hurt it—bad. It didn't drop off any more Reaper forces and all the Cannibals were dead, so we checked on the turians. "Thank you," one of them said.
"Don't stop for us," another one told us. "We'll head for the main crash site. Keep your eyes open—we saw at least another pod up ahead."
"We saved them all," Liara smiled. "Excellent work." (2)
"Keep moving," I returned. "We need to find the other escape pods and get to the main crash site ASAP."
"And determine what the hell happened on the Lieutenant's watch," Garrus added. "Being the son of Adrien Victus is a lot to live up to."
"What is so special about this turian?" Javik wanted to know.
"It's a big military name on Palaven," Garrus replied. "War's expected to run in the Victus blood."
"Children shouldn't be burdened with the successes of their parents any more than their failings," Liara admonished. No doubt she was reflecting on her own childhood and the pressure she'd faced as the daughter of Matriarch Benezia.
While Garrus apologized for his inadvertent gaffe, I did some scrounging. The batch of spare parts was nice, as was the weapon mod and the medkit. What was really cool was an honest-to-gosh Phaeston assault rifle. Beloved weapon of turians everywhere… and their Reaperfied cousins, the Marauders.
Speaking of which, there was at least one of those beasties up ahead. "It appears we have the element of surprise," Miranda observed. "Again."
"Follow my lead," I replied.
"Minus the looting, I presume."
Ignoring her, I cloaked and sneaked forward and silently issued commands with my HUD. As soon as Miranda's EMP dropped, taking out the Marauder's shields, I opened fire, wounding it and a pair of Cannibals. The squad followed up with a barrage of biotics and plasma that ripped them apart. Then a Harvester swooped down. I scored two direct hits with my sniper rifle... then hastily ducked behind a rock column as it returned fire.
The Harvester took advantage of the moment to drop off a couple husks, which promptly began running towards us. I snapped off a quick shot, but missed. So I set it on fire instead. EDI and Miranda did the same with the other two.
"Damn!" Garrus cursed. "Another Harvester."
"Look out!" a turian cried out. "I'm—" he broke off.
"Teams Two and Three; deal with the husks," I ordered. "Team One; focus on the Harvesters."
The husks were taken out without too much fuss. I couldn't say the same for the Harvester—when it finally succumbed to its injuries, it let out a deafening roar before exploding in a blinding burst of flame. "Thanks for the help," one of the turians called out when my eyes cleared. "Now that they're dead, we can tend to our wounded. We'll rendezvous at the crash site."
We left them once we'd confirmed that the injuries were minor and they had enough medi-gel, taking a series of lefts and rights until… "…do you read, Commander? Repeat: do you read?"
"Shepard here," I replied as I scanned a Hahne-Kedar chest plate. "What's your status?"
"We're in deep!" he yelled. "Commander, what is your ETA?"
"Hang tight. We're on our way."
We double-timed it, pausing long enough for me to scoop up a flight recorder to listen to as we jogged along. "Marnek, how's our velocity?"
"Deceleration thrusters online. We'll survive."
"Victus is going to pay for this."
"Court-martial or hanging?"
Hoo boy. Didn't sound like Victus had earned a lot of loyalty or respect with this debacle. Garrus shook his head. "How's Victus going to live this down?"
"When we find him, we'll ask," I replied, scanning another weapons mod.
Suddenly, a drop pod smashed down right in front of us. We immediately found cover and raised our weapons. Sure enough, husks came swarming out of the dust raised by the impact. Liara hauled several of them into a singularity. The twin fireballs from EDI and I blew them to smithereens. Meanwhile, Garrus had knocked a husk over with a concussive round, aiming carefully so it took a few of its buddies with it. Miranda hammered them with her biotics, paving the way for another concussive round courtesy of James. Meanwhile, I took out the last husk with a sniper round before salvaging some junk.
"Commander, come in."
"Shepard here."
"Just saw Harvesters drop a lot of enemies in your path."
"We see them," I replied as the squad began pelting them with biotics, plasma and bullets. After we dispatched them, we turned our attention to the Harvester. A sniper round here, a few biotic blasts and fireballs there. Rinse, repeat, duck to avoid the Harvester explosion and mop up.
"It seems that the turians are playing with political dynamite here," Liara observed. "Maybe they should have informed the krogan."
"Krogan-turian animosity is ancient and intense," Garrus pointed out. "It's inborn."
"Well, I need them to work together," I said, casually scooping up loot and scanning tech as I jogged along. "They gotta be open with each other, not hiding things and nursing old grudges."
"If only it was so simple," Javik sighed.
James was busy scanning the horizon, so he was the first to see the drop pods crashing down. "Heads up!"
"Let 'em have it!" I hollered.
"Not one more soldier dies today!" Liara cried out.
"For Palaven!" Garrus yelled.
Bullets flew through the air as the battle began. Activating my cloak, I dropped a Cannibal with a single shot. Liara ran forward, summoning a singularity to block our right as Garrus zapped a Marauder's shields. Pivoting on the spot, I lined up a shot and finished it off. Meanwhile, the rest of Team One and Team Two were busy dealing with the husks Liara had trapped.
Team Three, though, had noticed a more pressing problem. I fired my last shot at the Brute that was slowly lumbering our way, then dropped down and ejected my thermal clip. Slamming home a fresh one, I hit the Brute with plasma before cloaking and firing another shot from my sniper rifle. Liara and EDI finished it off with a biotic-plasma combo while I dealt with a Cannibal.
Garrus fried another Marauder's shields before he and Javik concentrated on another Cannibal. I alternated sniper rounds with plasma, which was probably why my accuracy wasn't all that hot. Get it? Hot? Because—never mind. Thankfully there were enough biotic energy, plasma and bullets flying around that the hostiles were still being taken care of.
A dull thud rained gravel on me as a grenade went off. Scowling, I cloaked, punched through the offending Marauder's shields with my sniper rifle then set it on fire. Team Two dropped a second Marauder while I reloaded. A Cannibal rose up and roared at us. I shot it through its mouth, then saw a third Marauder. Sniper rounds and plasma worked just as well. Team Three entertained themselves by knocking around Cannibals with concussive rounds and biotics.
More drop pods began raining down. By this point, though, we were entrenched and had dealt with any other hostiles that might have posed an immediate threat. Without any further coaching, the teams divided the battlefield into sections and began taking out any husks, Cannibals or Marauders that arrived in their area.
"Harvester in play," Liara warned as she and EDI finished off a Cannibal.
"I'll keep an eye on it," I said. True to my word, I began scanning the sky in between fireballs.
"Shepard," Miranda called out. "Remember that heavy weapon you used on Menae?"
Menae… Menae… oh yeah! "The thing that looked like a baby Reaper leg?"
"Yes," she said without missing a beat. "There's one over here!"
Ooh, shiny! Running forward under the cover of my cloak, I scooped it up and began searching for the Harvester. I found it just as my cloak ran out of juice. "Fire in the hole!" I yelled as I charged the weapon up and fired.
Unfortunately, I missed. And I drained the power cell. So I had to take it out the old-fashioned way.
"Area secured," Garrus reported.
"Good," I said. I took a moment to scan the heavy weapon. Well, more like a couple minutes—turned out it was a lot more sophisticated than most weapons I'd previously scanned. "Now let's go chat with the Lieutenant."
When we found the Ninth Platoon—or what was left of it—they were on a ridge above us. Tactical advantage of height and all that. They were all wearing matching hardsuits of black with red trim. At first, I thought the men were maintaining a perimeter while Lieutenant Victus checked on the casualties. As I got closer, I realized that I was only half right. Victus was checking on the wounded and dead, all right. But everyone else was doing their best to avoid looking at their CO. "Lieutenant Victus?" I called out.
He rose to his feet. "Commander Shepard. My men and I are in your debt." He hopped down and approached us, a pair of turians close behind. "Thank you for saving so many."
"What happened here?" I asked.
One of the other turians lunged forward and grabbed Victus. "He screwed up!" he spat, shaking him violently. "That's what happened!"
"Stand down, soldier!" Victus snapped, breaking free of his subordinate's grasp.
"These men are dead because of you!"
"I said, stand down!"
"Hey!" I broke in, shoving them apart. "I just saved all your asses, so everyone just calm down!"
The turian just glared at Victus before shaking his head and walking away. "Lieutenant," I repeated, "what happened here?"
Victus lowered his head in shame. "He's right. I made a bad call. This is all on me."
Figuring Victus needed some space from his men; I led him away from the platoon. "What do you mean?"
"I chose caution and clever tactics over a head-on attack, trying to be just like my father—and my men paid the price."
"You mean the crash?"
"Yes," Victus nodded. "We could see on holo that Reaper forces were blocking our intended path—staying on-course guaranteed heavy casualties. So I chose a safe route, skirting the enemy, and that took us low and through these ruins. Problem was, when we encountered resistance, there was no room to maneuver."
He looked up. I followed his gaze to a crashed turian corvette, sticking out in the air like a giant spear. "Suddenly, we were in a fight for our lives. A lot of my men lost that fight."
Which explained how morale had plummeted and why the men had turned on their CO so viciously. "Owning your mistake takes guts," I told him. "God knows, I've made plenty. But you have to get over it and move on."
"Of course," Victus nodded. "It's just fresh right now. Our mission's still a failure. When we've stabilized the injured, we'll head back to the fleet."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa," I cautioned. "You're abandoning the mission? Isn't that a little premature?"
"We're down over thirty men," Victus cried out. "It'd be suicide!"
And yet Primarch Victus had been fairly insistent that this mission had to be completed. Which begged the question: "What exactly did you come here to do?"
"There's a bomb on the planet. We were sent to defuse it."
That's it? "A bomb? How big?"
"Enormous. Cerberus has it."
Aw, crap. "How did they know about it in the first place?"
Victus looked embarrassed. "We had been sending status updates to Palaven en route to Tuchanka. It was only after we entered the atmosphere that I realized some of the comm encryption protocols had been disabled. We'd been broadcasting on an open channel the entire time."
Practically an invite for Cerberus to pick it up and move in. Lieutenant, if Cerberus has that bomb, you have to finish your mission."
"Haven't these men sacrificed enough?" Victus asked.
Oh geez. This guy really was new at this. (3) "I get it, Lieutenant. You've suffered heavy casualties. This kind of sacrifice is the hardest to ask for, especially when the mission just started. But when your men enlisted—when you enlisted—that meant accepting certain risks. Yeah, the worst-case scenario panned out. But you and your men still have a job to do."
"My men have lost hope, Commander," he snapped. "Even if I wanted to finish the mission, they don't."
"It's your job to make them want to," I said.
"How?"
I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Did he learn nothing in OCS—because the turians must have some kind of equivalent to officer candidate school?—or had his despair wiped out all the lessons he'd supposedly learned? "'How'? Inspire them. Threaten them. Do something. Lieutenant, no one else can get here in time, unless Cerberus is spectacularly incompetent. So if you give up and run back home, that means Cerberus will figure out how to set that bomb off. Or the Reapers will. If that happens, there'll be casualties. Lots of them. And the long-term repercussions will cause even more casualties, 'cuz we'll be too divided to fight off the Reapers. They'll pick us apart and wipe us out one by one.
"The Ninth Platoon has sacrificed a lot so far. But if they give up now, before they've even tried to complete their mission, then that sacrifice would be for nothing. Your men have to push on. You have to push on. To prove that their sacrifice wasn't for nothing. To tell your people that the Ninth Platoon struggled and persevered so others never had to face what they faced here today."
Victus stared at me. For a moment, I wondered if anything I said sank in.
Then he turned around and went to his troops.
I'm not exactly sure what he said. There was clearly a lot of dissent and resentment amongst the ranks. But by the time he finished his speech, there were a few straightened spines and more than a couple salutes. So I guess it worked.
"Are the Ninth Platoon ready to continue their mission?" I asked when Victus returned.
"They are," he acknowledged. "Thank you… for saving us and for what you said."
"You're welcome."
"Commander, I'd like to formally request your assistance on this mission. As you can see, we're a shell of what we were. We could use the help."
"Send me the NavPoint," I told him. "We'll back you up however we can."
"Thank you." Victus sent the coordinates over via his omni-tool. "One other matter: can you take our wounded for medical treatment? We can't take them with us with the mission at stake and we certainly can't leave them here unattended."
"The Normandy doesn't have a proper hospital, but our sickbay can handle basic triage and our doctor's trained in cross-species medicine."
Victus heaved a sigh of relief. "Thank you," he said again. "Meanwhile, we can do a little recon and see what we're up against."
"I'll contact our shuttle pilot right away." I took a step forward and put a hand on his shoulder. "Victus, you have a second chance here… make their sacrifice count."
"Understood, Commander." Victus stood to attention and saluted me. I returned the gesture. "Hope to see you at the rendezvous."
James shook his head after Victus left. "Primarch's son is in over his head, no?"
Javik spat on the ground in disgust. "If that turian had been under my command, I would have marooned him in the desert."
"Okay," I nodded.
"Then I would have buried him in the sand up to his neck. Then I would let the wildlife feast on his eyes."
"That's rough, Buggy," James winced.
"I am not finished yet, human."
"There's more?"
"If he survived that, I would have rewarded him by shooting him in the head. Good soldiers are a precious resource. The stupidity of one cannot be allowed to jeopardize the lives of the others."
"He made a mistake, Javik," I disagreed. "A bad one, no doubt. But if we automatically killed anyone who made a mistake, then no one would dare to take the initiative or try new innovations. No one would volunteer for missions. No one would be able to do their job without hesitating and second-guessing. That would cause more casualties and failures in the long run. Letting that happen would be stupid."
Javik shook his head. I decided to let him disagree. For now. "Come on. We've gotta get in touch with Cortez."
The squad watched over the crash site while Cortez ferried the wounded back to the Normandy. That gave me a chance to get in touch with Hackett—after patching my helmet comm into the Normandy's QEC systems—for a sitrep. "Cerberus bomb?" he asked in disbelief. "What the hell is going on, Commander? And what do the turians have to do with it?"
"The coordinates Lieutenant Victus gave me place it in the Kelphic Valley," I replied. "It's a heavily populated area. That's all I know."
"My gut says something's not right here."
"My gut agrees," I snorted. "Meanwhile, should we alert the krogan military? Start an evacuation? Wrex already knows something's going on."
"Until we know more, I'd say no," he replied. "Short of returning to the Normandy and pressing the Primarch to come clean, requesting an evacuation on nothing but the little information we have right now would cause nothing but mass panic. Even worse, if Wrex sends troops in, you'll have to mediate between the krogan and the turians while trying to defuse that bomb. You don't have time for that, not with all those lives at stake. Not to mention the state of krogan-turian relations –they're fragile to begin with, and they'll stay that way until the genophage is cured. Let's not push it."
"Yes, sir," I said.
"Speaking of the bomb, what's its yield? How many troops does Cerberus have on this?"
"Unknown and no idea," I admitted. "All I know is… we can't have them setting it off."
"Keep me in the loop. Hackett out."
By sheer coincidence, Cortez had returned and was ready to pick us up. Yeah, one trip was all it took to evac the wounded—there weren't that many, since most of them were dead. We were halfway to the Kelphic Valley when the shuttle speakers crackled to life. "Normandy shuttle, this is Lieutenant Victus with the Ninth Platoon. Do you copy?"
I transferred his signal to the holo-projectors. His image shimmered to life. "We hear you, Ninth Platoon. Wounded have been evac'd to the Normandy. What's your status?"
"Happy to hear that, Commander. We're approaching the bomb site. Getting bounced around pretty bad."
"If that's the case, then I'd suggest this is as close as we get, Lieutenant. Look for somewhere to set your platoon down." (4)
"Copy that."
"Meanwhile, talk to me about this Cerberus bomb."
Victus hesitated. Aw, crap. That was never a good sign.
He finally shook his head. "It's not Cerberus, Commander. It's… turian."
To say I was shocked would be an understatement. "Repeat that again," I snapped, "'cuz I could've sworn you said 'turian'."
"It was planted centuries ago, after the Krogan Rebellions, as a safeguard against another galactic war."
I stared at him, then looked at Garrus. He looked just as surprised as the rest of us, but I could see the wheels spinning inside his head. "Brutal, but it makes a certain kind of sense," he admitted. "Put the krogan down hard if they tried anything."
"Somehow, I don't think Wrex would be so calm about it," I said dryly. "Well, this explains a lot."
"Like why the Primarch was so reluctant to divulge all the details of this mission," Miranda added. "Not to mention why he only enlisted your aid at the last minute. Shame of his people's past deeds. Concern of galactic opinion should this get out. Fear of the krogan response, particularly when he was trying to get their aid."
"Do you know what kind of situation you've put us in?" I asked. "Put us all in? You won't earn trust with crap like that." I closed my eyes in frustration and took a deep breath. "But right now, we focus on disarming that bomb."
"Agreed. Detonation means all-out war between my people and the krogan. That's why the Ninth Platoon was sent to secure the bomb and disarm it. But Cerberus got there first."
"Where is the bomb? Exactly?"
"In the middle of those buildings ahead. Cerberus brought equipment to dig it up. And there's more."
Of course there was. "Go on."
"We're seeing Reaper activity in the area. I suggest that you send your team in to take out the Cerberus troops and secure the bomb. The Ninth Platoon will cover your flank against the Reapers."
"Agreed," I said. "Let's do it."
Cerberus had definitely noted our arrival, judging by all the bullets that greeted us. "Get behind something!" Garrus shouted. "Standard pattern!" (5)
My first attempt to snipe a trooper missed, as he was bobbing back and forth. Second shot took him out, though. Good thing, too, as several explosions went off all around us. Mortar rounds or something similar, I guessed. "Eyes open and heads down," I warned. "Team One, follow my lead."
Liara set off the plasma I sent flying into a trooper's face and EDI barbequed a nearby straggler. Lifting my sniper rifle again, I used my last shot to drop another trooper. As I reloaded, I absently noted Teams Two and Three each taking out a pair of troopers. In both cases, they started off with a biotic-concussive round attack, then finished things off with bullets. Speaking of bullets, I activated my cloak and dropped two more hostiles.
"Shepard, it's Victus!" I heard as my cloak wore off. "Reaper forces eliminated. Your flank is—watch out! Cerberus!" There was a pause, punctuated by the sound of gunfire and explosions. "We're getting heavy resistance here, but we've got a clear line of sight to the building where the bomb must be. Entrance sighted! We're on the move!"
Closing the comm channel, I sent a fireball into a nearby trooper. Garrus finished him off. "We gotta move, Shepard!" he told me.
"Hang on," I frowned. Lifting my sniper rifle, I peered through the scope. "There's a couple pieces of equipment up ahead," I reported. "Each one's got some kinetic barriers extending out from either side. Judging by the way the hostiles are huddling behind the barriers, I think it's some kind of shield generator."
Sure enough, that's exactly what it was. As soon as I took the generator out with a well-aimed bullet, all those glowing, waist-high barriers faded away, leaving some very surprised Cerberus goons. Liara hauled two of them into a singularity, which EDI immediately detonated with a fireball. While Team Three helped the rest of Team One finish them off, Miranda fried a Centurion's shields, opening the way for James and his concussive round. Meanwhile, I entertained myself by popping heads like water balloons.
"Watch out!" Miranda shouted before a particularly intense barrage of mortar rounds landed. Using my cloak for cover, I finished off a few more hostiles before scooting forward. Spotting the locations of two—no, three more hostiles, I crouched down and waited.
"Time is short, Shepard!"
Ignoring EDI, I kept waiting. Come on… come on…
Sure enough, an assault trooper broke from his cover and began advancing… right into my scope. I squeezed the trigger and watched him collapse. Then I scrambled for a nearby boulder and got in touch with Team One. "Liara, EDI: fireworks on this location in three… two… one… go!"
Together, their biotics and plasma made short work of the Centurion's shields. My bullet did the rest. I saw Team Three deal with the last target, another Centurion. Meanwhile, Team Two took out an assault trooper who thought he was safe. The location of that hostile gave me an idea, "Teams Two and Three: cover fire!"
While they were providing a thorough, and occasionally lethal, distraction, I led Team One to the left, up onto the foyer of the building complex we were attacking and over to the side of a couple Cerberus soldiers. Now that we had flanked them, it was child's play to get the drop on them.
Motioning for the rest of the squad to join us, I contacted Victus and apprised him of our progress. "Good," he replied. "Once we reach the bomb, I'll need to reprogram the trigger mechanism."
"Copy that," I said as I came across and scanned an M-29 Incisor. "No trigger, no explosion.I like the sound of that."
As I scanned a nearby weapons mod, I heard someone shout out "Shepard has breached the perimeter!" And that someone wasn't from my squad or the Ninth Platoon. Here we go again.
"Take him out!"
Actually, it was my squad that did the taking out. Unintentionally. The barrage of biotics, plasma and concussive rounds were meant more to provide a very bright and loud distraction while we found cover. But it also killed several assault troopers. So did I, with my sniper rifle. Though the last one managed to toss a grenade at me before succumbing to his injuries. Rolling out of the way, I tried to disable a barrier. I missed. "EDI?"
She didn't miss, though the fact that she used an EMP instead of a bullet might've had something to do with it. Either way, her success left a lot of hostiles vulnerable to getting set on fire or spinning around in a singularity. "Damn it!" one of them cursed.
"Everyone turn on your cryo mods," I said over the comm. "Team Three, move up the right to flank them."
We soon began turning Cerberus hostiles into popsicles… right before a well-aimed attack shattered them into smithereens. Naturally there were some who didn't go down quite so easily. Like the Guardian who I sniped right through his giant combat shield. Or the combat engineer who got sniped after Miranda zapped his shields.
Then there was the turret that another engineer managed to set up. While Team Three dispatched him, I took out a nearby Guardian—took me two shots, damn it!—then turned my attention to the turret. After I hacked its firing protocols, EDI zapped its shields. Liara, Miranda and James followed up with biotics, plasma and concussive rounds, respectively. After scrounging for thermal clips, scanning weapon mods and helping myself to credits, we moved on.
"We defeat the krogan, and then plant a bomb on their planet," Garrus summarized as we jogged along. "Pretty extreme, but those were desperate times. I don't know what turian came up with the idea, but a doomsday bomb's damned ingenious. Embarrassing now, but ingenious back then."
"While morally questionable, the strategy is sound," EDI agreed.
"Sound?" Liara said aloud. "After everything the krogan have been through, to lose everything in a flash? It's monstrous!"
"I get why the turians might've done it, but I don't think Wrex would see it that way," I replied. "Can't blame him: I'd probably be mad if someone did this to Earth. Even if I wasn't technically born there."
Victus contacted me as I scanned another weapon mod. "Cerberus is putting up a fight, but the Ninth Platoon is advancing, Commander."
"Good work, Lieutenant," I said. Then I felt bullets ricocheting off my shields. As the squad ran for cover, I cloaked and raised my sniper rifle. Centurion? Nah, someone—Miranda, I think—was still taking out his shields. Trooper? Don't mind if I do. How about another trooper? Man, that guy's doing a good job of dodging. But not good enough. Centurion—minus the shields? Sure. Damn it. Missed! I set him on fire instead. As I reloaded, Liara finished the job.
"Commander," Victus suddenly shouted. "We're getting a lot of mortar fire! Heavy casualties!" As I scoped and dropped a trooper, he continued. "Taking alternate route! Circling around the bomb site!"
"Copy that!" I replied.
"Shepard, that route will put the Ninth Platoon behind schedule by at least a few minutes," Miranda warned.
"Right," I nodded. "EDI, patch into the Cerberus comm channels. We need to know how they're doing."
She hacked her way in just in the nick of time: "Argo Team: detonation protocol nearly complete! All available units, contain Shepard!"
Aw, crap. I pulled up my HUD and read it as I broke into a sprint. Looked like there was a ramp up ahead and to the right that led down into the main building. Lots of hostiles there. I reached the ramp, scooping up a med-kit and scanning a pistol mod on autopilot, and got the squad into position. As soon as Miranda disabled the shield generator with one well-placed EMP, we began the attack. I noted a shuttle on approach for the hostiles. There were only a few troopers left by the time it arrived, though. As I took them out, Victus contacted me again. "I'm getting a lot of Cerberus radio chatter. They're prepping for evac."
"I don't like the sound of that," I admitted. As the last trooper collapsed, the shuttle closed its hatch and flew away. "I don't like the looks of that either," I added.
"Detonation protocol complete," someone announced over the Cerberus comm channels we hacked. "Moving to extraction zone."
There were three hostiles to our left. All of them had their backs turned as they retreated. Which made them perfect targets for me and Garrus. Team Two joined us a second later, having made sure that no hostiles were left behind us. Well, James was. Miranda had siphoned some Cerberus funds from an open account for my future needs. I was so proud of her.
Up ahead, I spotted another trooper. He promptly lost his head. Literally. Beyond his headless body, I saw another pair of troopers. And a shuttle. Garrus saw all of that too, plus something else. "They're trying to get away, Shepard!"
"Agreed!" I shouted. "Let's go!"
Using their boot thrusters, the two troopers jumped into the open shuttle. I took out one of them with my sniper rifle and burned the second one with a fireball. Before any of us could deliver the final bow, though, the shuttle hatch closed and it flew off. Leaving us alone with the bomb.
"There it is," Garrus said. "Amazing no one detected it, even in all this."
I found myself agreeing with him. It was enormous, resembling the bottom of one of those old Earth booster rockets that were in use back in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. It was propped up by a support structure that towered over us. "It must have been far enough underground to stay hidden," I guessed. "Cerberus had to dig it out."
I later found out that I was right: the bomb and its supports were actually buried in the basement of the building. Cerberus had simply demolished the building and excavated the surrounding concrete foundation.
"It must have been strategically placed for maximum yield," EDI said.
"You're right," Liara said. "According to some ancient geological reports I found, there's a dormant fault line that runs right through this location and along the Kelphic Valley. If it went off, there would be a massive earthquake. The casualty count would be in the millions."
"Then we'd better hurry," James urged.
"Commander," Victus said, "we're entering the bomb site. Moving towards the control station."
"Roger that," I said. "We're on the way. Be advised: we intercepted Cerberus chatter that they completed the bomb's detonation protocol."
"Understood."
We climbed a nearby ladder on our way to the bomb. While waiting for the last of the squad to show up, I scanned yet another weapon mod or two. "With Cerberus evacuating, the bomb should be clear," Liara said.
That's when I saw the Cerberus shuttle flying by. So did Miranda. "Oh dear," she frowned.
"Ma'am?" James asked before spotting the shuttle. "Shit," he cursed. "Now Cerberus knows we're nearly on top of the bomb. They're gonna bring out the big guns for sure."
"It is a high-value target, one that Cerberus has committed significant resources to acquiring," EDI agreed. "It is logical to assume that they will commit any reserves they have to secure it."
We ran into some of those resources shortly after. On our way down a ramp—yes, we climbed up a ladder only to go back down again—we could see several assault troopers milling around in a courtyard of sorts. Since we had both the high ground and the element of surprise, we decided to make the best of it. I sniped one while EDI and Liara took out another. Team Two eliminated another trooper with similarly explosive results. Garrus took a shot at the last one, paused and fired again. The way he shook his head told me he was kicking himself for missing the first shot.
As soon as we cleared the courtyard, we restocked on ammo. And I might have done some more scrounging. More credits—yeah—and control schematics for automated turrets—which I took because I'm a pack rat. With that done, I pulled up the NavPoint again, got my bearings and headed for the bomb. "Victus, this is Shepard. We're still getting pockets of resistance. How are you doing?"
"I'm at the control panel, Commander. Cerberus set up a firewall around the trigger mechanism to slow us down. I need to create a bypass. That'll take time. But like you said: no trigger, no explosion."
By the time he finished his sitrep, we'd arrived at the control station. The remnants of the Ninth Platoon were split between accessing computers and securing the area. I looked up at the bomb, towering above us, then down at the ground, where a large crevasse opened below like a gaping maw. Then I cleared my throat to get Victus's attention before closing the comm channel. "Are you sure you can disarm the trigger?"
"Yes. It's old tech—obviously," he added, remembering when the bomb was placed. "But I know what to do. Buy me a few minutes, Commander."
"We'll make sure you have the time you need, Lieutenant," I agreed.
"Understood. Starting bypass." He turned around before I left. "And… thank you for making sure I get this chance."
"Just make it right, soldier," I smiled reassuringly. That smile went away when a certain tingling began dancing along the back of my neck. Then I heard a low whistling sound, like something flying through the air at extremely high speeds.
Then the turian next to me—one of the Ninth, not Garrus—jerked as a wet sound reached my ears. There was a spray of blood. And then the turian collapsed, dead before he even hit the ground.
Followed by another one. Garrus and I immediately realized what was happening. "Snipers!" we yelled in unison. "Get down!"
"Commander!" Victus said, half-turning around.
"Focus on the bomb!" I told Victus. "We'll handle Cerberus. All right, people: no one gets past us. Clear?"
"Clear!" the squad chorused.
As we began searching for hostiles, I tapped into the Cerberus comm frequency again. "Detonation protocol in jeopardy!" I heard. "Shepard blocking access! All units, engage!"
Team Three struck the first blow, taking out an assault trooper in a one-two punch. I spotted another trooper, but I couldn't line up a clear shot. So I had Liara pull him out of cover and EDI hit him with a fireball. He was still alive, though, so I had to shoot him… through the crotch. At this close range, with the angle I fired, the bullet would hit the brain. Still, it wasn't my proudest moment.
But I couldn't waste any more time agonizing over that. Team Two dispatched another trooper. But more troops were approaching. "Cerberus reinforcements!" Javik warned, spotting another shuttle land.
"I need more time, Commander," Victus told us.
"You'll get it!" I said before cloaking. I focused on a gun, realized the guy holding it was behind cover and switched to another target. Then another. And another. It was all a matter of looking for windows of opportunity, waiting patiently, but not being afraid to move when a better target presented itself.
Liara raised her arm and pointed up in the sky. I traced it back to the Cerberus shuttle hovering over the battlefield. There were at least three or four troopers there, all caught up in Liara's singularity. "EDI, hit the shuttle's troopers with plasma. Team One; take out anyone in the shuttle. Teams Two and Three gets anyone who falls out or approaches us on the ground."
That wound up being a good call, because there were a lot more hostiles attacking on foot. I didn't realize that at the time as I was busy shooting the guys in the shuttle. They thought a smoke grenade would provide enough cover, which was kind of cute. Mind you, the hostiles on foot had the same idea. The other teams were quick to strip them of any such illusions.
Spotting another shuttle coming in, I led Team One towards them, hoping to ambush the troopers inside before they could step up. "They're not letting up," Miranda observed as she froze a trooper solid with the cryo mod on her submachine gun. Almost as an afterthought, she flung a ball of biotic energy to shatter the guy to smithereens.
"Watch out for more shuttles!" I warned. "Lieutenant Victus?"
"Almost there," he replied.
Unfortunately by that point, the shuttle had dropped off the latest round of guests, so I had to shoot them as they ran towards us. Best laid plans and all that. Spotting a couple Centurions and a trooper approaching, I pulled up my HUD and signalled EDI. She promptly spun on her heels, raised her arms and launched an EMP. I dropped one of the Centurions while Liara smacked the trooper around with her biotics. As I lowered my sniper rifle, I saw Javik was using his biotics—and the occasional particle beam—to soften up targets for Garrus. Meanwhile, Miranda had apparently decided to step back and keep an eye on the battlefield. She'd occasionally point out a target for her and James to tackle, then stop, see how the other teams were doing and repeat as needed. Satisfied that she had things under control, I resumed my role of making Cerberus heads pop. When I wasn't turning their bodies into candles, of course.
"Atlas deployed."
"Shepard!" James warned.
"I heard," I groaned. Then I spotted something. "Be right back."
"Shep—fine," Miranda gave up her protests and assumed temporary command. "All teams, cycle your EMPs on three-second intervals. EDI goes first."
For the record, I wasn't breaking off in the middle of combat to indulge my kleptomania. I wouldn't have done that unless I knew someone else could step up and take my place. Well, I might have done that once upon a time. But not now.
No, I'd wandered off to pick up what looked like a missile launcher. And it was. An M-560 Hydra—whatever that was. (6)
"Shepard, there's another Atlas coming our way," Garrus warned.
Of course there was. "Then let's get a move on and deal with the first one," I replied, lifting the Hydra and getting a solid lock. As soon as EDI, Miranda and Garrus had had a turn zapping the thing, I squeezed the trigger.
A series of explosions heralded each projectile as it slammed into the Atlas. Smoke sizzled from its chassis before the whole thing blew up. Then we turned out attention to the second Atlas.
"Husks!" Javik called out.
Oh for crying out loud. I looked down at the Hydra, but it was out of ammo. And I didn't have time to go searching around for more. So I dropped the weapon, pulled out my sniper rifle and made sure a fresh thermal clip was loaded. Lifting it up, I peered through the scope…
…
"Garrus?" I said. "Take a look through your scope and tell me what you see."
He complied. "The husks are attacking the… Atlas?"
We looked at each other. Shrugged. Sat back and let it play out.
One on one, the Atlas was more than capable of blasting a husk into pulp or picking one up and dashing it against the ground. Problem was, there were so many of them. They swarmed the husks, clawing away. They were too far away for my hardsuit's sensors to get a read, but it was clear the Atlas wasn't doing so well. Sure enough, it eventually dropped to its knees. The resulting explosion took out the rest of the husks. Pyrrhic victory, I suppose.
"Programming the bypass now," Victus reported.
It wasn't over yet, though. Sure, both Atlases had been dealt with. But there were two more shuttles on approach. I lifted my sniper rifle and waited for the hatches to open. As soon as it did, Garrus and I fired our sniper rifles, Miranda and EDI let loose with a pair of EMPs, and Liara and Javik launched a biotic barrage. A lone Centurion and a pair of troopers were the only ones who made it to the ground. I took out the latter while the rest of the squad entertained themselves with the former.
"Commander! Firewall's down! I'm in!"
And the good news just kept on coming:
"Spirits!"
Aw, crap. That didn't last long. "Lieutenant?"
"Cerberus hacked the trigger mechanism while I was penetrating the firewall. The bomb's set to detonate!"
I began backing up towards the control station, sweeping the horizon for more shuttles. "Disarm it!" I yelled.
"No time!" he yelled back, not bothering with the comm system. "I have to separate the trigger from the bomb! Now!"
Sparing a glance back, I saw he was right. According to the screen, we only had 71 seconds left.
"Shepard, more hostiles on approach," Miranda warned.
"Cover me!" Victus told me, breaking into a run. The squad immediately split up into teams again, dividing the battlefield up, moving into position and laying down a barrage to keep the Cerberus hostiles at bay. Dropping a trooper with a headshot, I ducked down, reloaded and looked back.
60 seconds.
Victus had just climbed a ladder to the top of the bomb structure. He swayed slightly, probably because it was a bit windy up there, then carefully walked across the support beams to the bomb. Patching into the comm systems again, I opened a channel so I could listen in. I heard a series of electronic beeps—more like computer commands being entered than a bomb ticking away—followed by a clank. As I set another trooper on fire, I heard footsteps running on metal. Then a couple click-click-clicks, like Victus was turning something. Then a whining noise building in intensity.
50 seconds.
Looking up, I saw large metal shapes moving up, like latches opening up. One. Two. Three…
...
…um, was that third one supposed to be sparking like that?
The snarl of frustration over the speakers told me the answer was no. But I was too busy teaching a Centurion the error of his indoctrinated ways to ask what was going on.
30 seconds.
A large crash sounded behind me. Then a smaller one. Then a cry. Turning around, I looked at a large metal plate on the ground and the cylindrical object next to it. Then I tilted my head up.
The entire bomb was tilting to one side. Victus was dangling from the presumably uncooperative latch. "Lieutenant!" I shouted.
10 seconds.
He looked down at me, too high for me to see the look on his face. But I could hear the quiet resignation, determination and peace in his voice. "Victory… at any cost."
With that, he reached towards the latch, pulled out a second cylinder and tossed it over his shoulder. With a loud groan, part of the bomb—the trigger mechanism, I belatedly realized—fell to the crevasse and disappeared from sight. Taking Adrien Victus with it.
Another explosion ripped through the air, billows of flame and smoke rising up from the ground and licking at the bomb—its payload glowing in the sunlight. (7) A fitting tribute to the Lieutenant of the Ninth Platoon, I guess.
For whatever it was worth.
The last few survivors of the Ninth Platoon cared for their wounded and gathered their fallen. Except for their leader, of course. As for my squad, we had Cortez pick us up as soon as possible. We sat in silence as the shuttle flew away.
Naturally that silence didn't last long. "Commander, I've got radio chatter coming in from krogan forces planetside," Joker said. "Sounds like they started sweeping out the remaining Cerberus troops and securing that bomb. You get out all right? Sounds like it got ugly down there."
"The turians took a lot of casualties, Joker," I told him quietly. "The Primarch's son included."
"Understood, Commander," Joker replied, his voice suddenly just as quiet. "Joker out."
"He never hesitated," Garrus said. "Whatever he was before, he'll be remembered for this."
"What will the turians think about this, Garrus?" I asked. "Will that be enough?"
"It should be," James scoffed. "Hell, he gave his life for the mission. For his people. That's gotta be enough!"
"Hard to say," Garrus admitted. "Sacrifice in war is expected. He did us proud, but… we're a hard bunch to please. Living your life for the cause, society first, platoon first. It's all just expected."
Translation: where humans might memorialize his sacrifice as something heroic and greater than life, turians might think of it as 'of course he did that' or 'he was supposed to that, why would that be a big deal.' Well, it was a big deal to me. "He did what he had to do when it counted," I remembered.
"Yes," Garrus acknowledged. "Yes, he did."
Hackett had asked me to keep him in the loop, so I made sure to contact him as soon as I got out of my hardsuit. "Good work on Tuchanka, Commander," he said when I finished my report. "Stopping that bomb might help the current situation between the turians and the krogan. We can't afford any division right now."
"Joker mentioned something about the krogan recovering the bomb," I said.
"Sounds like Wrex found out about it and sent his people in," Hackett admitted. "They won't allow turians to send in recovery crews to help.
"Understandable," I pointed out.
"True, but it only underscores how fragile things are at the moment. With Wrex and the Primarch aboard the Normandy, you've got a situation brewing. We don't have a solid alliance between those two yet. Keep the peace, Commander. That's an order."
Oh, this was gonna be fun. Barrel of laughs and all that. But there was really only one thing I could say: "Yes, sir."
"Hackett out."
That situation Hackett had mentioned? It had gone from brewing to boiling during the 30 seconds or so we'd been chatting. "We couldn't risk another galactic war with the krogan!" Victus was arguing when I entered the War Room.
You could tell how mad Wrex was by the fact that he was glaring at the Primarch in complete silence. "The genophage wasn't enough?" he asked, his quiet voice belying his rage. "You had to place a bomb on my planet?"
"The decision was made hundreds of years ago," Victus said. "So much has changed!"
"Not enough to tell us about the bomb, coward!"
"Hey!" I barked.
Both of them stared at me. "We can't let the past rip us apart. Remember what's at stake here. Working together, we have a chance."
I strode towards them while I still had their attention. "Primarch, you had a bomb on Tuchanka. You waited until it was almost too late to defuse it. And you sent good men in without adequate intel or support. Wrex? Don't get too comfortable on the moral high ground. Your people were waging a galactic war back then. In the turian's place, you would've done the same damned thing."
"Shepard—" Wrex tried.
"It's over!" I snapped. "Mission's complete. Bomb defused. His own son died today making this right!"
"Please, Commander," Victus intervened, "it's all right. I can't deny that he has a point."
Wrex was still pissed, but he seemed slightly mollified by the Primarch's admission. Plus, even he had to acknowledge his son's sacrifice. "Yes. Fine, Shepard, you made your point. We have stronger enemies to face."
"We do," I said, pulling up a strategic map of the galaxy. The data it showed underscored how dire the situation was.
Grunt let out a huff of frustration and stomped away. That left me and Victus. "I understand your reservations before, Commander, but I hope you now understand the secrecy."
"I get that it would have been a political disaster if word got out," I bit out. "Not to mention a catalyst for war. But keeping me in the dark like that seriously hampered my response. How quickly I could have arrived, the kind of reinforcements I could have brought to bear. Those kinds of secrets get people killed, Primarch. The Ninth Platoon learned that the hard way. You've learned that the hard way."
"Yes." The catch in his voice was the only hint of how much grief and pain he was struggling to contain. "The hardest lesson I'll ever learn."
Now that I'd gotten that out… "Despite everything, Primarch, I'm sorry for your loss."
"Thank you, Commander. It's so… wrong, for a father to outlive their son. But I know I'm not the first to lose a loved one to this war. Or any war. And I won't be the last. Needless to say, I'm committed to stopping the Reapers."
He slowly walked towards the exit, but stopped just before the doors would've opened. "My son… he died with the respect of his men. I wanted to thank you for that. His sacrifice will be recorded in the histories of the Ninth Platoon, something any father would be proud of."
Then he left, to mourn in lonely solitude. "Yes, sir," I said.
Wrex was still there. Watching. Glaring. He jerked his head towards the door. "The turians pull another move like that, Shepard, and this alliance is off."
"Just bear with me, Wrex," I pleaded. "This is new ground. It's hard for all of us."
"I've got Reapers on my planet, a bomb that almost blew up my planet, and if those two fail, the genophage to make sure we all go extinct anyway." He shook his head angrily. "I don't want to hear about who has it hard."
Put that way, I couldn't disagree. "Understood."
"Good." Wrex shuffled on his feet, visibly calming down. "Now is there something you need?"
"That's all," I told him. "Let's get back to work. Talk to you later."
"Anytime."
Miranda chose that moment to step forward. I let Wrex go and turned to her. "Saw that, did you?"
"The whole thing," she confirmed. "Nicely done. They were surprisingly civil, under the circumstances, but they could have come to blows if you hadn't intervened."
"Any news," I asked, nodding to the datapad she was holding.
"A status update from Admiral Anderson. He reports that the Reapers on Earth are broadcasting orders. They are apparently demanding human leaders enter their superstructures in order to 'negotiate peace'."
"Anybody aboard a Reaper is going to be indoctrinated," I frowned.
"Exactly. Furthermore, this process will also serve as a ruse to pacify the populace. Citizens who are busy waiting during these so-called negotiations are not busy fighting. Sadly, there are scattered reports that some leaders have agreed to meet them. It is likely that the governments of Earth will soon follow up by enacting laws punishing those who attack the Reaper occupiers. Again, this will be done in the name of peace."
Great. Just great. "Tell Anderson we're moving as fast as we can."
"I will," Miranda nodded. "On the bright side, I thought you'd like to know that Hackett now has access to Blackwatch."
"Blackwatch." I frowned, trying to remember where I'd heard that name. "Isn't that the call-sign for a turian special-ops team?"
"Very good. Blackwatch is generally deployed on missions that threaten the safety of Palaven itself. The details are sketchy, but they are known for having the highest success rate of any turian unit in the history of the Hierarchy. However, Primarch Victus recently pulled them from the homeworld. Officially, it's so they can bring their elite skills to bear on a larger, more galactic scale."
"Unofficially?"
"Unofficially the Primarch wanted to use Blackwatch in less hopeless missions throughout the galaxy… which says something about the situation on Palaven."
I winced.
"Nevertheless, in the spirit of cooperation, Victus has temporarily granted Admiral Hackett operational control of Blackwatch."
"Huh." I thought about that. "Well, there's no denying that they could be of great use. You know, I heard a rumour once that Saren was a part of Blackwatch before he became a Spectre.
Miranda shook her head in amusement. "I think he was a little too young for that, Shepard."
"But what if he was?" I asked. "It would explain a lot. Like maybe it's all connected in a grand turian conspiracy!"
"Now you're just messing with me."
Miranda was only willing to humour my harebrained theories for so long before kicking me out. Still, I suppose it was time I got back to work.
"I had a buddy who got discharged," Private Campbell said on my way out of the War Room. "Category 6 after Eden Prime."
"Cat 6?" Westmoreland whistled. (8) "Damn. Well, if I'd been on Eden Prime, I'd have lost it too."
"He fought it, said he was still fit for duty. Was pretty bitter about the whole thing. Last thing he told me over an extranet vid-chat was that he was joining Cerberus."
"So… um… Sarah… you heard from him since?"
"No," Campbell quickly replied. "I cut ties. Reported him, for whatever good that did. No way I want that crap on my record."
With the stigma that came with a CAT6 discharge, it took a brave soul to be associated with someone like that. Ditto with Cerberus. Put the two of them together, in a war like this… well, I guess they weren't close friends or anything. Definitely weren't friends anymore.
Joker was back to his usual self by the time I joined him in the cockpit. "So, that went well. Glad to see that turians can flip out and lose their shit just like the rest of us.
"They didn't handle it very well," I admitted, "but I guess they're under a lot of pressure."
The replying snort told me he didn't have a lot of pity for them. "You stole the Normandy, got blown up by the Collectors and sent us on a suicide mission at the galactic core—and I haven't mutinied once. Not once!"
"I am impressed by your continued existence, Shepard," EDI added. "The probability of surviving as long as you have is low."
"But you gotta love them," he shook his head. "After they beat you down and sterilize you, they strap a big ol' bomb to your planet. You know, just in case you get uppity again someday."
"I'm just glad we disarmed it," I said.
"Damn right. The krogan are pretty tough. I'd rather it be Reaper asses getting kicked and not ours."
"Amen to that," I agreed.
Since I'd apparently decided to start my rounds, I moved on to cover the rest of Deck Two. Traynor was the last person I visited. "I heard what Victus did."
"He was a brave man," I remembered.
"I don't think I could…" She broke off and shook her head in self-recrimination. "There I go again. I was going to say that I could never do that. Going to another planet, one whose people hated my people for what we'd done. Braving gunfire. Giving my life."
"But?" I prompted.
"But maybe I was wrong. Getting out of the lab and serving on a starship. Escaping Earth and evading the Reaper invasion by the skin of my—well, our—teeth. (9) Watching you go into battle time and time again… you've shown me what it means to serve in the Alliance."
She clearly hadn't seen me looting shamelessly. I didn't point it out, though. She'd come a long way from her stammering self all those months ago, and I didn't want to derail that progress. "You're a good officer, Traynor. Glad you finally realize it."
"Thanks," she smiled. "Not that I'm volunteering for bomb-jump duty," she hastily added. "I'd suggest sending someone who's more of an expert. Someone with demolitions training, if possible. Or armour. Or shields. Or barriers. Maybe all of the above."
"Noted."
"Also: Chief Engineer Adams would like to speak with you down in, well, Engineering."
"He has a rank, you know," I said.
"I know," Traynor conceded. "But he told me that he prefers 'Chief Engineer.' Says it describes what he actually does."
"True enough."
Garrus and Liara had apparently decided to take a break from their regular duties and were relaxing in the Port Observation Lounge. "So," Liara said. "'Archangel'."
"You heard about that, huh?" Garrus chuckled.
"Your sojourn on Omega generated quite a few articles," she admitted, "not to mention security footage."
"Always wanting to get into the spotlight," I tsked.
Garrus gave me the finger—talon, whatever—while Liara laughed. "There's one thing I couldn't dig up, though," she said when she settled down. "Did you really take out three Blue Suns mercenaries with one bullet?"
"No, of course not," he shook his head. "The third guy had a heart attack. Not fair to count him."
"How very modest of you," I murmured.
"Enough about me," he continued, making a point of ignoring me. "What were you doing before we met up here."
Liara shrugged casually. "Oh, you know. This and that."
"Come on. Spill it, T'Soni."
"Very well," she relented. "I fought several explosive battles with Cerberus… I helped Shepard stop a robotic assassin on Mars… oh, and I discovered plans for a Prothean doomsday device that were buried in virtual oblivion for 50 000 years."
"Yeah," Garrus laughed. "So just 'this and that,' huh?"
The levity was popped like a balloon when Wrex came on over the comm. "That EDI of yours said you were hiding here, Garrus," he said, coming straight to the point. "I'll assume you didn't know about this. My good friend wouldn't hide the fact that his people planted a doomsday bomb on my planet. Right?"
"Wrex, I was just as much in the dark as you," Garrus replied. "About the bomb. About this mission to Tuchanka. No one told me anything about it. Honest."
To everyone's relief, we heard him laugh. "That's all I needed to hear. Just making you sweat, C-Sec. Wasn't sure you could—you're always so calm."
"I'd be happy to give krogan some lessons on relaxing," Garrus offered.
Wrex laughed again. "And we'd be happy to feed you to a thresher maw. Wrex out."
"Next time, Shepard, don't let him near the intercom," Garrus suggested.
"Like I could actually stop him," I pointed out.
He conceded that point. "I'm glad Wrex is taking this so well. My people haven't exactly treated his kind with charity over the years. I wasn't all that sympathetic to him when we first met." (10)
"Things change," I pointed out.
"Some things," Liara agreed. "Others… the krogan are gearing up for a full-scale war. It's… nearly indistinguishable from how they normally operate on Tuchanka, really."
The more things change…
Things were pretty much 'situation normal' on Deck Three. Food was questionable, people were working, Mordin was singing, that sort of thing. So I wrapped my rounds up quickly and headed down to Engineering.
"Kenneth," Gabby asked quietly, "do you ever think about when we were abducted by—"
"No," Ken replied immediately. "I don't."
"Me, neither," Gabby quickly agreed.
There was an uncomfortable silence. Naturally, Kenneth was the one to break it. "So… Gabby… have you seen EDI's new body?"
Her back was turned to me, but I'm pretty sure she rolled her eyes. "Oh, I knew this was coming."
"I just mean… it's an amazing work of engineering," he said innocently. "Elastic titanium-silicon polymers. Ultra-light harmonic-phased power cells."
"Mmm-hmm."
"And if she ever accidentally walks into a wall, there's just so much… padding."
"I knew it," Gabby muttered.
"Wish I were a wall," he said dreamily.
"You pretty much are, Kenneth."
Clearly Kenneth had forgotten that EDI was everywhere. Or maybe he hadn't and had deliberately been himself. Shaking my head, I went to Adams. "Traynor said you wanted to see me."
"Yes, Commander. Good news on the installation of that thermal pipe you got us."
Right. The GX-12 something that would hopefully prevent the core from venting plasma into the rest of Engineering, vaporizing the staff and blowing the whole damn ship apart.
"It went right brilliant," Kenneth said brightly. "Much better than we'd expected."
"I told you it would," Gabby piped up.
Adams shook his head ever-so-slightly, but there was a smile on his face. "It gets better: while interfacing through our eezo capacitors, our Ms. Daniels here had an epiphany."
Gabby blushed. "I wouldn't go that far."
"She and Donnelly deduced some theoretical improvements to our capacitor design. EDI and I ran with it, ran some simulations and documented our conclusions. Our core is too compact to apply our theories, but it could help the Crucible engineers. Give the word and I'll send the plans their way."
"Do it," I said firmly.
"Aye, aye."
I caught everyone's eye, one by one. "Well done, everyone."
With that, I went to see how Javik was doing. He'd apparently developed a favourable impression of the turians, judging by the conversation I overheard: "Your people would have made a good addition to our empire, turian. You are cunning."
Garrus, apparently, wasn't buying it. "Uh huh. And by 'addition,' you mean 'slave race'."
"Subservient race," Javik corrected.
"Right. Calling it that makes all the difference."
"But you did not go far enough," Javik insisted. "Either you should have detonated the bomb on the krogan world, or used it as leverage. Then there would be no need for the genophage."
Not sure if Wrex would still be extending his invitation if he heard that little idea. "I think we were just trying to guarantee peace."
"A static mode of existence," Javik scoffed. "Nothing changes, nothing struggles, nothing grows."
"On the upside, we all get to live another day. Nice chatting with you."
Javik noticed my presence after Garrus got off the comm. "There is some enjoyment in speaking with this turian," he told me. "His knowledge of war is formidable."
"I'm sure he'd be flattered by the compliment," I told him with a straight face.
"Though he would be an even better marksman if he had four eyes. You too, Commander."
"Uh… good to know."
Sadly, it wasn't all good news, as I found out when I paid Emily a visit. "Dire news from Earth—off the radar, reaping begins in rural areas. Millions are dead in the Central Asian wilderness, even more in Sub-Saharan Africa. We'll give you an in-depth look at what happens when the Reapers don't stop to indoctrinate. A warning that the following images and details may not be suitable for all viewers…"
When I saw Cortez, he apologized for not being able to do more. "That last drop was intense. I tried providing air support, but between Cerberus and the Reapers… it was like someone kicked a hornet's nest."
"What're you up to?" I asked. It looked like he was doing some work on the Kodiak's interior.
"Putting some supports and running some wires through. Part of the UT-47A's design included a modular weapons turret for air-to-ground support. Never got to set that up before the Reapers hit and we didn't seem to have too much need for it before. Now… I'd like to do some preparations now if possible."
"Good idea," I approved.
James was busy cleaning his guns, but the look on my face told me he was doing it more as a distraction than because of simple maintenance. "Hey, Commander," he said somberly. "Too bad about Tarquin. I was starting to like him."
"Same here," I admitted.
"Well, I guess it had to happen. Good men and women, giving their all for the good of the team. The good of the mission. Won't be the last time that happens."
If only I knew then how prescient James was…
(1): Turians value knowing one's limitations and where he or she can best serve the greater good above individual ambition. 'Settling' into a specific occupation, rank or tier is not regarded with the same stigma that would be observed in other cultures. Furthermore, any undeserved promotion or subsequent demotion reflects poorly on the superior who promoted an individual into a role beyond his or her capabilities, not on the individual.
(2): One escape pod worth of survivors might not be much, but you'd be surprised how important such a minor victory was.
(3): This was, indeed, Lieutenant Victus's first command. Furthermore, his promotion—as Garrus had mentioned earlier—did not follow the usual patterns proscribed by turian meritocracy.
(4): The Ninth Platoon was able to scrounge a shuttle from the crash. Lieutenant Victus used it to transport the remainder of his troops and perform some reconnaissance while the Normandy's shuttle took his wounded for medical treatment.
(5): This meant Team One—led by Shepard—would be in the middle. Teams Two and Three would be on their left and right, respectively.
(6): A heavy weapon system that launched a series of miniature missiles. Each missile had an independent homing system, along with three shaped charges—one to overload kinetic barriers, one to penetrate armour and one to detonate inside the target. This system allowed for unparalleled flexibility in dealing with a single armoured target or multiple unarmoured targets with the same platform, but had only recently been put into service.
(7): As impressive as the explosion was, it was insufficient to trigger any earthquakes. Lieutenant Victus's quick actions and sacrifice saved the lives of Shepard, the squad, the last of the Ninth Platoon and every krogan within the Kelphic Valley and the surrounding regions.
(8): Not to be confused with the private military corporation of the same name, this term is used for soldiers who are dishonourably discharged from the Systems Alliance, usually after a general court-martial, for serious offences. Given the conversation Shepard described, it is surprising that this individual left Alliance service under these circumstances. He must have been found guilty of additional offenses as well.
(9): A reference to Job 19:20 of the King James Version of the Bible, a human religious text. It has since entered modern vernacular as a description of a situation that one barely managed to escape from.
(10): Shepard later found out that Primarch Victus had been monitoring his progress from the War Room. Wrex had been keeping an eye—and ear—on him, which was how he found out about the bomb. His sympathy upon witnessing Victus's grief at the loss of his son tempered his subsequent response.