AN:- Bit of a longer chapter this time. I'm trying to keep them evenly spaced with action and dialogue. Hopefully another chapter before the end of the day, but I have work early tomorrow and I need sleep.

Chapter Twenty-Five: Base-Breaker

"This isn't right Shepard," Wrex lowered his shotgun as she approached, but he didn't put it away, "If there's a cure for the genophage we can't destroy it."

"I understand you're upset," Nice start Maia, how could you possibly understand what he's going through? "But we both know Saren's the enemy here, he's the one you should be angry with."

"Really?" She had known it wouldn't work, but she hadn't expected him to get so suddenly aggressive, "Saren created a cure for my people, you want to destroy it." He raised his shotgun, aiming at her. "Help me out here Shepard, the lines between friend and foe are getting a little blurry from where I stand."

She pulled her own pistol and trained it on his eye. She had no idea what would happen if they fought. She had put down plenty of krogan, but Wrex was far beyond the rank and file they had brought down before, "This isn't a cure, it's a weapon, and if Saren uses it you won't be around to reap the benefits, none of us will."

"That's a chance we should be willing to take, this is the fate of my entire people we're talking about." He stepped forward, and she tensed, her finger itching to curl round the trigger, "I've been loyal to you so far; hell, you did more for me than my family ever did, but if I'm going to keep following you, I need to know we're doing it for the right reasons."

She forced herself to put her pistol down, "Wrex these krogan are not your people, they're slaves of Saren, tools." She met his gaze, and he looked like he was faltering, "Is that what you want for them?"

The shotgun stayed in place, but he looked away, "No," Underneath his voice was a note of defeat, "We were tools for the council once, and to thank us for wiping out the rachni they neutered us all." The shotgun finally lowered, but instead of looking to her he turned back out to the river,I" doubt Saren will be as generous." He sighed, "Alright Shepard, you've made your point, I don't like this, but I trust you enough to follow your lead." She breathed a sigh and was about to leave when he said, "Just one thing," She cocked her head, "When we find Saren," His voice dipped into a deep growl, "I want his head."

She left him without answering, hoping she really was making the right choice.

"Thank you for speaking with the krogan," Kirrahe sounded genuinely relieved as she returned, "The assault on Saren's base will be difficult enough as it is."

I knew they must have had some plan. "I assume that means you've come up with a plan?

"Of sorts, we can convert our ships drive system into a 20 kiloton ordinance, crude but effective."

"Nice," Ashley was next to her, and she saw Kaidan on her other side, "Drop that nuke from orbit, and Saren can kiss his turian ass goodbye."

There was a long pause before Kirrahe spoke, and Shepard knew what was coming next, "Unfortunately the facility is too well fortified for that," Of course, "We'll need to place the bomb at a precise location."

She swallowed her concerns, "Where do we take the nuke and how do we get there?"

"The bomb must be taken to the far side of the facility. Your ship can drop it off but we'll need to infiltrate the base, disable the AA guns and pacify any ground forces first."

"You want us to go in on foot?" Kaidan sounded like he couldn't quite believe it, "We don't have enough men."

"It does sound a bit risky," Ashley and Kaidan both raised an eyebrow at her response, "Is there no other way?"

"No, but I think we can work around that," He started to pace, "I'm going to divide my men into three teams and hit the front of the facility, while we've got their attention your can sneak your 'shadow' team in the back."

She had more than enough tactical experience to know what that meant, "It's a good idea but your people are going to get slaughtered."

He pulled himself up proudly, "We're tougher than we look Commander," He sagged again, "But it's true, I don't expect many of us will make it out alive, and that makes what I'm going to ask even more difficult," She knew what was coming, "I'm going to need one of your men to accompany me, to help coordinate the teams."

She tried to keep it professional, as if she wasn't about to choose one of her men to go on a probable suicide mission, "We'll need someone who knows Alliance communication protocols."

Kaidan stepped forward immediately, "I volunteer Commander."

"Not so fast LT," Ashley stepped onto her other side, "Commander Shepard will need you to arm the nuke, I'll go with the salarians."

"With all due respect Gunnery Chief it's not your place to decide." Even to her Kaidan sounded patronising.

Thankfully she didn't have to say anything, Ashley had it covered. "Why is it that whenever someone says 'with all due respect' they really mean kiss my ass?"

"Who would be better suited to the mission?" She asked Kirrahe.

"Either of these two will do Commander, both of them seem willing to sacrifice their lives if necessary," That's really what I want you to focus on. "Though if we are lucky such sacrifices won't be required."

She stepped back, took a breath and looked from one to the other, then nodded to Kaidan, "Alenko you're with the captain, keep it simple, understood?"

"Aye aye Commander."

"I must make preparations," Kirrahe nodded to her, "When we're ready, I'll inform you."

Shepard nodded to him and turned back to Kaidan and Ashley, "There is no reason for this to be a suicide mission," She told him, "Stay smart, stay under cover, and help the salarians in any way you can."

"Okay Commander, and," He paused, "It's been an honour serving under you Commander."

"Why so serious LT?" Ashley thumped him on the shoulder, "We're gonna make it through this, then on to Saren."

"Alright," He still sounded pensive, "But still, good luck everyone. I'm gonna go meet the salarians, try and step into the command role."

"Ashley, do you want to go talk to anyone?" Shepard tried to be subtle, and thankfully Ashley got it.

"I'll see you in five, Commander, LT," She shook Kaidan's hand and left them together on the beach.

"Look, Lieutenant, I wasn't quite expecting this to happen so quickly, but I did have some things I wanted to say to you."

"Shoot Commander."

"I've seen the makings of command in you. You know how to talk to people, when to listen and how to take suggestions. You know tactics and your control over your biotics has been incredible since we first started working together."

"This is all very flattering Commander but I don't quite see where you're going."

"It's hard being a Commander. You have to know when to send people into situations you know might not work out right; you have to be prepared to make sacrifices. And one of the sacrifices you have to make is letting younger officers out from under you."

"You've hardly been holding me back Commander."

"But if you're going to become the best Commander you can, then you have to start taking on new challenges." She put a hand on his shoulder and smiled at him, "You can make it through this, and then we'll have to see about promoting you."

Joker looked up as the airlock cycled open, "Hey?"

Ashley stepped round the corner, smiling a little nervously. "It's me."

"Is there a mission? What's going on out there?"

"Shepard can explain things later; right now I just wanted to talk."

"About what?"

"How about us?"

"You want to talk about us?"

"Well, long story short this mission could be a one way trip, and I just want to make sure that I take advantage of everything I can." She stepped right up to him and knelt down next to the chair, "You're funny, and you're smart, and if you shaved that stubble you'd look pretty handsome, and I think that maybe we could go somewhere if we weren't spending all our time trying to find Saren." She realised she was babbling and stopped.

"That's a whole lot of things I am." He was grinning like a loon, "Hey, look, how about when we're off Virmire, I show you how well I can cook."

"That sounds fantastic, but how about this for now?" She kissed him on the lips. "Don't forget me while we're rushing into this base to plant a nuke at the very centre."

"I really hope that Shepard explains the plan better than you do, because you make it sound like suicide."

She tried to keep the smile on her face, but couldn't quite manage it, "I've got Shepard backing me up, feel bad for the LT, he's only got the salarians to back him up."

"Okay, stop and explain."

Shepard gathered her team and explained the plan while Kirrahe was doing the same to his groups. Finally they all convened in front of the main tent, and Kirrahe stepped forward to address his men.

"You all know the mission, and what is at stake. I have come to trust each of you with my life - but I have also heard murmurs of discontent. I share your concerns. We are trained for espionage; we would be legends, but the records are sealed. Glory in battle is not our way. Think of our heroes; the Silent Step, who defeated a nation with a single shot. Or the Ever Alert, who kept armies at bay with hidden facts. These giants do not seem to give us solace here, but they are not all that we are. Before the network, there was the fleet. Before diplomacy, there were soldiers! Our influence stopped the rachni, but before that we held the line! Our influence stopped the krogan, but before that, we held the line! Our influence will stop Saren; in the battle today, we will hold the line!"

Finished, he turned back to Shepard. "Good luck commander, I hope we will meet again."

Shepard and her team slid down the side of a mountain to find themselves in a valley, structures ahead of them and geth stalking around the rocks.

"Testing communications."

It was Kirrahe, "Everything's fine on my end."

"Very good, we'll begin our push now."

She turned to her team, "Keep it close, and keep radio silence."

Wrex and Ashley went first, rifles ready, and checked out both side of a fork in the valley. Wrex held up a hand and pumped it twice, Williams three times. "Garrus, you take left, I'll take right. Twenty second wait" She went up next to Williams and pulled out her sniper rifle.

Fifteen seconds later their rifles cracked in unison, firing a second round immediately after. Shepard sighted on the final geth and dropped it before it had even turned to notice its fallen comrades. "Nice shooting Commander," Ashley stood and jumped over her rock, heading to the end of the fork.

The rest of the team moved up, and Garrus rejoined her as Wrex scouted out his side of the fork. After a second the two came back, "It all rejoins at the other end there," Ashley reported, "But there's a conning tower and a whole platoon of geth on station.

"Brilliant, just what we needed."

The radio crackled and some chatter from the salarians came through, Shepard listened in and reported back to her team, "Looks like the geth have some sort of communications outpost triangulating their signals. I think we might have just found it."

"Let's bring it down, give Kirrahe and Alenko some help," Tali was already programming her omni-tool.

They carried on through the valley, Shepard and Garrus bringing down the infrequent geth patrols with ease. They had come across another outpost with a geth satellite uplink on top of it, but Liara had been able to wrench the whole thing off the roof with a single biotic tug.

Finally they reached the base, their approach along a tight walkway, and the opposition finally picked up. With no room to manoeuvre Williams and Wrex took heavy punishment out front while the others hung back to try and pick off the worst of the fire, but it was heavy going, and both the soldiers were getting exhausted.

"Garrus, switch out with Ashley, Liara, try and keep Wrex's shields bolstered," Shepard handed Ashley some medigel as the Chief came back, when the radio started chattering again.

"Geth flyers returning to our position," She told them, "If we can destroy them it'll be a little more heat off the salarians." They rushed forwards to where Wrex had scouted out a fuel tank and with a couple of carefully placed grenades the whole lot went sky-high, taking an entire fleet of drones with it.

"This is far too easy," Tali was in the middle of controlling a geth, making it shoot down its own comrades. "Saren must have more defences than this."

"There's no way he would have expected an assault on this base," Shepard reasoned as she took down some of the krogan mercenaries who were charging their position, "And Kirrahe's squads must be taking a pounding out the front.

The reminded them all of the necessity of speed, and they picked up the pace, sprinting to some sort of storage warehouse, where they were met with salarians who opened fire on them.

"Commander?" Wrex growled as he shoved them all behind cover.

Shepard considered, Saren had mind control, and they didn't have time for non-lethal takedowns. "We can't help these salarians now, kill them as quickly as you can, and make sure they're dead. We can at least give them a little diginity."

Finally they stood outside the main entrance to Saren's facility, Tali opening up some of the security panels. "Alright, we have alarms all over the base. I can trigger them round the front and draw some of the fire away from us, but it might be more than the salarians can handle."

"Opinions?"

"We can take heavy fire," Wrex growled, "Let them bring it on."

"I agree with Wrex," Garrus was switching to his assault rifle, "We have more than enough firepower to take whatever security's here."

"Wouldn't be fair on the Lieutenant," Ashley told her.

"Surely there can't be that many geth guarding the rear of the facility anyway?"

"Alright Tali, just cut the alarms, we don't want to send any more enemies to the front."

The quarian stepped back, "Done."

"Let's move people, the sooner we can get into the facility the better."

They rushed through the facility at top speed, letting Wrex lead the way. There were geth everywhere, and more salarians. Thankfully, with the communications all disrupted the geth were no challenge, and the salarians were so indoctrinated they could barely even hold their pistols.

There was only one surprise, a salarian in a cell who claimed to be able to think, and wanted a chance to get some payback before the nuke went off. The second she opened the cell door though, he charged her and tried to strangle her. Ashley slammed her rifle over his head and he dropped to the floor, where she was able to put a triple burst into his head.

"I guess the indoctrination really can't be broken." She sounded a little down about it.

"Anymore, we leave them in their cells." Shepard stood and massaged her throat, "It's safer, and the nuke will kill them painlessly enough."

"Yes ma'am."

They left the cells and found an office with an elevator. Inside the elevator they took a moment to check their weapons.

"What the hell is Saren doing here?" Garrus asked her.

She shook her head, "I don't know. It's more than just the genophage though. Maybe he's investigating ways to control the krogan once he's got them. Or it could even be Sovereign."

"That would make sense," Liara was nodding, "He could be scared that he is being controlled by the ship as well as the people he commands."

Before they could discuss it further the elevator opened and revealed a lab with husks in containment fields and a krogan wearing a huge lab coat. "Who are you?"

"Commander Shepard, SPECTRE. We're shutting this lab down, and if you don't want to be killed, then you'll surrender instead of fighting us."

"Nice try," He slammed a button, "But with all these husks?"

"We will still destroy you," Wrex charged forwards with a roar and slammed the other krogan through a bank of computers.

"Take the husks!" Shepard opened fire and dropped one of them immediately. An asari scientist stepped from behind a table, glowing with biotics, and drew back a hand, but Liara was between her and Shepard in a moment, throwing her own attack out. The singularity folded the enemy in half, then continued to crush her further and further in. Shepard cringed and turned to shoot down the husks.

Wrex was pounding his fists into what was left of the krogan scientist's head into the computer fragments. "We will not be tools again," He was growling.

"Working out some issues?" Ashley snarked, and he looked up with a snarl, but then calmed himself.

"It is a sore point." He admitted, pulling his rifle back into his hands, "Let's move on."

They came out of the lab and out onto a walkway. There were only two ways to go at the end, and the bridge was up. Tali got to work on the door, and opened it up to reveal a bare room with an asari cowering behind a desk on the far end.

"Don't shoot," She was practically crying in fear, "Please, I just wanna get out of here before it's too late."

"I'm not gonna hurt you," Shepard put her pistol away and motioned for theothers to do the same, "Who are you?"

"Rana Thanoptis, neuro-specialist," She pulled herself up, looking a little more collected, "But this job isn't worth dying over, or worse, you think the indoctrination only affects prisoners? Sooner or later Saren will wanna dissect my brain too."

"I thought this was a breeding facility."

"Not this level, we're studying Sovereign's effect on organic minds. At least that's what I assumed. Saren kept us in the dark as much as possible."

He does seem to do that, "You helped him and you do not even know why?" Liara sounded shocked.

"I didn't have the option of negotiating, this position is a little more permanent than I expected, but I can help you!" She stepped over to the big doors at the back of the room, "This elevator behind me goes to Saren's private lab, I can get you in, see, full access, all of Saren's private files, are we good, can I go?"

Shepard couldn't shoot her in cold blood, but then again that didn't mean she couldn't have a little fun, "I'm gonna blow this place to hell and gone, if you wanna make it out alive, you'd better start running."

"What!" The asari's mouth dropped, "You can't, but I'll never!" She sprinted past them, not wasting any more time.

"I believe you enjoyed that Shepard." Liara said in her ear.

"You're damn right I did. Let's go people."

AN:- I like Rana Thanoptis. And I needed an actual excuse for why you can slaughter the indoctrinated without penalty. There was never really a reason given, so I added one. It seemed to make sense. Also, we got to see Wrex beating up another krogan. Unfortunately that was about all I could ever think of having him do in this story. Getting violent and beating up other krogan who would be a challenge for the team.

I didn't want to spend too much time with the Virmire mission, but I did want to include things like Kirrahe's speech.

Who's it gonna be?

I'm still not telling.

Til next chapter.