Chapter 25: The Butcherer of Torfan

Seven months ago, Torfan:

According to old blueprints found on the extranet, Torfan wasn't so much a colony as it was a military fortress. The area the Alliance had settled was conveniently surrounded by trees which went on for miles until they were stopped at the massive thirty foot tall wall embracing the colony, which should give them cover to approach. It would be easy enough to get over the wall with some old fashioned rope so that wouldn't be a problem but they did have one issue. In the center of the colony stood a Kinetic Assault Cannon, which could probably tear the Everest apart in a single blast. If that happened the Alliance could be set back decades since the Everest was currently the only dreadnought class in the navy. Jack wasn't worried though, the KAC required a Human with the proper code and for the user to fire the gun willingly. While he knew the code, he would never choose to fire at the Everest, it was his home.

On his way to the briefing room, his omni tool vibrated, looking down he saw the caller was, "Mom." He sighed tapping the call button, "I'm kind of busy right now mom can this wait?"

The older woman gave him a teasing smile, "Not sure what you could be busy with since we're in FTL, is it that guy I keep hearing about? Can I meet him?"

Jack was glad the screen was small and fuzzy so that she couldn't see how pained that comment made him, "I promise after this is over you will... I think he's the one."

She grinned stroking the camera, "I'm so proud of you Jack, you got the Admiral to get his head out of his ass so we can go save those people. That's what XO's are supposed to do. I know your father would be over the moon as well if he was here."

Jack turned his head to one side, "Bringing up dad huh? Finally ready to tell me who he is yet? I think being thirty one classifies me as being old enough to know."

It was her turn to look uncomfortable, "Tell you what, you introduce me to your one and only and then I'll tell you. Preferably sitting down."

He gave her the best fake smile he could manage, "Thanks mom but I really have to be going now, we're about to plan our assault on the base."

She saluted him before blowing a kiss, "I love you babe, go kick some ass. Shepard out."

He hated lying to her about what was going on here but, it wasn't like he was the only one to keep secrets in the family. Ever since he was little, his mother had danced around or down right avoided the dad situation. He had the feeling that she was embarrassed about it being a one night stand type of thing and didn't want to tell him. Granted, performing mutiny and stealing the Alliance's eighth fleet to save your boyfriend was a lot more serious, it just made him feel better knowing he wasn't the only one lying. The door to the conference room opened revealing a frustrated looking Mandaria as well as a worried looking Akira and Karosn.

Mandaria stormed up to him standing at her full Turian height to loom over him, "What the hell were you thinking Jack? Do you know what happens to people who pull that kind of shit?! You will get sent to a red sand mine somewhere for the rest of your life!"

Jack waved her away approaching the holographic table in the center of the room, "It's too late to argue about it now, so, let's focus on what the plan is shall we?"

Mandaria huffed marching to a shadowy corner mumbling, "Men, always trying to put off the most immediate problems."

Karosn pulled up the blueprints of the base ignoring their bickering, "From my analysis, Balak could be holding the slaves in one of two places, ground level where the KAC is loaded or, up top in the command center."

Akira quickly added, "The command center is unlikely though since it could only fit about twenty people. My guess is Balak will be looking down on his prize from up top."

Balak's words about keeping Kal echoed in Jack's mind again before he replied, "How hard would it be to get to the command center? I'm guessing the front door won't be open."

Karosn pointed to the long neck of the building with one of his green webbed fingers, "Just this central elevator on the ground floor, otherwise you'd have to get to the tenth floor here to take the stairs. The elevator is the only interior way to get to that floor though."

Jack raised an eyebrow, "Interior you say? Does that mean there's an access point on the outside?"

Akira tapped a button on her omni tool and thin red lines appeared on the blueprint, "Technically, vents go all across the base but, you'd have to somehow get to the access point on top of the building. No way we're getting up there from ground level."

Jack had an idea and shook his head, "Your right, you won't, I want you all on the ground looking for the slaves. There should still be thousands from all the colonies hit so we need to get them out. Once they're safe, you need to put a bomb in the ammo structure, it'll send this whole place in flames so Balak can't use the KAC on the Everest."

Mandaria folded her arms, "How do you expect your going to get up there Jack? It's not like you can fly."

Jack winked to her, "Leave that to me, as far as we know you'll have Quarian support down there so you won't need me. I believe in each of you so we have nothing to worry about. I suggest you all suit up, we'll be there soon."

The Asari and Drell got the hint that they were dismissed but, Mandaria started following him out of the room, "Jack, even if you can get up there what's your plan to get out? Balak won't just let you leave with Kal and have a happy ever after."

Jack was headed to the armory to get suited up, "Your right, that's what a gun is for. I'm going to kill him and end this."

She wasn't very convinced and kept following him, "Have you ever stopped to think that this is his plan? Get you alone with him so that you will fire that gun? What if he's using your relationship with Kal to his advantage?"

Jack scoffed entering the code to his locker, "Your giving him too much credit Mand, he attacked the Alliance two years ago. That doesn't show a lot of planning on his part."

Mandaria grabbed his shoulder to try and get his attention, "And we've been playing his games for all that time, just don't underestimate him Jack. This isn't going to be the walk in the park like you think it is."

Jack was soon totally suited up and walked past her, "I got it but I have to do this, Kal is counting on me. He's alone up there with that monster and probably getting sicker by the minute, if I don't do this now I'll lose him forever... I couldn't live with myself knowing I could have done something to save him but didn't."

He left her with that thought heading down towards the hangar bay, it was a buzz of activity. Despite the seriousness of the situation, the crew seemed up beat thinking this was it, they were finally going to take the fight to Balak. To add to that, the crew believed the Quarians were now helping them, they had a real military partner they could count on. While he smiled to each of them, deep down Jack knew Han'Gerrel wasn't doing this out of his love for Humanity. If he had been smart enough to save Kal's genetic code, the Quarian wouldn't care at all what happened to his son. He saw Kal as a tool to create the perfect Quarian super solider, the actual being was trash for all he cared. Jack could use that for now, when the war was over though he had no interest in getting to know the man personally.

Seeing a Mako being loaded up into a dropship, Jack approached the pilot, "Mind if I hop a ride on your ship?"

The pilot spun around and quickly saluted him, "Commander, it's an honor to meet you sir, didn't think you would spend time with us grunts. Where are we going?"

Jack returned the salute, "I need a ride to the top of the KAC down on the surface, think you can do that?"

The pilot seemed uncomfortable at first but nodded, "Within a thousand meters but, I don't know if the Mako could withstand a drop like that. Certainly would be a one way trip."

Jack looked at the vehicle and then back to him, "I'm counting on it looking ugly, trust me I'll be fine."

The pilot was obviously unsure but didn't want to question him, "Ok then, why don't you hop in now, I'm just fueling up and we'll be ready to go when the fleet arrives."

Jack paused coming up with another idea, "I need to be part of the second wave, so hold off on launching till my go."

The pilot shrugged and agreed, "You got it boss, twenty minutes till we arrive."

It was the most stressful twenty minutes of Jack's life, just watching the stars fly by out the hangar window in FTL. All he could think about was what was happening to Kal right now, what was Balak doing to him, how sick was he now? His heart was pounding very fast at all the possibilities in his mind, but he had to focus. He wouldn't do Kal any good if he was paralyzed by fear, he had to be ready to kill. He strapped himself into the Mako for something to keep him busy, this could just be suicidal but, he could at least say he did everything he could.

With the Quarian's suit laying in the passengers seat, Jack whispered to himself, "Just hold on a little longer big guy, I'm coming to get you." The suit had been loaded with antibiotics so Kal could get immediate medical treatment when he was rescued.

Then the ship jumped out of FTL in total chaos, the Quarian's had arrived first and the entire Batarian armada had been waiting for them. Despite being over three hundred years old, the Quarian ships still managed to out pace them in FTL travel. No wonder the rest of the Galaxy viewed Alliance tech as backwards. Lasers and kinetic rounds criss-crossed the space above Torfan with fighters chasing each other for dominance. The planet didn't appear to be anything special from up here, just different shades of gray and was probably the size of a moon. Jack had expected most of Balak's forces to be here but he didn't know he still had this many ships in play, why were they all here right at this moment?

His omni tool beeped again and this time a Quarian helmet greeted him, "Glad to see you joined the party Commander. A bit more than we anticipated but, we'll punch through them."

Jack resisted the urge to use biotics to smack the confidence right out of him, "I wish you would've waited for us but here we are. What do you need from us?"

Gerrel didn't notice his irritation, "General support which your already providing, I've already started sending first wave ground troops, I suggest you do the same."

Jack cursed to himself, well then coordination was already out the window, "Will do Admiral, good luck down there." He disconnected the link and called Mandaria, "Gerrel's already launched his troops, go with the first wave and start fighting."

She groaned and started running faster, "Copy that we're cutting it close but we'll make it. I'll link armor feeds with you when I hit the ground. Be careful Jack, I already don't like how this is going."

Watching the battle outside was visually stunning even though each bright flash of light represented someones death, a death he caused. This had been the right call judging by Balak's fleet size, Jack was sure that the Alliance and Quarian fleet wouldn't have survived on their own but had he made it for the right reasons? He had told Kahoku this mission was to save the slaves but, he didn't care about them enough for a mutiny. If Kal was still on the Everest Jack would've followed orders and defended Eden Prime but, instead he was putting Alliance soliders in the killzone claiming it was for a just cause. He didn't deserve to be wearing the N7 armor on his chest, when this was all over he would leave the Alliance, if they didn't arrest him first. He had to take comfort in the fact that no matter what happened to him, Kal would be safe and alive.

Mandaria called again from inside the dropship she was in pulling him from his thoughts. When he answered her voice was a hushed nervous whisper, "Never thought I'd be in a large scale ground invasion. About to drop, any last minute advice?"

Jack tried not to sound too cynical as he replied, "Don't be the first out the door, you'll be safer that way."

The door to the dropship opened and Mandaria rushed out of the entrance first trying to draw fire to protect the others behind her. He had to admire her courage to throw herself face first into danger for others. Although she was a Turian, Mandaria was the bravest solider he had ever met. Jack looked away expecting he was going to hear her die but, a few moments later all he heard her panting. Looking back down at the screen, Jack saw she was taking cover behind a building giving cover fire for other landing Alliance ships. Akira was using her biotics as a shield to keep some wounded alive while Karosn was sneaking up on Batarians and snapping their necks. Jack was kind of surprised there weren't more Batarians on the landing field, why wasn't Balak in the fighting? His slaves were here, he should be fighting for them tooth and nail right?

He saw the firefight went on for several minutes with the last few Batarians taking cover behind the door to get in the main facility. His team had several close calls but, Mandaria had a handle on the situation, making decisions he would've if he was there. Every close miss above the armor camera made him worry she was hit but, the Turian just kept going. She seemed to be in her element on the battlefield, like a force of nature that had been weaponized. There didn't seem to be an end in sight for the fighting though until a Quarian squad came from behind catching the slavers by surprise killing them. They waved to the Alliance soliders motioning for them to come inside. When Mandaria finally made it into the building Jack thought he was going to be sick, cages lined the walls for as far as the eye could see and they were jammed packed with Humans. Each one naked and looked like they hadn't eaten in ages.

Mandaria stood at the entrance seemingly paralyzed, "Jesus Shepard, what did he do to all these people?"

Jack gulped trying to contain his disgust, "I... I don't know Mand... just get them out of there, I'm on my way." He commed the pilot above him, "Start sending the rescue shuttles down and get moving, people down there need us."

As the dropship flew out of the hangar, Jack kept watching his omni tool as Mandaria and the other Alliance soliders started unlocking cage after cage but told people to wait to leave until ships arrived. Each person in the cages were crying hugging some of their rescuers slowing down the process of opening more cages. Akira was handing out nutritional packs to the children while Karosn was watching the doors in case more Batarians arrived. The Quarians however were just asking if anyone had seen one of their kind, whether the people asked were still in a cage or not. He hated their singular focus but, the answers confirmed Jack's assumption that Kal was with Balak.

Mandaria turned to Akira and the Quarians shouting over the noise, "That looks like half, you all, yes you freeloaders, help Akira get these people to safety.. Karo, stay with me for the second half."

Jack couldn't help but feel a sense of joy spreading over him as the slaves started making their way out of the building with Akira's and the Quarians help. Maybe this was worth it after all and would save many lives. His happy feeling soon vanished though because as the slaves were leaving a black ooze fell from one of the windows on an upper floor. It was slick and shiny reflecting the moon light on all the people hit by it. A moment before he realized what was happening, Jack saw a single match fly towards the group.

His eyes widened as he shouted, "Mand look out!"

Unfortunately, it was already too late as the match hit the group center mass. The explosion rocked the armor camera feed until it went fuzzy and disconnected. No, no, no, no, no, this could not be happening Jack told himself as he jumped out of the Mako to see the base better from one of the dropship windows. Had he been responsible for killing all those people too? If he hadn't come to rescue them they'd still be alive right now. Sure enough, the front of the base was lit up in flames and some of them were running around meaning some of those slaves were burning alive. It was clear now that Balak had no intention of escaping and just wanted to bring down as many people with him as possible. With a new feeling of determination Jack marched back to the Mako getting ready for the drop, if Balak wanted to play games, he could play them too.

In a flash, the Mako disappeared and was replaced with Liara's face back on the Normandy. Her fingers were shaking and slowly dropped them from his temples before retreating away from him. She must've disconnected their minds, probably out of disgust for him. He knew he hated himself for what happened and she hadn't even seen the worst part of Torfan. The fact still remained though she still hadn't seen the vision and needed to. Jack had to convince her they needed to do this for the sake of the Galaxy, no matter what she felt about him now.

He stood up straight trying to remain professional, "Go ahead and say it, get it out of your system that I'm a monster. We need to go back in my head and now."

Liara looked distracted rubbing her own head as she replied, "Your not a monster Shepard, you had no idea what he would do to those people. They would've died in those cages if you hadn't at least tried to save them... As for joining again I'm afraid I can't, feeling all those emotions in the span of twenty minutes is exhausting..."

Jack needed to push her in case she just didn't want to, "We don't have time to rest Liara, day by day Saren is getting closer to the Conduit and bringing the Reapers back. Now I know seeing that stuff is hard, trust me I lived through it, but the Galaxy is counting on us to make the right decision here."

Liara sounded patient with him but remained firm, "I understand that Shepard but I'm telling you your mind wouldn't of been able to take much more of that at once, we need a break. Get some rest, you need it, in the meantime I'm going to try and reach out to my mother. Maybe I can arrange a meeting and we can figure out what's going on here that way."

Knowing she wasn't going to change her mind, Jack left with a polite nod feeling frustrated with himself. The past was getting in the way of what he needed to do right now, he couldn't focus on what he needed to. Maybe he wasn't doing any better than the drunk Kahoku, despite what he told himself. If the mission wasn't this serious, Jack would've taken some shore leave so he could rest for more than a few hours but, he couldn't now. He just hoped some sleep would clear his head so he could try again tomorrow.

On the way to his room, Kaidan saw him and waved, "Hey Commander, how'd that go? Does she know anything useful about the Reapers?"Jack sighed and kept walking towards his room, "I don't want to talk about it right now, tell Joker to comm me if anything changes. Otherwise I'll be in my room and don't want to be disturbed..."