Notes:
Siame - "one who is all", a loved one cherished above all others (Thessian)
SMG - Sub-Machine Gun
Lessons in Humility
Thessia, Parnitha, Athena Nebula
The lower levels of the Temple of Athame proved to be a warren of rooms, consisting of large meeting areas paired with what appeared to be small classrooms, filled with multiple datapads and lots of terminals. Having never attended college, Brooks was amazed that so much space was, in her view, wasted on multiple theatre style meeting rooms, with benches and terminal bedecked desks mounted on a semi-circular floor inclined upwards at the rear. Feeling the pinch of time running out, she spared these areas and their adjoining rooms only a cursory inspection before moving onward.
The next level up proved a bit more interesting; holding numerous large laboratories, mostly involved with research into the destruction of the Prothean empire, some 50,000 years ago. Again, Maya failed to understand the squids' fascination with that entire failed civilization. She did not see any indications the Asari were studying the Reapers... neither their origins nor how to destroy them.
Religion had no meaning for Brooks; nothing had ever happened in her miserable life to give her any indication there was some form of benevolent being out there watching out for the greater good. As such, it didn't make any sense to her why an entire structure would have been created for the sole purpose of worshipping a nonexistent goddess. It made more sense as a cover for the illicit study of restricted technology, but why study creatures which had failed to defeat the Reapers. What possible good can come of such a colossal waste of time? She was nearly done inspecting the final laboratory on that floor when shouts rang out from the stairwell, quickly followed by sounds of gunfire and accompanied by a couple of dull thuds some unknown distance up the staircase.
Maya cautiously poked her head past the door and looked up. Seeing no movement, she rapidly ascended the first flight of stairs; one trooper was face down at the top. She carefully rolled him up on his side so she could see his face. She wasn't prepared for his head to loll to the side as she moved him, indicating a broken neck, or for the inside of his visor to be covered in blood.
Maya released the dead soldier as a voice came over her comm. "Met some commandos, Ma'am. Two casualties from biotic attacks, but we managed to kill them before they could cut any more of us down."
Maya responded, "Check your fire… I'm coming up to join you."
She hustled the rest of the way up the stairs; passing the second casualty just outside the door leading to the rear of an enormous chamber. Locating the squad leader was easy… he was standing over a pair of dead Asari commandos stretched out on the floor. She walked up to him and asked, "What happened, Sergeant?"
"Surprised four commandos when we moved into the main part of this… sanctuary." He turned and looked up at the huge statue, front and center at the far end of the massive chamber. Turning back to Brooks, he added, "They surprised us as well… and managed to put a dent in our numbers before we could eliminate them," he said glumly.
Maya looked down unhappily at one of the dead squids. The Illusive Man had sent her after an artifact and she was already down to six troopers... with absolutely no idea where it was located, what in the Hell it even was, and no idea what kind of opposition she was going to face. Her thoughts were interrupted by chatter from the far corner of the chamber; she waved her troops down into cover behind the rows of benches before she engaged her cloak and started to move.
Silently working her way towards the giant statue at the far end of the chamber, she saw three squids dressed in lab coats chattering among themselves as they casually walked towards the main console at the feet of the statue. Maya dodged to the left, silently running between the front and second row bench to the left end so she could approach them from behind. "Sergeant," she whispered into her comm. "Split your squad… two groups of three, one up the middle, second one up the right aisle." After a moment, she hissed, "I'll cover them from the left side... and don't forget, we need them alive, damn it! They can't talk if they're dead!"
Maya waited patiently until both squads had been noticed by the Asari before she uncloaked. Their gasps of surprise quickly gave way to individual attempts to defend themselves. One of the three tossed a singularity at Maya; only her double-strength kinetic barrier kept her from being sucked into the dark-energy maelstrom before it fizzled out. Each of the other two had tossed slams at the troopers; one of which connected, lifting the hapless man seven meters before reversing and smashing him to the floor. His partner rushed to help him as Maya grabbed the nearest squid from behind, with one arm across her chest and a knife pressed against her throat. "Tell those two to stop or I'll paint the floor with your blood!" she hissed in her ear.
The Asari quickly gasped out a cease and desist request to her companions, then turned her head slightly towards Maya. "How dare you desecrate this temple with your violence. What do you want, Human?"
Brooks responded by pressing her knife slightly harder against the soft skin of the Asari's throat as she called her squad leader, "Sergeant, take the other two into custody while I extract some information from this squid."
As he led three troopers to the front of the chamber, Maya returned her attention to her captive. "Now, we know there is some technology in here you are attempting to move, either to keep it away from the Reapers or out of Cerberus hands; doesn't matter what your goal was... because you've failed. Show me what we came here to find, and you just may get out of this with your skin intact."
"I'll show you nothing, Human!" came the venomous answer. "I am sworn to protect this shrine and its contents with my very life! The Goddess will welcome me across the sea."
Maya sighed as she deliberately applied pressure and drew her blade across the soft skin, cutting deeper and deeper as it progressed; the Asari gripped Maya's forearm with both hands, desperately attempting to break free of her grasp. Her sudden, terrified scream of pain was silenced almost before it began as her windpipe was slowly sliced open. The sudden rush of thick, blue liquid, forced out through the cut with her exhalation, was aerated into a frothy mix that ran down her chest and spattered out over the floor.
Maya cursed as she dropped her victim to the floor… both her arms and the front of her body armor were coated in blue. She kicked the squirming Asari in the head, the toe of her boot catching her at the back of her neck below her crest; the sudden, intense pain caused her to lose consciousness, where she quietly died within seconds as she finished bleeding out on the floor.
Maya looked up at the two remaining scientists, a savage grin on her face. "Okay, squids. Which of you would like to live to see tomorrow?"
Maya Brooks was truly pissed off; she had killed all three scientists discovered in the main chamber of the temple after receiving no information whatsoever. She was down to five troopers... the sixth one had a broken back from being biotically slammed to the floor... and still had no idea what she was looking for or how in the Hell to obtain it. She had called in the remaining gunship so they could load their injured soldier before sending it around to the APC location to extricate the driver and gunner from the vehicle – it would be left behind, but Maya saw no point in leaving the crew behind if she didn't need to; besides which, they could use the spare gunner on the gunship and the driver could be fodder, even if he wasn't any good with an assault rifle.
Angry as she was, she knew there would be someone else even more unhappy if she ignored his orders to contact him with any questions, so she sent the gunship back up to a safe altitude to loiter while she placed a call to the Illusive Man.
Surprisingly, when the connection was made he appeared… pleased. "Rasa. I take it from your expression and the blood on your armor that things have not gone well."
"That would be an understatement, Sir." She really hated having to show respect to this man, much less humility, but it was part of the game she was playing. "Lost a gunship to a Harvester, lost two troopers to a commando attack inside. Three scientists we discovered were tough… one of 'em got off a lucky biotic attack – broke a trooper's back, so I'm down to five effective soldiers, plus the driver and gunner from the APC. There's a console at the feet of the huge statue inside, but all our efforts to hack into it have been for nothing." Maya ground out the last sentence with a glum look of defeat, "I don't know what we need to do, or even what the artifact looks like.
TIM took a long drag on the cigarette he was holding. He contemplated the smoke as he exhaled and replied, "I want you and your men to hunker down, Rasa. Remove any traces of your visit if you can – the dead scientists can be left where they fell. I believe there will be someone arriving at the behest of the Asari government to find and remove that artifact." Taking another drag from his cigarette, he finished with, "Wait until they reveal the artifact... then take it away from them and bring it to me."
Brooks looked at the floor for several seconds, then returned her gaze to the image in front of her and replied, "It will be done, Sir."
SSV Normandy, Parnitha, Athena Nebula
Shepard did what she could to comfort Liara on their way to Thessia, but the hop from the Serpent Nebula to Parnitha was a short one and didn't provide much time. As Thessia was her homeworld, Liara was determined to go and Shepard didn't even think about trying to stop her. The commander made a quick detour to the Med Bay to get clearance from Doctor Chakwas; Karin gave her only a quick glance before stating, "I know there's not a chance you'd stay on the Normandy for this one, even if I grounded you... So, I'm not going to bother." She stepped forward and placed her hands caringly on Shepard's arms as she continued, "But please be careful, Sam. Liara needs you right now. I don't believe she could survive the fall of her home planet and her fiancée at the same time... and you know there's nothing you can do for Thessia at this point, so that only leaves you one option."
Shepard looked at her in bewilderment for a moment before letting out a little huff of laughter. "Do you think I wouldn't listen to you telling me to stay safe, so you have to blackmail me with Liara's state of mind?"
Karin smiled. "I know you wouldn't listen to me, Samantha Shepard, because you've heard it and ignored the same so many times before. You should know by now that when it comes to the health and wellbeing of those under my care, neither blackmail nor subterfuge is beneath me."
Shepard laughed outright and stepped up to give the woman a hug. "I love you, Aunt Karin, and I promise I'll be as careful as is possible for a Vanguard to be." As she stepped back, her face transitioned to a doting smile. "I've already promised Liara that I'll try very hard to be more considerate of the worry and concern she shows me by not 'risking myself so casually,' as she puts it."
"Your mother and I have been trying to get that concession out of you for over a decade... ever since the Blitz... and she gets it out of you the very first time she asks?" Karin's eyebrows raised and her lips took on a smirk. "Now I know you're in love!" Shepard simply rolled her eyes and waved a quick goodbye, her cheeks picking up a hint of pink as she turned and retreated swiftly from the Med Bay.
As she rolled out of the elevator onto the hangar deck, Joker's voice came over the loudspeakers, "Commander! Thessia is under heavy Reaper attack!"
Shepard immediately picked up her pace and jogged toward the waiting shuttle. "Define heavy, Joker!"
"As in Earth getting the shit kicked out of it, heavy!" Joker sounded pissed off as he continued, "There's activity across most of the planet."
"What about the temple? Can you raise the scientists?" Shepard didn't have to stop to gather the ground team; Garrus had already rounded up the personnel and assigned teams, so she jumped onto the shuttle and signaled Garrus to order the launch.
"Negative, Commander. All channels are scrambled across the spectrum."
As Joker paused, Edi chimed in with, "It is the typical Reaper attack parameters, Shepard. We saw the same with the Collectors upon the initiation of their attacks; a total communications blackout."
Joker came back with, "The mission's looking really dicey, Commander."
Shepard's lips were set in a grim line before she started to speak. "This mission is too important. We have to get that artifact and it's now or never. We're going."
Once the shuttle launched, Shepard glanced at Liara; she was perched on the edge of her seat, looking every bit of her youth... young and vulnerable as she stared in shock at the view screen showing the Reaper attack ongoing on the surface. Frowning, Shepard attempted to call her attention from the monitor. "Liara. Do you have anything more on this artifact?"
Liara reluctantly turned her attention to Samantha, her brilliant blue eyes shiny with unshed tears. "Unfortunately, no. My mother took me to the temple once; it is several thousand years old." Liara poked at her omnitool for a moment before continuing, "She had several files on it, some dating back centuries. I have not been able to crack most of them... at least not yet... but it did make me curious that a religious site would have classified government funding." She looked back up at Shepard. "I guess now we know why."
"At least we're on the right trail. I only wish Tevos and your father could have found some way to shake those damn matriarchs loose before now." Shepard glanced at the images coming up from the surface and her eyes narrowed; they reminded her of the appearance of her own planet when she fled Earth aboard the Normandy. This time she was running to the fight, not away from it.
Liara looked at the same pictures, but instead of anger, she felt only desperation. "What if we're too late? My people are dying down there!"
Shepard's brow furrowed in sorrow; she took a step closer to her Promised and laid a hand on her shoulder as James spoke from behind her. "Don't let it get to you, Blue. I felt the same way when they hit Earth. Shepard made us leave anyway, to get to you and the Citadel... and she was right. Our home worlds may be burning, but we have to focus on the bigger fight... or we'll lose everything."
"Palaven, too, Liara." Garrus pulled his rifle in readiness of landing. "We all know the stakes. We have to let our homes survive best they can without us... while we find the way to stop the Reapers. It's the only choice we have."
Garrus tapped the side hatch actuator and the door slid open, giving them their first close look at the war zone called Thessia. Liara gasped, "This can't be happening! My home..."
Shepard bumped shoulders with her to catch her attention. "Later, Liara! We've got to move... It's too exposed up here!"
Liara took a deep breath and looked at Shepard. "Right. Sorry." She followed the commander out the door and the group advanced quickly down onto the plaza before them.
They hadn't gotten far before a shout came in from the side. "You must be Commander Shepard!"
Shepard looked toward the sound of the voice and saw the commando who had yelled. She had turned toward a communications specialist off to the side who was shouting at her. "Lieutenant! Outpost Tykis is running out of ammunition!"
The lieutenant growled, "We all are! Tell them to make every shot count!"
The same specialist continued with her stream of bad news. "Eastern perimeter reports they've been breached!"
"Where are our reinforcements?" The specialist stared at the Lieutenant for a second, unsure how to answer the question, before realizing what she needed to do. She turned back to the comm unit and practically shouted at the pick-up, "This is Task Force Vendora; requesting reinforcements at quadrant zero-nine-one. Situation urgent!"
The lieutenant turned quickly back toward Shepard. "Commander, I'm Lieutenant Kurin. We heard..." Her welcome was cut off by a loud explosion and they were all pelted by debris. She quickly refocused and shouted at her troops, "The barrier's been breached! We need someone on that wall gun!"
Shepard grinned and yelled, "I've got it!" Almost the entire Normandy squad followed her to the wall and established a new perimeter guard. The only ones who remained behind were Liara... and because she stayed, so did Riana.
Kurin shouted out a warning, "Enemy targets on the bridge!"
While Shepard and the squad blasted away, quickly clearing the oncoming Reaper creatures, Liara and Riana lent their biotic muscle to move barricades and close the breach. Seeing the defenses kicking in, Kurin turned to her rear. "I want that gunship prepped and in the air!" With an answering nod from the mechanic, she turned back and looked at her comm specialist again. "Get me a location on our snipers!"
With the breach blocked off, a commando climbed the wall and took the turret over from Shepard. "Thanks, Commander! I can't believe you're actually here and fighting with us!"
Shepard didn't have the heart to tell her the Normandy team wasn't staying, so simply nodded and jumped down to speak with Kurin. As she walked over, the lieutenant started again, "We've been told to expect you. My orders were to hold this grid at all costs."
"Understood, Lieutenant... and you've done a great job. Now we need to get to the Temple." Shepard glanced around quickly. "No reason to hold this spot anymore, so we can move as soon as you're ready."
"The Temple? We're not dying, wading uselessly through a field of rubble... you'd better have a damned good reason other than recovery of some religious artifact. We need firepower... not prayers!" Kurin stared at her, meeting her eye-to-eye.
Shepard nodded in approval. "Good. I wouldn't ask you to. We are after an artifact, but it's not religious, it's Prothean."
Kurin's eyes narrowed. "Prothean? In the Temple?"
Liara walked up. "Yes, Lieutenant. An ancient relic that contains information vital to the construction of a Prothean super weapon." She stopped next to Shepard and continued, "The Protheans didn't complete it in time and, if we're not careful, the same will happen to us."
Shepard continued when Liara paused. "It's our only hope, Kurin. Councilor Tevos should have made arrangements for us to meet a science team here?"
"Yes, but they went ahead to the Temple." Kurin's expression turned to doubt. "One of our outposts has been trying to reach them... We lost contact about ten minutes ago."
"Then there's no time to waste. We've got to move. Now." Shepard opened her comm. "Roll up, people. We're moving out." She looked back at Kurin. "You coming?"
"If it's truly that critical, then without a doubt, Commander." Kurin opened her comm, "Alpha Squad, with me. Everyone else fall back to city center and rejoin the main force. Outpost Tykis, we're coming your way!" Her eyes met Shepard's and she started moving quickly toward the bridge they had so recently cleared of Brutes and Husks. "Let's make sure the galaxy knows the war was won on Thessia!" She glanced back over her shoulder with a smirk. "Coming, Commander?"
They climbed the wall and jumped down past the barricade; there would be no turning back... the only way to exit the bridge was to go forward. As they moved, Liara spoke through the link. {I was here years ago. To see the city burning like this is...}
Shepard could feel the ragged edge of despair in Liara's thoughts. {It can be rebuilt, Liara. Stay focused on the next twenty meters and let's get over this bridge.}
The Normandy team moved up the center of the bridge and Kurin's team split into two teams of three and covered their flanks. A harvester roared over top, blasting away and Kurin shouted, "Watch out!"
Liara cried out in frustration, "This has to end!"
"It will, Liara. We'll find this artifact and finish the Crucible!" Shepard ducked into cover and shouted back a warning; they had crossed two-thirds of the bridge and the opposite end was suddenly swarming with Marauders.
Garrus was instantly embroiled in an undeclared competition as Kurin's squad sniper, Nilyna Vura, dropped the lead Marauder with a single shot. His voice flanged in appreciation as he pulled his own trigger and queried, "What the Hell are you firing?"
Vura chuckled, "A modified Mantis, with an extended barrel and Asari designed, biotic enhanced kinetic coil boosters to accelerate the projectile velocity for even greater penetration."
Garrus grumped, "No good to me then, is it?"
"I guess not. I assume from your statement, you are not Turian Cabal." Vura pulled her trigger and another Marauder fell to the ground.
"No." Garrus pulled his trigger and another Marauder fell as he kept pace with his commando competition. "So I use the Widow; heavier, but also more powerful... without augmentation from biotics."
"Staggered approach! Try to use cover!" Shepard immediately bolted out into the open and sprinted to the next cover she could find, Liara on her heels. Riana and Tali moved up next, traveling an almost identical distance, but stopping at the next barrier closer and on the opposite side of the bridge. The remaining team also continued to move up and they advanced quickly over the bridge and found themselves on a large balcony overlooking a huge central courtyard.
On the far side was another group of Asari; Liara called them out, pointing at them through the haze. "On those buildings! We've got fire support!" Shepard looked across to where Liara had pointed and saw two separate sniper nests, flanking each side of the long narrow plaza one level below their current position.
Shepard glanced at Kurin. "That Tykis?"
"No." Kurin gave a quick shake of her head. "That's a defensive sniper team. Only way up to each platform is a single ladder. Their sole job is to kill Reapers until they either run out of ammo or the Reapers stop coming." Kurin sighed. "I think they'll run out of ammo first."
"Hang tough, Kurin. We're in this for the long haul, and I have every intention of winning this war..." She cut herself off from using the normal finish for that sentence, 'or die trying,' for Liara's sake... for all their sake's actually; she understood none of them needed to be reminded that such an ending was a distinct possibility.
Unfortunately, Shepard didn't need to remind them. A few moments after she stopped speaking, a Harvester showed up and hovered right above the sniper team, rapidly blasting them into oblivion. As the platform vanished in a ball of fire, Liara cried out, "No! Damn them!"
Her voice was a plaintive wail and Shepard pushed loving support to her through the link as she said, "Keep your focus, Liara." The commander let fly a warp followed up with a charged blast from her Arc pistol, eliminating a Cannibal on the plaza below.
"Those things are slaughtering my people!"
Shepard stopped and turned back to her. "We need to keep moving and get that artifact if we want to truly help them! There's not much else we can do here, Li." Shepard's eyes met those of her Promised. Liara's normally brilliant blues were riddled with anguish. {You know that, Liara. Come on. Stay with me... I'm depending on you to help see us through this, T'Soni.}
Liara's face was a maelstrom of conflicted pain as she growled out, "Goddess, Shepard. How did you ever pull yourself away from Earth? How could you push away the anger and not stay and fight?"
Despite the circumstances, Shepard's eyes sparkled as she replied, "Because I had to find you."
Much of the conflict on Liara's face fell away and she grasped the armor of Shepard's forearm as she whispered quietly, "Thank you, Siame. With so much happening, it is easy to lose sight of what we are truly fighting for." Her eyes still reflected the agony of the loss of her people, but Liara adjusted her grip on her SMG and glanced down to the plaza. "Alright. Let's do this. Together."
Shepard felt the Asari's newly found resolve slide through the link and returned the sentiment with a gentle nudge. {Now there's the Dr T'Soni I know.} With a nod of confirmation, she trotted to the side and dropped off the edge to the lower level, moving through the rubble toward the far side of the plaza.
With the addition of Kurin's squad, the team was fourteen strong and moved swiftly through the throngs of Reaper creatures being thrown at them. Once down on the lower level, Shepard and Riana had much more maneuverability and, with a number of biotics to support them, they both slipped into Vanguard mode and charged about the plaza, crushing Marauders and Cannibals alike. Not until a Banshee showed up did they slow their forward progress; then, both Shepard and Riana fell back to recover while Garrus and Nilyna, taking turns firing their long guns, picked the Banshee apart in only five shots.
They progressed up the ramp the Banshee had so recently descended and Liara stuck close to Shepard's side, encouraging her to eat an energy bar as she slipped an eezo cube into her own mouth. "Good idea, Liara." Shepard stopped the entire group. "It's not going to get any easier. Liara's right... We need to take a minute and boost our energy levels while we can."
Shepard had meant taking a minute literally and as soon as she had stuffed the energy bar into her mouth and swallowed the last piece, she was on the move again. Liara spoke softly as they got underway. "I still can't face those things... my own people."
Shepard grimaced. "Trust me, I know. Every Husk we've killed was once a Human, every Marauder, a Turian." Shepard growled, "The Reapers are perverted pieces of shit and we're going to kill them all. The cycle ends now; they're never going to have the chance to do this again. Ever."
Liara suddenly realized the true depth of the Reaper evil and her stomach threatened to revolt. "Goddess. Let's stop talking about this and just get the job done."
Sensing Liara's disquiet, Shepard glanced at her and nodded. "Agreed."
Moving swiftly through the debris, they finally reached a massive central courtyard where Kurin pointed to another sniper nest. "That's the point guard for outpost Tykis. We simply need to get across this courtyard... Tykis will be on the other side."
They moved quickly and crested the ramp just as a powerful strike exploded on the wall of the sniper nest, sending one of the snipers to meet her Goddess. The other Asari shouted into her comm unit, "This is Specialist Cayla! Jineva was just killed by enemy fire!"
Kurin spoke to her directly. "Don't bother calling for a replacement. We're collapsing the perimeter and going to support Tykis. Shepard's here; we're moving on the Temple."
"Thank the Goddess! I didn't think I'd live to see the end of today." Cayla looked at the commander, wide-eyed. "Can you really win this war?"
Shepard launched a warp and obliterated a Marauder. "We get to that temple and the Reapers are history."
"Then grab what you need from our remaining supplies and let's do some damage, Commander!"
The Marauders and Cannibals were no match for the team descending upon them and the ever-growing team advanced quickly toward Outpost Tykis. They cleared the last barrier and looked out over the skyline of Serrice. Liara gasped in despair, "This nightmare never ends!"
The city laid out before her was in ruin all the way to the visible horizon. Exactly as Shepard had shared from her Prothean nightmares, numerous Reaper capitol ships had settled at various locations throughout the city, rendering it to nothing but burning piles of rubble. The loud bellows of the Reapers as they fired their energy beams threatened to shatter eardrums as well as the additional blocks of the city that crumbled into wreckage with each blast.
They turned the corner and Kurin pointed up a set of broad terraced steps. "That's Tykis." Her arm shifted to the right as she spoke. "Once up there, we have to travel that exposed circular path around the edge of the bluff to get to the Temple's entrance."
"Holy Hell." James stared at the exposed shelf and the Harvesters darting back and forth, continually dropping additional Reaper creatures. "Hope they don't notice our little band of merry men creeping along the side of the hill."
"Doesn't matter." Shepard looked back at her team. "We can't let this be for nothing. We get to the artifact and this war will be on its way to being over."
Kurin turned to her commandos. "Cayla. Join Shepard's squad as their sniper. Sasha... You're with Vakarian to give their team biotic support." She looked at Shepard as she continued, "That gives us three teams of five and balances the capabilities a little. Acceptable?"
"Sounds great. Thanks, Kurin." Shepard looked up the steps. "Let's go find Tykis."
As they climbed to the uppermost terrace, an Asari ran toward them in hurried retreat as a rocket crashed behind her, throwing her down a level to sprawl on the ground; scrambling to recover, she grabbed the Acolyte pistol that had been jarred from her grip by the impact. Looking a bit dazed as she recovered her feet, she stumbled to cover and shouted out to the unexpected arrivals, "Watch it!"
The team ran to cover as more rockets and weapons fire cascaded through the alleyway. Shepard sought cover beside the commando and shouted above the fray, "We're trying to reach Outpost Tykis!"
The soldier's voice was angry as she yelled her response, "You're looking at it! The rest are all dead... We tried punching through to the scientists to clear the path and determine their status, but... I'm all that's left. We never made it."
"We don't have a choice. That Temple holds the solution to this war!"
The soldier shook her head. "Can't help you, Commander, other than to lend you my gun."
Kurin slid up beside her and tapped a closed fist against Shepard's shoulder. "I'll call in the gunships, Shepard. They can provide cover fire and open things up a bit."
Shepard looked out at the sky full of Harvesters. "You sure you want to do that?"
Kurin's eyes were steel as she spoke. "If this artifact is what we need to win this damned war, then yes. We all knew coming into this battle that most of us would die here today. At least those who do will die with purpose."
"Fucking Hell!" Shepard's grip on her weapon tightened, knowing she was condemning a number of people to their death. "Do it."
Kurin nodded and got on her comm. "Talon Swarm. This is Kurin. Anyone left on this frequency report to Outpost Tykis. We need a path to the Temple. Now."
Shepard closed her eyes and felt Liara's comforting presence through the link. {It's the only way, Shepard, and we all know it. That's why they are volunteering to do this for us; they are no different than the rest of us... standing at your side.}
{Thanks, Li, but it's still hard.} Shepard's attention was drawn back to the battle by the reports of only two gunships, but as they roared in overhead, there were three in the formation.
"Ground targets confirmed. Weapons hot!" The pilot's call was answered by all three gunships launching multiple rockets and following up with rapid-fire machine guns. The ground team assisted as best they could from behind cover, but the narrow access point limited how many could assist at any one time. Their limited action was enough for them to see that the Reaper creatures were definitely stepping up in capability. Until now, they had faced mostly Cannibals and Marauders; the last encounter had included a Banshee and now the forces opposing them included the twisted Rachni Ravagers with their long-range cannons.
A Ravager proved to be the end for the first gunship, its cannon blasting Talon One's rear stabilizer apart, causing it to spin out of control and crash. Even in her final moments, the pilot managed to push the gunship toward the pathway and took out several of the enemy with the crash, including the Ravagers that had killed her. "This is Talon Five! Whatever you're going to do, you'd better do it now! Talon One broke open a huge hole in the enemy force with her sacrifice. Make it mean something!"
"Roger that!" Shepard stepped out to lead the way and her team surged forward through the breach. A Banshee had joined the fight, but with two gunships remaining, the opposing forces fell quickly and the team advanced to the upper pathway to begin the loop to the Temple entrance.
As they moved forward, the gunships continued to clear their way forward. A third voice entered the conversation from one of the gunships, "That's it for the missiles. Switching to guns only."
Husks surged around the corner and the team reacted quickly. Tali launched Chatika and Garrus docked his sniper in exchange for his assault rifle. The large number of biotics proved to be extremely valuable as husks were picked off the deck and either tossed to their deaths over the cliff or picked out of the air with weapons fire as they floated helplessly above any cover they may have had. Things were going well and they made great progress until two Harvesters showed up.
The gunship that was limited to guns pointed its nose at one of the Harvesters and flew backwards in retreat with the Harvester in pursuit, disappearing around the corner. The Harvester returned quickly and everyone hoped the gunship had made good on its escape, having not heard any crashes or explosions. The second Harvester never left, forcing Garrus to pull his sniper rifle back out as he and the two Asari snipers blasted the beast with high powered ammunition. Combined with Shepard, Liara and Riana blasting it with Warps and incendiary rounds, they achieved a small amount of respite by sending the thing to its grave as Vega temporarily took over second team to provide cover fire.
With the first Harvester's return, they repeated the act; just as they thought they were in the clear, a third Harvester surged up from below and took down the last gunship, leaving them without air support. Liara growled, "So much sacrifice! We have to make it worth something!"
Kurin nodded in agreement, "We will Dr T'Soni. The Temple is just around the corner."
Maya paused in her efforts to clean the blood from her armor as a new set of sounds reached her ears. She was sitting on the rearmost bench in the chamber, at the outboard corner next to the aisle on the right. Four of the five surviving assault troopers were waiting behind the hidden door, at the top of the stairwell leading down to the laboratories and classrooms of the lower levels.
The sergeant, standing nearby, had been telling her of the artifacts he had seen at several locations along the outer aisles as he patrolled the perimeter of the chamber – her raised hand cut him off mid-sentence.
Maya's hearing, despite continual exposure to closeby gunfire, was still preternatural acute. There was someone… no, several someones… speaking in low voices… outside the main entrance… outside the barrier. Her raised hand pointed silently at the sergeant, then at the hidden door as she hissed through her teeth, "Go! Keep your helmet comms on at all times, and wait for me to call you."
Maya stood and turned while energizing her cloak. The sergeant had quickly reached the doorway, where he watched her vanish from sight. To him and his troops, Maya was still visible as an outline, thanks to the filters built into their helmets. He didn't expect anyone coming here from outside would be able to cloak as effectively as Brooks, so felt confident she wouldn't fall victim to friendly fire from his own troops.
After the door slid shut, she moved further into the shadows near the middle of the outermost right pathway, adjacent to a preservation display case within which was sealed an ancient looking piece of paper. Waiting in motionless silence, she listened carefully. '…military grade encryption… I think I can override it.' A different voice observed, 'Military grade? That seems excessive.' The owner of the first voice replied, '…especially since few still follow the Athame doctrine.' There was no further conversation as the first person continued working to override the barrier's outside control.
In a matter of minutes, the blue-tinged electronic barrier disappeared, followed by the shadows of several people falling on the floor inside; the first voice could be heard, stronger this time, but with a tentative tone. "Hello? Is anyone there?"
