A/N: Thank you T, Ally McNally, AngstyShenko, Kirabaros, and SerenutyFalconNirmandy for your reviews. They kept me going. Vorchagirl, as always thank you for beta reading. And now, enjoy the next chapter.
54. Tuchanka
"Enjoy your date, Commander?"
Joker's smug voice greeted her over the intercom as soon as she stepped into the airlock. Nick rolled her eyes. Of course he'd watched, what else did she expect?
"Yeah, I did," she replied, walking into the helm once the decon cycle had finished. Joker turned his chair to face her, grinning from ear to ear. She resisted the urge to stick her tongue out at him. "Could've used some more time, though. Enjoy the vid feed? Everybody aboard?"
Her helmsman nodded.
"Then let's get going. Set course for Tuchanka." Without another word she made her way through the CIC and down to the med bay. If Reaper presence wasn't too strong the Normandy should reach the Krogan homeworld within two to three hours. There were things to take care of before that, such as getting inoculated against the harsh radiation on the planet's surface additional to the environmental hazard protection offered by her armor.
Tasks kept Nick busy, and before she knew it the Normandy was in orbit over the krogan homeworld. She quickly finished up and made her way to the war room. The team was already assembled around a tactical map of Tuchanka showing a large Reaper placed by the Shroud.
"New form of Reaper," Mordin informed Nick. "Is using Shroud to poison Tuchanka's atmosphere." He paused, drawing in a thoughtful breath. "Problematic."
"Well, isn't this just peachy?" she remarked, hands on her hips as she stared at the updated info on the tactical map. She considered the new data, chewing thoughtfully on her lip. "New plan," she said slowly, looking up. "Primarch, we're gonna need your help."
The turian looked away. "That could be difficult. Our losses on Palaven have been catastrophic."
Nick sneered. "Difficult? Of course it's going to be difficult. This ain't no cakewalk, and you know it, General. Apart from that, this is about Palaven and every other goddamn world out there."
Primarch Victus caught her eye, and dipped his head in agreement. "What do you have in mind?"
Shepard cleared her throat. "The first joint Turian-Krogan operation. Your people hit the Reapers with an airstrike while krogan forces attack from the ground. Together we can draw it away from the tower, giving a small strike team a chance to reach the Shroud."
She punched the details for a simulation into the terminal in front of her, and let it run.
"Yes," Mordin nodded. "Distraction. Small team can reach facility, finish synthesizing cure."
"Any questions?" Shepard looked around. Silence met her. "No? Good. Then let's get to it."
Everybody filed out of the room. Nick glanced thoughtfully at the tactical map one more time and turned to follow them.
"Commander," Traynor's voice sounded over the intercom, "incoming message, marked urgent."
"Patch it through, specialist," Nick replied, heading to the comm room.
A holographic image of the salarian Dalatrass appeared.
"Dalatrass," Nick greeted the salarian warily.
"Commander Shepard, we know you've reached Tuchanka and by now Mordin Solus surely suggested using the Shroud." Nick raised her eyebrows. "Don't look so surprised," the dalatrass continued. "It's the only viable course of action open to you. But ask yourself, if this is truly the course if action you want to take. The krogan are aggressive and unpredictable. Curing the Genophage threatens everyone. There is an alternative. Years ago our operatives sabotaged the Shroud facility to ensure what you're planning couldn't be done. Mordin would likely detect this malfunction and repair it, but if you ensure that he doesn't then the cure's viability would be altered just enough so that it fails." The dalatrass looked at her pointedly.
Stunned, Nick stared at the holographic projection. This was unbelievable. The dalatrass was trying to blackmail her into sabotaging the cure. She clenched her jaw.
"So I'm supposed to lie to a friend about the future of his race? Right." Shepard scoffed.
The dalatrass dismissed her comment with a lazy wave of her hand. "The krogan needn't know."
Of course not, Nick thought, disgusted.
"Mordin would never stand for that," she replied with a tight smile. "And you must believe Wrex is stupid, if you don't think he'd figure it out."
"How you deal with him is up to you. We can provide you our very best scientist to build the crucible and the full support of our fleets." There was a pause. "Think about it, Commander. The choice is yours." The image flickered and vanished.
For a moment Nick stood there flexing her fingers, her mouth curled to a silent snarl. Finally, she spun around and made her way to the shuttle bay.
Once there she waved her team together. They gathered around her, waiting silently as she adjusted her thoughts.
"I just had an urgent call from the Dalatrass," she said grimly. "She tried to cut a deal with me. She thought threatening to pull away all salarian support in the war if we cure the genophage to be prudent. Apparently salarian operatives sabotaged the shroud facility years ago." Bristling, Wrex began to speak. Shepard held up her hand and continued, "Mordin should be able to detect the malfunction and repair it, and she wanted me to ensure he doesn't."
Mordin nodded, "Yes. STG tactic. Will be able to compensate."
"Thank you for telling us, Commander," Eve said. "You just spared our race another genocide."
Nick waved it off. "I don't do genocide, even if the batarians would object to that."
They sped along the dusty road, the Tomkah jostling violently with every bump. Suspension in these trucks suck, Nick thought after another bump in the road. She tightened her grip and listened silently to Wrex and Mordin, running through the meeting with the other krogan in her head. It had been a close thing. She was glad Wreav wasn't the krogan leader, otherwise she might have felt tempted to consider the dalatrass' offer despite being convinced the Genophage had to be cured. The things Eve had told her - nobody deserved having to go through something like that. And, she had confidence in Wrex.
The Tomkah lurched to a halt, sending its occupants stumbling. Nick opened the hatch and jumped out. Garrus and Liara joined her. Her gaze landed on the Reaper visible in the distance - and the tower it was guarding. She walked to the edge of the road, shielding her eyes as she stared at it.
Garrus walked up next to her. "You think this is going to work?"
She snorted. "Hell, Garrus, I have no idea. We're running a tight schedule and this -" she gestured at the broken road ahead, "is not helpful." She opened a comm channel, telling the turians to delay their air strike. The reply was negative; the attack was locked in, and the Reaper knew the turians were there.
"Crap," she muttered.
"An air strike alone won't do it," Garrus pointed out. "We have to get in that fight."
"No kidding," Nick replied sourly. The turian fighter squadron thundered overhead, closing in quickly on the Reaper. "Shit."
She shifted uncomfortably; they had to get moving. Reluctantly she tore her gaze away and began jogging back towards the Tomkahs. A sudden sharp crack followed by a high-pitched whirring made her look back at the sky. Her eyes widened. A fighter spiraled toward their position, clearly out of control.
"Go!" she shouted at the top of her lungs. "Get Mordin and Wrex and Eve out of here!"
The first vehicles lurched forward, carrying them away from immediate danger. The high-pitched whining of the hit fighter drew closer. Shepard sprinted towards an entrance in the ruins. She jumped over a gap and took cover behind a ledge just as the fighter crashed into the last vehicles of the convoy. The shrieking sound of metal scraping over rock filled the air. The walls of the ruins shook. Staying low, she shielded her head as debris fell around her.
Slowly the dust settled. Coughing, she looked up to see Liara and Garrus hunched behind a large block a few meters to her side.
"You okay over there, Shepard?" Garrus asked, standing up.
Nick gave him a thumbs up and let her gaze roam through the weakly illuminated passage. Utter darkness lay ahead.
This was just great.
"Where the hell are you, Shepard?" Wrex's voice crackled over the radio. "You still with us?"
"Yeah, we're in one of the ruins," she replied, fumbling with the clasp of a pouch and pulling out a flashlight. Mounting it on her shotgun she signaled her team to follow and advanced deeper into the ruins. "The passage's leading us underground."
Eve spoke, "Commander, that's the City of the Ancients. It's been abandoned for thousands of years. No maps exist."
"Well, isn't that just terrific," Nick mumbled, shining her light down a flight of steps.
Wrex laughed. "Stop whining like a pyjak. Consider yourself a trailblazer!"
She snorted.
Tremors shook the ground. More dust and debris rained down. Shepard frowned. "Wrex? Another question, are there a lot of earthquakes in this region? There've been several tremors since we entered these ruins, and they weren't from the air strike."
"It might be something else," Eve answered. "It is said that Kalross, the Mother of all Thresher Maws, lives in this region."
Nick turned to Garrus and Liara. They mouthed "Kalross, the Mother of all Thresher Maws?" at her.
"Please tell me that's a joke," she said.
"Not in the least," Eve replied.
"This just keeps getting better and better," Shepard retorted, walking into another chamber. The beam of her torch landed on a wall adorned in a painting clearly showing a thresher maw.
"Another reason for you to get your ass out of there. Step on it!" The connection cut off. Nick sighed.
"This can't be good," Garrus commented. "If the krogan name a thresher maw, you know you're in trouble."
"Wrex has a point," Liara put in. "We should find a way out of -." She stopped short, staring at the floor ahead.
They had turned into another passageway, and there, in the light beam, lay the corpse of a Ravager. Nick informed Wrex of the Rachni presence, and continued on. It wasn't that surprising finding Rachni hybrids here considering the Reaper guarding the Shroud.
Nick squinted, pointing her weapon downward. Was that light up ahead? She briefly turned off the light, and the glow ahead shone brighter. Relief flooded through her.
"Fucking halleluja. Let's get out of here."
"Activate the maw hammers?" Nick muttered to herself, snapping a new clip into her rifle as she peered around the corner briefly. This plan was crazy. She aimed at another Marauder. "Call fucking Kalross? Easy peasy. Great idea, Shepard."
She exhaled slowly, held her breath, and fired. The Marauder collapsed and she leaned against the rubble wearily. Her mouth was parched. Glancing at the sun beating down on the barren plains she reached for her water flask and took a swallow.
She wished Kaidan was here with her. Or even better, she wished she was with him on the Citadel. She wanted to get off this hot, dusty, contaminated rock. She wanted to feel his arms around her.
Shaking off her weariness, Nick sprinted across the dilapidated bridge in front of her. The loud, familiar braying of a Reaper beam suddenly filled the air and the bridge crumbled under her feet. She fell. The air left her lungs as she hit the ground hard. Gasping, she rolled to her feet. Another Reaper beam sliced past her.
"Fuck!" she coughed, stumbling forward.
Adrenaline pumped through her veins, and for a moment she felt almost weightless as she dodged beam after beam. More Reaper forces appeared in her path. Gritting her teeth, she weaved past them, making her way to the maw hammers. Shortly after the hammers were activated and vibrations rippled through the ground. Nick looked around, her gaze sweeping the saline flats beyond the ruins.
"There!" she said in a quiet but urgent tone, pointing at billowing clouds of dust and a rapidly approaching figure. "She's here!"
"Shepard," Liara said, "maybe we should get away from here."
Nick nodded. "Good point. You two, get back to the truck, I'll take care of the cure."
Without another word she ran towards the entrance of the tower, jumping over gaps and climbing over rubble. She winced at the sudden deafening clamor around her. Kalross' shrieking mingled with the braying sound of the Reaper as they clashed.
Nick kept going, evading chunks of debris flying through the air.
The noise died down. Slowing down, she glanced over her shoulder. There was no sign of Kalross or the Reaper.
"Huh," she said to herself, snickering. "Who would have thought? Maw 1, Reaper 0."
The doors slid open, revealing Mordin working at a console. The air was acrid with smoke. Behind him was the elevator to the upper levels of the Shroud. Her gaze wandered up and she winced, taking in the damage the tower had taken so far. Black, oily smoke rose from several storeys.
She jogged down the staircase.
"Is the cure ready, Mordin?" Nick called.
"Yes. Loaded for dispersal in two minutes," he replied, typing furiously.
"And Eve?"
"Procedure traumatic, but not lethal. Maelan's research invaluable. Eve headed to safety." He activated his omnitool and walked toward the elevator. "Must go up to control room."
Her gaze followed his finger as he pointed up the tower. "Mordin," she put in, "this place is coming down. There has to be another way!"
"Only option, Shepard. Manual access required. Must counteract STG sabotage." He stopped at the elevator door. "Suggest you get clear. Explosion likely to be problematic." Mordin looked at her. "Need to do this. My project, my work, my cure." He paused slightly. "My responsibility."
Nick shifted her weight. She didn't like it, but she couldn't come up with an alternative. Regret and anger welled up in her.
"Fuck!" she swore loudly, kicking away a rock. It clanked against a nearby workstation and bounced off harmlessly, landing in a pile of debris. Taking a deep breath she looked squarely at Mordin. "I'm sorry."
Damn it.
"I'm not," he gave back, his eyes serious. "Had to be me. Someone else might have gotten it wrong."
She smiled despite herself. "Yes. I know. Thank you, Mordin, and goodbye. I'll see you on the flipside, and you better be collecting those sea shells."
They shook hands and Mordin went to the elevator. With a final wave of her hand she watched it ascend.
Maybe he would make it out again in time.
A hollow feeling spread in her gut, and she turned, clenching her fists as she made her way to the rendezvous point. Mordin's right, she thought, and you know it. Nobody else even had a chance of doing this.
That didn't mean she felt any better about the whole thing.
Outside a greyish-white substance floated down from the sky. For the fraction of a second Nick thought it was ash. She stretched out her hand, and rubbed it between her fingers. Awed, she watched it melt away like snow, leaving little specks on the barren ground.
High above her an explosion tore through the air. Nick looked back over her shoulder, her gaze pulled upward to the top of the tower. Flames engulfed the upper storeys. She closed her eyes briefly.
Would the dispersal of the cure continue after the control room exploded? Had it been enough? Had Mordin's sacrifice been enough?
"I'm sorry, Mordin," she whispered, walking away sadly.
A/N: I hope you enjoyed it. Reviews are most welcome :)
