The Last Harvest
Chapter Three
Urdnot Tharr, Captain of Aralakh Company, and Captain Fereela of the asari commandos were two of a kind. Businesslike, sure of their people and their capabilities and determined to make as quick and efficient a job of clearing out the HYDRA redoubt as possible.
"Side issues." Tharr rumbled. "We all saw that in the Reaper War. Shepard spent half the campaign chasing Cerberus down. Lot of time and effort wasted."
"People and weapons we could have sent against the Reapers." Fereela agreed. "This is worse. Cerberus was all about humans, but HYDRA are subverting all of us!"
"They even got into Clan Weyrloc!" Tharr noted. "But they were always a bunch of fools. Uncle Wrex should've wiped 'em out years ago!"
"He couldn't, cousin." Mordin told him. "The political situation back then was more delicate than it is now. Wiping out or even absorbing a whole clan would've caused another clan war, right when we didn't need it!"
Fereela sighed. "We asari should've worked harder to convince the turians and salarians you krogan are more than brutes." She said.
"Back then, we pretty much were." Tharr allowed. "We've grown up since."
"Also, they would've accused you of personal bias." Mordin noted. "I bet more than a few of your commandos have krogan fathers!"
"Fewer than you might think." Fereela informed him. "A lot of Huntresses and Commandos have turian fathers, like me. But a lot of our poets and artists have krogan fathers."
She stared at the tactical holo. "I don't know how or where the Shadow Broker gets this kind of intel; I don't think I want to!" She opined. "But this place is a fortress! We should've brought heavy troops and armour, field artillery, something.
"Look at the place! Every entrance guarded with heavy guns and troops. No forgotten tunnels or maintenance shafts. They've even collapsed the cave systems. No weaknesses that I can see."
"No hangar doors." Captain Reenac pointed out. "One big shuttle bay, but it doesn't have doors."
"No, just heavy AA batteries." Vega reminded him. "Our shuttles will just get knocked out of the sky!"
Reenac blinked at him, then shook his head with a laugh. "Of course, you wouldn't know!" He said. "The Star Strider is a multi-role ship. Her main purpose is fast recon, and she has a place in fleet order of battle. But she's also configured for atmospheric operations. Specifically, providing heavy air support to ground troops!
"Those AA guns can take a shuttle down, but they won't even dent our shields. We're stealthy enough so that they'll have to manually target, as well. We can take you right up to the front door and clear out the guns before you deploy in the shuttles. Then if the worst happens, we'll be there to cover your exfil."
"Which just leaves the troops inside." Lorn said. "And if the numbers we have are accurate, they're drastically under-manned. They have enough garrison troops to man the defences on a two-shift basis – which means half of them will be asleep at any given time, if I remember my army days right!"
"Code of the grunt." Vega noted. "Never stand if you can sit, never sit if you can lie down, and if you can lie down, go to sleep!"
"That's something that every race shares!" Fereela agreed.
"The Shadow Broker and our STG insiders say they're assembling a strike force to hit Palaven." Ivanova said. "But that it would take several weeks. That was three days ago, so they can't have gotten many here by now!"
"They haven't." Reenac said. "This is a real-time feed from our contacts in the base, and you can see there aren't that many troops here."
"OK." James said. "There are STG units on the ground outside the base. We need them to set up some chatter that will make HYDRA think heavy ground troops are on the way. That should stop them pulling too many troops off the ground defences when we hit the hangar.
"We go in hot, clear the hangar, then the krogan and asari spread out to go for the defence forces. With any luck we'll catch them either looking out for ground forces that don't exist, or scrambling to find defensive positions inside. You'll need to move fast."
"Past experience tells me that the tech and admin staff won't fight." Draal noted. "Lock 'em up and leave 'em!"
"Watch out for salarians working with STG." Reenac warned. "They'll identify themselves. Codeword is 'undercut'"
"Noted." Vega said. "My team has two objectives. Secure the informer, then find and deal with Schmidt, once and for all!"
"So, when do we go?" Reenac asked.
"Now would be good." Vega said.
Shepard studied the Doctor as they walked into the prothean ruin.
"I remember your voice." He said. "You were there, at the Citadel, with Lorien."
"He's an old friend." She replied. "He blamed himself for everything that happened, and he asked for my help in putting it right. That's what I do, help to put things right.
"So I kept you outside of time for a bit, so he could talk to you, show you what your choices were and hope you made the right one."
"Did I?" Shepard asked. "People are dying out there!"
"People are always dying out there." The Doctor said softly. "Nobody can save them all. But I had a friend once who told me that if you can't save everybody, you should at least try to save somebody.
"Look, I see Time the way you see Space, right? But you know yourself that, even from orbit, you can't make out every detail of the landscape. If you want to know what's in a specific place, you have to go there. It's the same with me. I know where the forests and the mountains are, where the rivers and seas are. But I can't see specific events until I get there.
"What I do know is that my people, the TimeLords, had a part in all this. We didn't behave very well, and every other race in the Galaxy has been paying for it ever since. It needs to be put right, and if you can do that, Commander Shepard, I'll help you.
"But if you're determined to do the wrong thing, you'll have to go through me to do it!"
Benezia found herself walking with the young woman. "Hi!" The girl said. "I'm Yasmin, what's your name?"
"Benezia." She replied. "Where are we going?"
"To the TARDIS." Yasmin said. "You'll see. That Commander, he's your Dad, right?"
"Is it that obvious?" Benezia asked.
"I'm a police officer." Yasmin said. "I notice things. The way you watch him is a dead giveaway. Are you adopted, then? Or did he just marry your mum when you were little?"
"Neither." Benezia said. "You don't know about we asari? We can reproduce with any intelligent species. Dad is Moms' bond-mate, yes, but he's also my natural father."
"Oh!" Yasmin seemed less taken aback than Benezia thought she might be. "Do you have any brothers or sisters?"
"One sister." Benezia told her. "She's the clever one. Asari are a single-gender species, so I wouldn't have any brothers. But I suppose you didn't know that, either?"
"No men?" Yasmin chuckled. "I know a lot of women back home who'd love that idea!"
Hawkeye turned to look at the older human male walking nearby. "We are known as Hawkeye." It said. "You are nervous of us. May we ask why? Have we done anything to offend?"
The man shook his head. "I'm sorry." He said. "We've had some bad experiences with robots in the past -trying to kill us, that sort of thing. My name's Graham, by the way."
"We are pleased to meet you, Graham." Hawkeye replied. "Your past experience with synthetics is sufficient to explain your nervousness. But you have nothing to fear from us. The Geth Consensus is an associate race of the Galactic Council. We are an Oathblade of the Warsworn. We have no hostile intentions towards you."
"Thanks." Graham said. "I didn't mean to be rude. Why do you say 'we' instead of 'I'? Are you some sort of colony or hive mind kind of thing?"
"We are software, not hardware." Hawkeye explained. "There are currently fifty-two programs sharing runtimes on this platform. You are the only one of your group carrying some kind of bag. Why is that?"
Graham gave a wry chuckle. "The Doctor – not to mention Yasmin and Ryan -tend to dash out of the TARDIS just as they are! The Doc has her sonic thing, but sometimes you need more than that, right? "So I've got some basic tools in here, a bit of a first-aid kit, and a flask of tea and some sandwiches, because we don't always get to sit down and eat lunch!"
"Eminently practical." Hawkeye approved.
"You say very little." Feneris remarked to the young human male beside him.
The lad shrugged. "I'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer." He allowed. "So sometimes I prefer to listen rather than say something stupid. I'm Ryan, by the way."
"Feneris." The drell replied. "It's been my observation that the humans who talk most are quite generally the ones who think least. Given that, I'm not really inclined to accept your assessment of your own intelligence."
Ryan grinned at that. "You sound like my Gran!" He said. "Though she wouldn't have said it quite like that.
"Problem is, I'm dyspraxic, if you know what that means."
"A neurological disorder affecting physical coordination, short-term memory and other functions." Feneris said. "Found mostly among humanoid species such as we drell, you humans, quarians and asari, and less often, turians. It does not effect krogan, salarians, hanar, elcor or volus.
"Treatments for the condition are available, but since your dress is that of the early 21st Century on Earth, I take it they were not available to you?"
"No, they just said I was stupid and clumsy." Ryan growled. "How do you know so much about it?"
"I suffered from it as a child." Feneris explained. "Both my parents suffered from Keprals' Syndrome. It is an illness that affects the bodys' ability to absorb oxygen. Though not in itself genetic, it can damage reproductive cells. The children of drell suffering from the Syndrome have a higher likelihood of dyspraxia or autistic spectrum disorders. Fortunately, the doctors diagnosed my condition and used gene therapy to remove it."
"Lucky you!" Ryan noted. "I just have to learn to cope."
"Which you seem to be doing pretty well." Feneris assured him.
At that point, the Doctor announced. "Here we are! This is the TARDIS, everyone. Come on in and we'll get going!"
Drokk eyed the blue wooden box doubtfully. "I couldn't fit in there!" He stated. "You'll never get us all in!"
"You'd be surprised." Graham told him.
The massed fleets of the Human Alliance and the Quarian Republic were not even trying to hide. Formed up in a protective phalanx between the Mass Relay and the krogan colony that was the next target of the methodical vorlon armada, they were doing everything they could to attract attention.
"This," Admiral Zal'Rogar vas Limba observed, "is going to be dangerous. Estimates say the vorlons outnumber us at least ten to one."
"Well, we'll not be stopping, tha knows!" The human Admiral – Samuel Hardcastle – was a tall gaunt figure with craggy features and iron-grey hair. He spoke in an odd idiom which Zal'Rogar was sometimes puzzled by.
"I hope not!" The quarian admiral replied fervently. "Are the ghost ships in position?"
"Yes, Admiral." Replied the flagships' AI. The ghost ships were a way to prevent casualties. Old or damaged ships, saved from the scrapyard and rigged to fight, they were crewless, remotely controlled by the AIs of Fleet ships. Placed at the very front of the fleet, they would soak up a lot of early fire, as well as firing back. There would be no fancy manoeuvring - the AIs didn't have the capacity for that. But with any luck, they'd protect the manned ships from taking too much damage in the interval before the vorlons discovered that they'd been had!
The vorlon fleet came through the Relay and, without undue hurry, formed into a phalanx of their own, between the allied fleets and the vast Planet-Wrecker vessel. Again, without hurry, they began to advance.
"We're being hailed!" The flagship Comms Officer announced.
"Patch it through." Admiral Rogar ordered.
The voice was flat, artificial, but there was a susurration, as of other voices speaking other languages, in the background.
"We will permit you to withdraw. We seek only to eliminate the krogan. Your own history should tell you they are a threat. We will remove them for you. There is much we can teach you, once the disruptors are removed. You will only harm yourselves if you oppose us."
"You must think we're proper daft!" Hardcastle responded. "We've had peace with t'krogan for years now! If you think we'll let you wipe them out, you're wrong!"
There was no reply, the vorlons continued to advance.
"They are engaging the ghost ships now." The AI announced.
"Not long now!" Hardcastle noted.
It had begun almost as soon as the enemy fleet had entered the system. Millions of tiny objects, seeded throughout the system by STG ships, began to move. They moved slowly, and they were organic, so as they approached the vorlon ships, drawn by the warmth of living organisms, the shields ignored them. Once they touched the outer skins, they opened out their folded legs, and began to feed.
The things were based on Reaper technology. Partly on the Seeker swarms used by the Collectors to find and freeze humans, and partly on the Swarmers produced by the Reapers from rachni DNA. They injected a paralysing poison – effective over a small area only – before devouring the paralysed flesh. They were voracious, and as soon as they were full, they expelled a dozen smaller copies of themselves, equally hungry, and carried on feeding and multiplying.
"The last of the ghost ships just went down!" The AI stated.
"All ships, engage targets of opportunity!" Hardcastle ordered. "Concentrate fire to break shields!"
"Wait!" Admiral Rogar said. "Look!"
Almost the entire rear echelon of the vorlon fleet had stopped in their tracks. Beyond them, the great bulk of the planet-wrecker was showing growing patches of lividity, spreading and deepening into craters. As they watched the great ship began to list, one of the bow tentacles suddenly detached and floated off. Then something deep inside began to glow.
"Massive energy buildup detected!" The AI warned. "Detonation imminent!"
"Fleet disengage!" Rogar ordered. "Get to light speed and as far away as you can!"
The vorlons seemed to have had the same idea, as they broke off and scattered. The krogan colonists who had declined to evacuate were treated to a spectacular display as the planet-wrecker exploded, taking fully a third of the vorlon fleet with it.
It didn't matter how clean technology got, Jacob noted, maintenance ducts still ended up grimy. Admittedly, the problem down here was mostly dust, not oil or grease. The drones were picky about some things, but dust never bothered them, so they left it alone unless it got in the way. The minimal lighting didn't help much, either, but the team made their way to the nearest break-point.
It was a simple metal column, strong enough to withstand normal stresses such as gravity tides, ion or solar storms and meteor strikes while the stations' mass effect fields were active. But it was not built to survive directly-applied explosives.
"They'll have to take down all four at once." Kasumi had said. "Because while the fields are active, the station will hold together even if three of them go down."
Nevertheless, the column was covered with stress monitors checking for strains, pressures, temperatures and metal fatigue. It would be easy to hide a bomb among them, at least from casual inspection. But Jacob wasn't casual, he was thorough, and he knew what he was looking for.
"That one." He said. "All the others are held on with magnetic clamps to make them easy to replace, right? But Pablo never trusted magnets since one of his charges fell off the door it was clamped to and nearly left him trapped. See, he's drilled into the metal and used old-fashioned screws?"
"Right!" Kasumi lit up her omni-tool. "Let's see how good he is! Four uplinks and a radio transceiver. Triple redundant detonator, secondary charge, mechanical emergency detonator and failsafe timer. Motion detectors so we can't take it off the beam. Nice. Pity his firewalls aren't up to the mark, but then he probably never thought I'd be on his ass!
"OK, so now the only way this goes off is if the mechanical trigger is tripped. I can't do anything with that because it needs a special, physical key and my lockpicks won't cut it. The motion detectors are physical as well, so we have to leave it here for now. The good news is that he's only got two set so far, and they're all linked, so the second one is also out of action. I've put a virus in that will shut the others down as well as soon as they're armed.
"Bonus – we have a location on Pablo and his friends! It we move fast, we should catch them in the middle of the job!"
It was the sound of the drill that told them they were in the right place. From the shadows at the entrance, they saw a single human crouching at the pillar working steadily. Standing around, clearly on guard, were four of the black, insectile aliens known as shadows.
Jack went in fast, without warning, in a blaze of biotic power that flung the shadows around like toys. Once again, their curious vulnerability was demonstrated. An attack that was meant to scatter them and make them easy targets actually killed them all. They shrivelled at the touch of dark energy like moths in a flame.
By this time, Connell was on his feet. He held up a small device with a flashing light and pointed to the vest he was wearing.
"Back off, bitch!" He snarled at Jack. "I lose my grip on this, we all go up!"
"Hey Pablo, long time no see!" Jacob came up beside Jack and Connell stared at him.
"Jacob…?" He said.
Jacob grinned, it was not a pleasant expression. "Get over here!" He said, reaching out with his own biotic powers to yank Connell across the space between them and dump him at Jacobs' feet. The device dropped out of Connells' hand to clatter on the floor. Jack flinched, but nothing happened.
"What the fuck?" She demanded.
"It's a dummy." Jacob told her. "I've seen Pablo pull that stunt before, but he isn't one to die for the cause, are you, Pablo?"
"If I'd known you were here, I wouldn't have bothered." Connell allowed. "Never believed you'd come after me, even after everything that's happened, Jacob. That psycho bitch Miranda, maybe, but I always figured you for human!"
"So the vest is fake as well?" Jack wanted to know.
"Oh, it's real," this was Kasumi, who'd been checking on the bomb, but was now scanning the vest, "but the detonator is linked to a brain scanner. Only way it blows is if this guys' EEG flatlines."
"He'd never blow himself up." Jacob noted. "But he doesn't have a problem about taking people with him if he dies! Ain't booby-trapped, either, you can take it off of him anytime and it won't blow." He considered the man lying relaxed on the ground. This wasn't the Pablo he remembered. One fierce blue eye remained -but the other was covered by a patch. The mass of unruly red hair Jacob remembered was gone, the scalp and the face were heavily scarred – burns, by the look of it. "You look like shit, Pablo, what happened?" He asked.
"Geth Prime hacked an incendiary I was setting." Connell told him. "I didn't get out of the way quite fast enough. With Cerberus and the Illusive Man gone, there were no credits to fix me up, just a krogan field medic, and they don't care about scars."
"Must've hacked you off, getting help from an alien." Jacob commented.
"You take what you can get." Connell growled. "I killed the bastard after he patched me up."
"You were working with aliens just now." Jack pointed out.
"These are different." Connell told her. "They just want to get us back to doing what we should always have been doing. Fighting aliens instead of cosying up to them! That's what they made you for, Subject Zero! Beat those asari bitches at their own game!"
"Cerberus messed with my body and my head." Jack said. "But Shepard made me who I am. The shadows had nothing to do with it."
"You sure about that?" Pablo asked. "You ever wonder why so many Cerberus projects got out of line? Even with the Illusive Man watching everyone and everything? The shadows were running Cerberus from the start, and he never even suspected it! Too fixated on the Reapers."
That, Jacob thought, hits far too close to be comfortable!
"We need to know where they are!" Admiral Sheridan was fuming. "Both the vorlon and shadow fleets have just dropped out of sight!"
"The salarians are looking." Garrus told him. "If they and the quarian Patrol Fleet can't find them, then they aren't there!
"Now, how are we standing?"
Sheridan shook his head as if to clear it, then reported. "The B5 Defence Fleet is up to strength, and the new supercarrier Synthesis is deployed with them. Admiral and Vice-Admiral Moreau are on their way to take command. Should be here tomorrow.
"The asari fleets are here, stationed in the Nebula. Not as many as we'd hoped for, because it's clear the shadows were making for Thessia, so they've held some fleets back for home defence. On the other hand, we've got more minbari support than we expected -at least three Warrior clans with everything from destroyers to dreadnoughts. We're holding them of the far side of the sun for now.
"With them and the stations heavy guns, we should be able to hold off a fleet long enough for reinforcements to get here. The problem is, what reinforcements?
"The turian and geth fleets are deployed Rimward, the Alliance and quarian ones Coreward. They're spread out, but no more than one Relay-jump between units, to block any path either invading fleet might take. If we have to get them back here in a hurry, they'll arrive piecemeal; but if we concentrate them out there, the shadows or vorlons could just go around them.
"We also have a Warsworn fleet one Relay out. No word from them apart from standard regulation comms. They seem to be waiting for something."
"How big a fleet do they have?" Tali asked.
"Not big. Lots of troop transports, but only a handful of combat ships, though they've got one dreadnought." Sheridan answered. "That's what's weird, this isn't gonna be a ground war. That's what I told Aria T'loak when she offered me the Blue Suns."
"Leave the Warsworn be." Grunt advised. "We know they're on our side. They'll help if they can, and if they've got a plan, it'll be a good one. They got Javik and Miranda with them, after all!
"Colonel Sinclair, how's the HYDRA campaign going?"
"Just mopping up, now." Sinclair reported. "All their labs, bases and training camps have been taken out. The military and civilian governments have been cleared out. The HYDRA agents have either been arrested, turned, or are under surveillance and being fed false intel to pass on. The general population is less easy to deal with, but we're making progress."
"Some you'll never catch." Kaidan said. "But they won't do any harm, either. Just find another whacko group to join, like the Cerberus people did.
"I've had word from my people, they should be hitting the Redoubt about now."