Sahrabarik System.
Omega Space Station.
Archangel's Stronghold.
Mercenary Alliance's Side Of The Bridge.
"Alpha Team's down, I repeat, Alpha Team is down!"
Jentha, second-in-command of Omega's Blue Suns, barely withheld the urge to violently curse out Archangel's entire bloodline as Tarak, personally operating the gunship in the final assault against the vigilante, reported the unfortunate fate of Team Alpha. Those on Alpha Team were supposed to have kept Archangel's friends distracted until Tarak returned the gunship to their side of the bridge so the sole surviving mercenary leader could retrieve Team Beta. Who Jentha was given overall command for the next strafing run on the enemies stronghold.
"Although, the drop-off will most likely change given what's happened to Alpha Team." Jentha shivered as she easily remembered the dying screams of the Alpha Team, which echoed from Archangel's base of operations. The Omega Blue Suns commander was never more grateful towards Tarak since his decision to have her lead the second wave had indirectly saved Jentha from the same fate as the first assault wave on Archangel's base of operations.
Jentha paused, reflecting on how fortunate she'd been to have avoided the furious Locust warriors' wrath as the gunship sailed into view; the Blue Suns' second-in-command saw some slight damage on the aircraft's armour plating. It wasn't surprising since those traitorous bastards had murdered Sergeant Cathka before the Batarian could finish repairing the gunship's kinetic shield generators. Thus, the traitors assisting Archangel have an easier time with their attempts to destroy Tarak's personal aircraft.
"Jentha! Hurry up and get Beta Team magnetically attached to the gunship!" The human mercenary grimaced at Tarak's frantic behaviour. Didn't her commanding officer understand that losing his composure at this point in the operation could spell disaster for Omega's Blue Suns.
Ignoring the fact, Tarak's ambitions for the merc alliance to rise against Aria T'Loak were practically dead thanks to Eclipse and Blood Pack losing their respective leaders in the previous assaults on Archangel's base. If Tarak didn't regain control over the situation soon, then some newbies fresh from the training camps, most of which have more balls than brains, might get the stupid idea that they were better suited to lead Omega's Blue Suns. Jentha understood that such infighting might cause the eventual collapse of Omega's Blue Suns, which was why Archangel needed to die before any of the lower ranks got any bright ideas.
"We're attaching now, Tarak," The Blue Suns sub-commander informed her commanding officer whilst the entirety of Beta Team magnetically attached themselves to the gunship's outer hull. "However, I suggest we take an alternative route into the base since the enemy will be guarding the window where Alpha Team used to enter the stronghold." Jentha's grip on the hull tightened as the military aircraft soared upwards; when the gunship reached a satisfactory altitude, Tarak activated the thrusters and sent the gunship screeching back towards the enemy's location.
Within mere moments after takeoff, Tarak replied to Jentha's suggestion for finding an alternative route. "Humph, I don't like changing a plan midway through an operation," Tarak quickly manoeuvred the gunship towards the left in order to avoid the hailstorm of armour-piercing rounds sent by Archangel's allies. "Yet, given the circumstances, I've little chose but to adapt our initial strategy." The Omega Blue Suns leader fired the aircraft's machine gun at Archangel's allies, causing them to retreat back to cover.
Tarak hurriedly explained their new strategy whilst keeping the stronghold's defenders distracted with the machine gun. "Okay, Team Beta, while I keep Archangel's friends busy, you'll disengage from the gunship's hull and grapple onto the enemies' eastern wall," Jentha frowned. While Blue Suns' standard issue armour was indeed equipped with a grappling hook and other climbing equipment, it was still risky to attempt scaling Archangel's base. "Be sure to keep their attention while I retrieve Gamma Team."
"You're going to have Gamma perform a flanking manoeuvre, aren't you, Tarak?" Jentha grimaced when she saw some Locust Drones carefully gutting a Blue Sun soldier who was unfortunate enough to have survived the Horde's initial counter assault. The Sub-commander mentally noted to never be captured alive by those monsters since the Drones didn't seem to mind torturing their enemies to death. Jentha was slightly curious about where the Locust came from and how the bitch protecting Archangel managed to convince them to follow her commands.
"I'll be dropping them off where Alpha Team entered," Tarak confirmed while continuing to fire upon anything that wasn't a Blue Sun. "with any luck, Gamma Team will take Archangel by surprise and put an end to the bastard." Jentha wasn't as hopeful, but perhaps while her team kept the enemies' attention on them, Team Gamma might actually fire the lucky bullet that ended Archangel. Besides, it wasn't like Jentha would've time to complain about the Blue Suns' misfortune since she'd die should the plan utterly fail.
Manoeuvred with Tarak's surprisingly impressive piloting skills, the gunship reached its intended destination at the stronghold's eastern side. Upon arrival, Team Beta demagnetised themselves from the aircraft and fired their grappling hooks towards the base rooftop. Jentha felt her grapple hook securely attach itself onto the stronghold whilst gravity decided to reinsert its dominance upon the Blue Suns. When her reinforced boots hit the eastern wall, she immediately ordered her team to begin descending toward the nearest window.
Jentha hoped Tarak quickly returned with Gamma Team and that the enemy wouldn't notice them.
Meanwhile, At The Upper Level Of Archangel's Base.
"They're rappelling down the side wall." Garrus's tone was professional whilst he reported the enemies' movements via sniper scope. "It appears they're trying to get inside through the ground floor windows." The Turian vigilante knew it wasn't a bad idea for the Blue Suns, given how they deployed the smallest amount of troops for this operation. Yet, Garrus believed it could've been improved if Tarak had instead sent a distraction wave first to give Beta Team a better chance of sneaking into the stronghold without being noticed.
Ravage grunted upon receiving the news. "Excellent." The Drone removed the blade he'd been using to carve into the guts of a Turian Blue Sun, causing the unlucky bastard's internal organs to spill onto the floor. "My Queen, please allow me the honour of leading a small vanguard to handle the Blue Suns vermin!" Ravage's gaze shifted towards the Queen, who was being helped onto her feet by Savage; the Drone leader kept a sharp eye out for the gunship since it was the most significant danger to the Locust Queen.
As for Shepard, she weighed the pros and cons of Ravage's request for a moment before replying. "Alright, Ravage, take a vanguard comprising Zaeed, Miranda and four Drones to deal with our uninvited guests." The Locust Queen switched her current weapon for the M-100 Grenade Launcher as she wanted some serious firepower to handle the gunship when it came back for a third round. "After you've disposed of them, return here quickly as possible." Shepard knew Tarak was plotting something since this new assault seemed too simple-minded for such a veteran mercenary leader to employ.
Ravage slammed a fist against his primary heart while a fiery determination blazed within the Drone's yellowish orbs. "My Queen, I vow that no enemy the vanguard encounters shall ever set a foot within this room!" Ravage hurriedly gathered his chosen comrades for the vanguard and, without wasting a moment, lead them towards the ground floor where the Blue Suns would attempt to sneak unnoticed into the upper level of Archangel's stronghold.
"I almost feel sorry for the Blue Suns on the ground floor." Shepard jokingly told those still within the room before turning her attention to the situation at hand. "Alright, enough clowning around, Jacob. I want you to create a shield of Biotic energy around whatever window Tarak decides to use as an entry point." The Cerberus operative saluted his commanding officer before gathering Biotic energy for the shield. Jacob knew how tactically advantageous the idea was since the mass effect barrier would protect them from the gunship's primary weapon.
"Don't worry, Commander, that gunship won't have an easy time getting past my barrier," Jacob promised as midnight blue clouds of Biotic energy swarmed around the Cerberus operative.
Shepard nodded gratefully. "I'm counting on you, Jacob," the Locust Queen's gaze shifted towards her old comrade from the previous Normandy. "Garrus, you'll support the others by sniping any vulnerable Blue Suns attached to the gunship." Jacob's barrier would temporarily halt the hailstorm of machine gun rounds, thus allowing the old Normandy crew member to eliminate anyone unfortunate enough to come into the Turian's line of sight. However, when the barrier finally shatters from the stress, they'll have to take cover since Tarak would no doubt retaliate by filling the room with an ocean of mass accelerator rounds.
"Ha, just like old time." Garrus chuckled whilst fondly remembering the days when he and Shepard played the role of support during the battles against Saren's army of Geth. "Try to keep up, Shepard," the vigilante paused to insert a fresh thermal clip into his sniper rifle. "After all, I won't want to embarrass you in front of the new guys." Garrus took position behind some furniture while Shepard simply giggled at her friend's sense of humour; the Drones were slightly annoyed at the joke made towards their Queen. Yet, seeing as it was done by a close comrade, they decided to let it go.
"Please, Garrus, we both know you'll be the one trying to keep up with me," Shepard smirked at Garrus while taking position behind an overturned reinforced table. "Besides, last time I checked, I was still thirty-nine points ahead in our enemy kill count." Shepard faintly heard Garrus grumbling about how those Geth onboard that Dropship on Feros didn't count since gravity did most of the work after they damaged the vessel's systems; Shepard responded by saying that it did count and that Garrus should stop complaining about it.
"Savage," Shepard glanced towards the Drone after spending a few seconds arguing with Garrus over the Feros kill count. "Take command of the remaining Drones and eliminate any Blue Suns that make it off the gunship." She'd honestly prefer zero enemies entered the upper level. However, past experience has taught Shepard that determined enemies with nothing left to lose would generally find a way to engage in CQC. After the massacre, the Normandy crew delivered upon the merc alliance Tarak fit that particular description almost perfectly.
Savage, inwardly smiling at the prospect of spilling more Blue Suns blood, bowed respectively to the Locust Queen. "They'll not live to regret their transgressions against the Horde, Your Majesty." The Drone barked orders at his brethren to prepare a mixture of Disruptor and Amour Piercing rounds. When the Blue Suns arrive, they'll find their shields and armour won't offer much protection against the Locust warriors. Once the desired ammunition was selected, the Drones moved into favourable defensive positions.
And not a moment too soon. The gunship's searchlight appeared before the eastern window; Jacob immediately created a mass effect barrier which covered the surrounding area. The thunderous roar of the machine gun tore through the atmosphere as multiple mass accelerator bullets slammed violently into Jacob's shield, which barely held against the assault. A couple of Blue Suns Legionnaires, the most skilled infantry units within the Blue Suns organisation, attempted to jump through the barrier only to be sniped through the skull thanks to Garrus's skill with a sniper rifle.
However, as the Legionnaires' corpses sailed into the abyss, Jacob's makeshift Biotic shield shattered underneath the stress of endless gunfire. The Blue Suns operatives saw their chance, demagnetised from the gunship's hull, and proceeded to jump into the room via the window. Yet, once inside, they were greeted by the Locust Drones. The latter introduced the meaning of the word overkill to the Blue Suns via flooding the area surrounding the eastern window with a hailstorm of Disruptor and Armour Piercing ammunition.
Yet, Omega's Blue Suns won't die so quickly as they used Shepard's barrier idea for themselves and raised a mass effect shield to survive the Drones assault. The gunship reappeared near the Northern window. However, Tarak was forced to retreat to a safe distance when Shepard clipped the aircraft's wing with some grenades from her M-100 Grenade Launcher. The mercenaries, now trapped within the upper level without air support, tried to push forward so they could at least kill Archangel, but sadly they were overwhelmed by the base defenders.
Garrus, noticing the third wave of enemies were now taken care of, left the relative safety of cover to scan the surrounding area for any more Blues Suns attempting to sneak into the base. This proved to be a mistake; within mere seconds, the gunship suddenly appeared next to the northern window with its machine gun pointed at the Turian vigilante.
"Archangel!"
Tarak's furious scream blasted outwards from the gunship's communication systems. "You honestly believe you can screw with the Blue Suns!" The Supreme Commander of Omega's Blue Suns didn't give the defenders any time to react and instantly fired upon Garrus Vakarian, whose naval blue armour was shredded into scrap metal by the storm of mass accelerator rounds. Yet, Garrus wouldn't die without a fight and slowly dragged himself behind some cover. Tarak must've realised what his enemy was trying since the Batarian manoeuvred the gunship, so the rocket pods faced Garrus's position.
"This ends now!" Tarak fired a rocket towards Archangel, fully intending to murder the bastard that's caused so many headaches for the Omega's criminal organisations. However, before the missile could impact its target, Ravage, just returning from finishing off Jentha and Beta Team with the vanguard's assistance, jumped in front of the rocket's path. A fiery explosion rocked the upper level as Ravage, whose right arm was now nothing more than a few strands of bloody meat, flew towards the base's ground floor.
"Garrus, Ravage!" Shepard worryingly yelled for her fallen comrades while the others hurriedly swarmed the gunship with a maelstrom of weapons fire. Understanding the gunship's already heavily damaged armour couldn't withstand this sort of punishment, Tarak manoeuvred out of sight whilst continuously firing the primary weapon. Taking the chance now that Tarak was out of the way for the moment, Jacob ran over to Garrus's position and swiftly performed a medical scan with his Omni-tool.
"He's heavily wounded," the male Cerberus operative reported as the others kept an eye out for Tarak. "But with some Medi-gel, I'm confident he'll survive long enough to reach Dr Chakwas onboard the Normandy." Shepard nodded while gesturing for Savage to help Garrus; the Drone leader activated his own Omni-tool and, within mere seconds, injected the last reserves of Medi-gel kept within his armour's medical unit into the vigilante's bloodstream. The Medi-gel seemed to be working as Jacob saw some of the deeper wounds beginning to close, and Garrus's breathing was getting better whilst the medicine worked its magic.
"Well, at least the reason we're in this shit show isn't going to die on us," Zaeed commented as the heavily scared mercenary saw the gunship returning with rocket launchers primed and ready to fire upon their location. "However, Tarak's coming for another strafing run, and I highly doubt the bloody bastard will retreat like last time." Zaeed suspected Omega's supreme Commander was running low on fuel and ammunition, which meant if Tarak wanted to murder Archangel, he'd have to attempt it now or run the risk of them escaping when the gunship was forced to land for refuelling.
"Perfect," Shepard glared at the enemy while aiming her grenade launcher for the gunship's cockpit. "We're ending this fight now." The Locust Queen launched several grenades, which soared through the sky and exploded around the cockpit. However, when the smoke cleared, the glass was revealed to be only cracked instead of shattered. Shepard's emerald eyes narrowed as she immediately understood that Tarak must've had the cockpit's glass reinforced to withstand explosive impacts.
"Ha, nice try bitch!" Tarak taunted as several rockets screeched from the gunship's pods. "But, unfortunately for you, I've had this baby heavily reinforced with extra protection for this operation!" The missiles were about to make contact with the Normandy crew's position. However, before the explosives could impact the metallic flooring, Jacob and Miranda hurriedly raised a mass effect barrier which absorbed most of the explosion. Tarak saw the midnight blue shield tank his rockets and swiftly fired the machine gun at the base.
The Drones, desiring to avenge their fallen brother who sacrificed himself to protect Garrus, returned fire with Armour Piercing ammunition. The heavy armour plating which covered Tarak's aircraft was slowly chipped away, exposing wires and other critical mechanical parts that Omega's Blue Suns commander definitely won't want to be damaged by the enemies' heavy weaponry. Tarak responded with more rockets which the Cerberus operatives once again blocked, although it took a lot out of them to continuously stop the gunship's assault.
"I think the first thing I'm going to do once Archangel's dead is enslaving any of you that survives the battle!" Tarak laughed darkly whilst his vessel received more mass accelerators against its hull. "Except for Zaeed, the traitorous bastard's going to suffer once I've gotten ahold of him!" The Batarian aimed for the aforementioned mercenary and attempted to blast his legs into chunks of bloody meat. Yet, Zaeed easily dodged the attack and returned the favour by further damaging one of the gunship's primary engines.
"Those ugly creatures will make a good labour force once task masters remove their fighting spirit!" Tarak fired all the remaining rockets within the gunship's pods at the Normandy crew. Miranda and Jacob used the last of their strength to shield their comrades from the powerful explosion caused by multiple rockets exploding all at once. The rest took the opportunity to concentrate their firepower upon Tarak's engines which caused the gunship to lose most of its manoeuvrability.
"Ya know what, Tarak!" The Batarian felt his blood boil when the smoke cleared, revealing a smirking Commander Shepard, whose grenade launcher was pointed directly at the cockpit. "You talk too much!" She pulled the launcher's trigger, and Tarak quickly closed his four eyes while bracing for the explosive impact.
"Click!"
When the fiery explosion didn't happen, Tarak opened his eyes and saw that Shepard's heavy weapon had run out of ammo; the Batarian laughed at his sudden turn of fortune whilst swiftly pointing the machine gun at the galactic heroine.
"Guess you should've checked for ammo before firing!" The machine gun's targeting system locked onto the Locust Queen while the Drones attempted to protect her from the gunship's primary weapon. "Sadly, you're out of weapons and out of luck!"
"The Queen is never without a weapon, Blue Sun vermin!" Tarak froze as a familiar voice echoed throughout the room; everyone turned their heads towards the entrance and saw a heavily wounded Ravage walking inside whilst carrying a missile launcher in his remaining hand. "For we Drones are her sword and shield!" Ravage aimed the missile at Tarak, who could only stare with disbelief as the blood-covered Drone launched the explosive ammunition at the cockpit.
"No, no, no, this can't be happening!" Tarak tried to manoeuvre out of the missile's path. However, the gunship's highly damaged engines made that impossible. "I'm Tarak, supreme Commander of Omega's Blue Suns. I can not die here!" Tarak raged at the injustice of it all. He was supposed to have killed Archangel with the other mercenary leaders, then command their glorious alliance forged by blood against Aria T'Loak and, if fate was kind to him, be crowned king of Omega. Yet, his ambitions would disappear just because some bitch and her pets refused to allow Archangel to die.
"Your nothing but a scumbag that's about to get what's coming to him!" Shepard replied as the missile came within a hair's breadth of impacting the gunship's hull. "So just shut the fuck up and enjoy your stay in hell!" Tarak's screams of denial thundered across the stronghold as the gunship was swallowed by a fiery explosion. The burning aircraft sailed backwards and slammed into the mercenaries' camp, causing multiple deaths and forcing the few survivors to run for their lives.
Tarak, leader of Omega's Blue Suns, was now dead.
Archangel's base, Upper Level.
"I'm glad to see you've survived, brother," Savage said to the blood-covered Ravage, who was being given the other Drones remaining Medi-gel to stop the bleeding wounds that his natural regeneration didn't have time to heal. "The universe would've been a darker place without you." The Drone leader frowned with concern at what little remained of Ravage's armour; it would need to be replaced with a fresh set since Savage was highly doubtful that the current armour could be repaired even with Normandy's level of advanced technology.
Ravage breathed heavily as the only thing keeping him going for the moment was anger and adrenaline. "It would take more than a mere rocket to kill me, brother." The Drone grimaced as the stump, once his arm, closed shut, thus preventing any more blood from spilling upon the floor.
"Indeed," Savage replied whilst glancing towards Shepard, who was radioing the Normandy to send a shuttle to their location. "However, I advise not to try that again as the Queen was very distraught over the belief the rocket managed to end you." Ravage bowed, regretting that he'd caused the Queen any distress. Meanwhile, Savage commanded two other Drones to handle Ravage's wounds and then proceeded to return to the Queen as evacuating the base would take time, and Savage wouldn't leave Shepard unguarded during that time.
The siege of Archangel's stronghold was officially over.
Time Skip.
The Normandy.
Communications Room.
Commander Shepard, wearing an alliance officer's dress, stood within the centre of the Normandy's communications room while flanked by Savage and Mourn. Towards the left side near the circler table was Jacob, who had the undesirable task of reporting the current medical condition of Garrus Vakarian.
"Commander. We've done what we could for Garrus," Jacob paused to read the report on his personal Omni-tool. "But even with Ravage tanking most of the explosion, he still took a bad hit." Shepard lowered her head sadly at the news, and Mourn glared at Jacob for delivering such distressing information to the Queen. However, the Cerberus operative wasn't finished and soldiered onwards with the report.
"The docs corrected with surgical procedures and some light cybernetic enhancement," Jacob withheld a grimace as some of these cybernetics went so far as to replace some of Garrus's internal organs. "Best we can tell, he'll have full functionality, but…" the male Cerberus operative stopped when the communications entrance suddenly opened, allowing Garrus to walk into the room. The Turian vigilante, whose upper armour was severely burned from the rocket, smirked at the assembled Normandy crew while saying a quick greeting to Shepard.
Jacob couldn't withhold the urge to laugh as Garrus came to stand before them. "Ha, tough son of a bitch." Shepard returned the greeting while the Drones nodded with respect to Omega's former vigilante. "Honestly, didn't think he'd be up yet."
Garrus ignored the Cerberus operative's comment since he had more important matters to deal with at the moment. "Nobody would give me a mirror," he pointed a talon towards his now heavily scared face. "How bad is it?" Shepard studied the scars briefly before smiling reassuringly at the former C-sec officer.
"Hell, Garrus, you were always ugly." She crossed her arms and relaxed against the table. "Slap some face-paint on there, and no one will even notice."
Shepard's joke got the reaction she was hoping for as Garrus laughed loudly at the jab at his appearance. "Ha-ha!" However, the vigilante's joy was short-lived as his new cybernetics chose that moment to start acting up. "Please don't make me laugh, dammit. My face is barely holding together as it is." Garrus waited a few seconds for the pain to fade away before continuing. "However, some women find facial scars attractive. Mind you, most of those women are Krogan…." The Turian's eyes clouded for a split second as he could imagine a horde of Krogan women chasing after him while Wrex laughed at his misfortune in the background.
Jacob, able to read the room, saluted his commanding officer before leaving the communications room. Once the door sealed itself, Garrus's cheerful attitude morphed into a more serious one. "Frankly, I'm worried about you. Cerberus, Shepard?" Garrus's tone was filled with concern for his friend. "You remember those sick experiments they were doing?" He wasn't just mentioning the ones they found during the Saren hunt but also the Code L project that Dr Chakwas had been generous enough to inform him about during his stay in the medical ward.
"Oh, I don't trust the Cerberus," once the Collectors were dealt with, Shepard thoroughly planned to return to the alliance. If Cerberus tried to stop her, she'd show them why an N7 was considered humanity's best operatives. "That's why I'm glad you're here, Garrus. If I'm waking into hell, I want someone I can trust at my side."
Garrus smiled at the faith Shepard had in him. "You realise this plan has me walking into hell, too?" The vigilante withheld a snort when she nodded. "Hah. Just like old times." Although, Garrus preferred that this time, the Normandy doesn't get destroyed by an unknown enemy, and the Commander's body doesn't get used for scientific experiments that lead to the birth of a new race.
"Anyway, I'm fit for duty whenever you need me, Shepard." Garrus knew that with Shepard's chaotic luck, he would be thrown into the fires of war before the end of the week. "I'll settle in and see what I can do with the forward batteries."
Garrus turned to leave for the forward batteries. Yet paused when he remembered something important. "Oh, Dr Chakwas told me to inform you that Ravage will be needing a new cybernetic arm and right eye since both organic components have been damaged beyond what our medical tech can reattach." Honestly, Garrus felt indebted to Ravage for taking the rocket meant for him. If the chance to repay the Drone appeared in the future, he'll certainly not waste it.
Shepard felt a weight leave her shoulders at the news. "Thanks, Garrus. I'll visit him after I've taken care of some crew business." Behind the Locust Queen, the two Drones nodded in gratitude while secretly scheming ways to keep an eye on the Cerberus crew tasked with manufacturing their brother's replacement parts since neither trusted the operatives to not sneak anything dangerous into the arm or eye's construction.
"Well, if given the opportunity, send him to the forward batteries," Garrus waved goodbye as the communications room's door silently opened. "I'd love to teach the big guy how to handle the Normandy's weapon systems." Without waiting for a reply, the vigilante disappeared down the short hallway, leaving Shepard alone with Savage and Mourn. Silence filled the area for a few seconds before Savage decided to ask his Queen the current question weighing on his mind.
"What are your orders, My Queen," Savage questioned while dutifully following Shepard, who was heading for the elevator with Deck 4: Engineering being the destination in mind. Mourn glared threateningly at any Cerberus operatives that attempted to get too close as the Queen didn't need unnecessary interruptions whilst conversing with Savage.
Shepard calmly answered Savage while walking through the Normandy's Armoury, "We'll wait an hour for the crew to properly rest and gather their strength before trying to locate Dr Mordin Solus." Mordin was trapped within an active plague zone, so she'll need those assigned to the mission to be 100%; otherwise, things might turn ugly for the Normandy crew. Shepard moved passed the bridge while giving a small greeting to the nearest bridge crew member. "While waiting for the hour to end, I'll spend those minutes conversing with the crew."
The trio comprised of Locusts entered the elevator. "Very well, Your Majesty." Savage inputted the desired level into the holo-controls. "However, might I request a few minutes to discuss a certain topic regarding our military structure?" The elevator swiftly closed and began its torturously slow journey towards Deck 4.
"Of course," Shepard replied while curious about what subject Savage wanted to discuss regarding their chain of command.
The Drone leader seemed to take a moment to gather his thoughts before answering. "My Queen, I've come to believe it's time to establish a proper military structure and ranking systems among the Locust Horde." The battle with the allied mercenaries had shown Savage how useful a command chain can be on the battlefield; thus, he wanted to create a unique version for the Locust Horde.
Shepard hummed thoughtfully. "I suppose you've already made a baseline ranking system since you're bringing this up now instead of when we first deployed on Omega." It's been hours since Garrus went into surgery, so Savage had plenty of time to think of a basic military structure.
Savage appeared to stand a little straighter at Shepard's inquiry. "My Queen, if given the honour, I'll take the rank and responsibilities of Krav," Savage explained that the rank meant he'd be a captain amongst her Locust warriors. If given permission, Mourn shall be raised to the position of Vold, essentially making the sniper Drone a lieutenant. Shepard asked for further details on the ranks Savage had created with the other Drones' assistance, and within several minutes of discussion, she promoted Savage to the position of Krav.
The newly appointed Krav Savage kneeled before the Locust Queen. "Thank you, I shall not disappoint nor cause you to regret this decision, My Queen." Savage was utterly sincere since he'd rather die a slow, painful death than betray his Queen's trust.
"I've the utmost faith in your leadership capabilities, Savage." Shepard is genuinely complimenting as Savage has shown nothing but competent leadership ever since she's met the Drones. "Now, let's go see how engineering is doing." The elevator silently opened, allowing the Commander to exit the slow transportation. Krav Savage and Vold Mourn flanked the Locust Queen. She walked towards the Normandy's mass effect core, where the engineering duo of Kenneth Donnelly and Gabriella Daniels would typically be found working on the ship's systems.
The clock towards finding Mordin Solus was now ticking.