Virmire – part 3
We found the way out that would lead us to the next AA gun, Objective Delta. However, a sharp call from Liara before I could override the security lock turned my attention further along the chamber. I could see more tanks of some description, but there were no Krogan in these tanks. They were Humans. At least they used to be Humans, but once I got a good long look at them I felt sick. They had no skin, their muscles and bones were laced with cybernetics and nanotechnology the likes of which I had never seen before. Where the heart should have been there was some kind of power unit and I could see the pulses surging through the bodies of these abominations.
"What the hell was Saren doing here?" Kaidan said. When he placed a curious hand on the creature's shoulder, its eyes suddenly shot open and a horrible, painful growl came from it. Its arms lashed out violently at Kaidan, narrowly missing his face as he dodged aside. The monster was being held by restraints, but only barely. With every attempt to behead each of us I could see the restraints being strained to their limits. While the rest of us could not help but stare at the struggling creature, wondering what we were even looking at, Wrex stepped forward and planted the muzzle of his shotgun on its head and fired. White and blue fluid spewed everywhere as the head was vapourised,
"That was no Human, Scott," Liara said, "just a husk of life."
"It's for the best Wrex is here then," I said before heading back to the way out; destroying this base now becoming even more of a necessity from having seen that husk, that shell of what used to be a person.
Feeling the warmth of the bright sun on me once again, we all emerged outside and the noise of the battle filled our ears once again. The STG forces along with Ashley and Garrus were not too far from our own position, but were still being engaged by large Geth forces.
"Captain Kirrihe, what's the status of your forces?" I asked while we moved towards the next AA gun.
"Moving towards Objective Charlie, will be there momentarily. Garrus is leading an admirable diversion attempt to draw Geth forces away from us and the drop zone for the ordnance. Casualties have been heavy, but we are pressing on regardless."
"Rodger that Captain. We're progressing to Objective Delta. We'll meet you at the DZ."
Reaching the foot of the tower upon which our target AA gun rested I set Tali to work on overloading the system again.
Geth were hot on our heels and we had to dig in and hold them off for a short but tense period. When Tali gave the all clear, I lay down a barrage of heavy covering fire and directed the team to the nearby elevator. The doors burst open and three Geth piled out with their phaser rifles blasting away. Wrex tore a rifle out of one Geth's hands and proceeded to beat the machine to pieces with it. Kaidan deflected the incoming phasers with a biotic field before riddling a Geth full of bullets. Tali's Omni blade once again flashed into life and severed the last Geth's forearm. While it tried to swing at her with its remaining arm Tali ripped its head open with a slug from her shotgun.
We piled into the lift and proceeded upwards to where a long pathway would lead us to the hydro-power plant; the chosen site for the bomb. This was where the base backed onto the water. Had the circumstances that brought us to this planet been different and more peaceful, I could have spent hours looking at the view. The sea seemed to be unending, stretching on and on eternally. The sunlight reflected off of the smooth surface of the ocean, twinkling as the gentlest of waves lazily sailed along. A sight like this reminded me slightly of home, looking out over the Firth of Forth and towards the North Sea from the World War I, II and III memorials in my town. My sentimental moment was interrupted by my comm unit flaring up as Ashley put out a call,
"Taking heavy fire at Objective Charlie. Geth reinforcements arriving in force to block our path."
"I'm on my way Ash," Garrus' voice replied, "bringing us some heavy explosives to clear the way."
I got on my comm and told the STG team,
"This is Commander Gardner. Shadow team is at the DZ and ready. Do you need us to come and assist?"
"Negative," Captain Kirrihe responded, "hold that position. I have all my forces converging on Objective Charlie, we'll have it down soon enough!"
Wrex, Kaidan, Liara, Tali and I waited restlessly at the DZ, up to our knees in water flowing from the power plant. I monitored the progress of Ashley, Garrus and Kirrihe over the radio: Captain Kirrihe linked up with Ashley's unit and they made a small amount of ground before Garrus and his STG soldiers came in like a whirlwind from the flank and wiped out the Geth that had been blocking them from the AA tower. Together, what remained of the STG forces fought their way inside. However, a horde of Geth had been hot on their tail and effectively trapped them in the tower. With a barricade set up and a rear guard of Salarians entrenched at the foot of the tower the STG forces made their way up to the gun, and after a few gut-wrenching minutes I heard the tremendous explosion from the tower a few hundred metres to the north. The way was clear for Joker and the Normandy.
"All teams move to the DZ. The package is inbound. I repeat, the package is inbound," I radioed our small force after I had ordered Joker to bring the nuke to my location. The sleek form of the Normandy glided in and the hanger bay door was slowly lowered down. Kaidan and I charged up the ramp and took a hold of either side of the bomb. It was a heavy piece of kit, but both Kaidan and I took extreme care when moving it off of the Normandy and gently setting it down with the legs of the supporting frame in the water.
"Ok," I said, trying to ignore the unbelievably powerful device that I was standing two feet away from, "Kaidan; start the activation sequence."
My friend switched on the control terminal on the bomb and slowly went through the initiation sequence that Captain Kirrihe had briefed him on. The mission was nearing its end, but I was feeling extremely uncomfortable with our current situation,
"Mannovei, Jaeto, report in. Ashley, Garrus… Kirrihe? Anyone there?" I said through my comm, concern growing by the second.
"We're here Commander," Garrus coughed back, "the gun's down but the Geth breached our rear guard and they've got us pinned down at the top of the tower. There's too many of them."
"Shit," I exclaimed, "hold tight guys, we're coming to get you."
"Negative Sir! You won't make it," Ashley said, "your team has to make sure the bomb goes off or all of this is for nothing."
"You don't give me orders Gunnery Sergeant; I'm coming."
"It's ok, Sir," Kaidan assured me, "I need a few minutes more to do this. Go get them and I'll see you when you get back."
I gave Kaidan a thankful pat on the shoulder as I led Tali, Wrex and Liara towards the AA tower,
"See you in five Lieutenant, good luck."
"You know where I'll be," Kaidan responded, focused on arming our improvised device. The four of us charged off, meeting only a few Krogan on the way and bringing them down with a tidal wave of bullets and Liara's biotics. However, as we neared the tower, I could see that the numbers of Geth swarming the tower was inexplicably enormous. I radioed Joker,
"Joker, take the Normandy and give them whatever kind of fire support you can! If you aren't able to hit the Geth on the tower without risking friendly casualties then hit the enemy forces still waiting to enter at the base of the building."
"Yes Sir. I'll give them hell," my pilot replied. Taking an elevator up to gain access to an upper walkway that would bring us in roughly halfway up the tower, I suddenly saw a Geth drop ship out of the corner of my eye. With all the noise of gunfire, explosions and screaming that filled the entire base I did not even hear the ship as it flew over our heads and headed straight for Kaidan's position. There was no way he could hold a full company off by himself.
"Kaidan," I warned over the comm, "you've got a Geth drop ship inbound. We're coming back to you."
"Forget it Commander! Go and get the rest of our guys and get out of here. I'm arming the bomb now."
"What?" I said in disbelief, "Kaidan what the hell are you thinking?"
"Just making sure this bomb goes off no matter what!"
My heart stopped. I knew exactly what Kaidan was wanting me to do; forget about him and get the rest of our soldiers out of here. For a moment I could not breathe, my mind refusing to even contemplate leaving Kaidan behind in this shit-storm. I was not the only one who was having none of the Lieutenant's heroics as Ashley screamed over the comm,
"Kaidan you can't do this. Commander, go back for him now. We'll hold a bit longer. You have to…"
Her radio abruptly cut out and Kaidan spoke clearly and calmly to me,
"Go and get Ashley, and get out of here Scott. Please…"
Without a word I signalled Wrex, Liara and Tali to follow me and we continued to the AA tower. Gunning down every Geth that stood in our way we broke through and reached the roof.
The flat roof was littered with debris from the gun and the corpses of Geth, Krogan and Salarians. My squad attacked the enemy soldiers from behind and managed to reach Ashley, Garrus and the remainder of the STG forces. Only twenty were still able to stand, out of a beginning force of over two hundred, but they were giving as good as they were getting. Captain Kirrihe ducked under the charge of a Krogan and when the brute turned back around to find his slippery target, he received half a thermal clip of assault rifle to the head and a shock from the Salarian Captain's Omni tool.
"Let's get out of here and get back to Kaidan," I said to Ashley and Captain Kirrihe as soon as I could.
"You heard your Lieutenant, Commander; he has already armed the bomb. Bring the Normandy in to extract us," Kirrihe replied. I hated him at that moment, but I knew he was right. If I attempted to get back to my friend it was a certainty that we would all perish in the blast. I had to save as many as I could.
"Joker… come in for extraction from the roof of the AA tower. Make it fast," I ordered. Ashley stared at me, not believing what she was hearing,
"Commander… you can't!"
"It's the right choice Ashley," Kaidan burst in over the comm.
"I'm sorry Kaidan," I said to him, "I had to make a choice."
"I left you with no choice, Commander. It's been an honour to serve with you Scott! I don't regret a thing."
I fought back the tears that were fighting to stream out,
"You've been a brother to me Kaidan!" The words came out before I could stop myself, my chest was heaving and there was still a heavy fire fight raging around me. With my Mattock I dropped several Geth, shot out another's legs and sent a bullet through its head when it tried to pick itself up.
Out of nowhere I felt a massive shockwave force me up against my cover and when I was able to pick myself up and get my bearings again, I saw a figure pass above me. He was a Turian, flying over me on a hover-pad and firing down at us with a rifle and biotics. His skin was grey, his armour was grey and his eyes glowed with a pale, cold and empty blue light. There was something very disturbing about his appearance, however. He looked almost as much of a machine as he did a living being. His muscles and blood vessels were almost completely constructed from cybernetic implants; he looked horrifically like a Turian version of the Human husks that we had seen earlier in the labs. I turned my rifle on him and gave him everything I had,
"Saren!" I screamed at him, "you're going to pay you bastard!"
Amidst the fighting he closed in on me, chasing me from cover to cover and blasting the floor around my feet with his biotic abilities.
"Why do you fight me Commander?" his grim voice echoed in my mind, "don't you see that what I am doing is for the good of the galaxy? You've seen the visions in the beacons, Gardner, you of all people should know that the Reapers cannot be stopped. But if we work with them, if we submit to their power, we can save ourselves."
"You honestly believe that?" I shouted back, "the Reapers will destroy all of us! I've seen your studies on indoctrination; you're under Sovereign's command, a slave to the Reapers."
Bullets pinged off of the pillar that I was hiding behind. The STG and my squad were trying desperately to hold off the Geth forces that were still encroaching on our tender foothold. I focused all of my attention on Saren, trying to hit him as he whizzed around on his hover-pad. Saren closed in for a clear shot when an alarm began to ring out from the south. The nuke was about to go off.
"We need to go Commander," Joker's voice rang out.
"Bring the Normandy in now Joker! Everyone, give Saren everything you've got!" I shouted. The mass of steel flying at Saren intensified dramatically and the Turian was driven off, flying away at a surprising speed. I figured that he knew that we had something big in store and was making good his escape. I hated letting him go, but we had bigger worries at that moment. The Normandy soared in close and I ordered Joker to give our enemies everything we had,
"Danger close, Joker. Give us a clear path to you!"
I could feel the lasers and shells whip past us and felt the heat of the explosions as they smashed into the enemy infantry. The Normandy came to a halt with the hanger door wide open for us,
"Everyone: Go!" I ordered. I stayed for a little longer to give covering fire before I fell back and leapt onto the ramp and clambered onto my ship. My squad were aboard, the STG forces were aboard and Joker swerved the ship away and hit the thrusters. The frigate fired through the air like a bullet and the base was soon far in the distance. The ramp began to close and I rushed up to the bridge, staring back at the base out of the starboard side viewport. I went on my comm unit again, unable to stop myself,
"Kaidan… Kaidan do you read me?"
All I got in return was static, but I thought I could hear words mixed in with it. Hoping beyond hope that my friend, my brother, could hear me I said what I had to say,
"You've been a brother to me, Kaidan! I won't forget you. You hear me?"
The static flared up again, but then it cleared up and I could only make out the last of Kaidan's words,
"…Make it count, Scott."
"I will!" I managed to say through the fear.
In that instant, everything went white. The light was so intense that I slammed shut my eyes and had to pull away from the viewport. Even when I was able to open them again the blast still seemed to be burned into my vision. In complete dismay I watched from orbit as the nuclear bomb went off; taking Saren's base and the Geth and Krogan armies with it. No matter how hard I tried I could not help but picture Kaidan being incinerated, vapourised in a split second as the immensely powerful device went off with him only a few feet away. I exhaled, but as I did so I let out a long and painful groan, like a terrified victim being slowly and brutally tortured. I had to pull it together; this was no way for the crew and my squad to see their Commander. Using what seemed to be the last of my strength I stood up and spoke to Joker,
"Get us out of here Joker."
"Yes Sir," he replied, his voice quiet and stunned.
I got on the intercom,
"Ground Team, assemble in the comm room."
We all sat in our circle. All of us still in our combat gear and with our few minor wounds still untreated. Wrex was still holding his shotgun, not by the handle but by the barrel and would not let anyone try to tell him to leave it. There was pain in every pair of eyes that I looked at, but Ashley seemed to be taking Kaidan's loss even worse than I was,
"How could we just leave him down there like that?" she asked me.
"I had to make a choice Ash," I replied in a broken and hoarse voice, "it had to be you. It had to be you, Garrus, Kirrihe and the twenty other Salarians who were pinned down with you. If I had gone back for Kaidan, you would have all been lost and we wouldn't have made it off of Virmire before the bomb detonated."
She knew I was right, but she still wanted to fight my decision. I stood up and continued to speak before she could say anything,
"This isn't over. Saren escaped the base and I have no doubt that he's still alive. If we had all died in that blast there would be no one left to fight him, no one left to stop him. We did our jobs; and so did Kaidan."
It hurt to say that, but right now my team needed their Commander to pick them back up again after a harrowing experience. Ashley spoke quietly,
"You saved my life, Commander. I just… never wanted anyone to die for me. I…"
"Say it Ashley," I encouraged her.
"I… It should have been me that was left behind, Sir."
"You can't change the past Ash," Garrus said, "what's done is done. We'll all miss him, but the Commander made the right decision. Even if Scott had managed to get back to Kaidan and get out on the Normandy instead of coming for us then he would have saved one life and sacrificed twenty in the process. I know it's no comfort, but it just comes down to the ruthless calculus of war."
"You're right Garrus," I said, "you are. But we can't think of things that way; otherwise, we're no better than the machines that we're fighting."
"Understood, Commander," my Turian friend replied respectfully.
"Everyone get some rest, that's an order. We're still not through with this," I said quietly to them all.
As they stood to leave, I remained seated, suddenly unable to lift myself from my seat. My head rested in my hands and my head thumped away as hard as ever. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Tali turn around to look back at me, but Liara encouraged her out and I heard her tell Tali that I needed to be alone. It was true: I had just lost a good friend who I considered family, a brother. The worst part was knowing that there had been a slim chance to get back and save him the entire time, but I had not taken it. Instead, I had chosen to fight and shout with Saren. Bleary eyed and coated with dirt, ash and blood I stood to contact the Council; I was still a Spectre on an investigation after all. The three figures flickered into view, the Turian Councillor immediately annoyed by my appearance,
"It is customary to be appropriately dressed when reporting to us, Commander."
"I'm sorry Councillor," I said half-heartedly, "but after what my men and I have just been through I really don't give a shit."
The Council seemed taken aback, but the Salarian knew that I had important news for them and beckoned me to speak freely,
"What did our STG force discover on Virmire?"
"Saren's base of operations. He was studying the indoctrination used by the Reapers, and breeding an army of Krogan. We destroyed it."
"That is a relief to hear," the Asari said, "an army of Krogan would have been extremely dangerous."
"How did you destroy the base Commander?" The Turian asked.
"The STG rigged an improvised nuclear device from their ship drive. We assaulted the base, planted the bomb within and… escaped."
That last word seemed difficult to say. The fact remained that many did not escape, far too many were lost in our bold attack.
"However," I continued morbidly, "the Krogan were not the main threat. The indoctrination is a far greater threat than you can imagine. The Reapers can take control of the minds of organics, subtly and over time. It's how Matriarch Benezia ended up working for Saren. He was researching it in an attempt to protect himself from it. What he doesn't realise, or isn't being allowed to realise, is that Sovereign already has him."
"Sovereign?" The Turian sounded sceptical, "but it is just a ship. How can…"
"Sovereign is no simple ship," I interrupted, "it is a Reaper. A sentient machine that is using Saren to bring the rest of his kind to our galaxy to exterminate us."
The Council paused and considered what I had said before the Salarian shook his head and said,
"I believe that this "Reaper" threat is just a tale, a myth that Saren is using to manipulate you and hide his real goal. Perhaps he is getting the better of you."
"Sovereign is a Reaper," I argued, "Saren even admitted it."
"Of course he did," the Turian butted in, "Saren will still have high level contacts here on the Citadel. It is not beyond possibility that he as seen some of your previous mission reports and is using the information against you."
"You are going to have to take something that I say on faith once in a while," I uttered.
"Try to see this from our perspective, Commander. Saren and his Geth are a threat we can recognise, but these Reapers are obviously nothing more than fiction. Why would he want to bring back a race of machines that wish only to eradicate all life in the galaxy? It doesn't make sense."
"That's why the indoctrination is the real threat; Saren doesn't want to bring the Reapers back, Sovereign does. Saren is just a tool, a highly connected figure that they can use to find the Conduit."
"I have heard enough about Sovereign. We are prepared to take steps against Saren and his army. If he truly intends to attack the Citadel, as you believe, we will be prepared for him. To that end," the Asari said, "we want you to return to the Citadel as soon as you are able so that we may use what you know to better protect ourselves."
"I'll set a course for the Citadel immediately," I said, a glimmer of hope flashing in my mind. If I appealed to the Council with my squad behind me, others who have seen and heard what I have, it would make a much stronger case. I ended the call and told Joker to set the fastest course back to the Citadel. I was exhausted, my muscles ached and bearing the loss of Kaidan only served to compound my pain. However, there was still much to do, and I had to go and see Liara. The visions from the Prothean beacon were still racing around in my head, pictures flying past before I could get a good look and actually learn anything from them.
My Asari friend was just about to settle into her bed when I entered her room and she came over straight away, looking sadly at my bashed, burned and scarred armour,
"Are you alright Commander? I know Kaidan was a dear friend to you. It cannot be easy… I'm sorry; perhaps I should not speak of it."
"It's not easy," I said quietly, "I still don't think it's really sunk in that he's gone. Ever since the Skyllian Blitz and the battle on Elysium he's fought beside me in every scrap we got into. I could depend on him for anything. And I left him down there, after everything we've been through together."
"You cannot blame yourself Commander. I am no soldier, but I know enough to say that plans do not ever go exactly as they should in war. The enemy forced your hand."
"Thanks Liara," I managed to say. Liara closed in and hugged me. For a moment I felt myself about to break down, my chest feeling like a lead weight. But I needed my team to keep believing in me, to stay focused, and for them I had to stay strong. I hugged Liara back briefly,
"I'll be fine. We need to find Saren and stop him. Make Kaidan's sacrifice worth it. I need you to bind our minds again. See if you can make sense of the information I received from that second beacon."
Liara's hands reached out to gently hold my head and she closed her eyes. I felt the warm, soothing sensation pour over me as my mind and hers melded together to become one. In my mind I could see a great city, stretching on for as far as the eye could see and grand buildings reaching up towards the heavens. The streets were filled with people; workers rushing from place to place, families out for a lovely morning walk. The sky then began to turn red and dark clouds loomed over. I felt a surge of heat as a wall of fire sprouted out of the ground and flooded the city, destroying everything in its path. The crowds were obliterated in an instant, there were no screams or cries for help; nobody had even the slightest chance.
Then, from beyond the sky came those responsible. Reapers. All of them were identical to Sovereign, each as tall as a skyscraper and descending down to the planet's surface to deal out death and destruction. The city turned into a vision of hell, then I was whisked away from that world only to look upon another, swiftly followed by another. Each world was suffering the same terrible fate as the last, their populations being annihilated without mercy by a seemingly unstoppable enemy. Each world grew dark as all life was extinguished, and soon all I could hear was a haunting, deathly silence.
Liara withdrew from me, freeing both of us from witnessing the utter destruction that had unfolded before us. When I looked at Liara, I could see the tears flowing down her cheeks,
"I can't…" she stuttered, "I can't believe it. Such a magnificent race of people; destroyed. Murdered like that!"
"It won't happen to us Liara. We'll stop them! But you have to tell me what you found from the vision."
She composed herself and wiped her eyes slowly,
"It's a warning message: Sent out across the galaxy about the Reaper invasion. But it's strange: It was almost as if it was sent out after the Prothean extinction was over."
"Is that it?" I said, losing hope quickly, "is there anything else? No locations?"
"There were… I saw places that I recognise from my research," Liara's blue eyes suddenly lit up with inspiration, "Ilos! The Conduit is on Ilos!"
The name certainly rang a bell, but I could not place it from my own memory,
"Be in the comm room in two minutes, everyone needs to hear this."