A /N: Hey fellers. It is I, KanisRussell, bringing you some updates. So, It's been a while, eh? I got about a million excuses, but I'll narrow it down for you guys.
First up: I have been rewriting the early chapters, so far I have rewritten about 15 chapters. They are ton of new dialogue in them. It might be beneficial for you guys to go back and take a look at them. With that being said, I want to thank ShadowFuse on Fanfiction for helping a brother out with rewriting the early chapters. If you guys don't know him, go search him up. He is indeed a talented author.
As time is ticking, my year in Germany is slowly coming to a close. I had to devote most of last month to my final assignment and exam (Of which I passed!). So that's why it has been slow on that front. Other than that, I can't really promise that updates will be frequent, since I spend most of my time rewriting the early chapters to make them better.
Anyhow, enjoy this chapter.
Video tape nr 2. Label: Horrific find.
The clip starts off with a view from the armored truck. It stands on the edge of a small village. The sun is unhindered by the clouds. A beautiful blue sky above the vast deserts of Syria. Mads slowly stepped out of the truck as he took out his pack of cigarettes, but before he could even light it, a private ran up to him.
"Romanov SIR! You need to see this!" He was out of breath as he pointed to the other side of the village. Mads quickly took out his AK-12 from the seat of the truck. He sprinted with the private through the city and on to the other side. He caught up with Victor on the way, who was equally confused at the sudden rush.
They saw the black smoke that reached up to the sky in the distance and they understood instantly what the rush was about.
"Dear God, they are lighting the oil wells on fire!" Victor proclaimed in disbelief. Mads could hardly believe it himself as he saw the scene unfold before him.
"Mother of God..." Mads remarked as he walked a few steps further towards it.
"Why are they doing that, commander?" A private asked with a nervous voice.
"scorched earth warfare..." Mads replied as he still watched the scene with disbelief.
"What does that mean?" The private was clearly confused at why anyone who do something like that.
"They deny us the resources… They know they are done for." Victor explained.
Mads was about to add context, but was interrupted as sergeant Emil ran up to them. "Romanov, there is something that you have to see." He said. Mads noted the disgusted look on the sergeant's face. This whole war was getting more and more rotten as the days went by. But, Mads obliged and went with the sergeant. Most of the squad stayed and looked on the burning oil fields. Mads took the time to call it in on the radio to central command. Through, they seemed to already be aware of it.
They came to what appeared to be the small gathering building for the village. It had seen some warfare. Emil gestured for both Mads and Victor to step inside. Mads took the lead as he equipped his AK and slowly pushed the door open.
The smell hit him like a bus. He knew it too well. The smell of death. Some bodies were rotting somewhere inside. Mads slowly but surely made his way further into the building. Then, as he opened the door to the main hall, he saw the source. "Shit..." He said, almost a whisper.
Before laid the pile of about half the village's population. Rotting together in their resting place. Mads could hear Victor gag as he too saw the sight laid down before them. There must have been around 200-300 bodies there. Mads slowly stepped forward as he tried to uncover what had happened here. They were well on their way to decomposing. They had been like this for at least a week or two. The burning heat had made the progress faster.
"They have been shot." Mads remarked as he found several bullet holes in each body. They had lined them up against the wall and just started shooting. A bloody massacre. What really hit Mads was the sight of a women who had died with her infant child in her hands. They were up against the wall, she had clutched the small child tightly to her chest in a fruitless attempt to save it.
Mads had to excuse himself as he went outside. He sat down on the pavement outside the building. He thought about what he had just seen in there. The horrors of war in all it's glory. As he smoked a cigarette, he wondered what drove humans to do things like this. Those civilians had been of no threat to the terrorists.
"Mama bear, this is eagle scout. Please copy. Over." Mads requested over the radio. He waited a few seconds before central came back.
"This is mama bear. What's the situation? Over." Central asked back. Mads held his finger over the button for a few more seconds before replying.
"We just found 200-300 Syrians killed within a town hall. Please advise. Over." Mads then answered with a heavy heart.
"Understood eagle scout. Please await Syrian government forces to arrive in about 2-3 hours, then hand over the situation to them. Until then, keep the situation under control. Over." Central commanded.
"Understood mama bear. Over and out." Mads said as he put his radio back on his belt. He took another drag of his cigarette as he looked out over the empty street of the small village.
"You okay?" A voice asked from behind him. Mads knew the voice, Victor.
"You know… There is a famous quote from Stalin: 'a single death is a tragedy a million deaths is a statistic'. Those people will be forgotten to time, no one is going to weep a single tear..." Mads remarked.
"I know what you are saying. But isn't that why we are here? To stop this senseless killing?" Victor asked.
"I don't know… Are we? Or are we just adding to the list?" Mads asked back.
End of tape.
Mads smacked the magazine into his FN FAL, trying to keep the pressure up on the harvester. The Harvester was a tough enemy, but not unbeatable. Though, as they fired upon it, it was clear that the Harvester was not interesting in engaging them. It dropped something right outside the camp's walls. Mads yelled out to Garrus and James that they had to check it out.
"How have the Turians been holding up?" Mads asked as they passed by the gate.
"As you can see, we haven't fallen yet." Garrus replied as he readied his rifle.
"That's at least something. The Turians have the largest military in the galaxy. If that can't keep up… We are totally fucked." Mads remarked as they began to go over a hill in the pursuit of the reaper ground troops.
"I don't know how long we can keep going." Garrus didn't have the usual witty voice. He was afraid, like most people know a days. Even Mads couldn't proclaim immunity from it. Mads was about to give Garrus some sort of encouragement when he spotted the troops they would be dealing with.
"Is that… A Turian?" Mads asked confused.
"Holy shit…" James added. "That's fucking rough..." It was clear that this was taking a toll on both Garrus and James. Mads realized that no species was safe from this. The humans had been the first, and he had seen Batarian husks on earth, and now there was the Turian equal…
"This is how the reapers fight. Turn our own kind against us, a true demoralizer." Garrus replied.
"Well, we can only offer the poor soulseternal peace..." Mads informed. Garrus nodded, as a Turian he knew what it meant. You can't save everyone, no matter how hard you try. At least the Turians knew which way the wind was blowing.
Still, they were in for a firefight. The reapers were there in force, trying to kick the fight out of everyone. It made Mads sick when he thought about their harvest, what they would do. He vowed to himself that he would do everything in his power to stop them, even if it meant doing the ultimate sacrifice.
The Turian husks were a lot tougher than their human counterpart. They had better weapons than the Batarian husks as well, which made them a nightmare to deal with. Mads lined up each of his shots, making sure he conserved ammunition. There was no telling what could be around the next corner. Garrus fought hard as well, seeing Palaven in flames had be motivational for him. A reason to fight, a reason to try.
The brutes were no better, a big powerful being that tried to charge them every chance it got. The reapers had an endless amount of soldiers. And when they needed more, they just picked them right from the Turian ranks. Adrenaline rushed through Mads' veins as he flanked a position of some husks, killing them all with a shot in the back of the head.
As the fighting died down, Mads took deep breaths. The air was indeed thinner on this moon. James was having the same problem. Garrus was holding up fine though. Though the down time was minimal, since the reapers took no breaks.
"They are attacking on the north side!" A private yelled out to them. Mads, Garrus and James sprinted for all their life to get there before they could breach the compound. The Turians were taking heavy fire from Reaper forces when they got there. A private was even blown away as he was manning the turret.
"Garrus! Give me supporting fire! I'm going for the turret!" Mads ordered as he climbed up the ladder and quickly manned the gun. What followed was close to 10 minutes of non stop firing. Almost ear deafening. The only pause was when Mads had to reload, or let the gun cool down, but even then he resorted to using his FAL to keep the husks at bay.
"Ha! It's like shooting fish in a barrel!" James cheerfully remarked as he kept up his line of fire.
"What?" Garrus asked, clearly confused at the meaning of the statement.
"It's a human expression! It means that a task is really easy!" James replied continuing keeping the husks at bay.
The husks kept coming, and the trio kept shooting as long as they had bullets. It was going pretty well until a brute decided to charge into the wall. The force of the charge was enough to knock Mads down on the ground.
As Mads struggled to get up, he realized that he was in deep shit. The husks were circling him like hungry predators, ready to kill. Mads went to grab his FAL, only to realize that it wasn't on his back, it was still up by the turret.
Mads moved to pull his Glock out of his holster. He had to conserve ammo. The Glock was only meant as a back up pistol. Each shot had to be precise and lethal. Garrus and James tried to assist as much as they could from their position on the wall, but they had to be careful. Mads was in the very heart of the horde.
Like so many times before, his instincts took direct control of the situation. No longer was he a mere man, but a beast. The most dangerous animal that had been backed into a corner. Time slowed down, as Mads began fighting back. The desire to live was what made him so deadly here. His desire to see Tali again. He wasn't going to die on one of the moons of Palaven.
Mads made a mental note to thank Sergei the next time he saw him. The Glock performed as it should, the higher caliber of ammunition made the fight relatively fair. The husks fell like flies, one by one with a bullet in their head.
But then his sidearm gave the haunting clicking noise. No more bullets. He only had the last 6 rounds in his chamber for the magnum. So Mads did the only thing he could think of: He pulled out his knife. His instincts were still there, alongside the adrenaline which rushed through his blood. He managed to dodge the husks who were throwing themselves at him. Mads had wished it was as easy as cutting their throat, but these creatures required a stab in the skull. Then it was lights out.
As the number of Husks fighting him began to slowly lower, Mads could breathe easier. That was until he let his guard down for a second, and one of the managed to tackle him to the ground. It tried to bite into his throat, but Mads managed to get one of his hands free and stab the monster right up the chin. As Mads pushed the lifeless corpse of what used to be a human off him, he turned attention to the last husk there.
Blood boiled as Mads felt this shit was already too played out. So he charged the remaining husk, and forced it to the ground. Then, as the Husk laid there, trying to get up. Mads placed his boot on it's chest and grabbed a hold of it's arm. Then, he began pulling as hard as his muscles would give. First a crack was heard. Then, slowly but surely, the skin around the arm of the husk began to yield to the extreme force. It ruptured and began oozing out blood. With a final pull, the husk's arm came off. Mads then used said arm to beat the ever living crap out of the poor husk.
As Mads finally was satisfied with the state of the husk, he made eye contact with the brute that had been absent from most of the fight. It had been too busy trying to force it's way into the compound to worry about the small threat behind it. Mads wasn't sure if these things had any emotion at all, but when he looked into it's eyes, he could swear he saw the faintest trace of fear in it.
"It's just you and me son..." Mads readied himself with his knife. Whatever fear that was in the brute, must have been overruled by the reaper programming, because now it was roaring at him, like a beast trying to show dominance. "Let's see what you got." Mads provoked. The brute took the bait and instantly charged towards him, the only thing it really knew how to do. He lined it up perfectly, in the last second before impact, Mads managed to roll to his side. The brute crashed into the wall and looked visibly confused as it regained it's bearings. Mads took this opportunity to climb up on it's back. It was similar to what he did with the giant Mech back on Freedom's progress. Though, this brute was much more flexible than the Mech.
Mads then began to use his knife to saw into the brute's exposed throat. It was only a small distance, the neck was nothing to speak highly off. With some force, he managed to cut his through all the nerves and veins, not to mention the skin and bone. Then, with a final cut, the head was liberated from it's body. The giant body fell down, lifeless. Mads then kicked the head with as much force as he possibly could.
"Are you fighting or are you playing soccer?" James asked jokingly as he opened the gate for Mads to come back in.
"Fucker deserved it. You think I'd make a good soccer player, Vega?" Mads wittily replied as he came back into the base.
"I think you kicked that Brute's head all the way to Palaven." James remarked as he watched up at the planet. Only his joyful expression vanished as he saw the burning planet again. Mads put his hand on James' shoulder.
"We'll get through this." He reassured the marine. James seemed to find some comfort in those words. Mads wasn't sure if he really believed it himself, but he had to make sure his crew believed it.
Mads then turned around to Garrus, who gave Mads his FAL back. Mads strapped it to his back. "Any news on Victus?" Mads asked as he accepted the water canteen from Garrus and greedily drank from it.
"We aren't sure where he is, but I think he is southbound. I fought with him this morning." Garrus replied as he readied his rifle. Mads noticed the Deagle still sitting in Garrus' holster and Mads made a chuckle sound as he realized Garrus had hung on to it.
"Alright, I guess that's as good a lead as any." Mads remarked as he straightened out and drank the rest of the water before handing the canteen back. "You ready?" Mads asked as he looked at both Garrus and James. They both nodded. "Alright, lead me to him." Mads ordered and Garrus happily obliged with the order.
And so, they left the camp. Mads could only hope that the Turians here could keep up the fight. They were some of the toughest son of bitches this galaxy had to offer, only rivaled by the Krogan. Seeing this mayhem only reinforced Mads' belief that they needed to stand together to win this.
"Is your family still alive?" Mads asked as they walked along the rocky surface of the moon. Garrus was quiet for a minute.
"I don't know… They are back on Palaven." Garrus fell silent once more as he looked up at the sight of his burning home world. "You see that big orange spot there?" He asked as he pointed. Mads nodded in response. "That's where I grew up..."
"Are you worried about your father and sister?" Mads asked. He remembered back to their many conversations together. How Garrus often talked about his family.
"Yeah… I am. Sometimes I wish I had been dealt a hand like you, Romanov. You don't have that kind of worry." Garrus remarked.
"You don't want that Garrus." Mads said with a firm tone, enough to make Garrus stop up and look over at Mads. "You don't want my rotten fucking luck." Mads reassured Garrus. Garrus seemed to get the message as they moved forward.
"What's the situation on Palaven?" James broke the silence and asked.
"5 million lost the first day, 2 million the second. The reapers are pushing us back slowly." Garrus replied.
"Jesus fucking Christ…" James remarked. '
"It's the same story all of the place. What about Earth?" Garrus asked back.
"Earth is in a bad way. We got it at least as bad as you guys have it." Mads replied with sadness engulfing his heart. When he thought of his home in flames, he felt the situation was hopeless.
Just as Garrus was about to reply, a Turian fighter crashed down mere meters away from them. They all jumped back in surprise. "Holy shit!" James yelped.
"That was a bit too close for my liking." Garrus replied, his comedy was slowly finding it's way back.
"Yeah, let's not die to a fighter crashing down on us." Mads said.
"So, what do you hope to do with Victus?" Garrus asked as they moved forward.
"I hope to get him to join the war summit. I need the Turian fleet for earth." Mads answered as they vaulted over some debris.
"I don't think he will go willingly. I mean, I doubt you guys wanted to leave earth." Garrus theorized.
"Yeah… You're right. It was tough leaving earth… But we don't stand a chance if we fight our own war. We need to stand together." Mads said.
"I agree, but it won't be easy to leave..." Garrus commented.
Mads jogged up to Garrus and asked him in a low voice. "By the way… Have you heard anything from Tali?" Mads asked.
"No, we stayed in contact for a month or so after you were arrested… But she stopped replying to my messages. I don't know if she is safe or not." Garrus replied.
"I heard a rumor the Quarians were gearing up for war with the Geth." Mads said
"Really? What a fucking time to take back your planet." Garrus said in disbelief.
"I really hope she is okay." Mads said, mostly to himself.
"You're talking about Tali. She knows how to handle herself." Garrus quickly reminded Mads.
"Yeah, I know. But… But I feel lost without her… I don't know how to describe it." Mads said. Before Garrus could answer, they ran into some Turians who needed help. The trio quickly took care of the husks thatthreatened the Turian privates. They asked if the Turians had seen Victus, and they replied that they had seen him 30 minutes ago, still southbound.
It wasn't long before they came to another military camp. This one was also under attack from reaper forces. It seemed to be the same story all around the Turian moon, constant attacks. No time to catch your breath. Mads simply readied his FAL, he would fight to the bitter end if he had to. Garrus and James were equally ready for what laid ahead of them.
A harvester was dropping fresh forces straight from hell. The Turians were being pushed out of their own camp. If the trio did give their helping hand now, the Turians would been dealt a massive blow. That's why Mads unbuckled one of the grenades he picked up at the last camp from his belt. He threw one at the brute currently approached a croup of frightened Turians. The blast wasn't enough to kill it, but it was enough for it to ditch it's original target and focus on Mads instead.
Mads managed to lure it away, far enough for him to be comfortable with unloading a few rounds of his FAL magazine into it's head. The bullets were strong enough to punch through it's armor and shatter it's skull. It fell to the ground, but before it landed, Mads had already began to focus on the harvester. Mads called out to Garrus to land some critical hits on the harvester as he drew it's attention. Mads was instantly reminded of the good teamwork they two had.
Garrus performed wonderfully with his sniper rifle. He managed to bring the harvester to it's knees with suppressing fire from Mads, who manged to keep it's attention on him. The creature blew itself up as he died, probably in an attempt to take out anyone near it. The Turians had probably a few minutes to catch their breath before the next attack would be on them.
"I think I see Victus!" Garrus yelled from his vantage point. James came back from the other wall, where Husks had been pilling up. Garrus jumped down to lead them to where he saw the general. Mads was about ready to get off this moon and get on with the wider war.
Victus was busy issuing orders to his troops. There was no such thing as down time in this war. It a was constant endless battle. "Get to work!" Victus ordered, and the soldiers did as said.
"General Victus?" Mads asked as he came up behind him.
"Yes? Who are you?" Victus asked confused. He hadn't heard anything about human operators on the moon.
"Captain Mads Romanov, alliance navy. I know this is bad timing, but you are needed off world." Mads replied. Victus looked at Mads confused again.
"You better have a good compelling argument for forcing my away from my brother and sisters here." Victus said.
"Primach Fedorian is dead, you're the new Primach. I need you for a summit off world between our races. If we are gonna have any chance against the reapers, I need the bloody Turian fleet." Mads explained. Victus was silent for a long minute as he turned his eyes from Mads and onto the battlefield before them.
"I'm the new Primach? Negotiating for the Turian Hierachy?" Victus seemed a bit in shock. From what Mads understood, the high command had always blocked Victus at every point due to his way of fighting. Now, he was probably the most powerful Turian out there. Victus sighed as he looked back at Mads, Garrus and James.
"Let me say goodbye to my men." Victus requested. Mads gestured for him to go ahead. Mads turned his attention to Garrus and James as Victus went to talk with his men.
"You think he will help us out?" James asked concerned.
"I don't know, but we'll find out. The situation is desperate here as well." Mads answered.
Just as Garrus was about to speak, Victus walked back to them. They all looked over at the new Primach.
"Romanov, I understand your request for our fleet, but you must understand that we can't spare them. Now while Palaven looks like-" Victus pointed to the burning planet in the sky. "-That." Mads felt his heart drop. Now he was fucked. "However, if the pressure could be taken off from the Turian forces, I could redeploy the fleet." Victus suggested.
"And how do you propose we do that?" Mads asked tired as he rubbed his temples.
"We need the Krogan, Captain. Without them, the Turians are dead meat." Victus replied.
"Oh, you want the Krogan? Do you want me to summon archangel Michael while I'm at it?" Mads asked sarcastically.
"You give me the Krogan, I will help out as much as I can with the human fight." Victus promised. Mads let out a huge sigh.
"This is going to be difficult… Look, if you come with us now, I'll try and get Wrex on to the summit. We can discuss it further there." Mads said. Mads doubted his relationship with Wrex was good enough for him to pull it through, but he needed to pull every string he could.
Victus agreed to that plan. Now it all depended on the Krogan. And if Mads had to make a qualified guess, the Krogan would make some pretty big demands, like curing the Genophage.
"Normandy, we are ready for evac. Prep the shuttle." Mads ordered into his ear piece.
"Affirmative Captain." Joker replied.
Mads then holstered his weapon as he and the other's awaited the shuttle.