Chapter Twenty Four: Tuchanka Pt II
"A Sergeant in motion outranks a Lieutenant who doesn't know what's going on."
- UNSC Marine Corps Handbook (Unofficial)
SSV Normandy
Tuchanka
"Say again Joker?"
"Repeat: Two Reaper Destroyers in our AO. One parked on the ground near the Shroud, one in geosync orbit above. They beat us here Commander."
"Dammit," Shepard cursed under his breath, "This is exactly what we were afraid of."
From his position at the head of the CIC Shepard pulled up the holographic sensor images of Tuchanka and confirmed for himself what his pilot had relayed to him. The news wasn't good. Two Destroyers? Even with their Turian reinforcements they were way outgunned. "Traynor, have the Turians arrived in-system yet?"
"No Commander," she replied, shaking her head.
Shepard made his way to the elevator, saying, "Have them contact me immediately when they get here."
It seemed even after the pasting the Reapers had taken at Taetrus they were pressing on without pause. Shepard had been hoping for a window of opportunity with which to exploit, build some momentum to get the allies up to speed, but it seemed the Reapers would not be so easily deterred. Despite the rather crushing blow to the monstrosities above Despara's shipyards, the Reapers destroyed that day represented only a fraction of their true strength.
It was only a short while until he was striding out of the elevator into the Armory/Shuttle Bay, met by the eyes of the rest of his combat team waiting. Save for the female Krogan Eve, everyone was armed, armored, and ready to jump into action. Their birds were just starting to spin up, the high-pitched whine of the Pelican Gunship engines contrasting sharply with the low, oscillating hums of the Kodiak's mass effect fields.
"Mount up," said Shepard, walking quickly towards Cortez's shuttle. "James, in the gunship, the rest with me."
"What's the word Shepard?" asked Wrex, heavy footfalls loud enough to be overheard over the cacophony of their transports getting ready to launch.
Shepard put on his helmet and keyed into their team frequency. "Two Reaper Destroyers beat us here. One is guarding the Shroud from the ground and the other is doing the same but from a geosynchronous orbit above. Slipping past that one in a shuttle should be fairly easy, even without stealth."
Wrex grunted, piling into the shuttle along with Garrus, Mordin, Eve, Chief, and Shepard. "I knew it wouldn't be easy. Shepard, I need to get to the Hollows. The Clans need my leadership or I'm afraid they'll charge those Reapers without a plan and get themselves all killed."
"That's where we're going," confirmed the Commander. "We still need to get Eve and the cure under Krogan protection."
The shuttle bay depressurized and the landing ramp opened, exposing the two aircraft to the hard vacuum of space. Their pilots expertly maneuvered their craft to face this new opening and soon they were hurtling towards the surface of the Krogan homeworld.
"Commander, the Turian force has just arrived. The Captain is requesting to open a comm channel with you," notified EDI through his earpiece.
"Put him through."
The comm crackled before Shepard saw a new line open in his HUD. "This is Shepard."
"Commander Shepard, Captain Praetus, 26th Armiger Legion. Fill us in on the situation. We can already see the two Reaper Destroyers."
Shepard appreciated how quick and to the point Remidus was; this certainly wasn't the time for the pleasantries. "Our plan for distributing the cure revolves around the Shroud. Unfortunately the Reapers seemed to have anticipated that, so that's where they're guarding. We're going to have to find a way to destroy them or otherwise circumvent them in order to distribute the cure."
"A frontal assault would be suicide. Even if my warships managed to take down the Destroyer in orbit, there still lies the problem of the one on the ground. It's barriers might be down because it's in atmosphere, but orbital bombardment has too large a chance of taking down the Shroud. We'd have to make a ground assault, but we don't have anything heavy enough to punch through that armor. Do you?"
"Negative. We'll have to find another way..." Shepard wished he had even one UNSC ship insystem. He recalled back to their escape at Earth, how they had performed a precise orbital strike on a Reaper about to attack them, and wished he could have such power and accuracy here. Their own ships just couldn't cut through enough layers of Reaper ECM to do such a precision strike without risking damage to the Shroud. "I recommend we convene at The Hollows, where Urdnot Wrex is going to address the clans. We can come up with a plan of attack there."
"Agreed. Since my Carrier is capable of atmospheric flight it'll also greatly speed up my troop deployment times. They'll be able to walk off the ramps instead of having to take shuttlecraft."
"What's your troop strength Captain?"
"Two understrength rifle companies, one company of armored infantry, and some support elements. Four hundred soldiers, a few LRVs, a number of IFVs, APCs, and a couple of mobile heavy mortar sections. We're also carrying two strike craft squadrons, one of interceptors, the other of fighter-bombers, and picked up four Talon gunships from an air regiment back on Palaven."
Shepard almost whistled. "That's a lot of firepower. And you're sure that none of that would be able to crack that Reaper's armor?"
"Yes. Nothing short of a mass accelerator round would do more than dent that armor. I've witnessed it first hand at Palaven."
"We'll figure something out," said Shepard. "I'm sending your our approach telemetry now. I'll also have the Normandy send you her transmitter codes so you know where she is."
"Roger Commander, we'll see you dirtside. Remidus out."
The link popped closed and Shepard's focus returned to the inside of the Kodiak. Everyone except Eve, who had her small, dark eyes closed shut in rest, was looking at him, knowing that the long period of silence towards them meant that he was talking with someone else.
"Were those the Armigers?" asked Garrus, to which Shepard nodded.
"They're meeting us at the Hollows. Their troops and vehicles will unload while the commanding officers meet with us to formulate a plan of action."
"What's their troop strength and composition? asked Chief.
"Two understrength rifle companies and an armored infantry company. Foot soldiers, light-armored vehicles, mortars, and some air support in the form of a few gunships and their strike craft. Wrex, what can you offer?"
Wrex bobbed his head as he answered. "Hehe. Several dozen companies of Tuchanka's finest."
"Numbers Wrex," clarified Shepard.
"Close to a thousand I'd say, plus however many Tomkahs we can scrounge up that can actually run."
"Commander, we'll be reaching the LZ within a minute," notified Cortez.
"Roger," replied Shepard.
The minute passed by quickly and in silence before Viper-Heavy came over the comms. "Commander, we're seeing signs of combat at the LZ!"
They all perked up at that. "You're cleared hot to engage, but be absolutely sure of your targets. Cortez, prepare for a quick drop-of. Mordin, stay with Eve in the dropship until we've secured the area. Everyone else, get ready."
The sounds of weapons being drawn, safeties clicking off, and undersuits, armor plates, and combat mesh rusting together joined the steady hums of the Kodiak's mass effect drive. Shepard palmed the grip of his Avenger, aiming reticule flashing to life on his heads-up display. His skin tingled as he flexed a specific set of muscles and a purple-hued biotic barrier enveloped over top of his armor.
"Five seconds!" alerted Cortez. "Door opening!"
A mechanical whir signaled the action and the sounds of gunfire, shouting, unnatural roars, and even rough laughter filtered in through Shepard's helmet audio receptors. Wrex was closest to the door, M-27 Scimitar Assault Shotgun from the armory clutched in his hands and looking like he was going to jump out at any second. The Master Chief was right besides him, long, silver rifle braced against his shoulder as he started sending rounds downrange. Shepard didn't mind being not being the first one out in this case, it made sense to have the most heavily armored and well protected squadmates disembark first in case of heavy directed enemy fire.
Cortez hovered the shuttle five meters off the deck and Wrex and the Chief jumped down to the ground, followed by Shepard and Garrus. Shepard's knees bent to absorb the impact as he took in the situation around him in a flash. One thing was immediately clear: This wasn't so much a battlefield as it was an all-out street brawl. Fitting, given the very coliseum-esque surroundings of The Hollows, cracked and dusty stone floors circled by the arched rings of the structure itself.
There were Reaper Husks everywhere. There had to be hundreds of them running, crawling, jumping, screaming, and flailing their limbs at unnatural speeds. Combating them were several dozen Krogan, most engaged in their own personal battles with however many Husks had deemed them targets. Based on their uniquely colored armor Shepard could see that a multitude of different clans engaged with the enemy, but curiously he couldn't make out any Clan Urdnot colors aside from Wrex.
Shepard's fist glowed blue as he biotically lifted an approaching Husk into the air, dispatching the helpless creature with a burst from his assault rifle. He could sense Garrus' presence at his back, Vindicator chattering away as the Turing covered their rear.
Wrex and the Master Chief were still together, flurries of electric blue bolts from the Spartan's rifle lancing out to meet any opposing threats. In typical Krogan fashion Wrex was using his hands, feet, and head as weapons more so than his shotgun, sending the limp, crushed bodies of Husks sailing every which way.
It seemed the two had a system going on, Shepard deduced after detonating a Singularity packed with Husks with a Throw. Wrex was taking care of the Reapers that managed to get too close while Chief was picking off further away approaching groups to ensure that they didn't get overwhelmed.
While this strategy was working for them, for a number of Krogan on their own or in pairs it was not. A Husk would slip by their defense and latch on, causing a spiraling effect of disaster until the unfortunate Krogan were on the ground getting ripped to shreds by the Husk's unrelenting limbs.
Shepard paused to reload and said to Wrex over their comms, "Wrex, this is chaos! Even for Krogan! We need to get organized."
"I agree," he grunted, hurling the upper half of a dismembered Husk at one nearby before turning both to pieces with a shotgun blast. The comm line popped as Wrex opened another channel and said. "Aralakh Company, get down here!"
If there was a response Shepard didn't hear it, but it turned out that he didn't need too. A few more seconds of rabid fighting went on before movement in the first ring surrounding them caught his eye. Sixty red-armored Krogan took position on the edge the ring and jumped in unison down to the ground below.
Acting quickly and precisely the Krogan formed two tightly packed lines - a phalanx. A group of about twenty Husks noticed this newfound mass of enemies and started rampaging their way towards the Krogan Phalanx.
A mighty roar emerged from the rear of the Krogan formation. "MAKE READY!"
The frontmost Krogan all fell to a knee, allowing the second row to aim over their humps. Shepard understood now. Upon closer inspection he could see that ever Krogan in the front row had a shotgun, while the ones in the second row were all sporting assault rifles
"FIRE! the voice bellowed. As one the second row of Krogan opened up, sending tens of dozens of mass accelerated particles knifing into the approaching Husks. Almost all of them fell dead, killed by well-aimed headshots or numerous body shots.
However, in true Reaper fashion there was another group twice as large as the first clambering over the bodies of their fallen comrades to get their chance at attacking the Krogan.
The second row of assault rifle wielders continued firing into this new mass until they had expended their thermal clips, a third of the Husks falling. As they reloaded the first row braced their shotguns against their shoulders, waiting for the quickly closing Husks to get into optimal range.
"FIRE!"
Like something that harkened back to lined musket fire of old, the row of shotguns barked and the closest Husks were transformed into varying states of shredded flesh and splintered bones. Those with more rounds available fired them, joined by the refreshed second row of assault rifles.
Husks started dropping like flies and soon the rest of the clans started getting the idea, forming into their own phalanxes and doing their best to join with Aralakh company.
Withdrawing his omni-blade from a Husk's face, Shepard scanned around and was surprised to find no more targets in the immediate vicinity. A solidified line of hundreds of Krogan spanned from one edge of The Hollows' coliseum-like ground to the other, dividing the meeting grounds into the third that was clear of Husks behind them, and the two-thirds in front that was still very much occupied by the bipedal Reapers.
Behind the Krogan battle lines Shepard took this moment to have his squad regroup. The Master Chief and Garrus fell in to either side of him, but Wrex was rushing to join his Clan.
BBZZRRRRRRRRRRRRRRT!
Shepard cocked his head in curiosity. That was the sound of Viper-Heavy's 30mm rotary cannon. He hadn't heard it until now, but soon figured out that the close-quarters brawl this fight has been at the start was just too chaotic to let 30mm cannon rounds fly. Now that the Krogan were all grouped together there were clean groups of hostile targets.
Over the towering lines of Krogan Shepard could only indirectly see the effect of Viper-Heavy's high-explosive fire. Bits of flesh flying around like confetti, must clouds of viscous black blood, the occasional dismembered limb soaring away, ect. What he could see where little bits of flesh, black mists of their viscous blood spurting up into the air, and the occasional limb spinning about.
The Husk charge started to falter and the Krogan wasted no time in exploiting the openings created by Viper-Heavy's gun run.
"GRENADES!"
Volleys of Krogam grenades, most fragmentation but some fiery incendiaries, sailed into the Husk lines and detonated, further reducing their number in gouts of smoke, flame, and shrapnel.
"TAKE FORWARDS!"
Shepard saw orange omni-bayonets, sharpened wrist-mounted omni-blades, and standard metal bayonets spring to life on the underbarrells, and as one the Krogan charged, ground shaking beneath their feet.
With mighty war cries the Krogan crashed into the conglomeration of Husks, blades eviscerating skin, fists, headplates, and weapon butts cracking bones, and white-hot spikes embedding into flesh. Through the gaps in the Krogan phalanxes Shepard fully realized why they needed the Krogan in this fight. Earlier he had witnessed the Krogan's ability to perform as soldiers. They followed orders, showed frightening proficiency with weapons, and were able quickly adapt their thinking and tactics depending on the situation or enemy present.
But as he watched the Krogan tear Husks limb-from-limb Shepard saw what made the species so valuable. No other species, not Humans, Salarians, Turians, Asari, even Vorcha or Batarians, had the capability for such utter carnage, such unprecedented, unpredictable violence of action, and such capacity for vicious rage like the Krogan did. The Krogan would become the sledgehammer that would be brought down upon the Reaper ground forces, the rest of the allied forces following the destruction left in their wake.
Within thirty second the last of the Husks had been annihilated, leaving nothing but black, viscous blood covered Krogan, smoking weapon barrels, and dead Husks in various states of pulp littering the ground.
Shepard reloaded, then returned his Avenger to the magnetic plates on his back, the assault rifle collapsing to its more compact carrying state. His ears picked up the distant hums unique to Kodiak model shuttles, and soon three of them flew into view over the tall lips of The Hollows. One was Cortez's Kodiak, undoubtedly going to drop Eve and Mordin down on the surface now that the danger had cleared. The other two had to be Turian, Shepard guessed, based on their all-black paint scheme, sans the thin white lines that made up the Armiger's unit crest.
"Alright you worms!" Wrex's distinctive voice shouted. "Clean up this mess! We've got guests arriving! Hehehe."
With grumbles of resignation the majority of the Krogan present started their clean-up duties, while the more prominent looking Krogan, the Clan heads and Shamans Shepard presumed, centered on Wrex and waited for the shuttles to land.
One Krogan however made a beeline for Shepard, red armor signifying him as Urdnot. The Commander raised an eyebrow as the Krogan reached up and pressed a button on the side of his helmet, causing the dark visor to retract into the top of the inner helmet.
Shepard's mouth broke into a huge grin as he immediately recognized the face. "Grunt?"
"Shepard!" replied the Krogan, bounding the last few meters towards him and enveloping him in a crushing bear hug. "Haha! Shepard! My friend!"
"Grunt! I thought I recognized the voice bellowing out those commands."
Grunt let Shepard go, stepping back and crossing his arms with a satisfied grin on his face. "Yep! That was me! I'm running Aralakh Company now."
"I'm impressed the way you handled them," said Shepard. "It looked like Aralakh got the ball rolling on the phalanx advance that annihilated those Husks."
"I'm just amazed that the rest of the Krogan followed our lead. You wouldn't believe how difficult it is to get the Clans to work together sometimes. Hard enough just keeping them from trying to kill each other."
"Everyone must know what's at stake here. What they're fighting for," Shepard said solemnly.
Grunt nodded, his grin dimming slightly to be replaced by a look of thoughtful contemplation. "A cure for the Genophage. It will change everything."
The shuttles touched down in a rough line, troop bay doors sliding to the side with metallic whirs. Mordin and Eve stepped out of Cortez's Kodiak and several Urdnot Krogan rushed to Eve and surrounded her in a protective sphere, Shepard only able to get glimpses of her black headdress through the gaps of her guards. Mordin, having been shoved out of the way by the protective Krogan looked annoyed, but walked over to Shepard and joined him with a nod.
Twenty Turians stepped out of the two Armiger shuttles, indistinguishable in their all-black, helmeted armor trimmed by white. Behind the three Kodiaks, Viper-Heavy decloaked and came to a hover close off the ground, allowing James to hop off. The gunship's stealth-reactive panels flickered as the active camouflage reactivated, drawing more than a few looks as the Pelican regained altitude.
About half of the Turians formed a loose defensive perimeter, guns held at half-ready, no doubt a precaution for both the report of Reaper forces at their LZ and the fact that several hundred Krogan were present.
Wrex shouldered his way through the Clan heads and walked towards the Turians. Two of the Turians noticed his approach and started to the Krogan leader, reaching up to their necks to pop their helmet seals and removing the protective pieces.
One was a male, a thick, pale green line of face paint covering his nasal ridge, with two thin parallel lines on each cheek. The other was female, lacking the swept-back head fringes as the male, yet possessing the exact same facial painting.
"Seems we missed quite a party," spoke the male, addressing Wrex. He was obviously referring to the carnage around him, having just removed his left boot from a puddle of Husk entrails.
"Heh. Plenty more fight to be had. Urdnot Wrex," he said, holding out a hand in greeting.
If the Turian noticed the Husk blood on Wrex's forearm armor he didn't care, gripping it firmly in the standard warrior's grasp. "Captain Praetus, 26th Armigers. The Aethonox is my Carrier."
"Commandant Praetus," said the female, grasping forearms with Wrex as well. "CO of the Aethonox's mechanized infantry company."
Wrex looked between the two, eyes blinking. "Siblings?"
"Twins," The two Turians said in unison.
"Novel. But not important. What is though is how we're going to get these Reaper pyjacks off of my planet," said Wrex. "C'mon, follow me. We've got a working holo-table this way. Grunt, with me. Shepard, you and your guys come too. You all have the most experience with Reaper ground forces."
"Lieutenant, secure the shuttles," ordered Commandant Praetus. "And police those bodies in our LZ. Don't want to trip over them if we have to bug out in a hurry. "Abrian, Genedus, Brugius, Melrius, with us."
A chorus of "Yes Commandant," and "Right away Ma'ams," filtered through the Turian's helmets and the Armigers got to work, four accompanying their superiors and the rest starting on the task of creating a perimeter and clearing the remains of the Reaper Husks littered around.
Shepard followed Wrex and the two Praetus's out of the open Hollows grounds and into the indoor superstructure.
"Brought an awful lot of security. I thought that we were supposed to be 'allies'," said Wrex.
The Captain gave him a sideways look. "We departed under the impression that our LZ was still a battlefield."
"Sure," Wrex snorted, deciding not to expand further on the subject.
The walk wasn't far, down a few hallways and up a stairway until they arrived in a medium-sized circular room. Like most current Krogan architecture, the walls, floor, and ceilings were made of strong, rough, tan concrete. The room was dim, the only sources of light being a thin strip of light panels embedded in the ceiling and the soft blue glow coming from the central holotable. Wrex, Grunt, Captain Praetus, Commandant Praetus, and Shepard all converged on the flickering holo-table in the center of the room while the rest of Shepard's squad and the four Turian guards posted up on the edges out of the way.
Wrex took a look at the flickering images coming from the table, showing an aerial view of The Hollows through its bouts of power issues. He scowled, delivered a hefty kick to the side of the table, and through either some miracle of technology, or through pure fear, the table's image solidified. The two Praetus twins shared a bemused look while Wrex manipulated the controls, the image zooming far out and centering on the area around the Shroud. Center in the image was one of their main obstacles, the one-hundred and fifty meter bulk of a Reaper Destroyer standing guard over their goal.
"This is the Shroud. Our objective is to get him - ," Wrex pointed at Doctor Solus, who was leaning on a support pillar watching the holotable, " - inside the control room so he can distribute the cure for the Genophage. However, we've got two problems that I'm sure we're all aware of. The Reaper standing guard on the ground, and the one in orbit above."
Wrex took a step back and crossed his arms. "Now, I've already got a plan to take care of the Reaper guarding the Shroud. But what I don't have is a way to take out the one in space."
"You have a plan to take out the Reaper on the ground?" asked Commandant Praetus, leaning on the edge of the holotable and looking at the Krogan at an angle. "Please, do tell."
Wrex's subsequent grin almost made Shepard groan. He recognized that look; it was the look he got whenever he concocted one of his unique 'Krogan solutions' to a problem.
"It's simple really. We summon Kalros, and she kills the Reaper," he revealed.
Silence.
"We summon what?" asked Captain Praetus.
"Kalros. The Mother of all Thresher Maws. The Shroud lies at the center of her hunting territory, and there's an ancient monument to her nearby. We fight our way there, ring the maw hammers, and Kalros will come and deal with the Reaper, hehe."
"You can't be serious Wrex," said Shepard, shocked. "This is insane. Summoning the Mother of all Thresher Maws into a battlefield that will be filled with as many of us as there are Reapers? And what makes you assume that she'll be able to 'take care' of the Reaper? Or even show up at all?"
"If we ring the hammers, she will come," retorted Wrex. "And the Reapers might be tough, but they're not Kalros tough. Especially the little ones."
"You're still forgetting about our forces that could end up in a very significant portion of harm's way," reminded Shepard.
"She'll go after the biggest prey, which won't be us by a long shot. Besides, does anybody have any better ideas?" questioned Wrex. "And of all people, I thought you would have at least some faith in my planning abilities Shepard."
"Using the native megafauna, especially such a dangerous specimen like Kalros, to our advantage might be our only conceivable option," the Turian Commandant said. "We have nothing in theater that could even scratch the paint on the Reapers armor, at least not without risking damaging or destroying the Shroud. Can you show me where this monument is in relation to the Reaper?"
Wrex nodded, again working the holotable controls until he found the monument… not even three hundred meters from where the Reaper was standing.
The Commandant shook her head slightly. "This is… much closer than I was expecting."
"Uh.. it seems so, yes," said Wrex somewhat sheepishly. "The scaling on the map I was thinking of must have been off."
Everyone glared at Wrex.
"I just can' see it," stated Captain Praetus after a few seconds of silence. "The Reaper would surely notice a major military action aimed at capturing this monument and subsequently destroy it with its main weapon. That's not to mention if the Reaper in orbit doesn't descend on our advance and destroy it before we can even make it there. Speaking of, when are we going to discuss the other Reaper?"
"One problem at a time," said Shepard. The Commander pursed his lips, thinking. "Captain, you said you thought that a major military action wouldn't stand a chance at getting to the monument. What about a minor one? A small infiltration team perhaps?"
"Are you volunteering?" Wrex asked wryly.
Shepard nodded in the affirmative. "We have means of infiltration, our stealthed aircraft should be able to get us close enough."
"No. It's still too risky," said the Captain. "The Reapers are bound to have Oculus fighters patrolling all over the area. Besides, once the Reaper knows what you're up to who's to say he won't blow the place up anyway?"we might need a reason why the reapers didn't just destroy the shroud in the first place. is there some reason the reapers might want it intact? spread something into the air to reaperify tuchanka without needing to actually fight the krogan?
"I have an idea," the Commandant put forth. "It's obvious that the Reapers don't know the significance of the monument and the maw hammers, or else they would have destroyed them already. What if we created a diversion? Assaulted the Reaper from the opposite side, drew its attention away and minimize the chance that it'll figure out what Shepard's team is doing until it's too late."
"We certainly have the manpower to create a major diversion, but like the Captain said, nothing will get done on the ground until the Reaper in orbit is destroyed," said Wrex.
The room returned to silence again as those present tried to figure out a way to destroy the Reaper in space without having to sacrifice an inordinate amount of ships.
"What about that old anti-ship gun station that you had us scout last month?"
Heads swiveled towards Grunt, who didn't look at all intimidated by the serious expressions directed at him.
"Anti-ship guns? Mounted on the surface?" Captain Praetus.
Grunt nodded. "Yup. A whole battery of 'em built during the Krogan Rebellions. Krogan aren't known for their space warfare, we're ground pounders. Can't go and give up the orbitals to the enemy, got to make them come down to fight us!"
Commandant Praetus was skeptical. "The Rebellions? Those things must be ancient. How do we know they'll even work?"
"They'll work," assured Wrex emphatically. "Krogan build to last. Also, you better believe that those guns pack a punch."
Captain Praetus started tapping his talons on the edge of the holotable. "This just might work. If those guns can take down the Reaper's barriers, I'm confident that my task force can deliver a killing blow. The real question is whether the Reaper is even in the guns' firing arc…"
A little blue-purple woman materialized to life on the holotable, 'leaning' against the Shroud. "Yes it is."
"And who might you be?" asked Captain Praetus inquisitively.
"I'm Cortana," she replied. "An AI."
"She's with us," quickly confirmed Shepard, hoping to avoid any confusion.
"I'll show you the calculations," offered Cortana, switching the display with a snap of her fingers to one that showcased the available firing arcs of the orbital guns and how the Reaper was clearly in the target zone. "If you can get me there, I can fire them. The catch is however, orbital imaging datalinked from the Normandy shows heavy enemy activity within and around the compound where the guns are housed."
Cortana had changed the picture to display said scans from the Normandy, highlighting areas of enemy activity in bright red. There was a lot of red.
"How heavy are we talking?" asked Shepard.
"Five hundred plus infantry. Mostly infantry, but we did spot a few of those Brutes lumbering about. The Reapers must know they can't let us take the guns, but also know they can't risk destroying them lest they expose themselves to our ships."
Wrex grinned predatorily. "Five hundred? That's nothing. Grunt, take Aralakh company and take back that gun complex. Go now."
"I'd like to take my squad to assist," said Shepard.
"If you think you can keep up! Hahaha!" Grunt laughed, turning and jogging out of the room.
"You can go, but stick around for just a little bit longer," said Wrex. "They'll be taking Tomkahs, you'll be able to catch up in your dropships."
Shepard nodded, eager to get back into the field but recognizing there was more planning that needed to take place.
"So," started the Commandant, "Once we destroy the Reaper in orbit we'll be able to focus all our efforts on the Shroud. Our diversion should be enough to allow Shepard and his squad to reach the maw hammers, but there are still doubts on aerial insertion, even with stealth technology. Workarounds?"
Cortana spoke up again. "I think I've got one." The holotable shifted and now displayed a two dimensional map of a large area crisscrossed with complicated-looking pathways.
"The monument to Kalros used to be the centerpiece of a much larger city. A city which now, is almost entirely buried underground. I've pieced together these maps using data collected by dozens of scouting and scavenging teams that have been sent into these ruins," the AI explained.
A blue line started making its way through the complicated maze as she continued speaking. "These underground passages run all throughout the area, and I believe I've found a route that starts - here - and comes out just a short distance away from the monument."
"This is perfect," said Wrex, impressed. "We'll construct our avenue of approach to where we pass by the entrance point, drop off Shepard's team, and while we keep the Reapers occupied they make their way through the ruins and into the monument to ring the maw hammers."
"It also eliminates the potential risks of aerial insertions. It'll be a much safer bet to get the cure to the Shroud," said Captain Praetus.
"It's settled then," said Wrex, slamming his hands on the table confidently, making the holograms flicker briefly and earning a glare from Cortana. "Shepard, link up with Aralakh and take those guns. The warships will take down the Reaper in space, then we'll regroup back here. The Commandant and I will have finished organizing our forces for our diversionary push, and then we'll enact part two of the plan. The Reapers won't know what hit 'em. Hehe."
"I need to get back to the Aethonox," said Captain Praetus. "Good luck sister."
"Spirits be with you as well brother," replied the Commandant, watching the Captain and two of their Turian guards depart the room.
"Let's go," ordered Shepard, following in the Captain's path along with the rest of his squad. Though they quickly passed out of earshot, Shepard could still pick up Wrex and Commandant Praetus planning through Wrex's still-connected comm.
"Alright Commandant, what brilliant Turian battle plan are you going to want my Krogan to follow?"
"Actually, I was planning on letting your Krogan do what they do best: charge headfirst towards the enemy in a frontal assault."
"He, I like the way you think."
"What's the top speed of your Tomkahs?"
"Fifty kilometers per hour on a good day. They may be slow, but they can give and take a hell of a beating."
"That's what I was counting on. While your sturdy Krogan slowly advance, I was planning on having my faster yet less armored forces roaming just behind the front lines, acting as a quick reaction force. If you see a weakness in the enemy formations we'll blitz through at top speed for maximum shock and awe and exploit it. We'll have artillery and air support on station to call on as well, so -"
With a couple of taps on his omni-tool Shepard disconnected Wrex from their squad channel. "Cortez, get down here. We've got a new mission."
"What's the word Commander?" asked the pilot of the Kodiak.
"We're to link up with a company of Krogan and assault a surface-to-orbit gun complex to use against the Reapers. There's more I'll fill you in after."
"Roger. I'm touching down now," replied Cortez.
They quickly made their way back into the open grounds of The Hollows, now populated by significantly less Krogan. Shepard witnessed Captain Praetus' shuttle taking off, taking with it half of the Armiger Turians standing guard. Cortez's Kodiak was landed as well, troop bay doors open and ready to receive the squad then head off to the orbital gun complex.
"Everyone in the Kodiak. Dolton, Cehack, you're on close air support duty for this mission."
"Roger Commander," replied Dolton. Engines whined as Viper-Heavy took off while Shepard, the Master Chief, Garrus, and James hopped into the Kodiak's troop bay. Mordin would be staying with Eve, making sure she was alright and finalizing the dispersal preparations for the cure once they reached the Shroud.
As soon as they were all aboard Cortez secured the shuttle and they departed for yet another battlefield.
The Master Chief's boots sunk a couple of inches into the sand as he hopped down from the Kodiak onto the harsh Tuchanka landscape. Chief's visor darkened to compensate for the glare of the sun reflecting off of the sand dunes and he took stock of the surroundings. He could hear reports of gunshots echoing across the landscape, no doubt coming from the anti-ship gun complex beyond.
They had touched down in the center, most flattened portion of a 'bowl' of short sand dunes. The sand was light-colored and coarse with bits of debris and pulverized rocks intermixed with the large grains. Shepard motioned them forwards and the squad ascended the few meters over the lip of the dune until Aralakh company came into sight.
Directly in front of them were four hulking Tomkahs arranged in a wedge formation, long sides and heavy gun facing outwards to create a defensive position which the Krogan of Aralakh company could take cover behind. All were arranged in firing positions facing towards the looming superstructure of the orbital gun complex a few hundred meters away save for one: Grunt.
The leader of Aralakh company motioned them over and they started towards him, Shepard leading the way.
"Shepard, glad to see you didn't wait," greeted Grunt. "Take a look, one of our guys managed to dig out a map of this place."
The Commander jogged over, taking a knee along with Grunt as he rolled out a paper scroll, putting assault rifle magazines on the corners as paperweights.
"Paper? A paper map?" Shepard questioned incredulously.
"Shepard, this is Tuchanka. Paper is a luxury," said Grunt matter-of-factly.
Chief sidled his way up to where he could see the map over Shepard and Grunt's shoulders. "Got it?" he spoke into his helmet.
"Got it," Cortana responded cheerfully. He had only needed to give his forward facing helmet cameras a brief glimpse of the map in order for Cortana to transcribe the map. In a second she had overlaid it with visual, topographical, thermal, infrared, and seismic scans taken from the Normandy, as well as with whatever other bits of data or translation she was able to glean from what passes for Tuchanka's mainframe.
Meanwhile, Shepard and Grunt were just starting to realize how 'useful' their paper map really was.
"I don't see any sort of scale… How are we supposed to know if these corridors are twenty meters long or two hundred?" asked Shepard.
"I don't know," replied Grunt
"The layout makes no sense either. It looks like some rooms and areas are layered on top of each other for no reason"
"Weird huh."
"And what do these inscriptions here mean?" asked Shepard.
"Dunno. It's not any Krogan dialect I've heard of."
Shepard looked towards Grunt in disbelief. "What can you tell me from this map?"
"Dammit Shepard, I'm a soldier, not some kind of - map-ologist! It's an awful map, what am I supposed to do about it? I've already got scouting teams out, hopefully they'll be able to clear some of this pyjack shit up," Grunt growled. "What I can tell you is that the enemy is in there, and that they won't be for long."
Grunt confirmed what Chief had figured, that the gunfire he had been hearing was a result of the Krogan's unique take on 'scouting and reconnaissance' He had read that while other races' scouts preferred stealth and discretion in carrying out their tasks, Krogan scouts instead opted to deal psychological warfare when they find the enemy by way of occasional harassment or intentionally exaggerating their numbers. Their reasoning was that it was a lot easier to count enemy numbers when some of their numbers got blown up.
Now Chief had a feeling that psychological warfare wouldn't have the greatest effect on the Reapers, but thinning their numbers even just a little couldn't hurt. He decided that now was the time to reveal Cortana's work to Shepard and Grunt. "Commander?"
Judging by his slight jump Shepard was a bit startled by the closeness of Chief's voice. He probably hadn't expected him to be right behind them. To his credit the sun was angled in such a way that Chief's shadow was cast behind him, and almost no one knew how quiet a Spartan could be if he or she wanted too.
"Yes Chief?"
"Cortana has something for you." Chief reached into one of his utility belt pouches and withdrew a small holotransmitter. He tossed it onto the paper map so it wouldn't sink into the sand, and Cortana activated what she had constructed.
A large three-dimensional map of the orbital gun complex sprang to life, blue tinted like all other UNSC holograms. Displayed were accurate layouts of all rooms, hallways, corridors, doorways, stairways, bridges, even the sewer system was included. Enemy troop positions were shown as accurately as they could have been detected via the Normandy's sensor suite. The four Brutes present were large enough to keep tabs on, but everything else was considered as varying 'mixes of infantry'.
"Wow," said Shepard. "Now this is a map."
"Brutes," observed Grunt. "Good thing we brought AT rockets."
"How did you make this Cortana? It has everything we need," questioned Shepard with no small amount of awe, spinning the map around with his fingers.
"EDI did most of the leg work actually. Nearly all of this information came from the Normandy's sensor suite. I did the translations, reformatted the information into its presentably state, and finalized the floor plans. Without firsthand recon inside this is the best we're going to get."
Shepard nodded in both understanding and appreciation. "Good work, both of you."
"Thank you," both AI's replied in unison.
"Scouts are back!" someone yelled.
Four Krogan, each carrying varying degrees of minor wounds but not looking any worse for wear in the slightest, jogged up towards Grunt and Shepard.
"Jax, report," ordered Grunt.
Jax, the company's lead scout, stepped forwards and surveyed the holographic map of the complex for a moment before speaking. "Is this accurate?"
"As much as it can be," replied Grunt.
"Alright. Well, enemy troop strength seems to be consistent with what we estimated earlier. About five hundred individuals I'd say, a little less now though," he said smiling, tapping a talon on his Graal Spike Thrower.
"Where are they?"
"They've established a light defensive perimeter just outside the base here, using the sand dunes for natural cover. There's only a couple of squads, so I'm thinking their sole purpose is to report how many of us there really are and what we are doing to the rest of their friends before they die." Jax took a finger and drew a line on the map where he was talking about, and Cortana updated the hologram accordingly. "Most of their strength is concentrated throughout the complex. It's going to be some tough fighting. Room-to-room stuff, and upwards into the second floor."
"If the mission was easy they wouldn't have given it to us," said Grunt. "Enemy types?"
"The large majority are those Reaper-fied Batarians – "
"Cannibals," interjected Shepard.
"Yes, Cannibals," continued Jax smoothly. "Seven or eight to a group, led by a single Turian husk."
Jax looked to Shepard expectantly, waiting for him to tell them the common name they had been given. "Marauders."
"Right. Kalon says he saw a couple of roaming squads of just Marauders, so we should keep an eye out for those. Now as far as the big armored guys go – "
"Brutes."
"Yep, those, we counted four. I managed to his two of them with tracking darts, and Kalon got one, but we won't be able to account for the fourth one." Jax opened his omni-tool and after a few taps three red wire silhouettes of Brutes materialized in their realtime positions throughout the complex.
"What about Husks? The Human ones?" asked Shepard.
"We only saw a couple. They must have expended the majority of them when they attacked The Hollows en masse."
"Too bad. They were easy to kill," said Grunt, shaking his head. "Alright. We have three objectives. The control room on the second floor here, and the reactor and power distribution rooms on the first floor here and here. We need to secure all three of these before we can fire the guns."
"What's this over here?" asked Shepard, pointing to a section of clear flooring on the farside of the base. "Looks like a landing pad, and it's pretty close to the power distribution room."
"You thinking of dropping your squad off there?" asked Grunt.
"We'd be able to flank their main force, create a new avenue of assault, plus secure one of the objectives quickly."
"Do you think you'd be able to handle the enemy counterattack? Just the four of you?"
"With our gunship supporting us, yes."
Grunt glanced to the sky. "Right. I forgot you had that. Cause it's invisible. Alright, you do that. Just be careful with your air support. We need those electronics in the power distribution room intact."
"That just leaves the reactor room and the control room," said Shepard. "What are you thinking?"
"A frontal assault," answered Grunt bluntly.
"I should have known."
"Heh, it's what we Krogan do best. Besides, once we get inside any 'plan' is getting thrown out the window. In room-to-room combat the only thing that matters are your reflexes and your toughness."
"Commander, I have an idea."
Shepard looked back to the armored Spartan once again. "Go ahead Chief."
"This sewer system goes up to the second floor, and it's big too. Large enough to walk through. See where it comes out here? Just a couple of rooms away from the control center," he explained, Cortana drawing a line to show the path he was talking about.
"What are you proposing?" Shepard asked warily.
"My suit is equipped with active camouflage. All I would need to do is get Cortana into the system. I could make it to the control room undetected and accomplish one of our objectives quickly and efficiently."
"I don't know Chief, I don't like the idea of sending one of my squad members alone if I can't help it." said Shepard.
"I can handle the mission," Chief stated assuringly.
"I don't doubt you can, but I still don't like it." Shepard's comm beeped, and at glance of the address he saw it was coming from the Normandy. It was EDI.
"Shepard," she said, "The Reaper in orbit is maneuvering. I believe it's figured out what you're up to."
"I bet it's trying to decide if it's worth the risk to come in-atmosphere and take out the guns itself," guessed Cortana. "Either that or it's trying to find a position that would keep it out of range of the guns while still blocking Captain Praetus' ships from attacking the Reaper forces on the ground."
They had to act quickly. The only reason the Reaper hadn't come down and destroyed the guns already is because in order to come in-atmosphere it would have to lower its barriers, leaving it vulnerable for attack from Praetus' ships. But, if the Destroyer found somewhere to sit where the guns couldn't hit it, then all of their planning earlier would have been for nothing.
"Chief, I changed my mind. You're going in, we need these guns online as soon as possible," said Shepard.
"Affirmative, replied the Spartan.
Grunt hefted his assault rifle, a heavy semi-automatic Mattock. "So, by process of elimination that means that we'll be gunning for the Reactor. Once we get there my techs will turn it on, Shepard you'll have to funnel the power into the guns themselves, and then your helpful AI friend will blow that Reaper into space dust."
"It's settled then," said Shepard. "We go now."
Special thanks to my betas JonHarper and Bearmauls