Log 11

Date: 16TH OCT 2186

Location: WASHINGTON STATE, USA

Hours later, long after it had gotten dark we were still in hiding. By this time we were out of the woods (literally speaking if not figuratively) and into more urban areas near what used to be Seattle. It took two hours for Harbinger to arrive on the scene (I guess even evil death robots can have a busy schedule sometimes). Which at least gave us time to put some distance between ourselves and the crash site. We'd managed to get away from that battle but the enemy knew we were still in the area and they were unlikely to get bored and give up the search. Harbinger was swiftly joined by two other Reaper capital ships and three Destroyers which landed on the surface. We've spent our time running from one foxhole to another, trying to stay ahead of the Husks. Before it got dark we saw a flock of Harvesters above us, scanning the area for signs of life.

The cost of the mission had been high, Jake Langmer was killed while under the command of Daniels as part of the distraction team. While escaping the ship Jeff was wounded in the leg. Of the twenty three crew members only eighteen survived long enough to be saved by the rescue attempt. I would like to record here a special commendation for Mr. Langmer. Daniels reported later that he willingly threw himself onto an enemy grenade in order to protect the lives of his fellow soldiers. Like all those lost in this war I wish I had known him better.

I hate to admit it but we're in serious trouble and right now I'm not sure what to do. I hadn't counted on being seen and recognized by Harbinger or the scale of the search it would prompt. With no clear plan, I'm stuck playing a defensive game with the Reapers, reacting to their moves but making none of my own. For the moment we're still making progress towards the bunker in Seattle (only just through, we're making a long detour to get there). At least I've (mostly) managed to find out why the Justicar is here in the first place. We've had plenty of time to talk while hiding from the enemy.

"I came here because the Code demands that I help protect the innocent."

"That's it? Don't get me wrong I appreciate the assist but you ran headfirst into one of the most dangerous places in the galaxy right now."

"When the Code was written no enemy as powerful as the Reapers had ever been imagined much less seen. But the Code is clear, that there is no consideration regarding an enemy of this size or strength does not release us from our Oaths."

"So have the other Justicars come here as well?"

"When the news of this war was first announced many of the order met on Thessia, the first meeting of the Justicar Order in many centuries to discuss the situation."

"You reacted remarkably quickly then. From what I hear many of those on unaffected worlds are still trying to come to terms with what's happening."

"The Justicar Samara had already warned us of what Commander Shepard believed was coming. She confirmed that what she had seen personally during her time as a member of his crew supported his story so we began preparations for what was coming."

"You believed her just like that?"

"She is a Justicar, to lie to us would have been one of the ultimate crimes of our Order and would have meant her death. In any case we knew her to be trustworthy and loyal."

"Still it's just surprising to hear you believed the story so readily. If the Council had taken the same approach we might not be in this mess."

"There is no point in discussing what might have been. A warrior must-"

At this point we had to move on to find another foxhole to hide in, the one we abandoned was overrun by Husks about half an hour later.

"So, you never did tell me what was decided at that meeting."

"I was not able to attend in person but was apprised of its outcome. The Code made it clear that we had to oppose the Reapers and defend those they prey upon. For a while it was suggested that we should stand together in this greatest and possibly final challenge of our Order."

"And?"

"Even if we gathered our full strength in one battle we would be no match against the Reapers. Worse we would offer them an opportunity to destroy the entire Order in a single attack. In any case it is in our nature to fight alone."

Alone? I couldn't help noticing she had arrived with almost two dozen others but I didn't ask about it in case I offended the Justicar.

"Makes sense, so what did you decide to do instead?"

"Our Order was divided into groups, each group would be sent to a different objective but ultimately each Justicar would still fight alone as tradition dictates."

"So where did each group get sent? I assume at least one was Earth?"

"One group was indeed sent to the Sol system, another was sent to Palaven to fight the Reaper occupation there, a third was dispatched throughout the various colony worlds to slow the Reaper advance and the final group, the largest of all remained behind in Asari space to prepare defenses for the expected invasion."

"What about Khar'shan?" I asked referring to the only other occupied home world that Lara hadn't mentioned. She curled her lip at my question, obviously displeased.

"Two Justicars were dispatched to the Batarian homeworld though I argued against it strongly."

"You didn't want them to go there? Why not?"

She stared at me for a moment, her pale blue eyes shining brightly as they reflected the torchlight.

"I was there just a few days ago. Just prior to the invasion in fact and nothing I saw there made me think they deserved our protection. Their regime is evil incarnate, a temple to greed, slavery and thuggish cruelty. I saw every means by which a sentient being could be stripped of hope and dignity. Now that the Reapers have arrived it must be much like the place you humans refer to as hell."

A powerful description although I feared it was likely accurate. Information about the Batarian homeworld was scarce but many suspected it might be like this. That's not to say all Batarians are evil, far from it but the Hegemony was a brutal totalitarian government. One of their most common complaints was that laws banning slavery impinged on the 'cultural rights' of their race. It was sickening but unfortunately (or possibly luckily given the mess it could cause) it wasn't the responsibility of the Alliance to try to change an entire species.

I thought back to the Drell I saw on the ship, dressed in rags.

"Your crew, are they?"

"People I freed from the Batarian homeworld yes. My target was actually the slaver, a warlord with an outstanding warrant for attempted genocide on his head. Unfortunately he was cunning, he engineered a situation where the code demanded I save innocents rather than pursue him. Once I rescued them I realized I would have to keep them with me for the time being. The warlord had made a point of ensuring most of the slaves had nothing left to go back to. A means of discouraging escape and making sure that no one raised the alarm after they were taken."

"So they they couldn't go back home and you... Adopted them?"

"Of course not, Justicars are forbidden from having a family, they are innocents I'm sworn to protect nothing more.

To my mind Lara responded just a little too quickly to that one. Still I'm not bound by the Justicar Code and I certainly don't see any reason to call her out on showing some compassion.

"Well I don't see anything wrong with-, Actually let's get moving again, Harbinger's getting a little too close for comfort."

We moved on in silence trying to find somewhere else to hide. In the darkness it was difficult to pick a safe route and the tension was starting to make all of us jumpy. Eventually we opted for breaking into a nearby house, it felt safer than continuing to blunder around in the dark.

"So how many Justicar's were sent here? I don't see any more among your crew, did they not make it?"

"Each Justicar traveled to this world separately so as the maximize our chances of some of us reaching the surface, twenty eight of us in total. We planned to each land in different countries and begin working against the enemy."

"And you hoped to find me? I'm just guessing because one of your crew recognized me instantly."

"I have a weakness for trying to aid seemingly impossible heroic causes, a trait most Justicar share. When I heard you had chosen to stay behind to protect Earth, I knew where I would try to get to."

"Well I'm honored to have your support Justicar. We can discuss more of the details later, assuming any of us survive the night."

We remained in that house until dawn finally broke over the outskirts of the city but our situation was still as precarious as ever. They hadn't found us yet but their methodical (if slow) search meant that once they reached this position the chances of hiding were nonexistent. We could try to keep moving and stay ahead of the Reapers but I was concerned by the risk of detection each time we were forced to move on. We might get lucky once or twice but we would only have to be unlucky once to get us all killed, or worse captured.

"We need a plan for getting out of here, options?"

I looked around the room but there were no replies at first.

"There might be something assuming it's still there."

"What is it Daniels?"

"Almost all the Cerberus equipment confiscated from the Normandy was brought to Vancouver for analysis, except for one item that was brought to a facility about a mile from here. Assuming that its still standing of course."

"We're still a few miles from the main city, there's a fair chance it was outside the blast radius, what are we looking for?"

"The M-44 Hammerhead prototype."

"What is this 'Hammerhead' of which you speak?" asked Lara.

"An armored vehicle designed and built by Cerberus. Much faster and more maneuverable than a Mako but it sacrifices amour to achieve it." I explained.

"The speed might be more use than amour against a Reaper but we'd never make it far before they caught us."

"But I might be able to draw them away from you."

A silence fell over the whole group at this moment.

"I can't allow you to do that Daniels, I made the call on this mission, I caused this mess. I won't let you throw your life away for that mistake."

"It was the right call to make, you saved eighteen lives. Not to mention protecting the locations of the other Justicar on Earth if they had captured Lara."

"I would never betray my sisters like that," said Lara.

"Remind me to tell you about indoctrination sometime," I muttered.

"Daniels, if you try this you will die, do you understand that? Or you'll be turned into one of those monsters and sent against us."

"I know that but if I don't then we might all end up like that. If I take the Hammerhead out and drive away at full speed the Reapers might assume its an attempt to get the key members of the team to safety and come after me. That'll give you enough time to get away and the Reapers will back to square one. Besides if we don't shake them now we'd only wind up leading them to the Colonel's front door."

"He has a point Admiral," said Lara.

I sighed, admittedly Daniels plan was sensible (in that it would achieve its goal of saving the rest of us) and he was right that if the Reapers kept this up there was a real risk of our death or capture (and if captured we'd expose the resistance and Justicar Order).

"We'll head for that location. If no one else has any better ideas by the time we get there then we'll draw lots to decide who is going to pilot the Hammerhead."

We headed out in silence, each contemplating the sacrifice that lay ahead of us. For my part I wrestled with the idea of insisting that I pilot the thing myself. I knew it was madness, that the whole plan had been designed to keep myself and Lara out of enemy hands and that to risk that to avoid losing another soldier would be selfish. At the same time I knew I was the only one (aside from Lara) who might be able to pull this off and live to tell the tale. If I could get their attention, get far enough away and then ditch the Hammerhead and go into hiding? Not completely impossible but the odds were against it. Giving up on this I settled in for the grim march to the Alliance R&D lab where the Hammerhead had been stored.

An officer, any officer has to tell themselves that the life of every person under their command is equal. It's one of the first rules we're taught and the most important. It's one of the things that makes it so difficult for an officer to form any sort of relationship with their men. You can talk about how we can't afford to be one of them. That we have to stand apart to retain respect but the main reason is so that we don't have to look a friend in the eye before ordering them to their deaths. In this instance I wasn't ordering Daniels to do anything but I knew it would haunt me just as much. I understood that this needed to happen but being older and wiser didn't make me any happier about it, in truth it just hurt all the more.

We reached the base without meeting any resistance but our pursuers were catching up behind us. I figured at our current pace we wouldn't have long to get this done. The base itself was severely damaged, the door had been torn wide open, the walls were pockmarked with bullet holes and the area was littered with corpses (only Reaper troops thankfully, although I dread to think what was done with the human casualties). The base had either been abandoned or its entire garrison had been wiped out. For a moment I wondered if we had had a wasted trip but as we got inside it was clear the Reapers hadn't stopped long enough to pick the place clean of supplies. There were ammo crates and weapons available, hopefully that also meant the Hammerhead would be here somewhere too.

But useful supplies weren't the only thing the men and women here had left behind. As I continued to look around I saw plenty of small hints about their lives. The labs were spotlessly clean but the cafeteria was a mess, the sides strewn with empty beer cans and discarded takeaway meals. On one of the lockers there was a post it note from someone named Steve asking Andrew if he wanted to grab a drink at the bar that night. I wondered for a moment if they had actually gone and if either one of them was still alive.

"It's still here," I heard someone call out.

"Make sure it's still operational or it'll be a really short ride for whoever ends I'm driving this thing."

"What about the rest of us?"

"We'll give the distraction enough time to draw the Reapers away and then we'll make a break for the main resistance base as planned."

"Are you sure we should risk heading there, what if we lead the Reapers straight to it?"

"If the Reapers spot us, we'll all be dead or captured long before we get anywhere near the base. If this distraction is going to have any effect at all then we need to get far away from here quickly and disappear for several days. It's the only way the hunt will get called off."

At that point there was a massive explosion nearby. We all rushed to the windows to see Harbinger had just blown something up (a refueling station I think from the noise) and enemy troops were moving in to search the nearby streets. At this point I just assumed that we'd had it. I thought we were just moments away from being killed or captured. We watched the Reaper troops patrolling, trying to keep them all in sight so we could work out our escape route.

We never noticed that Daniels had left until we heard a crash as the Hammerhead smashed its way out the side of the building in a shower of bricks and mortar. The Reaper soldiers reacted quickly and opened fire on it but despite being useless against actual Reapers the amour could withstand small arms fire for a while. And apparently no one had informed the Reaper troops that it was equipped with heat-seeking missiles. The first barrage tore through the enemy ranks and drove them into a swift retreat. Then Harbinger came forward, it's first shot barely missing Daniels. He didn't hang about to wait for a second shot. Instead driving off like a bat out of hell, he pushed the Hammerhead to its limits to try and stay ahead of the incoming fire.

We watched as it disappeared into the distance, pursued by that hulking death machine and an entourage of Harvesters. Daniels only chance now was that Harbinger wouldn't risk a direct shot as it still seemingly believed I was aboard the vehicle.

Finally we had a chance to make our escape and so with a final thank you to Daniels, we ran.