Log 29
Date: 14TH DEC 2186
Location: OSLO, NORWAY
Well I'm alive. Alone now but still alive for the time being though I can see Reaper footsoldiers patrolling the streets below. I don't know where the rest of the Resistance is right now but I'm sure they'll be alright. Their strength is the only thing that got us through the darkness but proud as I am I'm tired of the Reapers always smashing us apart. If I ever make it to London I swear I'm going to find some way to make Harbinger pay.
When last I wrote Harbinger had just caught our trail and was pursuing us through the tunnels. Collapsing the station had bought us time but not much of it. I dictated that last entry while on the run, truthfully I thought I was recording my final words. We kept that pace for three hours but eventually we had to stop and take a rest. We hadn't seen any sign of pursuit through the tunnels (yet) but we could hear the foghorn blasts of the Destroyers and Capital ships above us.
We pressed on as soon as we could, pushing ourselves and those under our command but there was no way to get ahead of the Reapers this time. They were so close now that they could've used their weapons to burn their way into the tunnel if they weren't so concerned with keeping me alive. They still want my knowledge about Commander Shepard and they probably also wanted to capture Lara so they could force her to tell them where to find the rest of the Justicar on Earth.
In many ways it's ironic, the pair of us were responsible for drawing the Reapers attention to the group and yet our presence was the only thing preventing them from vaporizing us. I briefly toyed with the idea of trying to make a deal of some sort with them. Afterall I still doubt that what I know will be of much use to the Reapers even if they don't realize it. I could try to trade the information for a way out for my men but the problems would be insurmountable.
The Reapers don't respect us, don't consider us a threat of any kind. The first of their kind we ever encountered, Sovereign called us 'Rudimentary creatures of blood and flesh' and as far as I can tell nothing we've done since has changed their minds. Attempting to approach them to make a deal would be an invitation to attack. Given their vastly superior capabilities, direct assault will always their preferred means of attaining their goals. As Shepard himself said at the start of the war 'We fight or we die'. In this struggle there are no other options.
So we press on, day after day in the darkness, barely sleeping, eating as little as possible in an effort to preserve our precious supplies. Frustratingly our increased pace doesn't seem to be getting us any closer to the next station. Xi Chan keeps trying to assure us that the St. Petersburg one must be coming up soon but it's a line many are getting tired of hearing. In truth if Xi's calculations were correct we should have reached by now. Most likely it was in fact the station we buried under rubble but we can't be certain.
Every day we saw the fear growing among the group. Not of the enemy but of being trapped down here, of dying before we ever get to see the sun again. The officers continue to perform admirably, doing everything they can to boost morale but it's ineffective now. You can tell a soldier that you have a plan to beat a dangerous enemy but you can't convince them that the food won't run out. Usually I don't lie to those under my command unless ordered to, now I can hardly stop the lies spilling from my mouth every time I hear them voicing their concerns. I'm not happy about it but nothing good can come of telling them just how bad it really is.
Every one of us has grown to hate the tunnel. It's always hatefully cold down here which dampens our spirits considerably. We've found that some sections are partially flooded so that we're left walking for hours in ankle deep water (when planning this trip I didn't anticipate trench foot becoming a concern). Even with the torches we have available the darkness is everywhere, playing tricks on our eyes and our minds. The side tunnels that branch away from the main passage look like black pits, impossible to see into until you're close. We're constantly on high alert for ambushes that might come out of the shadows.
Sleep is usually the hardest part of our days here. Most members of the group have experienced at least a few nightmares during our time down here. There's something raw and primal about the fear this place generates and at night our imaginations run wild with it in vivid, terrifying detail. I've dreamt of battles that never took place, of being ambushed in these tunnels by monsters that shift constantly taking many grotesque forms. I've watched people I care for be ripped apart in front of my eyes; Daniels, Lara, Xi Chan and even people who aren't on earth like Kahlee or Jason. Our nightmares match our reality so closely now that its almost becoming difficult to remember which is which. As the days become weeks it all starts to blur together and I have to concentrate to remember which parts are real.
In an odd way the only reprieve we now have from fear is the enemy. We've come across scouts and small checkpoints held by Reaper forces. Far as we could tell these troops were already here before we arrived in this godforsaken place. A low level presence to keep an eye on the area in other words. Certainly nothing in comparison to what we were soon likely to find lying in wait for us. But these small battles distract our troops from the more serious issues. On the sixth day the only smiles I saw were while celebrating the defeat of a particularly large checkpoint. I didn't see any after that, the Reapers were starting to rack up casualties.
At first the shift in tactics was unnoticeable. We still came across isolated units but now they were acting aggressively, laying traps, preparing ambushes. The attacks were never aimed at Lara or myself but the rest of the group were fair game. It was hard to say what or who might be behind the new approach but my guess was Harbinger. It seemed it was directing a sustained campaign designed to break us, to make it easier to capture me. In the next few days several members of the resistance received injuries. Then the day came when we started losing people to the tunnels.
It was the morning of the fifteenth day of our trek when they hit us again. I was marching near the front with Xi Chan, his team and Daniels (he was recovered enough to walk but still vulnerable as was proven the day before when two Husks jumped him out of the shadows. I managed to pull them off him but not before they caused even more damage).
"So then my other cousin was still lobbying to get onto the research team to Heshtok-" Xi Chan was saying. He was telling one of many stories he had from his extended family to try and lighten the mood. I was trying to pay attention but Xi seemed to have so many cousins I couldn't really keep up, also not helping was this strange tapping sound I couldn't quite place.
"Hang on, didn't you say she was the one that accidentally pressed the release hatch on the containment module of a captive Yahg?"
"No, no that was my cousin Shena and it was really wasn't her fault she was bumped into by a very rude-"
"Quiet," I called out. "I can hear something."
The tapping had indeed gotten louder and more repetitive. Like several things banging against the metal rails in quick succession. I scanned down the passageway with my torch but saw nothing approaching. I spotted a side tunnel and checked it out but it too was devoid of any activity. I stepped inside and scrutinized it more closely looking for anything that could explain it. The sound of a scream brought me racing back to the main tunnel.
When I arrived the creatures were already everywhere, in amongst our people, hacking, stabbing and biting. I couldn't tell what they were, the darkness hid their features but they fought with a savagery I'd never seen before. I heard a shriek from above and saw one of them clinging to the roof of the tunnel. It seemed able to hang there just like a fly on the wall but this one wasn't waiting around for long. It hissed and leapt down on top of me.
It landed on my back, knocking me to the ground. My torch broke as I fell and left us in total darkness with it's weight on top of me. It was lighter than I would've expected and as I rolled over throwing it off my back I caught my first proper glimpse of it. I activated my omniblade which threw a dull red light over the creature.
My first reaction was that it looked like a demon. Oh the red light didn't help obviously but then neither did the claws or the grinning maw of pointed teeth. It was skinnier than I had expected, instead of muscle it had a wiry sinews that gave it strength. It snarled like an angry dog and threw itself at me once again. Desperately I put my blade between us and blocked its slashing claws before it could cut me to shreds. With my free hand I pulled out my pistol and tried to shoot it but it darted away too quickly, jumping onto the walls, the ceiling, other people even in its efforts to stay ahead of me.
I stood up for a moment trying to get a clear shot but was quickly knocked down again by the chaos around me as resistance members tried to fight off these crazed assailants. Within seconds I found myself in the same predicament as I was jumped by another one of them.
This time we fought at close quarters, it trying to claw my eyes out, me with my hand around its throat hoping it could actually be suffocated. I groaned in pain as the creature sunk a set of claws into my shoulder but it gave me the opening I needed to drive my blade into its bony chest. It screamed in my face and struggled even more fiercely (if that's even possible) but a few more stabs put an end to it.
I lay there briefly dazed before taking a quick stock check. I was hurt but not critically (though who knows how long that would last if I had to go a few more rounds with the living blender), I still had plenty of ammo left not that it was going to be any use right now. Oh and my shields were still at 100% I noted with amusement. As they were only designed to active to deflect high speed projectiles or directed energy weapons they weren't even scratched by the claws. Of course that did mean they wouldn't be depleting anyone else's shields either...
An idea suddenly came to mind. It was crazy, reckless, even bordering on insane but if the alternative was this nightmarish battle I was all for it.
"Grenades!" I called out before tossing several into the nearby area. Those around me (that weren't currently fighting for their lives) looked at me as if I'd gone nuts but one or two understood and followed my example (or they were just blindly following orders).
"Shields everyone!" I called out.
"I don't have any!" Came a terrified call from nearby.
Horrified I turned see Cadet Smith standing with her back against the tunnel wall with three of the creatures surrounding her.
Without thinking I charged straight towards her. Something leapt at me as I ran but a vicious backhanded swing from my omniblade knocked it flying. I reached the girl just as the first of the explosives was going off, tackling her to the ground so that she was protected beneath my shields. Explosions thundered around us and rocked the tunnel as we lay there, hugging the tunnel floor and waiting for it to end.
In the end my 'plan' worked much as I'd hoped it would. I'd guessed correctly that the creatures, like Husks didn't have personal shields so wouldn't have any protection against (or means of dodging) the explosions. Whereas our side's shields weren't affected by their efforts to rip us to pieces and at full strength they would be able to cope with the explosive force of a grenade.
After it was over few of the creatures still remained alive and many of those still standing were badly wounded. The rest quickly fell to our superior numbers. In an odd way I started to feel sorry for them as they were surrounded and kicked to death by an angry mob. Obviously it had to be done, they were Reaper troops and would keep attacking until they were stopped. And you could scarcely blame our side for their anger and frustration after more than two weeks trapped underground. Still I took no part in the killings and my own feeling once it was done was one of relief. Maybe it was just the one-sidedness of the fight, the lack of dignity for what had presumably once been people.
To try and find out what kind of people I took Xi Chan to one side to examine one of the creatures.
"Remind you of anything?" I asked.
"Actually they do seem rather familiar," he replied surprising me.
"Hard to imagine what the Reapers did to these poor souls to leave them looking like this."
"Actually I don't believe their appearance was altered too radically."
"What?" Even in the brighter torchlight it really did look like a demon. At first I couldn't imagine what Xi was getting at but then I caught on.
"The Vorcha?"
"It appears so, Admiral."
"Things must be going worse on Heshtok than the Alliance last told us about." I reasoned.
"Mind you that was over two weeks ago now, who knows how bad things have gotten in the meantime? We have to get out of this tunnel Xi."
"I've had a thought about that. We can discuss it in a moment but first things first, what're we gunna call these ones?" he said trying to lighten the mood.
"Harbinger's newest pets?" I couldn't say exactly why I blamed Harbinger for this latest nightmare but I felt sure he was responsible.
"They were sent to hunt us down so how about the Hunters?"
"No," I replied. What was it the Reapers had said when they first revealed their existence? 'I am the Vanguard of your destruction'.
"We'll call them Vanguard, to remind us that they're just the first wave of whatever Harbinger has planned for us."
Later Xi Chan discussed his suspicions with me and the rest of the senior members of the Resistance. It was the first time I'd felt hope in a long time. We had lost people that day, five in total to the Vanguard but if Xi was correct this time then we were actually much further ahead than we'd ever realized. According to him we must have gone straight past St Petersburg on the train. Which would make the station we were forced to collapse Helsinki (yeah whatever you thought when I saw the sign 'Hel' and overlooked it was what got said at the meeting).
Of course simply knowing that we had almost reached our destination still presented another issue for us. We knew for certain Harbinger would be waiting for us at the next station with an army. Most likely it's plan had always been to wear us down slowly in the tunnels and then ambush us at the end of our journey. We argued over different options for several hours while we marched but in the end there was only one option. I certainly wasn't happy about it but with our food reserves about to dry up completely we had no choice. So, step one? Charge.
Now it would be a waiting game to know exactly when that would happen. Two more days passed both without incident and without seeing any sign of our destination. It wasn't until the day after, the day Xi Chan had predicted we would arrive that things started to happen. On that morning we entered an area that marked the approach of the station. Maintenance tunnels intersected the main line at several points creating a honeycomb of hiding places.
As we moved through that area we could sense the crowd getting agitated. They knew enough from our briefings to spot the signs that we were almost out, they anticipated ambushes from every side tunnel, they knew what we might face at the station. A mixture of excitement, fear and dread gripped the whole group on the final leg of our journey.
I couldn't really tell you when or why people started running. As the morning wore on I noticed people were increasing their pace and soon I was jogging to keep up. I guess it was just instinct, the way prey seems to automatically know when there's a predator in the area. As we picked up speed a Husk burst into view from one of the adjoining tunnels and charged at us. I gunned it down with a single shotgun blast but moments later a second, then a third, then a forth emerged.
It was the same story throughout our convoy, Husks and Vanguard began emerging from every tunnel, throwing themselves at us from all sides. We gunned them down but their ranks were replenished as quickly as we could destroy them. Worse yet, the tunnel in front of us was being filled by still more of them. Our defenders too busy warding the sides to prevent the build up ahead.
Still we kept charging, straight into their waiting ranks. I was at the front dealing with the brunt of the first wave. I gunned one down easily then used my omniblade to stab a second in the throat before a third dived at me. The force of it almost knocked me down (if I had fallen I'd have been finished as the group raced on, leaving me trapped with the horde surrounding us.) but I managed to grab its neck and rip the thing off me. I'll admit to a certain satisfaction when I threw it to the ground and stomped on its head.
The Husks were falling easily but the Vanguard were another story entirely. Moving quickly helped negate their advantage somewhat but only the Asari seemed to be able to really stop them. Their biotics could leave them floating in the air, helpless and immobile. I saw Lara do that to five Vanguard with a wave of her hand then move through them, a pistol in each hand. She shot them all down and three on the ground in the blink of an eye. A Husk swung at her but she rolled underneath and came back up with a swift shot to the back of its head.
But the more progress we made the harder things got for us, there were more side tunnels as we closed on the station but far worse was what lay ahead. The tunnel was widening and now in front of us we saw at least six or seven Brutes waiting for us.
"Theirs but to do or die," I muttered to myself but outwardly I yelled
"Let's take them!"
Luckily the Brutes size meant that for the first time the troops at the center of our group had a target they could easily hit. As we closed with them every gun available poured fire against these giants. Shotgun blasts aimed for their legs trying to bring them down, snipers went for the eyes if they could and assault rifle fire fell like rain across their entire bodies.
As we drew close it turn to blade work, trying to use our smaller size to evade their attacks long enough to deliver a damaging blow. A technique Daniels demonstrated perfectly as he ducked under one of the swinging arms and neatly stabbed a Brute in the throat before nimbly stepping aside as it fell. The rest of of were slightly less flashy (don't get me wrong I'm very proud of Daniels), hacking at their legs as we passed to bring them down so those behind us could finish them off.
As we charged through we acted like a single well drilled unit, covering each others backs. When a Vanguard landed on Daniels back, knocking him to the ground Coats blew it away with a shotgun blast and helped him to his feet. When I was trapped against a wall by an onrushing Brute Lara blasted it back with biotics giving me a chance to finish it. We protected each other wherever we could, watched each others backs but while the speed and ferocity of our assault got many of us through I knew there were many who weren't being so lucky. We fought to save every soul we could but still our losses were mounting.
Finally we saw the station stretching out in front of us and it was everything we feared. The platform was bristling with Cannibals and Marauders with assault rifles all aimed at us. Behind them a line of Ravagers with their cannons at the ready and behind that Harbinger's latest puppet, surrounded by more of those Asari creatures. And between us and all of that, the disorganized mass of Husks, Vanguard and Brutes we hadn't killed yet. A complete army of all Reaper units, replete with it's own general and his bodyguards.
Onwards we charged, undaunted by the numbers of our enemy, firing every step of the way. Those on the tracks we cut down easily, disorganized and disorientated as they had become in the fighting thus far. But far greater damage was done to their ranks by their own side. So great was their desire to crush us the Reaper forces on the platform opened fire on everyone still below, paying no mind to the Reaper units slaughtered in their efforts to kill us.
Still we charged into the station, our shields buckling and burning under the hailstorm of incoming fire. So great was our haste that many Husks went unharmed as we tore past towards the platform. The first of us to reach it surged up the ramps but our numbers were too great, the ramps filled with soldiers trying to force their way through the enemy line, bogged down in hand to hand fighting.
I ran to the platform edge and grabbed a Marauder by the leg, hauling him down to the tracks. Others followed my example and soon the Reapers were forced to fall back out of reach, offering us a slight reprieve. A grenade landed at our feet but Coberg snatched it up and threw it straight back. Using the platform as cover we maintained limited fire with the Marauders, stopping them from advancing.
Our biggest issue now was the Ravagers, they weren't able to hit those of us hidden behind the platform but once they maneuvered into position those on the ramps would soon be at the mercy of their cannons. We'd already lost a lot of good people, if we were forced from the ramps it was unlikely we'd have the strength for another assault. It didn't help that we'd left Husks alive in the haste of our charge either. At one point I was so focused on the battle ahead I only realized I was about to be jumped when Coats blew the head off a Husk that was about three feet behind me.
At that moment Lara and her fellow Asari chose to act, demonstrating just how much she'd really taught them over the past months. Using biotics they launched themselves into the air, high above the battlefield. For a moment they hung there and quite absurdly for a moment I found myself thinking of synchronized divers (they really did have that poise and grace). A moment later they unleashed a wave of biotic strikes across the ranks of the Ravagers, blowing them apart. Damage done, they landed on the far side of the platform and cut off from the rest of us ran to the nearby buildings for cover.
Several units peeled off from the bulk of the army to charge the Justicar's position but Harbinger angrily (can Reapers get angry?) ordered them back into position with a sweep of its hand. Instead he gave a signal to his bodyguards to move in. At first nothing happened and it seemed they'd ignored Harbinger's order but then there was a sudden flash and they were twenty meters closer to their target. Another flash took them even closer and as the frequency increased they were soon rapidly closing on Lara. I was taken aback by their speed but Lara quickly rallied her troops and sent a biotic barrage back at these new horrors. But the attacks only glanced off their biotic barriers and still they kept on coming. As one of them shrieked (a sound that almost drove me to my knees it was so piecing) I saw Lara showing doubt for the first time.
I looked around aghast at the the scene of carnage in front of me. Our original plan, to quickly break through the enemy lines and flee into the city, was falling apart. Now all our forces were bogged down in close quarters fighting barely able to move forward at all. The resistance was fighting well but I could already see it was hopeless. Harbinger would call in more reinforcements soon enough a finish us off completely. To give us even a hope of surviving I had to act, in fact I had to do something completely crazy.
Acting before I had a chance to doubt my plan I quickly climbed onto the platform, scrambled to my feet and charged the enemy head on. One man alone against roughly a hundred Cannibals dead ahead and god knows how many more elsewhere. It felt like suicide, making that run but there was method in my madness.
As I charged no shots were fired and at first no one tried to stop me. The Reaper units didn't know how to react, afterall my shields were down and they had orders not to kill me. I made it through their lines (having shot afew to make a hole big enough). Now the troops on the ramp were peeling away in droves, focused on cutting me off from the main group.
The resistance was quick to take advantage, pushing forward into the gaps left by Reapers too busy chasing me. As their ranks thinned they lost the momentum of the battle and control of several ramps where they had bottle necked our forces. Where a few moments ago it had looked hopeless now the Reaper army was being rapidly swept aside opening gaps that allowed several of our people to make their escape in the chaos.
That had always been our plan from the beginning, to break out of whatever trap Harbinger had waiting for us and scatter into the city beyond. No matter how many resources he had pulled to aid his hunt we doubted he'd be able to track hundreds of different groups all at once. Once we broke out no one was to stop or try and rejoin the others until they'd made it to London.
A good plan in theory but it looked like I might not be able to join them. The area around me was now more filled with Reaper forces than anywhere else in the station. I backed up as much as I could, still firing at the Reapers but in truth my efforts were barely making a difference, I took down several of them but their advanced continued heedlessly.
Harbinger strode towards the front of the crowd as they closed on all sides. His strategy had ultimately succeeded, the rest of the Resistance be damned, he finally had me cornered.
"You are required. Surrender to our power."
I was conflicted, maybe if I surrendered the Reapers would agree to give my men an extra day to escape?
"I-"
I got no further than that. Biotic explosions ripped the center of their lines apart. I saw Harbinger tossed aside like a ragdoll. With no desire to follow him I rushed through the opening towards Lara's group waiting on the other side.
"Thanks,"
"It's him you should be thanking," Lara replied. I looked to where she was indicating and saw Daniels. He was wounded again, an Asari had to stay with him to help him remain standing.
"He killed those wailing monsters, gave us a chance to come back you up."
"We need to get out of here now."
Lara shook her head in disagreement.
"You go, we'll cover the retreat as best we can."
I rushed over to Daniels side.
"Let me take him."
The Asari nodded and draped his arm round my neck so I could support him. We set off as fast as we could, it wasn't easy moving quickly with Daniels in tow but the Justicar managed to keep any Reapers from pursuing us. The last I saw of them they were slowly falling back, using massive biotic blasts to keep the enemy from regrouping.
It was chaos outside with Resistance fighters fleeing in all directions. There were more Reaper forces outside but it seemed that for once they had underestimated our determination to break free. They still had drones and Harvesters in the sky but no Capitol ships or Destroyers in place to track us properly. Our people broke into separate squads to make their way severally to London. With each individual group being so small that the Reapers lost track of them almost the moment they dropped out of sight.
As for myself and Daniels? Well we made it to a house a few blocks away from the station. We're there right now, hiding in the attic. Last time I checked there was a Marauder and six Cannibals in the street below. Daniels is in a bad way again; those screaming harpies had claws that could punch straight through armor plating. I've done what I can for him for the time being.
No sign of any of the others, though I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing. We heard sounds of gunfire about an hour ago, not sure if it was the resistance or locals. Whoever they were I hope they managed to get away. Tomorrow I try to find a way back to London. Wish me luck.