HOLOCAUST

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

THE NAME OF A HERO PART TWO

June 21, 2186

1536 hours.

Tomkah Krogan Armoured Personnel Carrier, Moving Along Hagalok City Ruins Western Highway towards Hagalok City Ruins Harbour, Que'k Wastelands, Tuchanka.

The Reaper War, Krogan DMZ Campaign: The Tuchankan Raids.

Chieftain Urdnot Wrex, Lord Companier Urdnot Grunt, Military Advisor Garrus Vakarian, Second Lieutenant James Vega, Professor Mordin Solus, Eve.

Wrex let out a low growl as he drove the Tomkah, his driving leaving much to be desired. There were times where he had to swerve out of the way to avoid an obstacle or some kind of dangerous object. The two tomkahs behind them had trouble keeping up or not smashing into his vehicle every time he made a sharp turn. Hope Shepard doesn't find out. Don't want him to know he has a friend on the 'can't drive' wagon. Although the idea that Wreav had a hard time keeping up brought him some amusement. At least seeing that pyjak suffer is some consolation.

Still, he had to make sure he drove more tactfully if he wanted Eve and Mordin to leave this tank alive. Eve was krogan but not invincible, and salarians were almost as fragile as glass, which meant Mordin, even as hardened a combatant that he was, wouldn't be able to suffer much punishment.

Grunt sat in the seat next to him, and the rest of Marcus' team made their appreciation of his driving known. Or rather, lack of. If anyone could triple the jerkiness of the tomkah, it was Wrex. Or just any krogan in general. They were crazy drivers, afterall.

"Would be best if alive," Mordin remarked, "Little use dead."

He snarled, swerving around another corner, "I'm aware of that!"

He kept swerving until he bent around one final corner. He easily recognized the area below and slammed his foot on the brakes, causing the Tomkah to abruptly stop, and everyone in the back to shift forwards momentarily with the momentum, before returning to normal positioning.

The once proud Hagalok City Harbour was shaped like a U, a place where once water had flowed through and ships had docked; now it was sand, bits of rotted anchors and the remnants of dissolved boats buried underneath. In the middle of the U was a massive krogan statue wielding a sword, shooting it high into the sky in victory; a relic of the ancient Que'k War between the city-states of Hagalok and Trisek'lok. Hagalok had come out victorious, and the Blood Pact that bound them together lasted well into the Glory Age, and then until the Tuchankan Nuclear Fallout. Now both cities were gone; mere ruins who's radioactivity had long since worn off. That statue was the only reminder of that war; that conflict.

"There's the harbour," Wrex pointed, making sure he was loud enough to be heard by the rest of the tomkah. Even as he spoke, two friendly blips on the vehicle's motion tracker indicated that Wreav's tomkah and the tomkah carrying the other half of Shepard's men had arrived behind them, coming to a stop, "That's where we'll meet Shepard."

"Was it really a good idea just leaving loco behind out there? Bluey, too?" James piped up, his voice giving away his uncertainty, "I mean, shouldn't we have gone back for them?"

"Shepard is a tough son of a bitch," Garrus assured, "As for Liara, she'll be just fine. They'll reach the harbour, no problem."

"More to the point is that we are now going to need a plan B," Eve stated, "We all know that the likelihood is that most of the turian fighter wing was destroyed in that attack, and our forces have been segregated. Attacking Vanguard now would be pointless, and we'd achieve nothing in the process."

Wrex sighed, twisting out of the driver's seat and walking into the main troop cabin, frowning, "Well what other option do we have? Vanguard has the entire Shroud locked down, so we're not getting past it without a fight."

"There is another option," Eve stated firmly. Everyone looked to her eagerly, but she frowned, turning to the other occupants with sudden worry in her eyes, "You might not like it."

"We're open to anything at this point," James replied, and Eve simply nodded, knowing that Garrus was in agreement just by looking into his eyes. With a sigh, she leant back, crossing her arms as best she could as she turned to face Wrex.

"I'm sure we've all felt the earthquakes in this area. Tuchanka hasn't suffered them for years, which means the ancient beast is stirring. Tuchanka's rage itself has awaken from its slumber, and it is likely due to Vanguard's arrival. She can sense its hate, its intent to raze this planet...she does not agree. She has awoken."

Wrex's eyes widened, and Grunt's eyes sparkled with delight as he grinned. But Garrus and James were simply confused, and Mordin simply looked taken aback. Eventually, it was Garrus who had to ask, "What do you mean 'Tuchanka's rage itself?' What's weird about a few earthquakes? We have them on Palaven quite alot."

"Earthquakes on Tuchanka are extremely rare due to the space between the tectonic plates. Which means there is only one thing that could cause them. The awakening of the beast herself," Eve turned back to Wrex, "You know I speak of."

Wrex snorted, "Yes, we've had reports that Kalros is on the move. We've heard rumors that standard thresher maws have either stopped appearing in some regions, migrated or actually increased in number in other areas, but that doesn't mean anything. Kalros has been asleep ever since the Fallout. She wouldn't wake up just because one Reaper landed on our planet."

"Wait, Kalros?" Garrus accentuated incredulously, the turian's jaw practically dropping, "As in, the Mother of all Thresher Maws?"

Wrex sighed, nodding, "The very same one. She's well over a few kilometers long, and she's ten times as large as any thresher maw. She's the only one of her kind, and all krogan worship her as the mother of Tuchanka and our people's slumbering protector. But noone has seen her since the Fallout. Some superstition says the radiation put her to sleep, while others say she taught the krogan a lesson by letting us suffer. I personally think she hid just so she could survive the bombardment. Either way, she hasn't been seen since those times."

"But now she is back. These earthquakes prove it. Only the movement of Kalros could cause such tremors. That skyscraper back on the highway did not collapse on its own. That was Kalros on the move. Some of the Nakmor scouts even reported confirmed sightings of her in the Trisek'lok City Ruins, and that was an area Vanguard was also confirmed to have moved through. She has awoken due to its presence, I'm sure of it."

"So what?" Wrex asked, confused at what she was getting at, "We should be concentrating on dealing with Vanguard, not Kalros waking up. What's any of this got to do with getting past it?"

"We want a distraction? Kalros has given us the perfect one," he swore he saw Eve smile, "During the ancient times, the temples would bang their duo of hammers to call in Kalros from the depths, so that they may be in awe of her glory and sanctity before she sank into Tuchanka's earth once more."

Mordin was quick to offer his scientific explanation, "Easily explained. Thresher Maws react to vibrations in the ground; how they find prey. Kalros merely reacts to vibrations on larger scale; hammers are these vibrations."

"Explain it as you wish, it does not change that Kalros is attracted to them," she turned to Grunt, noticing his smile and nodded, before turning to Wrex, knowing that the supersoldier had figured out her plan already, but Wrex still needed elaboration, "If we can get in close enough to ring the hammers, we can summon Kalros to Vanguard. She has been moving in for the kill for a while, but like all predators, she cherishes the element of surprise. Now she can make her move; Vanguard will be so focused on us, it will not see her coming."

Wrex grinned, "You...you want Kalros to fight Vanguard? The Mother of Tuchanka, fighting a Reaper," he shook his head.

"But wouldn't Kalros lose?" Garrus asked, still curious as to how that would work, "I mean, Vanguard has a thanix cannon and is huge, even for a thresher maw. It has heavy armor, and can fly. Kalros can only bite, shoot acid and slither across the ground."

"Kalros is five times Vanguard's size, and her length is unparrelled," Eve explained, "Even if Vanguard took flight, she could reach out from the ground and pull it from the sky. Vanguard would have to fly very high to escape Kalros' reach. As for the thanix, the Reaper needs to take aim in time; Kalros strikes hard and fast before her prey even knows what is happening; Vanguard would have no time to react. Heavy armor? Kalros weighs several hundred thousand tonnes. She weighs more than an alliance heavy cruiser, and like...I believe humans call them 'snakes'...thresher maws love to wrap themselves around and crush bigger prey. Vanguard's armor would crack and explode from the pressure Kalros could exert. Believe me, Kalros has Vanguard beaten entirely."

James bit his lips and fistpumped in the air, "Finally! A Reaper that is actually outmatched for once!"

"This is all based on actually getting to the Shroud," Wrex pointed out, "That, and we need to tell Shepard."

Garrus chuckled, "Trust me, this is just within his idea of insane. He'll agree to it; probably run head long into it. You know how he is, Wrex."

He krogan chieftain simpy grinned, "Yes, he's like a krogan. I'll have to remember that. Still, its not going to be easy getting to that temple and hitting those hammers. Vanguard is going to challenge us every step of the way."

"That's not the Wrex I remember," Garrus remarked, "The Wrex I know wouldn't give a shit if three thousand Reapers were at the Shroud, he'd still charge straight at them."

The krogan battlemaster nodded, his grin never having left, "You're right, as I hate to admit. And I still would. Guess some of Shepard's caution has worn off on me," he let out a deep exhale of breath before nodding, grabbing hold of the steering wheel with renewed vigour, "Then that's the plan. Pick up Shepard, get to the temple, hit the hammers, then get inside the Shroud while Kalros deals with Vanguard. Got it."

Mordin nodded, gulping slightly, "Now we wait. Hate waiting. Boring exercise. Much prefer to do experiments. Passes time. Stops boredom."

Wrex sighed, leaning into the steering wheel, "Tell me about it."

And now they waited.

"Are we going to move or what?" Came Wreav's voice.

Wrex sighed, as did the rest of the squad, even Mordin and Eve had to exasperate at that point.

It would be a long wait.

{Loading...}

June 21, 2186

1536 hours.

Catacombs, Hagalok City Ruins, Que'k Wastelands, Tuchanka.

The Reaper War, Krogan DMZ Campaign: The Tuchankan Raids.

Captain Marcus Lee Shepard, Shadow Broker Liara T'Soni.

He stepped down again, his bootprint plastered into the previously undisturbed dust of the stone floor, plumes of dust blowing up from the sudden depressurization of his foot landing. Twin beams of lights shot out from the flashlights on both sides of his helmet, lighting up whatever area he looked at. He heard bits of dust and stone clang along the walls as it crumbled from the ceiling, disturbed by the earthquake that had happened moments before.

He stopped, turning around temporarily to check on Liara. The asari was close behind him, leaning to one side and following his every movement. She stopped when she saw him stop, looking up at him wearily. He saw a smile reach her eyes, but he could easily see the slight discomfort in her eyes, even in the darkness.

"Are you sure you're alright?" He asked, "We've still got a ways to go."

She nodded almost desperately, motioning ahead, "Just means we should get out of here quicker. You know as well as I do that just sitting here won't help us. We need to get out of here, wherever here is."

He snorted, turning away as he shouldered his mattock again, placing one foot infront of the other. His flashlight moved along a corner, and he swept along the left, finding nothing but caved in stone and rubble, long settled, the head of a krogan statue poking out and almost comically glaring at him, face frozen in a triumphant growl. Ancient gunshot holes littered the wall, a testament to some ancient battle that had occurred millenia ago. Satisfied the area was checked, he turned forward again, finding a flight of stairs leading up.

"I swear, it was a good idea at the time," Marcus replied, a slight smile on his face as he approached the steps, "Watch the stairs," he added in warning, taking a careful step on the cracked stone before deciding it was safe enough and continuing, "It was better than staying and playing tag with Vanguard."

He stumbled, a crack resounding throughout the corridor, quickly catching himself and steadying his balance. Dust pittered off his helmet as it escaped from cracks in the ceiling, and he turned to check if Liara was okay, the asari quickly waving him off like somekind of annoying insect.

It had been another earthquake, something Marcus and Liara were becoming well acquainted with. They had started off incredibly violent, almost making the both of them panic as a piece of ceiling collapsed, but luckily, it hadn't completely fallen. After that, they had lessened in strength, just becoming tremors afterward. As if the cause was quickly evaporating, or getting further away...

"Should we contact Wrex?" Liara asked as he began to ascend again, adjusting his helmet so that he could see through the visor properly.

He shook his head, "Comms are a mess, can't even get static. Too much stone and concrete ontop of us. We need to get to ground level."

"These tremors just worry me," the asari sighed, groaning as she moved up the steps, ignoring the aggravated pain in her hip, "They didn't start until we left the Hollows."

Marcus didn't respond, clearing the last three steps and reaching the top, only to find another, longer corridor waiting for them, lines of untouched krogan statues lining the wall, holding a long line of weapons, some of them being crude, conventional, 21st Century-esque looking projectile weaponry.

"Please tell me we reached the top," Liara pleaded, her voice sounding desperate and wheezy.

"I'm gonna break it to you," he replied, noting the lack of sunlight ahead, "I don't think we're even close."

An exaggerated sigh was his only answer. Or maybe not so exaggerated.

I think its fully justified. He personally noted, sighing himself as he began to move forward, keeping his rifle firm and his posture rigid and strong, ready for anything that could jump out to attack them. Which he hoped they didn't. Don't want this to be a typical horror flick, do we?

The darkness was totally enveloping in the catacombs. Not even a sliver of sunlight got through unless you were near the top, he presumed, which meant everything was pitch black. The powerful light of his flashlights were the only thing giving them any guidance through its thick cloud.

They were halfway through the corridor when Marcus's flashlight glanced over a wall before moving ahead again, but it was all that was needed to notice something familiar on the wall. He quickly turned back, holding up a closed fist. Liara almost bumped into him before she saw it, instead coming to stop just behind the man.

He pointed to the wall as his flashlight landed on it, looking at it with a mixture of fear and adrenaline, awe and wonder.

It was a painting of four krogan on their knees and holding their arms up, as if in worship. Small buildings were in the background, but barely noticable compared to the towering monstrosity above them.

It was a thresher maw, but of a kind he had never seen before. It had four arms instead of two, a much bigger mouth and its body must have been incredibly long, because when he ran his flashlight along the wall, it didn't end until the end of the corridor itself, and possibly around the corner. Whatever type of thresher maw this was, it was huge.

A leviathan.

Suddenly he remembered the collapsing skyscraper on the highway, and the glimpse of a shadow. Could that have been the monster shown in these pictures? Or was this a long-forgotten krogan myth?

There was a name hovering over the maw, but the Tuchankan it was written in was so ancient that his translators didn't even recognize it as an official language.

"Goddess, that thresher is the biggest I've ever seen," Liara exclaimed, turning to him with barely palpable awe, "Do you think it exists?"

He shrugged, turning away from the wall painting as he moved forward, "You tell me, you're the Shadow Broker."

That got a laugh out of her as she followed behind, "Well, admittedly, I'm not a very good one. Most of my network is either in disarray or dead or deserted me. Either way, I don't think being the Shadow Broker means much anymore."

He scoffed, shaking his head, "You're selling yourself short. You mean alot to the galaxy, Liara, and you still have a chance to do great things. The network isn't the sum of all the Broker's efforts; you're alot more than that."

A weak laugh was her response, "I'll try to believe that."

Silence fell upon both of them, Marcus finding himself at a loss to come up with a witty comeback. They just trudged on, their bodies excavating the darkness with every footfall, clinging onto the hope that they'd find a way out. So far, the catacombs had been nothing but a maze of corridors. Hopefully their venture would yield preferable results on their end.

For Liara, it just meant she could focus on following him out of here.

For him, it allowed previous thoughts to invade his mind once more.

He swallowed, his face darkening, as did his thoughts. Memories of his conversation with the salarian dalatrass echoed in the deep recesses of his mind, clouding his vision with imagery of betrayal, angst and horror. The lines between moral truth and moral falsehood were becoming blurred, he had no idea whether he was doing the right thing or not anymore. And when Wrex found out? Would he...would his hands be covered in the blood of his own friend?

It seems you've made a decision.

He shifted uncomfortably, like an itch on his neck that bugged him, his body twitching in a grimace as goosebumps covered his skin. The scary thing is that I might have.

Now its time to decide if I'm a monster.

You are ours, Shepard.

Even now, we sense your presence. Your adrenaline. You will find no victory on this world. You will fight, and you will die. But only if you resist us. Accept the peace we offer and be done with it.

Serve us, and join in creation itself.

Marcus winced, knowing who the voice belonged to at this point. It didn't have the deep, horrible undertones that Harbinger possessed, but was more pronounced; resonating and seeming to warp through his mind with each word. It was Vanguard who spoke to him this time, not Harbinger. That Reaper was light years away, while Vanguard...he was only a few kilometers.

Go to hell. Marcus growled, the sound so soft that he doubt Liara heard it. I'll meet you there when this is all over.

You will submit to us. You will give in. They always do.

Even you.

Despite this persistence, Marcus felt Vanguard's presence lifting from his mind, giving him clarity once more. Marcus knew what was going on, but he had kept it from his friends. From his family. He had resisted it well so far, but he knew that might not be the case soon. If it got worse...he would tell the crew. And if he became...incapable...if he became dangerous...

Well, there's always an airlock. Or my own rifle. The thoughts were grim and bitter, but they held the truth he sorely needed. Truth was something he was lacking at the moment. A truth to make his coming decision easier to swallow.

Problem is, was he really comfortable with swallowing? And what was he swallowing? Waters of relief, or the blood of friends you murdered?

His mind was at war with itself, and he just didn't know if it would resolve in a fashion he wanted. No matter how he-

"Shepard!" Liara shouted, causing him to halt as he spun to face her, "Sunlight!"

His eyes followed where she was pointing, and she was indeed right. Halfway up the corridor, past a collapsed stone support strut, was a collapsed ceiling, accept that ceiling had been holding back the rays of Aralakh; the debris providing the perfect ladder to the surface that awaited them outside, and, to his total shock, many fern-like plants had grown over the debris outside, like nature reclaiming lost territory. Plant life...on Tuchanka? That's a first.

He had been too wrapped up in his thoughts to have even noticed, he inwardly cursed. Even as he shut off his flashlights and followed Liara as she began to limp faster towards the exit, he gritted his teeth, shaking his head. Goddamn it Marcus, you need to stay focused! Your lack of focus got Jacob killed! Your lack of focus could get Liara killed!

He nodded to her as she stopped, turning to him and cocking her head to the side, frowning at him as she saw him just standing there. He simply nodded, holstering his mattock as he rushed over to join her, eyes wincing from the intense light. Even as he approached however, the light was dimming, his eyesight rejoicing due to the return of light.

Even as he looked at the debris, he knew Liara wouldn't be able to get up there, not with her injured hip. So as carefully as possible, he kneeled down on the rubble, one knee scraping against a piece of concrete rio, placing his hands together as he turned to the asari, "Liara."

The asari turned to him, and then her eyes drifted to his hands. She sighed, smiling warmly at him, before slowly, and methodically making her way over to where he kneeled, placing one foot on his hands.

With all his cybernetic strength at his disposal, he thrusted his hand up as her second foot landed, launching her up insanely high. He heard the biotic almost cry out as she passed the hole up to her waist, wrapping her arms around the edge and her chest hitting the line with a grunt. With all the strength she could muster in just her arms, she pulled herself up and over, moving to safety.

Satisfied she was safely out, he moved up to the debris and began to climb, using whatever handholds he could find to get up.

One hand returned to the surface, followed by another.

His second hand was met by the warm feel of another, which quickly turned into a clasped grip as Liara used both her hands to pull him up, summoning her biotics to lighten the load, encasing him in liquid blue. In no time, he was up and over, rolling over onto his back and getting to his feet, dusting himself off and checking that he was no worse for wear.

"We good, Liara?" He asked as he finished dusting himself, annoyed that he couldn't get rid of a certain scab of dust that had plastered itself to his kneeguard.

He frowned after three seconds when she didn't answer, turning from the scab mark to face her, eyes landing on her back, "Liara? Hello? Are you-"

He stopped, eyes glancing over her shoulder, scanning the area beyond.

The courtyard ahead had been reclaimed by nature almost entirely, ferns and flowers and trees deforming the landscape, orange stone marred by red moss, and once proud pillars and plazas overwhelmed and split apart by nature itself. But pieces of the ground had also sunk in numerous places, caved in, and almost entirely disappeared, leaving black holes leading into whatever abyss awaited below.

But that wasn't what captured their attention, what caused Marcus to come to Liara's side, bringing out his mattock.

It was the fresh, dead corpses that literally littered the entire yard. The corpses of dead Reaper foot soldiers.

When there wasn't dismembered limbs with dried black ichor pooled around them and the limbs themselves, there was mutilated husks, along with numerous melted cadavers, one particular brute tossed uselessly across a piece of stone and lying on its back, its entire chest melted inwards from somekind of acidic substance. Marauders and cannibals lay all around, bodies scythed and black intestines spilling out and sizzling in the sun, while another marauder was totally missing, its legs the only testament to its own, individual existence. And then there was the dead harvester, wings shorn off and head split from the neck and lying on the pavement a few meters away, corpse dry and withering.

Overall, this area had been a slaughterhouse, at least for Vanguard's forces. The both of them couldn't find a single trace of allied activity; not a single dead krogan, not so much as a drop of orange blood. And even krogan couldn't take on a force this large; this force was at least sixty in strength, and from what he could tell, seven brutes had been killed here, along with four harvesters. What ever had done this had incredible firepower backing them.

"What could have done this?" Liara asked, shock clearly in her voice as she turned to him, wide-eyed, "Do you think Wrex's troops came through here?"

He shook his head, "What, and came through with no casualities or a single injury? No, something else did this. Something incredibly powerful."

Mild tremors passed through the ground they were standing on, but then it was gone as soon as it came. But these tremors hadn't been like the larger ones at the highway and in the catacombs. They were weaker, but still strong.

After recovering from his shock of seeing the decimated enemy force, he suddenly remembered that they were now above ground and their comms would be working.

He immediately keyed the comm to Wrex, "Wrex, this is Shepard, do you read me?"

There was a single moment before the krogan responded, a laugh coupling alongside it, "I was wondering when you'd contact us again."

"Sorry, we were underground. Needed to reach the surface to get any connection," he replied, searching the bright orange sky for any indication of the turian fighters. He couldn't find a single trace of them. Vanguard must have shot them all down. Its just us now. With that in mind, he chose his next words carefully, "Wrex...the turian fighters are gone. We've lost our diversion, and I can't see us reaching the Shroud without-"

"Going to stop you right there, Shepard," the krogan abruptly decided, and Marcus thought he could imagine the krogan grinning right now due to the amusement in his voice, "Eve has an insane plan that might just work."

"A plan? I'd love to hear it," Marcus stated, motioning for Liara to move forward. They practically moved as one, Marcus removing his mattock and levelling it down range, letting his palm hold the bottom of the weapon so as to allow fast sweeping of his rifle. They carefully stepped around a hole right infront of them, ducking under the dead brute he had noted before.

"Captain, have you heard of Kalros?" Eve's voice suddenly filled his ears, a large contrast from Wrex's more intimidating, hardened voice. Hers was slightly sweeter, but still had the noticable rough tone that all krogan seemed to possess.

He frowned, nodding, "I've heard Wrex talk about her alot. Somekind of krogan goddess, or something or other." As he finished his sentence, he came to stand again, Liara right behind him with her own SMG levelled, and they moved around a corner, almost freezing to the spot when they heard varren howls in the distance.

He heard Wrex guffawing in the background and even Eve sounded like she was smiling, "You are right in that we revere Kalros Shepard, but she is no god. She is not omnipotent or all powerful; she is a mortal, just like us. But she is incredibly powerful and very close."

"I feel like you're getting to something," Marcus deadpanned, climbing over a crumbled pillar and moving to join Liara as she stepped over the cold cadaver of a shredded husk.

"Kalros is a thresher maw," Eve stated bluntly, "The mother of Tuchanka, and the mother of all threshers, and the biggest creature on this planet."

Marcus felt himself stopping for a moment, his throat suddenly dry, "The mother of all threshers?" Images of Akuze flashed through his mind, and he suddenly felt very dizzy, a cold sweat building on his brow as he remembered a member of his squad being devoured-

"Shepard, are you okay?" Liara's voice swept aside his thoughts, the asari at his side as she worriedly looked into his eyes, "You don't look so good."

"No, no I'm fine," he assured her, waving her off as he ignored the coldness building on his face. He returned to addressing the krogan, "You're telling me that there is something bigger than friggin thresher maws on Tuchanka? What's next, you've got planet-sized fleas?"

"I do not know what a flea is, but I assure you captain, Tuchanka is no stranger to the strange," Eve responded, almost amusingly, "Kalros is Tuchanka's guardian, and our largest inhabitant."

Suddenly, it all made sense. The shadow he had seen. The painting on the wall. Kalros, the Mother of all Thresher Maws. That's what they had been. Kalros was on the move, but why?

Oblivious to his thoughts, Eve continued, "Kalros has been awakened by Vanguard's arrival and is wanting to rid her homeland of it. We must use this to our advantage. From here, I believe we have a plan. We must lure Kalros to Vanguard. Wants she has engaged it in combat, we can enter the Shroud and disperse the cure. And before you lecture me on Vanguard's abilities, we have thought of this and have come to the conclusion that Kalros will win any battle she has with Vanguard, as long as she has the element of surprise, which she will. She is familiar with Tuchanka, Vanguard is not. She will come out on top, and we should leap on this opportunity."

Marcus had visibly stopped, as could be told by Liara turning around in confusion at him, frowning as he seemed to whistle, shaking his head. They want a thresher maw to attack a Reaper? Oh goody, two nightmares in one, fighting each other. Sounds like the ultimate dream, actually.

"Shepard?" Wrex's voice came through the comm, shattering his thoughts, "Should we do it? Once you reach the harbour, should we go through with it?"

He swallowed, licking his lips. It took him a moment to think on it, but in the end, what did they have to lose?

"Do it," he decided, "We'll lure Kalros into attacking Vanguard."

"This is a battle I need to witness!" he heard Grunt cheer in the background, followed by what had to be Wrex's chuckle, the krogan chieftain's voice quickly overriding the supersoldier's amusement.

"There's a temple outside of the Shroud with two hammers. That's how we'll call in Kalros. I'd go into the details, but you don't need to know; only that those hammers need to echo throughout Que'k if we want Kalros to attack."

He nodded, but before he accepted the plan, he spoke again, frowning at the holes around him, "Also, me and Liara just left the catacombs and entered this courtyard. But you won't believe what we found; an entire Reaper force just decimated. And the funny thing? No orange blood or dead krogan, so I don't know who could have done it. But there are holes all over the place."

There was a brief chuckle on Grunt's end, followed by Wrex's response, "Seems Vanguard's angered our inhabitants. Kalros also tends to either create a decrease in threshers when she is around, or a massive increase. In our case, it would appear she's brought her entire nest. Those holes were likely made by thresher maws would the Reapers wrongly decided to piss off."

He gulped, heart-beat quickening, "Wait, thresher maws? As in plural?"

"Yes, Shepard. There are a massive amount more than there usually are when Kalros isn't around. So that means-"

A loud roar cut him off instantly, and he could practically feel the tension on the other end.

He gulped, "What was that?"

There was a moment of silence, shuffling and then a completely voice spoke over the comm, "We'll contact you later, Shepard! We-SHIT! Wrex, could you please drive faster!" Garrus grunted, followed by a yelp of displeasure, "I said DRIVE! NOT CRASHING INTO EVERY WALL YOU CAN FIND!" Suddenly, as if remembering he existed, readdressed him, "See you later, Shepard." And then, the comm cut, giving Marcus no chance to ask what the hell had been going on.

Marcus simply stood there, completely flabbergasted until a titantic roar, practically identical to the one he heard over the radio, resounded through the city walls, freezing Marcus to the spot in terror. His limbs shook, he felt cold sweat building up again and he felt one of his eyes twitch, his whole body feeling jittery. The sound had been too much like a thresher maw. But this one was much more resonating, more powerful, supreme.

It had to be Kalros. The thought made him shudder. He had fought (he preferred to call it survived) a swarm of thresher maws on Akuze, but had watched his entire team get devoured. He was terrified of them, their pitiless gaze always reminding him of his lost men, men who would never see their families again because they died to creatures of nightmares. And now the mother of all of them was nearby, twice their size and three times as horrifying and the most terrifying creature in existence. And he was supposed to get close enough to see the fucker fight a Reaper.

Then let the fear grip you. You want to sabotage the genophage? Then you'll have to get close enough to Kalros to do so. Its the least you fucking deserve.

He sighed, calming himself as he tore his eyes away from what inevitably lay nearby, steeling himself and caging his emotions. He could not allow fear to compromise him; he would not let it happen again, not after Grunt's Rite of Passage. How he had hidden like a coward when the thresher maw arose; incorruptible, a man of strength and power and one of the toughest sons of bitches in the galaxy, and he pissed himself when the mere sound of a thresher maw roar entered his ears. Even Tali's comfort hadn't alleviated his humiliation that day. And he would not let it happen again.

He would not be a coward.

He was no craven.

Afterall, how could he fight the Reapers if a single thresher maw frightened him to death?

He met Liara's eyes, and nodded, motioning to an exit just ahead, "We should get moving; we'll be nearing the harbour soon, and I want to be there when Wrex gets there."

"But...what happened to them? Garrus sounded...panicked," Liara worriedly asked, looking terrified.

He turned to her, a strong confidence in his eyes, "They'll be fine. They'll meet us there; nothing has changed. I promise. Would I lie?" Lie about not telling lies. Got it.

She shook her head, "No, no you wouldn't. Come on, we probably should get over there. My leg is really starting to hurt."

He nodded, pushing past her to move towards the exit, not so much as giving her a single glance as he trudged forward, his rifle feeling suddenly alot lighter.

You're a cold bastard.

I need to be for what I'm going to do.

So you've decided?

I guess I have.

Then it's settled. You're officially a cold bastard.

His dark humour wasn't helping matters. But he surmized that if he thought about it less, the easier it'd be to go through with it. If he was going to condemn an entire species to death in the pinnacle of their hope, the least I can do is not take the coward's way out. Goody, remind yourself that they still have hope. That'll make it easier.

Victory at any cost.

This just wasn't Marcus' day.

{Loading...}

June 21, 2186

1601 hours.

City Harbour, Hagalok City Ruins, Que'k Wastelands, Tuchanka.

The Reaper War, Krogan DMZ Campaign: The Tuchankan Raids.

Captain Marcus Lee Shepard, Shadow Broker Liara T'Soni.

"Liara, on your twelve," he barked through the radio, grunting as he squeezed the trigger once more, rifle kicking back against his shoulder accompanied by a muzzle flash. Hot lead shot forward to connect with the forehead of the charging varren, blasting its head open and sending a cone of gore and viscera splattering onto the stone behind it, coating it in a thick red rivulet.

His rifle smoked, but he ignored it as he twisted to face his next target, first hitting the varren in the left leg, causing it to yelp as its forward momentum caused it to trip and fall, followed by a shot in the eye finishing it off, eye matter cleansing the ground.

A report of SMG fire followed his warning, followed by the thud of a dead varren. Seeing as she was safe and knew what she was doing, he turned to the left and took down yet another varren, followed by a second. One by one, the creatures charged forward in their packs, intent on feasting on human and asari flesh.

Unfortunately for them, this piece of prey was wearing thick body armor and had a heavy rifle.

They had lasted a long while in the ruins and were just outside the harbour when this happened.

Apparently, varren packs had united and had been following them the entire way. And only now that they were just outside the harbour (the tremors becoming earthquakes again, he noticed), did the varren decide to make their move.

For them, it would be the last they made.

For Marcus and Liara, they were an inconveinience.

He heard a growl from behind him and quicky loosed off a shot, killing the varren charging him before rolling onto his back, holding his rifle infront of him.

Varren paws landed ontop of his rifle, grabbing onto it as it barked in his face, growling and snarling. Saliva and spittle coated his visor in droplets while Marcus struggled with the varren, but it wasn't a very tough fight; he had cybernetics, this animal didn't.

Letting one hand hold his rifle, he reached down to his belt and pulled out a grenade, priming it and quickly shoving it into the varren's mouth, before bringing back both his legs, pinning them under the varren's belly and roughly thrusting upwards and back.

The varren practically glided off of him, but Marcus didn't bother looking for its destination, instead rolling back onto his belly, repositioning his mattock in time to see the varren explode in a brilliant flash, chunks of flesh and muscle and bone exploding in every direction, shredding or blowing apart any other varren within the blast radius. And Marcus just continued his slaughter, one by one.

Suddenly, his mattock hissed empty and he saw that it was empty. Deciding he had no time to reload, he holstered his rifle and quickly drew his claymore, bringing it up in time to tear the torso off a leaping varren, bloodying his armor even further in wet crimson.

But despite his grenade throw, the varren just kept going. How many of these bloody things are there? Where are they all coming from?

Then the varren just stopped coming, as if sensing his thoughts. He turned to Liara to see her backed against a wall, sitting, grimacing as a varren's jaw was closed around her arm, Liara preparing a biotic warp, purple blood oozing from where the creature's teeth penetrated the blue flesh of her arm.

And as suddenly as the varren stopped, a tremor followed.

A titantic roar filled the city once more...much closer.

A familiar sound of a tomkah's engines followed, and his eyes shot to a bridge up ahead, overhanging the harbour and leading down to the main storage port. A long line of three tomkahs, one who's engine was smoking and who's hull seemed to be scorched black from something, shot past at full speed, as if running from something.

Another roar.

The ground under the bridge practically exploded outwards in a colossal storm of sand, stone and concrete as Kalros, the Mother of all Thresher Maws, erupted from the depths.

Marcus felt himself tremble slightly, but he steeled himself again, refusing to give into fear. Get ahold of yourself, damn it.

Instead, he focused on the creature itself. Its skin was pitch black, like that of night, chitin covering its body like armor plating. Even during its initial burst from the ground, it easily towered over normal threshers, its legs longer and meatier, along with two extra ones and its maw stretched to its widest, able to consume ten tomkahs in one gulp if it so wanted. Possibly a damn corvette.

Its body continued to erupt, and it roared once more, the very sound enough to shake the ground.

And then it shot back down again, back into the ground, the rest of its body following; it took almost a full two minutes for its entire body to disappear underground again. Within a moment, Tuchanka's guardian had revealed itself, and vanished, just like that. And in that moment, Marcus knew Wrex and the others were in some deep shit.

He looked down, but was surprised to see the varren were long gone; even the one latched onto Liara's had just run off, startled by Kalros and frightened, all at once. She was the top dog, and the rest of Tuchanka's creatures fled in sight of her. She was queen. Monarch of Tuchanka. Liara was just left now to apply medi-gel to her wounds; her arm was fine, but otherwise riddled with numerous bite marks from the varren's razor sharp teeth, and a few scythed downwards leaving ragged flesh, an indication of the varren trying to rip her arm off, but failing. The asari was in pain, but that seemed to alleviate as she placed the medi-gel on her arm.

But that didn't rid him of the sight of her purple blood in a thick pool under her legs.

He jumped down from his perch on a shattered stone tower, coming to land with a thud on the ground next to her and pumping his shotgun before holstering it on the small of his back as he came to kneel next to his asari friend, who looked at him with a weary smile.

"Just...a few bite wounds. Nothing...serious," Liara grunted, sighing happily as the medi-gel began to harden and clog her injury.

He shook his head, grabbing her arm and turning it over to see what other wounds existed. Seeing there was none, he simply scoffed, "You're just as stubborn as I am."

She laughed then, coughing afterwards from the dust she inhaled, "That's...a fair...assessment," she motioned to the harbour ahead, "I see...our friends...are in trouble."

He nodded, "That's right. They seem to have caught Kalros' attention. But Wrex is tough; he'll pull through. We just need to get to the bottom of that harbour and extract."

"We've barely encountered any Reaper troops," Liara observed, "Must mean they're all scattered or concentrated at the temple. That, or...Vanguard pulled them out when it heard...Kalros was around. It would be hard not to hear that roar."

As if on cue, they heard an airhorn; distant, but there all the same.

You are close, Shepard.

It does not have to be this way. Embrace us.

He smiled. Vanguard was worried, he could tell. How about you go fuck yourself?

Then you will watch your fellow organics perish in vain.

See you soon, asshole.

"Come on," he hurried replied, ducking under her arm and hefting her up on her good leg, "We should get moving before Vanguard sends troops here. He won't hide from Kalros forever."

With her injured arm over his shoulder and the spectre helping her limp, they quickly, and assuredly, made their way over to the lower bridge, which now had a huge hole down the middle due to Kalros' passing. Luckily for them, a nice, convenient path of broken stone provided a hill that they could walk down into the harbour with. From there, he could radio Wrex for pickup. But if they ran into the enemy...

One look up and down Liara's form was all the assessment he needed. She's lost the use of one leg, and now one arm is practically useless. She's no longer fit for combat. I think I'll leave her in the tomkah when we storm the Shroud.

One less friend to witness your betrayal, then?

Just as they reached the start of the bridge, Garrus' voice sounded over the radio, "Marcus! You there!? Please respond!"

He moved to comm his helmet, temporarily stopping to do so, so that he didn't hit Liara in the face. She had enough injuries as it was; she didn't need a broken nose too.

His voice soon flooded the comm, "I'm here, Garrus. We've just reached the lower bridge connecting the port and the harbour; we'll be heading down in the minute. How's your ETA?"

"Damn quick!" James shouted.

Garrus gave a more measured response, "Translation: We're literally seconds from that location and we aren't stopping for social! We've got Kalros right up our ass, and Wreav is having a hard enough time shaking her! Spirits, she's fast! There she is again!" This time, both sides heard the screech she gave, followed by the thunderous explosion. Just as they heard it though, the three tomkahs burst from around the corner, heading towards them, "We see you! Get down here now! We're not hanging around!"

He knew they wouldn't get down there in time. So there was only one option.

"You trust me, Liara?" Marcus asked as he looked over the edge.

"Uh, yes?" she confusingly replied, regarding him with concern.

"Good. Hold on tight," and without warning, he jumped over and slid down the debris to the bottom, using the smoothed out sections and keeping Liara ontop of him so that if any sharp objects were poking out, they would stab him, not her.

When they reached the bottom, they tumbled over and over in the hot sand until coming to a full stop. Liara coughed and wheezed, Marcus shaking the sand from his body as he picked her up, throwing decency to the wind and holding her in his arms as he came to stand, ignoring Aralakh's blasting ultraviolet and immediately running towards the three approaching tomkahs.

Wrex's tomkah practically stopped right infront of where they were running, causing him to almost run into it. Wreav's took up the rear, while the other one carrying the rest of his squad took point.

He watched as the hatch shot open, Garrus quickly revealing himself alongside James, "Marcus, get in-spirits! What happened to you, Liara?" The turian had obviously noticed her plethora of wounds as soon as he stepped out.

He pushed past the turian and thrusted Liara into Vega's arms, "Get her inside and make sure she's comfortable; when this is done, we get her to Chakwas and Michel as soon as possible. Its nothing life threatening, but she should be looked at. Now let's move!"

Just as James moved into the tomkah's main cabin, Wreav shouted his agreement, "Finally! Something I can agree with! Damn it, we need to move! Seismic activity building up again! Disturbingly close! We need to get moving, now!"

"I hear you, pyjak!" he heard Wrex shout back to the cabin, and Garrus quickly waved him inside. But just as Marcus took his first step into the vehicle, he heard the sand split again, and he turned in time for a gargantuan shadow to fall over him, blocking out the sun.

Kalros extended almost immediately to a full 160 feet, towering a full ten feet over the tallest Reaper Destroyer. Her screech rang his eardrums, almost deafening him, and he watched a wall of chitin plating just rise, sand falling off in plumes. She smashed what remained of the bridge, bits of stone raining around her as she turned to them and if a thresher had a gaze, it would be full of hate at that moment.

And as she descended, he thought, for a moment, even with Garrus' screams, that it was all over. He saw how quickly threshers descended, and Kalros would be even faster; one thing to know about them is that if they begin to descend, its already too late for you to move.

Then something happened. He realized Kalros wasn't descending towards them. He realized this only just as Kalros mouth slammed into the ground, wide open and taking its prize.

He could only hear Wreav's screams as his tomkah was consumed in the giant maw, and Kalros' form began to slither back into the ground, taking Wrex's blood brother with him, devouring the krogan alive along with whatever men he had in the vehicle with him. Within a minute, Kalros was almost gone, but Wreav and his men were no doubt dead.

"Come on! While its feasting we can get out of here!" Wrex shouted, and Marcus felt Garrus roughly grab him and pull him inside, closing the hatch behind him. He heard the krogan manning the turret open fire on Kalros, but he could imagine just how futile it would; it didn't help Vanguard's troops.

As soon as the hatch closed and the tomkah began motion once more, Marcus realized it hadn't been Garrus who pulled him inside, it was Grunt, who now leaned against a wall, claymore holstered and arms crossed, barely noticing as Wrex began his stampede of terrible driving and awful maneveures.

He turned, and nodded to Mordin, who quietly nodded back, Eve doing so as well before turning back to the cockpit. Liara, as he had told James to do, was sprawled across two of the seats, her injured arm cradled across her chest and eyes closed, obviously having given into exhaustion and falling asleep. James now sat next to him, Garrus on his right.

"What about Wreav?" Eve asked Wrex from her spot, "He might still be alive."

Wrex's snort could have been heard from Thessia, "Wreav was a weak-willed varren. Tali kicked his ass, everyone kicked his ass, Shepard kicked his ass, you kicked his ass. If Kalros' tastebuds are any good, she'll spit out his mutilated corpse somewhere. He's as good as dead. Not that it matters," this time, his snort was alittle less loud, "He was a pain in the ass anyway."

Despite the darkness of it, Marcus felt himself smile slightly at that.

The tomkah continued to rock as they moved across Que'k's desert dunes, moving back and forth, up and down, over each hill, piece of stone and concrete or wreckage they drove over, the other tomkah no doubt right behind them. No roars were heard and Wrex had since dumbed down their speed, which must have meant Kalros had given up pursuit. Maybe it was as Wrex said; maybe Kalros spat Wreav out and decided they wouldn't taste any better.

But now a new obstacle lay ahead and was getting closer and closer with every dozen meters.

He gulped, the climax of his decision coming closer and closer. Victory at any cost. We fight or we die. Sabotage the genophage, and I get the entire collective power of the Salarian Union, Dalatrass promised. But after this, I will kill her. And if she's lied? I'll kill her anyway.
Either way, I want her fucking dead.

They were just words, he knew. Realistically, he couldn't afford grudges. The fact was that leaders like Linron were needed to win the war, as their support could change the course of entire battles or the war itself. And he couldn't deny the power of every salarian engineer the Union had building the Crucible. It would speed construction right along. Possibly even put completion with in two months instead of a year.

But can we last a year? The protheans lasted centuries, but that was survival; any chance they had at victory had been lost only a few years into the war or when they lost their own Crucible. And prothean technology, evident by Javik's particle rifle, was definitely more advanced than anything they had; the only ones to have superceded them in their cycle was the geth, but that was but one faction.

But he couldn't despair. He could only keep his eyes on the prize. A bloody prize.

A worthy prize, he hoped.

{Loading...}

June 21, 2186

1619 hours.

Ancient Temple, The Shroud, Que'k Wastelands, Tuchanka.

The Reaper War, Krogan DMZ Campaign: The Tuchankan Raids.

Captain Marcus Lee Shepard, Chieftain Urdnot Wrex, Lord Companier Urdnot Grunt, Military Advisor Garrus Vakarian, Second Lieutenant James Vega, Professor Mordin Solus, Eve, Second Lieutenant Imogen Keeling, EDI, Soldier Javik, Master Thief Kasumi Goto.

Marcus could only think of one thing at that moment: what the fuck were they getting themselves into?

They stood, metaphorically, at the gates of hell, the large stone ruins of the once proud temple standing before them, almost as big as the Reaper guarding them. Two monolithic krogan statues stood at the end, one on each side, one on the left holding a sword, while another held a tool of rarity; an ancient krogan warhammer. A weapon that would have taken ten, heavily built human men to even lift. Hell, Marcus doubt he would have been able to pick up one himself.

At the end of the temple though, and almost entirely blocking their view of the Shroud, was Vanguard. It looked down at them, unmoving, its glowing red eye patient, but promising instant death to those that trespassed its domain. Even as Marcus stood there, he felt like an ant compared to its sheer immensity. Insignificant. Irrelevant in its majesty.

Majesty? His eyes looked into the red eye, and he saw nothing but...nothing. Just blank. Nothing but the cold void of a machine's thoughts; calculating and ticking over like a clock. No, there is nothing majestic about this. That machine is an exterminator. A destroyer of worlds. Of civilizations. A Grim Reaper in its own right. No, the only majesty it have would be its destroyed, mangled wreck.

He wondered just what Vanguard was thinking at that moment. If it could, would it laugh at the futility of their attempt to pass it? Would it gloat its arrogance to them? Would it open fire and obliterate them all instantly in a flash? Yes, it probably would. But it couldn't. It was a fearless, humorless, patient machine that could wait eons to make its move and still have the grace of an expert assassin. No, Vanguard was patient. It would let them have their time.

And as soon as they got too close, it would fire, and destroy them all in an instant.

Marcus pitied it. Sovereign had underestimated him. Harbinger still underestimated him. The Collectors had played their games with him and the Shadow Broker had thought himself untouchable.

They had thought he wouldn't destroy a system full of people to stop them.

In all accounts, they had been laughably wrong. And today, Vanguard would once again pay for such a mistake.

In the end, he asked 'what the fuck were they getting themselves into?' not because he questioned the validity of their objective, but merely the insanity of it. Only a krogan could have thought of such an idea.

And only Marcus Shepard could have agreed to it.

"You see why I call you loco now?"

Marcus merely grinned, turning to James, "I knew from the get go, James. I just accepted it."

The marine scoffed, hefting his Revenant like a long-lost child as he couldn't help but gulp as he saw Vanguard towering nearby, "Can't say I'm not crapping myself right now."

"Just make sure it doesn't smell," Kasumi remarked, her arms crossed, "I hate smelly people."

Vanguard's airhorn blared, as if demanding their attention, almost shaking the foundations of the temple around them.

Kasumi gulped as well, her amused attitude evaporating, "Yeah...I know you're there, big guy...boy, do I know..."

He slapped her shoulder, "We'll be alright."

"As alright as charging a Reaper while it can see you can be, yeah," she responded not so cheerily.

"The thief is right. This mission is suicidal, no matter the means," Javik grunted, "But I cannot question the ambition of it. We always marvelled at krogan stupidity in some areas; but sometimes we mistook their stupidity for tactical brilliance."

"The prothean is being positive," Garrus sighed, "Help us."

Wrex leapt from the hatch at that exact moment, Eve and Mordin following quickly behind him, the salarian staying close to her, almost in a protective fashion.

The krogan growled at Javik, his expression angry, "We're curing the genophage, no matter what it takes. This plan is crazy, but its the only way. We cannot go back! We've come to far to be stopped by this...pyjak!"

Vanguard took no notice, merely glaring back, remaining in calm vigil.

Mordin brought up his omni-tool, nodding as he did. After a minute, it beeped and he pointed to a room on their right, "Excellent. Will take Eve and enter through his route. Better chance of reaching Shroud. Rest of team should take direct route to ensure safety. Lose Eve, lose cure. Simple fact."

"Thanks for volunteering us," Garrus replied dryly.

"This is absolutely crazy," Keeling added, "I can't believe we're even contemplating this. The risks of this going wrong are all over the place. One of us could get killed; all of us, even."

"Shepard is no stranger to insanity," Wrex remarked, moving up and grabbing the man with both hands on his shoulders, gripping them hard, "He went head to head with Sovereign! He went and took the fight to the Collectors! He stormed the Shadow Broker's base and escaped a base full of indoctrinated marines! This is a mere footnote in your tome of crazy."

He smirked, despite his dark thoughts, "You got me, Wrex. I'm quite the hypocrite."

"Don't we know it," Garrus chuckled, "And you'd be dead without me through most of it, so I guess I'll tag along if you ask nicely."

"Get fucked Vakarian. You're coming with, whether you like it or not."

"You're so harsh. All I asked for was 'please.'"

"Let's just make sure we get out of here in one piece," the captain stated, squaring his shoulders and cracking his neck and knuckles in preparation for what awaited them, "We're all going to have one hell of a story to tell." What will mine be like, I wonder? I'm just glad I'm not writing an autobiography.

Mordin nodded to him, a smirk gracing his features. His squad nodded their agreement, all thumbing the triggers on their weapons in nervous anticipation. Marcus nodded reassurance to them, giving them a smile he knew they couldn't see, but it was more for himself than anyone else.

Suddenly, there was a hand on his shoulder, grasping it tightly. He turned to Wrex, watching the krogan's determined become humble and full of thanks. The krogan smiled, and this time it was warm, any of the krogan's usual sadism or mischief not present.

"I just want you to know Shepard..." the krogan began, swallowing as he collected himself. And when he did, Marcus had never seen such passion in the krogan's eyes as he did now, "That no matter what happens, you've been a champion to the krogan people, a friend of Clan Urdnot..."

He gulped, looking at the ground temporarily before meeting Marcus' eyes again, pulling his hand away and holding it out, smiling as he offered his broshake, "And a brother to me!" Marcus eagerly took his hand and clenched around it, the krogan drawing him close and slapping his back in a brotherly hug. When he pulled away, the spectre found himself alittle lost for breath, but the krogan chieftain barely seemed to notice.

"From here forth, every krogan born after this day, will know one thing," he grinned, "The name 'Shepard' will mean HERO!"

Grunt roared in agreement, and he heard James cheer, Garrus chuckling. Eve nodded to him, hand to her chest in a sign of respect. One by one, as he looked around and saw his squad, they gave their cheer.

Javik stood as stoic as ever, EDI merely smiled and nodded, and in quite an amusing move, funnelled the sound of a stadium's cheering fans through her audio output, almost creeping him out. Kasumi gave him a mock salute, grinning from ear to ear. And Keeling simply saluted him, noting with some disbelief that he even got to see a smile on her face.

"Semper Fi, sir," she stated crisply.

And as he met Wrex's gaze, he was glad they couldn't see his expression.

A mixture of self-loathing rose in his chest once more, hot sweat building over his body, coupled with his goosebumps of nervousness. He felt his heart-beat increasing, and he just wanted to tell them; right there and then.

"'Shepard' will mean HERO!"

No, no it won't. You don't know...oh God, you don't know...I'm sorry...I'm so sorry...

Damn that bitch! Two words and she has me spilling allied blood! I might as well be slitting Wrex's throat! And Mordin...jesus...he'll find out...what will I do then?

No, Shepard didn't mean 'hero.' It meant alot of things alot more debilitating.

Like treacherous motherfucker.

I don't deserve to see Tali ever again. And she doesn't deserve to have me for a husband. If she knew what was going on in my head...

...she'd try to talk me out of it.

The thought gave him little comfort as he brought back his resolve, bringing the walls back up. The castle had almost been overrun, but his mental reinforcements had arrived just in time to save the day. But will those reinforcements be enough? How long until the walls fall again, and this time, permanently?

"Come on," Wrex's voice disturbed his thoughts, bringing out his claymore as he turned to face Vanguard, "Let's show them why!"

"Shit, look out!" James shouted, and Marcus immediately spun on the spot, entering a crouch as he drew his SMG.

Four marauders scaled the crest of the sandy escarpment, six cannibals following behind them and a couple of husks. The lead marauder spotted them almost instantly, screeching its high-pitched gibberish as it levelled its phaeston, ready to fire.

Marcus was ready to engage, but found his sights blocked by an armoured form. He frowned, turning away and refocusing his eyes to see that Wrex had just marched straight at them, snarling, body aglow with blue ethereality.

"I AM...!" he roared, sucking up the first four bursts of the phaeston before he biotically tossed the marauder aside, barreling into another and shoving him away with his momentum, sending it sprawling on the ground, crying its defiance.

"...URDNOT WREX...!" he spun and aimed his claymore, taking the torso off an approaching cannibal and leaving him covered from chest to thighs in black blood, before reloading it, sending a biotic shockwave down the waves of husks, sending them all flying in numerous directions; either breaking their frail bodies on stone blocks or landing with a thud and after a moment, getting back up to charge again.

"...AND THIS...!" The krogan leapt up and came down again, fist splitting the ground as it sent a blinding flash of biotic energy surging around him, vaporizing the cannibals in its radius, nearly blinding his squad, and singing the body of a third marauder.

"...IS MY PLANET!" The first marauder came up behind and stabbed him in the back with a knife, but Wrex was already in a blood rage, and barely felt it. Eyes filled with malice and venom, he spun and grabbed the marauder around the next, crushing its neck with his bare hand before bringing it up and over his back and slamming its porcelain body into the ground, killing it. He brought it up back and whacked the second marauder to the ground, who had attempted to take aim.

The fourth marauder managed to hit Wrex in the crest, but the bullet simply pinged off and Wrex ignored it. He moved and stomped down on the second marauder's trachea before tossing the remainder of the first's into the fourth's, causing to fall to the ground in a heap. And even as this happened, more Reaper troops moved in for the kill.

Seemingly oozing black sludge, he spun around and nodded, "Go! Get to the hammers and summon Kalros! I'll deal with this!"

Marcus nodded, motioning to his squad to form on him, watching as Wrex disappeared behind the hill, charging the Reaper formation. It was hard to stop a krogan, but it was practically impossible when he was in a blood rage.

He turned to Garrus, slapping his shoulders, "We're going to split up; we need to divert Vanguard's attention. If we give it one target, it'll make it too easy for it to take us out. We should move individually," he turned to the others, "Kasumi, Keeling, James and Javik, you take the right side. Do not move together. Stay close but not too close. If Vanguard opens fire, the likelihood of us all dying at once is near zero."

"Well that's enlightening," Kasumi deadpanned.

He ignored her quip, "The rest of you, with me, same deal. Move for the hammers and do not stay in Vanguard's sights for too long! We just need to bring in Kalros guys; she'll do the rest! Okay, let's move!"

"Battlemaster," Grunt spoke up, and he turned to the krogan, looking up at him, "I'm coming with you."

He frowned, "Don't you want to wait for your company?"

"And miss the big fight?" the supersoldier guffawed, "Not going to happen. Heh. Heh. Heh."

He noticed Garrus almost flinch, "I swear, that chuckle isn't normal. Its psychotic."

"He's a krogan. Cut him some slack," James retorted, "They were born psychotic."

He nodded, slapping the krogan's shoulder, "One last battle together, then?"

He grinned, "My blood calls for their deaths, Shepard. Let us make spilling it enjoyable."

"Will remain with Eve and take side passage. Will remain tight nit, protect her from Reaper troops," Mordin added, "Will reach Shroud first, hopefully. Finish synthesizing cure. You will arrive after, enter cure, all leave alive, genophage cured. Will see you on other side."

He nodded, "Stay safe, Mordin."

The salarian simply smirked, "Always safe. Reason I'm still here. Survived Virmire, yes?" Without another word, the professor was gone, Eve following behind him at a quick pace, both of them disappearing into the temple.

Marcus turned back to the temple once more, stealing a long breath as he looked into Vanguard's cyclops eye, daring him to make a move.

I see your every movement. Your efforts will be moot.

He grinned. I'm already going to hell, why accept yours? You've lost, Vanguard. And I will not surrender.

I will acknowledge every second you survive this pathetic bravado, then. Goodbye, Shepard.

Goodbye indeed.

And with a burst of energy, he charged.

Victory at any cost...

"Keelah, that must have been terrifying. But of course you'd be fine with it, you crazy bosh'tet."

- Tali'Shepard pav Rannoch.

"What can I say, I'm an insane psychopath. Why did you marry me again?"

- Marcus Shepard.

"Something about you being sexy. And dashing."

- Tali'Shepard pav Rannoch.

"If you're done making me sick, we've got work to do. The charge."

- Reia'Inas pav Earth.

"Of course, Commander. The charge. Epic, but the endgame was both depressing and fantastic, all at once. Remember how I said I was ashamed of a certain action I made? Well there it was. The culmination of my decision."

- Marcus Shepard.

A/N:

Hold on, WackyJack! Before you grab your pitchfork and napalm and come to my house, please read the next part! You won't regret it!

Keelah Se'lai, troopers!