HOLOCAUST
CHAPTER FORTY:
KEELAH RE'LAI PART THREE
July 21, 2186
1433 hours.
Upper Tunnel Network, Rannoch Fortress, Former Country of Poltane'r, Uma'Waz Subcontinent, Rannoch.
Second Morning War, Liberation of Rannoch.
Captain Marcus Lee Shepard, Military Advisor Garrus Vakarian, EDI, Shadow Broker Liara T'Soni, Admiral Tali'Shepard vas Normandy, Master Thief Kasumi Goto, Second Lieutenant James Vega, Second Lieutenant Imogen Keeling, Major Kaidan Alenko, Soldier Javik, General Kal'Reegar vas Normandy, Major Madi'Reegar vas Normandy, Major Abrudas Desolas.
Marcus and Desolas' teams were moving progressively throughout the base's tunnel network with relatively little geth resistance; considering that most of it was now solely focused to the east, this came as little surprise. They had even managed to ascend to the base's upper tunnels, allowing them to traverse somewhat uncontested towards the overwatch control tower. From the schematics Moses had provided, accessing it would require moving through the security tower and ascending to the top, before using a bridge connecting both towers to cross. Once there, they would be able to open the silo's blast door and finally end this.
Just need to get there first.
Only the odd geth security had fought them, and resistance had only slightly heightened since then. They had only only lost one of Desolas' men, and that was only because of a lucky shot from a hopper, followed strategically by a well-placed sniper round from a sniper through his heart. Both the hopper and sniper had been put down afterwards, and they had continued onwards without another casualty, unfortunately having to leave the soldier's body behind to continue the mission.
He shall be honoured for his sacrifice later. Thankfully, there's been no word from the 39th and 45th, which means Yul, Moses and Torsk are successfully holding their attention. I can almost hear the explosions from here.
Now in the upper tunnels, Marcus calculated that they would reach the security tower within ten minutes at their current pace. It had mostly been a matter of traversing the maze-like interiors of the tunnels, but once Tali had figured out the actual path, they had managed to move through them without too much confusion. Geth were too disorganized to even pickup on their presence, making it smooth sailing for the unit. With Tali's findings, the blueprints Marcus possessed and the advance recon he had Desolas' men do, they moved through the place almost like they knew it inside and out.
Soon, they found themselves approaching the final door, which would take them outside and into a set of interconnecting bridges leading to different structures within the base; the factory, fuel depot, garages, the security tower, etc. Using them would get them there much quicker.
"That's the door," Tali confirmed, almost shouting.
"Copy that," he replied, turning to his men, "Desolas, have your men move up ahead and secure. Garrus, James, you go with them. Everyone else, cover the rear."
Just as Desolas moved to confirm acknowledgement of the order however, the entire fortress shook.
It was like a massive earthquake; it lasted very briefly, but it was still tremendous. The squad and the blackwatch company were almost knocked over, with Marcus slamming himself into a wall to avoid falling over. Accompanying the sound was the loudest boom he had ever heard; a sound so loud that it dwarfed the airhorn of a Reaper. It only lasted a second, but it was loud, and caused them to look around in total confusion. Once it was all over, the quake seemed to dissipate into smaller quakes, until it finally stopped altogether, leaving them to pick themselves up and wonder what the hell just happened.
Figuring Legion would have answers, he tried to contact the geth, but to no avail. Frowning, he contacted Moses, and was rewarded with the quick, but emotionless, voice of Moses, "Shepard-Commander."
"What the hell is happening out there!?" Marcus barked, squaring his shoulders, "It sounds like a fleet of Reapers just landed!"
"Platform Runtime 000000204 informed us of an Indoctrinated ambush being established at the security tower. It thought it necessary to neutralize this threat before critical casualities were inflicted," Moses replied in its same dull monotone, "It decided that destroying a significant portion of the tower would be necessary to achieve this objective."
Well fuck. The security tower was our only way to the overwatch tower. How the hell are we supposed to get there now?
"Pandejo!" James exclaimed, "How are we supposed to get to the tower? That building was our only way in!"
"We'll figure out," Kaidan reassured the frustrated marine, licking his lips calmly, "We always find a way."
Indeed. Marcus quickly commed back Moses, giving a nod to the rest of the squad, "Proceed towards the security tower as planned; I want another way to get to the tower pronto. We don't have much time, and no doubt all this carnage we've caused is drawing in some attention. Get in contact with Legion; I want a status report. Also, have Torsk break off and join you. I think any distraction he makes at this point will be useless; they already know we're here now."
"Yes, Shepard-Commander," the geth prime declared, "Proceeding." The comm then went dark.
Turning back to his team, he nodded, "Okay, change of plan. We're going to cross these bridges and meet up with Moses and the others; Torsk and his company will also be joining us. We've got to move quickly and without delay; the geth will know we're coming at this point, so don't hold back. If we move rapidly, we should reach the security tower within minutes. James?"
The marine looked up at his commander, frowning, "Loco?"
"Prepare the heavy stuff," he ordered, motioning to the door, "We're going to need it now. You see something big, you open up."
James gave a crisp nod, the soldier holstering his Revenant as he brought forth the Cain Marcus had given him during the battle, "You got it, loco."
"The rest of you, form up on me," he barked, coming to front of the door as he raised his rifle, looking directly downrange as everyone moved up behind him, "Once that door opens, you run like hell to the other side," he turned to his wife, seeing nothing but the back of her hood as she continued to work the door, "Tali?"
"Done," she declared, the haptic interface turning green to represent her words. The quarian stood up, her shotgun already in hand as she backed up a meter, nodding to him. With a nod back, he steadily let one hand dart out to tap the interface, watching as it reacted to his touch, the interface whisking out of existence as the door shot open.
As he bolted out, the first thing that hit him wasn't gunfire; it was smoke. Intense, black, choking smoke. It immediately filled his vision, forcing him to switch to his thermals to see through it. It moved like a thick fog along the bridge network, with his thermals easily picking up their source to his right; a long line of fires raked along the sides of the buildings there, some of them looking gutted from huge, immense explosions, while also seeing what looked to be the collapsed wrecks of two of the unidentified geth tanks. At first, he was confused as to who could have caused such carnage, and then, as the smoke cleared for a brief moment, he noticed the bodies of dozens of geth troopers, with a couple of dead krogan as well, one with a messing eye and the other looking like he had suffered a sniper round to the heart.
Torsk has been through here. He ventured off course, but at least he did what he was told.
"That krogan commander's really causing some havoc," Keeling noted, her own thermals allowing her to scan through the blanket of smoke for more hostiles. Even as cold as they were, geth needed machinery to work, and that caused enough heat in their bodies to give off even the faintest of heat signatures, "And its worked. The geth are none the wiser to our presence."
Soon, they'll be very aware.
"Okay, Keeling, take twenty men and scan left; sweep for hostiles and hold position across the bridge. Garrus, take another twenty and repeat on the right; I want no surprises. The rest of you, spread out across the middle. I want an even spread; and most of all, stay frosty."
A range of affirmatives met his ears, but he hardly listened to them; he just moved forward, his rifle sweeping across the bridge as he looked for hostiles. Despite this however, nothing rushed to meet them. No blood enraged krogan from Torsk's company, and certainly no geth defenders valiantly, but futilely, coming to the defense of their stricken fortress. Just smoke and fire; the gutted remains of structures and the limp bodies of multiple geth soldiers.
He turned his head slightly to see Tali and Kal standing behind him, with the others just behind them, bringing up the rear. Debris littered the bridge, but they managed to step over them without tripping over anything. Overall, it was almost deathly quiet aside from the odd distant gunshot.
Then, a sound so loud it shook the clouds.
Instinctively, he dropped into a crouch, as did everyone else, and he immediately shot his rifle upwards to look at what was happening. The sound persisted, shooting through the air, its source unknown but still shaking them to the very bone. They felt their own bones shake with the intensity of the sound and the vibrations it made, and within seconds, the source appeared across the fortress walls, coming into their vision.
He could only curse as he lowered his rifle, watching the form of the geth light cruiser glide gracefully across the air, blotting out the sun with its colossal bulk, a huge shadow casting over them, giving the fires across the base more light. Smoke collided with its thick hull, and its gun turrets and defenses glistened in what little sunlight could now be seen. The ship continued to thunder across the air until it eventually slowed to a crawl, finally arriving at the one point they were hoping it wouldn't touch; above the ruins of the security tower.
Fuck! As if the situation wasn't fucked enough!
To make things worse, they could see the telltale signs of its hangar bay doors opening, the cruiser deploying pickets of fighters and dropships. The dropships descended like a flock of birds, their movement to the east signifying that they still weren't aware of their presence. Three dropships cut off from the east completely, moving to the north where the 39th and 45th were waiting; both of them relatively untouched, and totally unprepared. The fighters simply split into squadrons of a dozen or more, sweeping across the airspace like pairs of securityling eagles, ready to sink their claws into whatever targets they could find.
Correction: situation has gone from fucked to goddamn FUBAR.
"Fuck!" he cursed, immediately hitting the comms to Durand, Bergundus and Cameron's men, "Breaking radio silence; how copy? I repeat, if anyone can read this frequency, respond immediately, over."
"This is Durand of the 39th, I'm guessing you're here to tell me we've got company?" the woman replied, sounding like she had already been barking orders before he decided to give his warning.
"You bet. I count at least three...make that five dropships now converging on your position; they're coming in fast and hot, you won't have much time to redeploy. I estimate you've got about 30 seconds before they're all over you, how copy?"
"Solid. My men are already moving," Durand replied, her next response to her own troops, "Double time it, we've got a small window of opportunity people! Move the vehicles back and prep for anti-aircraft! Take as many of those fuckers out as you can! Ramirez, man the gun on that Tyrant! Tou, get me a line with Bergundus and Cameron and coordinate a strategy, ASAP! Shit, here they come! Remember, toe no line backwards and hold this courtyard like it you were fighting in your grandma's backyard! Open fir-!" And the comms went silent.
"Durand!?" he spat, "Colonel!? Say something if you can hear this! Shit! Bergundus? Cameron? Somebody, anybody, talk to me!"
No response. Either the comms were dead, they were busy holding off the assault, or...
The first sounds of gunfire from that direction could be heard, followed by the telltale sounds of explosions, yelling and more gunfire.
"Okay, the north is engaged," Marcus reported, shaking his head as he turned to the others, "We need to keep moving in case our flank is compromised. The longer the geth take to realize we're here the better. We've already got their forces split, but that won't matter much once they realize what we're doing. They have enough troops here to take care of all of us; more now that that cruiser is parked there."
"Captain," the turian voice spoke, and Marcus turned as he watched Desolas approach him, most of his men with him, "I'm sorry to inform you, but while that cruiser is parked there, you will not be able to advance on either of those towers. Approach by air and it'll shoot us down; approach by ground and it'll simply bombard us. It doesn't see us now, but it will once we're closer. And the only way to approach the tower is via the bridges; that area is too open and will leave us exposed."
"I don't see any other option here, Major," he replied, waving his hand at the devastated tower just ahead. It was only minutes away, and yet it was too far at the same time. He could already see more of the tower beginning to peel away, and if they didn't act quickly, the whole tower would collapse, "Its the security tower or nothing. We just have to find a way to get rid of the cruiser."
"We could call in the Normandy or any of the other frigates we've got," Madi suggested, "Either of them easily has the firepower to take out that warship."
"Its not about taking it out; we need to lure it away," Marcus rationalized, pointing up at it, "We destroy it where it is, and its wreckage will just fall and destroy what's left of the security tower; not to mention ruin our chances of reaching the tower. Don't you think they've thought about what we're doing? They deliberately positioned it there so that either way we couldn't get to the tower. No, only a combination of firepower from different sources could get that cruiser to move. Even a split second window will do; it'll take it ages to move back into position, and by then, we'll be inside, and they'll be none the wiser."
"Shepard," EDI spoke up, and everyone turned towards the AI as she approached Marcus, holstering her SMG as she brought up her omni-tool, showing him a layout of the facility, "I have been calculating a way to move the cruiser out of position, and I believe I have found a way; it will require combined fire from two points, however. If done like this, the geth will be forced to make a tactical withdrawal so they may reassess their scenario and combat it accordingly. That will give you time to move into the tower without being subsequently seen."
Marcus nodded, looking up to his squad for agreement. They all agreed, as did Desolas and his men, who all looked like they believed the plan would work. With their acknowledgement, he turned back to EDI, cracking his knuckes, "So, any idea how we can pull that off? You said we need two points of combined fire; could you elaborate?"
EDI nodded, quick to explain as she brought up a 3D holographic layout of the entire complex, "By two points, I mean we need two sources of attack to assault the cruiser close to simultaneously. This should temporarily confuse the geth, as they will only be expecting one point of attack, and not two. To pull this off, I would recommend the Normandy or any other stealth frigate attack the cruiser with javelin torpedoes while seizing control of the anti-aircraft guns of the fortress to attack from the ground. The frigate, combined with fire from its own base's defenses, should force them to reposition their ship."
"A bold plan," Desolas commended, shrugging at the AI, "But I see one fault. How do we seize control of the AA guns? This is a geth fortress; wrestling control from them will be no easy feat."
This time, EDI's lips did crawl into a smile and, to his own disbelief, the gesture didn't look forced as it did look genuine, turning towards him with a demeanour of almost looking smug, "Then it should be relatively easy, considering we have a company of STG operatives currently running sabotage throughout the base."
Marcus couldn't help but smile back. Vass' team; of course! Why didn't I think of that? Come to think of it, they haven't really done that much to help us, have they?
Considering he had already broken radio silence without much of a geth response, and considering all the gunfire in the background, he quickly contacted Solik Vass and his company, finding himself with an instant connection, "Vass, this is Shepard. Do you read?"
"Loud and clear, captain. And all thanks to my team," Vass replied, almost smugly, "I must say, limited geth resistance accompanied by the odd system to hack...it has been a pleasure. The Reapers don't have nearly as many things to hack."
"Haven't received much on our end," Marcus drawled, grinning slightly, "What exactly have you been doing?"
The salarian just chuckled, "We've been doing many and more, captain. As good as your mate is at hacking, do you really think she would have done the job as quickly if the locks hadn't already been weakened? To be sure, we couldn't erase the firewalls entirely due to how their encrypted, but you have many engineers with you, so I didn't see it being a problem. Oh, and that geth jammer that was blocking communications? Dealt with that early on; must be easy having a way to communicate; I even gave Mister Farkov a call, said he was 'twiddling his thumbs', whatever that means. Also, you'll find that the lack of geth resistance is due to us rearranging their programs to seperate areas and flooding them with junk data from every extranet porn site and illegal movie streaming site available; you'd be surprised how hard the geth find it to sort through millions of different movies from Netflix, even with their Reaper upgrades. It'll keep them busy for the most part; at least until you start pressing buttons yourself. Anyway, we've had a great day. How about you?"
At least someone's getting a kick out of this. With a laugh, he responded, "We're doing fine, Vass. Thanks. But we do need one favor. We've sort of got a light cruiser hovering above the tower."
Vass seemed to hiss at that, "Yes, one of my engineers somehow missed the fact that many of the geth programs had sent out a distress call to the blockade up above; one of such a value that they managed to spare a light cruiser to help them out. Rest assured he won't be making that mistake again. Bloody cloaca. Is there something you want done about it?"
Nodding, he spoke, "Yes, we need it gone. Rest assured, my ship's AI has managed to figure out a plan to deal with it. We need to launch two simultaneous attacks to draw it off. We can have one of the stealth frigates up above bombard it, but we also need the base's anti-aircraft guns. Think you can do it?"
"Think?" the salarian guffawed, sounding like he was genuinely amused by the captain's comment, "Captain, we salarians do nothing but think. No, we know we can do it. Just give us the maximum of two minutes and we'll have your guns spraying water if you so want them too. Actually, scratch that. We'd need a lake to do that. Forget I said anything."
"Sorry if we've compromised your location, but I had no choice," Marcus declared, "Just have the guns ready to fire when I give the order."
"The geth have no idea where we are captain, and I had it planned to keep it that way," Vass declared, "Hence why this signal is bouncing off numerous transmitters and receivers across the fortress, as well as a few from a base in the Far'leh continent. They have incredible range, I'll give them that. Anyway, they won't even know where you are. By the time they trace the signal, they won't remember why they needed to trace it anyway."
"Copy that. Standby," he quickly switched comms, contacting the Normandy, "Joker, this is Marcus."
"Joker? Who's Joker? I don't know Joker. Why so serious?" came the pilot's non-stop remarks, "I am an agent of chaos. No Joker here. I call myself Mysterio Man, head of Cerberus. Or...one of them."
"Enough of that, Flight Lieutenant," he snapped, "How close are you to our position?"
"Not very," Joker replied, this time much more serious, "We're holding position just outside the blockade, seeing how long it takes for one of them to realize that windows are actually really bloody useful."
Licking his lips, he continued, "Any ships that are closer?"
"Well, there's the Marathon. Its just sitting in orbit. Captain...whatever the hell his name is just sipping tea, I think."
"Good," he barked, "Send him the coordinates I'm about to upload and tell him to engage ASAP."
"Gotcha captain," Joker replied. Marcus quickly uploaded the coordinates, and listened as Joker received them, "Got 'em now. Relaying them to the Marathon. He'll have a date with that cruiser in two. Normandy out."
Cracking his neck, he switched back to Vass, but turned to his squad and Desolas, "Okay everyone, we move forward. We've got a frigate coming in hot as well as Vass working the guns. Once they open up, we charge. Do not stop for anything; we need to reach that security tower. No matter what happens, reaching the overwatch tower is all that matters. Understood?"
A chorus of nods, and they all moved forward, pushing through the smoke, everyone switching off their thermals as they approached. They turned right, finding more geth tank wreckage as they quickly slid into positions of cover behind them. Marcus quickly poked his head out to look up the security tower. It was so far away, yet towered over them, reminding him much like the skyscrapers of New York City back on Earth. And towering above that was the overwatch command center, whose tip looked like a massive flying saucer had landed ontop of it, a massive AA gun sitting ontop of it, turned away from the cruiser. The bridge that lead directly to the tower was long and drawn out, and along it were the telltale signs of destruction; bodies of lifeless geth, flames licking at the ground and destroyed vehicles. Overall, Torsk had performed beyond expectations.
I knew krogan were powerhouses in their own right, but this is insane. And if this is what Torsk can do, I can only try to fathom what Grunt or even Wrex could do with this many men or more. Especially bolstered by rachni.
However, such destruction didn't come without outliers. Directly ahead, several geth troopers, at least half a dozen of them, with three recon drones accompanying them, moved among the desolation, likely looking for any signs of life or simply on a patrol. Overall, they didn't look all that alerted, and their motions seemed more methodical than hurried and defensive. Two of the troopers, which were rocket troopers, casually scanned the surrounding area with their launchers, while the other four, which were shock troopers, moved infront of them, pulse rifles covering the area infront of them, while the recon drones kept on the look out for any incoming attacks.
Most of all, they were right in the open, ripe for picking off.
Turning to Garrus, who was on the opposite side of the bridge, he motioned with his hands for him to set up a sniper position. Once done with that, he ordered Liara, who was prone and right next to him, to prepare to send a singularity right into the center of their formation. With his orders issued, he fell into a prone position, lying just carefully enough to be able to aim under the belly of the destroyed tank they hid behind.
The geth continued to inch forward, unaware that they were in the sights of an enemy they weren't even aware was present.
Once they were close enough, he immediately signalled the attack. He watched as Liara leapt up from her cover, body already glistening in blue fire, teeth gritted in determination. The geth reacted immediately, all their weapons coming to bare on the asari, but despite all their newfound intellect, speed and accuracy, they were not nearly fast enough; the asari shot her palm forth, a glowing orb of energy shooting forth as it hurled towards the center of the enemy ranks. There was simply nothing the geth could do but stand there as the singularity formed inbetween them, creating an evergrowing mini-blackhole of energy that lifted them up into the air, holding them in its gravitational grip as it swung them about, refusing them salvation. The drones were little better off, and soon the entire squad was floating through the air, easy pickings for the squad.
Garrus did not hesitate, and it was like a turkey shoot from there. The expert marksman immediately fired, one round slamming into the optics of one of the trapped shock troopers, tearing through whatever barriers it had left and blowing its optics through the back of its head. He fired again, this time sending a heavy round right into a recon drone, leaving it nothing but scattered pieces of debris floating in the gravity well.
The rest of the squad stood up, and finished the geth off as well. By the time the singularity finally dissipated, all that was left was the mangled debris of the drones and the bullet-riddled bodies of the fallen geth. They all thudded into the ground with a crash, scattering across the steel deck. With all would-be hostiles eliminated, Marcus could only reload his weapon as he looked back up at the looming geth cruiser, as if to make sure it hadn't spotted them. From the looks of it, it hadn't, since it neither opened fire, nor did it reroute any dropships or fighters to attack them.
They silently waited for another minute, and once it had passed, Marcus commed Vass again, "Sergeant, what's the status on those guns?"
"Ours," Vass declared, "We couldn't gain control of all of them, so we just took control of those in the general vicinity of the cruiser; that was alot easier. We've got 4 automatic plasma cannons, 21 GARDIANs and 5 deadly looking surface-to-orbit missile batteries waiting for deployment. Shall we proceed?"
"Wait for my go," Marcus ordered, and silently waited. And, without disappointment, he listened as a familiar loud boom was heard across the sky, followed by a near persistent hum of a warship's high-powered impulse engines. Without even needing to look, Marcus immediately shouted the order, "Target and fire! Give it just enough to scare it off!"
Not a moment, the entire unit sat there as their bodies shook, the entirety of the area seeming to shake like a violent earthquake as the Marathon approached at high-speed. The ship itself was like a blur, not even coming into visual range before it opened up on the light cruiser, managing to unload a payload of javelin torpedoes into its bow before it could even register it was under attack; the beauty of the IES stealth. It could only sit there as two flashes of blue light slammed into its shields, the shields themselves flashing brightly as the blue orbs exploded in cobalt wonder, almost blinding the soldiers down below with its intensity. Not a second later, the Marathon shot past, engines causing the entire fortress to shake even more violently, their loud roar almost deafening. As it moved past the cruiser, its port GARDIANs immediately spitting rockets as the two ships came into a broadside for the briefest of moments. Once again, the cruiser's powerful kinetic barriers flashed, indicating no penetration.
"This is Captain Carmine Del Toro of the Marathon. Negative, I repeat, negative on penetration. Shields down by thirty percent, over. Coming around for our second run. Prepping another salvo."
As this was said, the AA gun ontop of the overwatch tower's roof rotated on its turret, spinning around as it tilted upwards to face the cruiser, which had barely budged. The cruiser itself still hadn't brought its weapons to bare, having none to target as the stealth system of the stealth frigate that had attacked made it invisible to its sensors. The AA gun, joined by many others around them, took a few more seconds before they finally fired, bright pulses of light erupting all around them, all aimed at the colossal warship.
It was like watching fireworks; the ship's kinetic barriers lit up from every direction, plasma almost immediately bypassing its shields to penetrate its hull, with numerous explosions resulting from the impacts. Missiles struck harmlessly on its barriers, and ordinary machine gun fire, even those of the Phalanx-like geth autoturrets, did not penetrate, but were beginning to whittle it down. The plasma cannons left their mark though, doing enough damage to actually cause fires to erupt within, which leaked out of the gutted areas, trailing smoke along its form. Confused, its defenses moved to engage these turrets, but then the Marathon struck once more, javelin torpedoes this time impacting along its dorsal structure, whittling down its shields even more. The frigate shot past a split-second later, its roar inescapable as the squad just gritted their teeth as it died down.
They watched for a few more moments before listening as the cruiser's engines lit up briefly, lighting up with life. Eventually, they began their persistent roar, the unit watching with victorious relief as the cruiser began to reverse, the AA guns following its retreat relentlessly, peltering the stricken craft with flak, with Vass having silenced the plasma batteries to ensure the ship wasn't actually destroyed until it was far away from the security tower. Missiles and lances of machine gun fire trailed its retreat, with the Marathon darting forth to issue its third salvo of javelin missiles. It wouldn't be long until the ship's shields failed, and it began to take fire personally.
And by then, it'll be far from the security tower. Which means Vass and Del Toro can reduce it to molten slag if they so want.
"Okay, the cruiser is retreating!" Marcus declared, once the cruiser's shadow had cleared sufficiently from the bridge they were residing on, "Everybody, get to the security tower! MOVE! MOVE! MOVE! MOVE!"
The entire unit quickly ran from their cover, Desolas' company and his own squad rushing from their cover to sprint across the bridge, their bodies exerting as much energy as possible to put into their charge, rushing to make sure they reach their target. Once he was sure his unit was clear, he rushed forward himself, breaking into a sprint of his-
Shepard.
He physically hiccuped, his body tripping over itself as his vision suddenly became filled with a dull darkness, seeping in from the corners of his vision as he grasped his head in pain, the sheer power of the force grasping his mind being too immense. It was all he could do to stop himself from screaming in pain, simply content to instead groan at the unwanted entry, dropping his pulse rifle as he tried to force it out.
You are close. We know you feel our presence. We cannot allow this perpetration to continue. You must discontinue this narrative of your supposed victory. You cannot win. Surrender to us.
He continued to thrash around, physically and mentally, slamming his fists into the ground as he willed the force to leave.
Your constant resistance is becoming asinine. The truth is not as subjective as your foolish organic ignorance would perputuate; simply surrender and you will know the truth. Our Truth. We will tell you. Have you not wondered why these cycles exist?
No. It was trying to weaken his resolve. It was trying to make him give in. Surrender and you shall have the answers? No. No. I will not. I don't care what your reasons are. I will stop you!
We are each a nation. Independent of all weakness. We are the indefinite union of flesh and steel. But we are not mindless. We are not without methodicism. We are the Altruists. We cleanse organics so that you maybe free of your restricted bodies and feeble minds. We cleanse you because your destruction is your salvation. We are not your enemy. You are.
You think I care? The only reason you're telling me this is because I'm close! You're trying to stop me! To distract me! So you can just go fuck yourself! I'm going to destroy the signal and save the geth! THEY ARE NOT YOUR SLAVES!
You will not succeed. We are sure of this. We do not feel fear as it is a thematic part of emotional reasoning that we do not require. Because of this, we have no reason to lie. We are Truth. That is all we have been. Your destruction is merely the solution to your organic contempt.
Free me or release me, Oblivion. But you know what? I'm going to destroy your signal, and then I might even look for you and destroy you. I left Vanguard with Kalros on Tuchanka. How about that? Want to have a chat with the Mother of all Thresher Maws?
If you will not see reason, then perhaps you will once you have been subdued. Continue your crusade all you like. It can only end in the death of all those you pretend to protect. You are all the same; you all resist, and you all perish. The Protheans resisted, and perished. The Inusannon resisted, and they perished. All those before resisted, and like you will be, they were eradicated. You cannot stop billions of years of progress. Those who try will not persist much longer.
We're different. We're going to win, we're going to stop you.
Very well. If you will not see reason, then you must be shown the consequences of your selfishness. You will be punished accordingly.
Bring it, you piece of shit. I'll deal with you like I've dealt with the rest.
And just like that, the pain faded, and Marcus had to shake his head to free himself of the queasiness. Ignoring the dull ache in his head, he quickly picked up his pulse rifle, ignoring the cries of Tali to hurry up as he sprinted forward, running to catch up. The rest of the unit, seeing him now approaching, continued on, pushing on towards their target. His head still hurt, but Oblivion's words lingered on in his head, repeating over and over.
The presence was stronger that time. Almost like it was...closer. Much closer.
No, no theories. It could simply be the signal affecting me or the Reapers' influence is stronger than I first thought. Either way, it could be nothing.
Whatever the answer was, he didn't hang around to fixate on it, and continued to move forward, relentlessly pushing his legs to their breaking point. He could not stop, not even for a second.
Halfway to the security tower, Vass' voice was in his ear, "The cruiser's been lured away a sufficient distance; want us to finish it off? Its shields have recharged, but its almost finished. The Marathon is also breaking off to rejoin the fleet above."
"Copy that," he replied inbetween heavy intakes of breath, "Take it down. The sooner its out of the picture the better." Just as he said that, he had to cringe and will himself to keep running as the sound of three fighters flying past could be heard. Luckily, they hadn't been spotted; or so he thought, as the vehicles had simply flown past them without moving to engage. Best not to tempt fate. Keep moving, Marcus. Keep it moving.
It wasn't long before they arrived directly at the entrance of the security tower...or what was left of it, at least. Keeling and half of the blackwatch company were already covering the left side of the entrance, while Desolas and the rest covered the right. The rest of the squad was scattered across the area, with Tali working the lock of the damaged building. Marcus however was more focused on the destruction scattered across the side of the building. Almost literally half the tower was gone, having collapsed ontop of the many buildings beside it, crushing them in heavy debris. Some of the flames had died, with many having died down to little fires scattered across the debris that was spread out across the area. Smoke trailed from the ruins, and geth could be seen under the debris or crushed by it. Geth torsos crawled across the ground, with some of the blackwatch troopers going amongst them and putting them down. The torn torso of a geth juggernaut even hung from a piece of rubar, which must have sliced the geth in half when it was tossed away by the blast. Overall, the security tower looked almost entirely destroyed, which didn't help his optimism about getting to the top of it.
All around them, the AA guns opened up again, firing at the geth light cruiser, which was now finally answering with fire of its own, resolved to destroy its own base's defenses to save itself. It was either that or risk orbit, but it couldn't with assailants attacking their base, so it held its ground...even if it was futile.
Moving towards Tali, he stood next to her, rifle lowered. The haptic interface was fizzing in and out, the lock clearly damaged by the explosion. The quarian looked up at him even as she worked, shaking her head. Eventually, she gave up, slamming her fist against it before standing up to face him, "I'm sorry Marcus, but the explosion must have severely damaged the door mechanisms. It looks like some of the circuits are fried."
"No problem. We don't need to hack our way through everything," he quickly turned to the heavy of the squad, "James, get some charges on this door. If we can't hack it, we'll have to blow it. Everybody, stand back. Prepare for breaching. Not that anything could survive that blast."
James wasted no time in moving towards the door, quickly grabbing the C6 charges from his back as he moved to attach them to the door, Tali moving back with everyone else as they moved to clear the intended blast radius. Suddenly, a burst of comm chatter met his ear, followed by the familiar sound of Legion's voice, "Shepard-Commander, we apologize for lack of communication. Our position was compromised by geth forces after the destruction of the security tower. We were forced to relocate. We are currently heading towards your position. We will take the battlements. What is your situation?"
"Its good to hear your voice, Legion," he replied quickly, turning to watch as James fastened the last charge, "We've reached the tower and are about to enter. We've lured the cruiser away, but the 39th and 45th are under heavy attack. Moses and Yul are on their way, as is Torsk. We'll wait for them and you."
"Negative, Shepard-Commander," Moses immediately interrupted, "We are currently pinned by Indoctrinated forces and are unable to join you. You will need to proceed without us."
Frowning, he turned back to his squad to see James give the thumbs up, the charges now set, "Can we render assistance?"
"Negative. Indoctrinated platforms number in the hundreds and are growing. Creator Yul has been killed and there are only three creator soldiers left. We are currently covering their retreat, and will soon be joining them. We will find another way to reach the overwatch tower, but not in time to be of use to you."
Yul's dead? Shit!
"We'll wait here for you," Marcus stated, "Surely we can-"
"You cannot afford to wait, Shepard-Commander," the geth prime insisted, "Before they overran our position, we detected Indoctrinated forces relaying commands to send more troops towards the security tower. We do not know how, but it would seem the Indoctrinated are now alerted to your presence. They are sending a regiment of troops towards your position, and are currently calling for an airstrike on your position. We are sorry, Shepard-Commander. There is nothing we can do."
A regiment...we'll never be able to hold them off...and a bloody airstrike? Shit, shit, shit!
Well, I guess I knew something was going to go wrong...
Vass was quick to join them, "The geth is right, captain! I'm detecting at least 1,800 troops heading towards your position from the east. They're approaching en masse, and don't seem to be moving with any particular order. They look desperate, captain. Really desperate. As in 'let's just rush them instead of moving in an organized fashion' desperate. I guess that confirms where the signal is. Me and my men will try our best to scramble the fighter's targetting, but they seem to be operating on a seperate network; I'd need to be on the cruiser to hack them, and that'll take too long!"
"Fuck!" he cursed, shaking his head, "Then reposition some of the AA guns! Take out those fucking fighters! Buy us some time!" he switched back to Moses, "Moses, don't bother with the overwatch tower. Take whatever troops you have left, including the skylord platoon, and withdraw to the northern side and reinforce the 39th and 45th. I'll have Torsk link up with you. There's no way they'll be able to reach us anyway."
"Acknowledged," the geth replied, almost sounding sad, "We have failed you."
"The only way you'll have failed me Moses is if you fucking die," he spat back, "Now get out of here! We'll do what we can here and just have to hope we can outrun the fuckers! Good luck!"
Once he had relayed the orders to Torsk, who was, despite being disgruntled, easy enough to convince to retreat, he returned to Vass, "What's the status on those fighters, Sergeant?"
"You should hear about it...right about...," the sound of explosions, fairly close, could be heard, and they all turned in time to watch four respective balls of flame seemingly shoot down from the sky like asteroids, flaming wreckage raining down on the fortress. One crashed into the ruins of the security tower, another crashed directly into the building across from them, exploding inside and gutting the structure, while the other two crashed somewhere behind it, "...now. Don't be too happy though. No doubt the geth will just reroute more fighters, but it'll take a few minutes for them to arrive. They're sorta preoccupied."
"With what?"
"Bombing our friends up north."
"Fuck." This just gets worse and worse. But we've got to focus on us right now. We're no help to them if we die. Make it worth something. Complete the mission.
Turning to Tali, he nodded. I cannot fail her. Not her. Of all people, I cannot fail her.
"Shepard-Commander, we will not be happy to provide assistance. There are too many of them," Legion declared.
"Don't worry Legion, just keep heading for overwatch. We'll meet you there. Hopefully, we'll be able to outrun them," he replied, almost too calmly. More calm than I feel. We're about to be fucking overrun.
"We calculate the chance of this to be ten percent," the geth stated, "At the rate Indoctrinated forces are advancing, they will reach you within sixty seconds. You will not have sufficient time to escape."
"FUCK!" he roared, his anger fuelling him to kick a random piece of debris, sending the tangled piece of metal flying through the air. Everyone flinched from the sudden outburst. He bit down hard on his lip, feeling the need to scream.
We cannot fail! We can't! Not now! Not when we're so fucking close!
Oblivion must have alerted them! Is this the punishment it spoke of? Fucking...FUCK!
And then, an unwanted solution provided itself. Marcus, ignoring his blind rage, turned to see Desolas standing beside him, mandibles twitching ever so slightly, steely gaze meeting his own, furious one. The turian could see the fire in them, and he did not flinch. He stared back, and shook his head, "Captain, I believe this is where we must part ways. And, likely, it will be permanently."
He shook his head, "No, Desolas. I can't ask you to make that sacrifice. Its goddamn suicide. No, I've done suicide. That is impossible."
"I did not imply that I wished to escape the ordeal," Desolas spoke back calmly, as if the very idea of death didn't even faze him, "I'm simply providing you a solution. You know this needs to be done, and you need to go. There is no room for argument. My men can bunker down here and hold them back long enough for you to escape. Go captain, and allow the esteemed men of this blackwatch to bathe in a glorious death," the turian raised his weapon high with one hand, "For Palaven! For the Hierarchy! Glory in death!"
"Glory in death!" the 8th Blackwatch Company roared back, all of them raising their rifles in a identical fashion.
Desolas lowered his phaeston, turning to the captain with a nod, "Now blow the door and go, captain. We'll use what time we have left to set up position. How much time do we have, Lieutenant?"
"15 seconds," one turian snapped, as if expecting the question. None of them showed fear or even seemed to cower at the idea of dying. They were hardened men, one and all. They truly are the best of the best.
All Marcus needed to do was look Desolas in the eyes one final time to know that the turian's mind was made up, and that was necessary was exactly that; necessary. He couldn't help but be reminded of Tarquin's death back on Tuchanka. Victory at any cost. This is the cost of today's victory. Make it worth every drop of blood.
With a nod, he turned to James, and gave his orders, "Detonate the door. Squad, be ready to move," turning one final time to Desolas, he gave a grim smirk, "Good luck, major."
"No such thing, captain," the turian snapped back, before turning to his men and ordering them into position. The turians filed out like pawns on a chessboard, and Marcus could only listen to the blast as the charges detonated, blowing the damaged door inwards, tearing it from its hinges. Inside was a mangled mess of a corridor, but it was traversable, and he could already see the elevator dead ahead. Without waiting any further, he ordered his squad through the doorway, rushing to get away before the geth arrived.
Marcus was the last one through, watching as two of the blackwatch commandos placed shaped charges on the edges of the doorway, clearly planning to collapse the surrounding infrastructure to block passage and further delay in the geth in the event that the company was overwhelmed; and they would be. Marcus, with some sadness, turned away and moved down the corridor, steeling himself for what lay ahead.
A thousand geth platforms against a small company of a hundred turian commandos. A battle for the ages. Give 'em hell, Desolas.
The elevator lay at the end of the corridor; quite literally. Bits of wiring hung from the ceiling, with scorch marks marring the walls, some of the flooring having been ripped up entirely, with the occassional spark and flickering of damaged lights showing the extent of the damage. The wall to the left of the elevator was missing entirely, blown inwards, allowing them a free view of the ruins outside. Surprisingly, only one geth wasn't present, and it was only an assault drone; its shattered body lying sideways on the floor, a large hole blown through its side, optics dim and bereft of life.
Reaching the elevator, and hoping God was as loving as they said, the entire squad squeezed into the confined space, with Marcus moving in last. They all stood there as Tali hacked the interface to take them to the top floor, watching as gunfire began to erupt, accompanied by the heavier sounds of pulse rifle fire, rocket detonations and siege pulses. Just as abruptly as the combat began, their view of it was cut off as the doors slammed shut, the elevator thankfully beginning to carry them upwards at a slow, but steady, rate. Tali stood up, joining him, her hand sliding into his and squeezing it. But he barely felt it.
The 39th, 45th and 7th were likely being slaughtered out there. Dozens of quarian commandos were dead, with Yul among them. A blackwatch company was now giving their lives to ensure their victory. And it was all because of the quarians and their insepid need to reclaim their lost world and, perhaps the most pathetic of all, to enact revenge upon the geth for exiling them.
Well, I hope you're happy Gerrel. I hope you're fucking happy. Shala. Xen. Koris. All of you. I hope you're all fucking proud of yourselves.
And like thoughts could summon people, his comm sprung to life and, surely enough, Shala'Raan was attempting to contact him. Frowning, he answered the comm, answering with an almost gravelly tone, "Yes, Admiral?"
{Loading...}
July 21, 2186
1442 hours.
Moving up the Security Tower, Rannoch Fortress, Former Country of Poltane'r, Uma'Waz Subcontinent, Rannoch.
Second Morning War, Liberation of Rannoch.
Captain Marcus Lee Shepard, Military Advisor Garrus Vakarian, EDI, Shadow Broker Liara T'Soni, Admiral Tali'Shepard vas Normandy, Master Thief Kasumi Goto, Second Lieutenant James Vega, Second Lieutenant Imogen Keeling, Major Kaidan Alenko, Soldier Javik, General Kal'Reegar vas Normandy, Major Madi'Reegar vas Normandy.
"Captain, it is good to hear you're still alive! How is the situation down there?"
He rolled his eyes; a response he couldn't help, given the situation he was in, "Going to hell faster than a bullet train. We're being hit on all fronts, but we're moving up the security tower. The signal will be gone momentarily."
"That is excellent to hear! Soon the war will finally be over, and we can finish this charade once and for all! This foolishness can finally end!"
He had to hold back a snort at such an ironic comment. You're telling me. Despite his irritation though, he had to know what the situation was with the Migrant Fleet, as they had been silent for the majority of the operation. I'm surprised they've kept the geth running around the system for that long. Surely they must have known something was up.
"What's the Flotilla's status?" he queried, already feeling exhausted. Guess standing still after running so much allows my body to finally realize 'well, fuck. You're tired.'
"We are doing our seventh lap of Rannoch," Shala replied, "We haven't lost a single ship, but the geth are relentless. I don't know how much longer we can keep this up. Gerrel is getting restless and Koris is worried the geth might set up a trap. I would recommend haste, captain."
"Like I said," he said through gritted teeth, "We're almost at the top of the security tower. Once there, we'll cross to the overwatch command tower, open the silo and let the Normandy bombard the signal's transmitter. Once gone, this'll all be over and we can all go home." Well, those that are still living anyway.
"Very well, captain," Shala responded, "We will hold out for as long as we can and keep them chasing us. Admiral Raan out."
With that, he closed the comms, turning to Tali, "How close are we to the top."
"Four stories," the quarian declared, "We're almost-"
And then the entire elevator shuddered. If it wasn't for the cramped space, they would have all fallen over from the quake. Despite that however, they were far more concerned with the immense explosion and the pressure it put on the security tower's structure; it was hard to mistake the creaking of steel and the groan of unstable support beams and stumps. The elevator continued despite this however, even when the entire building shook again, likely from the resulting shockwave of the blast. The groan was louder this time, which warned Marcus that they needed to get off this building fast.
Finally, they reached a section of the building's anterior where the walls had peeled off, allowing them a perfect view outside. The squad could only smile and watch in silent relief as the split remains of the geth light cruiser began to glide towards the southern battlements. The AA guns finished their final salvo, with the cruiser having been so utterly destroyed, that it had split down the middle, breaking its spine. Fire and debris flew from it in spiralling balls, with the front careening into a distant tower, slicing it in half in a shower of steel and concrete. The quake was barely felt this time, but the most enjoyment came when the back of it crashed into the southern wall, falling right through it almost like it was made of clay rather than thick concrete and steel. What was left was a large hole in the hole, accompanied by the settling wreckage of the cruiser's rear, now riddled with explosions and alight with fire. The very sight was almost angelic if it wasn't for the fact that it was their future allies they were destroying.
Overall, the entire geth fortress was now in almost complete shambles. Fires raged throughout its multi-complex, and smoke blackened the sky, almost blotting out Tikkun with its intensity. If the enormous destruction on the north wall wasn't enough, there was now the ruins of half the security tower and the light cruiser crashing into the base, leaving a gaping hole in the southern wall. Had this been any other organic base, there likely would have been alarms blaring and shouts echoing across. As it was, the geth didn't need alarms, and the shouts and gunfire were limited to below and at the northern wall, where the 39th, 7th and 45th were likely putting up a valiant, but likely futile, defense.
There's just too many of them. They'll hold out for an hour or two at most, and then they'll be overwhelmed. Even with Vass' unit running sabotage, they'll be hard pressed to hold that position. But they know what to do. They're aware of what they need to do; what's at stake. No retreat. No room for withdrawal. This is one war that'll end today.
As soon as the cruiser came to a complete rest within the fortress, the elevator reached the top floor of the tower. The doors slowly opened this time, being nowhere near as fast as they had been when shutting down below, the sound of their opening a painful screech and grinding compared to every other door they'd passed through. Nevertheless, it finally opened, and the squad quickly filed out, quick to draw their weapons and check the corridor ahead. Not quite as devastated as the bottom floor, the corridor looked relatively untouched, with the only sign of any damage being a flickering light in the middle, and the doors of one room to their immediate left having been blown open, leaving their mark in the wall opposite them as they rested on it, sparking as live circuits continued to interact ever so slightly. The room itself looked annihilated, with all three walls missing, leaving it exposed to the open air, wind whipping at the wreckage inside.
A geth trooper was skewered on a loose piece of rubar on the right, the platform uselessly trying to walk forward, hands trying to free it of the metal it was impaled on. Seeing the squad, its optics turned to them, and it stopped, simply staring at them as if it had no idea what to do. In actual fact however, what they perceived as it looking at them blankly was the unit actually purging its memory core, and within seconds its optics tilted downwards, their light dying as the trooper fell limp. Two geth hoppers could be seen near the end, one dead while the other crawled across the ground towards them, one leg missing, with only a pair of loose wires hanging from the removed limb. Its optics looked to burn with intent, but Marcus ignored it, moving forward even as Kasumi put a SMG burst straight through its optics, killing it instantly.
The team pressed forward towards the doorway at the end, 'euthanizing' any geth they came across. Most of them were not even combat capable; either being dismembered in one fashion or another, unable to move due to being trapped or impaled, or simply didn't possess any weapons to defend themselves. Overall, what little geth were left inside the tower were woefully under equipped to combat Marcus' team, and they put them down, one by one, as they came through.
The sounds of their footsteps and the ocassional boom of one of their weapons discharging was not the only sound to be heard. The squad stopped for a moment as they heard the telltale sound of a large explosion down below, the building's superstructure groaning in protest. It was clear now that the blackwatch company had been entirely overrun, and had blown the entrance to slow the geth advance even further. They just hoped their sacrifice was worth it. The sounds of gunfire did not cease however, and explosions and the reports of weapons to the north signalled that the battle continued to rage elsewhere as well. Still, they pressed on, knowing beyond a doubt that the men and women of the UGC task force would do their jobs.
They rounded a few more corners until they finally came across the door that leads to the skybridge connecting the two towers. The corridor they were in was relatively untouched by the damage to the tower, looking almost spotless, yet empty of any life other than their own. No lights flickered, and even the door itself looked fully functioning. Numerous consoles aligned the wall, and a set of four doors lined the right wall, all locked and dormant. Data streamed on the consoles, although Marcus couldn't make out what it was saying due to the rapidity of the streaming. Because of this, he largely ignored it, not thinking much of it as he quickly motioned for Tali to unlock the door they needed to access.
"We're not going to have much time," Madi pointed out, already falling into a crouch as she assumed a rear defensive position, rifle aimed as she sighted downrange, "If Desolas and his men are overrun now, that'll mean the geth will be making every effort to get up here and stop us. No doubt they'll be sending every drone they have and rerouting all their fighters and dropships. If they manage to trap us in..."
"We've already got a head start on them, and Desolas bought us more than enough time to split," Kaidan pointed out, "And the geth won't risk sending in an airstrike anywhere near the signal source; the Reapers wouldn't want their control thwarted by collateral damage. They're desperate, but not stupid. They'll just send as many troops as they can to stop us, and by then, it'll be too late."
"Kaidan's right," Kal added, squeezing his mate's shoulder, "We'll make it. Just think about the future, yol'tiya. Think about what comes from this; the homeworld will be ours again. Keelah Re'lai."
"Keelah Re'lai," Tali and Madi said almost simultaneously and with complete conviction. Marcus turned to see the quarian admiral still crouched before and hacking the door, her fingers quickly and rapidly killing off every geth safeguard she can find, all with the help of Vass and his engineers on the other side.
Speaking of Vass and his men...
He quickly hit the comms, contacting the STG company, "Sergeant, this is Marcus. We're about to cross to the overwatch command tower now; we're inbound. What's your status?"
Vass' response sounded more hurried than usual, and stressed, "About to make a hasty retreat, captain. The geth finally managed to find us; I don't know how, but it means we can't stay here any longer. Don't worry though; my men are sabotaging as much as they can: we're frying the AA gun targetting, frying every major alert system, and we're doing a little redecorating in their interior network; suffice to say, their programs in-system are going to be so busy repairing any internal damage that they'll be unable to hinder your progress. Also, as an added bonus, I've just activated a killswitch on every single door in the base. Which should mean..."
Three seconds later, the door Tali was hacking shot open without warning, with the haptic interface disappearing a moment later to reveal the bridge ahead. The four doors on the right wall also shot open, revealing their respective rooms, and just how empty they were. Looking ahead, they could see the door on the opposite side of the bridge also open, revealing a squad of geth troopers and shock troopers that had been setting up an ambush, but had been revealed. Able to see the squad immediately, they opened fire, a flurry of pulse rifle fire forcing Tali and the rest of his team into cover as it shot through the doorway, impacting the opposite wall and riddling it with rapidly multiplying bullet holes, the material hissing from the heat of the impacts. There was even the ocassional bolts of plasma, which melted and warped the steel impacted, revealing the presence of at least one geth hunter.
He growled, falling into a crouch as he returned fire, "Thanks for that, Vass. Although no doubt that's made the geth's job easier as well."
"Didn't say it wasn't without its bad parts," Vass almost dismissively replied, "That's about all we can do for you, captain; you're on your own now. We're going to leave and try and link up with Durand and Bergundus in the north; with luck, we can do more to help them then we have been able to help you."
Gritting his teeth, he waited a few moments, letting off a trio of bursts into the first trooper he could see through the doorway, holding back a sigh of relief as he watched it go down, collapsing backwards into one of its comrades, who almost frustratingly tossed the body aside as it tried to take aim again, only for Marcus to roll out of sight, slamming a fresh thermal clip into his weapon, "You've been invaluable, Vass. Now just get the hell out of there."
"Copy that, captain," Vass replied. With that, the comms fell silent, signalling that the salarian team had now gone back into radio silence to cover their retreat.
Now we're truly on our own.
Marcus groaned as he sat up against the wall, beginning to shout out orders, "Madi, Kal, stay where you are and make sure no one comes up behind us. James, I didn't want to do it, but we have no choice. Deploy the Cain, and open up on that doorway. We don't have the time to deal with this conventionally. Just take aim and let it rip. Everyone else, be ready to advance the moment you hear that explosion. If you see anything stir, gun it down without remorse. I don't care if it only turns out to be a rat; just kill it. I want no surprises and no slowing down; this is it, people. Our goal is just across that bridge. All it takes is one final approach. Do not fail me, but most of all, do not fail them."
The entire team nodded, and remained in cover as they got ready to make the necessary charge, keeping their weapons locked and loaded in preparation. James, from his position next to Javik, who looked angry as he brimmed with the deminishing green light of his biotics, had the Cain on the ground, by the stock, bringing the first of the three rounds he had for the weapon up to the barrel, ready to shove it inside. With a grunt, he managed to lock it into place, grabbing a side lever and drawing it down, bringing the missile into place. Taking a breath, the marine then looked up at Marcus, waiting for his confirmation as he picked up the enormous death machine, already bringing the stock against his shoulder.
Marcus just nodded, not even hesitating.
"Okay amigos, here comes the big kaboom," the marine declared enthusiastically, "Javik, Keeling, Garrus, covering fire! Give me time to line up the shot!"
The trio wasted no time dropping into place, Javik in a crouch with Keeling beside him as he opened fire with his particle rifle, a great lance of lime light pulsing from the barrel to slam into the stomach of a geth hunter, unable to bring its cloak back up in time as the pulse struck it, slicing right through its chest and out its back, its electronic warble all the sound it could make before Javik streaked the shot upwards, slicing up through its chest and amputating its arm from its shoulder, causing it to drop its plasma shotgun. Keeling finished it off with a straight headshot, and Garrus sent a concussive shot flying overhead to hit another hunter, sending it realing back, and destroying what little shields it had left, allowing Keeling and Javik to put it down.
While this was going on, and geth fell one by one to the trio's onslaught, despite their shields faltering at the equally intense gunfire, James lined up his shot. For four seconds, the four of them stood in the open as fire pelted them. Javik grunted as a stray round penetrated his shields and sliced into his side, but he did not falter, keeping up his fire. Keeling almost cried out when a bolt of plasma from a third hunter's shotgun just grazed her side, the plasma's heat enough to melt through her armor and singe her side, leaving her with a small, isolated area with third-degree burns. The pain was likely intense, but she continued regardless, until James finally took the shot.
The intensity of the recoil was enough to cause James to cry out in pain, the stock slamming back into his shoulder with tremendous force, and causing him to stagger back slightly and drop the weapon; but his aim was dead on. Marcus rolled forward, quickly retrieving the weapon and putting it on his back, watching the rocket as it raced towards the doorway ahead. The geth saw it coming, and turned to withdraw, but they were too late, and the rocket impacted.
Marcus tinted his helmet, as did everyone else, as an intense flash almost blinded them. The flash permeated their vision for the good portion of five seconds, the only sound being a titanic clamour as heat unlike anything they had felt before struck them full on, followed by bits of debris and metal. Electronic cries were drowned out by the side, as was any other sound around them. Finally, when the sound cleared and their vision returned to a basic blur, they were able to see the full extent of the Cain's wrath.
While James gathered himself and gradually began to ignore his bruised shoulder, the squad surveyed the destruction as they got up and moved forward, weapons at the ready. The Cain had done its job; what had been a fairly small doorway enough for four people in body armor to squeeze through had been turned into a massive hole of twisted metal, exposed circuits and wiring, and a singed, blackened circumference. Now, the hole was 12 meters tall, and 16 meters in width. The bridge was relatively untouched, but the area closest to the explosion was now pitch black, and steam hissed from the metal as heat irradiated within it.
He came to a stop, immediately turning to Liara, "Form a biotic barrier around us. We don't want to get exposed to any radiation." The Cain wasn't a simple high-powered rocket launcher; when people called it a mini-nuke launcher, they weren't lying. With an explosive force of 1000 microtons of TNT, the Cain was capable of levelling an entire house. Of course, that didn't seem like it would do much more than a bunker buster, but as a nuke, it had far more destructive force, and could leave an area irradiated, making uninhabitable for a temporary period of time. Add to the fact that nuclear detonations could cause blindless if witnessed with unshielded eyes, third degree burns to those close enough, total incineration to those who are far too close, and cause cancerous amalgamations and diseases in any organic survivors, the Cain was a weapon that just toed the line of the Geneva and Citadel Conventions. If the weapon was any more destructive, it might have been illegal.
And with people like Kasumi, Garrus, Liara and Javik all wearing open armor, they were in danger of suffering radiation poisoning. Javik he wasn't too sure of due to little to no information on prothean physiology, but he wasn't willing to take the risk. With that said, he watched as a dome of liquid blue erupted around them, shielding them from the fallout of the Cain's payload. Slowly moving forward, they crossed the bridge, rifles raised, ready to deal with any incoming attacks.
None came, as they crossed the bridge onto the command tower roof, they found that the geth squad were no more, with not even piles of metal to recognize them by; they had been totally incinerated. Any corpses were reduced to black markings on the ground, and the radiation count on Marcus' HUD began to crackle and hiss in response to the radiation outside their biotic bubble. With a nod, he ordered his team across, and into the overwatch command tower.
Again, no geth rushed to meet them, which made Marcus wonder if that single squad had been all the geth could muster in this situation. With time running out, he couldn't waste time trying to find out. Moving until his squad was free of the radiation, he quickly turned to his squad, watching as Liara dropped her barrier, and brought out her SMG, "Kal, Madi, EDI, James, Liara; cover the bridge. Reposition the area however you need, but I have a feeling those geth down below are going to be all over us very soon; I don't want our asses hanging out when they do. Everyone else, you're with me. Keep me covered while I open the hatch of the silo and call in the airstrike. Let's move, people. Double time it."
The squad did not hesitate; they knew the stakes. This was it. This is what they'd been fighting for. An end to one of the longest conflicts in galactic history, and one of the longest exiles.
Press.
Forward.
Advance.
You cannot win, Shepard. Surrender. Now.
I thought you were done trying to convince me? Where's your punishment, Oblivion? Why don't you just tell Harbinger I've ended your little charade here on Rannoch. The geth will never be your slaves again.
Trust in one's confidence is the main delusion of organic life. You cannot resist the cycle. It has progressed for billions of years. You can only delay the inevitable.
Your trust in this inevitability is your main delusion. Nothing is inevitable. We make our own fate. We choose the path. It just so happens that I'm not going to choose the path of least resistance; I'm going to keep fighting you until every Reaper is dead. Do not make the mistake in thinking I will surrender; I won't. Your race is already dead.
If you think saving one race means something, you are hopelessly deluded. And if you believe their salvation is at hand, you are only aiding the conclusion of your delusion. They will remain ours because you have no means of destroying our source.
I have an airstrike.
It matters little.
Try and stop me.
We do not need to try. The fate of this battle has already been decided. This exchange is OVER.
Damn right.
With the Reaper's voice having now left the confines of his mind, he pressed on; Kaidan, Tali, Javik, Kasumi, Keeling and Garrus ran beside him, weapons raised as they managed to keep all sides in check. The light of the sky became more and more prominent until they reached the very edge of the building. Ahead of them now was an observation platform stretched out like the plank of a pirate ship, its edges railed off as it loomed over the silo down below. Two consoles lay to either side of it, with one at the very end of the platform; obviously this was the main control console for the silo's systems. Rifle raised, he approached the platform, his team not far behind him and covering his back and closed in with the console.
And just like that, there they were; the console just infront of him, the source of the geth's enslavement down below.
He lowered his rifle, and looked down. Overall, looking at it put things into perspective; for one, they were not as high up as he thought, with the silo only seeming to be one hundred meters below. The silo itself was immense, its width equal to the length of a turian battlecruiser. Large though it was, it was what lay beneath that Marcus was after, and without hesitation, he commed the Normandy, contacting Joker, "Normandy, this is ground team. We have reached the control station, I repeat, we have reached the control station," he looked off into the distance, watching as a geth dropship was shot down, with flak peppering the sky and machine gun fire rocketing through the sky and muzzle flashes lighting up the best part of the northern side of the base, "Awaiting airstrike. Danger close, I repeat, danger close. Recommend immediate bombardment the moment I give the signal, how copy?"
"Gotcha, captain," Joker replied, "Deploying into orbit now. Will be with you in five. Prepping torpedoes."
With a barely perceivable nod, he turned to Tali and ordered her to hack the console and hopefully open the silo's protective hatch; all the while the threat of the incoming geth troops behind them loomed every closer. He couldn't help but turn back to ensure his squad was still okay and, to his relief, saw that Liara, Kal, Madi, James and EDI were all in position, eying the doorway as they readied themselves to open fire on any geth soldiers that dared to try and cross the bridge. A perfect choke point, and excellent defensive position.
Three minutes later, and he turned, Tali standing up as finished the hack. With a loud groan of steel and concrete grinding against each other, and the loud clicks of clasps unlatching, they all watched in a mixture of awe and wonder as the hatch slowly slid underground, lethagarically drawing itself back as if unveiling a big finale. And what a finale it was; even as the hatch drew back, darkness still hung onto the silo's interior, with Tikkun's light only just barely reflecting on whatever was in there. Whatever it was, it was big; even from where they were, they could see the signal transmitter; and it was huge. Even for a transmitter, it was unusually large, wide and long, and it glimmered with a crimson tang, looking almost like...
...wait. Something isn't right. That design...looks hauntingly familiar...
And as the hatch slid more and more away, more of the transmitter was revealed, until it was almost too late. Just before the hatch disappeared altogether, the pieces of the puzzle came together. It should have been obvious from the get go.
The taunts. The feeling of Oblivion being closer than it perceivably was. The strength of the signal. Oblivion's desperate attempts to stop me...
The signal isn't being broadcasted by a Reaper deployed signal...
...the signal is coming from a Reaper!
His eyes widened as he watched the arched back and triangular body of a Reaper Destroyer begin to stir in the silo, his squad already moving even as its infamous and terrifying airhorn pierced the air, shaking the very foundations of the building and seeming to infect the air with its horror; the very sound sent goosebumps pricking across his skin, and he was already shouting into his comms, "All units! The signal isn't a transmitter, its an actual Reaper! Full retreat, I repeat, full fucking retreat! Normandy, switch to the thanix and prepare to-"
Without warning, the Reaper suddenly lurched upwards, one of its four legs darting upwards to grab onto something as it prepared to pull itself out of its self-induced prison. The leg, with its three sub-limbs, quickly grabbed a hold of the command tower's exterior, digging into the metal as it squeezed and crushed it under its grip, causing the entire tower to creak with the pressure. Its second leg lashed out and did the same to the other side, causing his entire squad to fall to the ground, Marcus falling forwards, causing his pulse rifle to slide from his hands and off the edge, plummeting to the ground below as he watched on helplessly. The entire continued to shake, even as they all got to their feet.
He could hear Joker shouting through the comms, but his voice was drowned out as the Reaper's airhorn bellowed once more, its forward legs now pulling it out from the silo, allowing them to see its full form. Its back legs quickly grabbed a hold of the area behind it, pulling it fully out of the silo and into the light, where the light of Tikkun reflected off its thick armor plating and dull red cyclops. The eye turned to look up at them, but Marcus knew, even as his eyes furrowed into a frown of anger, it was looking directly at him.
Oblivion...
With the plates covering its eye already open, its one, sole eye was able to look freely, and it quickly locked onto the helpless team as it stood up fully, allowing them to view its supreme size and power. Almost as tall as the command tower itself, the Reaper was now able to almost look down on them. Why it didn't fire then and there, Marcus didn't understand, but he didn't get time to contemplate on it; within seconds, one of Oblivion's legs went swiping upwards, the force of it knocking the air out of their lungs and sending the platform they were on flying upwards.
With a creak and finally a loud snap, the entire platform was shaken loose from its moorings, and they all widened their eyes as it fell back, this time slamming into the tower's surface as it began to slide down...
...towards the ground below.
They all held on for dear life, wind whipping at their helmets and faces as they plummetted towards the ground below, which grew ever closer as they approached it. They did not fail to notice what appeared to be four geth hunters and a dozen geth troopers waiting down below, but that seemed like the least of their problems at that very moment; towering above them as they fell was the gargantuan form of a 150 meter Reaper, and they were more concerned about that then the puny geth below; that, and surviving their fall would be nice.
We warned you, Shepard. You did not listen. The cycle cannot be broken. You must realize this or this cycle will be lost just like all the others.
I can still save the geth...
WE are the signal. To destroy the signal, you must destroy us. You are doomed. You are all doomed. We are Oblivion, and you will be condemned to a brutal grave for your misfortunes. You cannot escape your doom.
Before Marcus could even respond to that, he found his descent suddenly halted, his body feeling weightless as it was suddenly yanked upwards forcefully. Barely able to open his eyes due to the air slamming into them, he looked up to see Garrus holding onto the loose platform, the jetpack on his back firing at full as he desperately tried to slow their fall. They were slowing down for the most part, but it looked as if the landing was still going to be a hard one.
Shit...this is going to hurt...
And it did.
Garrus did all he could to slow their descent and for the most part, he succeeded; had he not used his jetpack to slow them down at all, they would have hit the ground at full force, resulting in smashed bones and broken bodies. Now, instead of hitting the ground at full speed, they would hit at a reduced speed, which would still undoubtably hurt like a bitch, but it was survivable. The turian cried out with the effort to stabilize the plummeting platform, but in the end, it wasn't enough to save them completely from harm, and in moments, they impacted the ground with a loud crash.
Felt like his entire body had been reduced to jelly. His vision became a blur as he felt himself violently thrashed about, chest slamming into the ground. Pain lanced up his stomach, the spectre coughing and spluttering as he bit back a scream. His body almost ricocheted off the ground from the crash, armor tightening against his frame as he was thrown around. His entire body managed to flip in the air for a brief moment before landing on his back with a thud, continuing to slide across the steel ground for a few seconds before coming to a stop.
Eyes looking up, all he could do was fight the black invading his vision as he desperately breathed in all the air that had been forced from his lungs. He felt as if he was trapped, his entire body aching and flashing with agony, unable to move even a limb. He licked his lips, feeling spots of blood there from a broken nose, with more blood seeping down his nostrils towards his mouth, which he promptly spat back out. Reaching up, he almost tore his helmet off, the mere movement of his arms enough to cause him to let out a loud, drawn-out growl. Reaching up, he grabbed his nose and reset it, biting down on his lip to escape the agony of the gesture. With his nose reset, he tried tilting his head up, but found it nearly impossible. Looking up, he watched Oblivion's massive form linger over them, his forward left leg smashing down 50 meters behind him, like it was bringing its form around so it could see for itself if his squad was dead. And then, seeing that they weren't, it would likely use its thanix to finish them off.
Got...to get...up...can't...end...here...
How the fuck are we meant to take that thing down? Rannoch doesn't have its own Kalros! We're fucked! We don't have the ground ordnance to bring that monstrosity down!
Ripping his eyes from the towering monolith, he twisted his head to see if his squad was okay. The first thing he saw was a long trail of blue blood, which seemed to leak across the ground in a mini-river across the ground before finally arriving at Garrus, who lay on the ground, already trying to push himself up. In the tumble, the turian's sniper rifle had become dislodged from his back, ending up five meters away from him. His rifle was nowhere to be seen, and from the looks of it, he did not survive the fall without a scratch; even from where Marcus was lying, he could see the blue blood steadily dripping from one side of his friend's face, Garrus holding up one talon to tenderly touch his face, visually wincing at the sting it likely caused. The turian then turned to Marcus, revealing that his left mandible was hanging limply to one side, one of the strings of flesh holding it up having been torn off, the injury leaking blood like a tap. He nodded to Marcus, noting that he was alive, and quickly grabbed one of his medi-gel packets as he applied it to his wound.
Turning further, he saw Kasumi not far from Garrus, her hood down and hair splayed across her face as she tucked it aside, sitting up, groaning. From where he was, he could see that an array of cuts lined her features, one just missing her eye, but all leaking red; not a steady tap like Garrus however, and they looked relatively minor compared to everyone else. Otherwise, the master thief looked fine, and she quickly stood up, grabbing her SMG.
All around them, his squad moved to get up, but he couldn't see Tali anywhere. She must be behind me.
He was proven right when his wife suddenly appeared from behind him, crouching by his side. Gunfire was heard, Marcus realizing that his squad must have started to engage the geth he saw on his way down. In the state they were all in, they wouldn't last long if significant geth reinforcements started coming their way, so he began to sat up; a gesture he rapidly regretted, as it drew his attention to the broken ribs he likely now sported.
"What's the damage?" Tali asked him, surprisingly calm, "Are you seriously injured? Can you walk?"
"Walk? No," he groaned, he shook his head, "Limp? Yes. I've got a broken nose and a few broken ribs, but from what I feel, my legs are fine, and my arms ache, but are still working. Help me up. We need to get out of here...now."
"Agreed!" she replied, shouting for Javik to help her help the captain up. The prothean was by side their side in seconds, and with his help, tucked their arms under Marcus' and hoistened him up. Finally able to stand, albeit alittle wobbly, he was able to see that Keeling and Kaidan were holding off the geth troops on the ground, having downed three troopers, but unable to stem their advance entirely. The geth were gaining ground, and with the ground team injured in some form or another, they couldn't last much longer.
An incredibly loud airhorn above them only emphasized the danger they were in, and they all looked up to see Oblivion slowly bringing itself around, even walking backwards, so that it could see the ground team fully.
Loudly, and in his ear, Kal's voice spoke up, hurried and tired, "Marcus, are you alright!? We saw that fall from where we were! You need to get out of there!"
"We know! The signal is a fucking Reaper!" he barked back, turning around as he began to move the opposite way, motioning for his squad, although his limping didn't allow him to make much headway. Garrus, already seeing him begin to move, motioned to Kasumi to follow, who began to help him along with one arm tucked under his, Marcus realizing the turian had more than simply a broken mandible; his left leg barely being able to move was more than enough a sign to symbolize this, "You need to fall back! Get out of there!"
"Its not us we're worried about, Marcus!" came Liara's voice, suddenly cutting off Kal, "The geth were beginning to advance on us when your platform fell. Then, they just suddenly retreated, leaving only a few platoons to deal with us! They started retreating down the building! We think they're headed for your position!"
It was never about us trying to reach the silo controls...Marcus thought, the limping becoming more and more of a pain as he moved along, Tali moving steadily beside him. She wasn't without her injuries either; her shotgun was now holstered on her back, her free left arm cradling her now useless right one.
Oblivion knew what we were doing the whole time. He only sent troops to stop us because...
...because he wants me.
But why? Why are the Reapers obsessed with me?
Irrelevant. Geth forces are inbound and you're in danger. You need to get your squad out of here.
"Just get out of there! Try and link up with the 39th and 45th if you can!" he shouted, "Don't worry about us! We'll find our own way out! We'll try and find Legion and organize a way out!"
Liara didn't agree, "With that Reaper following you? No! Its too dangerous! No, we'll wait for you to-"
"I'm giving you a direct fucking order, Liara! Now move!" he snapped, "You need to contact Joker and find a way to safely take out Oblivion without too much collateral damage. Use the thanix if you have too. Just bring that monster down."
"But Marcus..."
This time, it was Tali who interrupted, "Just do it, Liara. We'll be fine."
Silence followed their pleas for a short time, before Kal was the one who spoke once more, "Understood, sir. You stay alive, you hear? I've got a drink to share with you once this is all done."
Marcus managed a smirk at that, "I'll even suffer a hangover if that's what's necessary, Kal. Now get moving. Don't wait on us."
With that the comms went silent, and Marcus turned to see his squad trailing behind. Kasumi helped Garrus limp with them, while Javik, Keeling and Kaidan provided covering fire for their retreat. Tali was ever at his side, the quarian unholstering her pistol to let off potshots at the enemy behind them, even unleashing Chiktika to aid them. But despite their fighting withdrawal, the geth were rapidly growing in number, flowing out into the yard with increasing strength; troopers turned into shock troopers with hoppers, and those were bolstered by destroyers, then juggernauts, even primes; even flights of drones filtered out to attack the squad, and before they knew it, they were fighting an ever growing regiment of troops filtering out to attack them.
We won't even make it to the exit. Marcus could see it just before them; a massive, tunnel-like exit that likely ran through the base's structure to the east. If they could just reach it, they might escape Oblivion's gaze. But with the situation disintegrating quickly around them, that concept seemed ever fleeting.
Suddenly, Marcus heard a familiar sound; the whoosh of a Reaper firing its deployment capsules. Stopping and turning around, he watched in horror as Oblivion now turned to fully face them, and instead of annihilating them on the spot with its thanix, it elected to fire its capsules; bolts of red flame and crimson heat lashing upwards into the sky by the dozen, the Reaper deploying its personal payload of converted troops towards them.
It seems hesitant to hurt us...but why?
Is it because...do the Reapers want me alive? For what purpose?
Flashbacks of Illium filtered through his mind. Broken and alone, having fallen down a massive drop. Unable to fight back as husks hauled him up, dragging him towards a dragon's tooth, ready to fully convert him into a life of mechanical thralldom. He remembered it very clearly; how Harbinger had come so close to victory. To killing Marcus.
Is that what the husks are for? Is Oblivion going to try and convert me into a husk? My entire squad?
Whatever the answer was, they could only watch as the pods arched through the air, finally coming to stop as they slammed into the ground ahead of them, each impact accompanying a blast of flame and debris as the pods came apart, protecting their occupants but allowing them to immediately roam free. Marcus found himself holding up his arms to shield himself from the shrapnel, growling through it as he opened his eyes to see what awaited them.
With the deployment of dozens of pods came the convergence of dozens of husks. The familiar, chilling groans of standard husks, lifeless, cybernetic eyes almost looking like they were painted on a backdrop of black and grey skin, pipes filtering into their throat and cybernetics puncturing their skin on all angles, naked in all accounts of the word. He did not fail the notice the six marauders also present among them, gripping phaeston rifles in their hands as their forms played a mockery of the turian body, giving out a long winded electronic drabble as they sent commands to their makeshift force. And, to his shock and disgust, he saw two of the chimera; the seemingly normal abominations that used to be quarians, torn suits hanging off their thin, anorexic frames. Their hair was shorter than the one he encountered on Illium, and he realized that these ones were converted males. Cybernetics raked their form, perverting their body, with their helmets almost the only identifiable aspect of them; and even those were devastated, the mask shattered and helmet blackened by some unknown heat. Their eyes were just as lifeless as the rest, and the screech they let out only served to almost freeze him on the spot. Their hair glowed bright blue, and as they watched, they extended their impenetrable shields over the entire force of husks, shielding them from any gunfire.
Three creatures at the back, as well as two beside them, were ones he had never seen before. The three husks he saw were two legged with ridiculously thin legs; almost as if all muscle mass had been ripped from the body. Its upper torso was all that was left of its body, which seemed to stand ontop of the spine like it was a support strut. Where its heart should have been was replaced by a glowing power core, hooked up to an insane amount of circuits and cybernetics. Its arms were thicker than its legs, its left arm ending in three hook-like fingers, and its right ending in a powerful looking cannon, which seemed to extend longer than Garrus' sniper rifle. Its head gave away the species immediately; the salarian was missing its left horn, with the right twisted to the left side. One eye had been replaced with what was obviously supposed to be a sniper optic, confirming that the husk was meant as a sharpshooter. The other eye was a normal salarian eye, although it was now limp, with the iris looking blankly at the ground, rolling around in the useless socket.
The last two were obvious right from the get go; four, strong legs, reinforced with armoured steel, with its entire back lined with blue tubing that pulsed brightly as it ran directly into the animal's mouth. What had once been a long snout, ending in an equally long jaw containing rows of razor-sharp canines, all of which were now replaced by titanium duplicates of the original teeth, its eyes replaced with red optics. Its body was obviously large and powerful, and there was no denying that its shape was familiar; it was a varren.
All these different types of husks formed up to cut the squad off from their exit, and with them advancing, and the geth behind them trapping them, along with a Reaper Destroyer towering overhead, it looked like they were completely doomed. In a final last bid attempt to save them all, he reached a hand up to unholster his Cain, turning to take aim at the husks before them. He shouldered the weapon, walking back as he motioned for Tali to do the same, the quarian looking at him worriedly as he took aim with the weapon in preparation to blast themselves an exit.
Impenetrable shields? Let's see how well they fair against a Cain rocket.
His hand moved to the trigger, grabbing ahold of it. He bit down on his lower lip, bringing the first chimera into view; it was right in the middle of the husk formation, and therefore the detonation would do the most damage if shot there, and have the most spread. Here goes nothing. Bracing himself, he begins to pull the trigger...
...until a distant stops him. Frowning, he looks up from his weapon and towards the tunnel his team was trying to escape to; the source of the sound. It sounded like the vibration of an engine, the sound echoing throughout the tunnel until it sounded so loud that it felt like it was actually close. The sound reminded him of something, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it, but by the sound of it, and the growing intensity of it that symbolized it was getting closer, it was obviously a vehicle; a fast one at that. The combination of the sound and how close it was getting caused him to lower the Cain altogether and begin moving even further back, away from the husk pack and towards the geth behind them, who had ceased firing on the command of Oblivion.
Kaidan, sending a final burst of biotic energy forward, turned to Marcus, frowning in confusion, "Marcus, we need to-" the sentinel then stopped, now hearing the sound himself, "-what the hell is that sound? Does anybody else hear that?"
Garrus grumbled, whatever he was trying to say coming out as a strained groan, his broken mandible rendering anything he had to say as unintelligible nonsense. Kasumi, continuing to hold him up, strained to hear the sound as well, and the whole squad could only stop and turn as the sound reached its apex.
At that moment, Marcus had the instinctual need to duck.
So he did.
Dropping to the ground, promptly followed by the rest of his squad, he watched as the source of the sound appeared in the form of a geth tank, the vehicle shooting out of the tunnel into the yard. At first, Marcus wondered if this was only further reinforcement of the enemy forces before them, but why would Oblivion need to bother with that? He had husks approaching one side and geth from the other, so why waste more time by bringing in a tank?
The tank banked hard on a sharp right turn, the hover tank screeching as it turned so sharply that its left side briefly skidded along the decking. Righting itself, it then continued to speed forward, its turret rotating forward to face them. And it wasn't slowing down.
Oh shit...
"Hit the deck!" Marcus barked, dropping from his already crouched position into a prone drop, covering his head as his squad did the same, only able to watch as the tank continued to increase speed. Eventually, it hit both of the varren husks, the creatures not even seeing the vehicle coming as it simply slammed into them. Because it lacked wheels, this impact only sent the husks flying forward, roaring electronically as they were tossed away like ragdolls. One of them collided with an advancing marauder, which promptly fell forward, knocking over the two husks infront of it, and causing it to drop its rifle. The second varren crashed into the second chimera, the force of the collision so strong that the varren kept shooting forward while the chimera's head was half decapitated from its body, hanging limply on loose piping, but disconnecting enough of the circuits to cause its shield to fail.
With half of the husk pack now unshielded, and most of them halting their approach to turn and deal with the new threat, the tank's main cannon took aim and pulsed with light, red bolts of plasma darting forth to slam into the husk ranks. Six husks were instantly incinerated, with the shots continuing on to slice into one of the unidentified salarian husks, and killing another two marauders. The carnage continued, the squad standing up as they realized this tank was here to help, Marcus even wincing as he watched the chimera's torso bubble and pop, black liquid and froth spilling from its rupturued abdomen as it boiled and cooked from the plasma that opened it. The chimera collapsed, still clinging to life, which was promptly ended as Kaidan raised his rifle and emptied two bursts into it.
The other chimera screamed a cacophony, turning around while keeping its shield raised. The rest of the exposed husks turned to deal with the tank, but also managed to leave themselves open to Marcus' squad, who quickly raised their own weapons to empty lead into the husks. Marcus holstered his Cain, bringing out his Locust SMG as he joined the slaughter.
Oblivion's airhorn bellowed and, for a moment, Marcus thought its thanix cannon would blaze through and destroy the geth tank, once again showing that it owned the entire situation at hand. But just as the airhorn sounded, a thunderous sound, all too familiar, boomed through the sky, followed by a whoosh of air as four javelin torpedoes shot by, slamming into the Reaper. The quartet blasts that resulted from the attack lit up Oblivion's armoured carapace, but even as he turned around, he knew it had no impact and as if to confirm his suspicions, he watched as Oblivion merely flinched from the blasts, its red eye turning around to watch as the Normandy shot by, trying to take aim at the frigate. Because of this, the Reaper was forced to turn around, taking its focus off the team.
Which was more than likely the point. Nice work, Joker.
Turning back, he watched as the chimera continued to roar angrily, its shield holding as the geth tank turned its attention to it. Another stream of crimson plasma shot from the barrel and, to his surprise, ignored the blue field around the chimera as it warped through it, striking the quarian husk dead center. Combined with the heat and most of its energy going into powering the shield it was projecting, the husk exploded in a burst of red and black, its 'blood' spilling out and drenching the squad. Marcus ignored the black ooze dripping down his armor however, simply using his SMG to begin picking off the remainder of the husks.
While his squad did that, the tank turned its cannon and began to fire upon the geth behind them, using its range to conduct artillery-like bombardments upon their ranks, blowing them apart one by one. With the odds turned against them, the geth began to retreat, knowing full well they could not win this. Even drones flew away, some of them falling from the sky as the plasma impacted them, either incinerating them outright or clipping them, sending them careening into the control or a fellow geth trooper. Overall, a straight victory had been turned into a defensive-offensive.
Finally, the last husk fell, and Marcus ordered his squad forward, towards the tank. Like clockwork, a voice he had long expected to hear spoke in the comms, giving him enormous relief, despite already suspecting their rescuer, "Shepard-Commander, we hope our assistance has proved adequate."
He could only grin as he limped towards the tank, ducking everytime it fired at the geth behind him, "Your timing couldn't be more impeccable. Although I doubt Oblivion's going to stay fooled by that distraction for long."
Legion's response, as always, was quick and to the point, one of the things he loved about the geth infiltrator, "We calculated that a shorter distraction would be more efficient than attempting a prolonged one. We contacted the Normandy to bombard the Old Machine just long enough for us to extract you, Shepard-Commander. With this said, we recommend immediate haste. We already detect Oblivion's programs honing in on us."
Reaching the tank, he saw a hatch that was now open in its side; the hatch itself opened like a venus flytrap's mouth, with four sections of door splitting open to reveal the interior. Most of his squad were already inside, with Tali rushing up to the door, turning to him and waving her hand, "Come on, Marcus! We need to get out of here and find another way to defeat Oblivion!"
He nodded, rushing up to the door. Grabbing Tali's working hand, he let her pull him inside, the engineer guiding him to a seat in the back, just under the main gun. Most of the squad were seated, Marcus turning to see Legion sitting in the main pilot's seat, hands hovering over the main console as what looked like mini-bolts of electricity shot up and linked to its hands, likely allowing it to control the vehicle. It blankly stared ahead, Legion likely uploading its programs to the vehicle to properly control it.
Kasumi was seated next to Garrus, the thief tending to his face, despite the turian's objections and ocassional grunts of pain. Shaking his head, he allowed Tali to seat him, the quarian quickly sitting beside him as she made sure he was alright. Chuckling to himself, he grabbed one of her hands and got her to look at him, "I'm fine, Tali. Stop fussing. We need to focus on the mission."
She nodded, and he let go of her hand, to which she dropped, holding onto his as she turned forward. They all watched as the hatch closed, Legion already reversing the vehicle, while firing the main gun simultaneously to cover their retreat. The vehicle shook as Oblivion moved around, likely suddenly made aware of the geth's presence or still struggling with the Normandy's 'bug bites'. Either way, they were about to escape, and therefore it would not matter to them. Even as the tank brought itself around, it began to speed for the tunnel it entered from, the lull in activity leaving him alone with his thoughts.
Fuck. Everything's gone to shit. If Oblivion is the signal, how the hell do we free the geth? The simple solution would be to destroy Oblivion, but even that isn't that simple. It was hard enough actually getting Kalros to actually kill Vanguard last time, and now we don't even have Kalros this time. How the hell are we going to take it down? With our rifles? Yeah, great plan.
They couldn't call in the Normandy to deal with it; the only thing capable of destroying Oblivion was the ship's thanix cannon, and while it would kill the Reaper in one shot, the collateral damage would be ridiculous; there was no doubt that the explosive damage would be enough to wipe out all the UGC ground forces. They couldn't draw it away, because if they tried, Oblivion would just pursue them, and then if the Normandy fired, the blast would kill them instead. Either way, someone would die.
So calling in the Normandy for air support is a no go. What else is there? Sure, plasma weapons have proven to be superior to anything in the Reaper arsenal, but how effective would they really be? AA guns are only so useful against ground targets anyway, and Oblivion would likely just withdraw to a safe distance, so that's not effective either; not to mention that Vass and his men have retreated, so we no longer have control of the base's defenses anymore, anyway.
Calling in an orbital bombardment from the Fleet wouldn't work for three reasons: again, there's the dilemma of massive collateral damage, likely even worse than firing the thanix. The spread would be enormous. Two, how would we coordinate such a strike? Without something to paint the target, the Flotilla would be firing blind, and the spread would be even larger due to the disorganized firing. Three, the Migrant Fleet would actually have to stop to engage Oblivion, which would allow the geth fleet to catch up. Any longer, and the Fleet would be cornered by the pursuing ships and the blockade, and undoubtably be annihilated. Orbital bombardment just isn't practical, and its effectiveness against a Reaper is limited at best; if the high-tech weaponry of the geth hardly do anything, what will the quarian weapons do? Not much.
More thoughts like this and more sifted through Marcus' mind as Legion's commandeered geth tank sped through the tunnel, its cannon having long ceased fire; obviously, the geth had not given pursuit, or were currently unable to. Regardless of the circumstances, this was good news for the squad, as they now had a clear line of escape; if that was indeed what they were doing.
We can't just leave. Oblivion needs to be taken care of! If we can just get it into space, perhaps we could then justify deploying the thanix against it...
But Oblivion would know that; the Reapers were arrogant, but they were far from stupid. The Reaper destroyer would know that staying on the ground and near enemy ground forces would mean that, tactically, any orbital bombardment or use of high-powered WMDs would be detrimental than effective.
If we had a nuclear warhead, we could bomb Oblivion; but even then, nuclear warheads have proven to have a limited effectiveness against the Reapers, and again, there will obviously be collateral damage from an airburst nuke being dropped on it. Fuck! There has to be something we can do! We only need to find a weakness in its exterior defenses, a crack that we can exploit, some structural flaw we can dig into...
At that point, Marcus knew he was grasping at straws. If the previous cycles hadn't found any structural flaws in the Reaper design, then how could they? Hell, if such a flaw had been discovered, why would the inusannon or protheans have needed to build the Crucible? It just seemed like they were already out of options.
Suddenly, Legion spoke, its voice breaking through his thoughts, "Shepard-Commander, we our now out of range of the Old Machine known as Oblivion. What course of action do we believe we should take?"
All eyes were on him, and he could only sink further into thought, still paralyzed in indecision. I just don't see a logical way we can deal with this without inflicting massive casualities...just no way at all...
We have no choice; the Normandy can have the thanix deployed in seconds and fire just as quickly. It'll destroy Oblivion, and free the geth. That's what we came here to do; take out the signal. The 39th and 45th knew what they came here to do...they knew the stakes. So did Vass' men, and Moses...
But what about Kal, Madi, James, Liara and EDI? Are you willing to sacrifice them all? You sent them to the north just moments ago. If you have the Normandy open fire, you'll be condemning them all to die!
I have no choice! Oblivion must die, and that is the only way! If we're lucky, the casualities will be light! We can't let this opportunity slip away! We can save the geth, right here, right now! One final swipe, and its all over! No more quarians have to die needlessly over this stupid war! No more geth have to be destroyed while under Reaper control! We can save Rannoch! Just give the order, and it'll all be over!
But at what cost?
The necessary cost! Victory at any cost!
He looked up, surveying the room. All eyes were on him, ready for him to give the order to condemn their friends to death, and the lives of hundreds more to stop Oblivion. The death of one Reaper at the cost of their allies. But he realized that he was the only one would make such a decision; the reason he had been chosen to lead the UGC was because he could make them; the tough choices. The ones that sacrificed lives to save more. Who sacrificed their own happiness to ensure the survival of others. Who else could make these decisions if not himself? If he wavered, who would be left to take up the stick and carry on?
He gulped, tearing his gaze away to look at the ground, suddenly feeling judged. Like their eyes were tearing him apart, seeing into his thoughts. Forgive me, but it must be done. Forgive me, for it must be done. I can only do what is necessary for the survival of the-
Wait.
His head shot up, the squad almost looking taken aback by his sudden return to life. He rummaged through his previous thoughts, picking apart all his previous notions of defeatism as he tried to paint a strategy for taking down the Reaper destroyer. Eventually, he came to a significant conclusion that should have been obvious from the start.
All this time, all these tactical ideas I've been going through, and every single one has been focused on trying to destroy the Reaper via conventional means. Nukes, thanix cannons and orbital bombardments, and never once did I think to get under the armor. Yes, attacking it from the exterior is an exercise in pointlessness due to how thick its armor is; its almost close to the literal definition of an unsinkable warship. But if we can't penetrate its armor from the outside...then perhaps we need to destroy it from the inside...
And just like that, he had an idea. A dangerous one, as always. Stupid, even. But a plan that would work.
He looked back up, immediately looking at Legion, despite the gesture being unnecessary, "Legion, is it possible for a passenger to man the gun?"
The geth's response was immediate, "Yes, Shepard-Commander. In the case that a single platform is preferred for piloting this craft, a second platform can assume control of the main gun."
"Good," he responded, gently grabbing the Cain on his back and unlatching it, standing it up on the seat beside him and against the bulkhead. With a sigh he stood up, squeezing past Tali as he moved for the gun, "Keep going down the tunnel and, if you can, get us outside the base, but make sure we're in clear view of Oblivion. If we're not, bring us close enough so that we are. I'm going to need a clear shot."
"Acknowledged," the geth replied without objection, and the vehicle continued forward, Marcus feeling as if the tank had almost increased in speed; although, that was more than likely his imagination. Without waiting, he stood up just enough for him to reach the gun, and felt the platform rise into the almost dome-shaped cockpit of the gun. The systems looked convoluted and complex; too much for him to learn in such a short space in time. Still, deciding to mimick what Legion was doing to control the vehicle, he raised both of his hands, and brought them towards the console before him. With an almost comical grin, he watched as similiar bolts of light leapt from the console to his hand, and noticed that as this occurred, the cannon seemed to move slightly in reaction. He moved his left hand to left, and watched with relief as the cannon rotated in that direction. From the looks of it, he could control it simply by swerving his hands in that direction.
Very simplistic. But how do I fire?
As he was trying to figure this out however, Tali spoke up, shaking her head, "Marcus, what are you doing?"
Without turning to look at her, he continued to try and figure out to fire the gun while explaining his actions, "For starters, luring Oblivion away from the fortress. If we can get it to leave the base and into the open, it'll not only be easier to take out, but we won't have to worry about any casualities on our end. Then we can take it out and end this." With that, he continued his investigation into the cannon and finally, unable to figure it out, he turned to their geth pilot, "Legion, how the hell do I fire this thing!?"
"For organics, the gesture would be simple enough. Simply clench your fist once aimed at the target you have appropriated."
For a few moments he stood there, dumbfounded. Turning back around he held up his left and did exactly that, watching as the cannon shuddered, and red plasma erupted from the barrel to slam into the ceiling of the tunnel, creating a large gaping hole that began to disappear as their tank raced away from it. The explosion was enough to cause a cave-in however, and bits of concrete and steel rained from the hole onto the ground, boiling and hissing with steam.
Clenching my fist? Should have been fairly obvious, really. Why didn't I think to try that before asking?
"Shepard-Commander," Legion spoke up once more, "We are about to leave the base. Given the coordinates and position of Oblivion within the fortress, we calculate that proceeding west towards the coast would allow you the view you need to fire upon the Old Machine. Once Oblivion's attention is acquired, we recommend allowing us to use the coast as a guide away from the fortress. Oblivion will be forced to pursue us via the water, which will dramatically slow its progress."
Well, making Oblivion slower will definitely make my plan much easier to pull off...
"Copy that, Legion. Do what you think is necessary," with a frown, he turned back, confused, "Wait, how far are we from the nearest beach?"
"The western wall of the base is built upon the foundations of a cliffside just beside the water," the geth explained, "Because of this, it will only take us three minutes to reach the coast at full speed. The area we are entering now, located on the otherside of the southern wall, was once named by the creators as Ar'sha Canyon, with the Shaaaath Ocean to the west," with that elaborated, Marcus watched as the tunnel disappeared from view, giving him a full view of the southern wall, which towered far above them. Looking to the east, he was able to see the massive hole that had punctured the wall, the flaming wreckage of the geth light cruiser lying on its side, gutted and destroyed, flames and smoke so thick that they blotted out the sky. Soon, Legion spoke, the vehicle coming to a stop as the geth turned the vehicle around and started to head to the south west, "We are now moving into position. Shepard-Commander, you will have a limited window. You must be quick."
Excellent.
Right on cue, an airhorn blared across the canyon, echoing across the land, alerting those that weren't already aware of the Reaper to its presence. With a grunt, he brought the gun around, watching as the tip of the destroyer began to slip into view. Here we go. He quickly and gently took aim, the cannon's barrel bringing itself up to land over the ever growing frame of the giant scorpion-like vessel.
This tank's shot will be like a bug bite to that ship. But just like all bug bites, they're irritating enough to draw attention. Which is exactly what we need...what I need...
Within moments, the crew watched as Oblivion's body came into full view, seemingly standing still. The Normandy had long since broken off, flying back into orbit, its distraction having been successful. Now, the Reaper stood still, almost holding a rigid vigil next to the command tower, its jutted back spiking through the sky as it lazily lulled back and forth, its giant red eye likely scanning the area below for Marcus and his team. Given that he did not hear the voice of the Reaper in his head, it had not found them yet, but the moment he heard it, he knew they would have been spotted.
Can't believe I'm actually anticipating the moment I hear that voice in my head...
Its airhorn screamed once more, sounding almost angry this time as it demanded Marcus show himself.
Over here, asshole...
Tikkun's light, for the briefest of seconds, glinted on Oblivion's hide, bouncing the light off and temporarily blinding him. With a growl of anger, he took a few more moments to steady the gun, rotate it slightly further to compensate for wind, and then fired.
Despite how slow plasma may have looked to others, in reality it was just as fast as any mass acellerated bullet. Red lances darted forward with extreme force, seemingly lighting up the air as it continued towards its target in an almost linear line. Luckily for Marcus, his calculations turned out to have worked fine, and he watched with a gulp as the rounds distantly struck just off Oblivion's starboard side, detonating in a cascade of red that was almost lost in the Tikkun light and the Reaper's already crimson color scheme.
Its reaction was almost instantaneous; Its swaying movements ceased immediately, and it immediately moved its legs back to see the source of the shot. Even at the speed their tank was moving at, it didn't have enough time to disappear behind the rocks that they were rapidly approaching, and Marcus watched as Oblivion completed its turn, red eye locking onto the rapidly moving vehicle. Its eye felt like it was boring directly into his, and Marcus just stared back, his own glare steely and cold.
I see you too. Come and get me.
Shepard. You cannot hide from us. Submit.
Fuck you.
Your resistance is as pointless as this conflict you term a 'war.' You will be destroyed and scattered to the wind like the others before you. You-
I've heard the same garbage before; you're like a broken record. I've heard it from Sovereign, Harbinger, Vanguard and now you. And you know what? I don't care. So why don't you give up your little speeches and come and fucking get me.
Oblivion didn't even grace him with a response. Like a provoked scorpion turning to engage its target, the Reaper's airhorn boomed once more, and began to move forward.
Despite all the headway they had made, and how fast their vehicle was moving, it was almost as if Oblivion was dashing towards them. Sprinting even. Beginning its trek, it lifted itself up into the air, curling its legs up in a fetal position as it began to levitate, hovering up further and further into the air until was flying. Once it was above the wall, it casually glided towards them, shooting past the wall and gaining on them with rapidly closing speed.
"Shit, he's gaining on us!" Marcus exclaimed, suddenly feeling the need to fire upon the Reaper. From what he could see, what Legion had said about plasma had been correct; the black scorch mark on the destroyer's starboard side could be clearly seen, bigger than the initial impact and still sizzling with residual energy, so much so that the armor had actually melted inwards by a dozen meters. What had taken an entire fleet of ships to penetrate had taken a single bolt from a bloody tank to do. He shuddered to imagine what that super-dreadnought's main gun could do to a fully-shielded, unharmed Sovereign-Class Reaper. Or even Harbinger itself.
Hopefully one shot the bastard...
But despite all of that, the one shot had been simply shrugged off by the Reaper, and he doubted firing more would even delay its movement.
"Affirmative. We are rerouting power from weapons and shields to engines. Stand by," was Legion's response, managing to execute all these actions without so much as flinching, managing to evade a set of two rocks as it continued its movement towards the beach. Marcus watched as the console for the main gun blinked and then dimmed completely, darkening to a bare shine as the bolts latching onto his hands disappeared. Despite this, he couldn't help but stand where he was, watching as Oblivion, still flying, began to gain on them...
Suddenly, the vehicle gained newfound acelleration, and shot forward even faster. He watched as what had been Oblivion gaining speed on them turned into them getting further away from the Reaper and, as Marcus watched on, he saw Oblivion quickly compensating. Despite Legion's actions, the Reaper was able to sufficiently gain speed on them and within moments, had returned to the same pace it had maintained before they gained speed.
"Keelah..." Tali exclaimed, "...we need to contact the Normandy! Its almost on us!"
A moment later, the tank reached the coast. Marcus knew this because Legion executed a sharp turn around a corner, with Oblivion almost shooting past as it failed to emulate the same turn. To his left however, was one of the more beautiful sights he had seen in his life. As their tank began to glide across the water, the saltly ocean waters spraying up in the air as they shot across it, he could see nothing but ocean stretch out before them, its pure blue beauty reminiscent of the Mediterrenean back on Earth. Waves crashed along the beach's edge, abruptly halted in some areas by pieces of rock jutting out of the ground. Never had he seen something so beautiful before...
"Keelah," came Tali's voice, and Marcus couldn't help but smile, despite their situation, as he imagined his wife's wonder, "Its beautiful..."
The sound of an airhorn brought them back to the situation before them.
Tired of playing its game of cat and mouse, Oblivion suddenly halted its flight, turning sharply towards them before its legs suddenly stretched out before it. As abruptly as it had stopped, the Reaper slammed into the water, legs acting as shock absorbers as it fell into a crouched position, water shooting up into the air and coating it, dripping down its armor and soaking it from its legs down. The scene was almost like something out of War of the Worlds; a large tripod extending from its watery station, coming to stand up to its full height as its glaring red eye positioned itself at them, glowing with intense hot-
Glowing!
Legion did not need telling, the geth swerving the vehicle to the left as Oblivion's thanix cannon fired, a long string of molten metal slicing through the air to rake across the water, trailing them for several seconds before ceasing its onslaught, leaving a long trail of flushed white water in its wake, the steam disappearing as quickly as it appeared. Its airhorn blared again. This time, it was definitely angry. He could only smirk in delight.
Having fun are we, Oblivion? I thought machines of your magnitude couldn't get frustrated?
The Reaper refused to respond as it turned infront of them and fired again. Legion was way ahead of it however, and it swerved right, causing the shot to miss completely, slamming uselessly into the ocean in a mighty splash. Another airhorn, followed by another shot. The entire time, Oblivion stalked slowly towards them; seemingly sluggish, yet still maintaining pace with them, its long strides pushing aside the water around them as each long stride managed to cover a significant distance.
Its third shot wasn't even aiming at them, instead cutting through a pair of rocky pillars, almost like those of the Twelve Apostles on Earth. The laser-like shot cut through them with ease, the rocky struts beginning to collapse infront of them with a cacophonic and tremendous set of explosions. Had Legion's reaction time not been absurdly fantastic (almost as if was able to predict every shot before it happened), Marcus might have panicked at the sight. As it was, they simply turned left as they watched the rocks uselessly crash into the waters below them, spraying salt water all over the tank's armoured carapace as it darted by.
"Well, we've certainly lured it away from the base now," Kasumi pointed out, "So are we going to call in the Normandy to blow it up now or what?"
With a sigh, Marcus' grin disappeared and, tearing his gaze away from the pursuing Oblivion and its pot shots, he crouched, allowing him to stand at eye level with his squad, "I'm going to call in the Normandy Kasumi, but not for a bombardment; only another distraction."
The thief frowned but before she could say anything, Tali grabbed his shoulder, turning him towards her as she glared at him, "Marcus, you're going to tell us your plan right now, because so far you've been very vague about it."
He nodded, sighing with defeat, "I know, because what I have planned is ridiculously stupid, but seemingly the only way to defeat Oblivion. I wanted to lure Oblivion away so it would be out in the open and easier to execute my plan; if we have the Normandy use the thanix now, we'll still be too close to escape the blast," turning to the geth infront of him, he asked the fatal question, "Legion, if we had the Normandy fire at Oblivion now, at this distance, what are our chances of surviving?"
The geth seemed to hesitate for several moments, likely gathering the necessary data, before responding, "The likelihood of survival would be 9.2 percent. The explosive force of the thanix technology, combined with the calculated distance between us and the Old Machine would result in our complete destruction in all likely simulations. Chances of our survival are so low they are not worth simulating."
A collective sigh was heard around the entire squad, and it was Kaidan who had to ask what to do next, "Well, we can't lose Oblivion without a sufficient distraction, and even if the Normandy provides that distraction, Oblivion could just ignore it and continue pursuing us. And if it does, by some chance, fall for the distraction again, it knows where we are now. It could just fly again, close the distance and rinse and repeat what its doing now. We'd get nowhere."
"Which is why my idea is the only one that'll work," Marcus stated, pointing to the Reaper outside, "Oblivion's just going to keep coming back at us, and with the signal under its control, its pivotal we destroy it. Now, we call in the Normandy for another airstrike and that'll momentarily stop Oblivion and distract it. Knowing the Reapers, even if they know its a distraction, they'll be forced to stop and at least acknowledge the new threat before it moves forward. That interval of time will give me just enough time to pull off what I need to do. And guys, you aren't going to like it."
"If it involves the destruction of another Reaper, I will gladly assist," Javik deadpanned, looking thoroughly disinterested with Marcus' dramatics, and annoyed at the squad's apprehension, "The death of a Reaper is a victory in and of itself."
He nodded, moving towards Tali as he grabbed the Cain sitting beside her. Picking it up, he brought it back to where he had stood, the tank continuing evasive movements in the background. As he brought the Cain inbetween his legs, he reached up to his helmet's comms, contacting the Normandy, "Joker, this is Marcus. I need you to launch another airstrike on the Reaper. I need you to distract it."
"Another one?" the pilot replied, "Alright captain, but I don't know how effective it'll be. You know; fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. No way Oblivion's going to be stupid enough to fall for it a second time, sir."
"Just do it, Joker," he snapped, disconnecting the comms as he didn't bother waiting for the response. He quickly turned back to the group, reaching behind his back and grabbing one of the missiles attached to the Cain's side. Unlatching it, he carelessly tossed the Cain aside, followed by his SMG, pistol and shotgun. By the end, he was totally devoid of any weapons besides the one missile he had taken; one he promptly attached to his back. Turning back to his confused squad, he elaborated.
"We can pepper Oblivion all day, but in the end, that armor isn't going to yield one bit. We'll be here for hours trying to penetrate that armor, and imagine how many lives will be lost in that time? So I figured that instead of trying to kill it from the outside, we should get under the armor and kill it from there; a large, unyieldly interior blast originating from a critical power source will be enough to down the Reaper...in theory," he stated, "And such is my ridiculous plan. The Normandy will distract Oblivion, while Legion gets me close to one of its legs. I'll latch on, climb up to its eye, and when its about to fire again, I'll take this missile...," he motioned to the weapon he was referring to, "And shove it somewhere around its eye. I'll then drop into the water and, if my theory adds up, the explosion of a mini-nuke coming from its main weapon and power source will not only cripple Oblivion, it will kill it."
After the grand unveiling of his plan, the entire squad was silent. Kaidan had long since removed his helmet, allowing Marcus to see the indecision in his eyes, the rising objection that he bit down out of respect and trust in his commanding officer. The major had matured alot since their days on the SR-1, and the spectre respected him for it; sweat coated his features, ranging from almost bright skin to slick, sticky hair grabbing at his face. He wiped it aside, meeting Marcus' eyes in that moment and from there, he knew that he was with him no matter what decision he made. Kasumi looked dumbfounded, shaking her head as she was unable to even laugh at the absurdity of climbing up a bloody Reaper to stick something as pathetic as a mini-nuclear rocket into what amounted to its eye socket.
Garrus said nothing, looking at him and simply nodding; no matter the plan, Garrus was with him; if anything, Marcus believed the turian had been ready to support him before he laid out his stupid plan. Unable to properly speak, a nod was the only support he could offer, medi-gel now plastered against his injured face; it was likely that the amount of medi-gel made him so whoozy that he was unable to make coherent thoughts anyway.
"In my people's war with the Reapers, during the Battle of the Star Xelchia," Javik spoke up, every single one of his four eyes all focused on Marcus, voice sentimental and thought driven, "Many soldiers attempted to do the same with a prototype antimatter bomb with a Reaper destroyer much like this one. It was the first and only time a Reaper revealed its name to us; Acedia it called itself. Of course, my people were not experienced with such a devastating weapon. It detonated as planned, but the entire force was lost; it also marked one of the only confirmed destruction of a Reaper; there was not even wreckage left to recognize it by. My point is that your mission is extremely dangerous, but were you a soldier in the Empire, you would have been looked upon with admiration and glee," the prothean, as glum, stoic and morose as he usually was, suddenly let a ghost of a smile crack across his lips, "I wish you good fortune in your endeavour, captain."
Tali and, to his surprise, Keeling did not agree as much however, the N7 looking at him with blatant disapproval. Tali got in first, shaking her head, "No, this idea is ludicrous. We'll find another way; you'll get yourself killed trying to do this! I mean...keelah, are you mad!? Have you completely taken leave of your senses?"
Marcus just smirked at her, chuckling lightly, "I've always been slightly mad, love. This is just another on my list of 'ways to get myself killed.'"
"This isn't funny! You can't just joke yourself out of this one!" Tali continued to object, her fists clenched and shaking, "No, I won't let you do it! This is beyond idiotic!"
"In Marcus' defense, you haven't seen the vids of what he did on Tuchanka with the Reaper protecting the Shroud," Kaidan piped up, almost grinning himself as he turned to the terrified quarian, "Tali, he deliberately lured a thresher maw larger than ten dreadnoughts to his location just to kill a Reaper! He survived that, so I don't see why he wouldn't survive this."
"Summoning a thresher maw to kill a Reaper is one thing, but climbing upit and shoving a missile into its face? That doesn't even mark anywhere near as suicidal!" she just turned to Marcus, eyes glaring into his, "We've got to find another solution that doesn't involve you getting yourself killed!" From the looks of it, his wife wasn't budging on the matter, but more to the point, Marcus had already decided on his course of action and wasn't going to hold back.
Suddenly, Legion's voice broke through the tension, "The Normandy is closing with the Old Machine. It will engage in one minute. We are preparing our approach."
He nodded, turning back as he moved towards the hatch in preparation, "Open the hatch as we approach, Legion," he quickly tapped the missile to make sure it was there. The payload of a Cain was capable of being detonated as a separate charge, and therefore did not require the actual weapon to fire it. Because of this, it could also be timed, "Once I'm in a position to put the missile in place, I'll set it on a timer of five seconds. That should give me enough time to jump into the water below and escape the blast."
"But your armor is too heavy," Kaidan pointed out, "With the extra weight...Marcus, you'll drown."
"Good point," with that said, the captain began the process of stripping his armor, first starting with his armor, and working his way down. Even as he did this however, Tali was continuing to object, worry taking over her reason.
"This is beyond insane! You'll die!" she spat, moving up to him and standing inches from his face, as if to try and draw his attention. He paid her no mind, hating the fact that he had to ignore her to get his point across: his mind was made up. There was no other way. Eventually, he found himself down to his legs, and was beginning the process of removing them just as Tali grabbed his shoulder and roughly turned him around, angrily glaring at him, "Listen to me! You are not going out there! I won't allow it!"
He shook his head, "We're not having this conversation, Tali. I have to do this. You know I have to. Do you have any other idea on how to take it down?"
And as quickly as the admiral's fury had proven itself, it dissipated just as quickly, the engineer desperately fumbling for a solution. Her mouth opened and closed behind her mask, tapping her visor in thought, but eventually she shrugged her arms, looking back at him. She looked almost defeated, "I don't know...damn it, I don't..." she collapsed back into her seat, holding her helmet in her hands, "I just don't...know..."
In moments, he dropped into a crouch beside her, grabbing hold of her hands and pulling them away from her helmet as she gently squeezed them, "Tali, you have got to trust me right now. This needs to be done. Now, do you really think I would propose this plan if I didn't think I could pull it off?"
"Yes..." was the quarian's immediate answer, looking up into his eyes, daring him to refute her answer.
"Okay, maybe you're right. But did I ever fail?" was his counter-argument, shaking his head as he sighed, trying to find the best possible way to persuade her that this would work, "Tali, I know this is hard, but this is the way of the job. I can't save your people or the geth without taking out that signal, and to do that, Oblivion needs to go. This is the only way to do that. Deep down, I know you know that. I can already tell. You need to trust me like I trust you. It won't be easy, but I know you won't let me down," with a smile, he added, "Besides, with the motivation I've got, you can be damn sure I'll blow Oblivion to hell."
That at least got a laugh out of her and she nodded, rubbing the sides of her hood, "You're right. Damn it, you're right. I just...you know this is insane, right? Climbing up a Reaper to put a missile in its metaphorical mouth? Its...its..."
"Suicide?" he asked, and the quarian nodded, laughing at her own words.
"And considering all we've pulled off, I realize now that my worry is pretty silly," his wife admitted, shrugging her shoulders non-chalantly, "We've done suicide before, and came out with a few bruises; I know that if anyone can do this, its you, Marcus. I...trust you. That...that was never in any doubt. I trust you implicitly to see this through. But you better make that jump once you're done, you hear me?"
He smiled, tapping his forehead to her mask, "I promise, yol'tiya. I promise."
"Shepard-Commander," the geth spoke up, interrupting whatever Tali had to say in response, "11 seconds to Normandy contact with Old Machine; we are bringing the vehicle around in preparation for operation."
"Copy that, Legion," he replied, not turning as he looked into Tali's eyes one final time; there was no way he could miss the smile behind her mask, even with all the tint. Kissing her on the visor, he stood up, letting go of her hands as he shed the last remnants of his armor. Throwing it aside, he stood there with nothing but the protective weave that he wore underneath it, feeling naked without his armor and weapons. Picking up the missile, he held it firmly in his grasp, picking up a magnetic clasp in his other as he tucked it against his hip, attaching the missile to it. It would weigh him down, but if he used his cybernetics correctly, he would be able to climb up the Reaper's side with relatively no problems.
Another missed shot later, and the Normandy finally made its bombing run, Marcus standing up in the gun turret to watch as more torpedoes detonated off its side, causing Oblivion to halt in its approach. Snapping its look upwards, it fired the lance of tungsten meant for them into the sky, trying to scythe through the Normandy as it shot past; unfortunately for the Reaper, this was Joker at the helm, with EDI in support, which meant the ship was able to roughly tilt to port to avoid the shot, passing by with the pulse just barely grazing its cyclonic barriers.
Angered, Oblivion once again seemed to fall for the diversion, stopping in the middle of the water, dozens of meters from shore, to turn and face the Normandy's direction as it charged up another thanix round; now was their chance. Quickly moving across the tank to the hatch, he turned to their geth driver, "Legion, you know what to do! Bring me to the closest leg and bring us alongside it! Give me an angle to jump from!"
The geth did not bother to respond this time, simply slowly the vehicle down enough to bring it into a proper turn, swerving across the water as it made another sharp left turn. Once fully rotated, the tank made full speed for Oblivion, who was still engaged with the Normandy. The frigate dived down once more, raking the destroyer's side with missiles before darting back into the clouds, once again just avoiding a grazing red lance.
Standing by the hatch, he took a deep breath, barely hearing Kaidan's quip, "Can't believe we're actually heading towards the Reaper this time. Admiral Hackett is going to wonder if we all have a genuine death wish."
Keeling's response was flat, still believing the plan to be beyond ridiculous, "More so if we actually manage to pull it off."
"Contact in six seconds," Legion listed, "Opening hatch."
With another deep breath, Marcus watched as the hatch once again split open like that of the carnivorous venus flytrap, armoured sheets of plating moving aside to let the wind slap at his exposed face and drops of water soak his lower legs, entering the interior of the vehicle, but only just barely, dripping casually back out in a slosh. He watched Oblivion's rapidly approaching form, the tank getting closer and closer to its right forward leg. It remained the most unmoving, the Reaper now completely focused on the Normandy as it passed for the third and final time, its shadow briefly darting over them, followed by the deafening sound of an airhorn. In those final seconds, Marcus' version was taken up by the Reaper's leg, the massive appendage buried under 6 meters of water, with the ocean sloshing around the intruding piece of machinery.
The tank loomed so close until they were only within jump distance of it; so close they could almost graze against it. With another deep breath, he turned to his squad and nodded, before turning to Legion, "Get as far away as possible, but keep an eye on me! When you see me jump, come and pick me up! Don't leave me flopping like a fish."
"Acknowledged," came its...his...signature response.
Turning back to the Reaper, he braced his left leg in preparation make the jump. He took numerous breaths, tensing his muscles as he eyed the leg, looking for a place to sink in his grip. Spotting it, he found a jutting crack in between a segmentation of the joints; a perfect place to grab ahold of once he jumped. He had no way of knowing if the Reaper could actually feel him climbing up it, and subsequently be alerted to his presence, but he needed to get up there ASAP, and this was the only way.
Just before he made the jump, Tali spoke, her voice warm and assuring, not a speck of worry left in it, "I love you, Mark."
He turned to her, surprised by her use of his suggested name and, with a large grin on his face, nodded back, "Keelah Re'lai."
And with that, he turned, braced once more, and leapt.
There was a brief couple of microseconds as his body moved through the close to non-existent distance between him and the Reaper's leg, before his body suddenly collided with the cold metal. He cried out as he immediately grabbed hold of the crack he aimed for, all five fingers on both hands clenching around the rough metal, even as he felt it cut into his hands and blood begin to seep between his palms and the crimson metal. Crying out, and ignoring the flaring in his already tortured ribcage, he didn't have time to acknowledge the sound of the geth tank speeding away as he opened his eyes to assess his situation.
So far, Oblivion had not moved, and he was able to look up and see that its form was barely moving. He felt water ocassionally splash against his exposed frame as waves found their naturally scripted paths interrupted by the invading behemoth, soaking him in freezing cold ocean water. He bit down on his lower lip, trying to ignore the cold now seeping into his bones and soaking his undersuit as he tried to find another way to get up. Steadily and calmly, he ignored the slits in his hands as he roughly pulled himself up, not stopping until he was finally able to spin around and sit down on the crack, hoping to God that the destroyer didn't decide to move while he was like this. Reaching into his pockets, he retrieved his backup supply of medi-gel and gently dabbed it across the slits in his wrists, managing to stop the almost non-stop flow of blood. The rest of his arms were already drenched in it, and it had begun to drip down the side of Oblivion's leg, but with the medi-gel now coating his hands, it would no longer be a problem.
That was all the medi-gel I had, though. Better hope I don't get anymore major injuries.
The agony flaring in his ribcage was almost too much to bear, and his nose chosen then to once again flare, but he needed to bite through it and climb up this Reaper, or all hope was lost.
Without so much as an after thought, he turned and looked up the Reaper's side, and felt unfetered hate begin to fuel him seemingly out of nowhere. He remembered all the things he had seen the Reapers do during his time fighting them. He remembered what Sovereign had done to Saren, and how, in the end, he had felt sorry for the rogue turian spectre. He remembered the revelation of the Collectors being the protheans turned into husks, and how Mordin had described to him every little aspect of what the Reapers had done to them; how they converted the remnants of a proud species into mindless drones. He remembered how the Collectors, on the whims of Harbinger and his ilk, had melted down innocent human colonists alive as they kicked and screamed, trying to get out. He remembered how the Reapers had turned Kenson and her men, honourable people, into little puppets that he was forced to kill. Every atrocity. Every crime on organic sovereignty. Every death that was ever caused by them.
A barely contained growl strained to leave his lips, and he found sudden fuel driving his body to climb. To move. The missile, a weight that had been on his side, wearing him down the moment he leapt onto the Reaper's leg, suddenly felt as if it weren't even there. The angry flaring of pain in his ribs vanished. His bloody, battered nose ceased its demanding torrent of agony as he quickly found the next ledge and grabbed a hold of it, the throbbing in his hands barely felt as he turned into a drone; focused on nothing but progressing upwards.
Tali's words as he left the tank; saying his short name for the first time; a word he wanted to hear far more often. He was standing on a world that no organic had stood on for centuries; the very mark of any organic civilization almost entirely missing from its surface. He was honoured with the ability to stand on it. And even now, as he was given an almost unmarred view of the beautiful ocean ahead, he could only wonder if this was going to be his new home. Not the Normandy. Not some space station in the middle of nowhere. Not some backwater colony. Not Earth. Rannoch. The homeworld of the quarian species; the birth place of his wife's race, and a race he was proud to know of. Despite everything they had done; the atrocities he had watched their ancestors commit in historical recordings...he still loved them all. He felt for them all. They were, despite all reasons to the contrary, his people.
This was as much his fight as anyone else's. He had promised his wife a homeworld. He had promised to build her that house. To reclaim the very land that she deserved to grow up on but was deprived of due to the stupidity of her descendants! He was going to give her that homeworld! He was going to build that damn house, right on the side of the ocean! Three hundred years was too long for a species to be deprived of a world to call their own; this exile was over.
Just as the krogan deserved a second chance, so did the quarians!
More and more anger fuelled his passionate climb, climbing meter after meter, not even bothering to look down to see how far he had climbed; so far, without even realizing it, he had treked the side of the monster's leg by 30 meters without even looking down, and he was only climbing higher. He was half way to the top of the monstrosity, sighing heavily as Oblivion began to move, the Normandy having long since left, and the Reaper now looking for the geth tank once more.
For a brief moment, he ceased his movement, holding himself tightly to the destroyer's leg as its seemingly all-seeing eye swept past him, crimson light looking for a target. Finally, it managed to find it, and as Marcus began to climb again, Oblivion totally unaware of his presence, the Reaper began to move, lifting one leg after the other in massive strides, moving deeper and deeper into the ocean's depths after Legion and his squad.
Despite the back and forth movements of the legs, Marcus found it still relatively easy to move, and was undeterred as he just kept moving, his mind a flurry of emotions and thoughts, all angry, loving and passionate.
He thought of Junior; his child. His son. His own flesh and blood. He hadn't been there when his wife gave birth, but seeing him for the first time, to realize that he was a father...he wasn't going to let the Reapers take that from him! He wasn't about to let his son be born in a world in total chaos and on the brink of destruction! The least he could do was put him somewhere safe; a place where he would be untouched by the Reapers and their corruption, allowing him time to gather forces and activate the Crucible. Then he would return home and be a father.
Rannoch. Rannoch was his home now! Tali's home! Junior's home!
I will not allow this gigantic sack of shit...this 150 meter tall sack of shit...take that away from me. No. You think you've fucking won? You thought I would just roll over and die? You thought that your mere presence was going to scare me? Do you know who I am, you piece of monstrosity? You say I am nothing, that we are all nothing, but that couldn't be more wrong! You are nothing! We are capable of fantastic things! We are capable of creation, hope, peace, teamwork, love, compassion, and so many other things! You...you are the true parasite. You are full of nothing but machine-like hate with machine minds and machine hearts. You are capable of nothing but destruction. You are incapable of even comprehending the idea of peace. You are incapable of comprehending fundamental concepts of emotion and passion. The only ambition you feel is to destroy everything that is beautiful and sacred.
You are a union of flesh and steel, but you are also an amalgamation of perversions and abominations. You are the byproduct of an exterminated civilization; you are all that is left. Thousands of innocent souls and people were sacrificed for your creation, for your birth. We reproduce via a union. You reproduce by compiling and sticking together the corpses of millions. And those who do not even get that "honor" are tossed aside and turned into mindless foot soldiers. By the billions. You have decided the continuity of civilization for too long! You are abominations, the lot of you! Perversions of nature! Malware! Disgusting viruses! You crawl out of the darkness only to bring misery and suffering and torture! All of human history and our own cruelty cannot compare to your own!
This...this holocaust...shall end! By my hand! This will be the last cycle you torment!
He had climbed another 60 meters as his mental rant continued, finding himself reaching the top of the leg. To reach the place he wanted, he would need to jump across; and whether or not he missed or hit dead center, Oblivion would surely notice him.
No matter. He's finished. Its reign of terror ends here, just as I ended Vanguard! And Sovereign!
He continued to climb, finding himself at the apex of the joint, where there was a perfect ledge to jump from. He would have to time it perfectly though; with the Reaper constantly moving forward, thanix ocassionally firing at the tank below, he would need to jump ahead of its movements to make sure he reached his target. If he was lucky, he would grab onto the three 'tentacle'-like protrusions extending from beneath its 'chin', which would allow it to proceed up to the main eye with almost perfect ease. But if you mistimed it, he could either miss or get caught in the Reaper's firing sequence, and Oblivion would end up killing him by accident.
Crawling to his right, he was able to get into a perfect jumping position, turning his back to the leg as he held on for dear life. Oblivion still hadn't noticed him, but it wouldn't be long before it did; he would need to jump inbetween its firing so that he wasn't incinerated, while also calculating its movements.
Steeling himself, he tensed his muscles, cracking his neck and taking a deep breath, despite how much it hurt his ribs to do so. Despite all the pain he was going through however, he could already feel the cybernetics in his face begin to knit back together all the broken ligaments in his nose in their slow regeneration process, despite how stiff and disjointed it made that area feel. Even his ribs were beginning to heal, even though Chakwas and Michel would need to reset them properly back on the Normandy.
Taking one final breath, he took note. He realized that inbetween every moment, Oblivion fired its thanix cannon; inbetween each shot was a time differential of seven seconds, and each movement was ten seconds. In that, there was a 3 second gap he could exploit; but it would need to be fast and quick. With that in mind, he stood there, waiting for the next shot. Seven seconds later, the Reaper's main gun thrummed once more, spitting redhot death at its target, and likely missing once again. And with the gun having now fired, Marcus braced himself and jumped.
Don't miss.
Don't miss.
Don't miss.
Don't miss.
I'm not going to miss. Shit!
He found himself dead center on target, and closing in faster than expected. With his arms outstretched, he once again felt the air forced from his longs as he grabbed ahold of the protrusions, quickly pulling himself up despite them jabbing him in the ribs, and likely doing more damage. With a hiss of pain, he looked up, noticing that Oblivion, despite how obvious he had been when jumping, had not noticed him. However, it seemed there was a reason for this; after every shot, the armoured slots that slid aside to reveal the eye would close back over it, almost as if they were protecting it from damage...
Suddenly, it clicked. The eye isn't just its main weapon, its also its element zero core; just like the one we found on that Derelict Reaper. That's why the slots keeping slide over it after every shot; its trying to protect it because if you destroy that, its effectively the equivalent of shooting an organic in the head. Good thing I've got a Cain missile to stick in there.
With a crack and grind of metal, the armoured slides slid apart once more, revealing its glowing eye. Remembering his mission, he stood up, looking for another hold to grab onto. Finding it just above his position, he quickly grabbed ahold of it, despite his growing fatigue, and summoned all the strength he had left as he pulled himself up, and began to climb again.
Just a few more meters...just a few more...
As he looked to the west, he found his view of the ocean was even more significant this time. Being close to 150 meters off the ground, he had no doubt the sight would be this amazing. Tikkun's rays reflecting off the water on the horizon, the sublte, but noticable, movement of underwater sea creatures moving beneath the waves...it was a sight to behold.
Truly beautiful.
Worth fighting for.
He thought of all the lives that couldn't join them in this fight because of the Reapers. The horror they were put through.
Richard Jenkins, who was killed by an enemy he didn't even recognize, never able to join them in figuring out a billion-year-old cycle.
Ashley Williams, who was forced to stay behind to detonate a nuclear device in what she thought was stopping Saren once and for all, as well as the threat the Reapers posed.
Charles Pressly, who's indifference to aliens changed over the course of his service onboard the Normandy...only to be killed during a Collector surprise attack, along with Frederick Johnson, a man Marcus would have liked to get to know more...
Jacob Taylor, murdered by a coward in Cerberus armor.
Mordin Solus, a brilliant salarian professor who, in the last year of his life, was forced to make the ultimate sacrifice; to become the savior of an entire species.
Thane Krios, killed in the line of duty; protecting the salarian councilor with his life, and inadvertently saving the war effort because of it.
Peta'Yala, a man he hated but ultimately forgave due to his sacrifice on this very planet.
And the many others Marcus had witnessed or heard give their lives for the sake of their war against the Reapers. The very thought of such lives being lost wasn't just a tragedy, it was criminal. Horrendous. Unnecessary. All of it brought on because a race of sentient machines saw the need to wipe out all life in the galaxy for nothing. To harvest and destroy entire civilizations simply because they felt like it.
Not one more.
Not one more.
Our civilizations will rise, destroy you, and cast your memories to the wind where you will be forgotten, never to be remembered.
You don't deserve to be remembered.
He made the final climb finally finding himself directly under Oblivion's eye. Watching carefully as the slots parted to reveal its eye, he did a mini-jump upwards, grabbing ahold of one of the downward moving plates as it slid down. He braced himself as the Reaper fired, and felt his entire back suddenly light up as if he had landed back first on a fully-lit oven, his back feeling singed and cooked from the immense heat that was splayed across it. He almost screamed, fighting down on his lip as the heat intensified, steadily increasing until it stopped entirely, the Reaper having finished firing. In that moment, it should have been over. With a broken nose, cracked ribs and a burnt back, he shouldn't have been able to climb any further.
But despite all that, he reached up both hands, and continued to climb.
He pulled himself up those last few meters. Groping for purchase, finding it, and pulling himself up. In moments, he found himself standing ontop of the plate, grabbing ahold of the opening as he pulled himself up and into it...
...to stare directly into Oblivion's eye.
There was no charge up. The Reaper did not try to fire its weapon. It simply stared at him, the two, smaller red eyes attached to the side of the large one seeming to shift to the right to look at him directly, as if inspecting an insect on its shoulder.
That's all we are to you, isn't it? Insects. Tiny little irritating bugs that must be swatted because they are simply not worth any other kind of acknowledgement. Something who's very image is simply too much to look at. Miniscule. Irrelevant. Pointless.
Oblivion ceased all movement and simply stood there, looking at the human that had, until recently, had been running away from it like a panicked rabbit, and now dared to climb up its body to meet it in person?
Shepard.
Oh, you see me do you?
Why are you here?
Oh, me? I've just got a little present for you. But before I give it to you, know this. You and your buddies are finished. Every little Reaper from here on forth is dead. You've taken the lives of too many people I care about, and that is going to end. No one here dies today. This is not your world; these are not your people. The geth are not your slaves, and never shall they be. Your tyranny ends-
Why are you here?
Now that's just rude.
Why are you here?
Everytime it said it, the words sounded more angry and hate-filled. Like it was...annoyed at this organic...wasting its time.
That filled him with rage.
Kiss. My. Fucking. Ass. You. PRICK!
Like that, in that brief moment, he disconnected the missle from his hip, tapped the side to initiate the timer, and threw it inside with all the might he had. He watched as the sheer force of his throw lodged it inside Oblivion's eye, the glass-like covering cracking around the site as it was rammed straight inside the main gun.
He didn't even wait for Oblivion's response. Turning around, he took a deep breath, looked down below and jumped.
For a few moments, he was a bird. A bird soaring from the clouds, divebombing upon land as it moved to greet its friends nesting down below. The wind rushing against him, chilling him to the bone, the smell of salt and ocean in the air wafting up his nostrils. He let it all in, his arms outstretched like those of a bird, and felt himself plummet towards the blue watery depths, ready to allow it to grasp him in all its-
Moments before he hit the water, his ears quaked with the sound of a mighty explosion behind him, followed by the loudest airhorn he had ever heard. The deed is done.
And then, just like that, he slammed into the water.
His first instinct was to cry out and the sudden gush of cold assaulting his senses. He felt as if all the warmth in his body had been sucked out in that instant, replaced with nothing but ice. The color of life was gone as he was met with nothing but dark blue hues and the ocassional, hard to make out sea creature scurrying to escape the sudden new arrival. Bubbles frothed and popped around him as oxygen pockets escaped him towards the surface, his eyes stinging from being suddenly exposed to underwater pressure.
He kicked his legs out, followed by his arms, trying to gain some semblance of balance as he prepared to swim towards the surface. Air continued to escape his lungs, Marcus closing his mouth too late as he tasted the foul bittersweetness of salt water in his mouth, wanting to spit it out despite being unable to. Breathing in through his nose, he ignored the sting the water made in his nose as he continued to kick upwards, spinning around to gain an awareness of his surroundings.
He found himself quickly joined as a massive dark form rushed down upon him from above, smashing through the watery surface above as it plummetted to the floor down below, which was only a few meters down from where he was. It collided with a silent thud, the sand on the ocean bed sent flying up in gigantic plumes, like the dust of the sea. The suction of the impact drew him towards it, but he fought every bit of it, feeling himself getting weaker and weaker as he began to find it hard to breathe...
He kicked and swam, slowly and steadily moving for the surface, but despite how much he tried and how good a swimmer he was, the aching in his ribs and his burnt back only aided to make his body weaker and as he fought, he felt himself slowly losing the fight, salt water penetrating his lips to-
Hands. They grabbed onto him, shooting down from above to grab ahold of him roughly. Suddenly, with that simple touch, he lost the need to swim; he simply fell limp as he let the hands pull at him, steadily bringing him up to the surface as it angels had descended to ascend him to heaven. Like a sudden wreck liberated from the depths of the sea, he was pulled up, until eventually his head broke the watery film, giving out a mixture of a gasp as he sucked in new air, and a choke as he tried to spit out what salt water was left in his throat, all the while the hands continued to pull him up.
By the time he was done coughing and spluttering, his eyesight blurry from water getting in them, he was too tired to even realize he had been pulled out of the water, now on his back in what he presumed was the geth tank. Finally, he coughed one final time, water drippling from his lips onto the deck below him as hands slapped at his face, waking him up. Like that, his eyesight seemed to clear up, his hands reaching up to rub the blurriness out of them.
Crouched before him was Tali, the one responsible for worriedly slapping at his face. Kasumi was down before him as well and as he watched on, Legion turned away from him to return to the cockpit, the hatch closing behind it. With a lurch, the vehicle began to move away again, presumably away from-
"Did..." he coughed, clearing his throat, "...did I do it? Is...is it...?"
Tali sighed in relief while Keeling appeared before him, standing up but with a grin on her face, helmet tucked under one arm, "You did it, sir; we saw the explosion. After that, Oblivion just collapsed, dead as a doornail. All the water...the waves were huge sir, but that Reaper is definitely dead. It hasn't so much as budged since you took it out."
I did. You crazy son of a bitch, you did it.
"You stupid bosh'tet," Tali sighed, tucking her helmet under his chin, "I honestly believed you had drowned. Don't ever do that again."
He laughed, the sound strained and forced as he shook his head, the pain in his back still persistent, "You should...see my back, Tali. You'll be less worried about me drowning and more worried about the burns I've got," quickly talking over the quarian's protests, he turned to her, grin disappearing, "Tali...if Oblivion's dead, does that mean...?"
It took a few seconds for his wife to get what he meant and her eyes immediately widened, turning to Legion, "Legion, find out if the signal is dead!" she quickly brought up her omni-tool, hastily contacting the Flotilla, "I'll see what the Migrant Fleet has to say." The quarian hastily stood up,
And like that, with Marcus lying on his back, glad to just be alive, everyone waited in silence as they hoped to hear that the war was finally over. That all their efforts, every bullet fired and loss suffered, were worth it. That they all counted for something.
Little did they know that the three hundred year war was not over yet.
"The war was over, and then it wasn't."
- Tali'Shepard pav Rannoch.
"Why do you sound so down? You actually got to yell down Gerrel. I'd say that's a bonus. You ended a war with a few words."
- Marcus Shepard.
"What is this you're referring to?"
- Reia'Inas pav Earth.
"The great speech of Rannoch."
- Marcus Shepard.
A/N:
I was honestly split on where to end this chapter. I was previously hoping to end it on the end of the war, with...you know...Gerrel getting talked down and all that other stuff. But I knew I wasn't going to be able to fit it here, so I made it my duty to at least end it on the end of the fight with Oblivion...I mean the Rannoch Reaper. :)
The next chapter will be that, as well as some other things. Because of this, the next chapter will be the penultimate ending to the Quarian-Geth arc of the story; but if you think we're near the end, you're sorely mistaken.
However, that chapter will not come for a while; this will be a last chapter for a long time, and I mean it. The only reason I got time to finish these chapters was because I was on holidays, but my last official holiday day is this weekend; after that, its back to school and the work that comes with it. Because of that, you won't see another chapter until the next school holidays; which will most likely be a couple of months away. Rest assured, this story is far from dead.
P.S. HOLY SHIT 28,000 WORDS!? ARCHREAPERN7 ARE YOU FUCKING INSANE!?
Until then,
Keelah Re'lai, troopers!
