HOLOCAUST
CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN:
JUST ANOTHER INVASION
July 18, 2186
0655 hours.
Main Atrium, Firebase Whiskey, Sereuun-Malvuon, Malvuon Continent, Dekuuna.
The Reaper War, Second Battle of Dekuuna.
First Lieutenant Jack, Corporal Rodrigez Paltarons, Corporal Prangley Scooner, Corporal Hillary Wight, Corporal Nick Donahue.
"And. Fuck. You," Jack snarled, a final flurry of biotics bringing a cannibal up into the air before slamming it back into the ground again, crushing its frail, mechanical-organic body against solid, bland concrete like mush. She breathed in and out again in ragged bursts, her body's liquid blue fire dying down as the situation no longer called for it. Her heart felt like it was beating at a million miles an hour, desperately trying to explode out of her chest. The light combat armor she wore, the Alliance's HYPERION-80L, killed whatever spacial awareness she thought she had, making her feel like she had been stuffed inside a box...an armoured box, one that would likely keep her alive when the time demonstrated it, but a box nonetheless.
"Cheers, LT," she turned to her left, watching a squad of Alliance soldiers, accompanied by Blue Suns legionnaires and several asari troopers, ran past, the Alliance sergeant in charge of the squad standing there and nodding at her, his helmet missing and his face covered in soot and blood, the latter likely not all his, "If you hadn't shown up, a few husks might have turned into a hundred."
She snorted, reaching her hand down to Hillary, who had fallen down when one of the husks had taken her by surprise...one she had summarily introduced to one of the support pillars nearby, likely breaking its spine, if that even mattered to a husk. Hillary coughed, her own suit of 82L armor covered in dust and soot from the grey ground. The elcor's military, reinforced by UGC forces from the Systems Alliance, Asari Republics and Blue Suns, were attempting to hold the perimeter of Firebase Whiskey, set up in the atrium of what was a Cord-Hislop facility on Dekuuna, against hordes of husks sent at them by the Reapers. The Reaper siege of Dekuuna was extremely odd in its entirety: instead of doing what they usually did and bombarding the planet from orbit and then mopping it up with fleets of ships and millions of husks, the Reapers were content to hang in orbit while their minions cleared the planet for them.
Suffice to say, somebody in the UGC command chain had left a hole in their defense, allowing for a few husks to get through before reinforcements were diverted to plug it. Jack and her students were the first to respond, ending with the husks being taken care of.
She turned back to the sergeant, shaking her head, "Maybe if you asshol-idiots...did your job, we wouldn't have to turn up to save the day. Now if you don't mind, the west wing needs us...unless there is anymore holes the brass just happened to forget about?"
The sergeant didn't respond except to nod, turning to follow his troopers towards their position, where the biotics were already setting up sentry guns while the Alliance and Blue Suns soldiers fired at any husks that tried to get through. Shaking her head, she motioned for her dozen or so students to follow as they rushed to reach the west wing, which was in sore need of biotic support to counter the influx of scions, banshees, vampires and minotaurs. Minotaurs were elcor husks, of which were obviously found in plentiful supply on the elcor homeworld.
The Second Battle of Dekuuna, also known as Operation: Tail Lights, was the most ambitious evacuation effort the UGC had ever undertaken. The First Battle of Dekuuna had been nothing short of a disaster for the ill-prepared Defense Force of Dekuuna, who's ships had been nearly obliterated by the Reaper invasion force, led by Harbinger itself. Afterwards, the Reapers had split their forces in two, with Harbinger and two thirds of their initial invasion force leaving to go elsewhere, while the other third remained behind to keep the elcor military grounded in a dirty, ruthless and brutal surface war. The elcor troops, basically equipped like tanks, were extremely powerful armoured units, but against hordes of husks, they were easily outmaneveured. Just when Dekuuna seemed a lost cause, the UGC showed up and managed to retake the capital of Sereuun-Malvuon. But even with UGC assistance, both sides knew exactly the same truth.
Dekuuna was lost.
And so, the elcor government proposed what was initially dismissed as impossible: a full-scale evacuation of the planet. The UGC would help set up several safe zones within the city for civilians to seek shelter: these would be seven firebases known as Whiskey, Golf, Tango, Uniform, Alfa, India and Zulu. Once surviving civilians were evacuated to these zones, the Elcor Flotilla (their navy), assisted by the few UGC vessels that could be supplied, would aid in the steady evacuation of civilians from surface to orbit in the hope that as many elcor civilians could be saved as possible. The UGC had deemed the mission a fair proposal, as attempting to evacuate the planet would be less costly than holding it in the long run, especially if the Reapers could make the latter not worth the cost in manpower and resources.
And so the Second Battle of Dekuuna was deemed to have begun, and here Jack and her students were; deployed as part of the relief effort.
Firebase Whiskey had a reasonably defensible position. The UGC had chosen the blown out atrium of a Cord-Hislop skyscraper to set up Firebase Whiskey, where the landing pad on the roof could be used to ferry out civilians via kodiak shuttles. The only area that needed defending was the front entrance, so the UGC simply built up a wall and had watch towers set up. And so, day and night, UGC forces, including an elcor artillery division, helped repel the swarms of husks that attempted to penetrate their wall. Small gaps opened up occassionally, but were usually plugged by sentry turrets or biotic barriers.
The inside of the atrium showed its wear and tear. Rubble permeated the entire ground, its polished surface drowned in dull grey soot and dust. Caked in this dust was the rubble that littered the ground around them: pieces of broken concrete, twisted strings of rebar and sheared shards of metal and glass. One had to watch their footing lest they tripped on some new piece of rubble, for the building was flooded with it. But this was after the UGC had cleaned up shop...she didn't want to imagine what else had been on this dusty floor before they got here...
Dead soldiers who tried to make a last stand...or perhaps dead civilians who thought they'd found refuge only to get boxed in by those they thought to be friends but were now just mere Reaper puppets?
She looked around them, detailing what she saw. On the wall, an Alliance soldier stood with a heavily modified M-76 Revenant, mounted ontop of the wall with a longer barrel and a thermal clip belt attached, another soldier crouched beside him feeding clips into it as the belt spat out spent clip after spent clip, the soldier manning the gun raking bullets into the huskified frontlines. Asari soldiers fired their rifles and hurled biotics, while the Blue Suns used explosive weapons like M-100 grenade launchers, ML-77 missile launchers and ML-79 Hydras to constantly harass the enemy down below, keeping them from reaching their goal. Any holes in the wall were plugged by Alliance or asari troopers in prone positions, while others were protected by one or two elcor, massive cannons mounted on their back either spewing explosive shells or coughing up a steady stream of hot lead to kill anything that so much as poked its head in for a little peek.
She could hear the shouting from where she was: there was no banter like she remembered from Shepard's squad. This was the shouting of orders, of desperation...
"Distressed: I require reinforcement at the east wing, first corner," one elcor shouted out.
"I'm out of ammo," yelled an Alliance trooper, "I need a fresh clip! Somebody give me a fresh clip!"
"Thor, this is Anvil 2-0. I have confirmed presence of brutes at Grid Kilo-Zulu-2-8-4-1, requesting bombardment at grid location, please confirm, over."
"Copy that, Anvil 2-0. Inform Anvil Actual that artillery strikes are not available at this time, how copy?"
"Solid copy, Thor," the soldier with the callsign Anvil 2-0 responded, before turning to one of his men and snarling, "Useless cunt! Get a fucking missile launcher up here, ASAP! We've got brutes at the wall! Don't let them cluster or they'll smash through!"
"Kali's collapsed, somebody cover her!" she heard an asari yell, "Vesai, get up there and keep those banshees back! Don't let them get close!"
Jack and her students almost ran into an elcor, this twin machine guns mounted on its back, which was firing at what looked to be a Brute over the wall. The brute's head snapped back, face blown apart, before more rounds from the elcor's cannons completely tore through its upper torso, killing it. Behind the elcor was a large group of elcor civilians: she counted at least fifty of them, all of them waiting to be called up to the roof for evacuation. Jack felt sorry for them, knowing they were likely terrified, not knowing when the next shuttle would be or if the wall would collapse at any given moment or if a stray shell could explode and kill them all in just one flash.
That's the worst part...not knowing. Knowing is often better than being oblivious.
Turning back, Jack held her hand up for the group to halt once more, motioning for them to move around. Infront of them was another elcor soldier, this one a heavy; four rotating barrels were present on its back, rockets loaded into each of them. The elcor himself had its front two feet perched ontop of a large piece of concrete, angling itself into the perfect position from which to bombard its enemies from behind the safety of the wall. Jack was impressed by the combat armor it wore: obviously, due to the uniqueness of the elcor's physiology compared to the rest of the galaxy, certain previsions had to be made for them in almost every field: different types of skycars, weaponry, ships, combat armor, seating, acting, etc. This made the elcor stand out from the rest, especially in terms of military strategy.
This wasn't to say the elcor were brilliant military strategists, however. When it came to warfare, they were largely useful as shock troops and little else: before though, they had always had the simple contingency of calling upon the turians or any Council race for help. In these dark times, only the asari and humans were able to, and that was just the bear scraps they could scrounge up.
The elcor battle armor, called the Goliath XM-S Heavy Combat Armor, was extremely durable and very well shielded. The elcor was practically wrapped, head to toe, in reinforced steel and shock absorbers, the armor being the proud colors of the Courts of Dekuuna: Light blue and bergundy. The elcor face was unidentifiable underneath its helmet, but damn if it wasn't intimidating: the features of an elcor face painted onto the front of the protective apparatus wasn't as life-like as it should have been, with their perputual frown being turned into a white sneer capable of striking fear into many foes. They had bright crimson optics for visors, only adding to the effect. The kinetic barriers of the armor were also strong, able to take three rocket blasts before withering.
And, of course, there was the fact that the elcor's physiology left them only one way to defend themselves: to become walking tanks. Mounted weapons on their backs became the norm, and they sure did get creative: from portable artillery to mobile machine gun nests, from a tank in their own right to four-legged anti-aircraft gun. Sure, they were slow moving, but the fact they could move at all made them a powerful asset on the field, but only when mixed with other light, more mobile infantry. When all you had was walking tanks...
No wonder the elcor practically lost Dekuuna so quickly in the first battle.
They all covered their ears as the elcor fired a rocket, the sound echoing through the atrium with a thunderous bang. An explosion followed soon aftwerwards, the awesome heat washing over them even from the distance they were at as a bright flash followed the impact over the wall. She took pleasure in knowing likely dozens of husks were obliterated in that blast, torn asunder and their pieces sent to numerous destinations in a maelstrom of deathly glory.
Moving past the elcor, they covered their ears once more as the elcor fired again, all of them turning to watch the blast this time as the wall slightly rocked from the tremor of it, one Alliance soldier not ducking down quick enough as it impacted, causing them to fly over the barricade and fall to the ground below; luckily, the wall was low enough that all he got was the wind beaten out of him, and he was quickly back up the ladder and onto the barricade again, assault rifle raking up the few husks that had survived the blast before more poured in to replace them.
As they began to sprint for the west wing again, Rodrigez stopped where she was, kneeling over as she heaved in huge breaths. Jack sighed as she turned back to the young woman, bawling over as she was, sucking in huge breaths. Her face was a deep puffy red, clearly exhausted, and Jack could see why. They had done nothing but run back and forth all day, using their biotics inbetween to help the defenders. What many didn't know was that biotics were a gift, but also a curse: biotics often had to eat expodentially more than normal people, and they got tired alot faster due to the strain of the biotics on their body's functions. So while they'd only been fighting for a few hours, her students were largely already exhausted, especially when they weren't used to fighting in a war. Jack was different, because she'd been tortured and conditioned to deal with excruciating pain far worse than exhaustion, which allowed her to use her biotics almost limitlessly. Her students though...they didn't suffer the pain she had.
Lucky. No damn Teltin facility for them. No Cerberus overlords beating you and filling you with drugs until you became a big, angry bitch. They had a good life.
She looked at the others. Prangley, Hillary and Nick some of those among them. Together, they were a strong team, but even then, fatigue was an inescapable human trait. Prangley was dealing with it pretty well, sweat dripping down his face like a river and his face also extremely red, but he seemed to be taking it far better. Hillary wasn't bending over or sucking in huge breaths, but she did look about ready to faint, which the same could be said for Nick. These guys were only teenagers, and they were being thrust into a war. One they clearly weren't ready for, but were doing pretty admirably despite the fact.
I'm proud of the little shits. They are my kids, after all. Of course they're all little badasses!
Then the sound. Almost in perfect synchronization, Rodrigez, Nick and Hillary all vomitted, yellowish-green slime spilling from their mouths onto the ground, slapping against the barren floor to create an even more disgusting mix.
A voice crackled in her ear, "Tango Actual, where the fuck are you? We're up to our knickers in husks, so if you could give us some goddamn support, that'd be fan-fucking-tastic, over."
She resisted the urge to growl, simply replying with a tap of her comm, "I read you, Sierra 6-7. We're hauling ass over here, but in case you haven't noticed, you're not the only pussy with a need for a back massage. Hold your fucking position, and we'll soon arrive to save your idiotic ass, how copy?"
There was silence over the line for a moment, before a calming voice, clearly holding back anger, replied, "Copy that, Tango Actual. Just make it quick before there's nothing to save. Sierra 6-7 out."
"We're oscar mike, believe me," she replied before switching off and turning back to her students, "Come on kids, the battle's not over. The high and mighty soldiers of fortune have still got some civvies to evacuate, so we've got to help hold the line."
Prangley shook his head, creasing his brow in pain, "It's...too much, teach. I'm so...bloody...tired...I couldn't keep going even if I tried..."
Jack rolled her eyes and moved up to him, making sure to stand straighter so as to appear taller, "Ahhhhh...do you want me to carry you, Prangley? Would you like that? For me to carry you home to your mummy? Tell me Prangley, when will your balls drop?"
Hillary was quick to defend Prangley, "You can't expect us to keep going like this! We're not fighters!"
Jack chuckled, turning to the younger student as she pointed a finger in her face, "Excuse the language kiddo, and don't go telling Miss Sanders I said this, but life doesn't give the ever-loving fuck about what you think you aren't! As far as life is concerned, you are all fighters! You want to die, Hillary? Do you want to fall down and just let them tear you apart? Or are going to overcome your fucking exhaustion and actually fight back! Quit being such a bloody pussy!"
"This is bullshit!" Rodrigez complained, wiping her lips of the last dribbles of vomit as she placed her hands on her hips, "This isn't what we signed up for!"
"This is exactly what you signed up for, princess!" she slapped the student across the face lightly, Rodrigez reeling back before snapping her head back in anger, "You wanted to fight!? You wanted to be on the frontlines!? Here you fucking are! And you are damn well going to do what you signed up to do because this war has no room for useless twats! Now you follow me and kick some ass, or I'll kick yours! Now move it, all of you!"
No more argument came from their mouths and they reluctantly began to run again, the fourteen or so students moving past her like a flood as they all called up what reserve energy they had left to try and make it to their destination and to keep fighting. She smiled a devillish grin, moving to run with them, barely making a sweat. These kids...they've still got too much to learn. Discipline. Strength. Courage. Badassery. They'll learn, but it'll have to be through adversity. They'll hate me now, but they'll love me later. Motherfucking adversity is a cunt, but goddamn if it doesn't produce results!
Their sprint was hurried, yet desperate. Despite Jack's overall physical state in regards to her biotics, the fighting had made her tired in some respects. The battle had been going for hours: it was a non-stop battle for survival, a frenzy of destruction. Dekuuna, once a thriving and beautiful planet, had been largely reduced to rubble at this point: a joint image of what Earth and Palaven likely looked like. Dekuuna's twin capital cities: Sereunn-Malvuon and Dessup-Verussa, built over several millenia ago by the elcor of antiquity to provide areas of safety inbetween wet and dry seasons, were nothing more than desolate warzones, the Reaper war machine plowing through both like their defenses meant little to them. The meagre defensive countermeasures the elcor had established did nothing to slow the Reapers' advance, with the monolithic starships razing them from orbit and then overwhelming the elcor positions with hordes upon hordes of zombie-like creatures: just like they did everywhere else. It might have been repeated ad nauseum, but it worked, which is why the Reapers used the tactic so often.
The elcor capitals were built upon the idea of practicality. As with everything the elcor made or said, they had to explain what they were doing within the name of what they were doing: Because of this, the city's name, Sereunn, would be joined by the name of the continent the city was located on: in this case, the subcontinent of Malvuon. Dessup-Verussa was the same deal, both of the capital cities connected in one way or another. Back when the cities were built, they were owned by two seperate factions: Elcor of the Plains and Elcor of the Red Nile. Sereunn-Malvuon, built alongside the Red Nile (a miniture ocean located within the Malvuon continent), was the capital of the ERN, while Dessup-Verussa, built along the Plains of Verussa, was the capital of the EOP. The two factions were not aware of each other until the ERN finally built ships to cross the Red Nile, where they found the EOP. Unlike other species' history, the two factions did not war with each other: they rejoiced in having found their "other half" and united together as a people. The next four decades led to rapid technological advancement, and eventually, first contact with the Council. When they did, they decided, for history's sake, to recognize both cities as the 'twin capitals of Dekuuna.'
An elcor tradition, one eventually made obsolete by modern technology but still practiced by most elcor, was the Trek of the Nile. Because of the city's distance from each other, the dry season would happen in one, while the wet happened in the other. The Red Nile elcor were often plagued by the wet season, as the sea levels would rise, flooding their city slightly. For the Plains elcor, the dry season was worse, because the plains would dry out, causing a temporary drought. The Trek, as the elcor call it, is when these seasons occur (wet in the Nile, dry in the Plains), elcor from both cities travel to the other and aid it. The Red Nile would ship water and supplies to the Plains elcor to help them with their drought, and in return, the Plains elcor would build filters to keep the water out. The dawn of modern technology meant that Sereunn-Malvuon could be built on an elevated platform, allowing it to stay above the Red Nile, while water plants were built in the Red Nile to provide a nearly constant source of water for Dessup-Verussa. Regardless, the tradition is still performed for the sake of it.
These days, Sereunn-Malvuon was working on borrowed time. The elcor were not used to fighting in prolonged warfare, as the Council had always provided protection in the past. Sure, they had big guns on their backs and sufficiently powerful frigates and destroyers in their navy, but without the proper training, they didn't mean shit, especially against a technologically and numerically superior enemy. It would not be long before the Reapers worked out that they could sink the city into the Nile simply by crippling the platform it stood upon, allowing them to drown the city in its entirety. Which was part of why this evacuation was so critical.
Dessup-Verussa had been evacuated mere days before: all the elcor had been evacuated to Sereunn-Malvuon, which had been deemed the elcor's last stand on Dekuuna. For a last stand, it wasn't too bad, but wouldn't mean much if the civilians weren't successfully evacuated.
Finally, the group reached the section of wall they were sent to help defend. Looking up, she could already see the problem. A section of wall had been twisted and bent out of shape, leaving a gaping hole where a section of reinforced steel should have been. Parts of the metal were blackened, steam still hissing off the heated metal: an explosion had done this, not a Brute. She sighed, biting down on her lower lip.
Yeah, but was it friendly fire, or one of the Reapers?
She didn't want to know, nor did she fucking care. She was here to help, didn't matter whether or not they needed it. Right. Back to it then, you fucks.
She turned back to her students, cracking her knuckles, "I hope you're still ready to whoop some huskified asses, because from the looks of it, shit is getting hairy up there," she turned to Hillary and Nick, motioning to the hole where an asari and an Alliance army trooper had set up a mounted ML-77BML Missile Launcher, a trio of Blue Suns mercs behind them providing suppression fire with their vindicator battle rifles, their armor potmarked with scars, smears, soot and blood, not all of it theirs, thankfully, "You two are going to provide those assholes with some barriers. Keep those husks off of them, and only drop the barriers when they fire. I know you are tired, but keep those damn barriers up: they drop, we might get overwhelmed. So whatever you do...keep your hands up and stay focused. Think of ice cream if it helps."
Hillary and Nick saluted before running over to the group. She turned to Prangley, Rodrigez and George, who had their hands on their lips, looking up at her anticipatingly. She smiled. The little shitheads might just be soldiers yet. "You three, you get to do what you've always wanted. You get to choose what you do: I'll be up there with you. Warps, shockwaves, flares, stasis fields...you name it, you can do it. Don't over stress yourselves though, and don't focus on looking fancy. None of that blinking or teleporting shit because I haven't taught you yet. And whatever you do...avoid the goddamn support columns! We need to be alive to defend the wall! Now get your ass moving!"
All three saluted, trying their best to put a smile on their face and exert confidence, "Yes ma'am!" They immediately rushed for the ladder leading up to the top of the wall, where four marines lay dead on the ground. As they walked up, a Blue Suns soldier was shot in the face, falling onto his back instantly, having been killed immediately. The turian, blue blood dripping down the back of his head onto the ground, wasn't even given time to become a cold corpse as a human soldier rushed over to his body and grabbed his rifle, tossing it to an asari trooper, along with the merc's thermal clip bandolier. Having done so, he raced back to his position, blind firing over his cover at the enemy to make up for his pause in defense.
Ordering the others to their positions, she climbed up the ladder to join Prangley, Rodrigez and George. She could see Nick and Hillary from where she was, the duo dropping their barriers in time for four missiles to spit out of the mounted missile launcher, exploding into a banshee, its barriers dropping before the Blue Suns mercs emptied entire clips into its body. It let out an almighty screech, the sound piercing her eardrums as she winced from the sound, going deaf temporarily. The shriek ceased as a shot pierced its head, causing it to flop back and disintegrate, purple electricity wracking its body as it seemingly dissipated into a pile of black ash and liquid.
"Fucking banshees," the asari responsible cursed, "Can't believe that used to be one of my people."
Banshees, among the many other husks being thrown at them, were some of the latest abominations introduced to the Reaper legions. Made from huskified asari, it was a tall and lithe creature, looking almost like an asari who had been stretched out. It's skin was no longer the blue or purple tinge most asari had, having dulled to a plain grey. Their eyes were as black as the darkness that likely clouded their crumbled mind, their lips and jawline having peeled away to reveal yellowish molar teeth, always bared in a perputual sign of torture. Their head tentacles had been torn from their usual position and raised upwards, the flesh peeled from them and replaced with more cybernetics. Their nails, both on hands and feet, were lengthened and sharpened to the point of being long scythes, black and without detail aside from their razor-sharp edges: she had witnessed many get too close to a banshee, only for them to be picked up and impaled on those long nails, the banshee, with more seemingly more intelligence than the rest, grabbing their head with the other hand to pull it back and force them to look into the banshee's bottomless gaze.
The Reapers obviously didn't care about sexual dimorphism, caring so much about turning the asari into portable charnelhouses than they did about modesty. Obviously, the 'snatch' was stitched shut and covered by cybernetics, almost laughably, while the asari's tits were sagged into their body, smaller than usual and covered in implants. But perhaps the most terrifying feature of the banshee was the abilities it possessed over the other husks: biotics.
Even as she watched, another banshee seemed to come out of nowhere, emerging from the core of the swarm in an almost blinding flash of liquid blue energy, screeching at them like a fearless Viking warrior. It blinked forward again, using the same technique Samara had tired herself out trying to teach Jack, disappearing from its original position only to reappear several meters ahead of its previous standing, everytime punctuated by a burst of dark energy. More biotics racked its body once more as it deflected a rocket with a biotic barrier, shrieking at the mere action before it brought up its other hand, blue energy brimming in its hand as it prepared a flare.
Jack had seen how devastating those could be.
To her appreciation however, the banshee's flare was deflected by Hillary and Nick, who managed to bring up a barrier before the banshee could wreak its havoc. Unfortunately, the flare exploded on their barrier with the same thunder clap noise and detonation, the explosion knocking everyone onto their backs and winding them as their vision was clouded by a brilliant white. The sound rung in their ears, but Jack was always vigilant; she had raised her own barrier to deflect the blast.
The banshee roared again, raising its other hand for another assault, blinking forward once more as it let out a long-winded shriek in an attempt to disorient its foes. Jack wasn't fooled however, turning to her students as she gave them the nod: their kill.
"You guys remember what I taught you," she growled, pointing to the banshee as she deflected biotic attack, this one a mere trio of warps, with an off-hand barrier, "Now use it! What do we use to take down barriers!?"
There was no answer other than actions: something she had taught them herself. Over a dozen warps launched themselves at the banshee, who stumbled back from the assault. Its barrier was immediately downed, crackling and dying as the banshee was left exposed. Her grin massive and undeterred, she signalled for them to launch everything they had at it. So they did, with Prangley launching his best shockwave, Rodrigez a stasis to keep the banshee still, and George launching a singularity to cripple the dozens of husks rushing past the banshee. The singularity picked the husks up from the ground, causing them to spin uselessly in the air as the UGC troops gunned them down. The stasis wrapped around the banshee, freezing it in place as the shockwave slammed into it, causing it to fly back and slam into a jagged piece of concrete, where it was impaled on a piece of rebar. The singularity died, dropping the now dead husks to the ground, while the banshee screeched and screeched, trying to pry itself off its impalement.
Jack prepped a flare, glaring straight at the banshee. Shut. The Fuck...She launched the flare at the banshee, watching the purple explosion consume the banshee, the concrete it was on, and the forty or so cannibals, marauders and cyborgs that had been trying to work their way past it. ...Up.
"Argh!" Rodrigez cried out, "Get it off!"
Jack spun around to see seven vampires trying to crawl over the wall. An eighth vampire embedded its claws into a Blue Suns legionnaire's shoulder before tossing him over the wall, screaming. Jack looked over the wall as he landed on his back, only to be swarmed by hundreds of husks as they began to rip him apart, digging their teeth into his skin and tearing away chunks or ripping off limbs, all while the merc screamed and screamed. After a few seconds, he fell silent entirely with a loud crack, his head likely torn off as husks tore at it with their teeth, spitting away the flesh.
"Push 'em back!" one soldier yelled, shooting one vampire in the head as it reeled, roaring in anger, "Don't let them over the barrier!"
The vampire was another horrible abomination developed by the Reaper armada. Ever since they got their hands on Heshtok, the vorcha homeworld, they had been churning out legions upon legions of huskified vorcha, creating yet another new form of foot soldier. Despite their inability to take Heshtok or to pacify the vorcha, they had managed to capture enough to create hordes of new husks: vampires. Adequately nicknamed by the Alliance, vampires were obviously huskified vorcha. Looking like a normal vorcha other than the cybernetics, greyed skin and lack of eyes, vampires had one secret weapon: their teeth. Nobody knows how or what it is, but the Reapers had developed a new type of toxin used only by vampires. Injected into their teeth, the vampires bite their victims once to spread the toxin into their bloodstream, while also sucking out the hemoglobin during the bite. The longer the bite, the more hemoglobin is taken. This means that if the toxin doesn't kill the victim, then lack of oxygenated blood will. The toxin causes rapid clotting of the blood across the body, leading to a long and painful death. Whatever the toxin it was, it couldn't be cured.
Small arms fire was useless against the vorcha husks, and only the heaviest of weapons, such as mattocks or light machine guns or higher, could kill them. However, biotics could do so as well, especially if one was to use reave, as their newly modified skin doesn't seem to react well to it.
She didn't wait long, turning to the vampire currently grappling with Rodrigez and grabbing it with a reave. The vampire screeched as it skin almost immediately atomized, skin smoking and burning up as it reacted badly to the dark energy. It crumbled into ashes on the ground as Rodrigez nodded her thanks to Jack.
"Keep your men back, Sierra 6-7," she told the frantic soldier, turning back to the vorcha scrambling over the barrier, "I'll deal with them."
Without so much as a sweat, she flicked her hand up, her biotics picking up all the vampires at once, and threw them back. They crumbled to the ground, immediately getting back as they rushed back for the wall. She immediately ripped the Revenant LMG out of one Blue Suns merc's grip, put it down and immediately began mowing it into the line of husks, who went down one after the other until there was nothing left of them but shredded corpses. Smiling and exhaling at the same time, she wiped her brow and slammed the machine gun back into the soldier's grip, who looked at her dumbfounded.
"Very impressive, Tango Actual," the sergeant hissed, clearly not as impressed as his sarcastic tone let on, "But there's still more coming. Perhaps you could have-"
Out of nowhere, a vampire leapt onto the sergeant, pinning him to the floor of the wall before immediately tearing into his exposed, unarmoured throat. The sergeant didn't even have time to scream, the sound turned into a strangled set of gurgles and dark, thick red blood spat out of the torn up neck, soaking the ground around him as his hand switched, one trying to rip the vampire off, but only managing to uselessly tap against the beast. The vampire continued to munch happily on his throat until it was done, twisting its head towards them with blood dripping down its chin...
...only for its head to be blown off by the same merc she had taken the LMG from before, the weapon smoking once more from one more vampire kill. A hole was drilled right through where it's nose would be, the dead creature slouching back as it fell dead. Jack nodded to the merc, only to rush to the side of the sergeant. He was already dead, blood still oozing from the bite marks in his torn neck, but all life from his body having left it behind. His omni-tool began to ping, the sound of a human soldier speaking through it, "Sergeant Greers, this is Colonel Porter. I need a sitrep."
She winced as she reached forward and picked up the soldier's limp arm, activating his omni-tool's comms, "This is First Lieutenant Jack of Tango Squad. Sergeant Greers is dead, Colonel."
"Well, you seem to be the highest ranking person aside from me to still be alive in this damn debacle, so I guess I have no choice but to make you my number two," Colonel Porter replied, "Baker-10 has reported that the enemy are rallying around Grid Kilo-X-Ray-2-8-3-0; that's around your location. Would bet all my cards that the enemy are preparing a massive assault on your location. I need a sitrep."
Jack cursed their luck, quickly turning to count the soldiers left. Turning back, she cried out as an explosion sounded off behind her, the group turning to see one soldier getting back to his feet as a minotaur, a huskified elcor, tried to break through the barrier, only to be blown apart by two elcor soldiers with heavy machine guns on their backs. Turning back, she shook her head, "We've got two elcor soldiers reinforcing right now. My students and I have arrived, so that's fourteen biotics in support. I count four Blue Suns mercs remaining, six army troopers and three asari. We're holding, but I can't guarantee it'll stay that way. The Reapers just keep throwing their troops at us. What's the status of the evacuation?"
An audible sigh was heard over the comms before a response became available, "Better and worse. Firebases Uniform, Alfa and Zulu have completed their evacuations and are sending troops to reinforce us, Firebase India and Firebase Golf. As for Firebase Tango..." Silence filled the comms.
"What happened to Firebase Tango?" Jack insisted on asking. Deep down, she already knew the answer.
"It doesn't matter. Reinforcements are on the way," Porter replied, "We just need to hold out. As I've said, Uniform, Alfa and Zulu have completed their evacuations, and while we've heard nothing from India, it's safe to assume they are also close. We've still got many and more to evacuate, but we can't do that if we have routers. Can you hold out with the troops you've got?"
She snorted, shaking her head with annoyance, "We are barely holding out as is!" Gunfire sounded behind her: it was clear the Reapers were renewing their assault, "We're losing men like flies and my students are bordering on complete exhaustion. Whether they overrun this firebase or not is a matter of when, not if! That I can tell you, Colonel!" But he's right. If we break formation now, those civilians are doomed. They will all die, every single one. The elcor would be too slow to run if the Reapers breached the walls.
"I don't give a shit if you saw the goddamn future," Porter snarled, "Hold that fucking wall. Hold it to the last man. Throw everything you have if that's what it takes to stop them. Martyr yourselves. I don't care, just make sure that any Reaper that gets through is deader than dead." With that, the omni-tool died out, its holographic projection evaporating. He had cut the line.
What an asshole.
She stood up, turning to the group behind her. To their credit, Rodrigez, Prangley and George hadn't stopped to see what she was doing, using their biotics, despite their fatigue, to fight back every single husk that ran at them. Among their ranks, husks of every type seemed to be rushing about, furious and hungry looking. Two cyborgs, the huskified drell, ran forward on their mechanical legs, one red oculus seeking out their targets as the deadly Reaper weapon, the Blackstar, folded back on their arms. The Blackstar was essentially a black hole gun and, when fired, it created a vortex of dark energy that sucked everything within the vicinity into it, including matter. It apparently also had an alternate fire mode where it could be used to obliterate anything within its circumfrance. The Blackstar was only used by cyborgs, who possessed powerful kinetic barriers, but were slow and cumbersome. The weapon was fused as part of their left arm, and even now, Jack watched as it peeled back, ready to fire, only for Jack to pick one up and slam it back into the ground. With a snarl, she swiped her hands off to both sides, tearing the cyborg in two and throwing both pieces off on different angles. The second cyborg was blown apart by the combined firepower of machine guns and rockets, meaty fragments landing near Jack, while bits of black ichor slapped her right cheek.
A roar, much like a warhorn from medieval times, sounded: an unforgettable sound. She turned to watch a titanic husk, as big as a brute, lumber forward on its huge, armoured legs, a massive, portable thanix cannon on its back, its red glow all encompassing. Energy crackled and burst as it slid along the large rod, the weapon audibly charging up. Twin machine guns, embedded within the creature's mouth, tore apart the head of one asari, her face exploding like a ripe melon, spilling purple blood everywhere. Rodrigez cried out as some of the asari's blood got in her eyes, causing a biotic warp to fly off to the side, knocking an archer, a huskified salarian that served as the Reaper sharpshooter, off its feet, where it was trampled upon by stampeding husks and vampires, all of them eager to get a taste of organic flesh. And behind them, even more.
The minotaur seemed to look directly at her.
Husks, cannibals, marauders, banshees, brutes, archers, vampires, cyborgs, sirius', berserkers, cercopes...a non-stop flood of them rushed to greet the soldiers, and all they could do is stand in horror and awe at what they were seeing.
A literal tidal wave of husks rushing towards them.
It was almost as if every type of husk had come to the party. Standard husks, dashing forward, moaning eerily, while abominations, their explosive cousins, dashed alongside them, glowing bright orange and looking for enemies to consume in their fiery rage. Cannibals, the waddling huskified batarians, the shotgun-like cannon fused into their arm seeking out targets. Marauders, the former turians lining up shots with their stolen phaeston assault rifles while acting as squad leaders. Banshees, six of them, moving forward in terrifying tandem, biotic barriers shielding them from all punishment. Brutes, the twisted visage of a turian fused with two krogan, rushing forward on seemingly muscular arms, crushing a destroyed skycar under its hulk as they stalked forward. Archers, their sniper rifles finding targets and taking them out with insane precision. Vampires, ready to inject death into their victims' bloodstream, sprinting towards them. Cyborgs, lumbering with their blackstars. Sirius', the huskified varren raging as they dashed forth with ridiculous strength and power. Berserkers, the volus-hanar hybrids desperate to find a target to rip apart with its tentacles or blow away with a heavy rocket from its underbelly cannon. Cercopes, the seemingly innocent huskified pyjaks that were turned into a quick and devastating suicide bombers.
And those were just the basic foot soldiers.
A harvester landed behind the indomitable husk army, great wings spreading out as it let out a harsh scream that echoed across the nearly empty streets of Sereunn-Malvuon. It was joined by four praetorians, eyes glowing bright purple with intent. Scions, giant two-legged tanks, walked forward, cannons preparing to unleash an arsenal of biotic projectiles.
Seeing what Jack saw, she knew they couldn't possibly hold their position.
It...it can't be done...
The minotaur's warhorn-like roar sounded again, mixed with the cacophonous sound of banshees shrieking, a harvester screaming, husks moaning and vampires screeching. The sound was deafening, just as much as it was terrifying.
Oh fuck!
She turned just in time to watch the red glow of the minotaur's thanix cannon intensify, heating up with intense heat. Jack saw where it was aiming, she knew nothing could be done to stop it. They were out of rockets. The elcor couldn't correct their aim fast enough. No matter what they would try to do, the minotaur would still fire.
So she made a decision.
She had to act quickly. Crying out, she biotically grabbed George, Rodrigez and Prangley and tossed them off the wall and onto the ground. They cried out, shocked by the action, the sound getting louder as the pain of hitting solid concrete hit them. Not waiting any longer, she screamed at her kids to clear the wall before jumping off herself, falling into a roll. She landed, coughing up soot as she accidentally inhaled it in her dash to recover her breath, eyes watering as it stung her eyes. She turned to George, Prangley and Rodrigez, checking to see they were alright. They were.
It was all she got time to do.
There was screams as the minotaur's cannon fired, a bright red lance of power obliterated the wall where they had once stood. The four army troopers and the asari soldier standing there were disintegrated immediately, while the troopers around them suffered third degree burns to the face from how close they were to the beam, their screaming drowned out by the war cry of the husks. The two elcor soldiers sent to help them were lying on the front legs, shaking their heads to recover from the blast. The soldiers covering the hole from before were now out in the open, the smaller hole joined by the massive one in the wall. They shook themselves, moving to stand up, while the asari lay still, her head having been crushed by a piece of concrete, the remains of her skull lying infront of her. Aside from her students, noone survived without an injury of some sort. The most they got was a few bruises.
Dust and smoke poured out from the destroyed wall, the jagged edges of the newly formed entrance blackened by the thanix shot. Jack, before she could order her students to set up barriers, had to watch as the two surviving army troopers defending the smaller hole were gunned down, both falling ontop of each other as three cannibals moved inside...
...followed by many more.
The troopers that were burnt by the flames were knocked onto the ground as their section of the wall was knocked down entirely, the steel supports weakened enough for the wall to fall backwards when the harvester launched itself into it. One trooper was crushed beneath the wall, while the harvesters leaned down and wrapped its mouth around the second trooper's upper torso, tearing it off in one bite before throwing it aside, blood trailing the air as the upper torso of the soldier landed elsewhere. Behind it, multiple brutes, vampires crambling on their backs, rushed through the extra hole made by the harvester, who's head looked on, looking proud of its accomplishment.
The two elcor soldiers never stood a chance. A praetorian fired its beams into one, gutting it with a single shot. Hot, stinky intestines piled out of the elcor's open stomach, the sound the creature made almost pitiful, coming off as a whine of agony. The praetorian proceeded to descend upon it, hooking its arms under the elcor and lifting it into the air, before crushing its entire body inbetween the metal appendages and dropping it to the ground, dead.
The second elcor whined in terror at the sight of his friend being gutted, and desperately fired at the dozen or so berserkers and sirius' rushing towards it. It made a pretty good dent in them, but failed to account for the cercopes rushing for him. Jack opened her mouth to shout, but it was too late: the cercopes closed the gap and exploded, the explosion consuming the elcor. When the initial flash cleared, the charred remains of a dead elcor told her he didn't make it.
Her omni-tool pinged and she quickly opened it. Colonel Porter shouted through it, sounding panicked, "We just registered a breach at the west wing. What the fuck happened!?"
Jack growled back, motioning for her students to run as the Reaper army converged on them, "A minotaur blew a hole in the wall! We've got husks pouring through! There's nothing we can do, there's too many of them!"
Porter was not pleased, "What did I say abou-"
"Fuck your martyrdom! The wall would have fallen even if we had died! We need reinforcements, now!" Jack continued to run as she yelled, turning to see eighteen cannibals bringing their weapons to bear. Gnashing her teeth, she closed her eyes and clenched her fist, channeling all her biotics into that one fist. After a few seconds, the fist felt entirely numb, and her eyes shot open, the 'psychotic biotic' letting out an almighty roar as she brought up her arm in a swing motion, and slammed it back down.
The ability she used was one she had learnt from a human soldier. Named 'Smash', the ability allowed her to form a dark energy 'whip' by channeling energy into one area, and then willing the energy to stretch out. Bringing it down onto the ground, the whip slapped into the concrete ground, a blast of dark energy exploding outward from the impact area. Five of the cannibals were caught directly under the whip, crushed underneath it and flattened into the ground, the concrete cracking under the force. The rest of the cannibals were thrown aside, while the last couple left unaffected stumbled, trying to regain their footing. Still frowning and teeth clenched tightly, she raised her M-25 Hornet SMG and took aim. She had taken the weapon from a dead Cerberus assault trooper during the Cerberus attack on the Citadel, and had kept it ever since. Using her modified warp ammo, which was the usual ammunition mixed with dark energy, and tapped the trigger twice as she put both cannibals down, the area around their bodies crackling and warping from the dark energy-tipped rounds. They both collapsed, wreathing as the purple fire wracked their forms, disintegrating them slowly until they were little but ash.
But the horde was undeterred, and they just kept coming.
A berserker leapt at her, only to be knocked aside by a biotic throw, sending the creature shooting into a support pillar, the thud of its impact, followed by the crack of numerous bones breaking, signalled the creature's death, causing it to crash to the ground limp. Turning, she smiled as she saw Rodrigez lowering his hand, traces of the biotic ability still lingering from his fingertips.
They all watched as the minotaur stomped through the wall, loud and untempered. It roared with its warhorn-like voice, thanix cannon swaying with its enormous hulk as it moved from side to side to smash through the wall. Around it, legions upon legions of the cybernetic undead charged from every orifice, scrambling and falling over each other to get into the Firebase.
To her surprise, she watched a bright flash suddenly struck the side of the hulking walker, the minotaur swaying sideways with a moan from the impact, smoking as parts of its wiring and cybernetics were blown away. They all watched as a M35 Mako rolled into the vicinity, rolling on all six wheels, its machine gun tearing apart the dozens of husks, vampires and marauders infront of it, even running into a sirius, crushing it underneath the tank's hulk. Before the praetorian could descend upon it, the organic gunship was ripped to shreds by dozens of missiles, pieces of it flying in every direction as the explosions continued to wrack the air. An M34 Crocodile slowly rolled into the vicinity behind the lone Mako, the twin missile launchers attached to its central turret rotating to face the harvester, who was now turning to deal with the approaching Alliance vehicles. At least a dozen asari soldiers ran forwards, armed with an assortment of weapons from missile launchers to heavy rifles.
"I've sent reinforcements to plug that hole!" Porter shouted through the comms, "But that's all we have! Do not let them through, no matter what you do!"
Before she could respond, the harvester fired the twin-cannons in its mouth at the Mako, the dual blasts of the alternating heavy blasters rupturing the kinetic barriers of the Mako and piercing its armor. It continued to fire even as the Mako's turret fired at it with its machine gun. Eventually, the shots pierced the tank's armor, sparking a fire within the vehicle. One more shot and the Mako exploded in a massive fireball, the wreckage shooting up into the air, only to crash ontop of the Crocodile. The vehicle stopped in its tracks and before it could reverse, the minotaur fired its thanix cannon again, the shot landing directly ontop of the MBT, destroying it instantly.
The asari squad halted its approach, seeing their armoured support wiped out. A trio of praetorians descended upon them, while the minotaur began to limp forwards, seemingly ignoring the injury on its side.
"Negative on that, Colonel," Jack responded, motioning her students to start running again as the Reaper army's advance became unstoppable, now thoroughly and well within the firebase, "Your reinforcements can't hold them! They're swarming through the wall, hundreds of them! Possibly thousands!"
There was no response on the line as they ran to the back of the atrium, sprinting past crates upon crates of ammo stores, most of them opened up and half empty. Jack stopped only once to send a biotic shockwave flying into a group of cercopes on their tail, sending them flying back into a scion that had been following them, raising her SMG to shoot one of them. The chain reaction of explosions enveloped the scion, but she didn't remain behind to see if it was actually dead, continuing to run forward. Somehow, a husk had run ahead of her and had turned to leap at her, but she simply bashed it aside with her shoulder, firing a burst directly into its skull before continuing to run.
It wasn't long before they reached the remainder of the elcor civilians: there were still hundreds left, all of them terrified as they watched a horde of Reaper troops flood into the base. Jack looked at her students, seeing the look in their expressions: fear and melancholy. With the Reapers now firmly within the firebase's perimeter, they were able to outflank the defenders quite easily. One by one, sections of the wall fell to the attackers, Alliance, asari and Blue Suns mercs torn apart and killed mercilessly as they were overwhelmed. The asari squad, their supposed reinforcements, were slowly retreating while firing into the horde, but it wasn't long before a trio of brutes charged them, knocking them around like rag dolls.
Nick turned to her, scared but remaining strong, just as she had taught him, "We've got to defend this area! These civilians won't stand a chance if we don't hold them off! They can't run and there's nobody left to help!"
"We stay here, we die!" Prangley spat, doing so as he let out a trio of warps into the oncoming slaughterhouse, doing little to stem the tide. Jack supplemented this with a few shockwaves of her own before turning back to Nick, shaking her head.
"Prangley's right, there's no saving these civilians!" Jack stated, waving to them, "These are elcor! If we can't hold the wall, we certainly won't be able to protect them! I'm sorry to say it, but I don't see any other way, Nick!"
Hillary was quick to come to Nick's defense, "But these people...they're scared! Terrified! How many children are among them!? We can't just leave them to die! Not to them! Those husks will tear them apart! There has to be another way!"
Nick nodded, pointing to the civilians behind them, "We swore to protect and serve, ma'am! How can we do that by running away!?"
Jack stalked up to him, off-handedly swatting aside a husk with a biotic push. Her face landed inches from Nick's face. To his credit, he only seemed to wince for a split second before repositioning himself, glaring back at her, "And what would you have us do, Nick? Fight pointlessly for a few minutes, have all of us die, and then the civilians die anyway? You want to die a hero? Is that it?"
Nick shrugged aggressively, waving his hand dismissively, "We can at least try something! Standing here and arguing what solve anything!"
"On that much we agree," Prangley replied dryly, ducking as a shot from a cannibal whizzed past his head. Another student came to his aid, sending a flurry of warps into the husk, downing it within seconds, only for it to be replaced by ten more. And then, without warning...
"Shit!" Rodrigez exclaimed, her voice just managing to carry over the noise of the room, "Everybody, we've got trouble!"
Jack spun on the spot to see more than one harvester emerge. One harvester landed ahead of the other husks, quickly joined two more, then another six. Soon, their entire view of the former wall and the slaughter of the defenders was cut off by nine harvesters, all of them glaring directly at the group. Behind them, the minotaur from before was making its slow approach, dozens of praetorians joining their flanks, purple eyes beaming with fury. Among them, a massive shield of crackling orange energy projected itself around them, absorbing the stray warps her students had set their way. She wasn't able to see what was projecting it, but she'd remember that eery hum, no matter.
A chimera.
It was no use. The husks had finished the slaughter of the defenders and now turned their attention fully to Jack and her students. The elcor civilians behind them turned and began to 'run' as fast as possible, the slow beasts unable to move a meter without it taking several more seconds than necessary. Jack was quickly becoming more and more sure of the futility of this battle: there was nowhere left to run but south, towards Firebase Golf.
Perhaps they're doing better than we are...we hope...
"Right. That decides it," Jack declared, turning to her students, "We're retreating. Hopefully we can reach Firebase Golf and they're doing better than Whiskey is. We hold here and we're all dead, including the civilians!" she turned to her pupils, pointing at Hillary, "Hillary, you've got the best barriers out of your lot! Put up a barrier, and prepare for a fighting retreat to the-"
Nobody saw it coming. Nobody pointed it out. It just happened. Brilliant flashes, followed by the triumphant roars of their enemies. By the time her blurry vision cleared, she was lying with her cheek pressed against the dirty floor, a pair of hands yanking at her arm and dragging her across the ground. Looking, she could see indigo blood drenching the floor as dozens upon dozens of elcor corpses littered the ground, either shredded entirely or simply lying on the ground. Some survived the initial blasts, whatever they were, but were not long for the world: toppled over and unable to stand up. Moans could be heard, but went unanswered.
She tapped the arm pulling her to let them know she was alright and they let go, allowing her to stand up and dust herself off; her skin was covered in dried blood and soot, tainting her otherwise plain complexion. She saw it was Prangley who had dragged her away, her Hornet SMG in his grip, firing away at the enemy behind them. He tossed it back to her, turning back to take aim when she froze in place.
She saw now what the Reaper force had done. The harvesters, along with a frontline of berserkers and cyborgs, had unleashed a flurry of attacks directly aimed at the civilians. They had intended to miss her students: they wanted to cause maximum damage at extreme cost. She scowled at the true evil of the Reapers; how little they cared for innocent lives, demonstrating once more that they were little more than cold, ruthless machines hellbent on genocide, even if it meant slaughtering hundreds of innocent people.
All they see is hundreds of potential minotaurs they can pump out of their conversion facilities.
None of the civilians had survived. The few that had, were lying on their sides, with husks converging to finish them off. They couldn't be saved, and nothing could be done for them. Jack knew that. In her practical mind, she knew further fighting would be pointless and stupid. But the other side of her mind showed her an army of ruthless automatons, who used to be people, that needed to be destroyed in return for those they massacred.
Prangley tapped her shoulder, trying to get her attention, clearly worried as he watched his teacher's body begin to glow a brilliant blue. The color intensified, growing and growing, to the point where Jack looked like she was on liquid fire. The Reaper forces continued to approach, firing at them while Hillary desperately maintained a barrier to keep them back. The chimera led the advance, the berserkers behind her, carrying cercopes on their backs, while a line of brutes moved behind them, led by the rest of the army. They began to rush towards them, closing the gap...
"Ma'am, we need to leave!" Prangley shouted, "They're coming!" His voice grew more panicked, and she could see the other students, all of who had survived albeit with a few scrapes and burns, looked just as terrified as he did, knowing that a literal horde was breathing down their necks.
But she only saw red. Blood red, hatred coursing through her. It was a feeling she remembered, but one she had buried deep inside her ever since the attack on the Collector Base. A side of her she never wanted to come back, but needed.
Subject Zero's body was freezing cold as the biotics ravaged her body, and muttered a single word.
"No."
In a flash, her arms rose up, balls of bright light encasing her fists. She didn't raise a barrier. She didn't prepare a flare. None of that. Instead, liquid blue energy seemed to crawl up the walls and pillars and concrete floor, slowly wrapping itself around the structure of the atrium like a raging bushfire. Slipping and sliding, rushing up and shooting down, biotic energy encased the building as a bedspread wrapped around a mattress: tight and secure. Just as Jack needed it.
Unable to breathe any longer, every muscle tightened in her body as she let out a roar that echoed across the streets, swinging her arms downward in a violent thrust. Her students watched in shock and awe as the concrete and steel of the atrium cracked, buckled and groaned before snapping and exploding. From bottom down, the entire atrium collapsed upon itself, a shower of grey concrete and ruptured metal raining down like a hellstorm. The Reaper army never once halted its advance, ignoring the building's dissolution in return for reaching their target. Regardless, Jack continued to roar with anger as the remainder of the building finished its destruction, pieces of building and rubble crushing the army underneath. The chimera's shield did nothing to stop the rubble, which came down and crushed the entire army; chimera, husks, cannibals, marauders, praetorians, harvesters, scions, berserkers, archers...all of them were buried in the sheer mass of man-made materials, brought down on them by a vicious god.
Or in her case, a ruthless goddess.
A cascade of dust blew up in their faces from the expulsion of air due to the building's collapse, washing over them like a tidal wave. The students coughed and sputtered, while Jack lowered her arms, feeling the red recede from her vision as Subject Zero receded with it, Jack returning to the present as she lowered her biotics. When the dust began to settle, they could see the atrium of the building had completedly fallen in on itself, and no remnant of the Reaper army inside remained. Already, the sound of more ahead could be heard, but those that had flooded the base and murdered the defenders...all of them were now dead.
"Teach," came the hesitant voice of Nick. She turned towards her students, who looked at her with some hesitance. Nick continued, licking his lips, "What was that?"
She sighed, grabbing Nick's shoulder and squeezing it gently, "A hatred I've tried to keep buried for a while, Nick. That shit...it doesn't matter," she exhaled, motioning to a group of six parked M31 Whitecheek light tanks, the vehicles abandoned and now unmanned. She motioned to them, her arm feeling weak from having exerted so much force, "We need to get to Firebase Golf, see what the situation is. The Reaper forces here are dead, but there are thousands more out there. We have to help complete this evacuation...no matter how futile it may seem."
She pushed past Nick, rushing towards the nearest Whitecheek, listening as her students quickly followed behind her. No matter what happened at Firebase Whiskey, the evacuation effort was not a complete loss. She radioed ahead to let Porter know Whiskey had fallen and not to send any more evac shuttles there, and then got into the Whitecheek, driving down the street towards Golf with several more students in the back with her. The rest of her students followed, not far behind.
And so the war continued.
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July 31, 2186
1929 hours.
Lower Bar, Purgatory Club, Presidium, The Citadel.
The Reaper War.
Captain Marcus Lee Shepard, Military Advisor Garrus Vakarian, Shadow Broker Liara T'Soni, Chief Engineer Tali'Shepard vas Normandy, Major Kaidan Alenko.
He took another sip of his crown lager as he felt a gentle set of three fingers tap his shoulder. Escorting the glass back down to the tabletop, he turned to the person who wanted his attention so badly.
He smiled warmly at Tali, the quarian raising an eyebrow at him. Her voice, despite being just a bare whisper, was audible enough to be heard over the constant, vibrant beat of the club's music booming across the premises, "How many of those have you had exactly?"
His smile did not lessen, and he turned back to the glass infront of him as he swirled the liquid in the glass around. Despite all the new alcohols the galaxy had introduced to humanity, Marcus still found himself sharing a special attachment to a good old crown lager, which had stood the test of time ever since its introduction in 1919. The drink had been a favourite of his father, or so his mum had told him, and his curiosity to try it out eventually lead to him loving it. Sure, he was no huge fan of alcohol, but when it came to crown lager, there was no other he'd rather have. Nothing like a good 'ol beer.
He turned back to his wife, shrugging, "Just five. This is my sixth. Remember, my cybernetis filter out a lot of the alcohol: it makes me twice the amount to get drunk as it would for most people."
Tali rolled her eyes, turning back to her own glass of quarian wine, her 'emergency induction port' lying in the glass, of which was half full of sterilized wine. Quarian wine had been introduced during the days of the Greater Quarian Republic, and had remained in circulation around the galaxy well after the quarians themselves stopped making it. Now turians and batarians made large quantities of it, the low alcohol content being appealing to many members of the dextro races, "That's the story you always tell me. That's still a lot of drinks."
"I wouldn't tell it so much if it weren't true," Marcus argued, turning back to his own and taking another sip. The bitter taste of it mixed with the liquid warmth of the drink was what gave it its kick: it wasn't the best tasting thing ever, but for some reason it still appealed to him, "Besides, I have no intention of getting drunk. We might be here for a bit, but we could be redeployed at any moment. Most of the galaxy has joined the UGC now, so it's not like we've got any special assignments. It looks like we might just be deployed like the regulars."
"I reckon we should be looking for this catalyst," piped Kaidan, Marcus turning to the marine. He sat on the opposite side of their small table, dressed in nothing but his standard Alliance marine uniform, hair as well groomed and cut as it always was, a slight frown on his features, "It's almost like the rest of the UGC has forgotten that we need whatever the hell the catalyst is to finish the Crucible. Without it, we might be shooting the blind."
Garrus, who sat next to the career soldier, shook his head, his untouched glass right infront of him, still full of turian brandy, "That's the thing, Kaidan. We have no idea what the catalyst is or what it does or why the Crucible needs it. It could just as well be the flashlight or an entertainment system. Or, knowing the protheans, it was probably just dominance porn."
"Well, I'm suddenly not very thirsty," Liara declared, pushing away her own glass of purple Thessian wine, the asari's features expressing distaste at the turian's wording, "Thank you, Garrus."
"No problem," the turian winked, laughing out loud as the asari chuckled herself, slapping him on the arm, Garrus pretending to be in pain as he rubbed the 'sore' area.
Kaidan shrugged nonetheless, taking another chip and plucking it into his mouth, chewing soundly as he responded, "Regardless, I would have thought an investigation would be in hand. We should at least try and find it. There's simply too many warnings written on the wall to ignore. It'd be foolish to take this anything less than seriously."
He nodded to the sentinel's point, finishing off his glass with a final gulp, deciding to leave it at that in terms of alcohol, reaching over to grab himself a chip, the group having bought two bowls of it to share around: one dextro and one levo, "I completely agree, Kaidan. I'm just saying we should be ready for the possibility of redeployment. We are technically a task force, after all. That makes us a military asset."
"Just as long as they don't try to seperate us," Tali adamantly added, having removed the straw from her mask's auditory port after having a sip of her drink to speak, "We're a team, and that means we stick together. I'm here to follow you, Mark, not some random commander I don't know. We've been together since the beginning, and its my belief it should stay that way. It makes no sense to seperate us, anyway. We've always gotten the job done."
Kaidan laughed, "Yeah, should the UGC get any ideas, point them to our track record. Saren. The Collectors. The Shadow Broker. Curing the genophage. Saving the Citadel twice. Liberating Rannoch. Peace between the quarians and the geth," he motioned to Liara, "Hell, it was Liara who found out about the Crucible to begin with. All the shit we've done together, reassigning us to different areas would be idiotic. They should know we work well as one, not divided. We're pretty much their best field unit."
"A psychotic N7 operative, shotgun-totting engineer, the Shadow Broker, a sentinel and a handsome sharpshooter who beat said psychotic N7 operative in a sniping contest, along with the rest of our team?" Garrus replied dryly, mandibles moving into a smirk, "Oh, we can't be bested. If they send us somewhere, then we can't possibly settle for anything less than suicidal. Maybe they'll make us fight Harbinger in hand-to-hand next, or maybe unleash Shepard's dancing upon them."
Kaidan guffawed, slamming a hand down on the table in his amusement, "That'd be a sight! A punishment worse than death!"
"You guys are awful," Liara added, looking sad as she looked at Marcus. That sad look transformed into a grin, "His dancing is mediocre, but servicable. Hardly a superweapon."
"Shepard must be the catalyst," Garrus continued, leaning back in his seat, looking thoroughly pleased with himself, not to mention overly smug, "The secret component for the Crucible has been found."
He looked at the turian, thoroughly unimpressed, but just managed to hold back a grin himself, "I've yet to see you dance, Vakarian. No Shepard without Vakarian, remember?"
"Well, I have dignity, that's why," the turian replied casually, "I know my dancing is bad and keep it to myself. You have no shame, Marcus."
"You have about as much dignity as a vorcha stripper, Vakarian," Marcus snapped back, raising an eyebrow in anticipation of what the turian would say.
The turian's mandibles widened in disgust, eyes narrowing, "Ewww...why did you have to put that image in my head? That's a horrid picture."
"Half the point, Garrus," he replied with a smirk, "The other half was the truth. You truly have no dignity."
"Then I guess we're one and even," Garrus gave up, holding his hands up in mock defeat with a clear shrug, "No Shepard without Vakarian."
He held up his glass, smirk turning into a simple smile, "So...let's drink to that. No dignity. No shame. A human and a turian, nothing but weapons, dancing without shame, killing without dignity."
The turian sighed as he picked up his own glass, tapping it against Marcus' own with a clang, "That's certainly worth a drink...I guess?" Leaving no time to further question it, he swigs the alcohol, scowling as he skulked most of it in one gulp. Marcus did the same with the rest of his beer, tapping it down as he clapped his lips with an irritated frown, the bitterness overwhelming his tastebuds. Oh...God...Crown Lager is awful when you skulk it...
"While we're on the topic of toasts," Kaidan suddenly spoke up, suddenly looking pensive as he raised his own glass. Kaidan looked up between them, Marcus and Garrus, along with Liara and Tali, looking towards the human with raised eyebrows, intrigued by what exactly the marine was proposing.
"I'd like to propose a toast to the fallen," Kaidan stated, looking blankly at his glass, before turning towards Marcus, "Specifically, a loss we suffered on Virmire. One of our own."
Realizing who he spoke of, the group fell silent, nodding without word. Ashley Williams, a tough and seemingly incorruptible marine pushing herself forward with a stubborn sense of duty, an eccentric sense of humour and a particular set of skills, was no longer with them and hadn't been for three years. She gave her life on Virmire to destroy Saren's base, staying behind to make sure the bomb went off. Back then, she had just reconciled with Garrus after a misunderstanding, and strenghtened her sisterhood with Tali. Her loss was the crew's loss. Her death drove them to victory, and she remains a martyr to their cause. Ashley Williams symbolized what they fought for, as well as their main reason to keep fighting. Of the original six, she was the only one, aside from Wrex, not presently at this table.
I wish we could have reconciled before you died, Ash. You were a fine marine. An invaluable soldier.
He smiled, holding up his hand for a refill. The bartender noticed him, emerging from the bar with a bottle of Crown Lager. He turned back to the group, holding up his presently still-empty glass, "She would have loved this fight. She would have been in her element."
Liara chuckled as Marcus' glass was steadily refiled, "I remember her first reaction to me coming aboard. She didn't trust me, and I understood why. She hated me, I could tell. But I could see her warming up to me towards the end. I don't know whether to thank you for that or whether I should be thanking her for her flexibility. She was...different from the rest. Most humans I've met have a set disposition. They're either racist or kind: they don't usually change. Ash changed. I wouldn't call her racist or hateful...she was distrustful. But I think she realized I wasn't a threat and we developed something...like friendship. Nothing like what she had with Tali...but it was a friendship. I think I speak for the rest of us when I say I miss her dearly."
"I guess I could have loved her, if I was given more time," Kaidan sighed, lowering his glass slightly and looking aimlessly at it, "Yet again, I might never have found Rahna. Perhaps Ash and I could have been something more...I guess I'll never find out, but for what it's worth, I cared for her. She was a badass soldier with a strong-willed mindset. The brass shat all over her, but her first instinct wasn't to take a bath: it was to take that shit and fling it back. The brass tried to demoralize her and make her want to quit, but she didn't. And now she's their reluctant war hero. She gave her life for the galaxy, even though said galaxy had tried to forget her. I don't think I've met a marine more determined to be a soldier before her. I don't think I'll ever see the likes of her again. She was more than a friend to me; she was the lover that could have been, but never was. But I'm going to remember her for the ass she kicked, and the promotion she should have earned six times over."
Garrus spoke next, straightening himself, "I...don't know what to say about her. I'll come out and say I never really liked her to begin with. I thought she was arrogant, hateful...she never trusted me with anything. Constantly questioned everything I did, and I think she even talked to Pressly behind my back. I remember one argument in the cargo bay where I 'called her out on her bullshit', and she scrambled to justify herself. I learnt about her grandfather having been the one who surrendered the Shanxi garrison in the First Contact War. How her family was blacklisted throughout the entire military. If the name 'Williams' so much as sprouted up in a database, the brass would make sure they would never rank high enough to command a squad, let alone themselves. Reminded me an awful lot of the turian military," he chuckled, shaking his head, "I told her about a similar situation we had in the Hierarchy. Exact same war, actually. Raeli Septimus was the Didact of the Navy and the commander of the Shanxi occupation. He...was the one defeated at the Liberation of Shanxi. Afterwards, the turians quietly dismissed him and replaced him with Coronati. Septimus said he respected General Williams; that he admired human tenacity in totality, in fact."
Marcus nodded, eager to know what Ashley had said to that. I don't remember her ever bringing that up "So what did she say?"
Garrus shrugged, mandibles remaining still for a moment, "She didn't say anything. She just...nodded. I didn't even know if what I'd said had an impact until she came and apologized to me. It was right after the mission at Peak 15, actually. I think a combination of what I'd said, Tali's predicament fighting the geth and Liara losing her mother struck a cord with her. She told me how ignorant she'd been, and that ever since her father got fed up with his lack of progress in the military, she'd had a bitter hatred for aliens. She told me...she said her father didn't like it. Constantly told her that aliens weren't to blame for her grandfather's failure, but rather the Alliance brass for treating him like a war criminal when he should have been regarded as a war hero. Any man who puts victory over an enemy after the lives of his men is worthy of respect. General Williams surrendered not of cowardice, but out of concern of his men, who he didn't want to die pointlessly. He made a wise tactical decision. I think Ash only realized that after I told her about Septimus. I told her that...perhaps my people had a share of the blame."
Liara looked surprised by that, "Truly?"
"Of course we did," he scoffed, looking at the asari incredulously, "The humans had no idea we'd locked that relay off for a reason. We should have scolded them, not declared war. We tried justify it with Council intergalactic law, but the humans didn't even know we existed, let alone what our laws prohibited. We acted recklessly. I guess it's just as well you humans soon forgot about us and started focusing on your more immediate neighbours."
Marcus rolled his eyes, aware of what the turian meant. Fucking batarians.
Garrus finally brought his recollection to a resolution, exhaling heavily with some sadness, "I don't know what to call what we had after that conversation. Mutual respect? I know we had somekind of an understanding. No more arguments, for starters. Whenever she spotted me doing something or performing maintenance on the Mako, her suggestions were far and few, and when she did give them, they weren't aggressive or overbearing. I didn't tease her anymore or insult her. We didn't exchange punches over lunch break; verbal or physical. In the end, on Virmire, she even shared her concerns of the mission with me. With me. Can you imagine that? I think I was her most hated alien on the ship before then, and on Virmire, she was exchanging thoughts with me...like she was comfortable with it. I think only then did I respect her. I made sure to tell my father about her sacrifice on Virmire. I think...I think he was impressed."
The turian gripped his glass uneasily, Marcus noticing his breathing had become uneasy. Finally, he held up his glass and if turians could shed tears, Marcus was sure he would have saw one dripping down his cheek, "I don't care what you humans believe in terms of an afterlife. Wherever she ascended to, may the Spirits provide her plenty of food and drink. She's earned this turian's respect."
The group turned to Tali, who was still looking at the table, tapping her fingers idly on the top as she thought of something to say. They quietly waited, understanding the need for thought. A few moments passed, the quarian's eyes looking across the tabletop as she likely went through a myriad of thoughts. Finally, she looked up, looking settled, hands clasped ontop of the table, around her glass, looking up at them.
"Ash was...special. We had a sort of sisterhood, much like what me and Kasumi have now, but far less girly and more...militaristic. Our sisterhood was forged through battle. Like the rest of you, she didn't like me at first. Having the ideology she followed, she was inevitably going to fall victim to quarian stereotypes about thievery. Apparently I was a threat to security...an unacceptable flight risk. She didn't like the idea of me having Mark's back at any point, and she often used me as a punching bag for her grievances for the geth," she frowned, shifting in her seat, "Then, one day, that suddenly stopped. I can't explain why because she never explained what changed her mind. But one day, Pressly was asking what I was on my omni-tool for, and she told him to back off. And before I knew it...she was telling me about how one of her sisters, Sarah, beat up her high school boyfriend for being too pushy. I never asked why...I was just grateful she wasn't treating me like a criminal anymore. Once I got to know her...I didn't even want to remember that she once accused me of being the reason Eden Prime was attacked and her squad died."
Kaidan smiled, but remained silent. They all did, just listening. Soon, Tali continued, seeming much happier in her recollection, "There wasn't a single hiccup since then. She even reinforced some of Mark's hand-to-hand training that he was teaching me at the time with some of her own methods, some of which I still use. I learnt the 'throat jab' from her."
Marcus smirked, "I was wondering about that. Thought you'd learnt it from another source. Now I know."
"It's extremely effective," Tali giggled, turning back to continue, "She even spectated me and Wrex when he was teaching me some shotgun tricks. And, in return, I showed her some hacking techniques, but I think she forgot most of them as quickly as I taught her!" she laughed again, shaking her head as she fumbled at her glass with a single finger, "Ash was...special. Like I said, she was the first person I'd met that went from hating me to considering me a sister...and I in return. I've lost count of the amount of times she saved me in combat, whether it be taking out a geth trying to flank me, giving me extra support while I hacked something or was there for me when Mark was unable to. She...she was even the first person I told when it became to my feelings for Mark."
He turned to the quarian, eyebrow raised, the quarian immediately noticing his look and nodding. He exhaled deeply, surprised by the revelation, "Well, I had no idea Ash knew."
"I told her to keep it a secret," Tali elaborated, "I told her I wasn't sure whether I should act on it, but Ashley was insistent I did so. I thought she would have objected, but she told me my observations were wrong and that she had no interest in you, only in Kaidan. She even told me that if Mark broke my heart, she would kick 'the skipper's ass myself and then recite poetry to his bullet-ridden corpse.'"
Liara laughed, the asari rubbing her eyes of the water forming in them, "That sounds like something the Gunnery Chief would say."
"Glad I didn't break your heart then," Marcus declared, grinning himself at the memory. Ashley would definitely give me a hard time in terms of a fight, I'm sure. She was N7 material.
"As am I," the quarian responded with a reminiscent tone, gently picking up her glass. She turned to Marcus, smiling behind her mask, "What about you, Mark? Any fond memories of Ash you'd like to share?"
He nodded slowly, before opening his mouth to speak, having recollected something dear to his memory, "There is one. Ash and I...we were celebrating Armistice Day one time on the ship."
Kaidan frowned at that, "Armistice Day is on the 29th of December. We fought Saren in June through to July."
"We knew that," Marcus replied, smirking, "Ash was adamant about waiting till the 29th to celebrate it with the rest of the Alliance. Me? I celebrate it whenever I can and for different reasons. Largely because I personally believe Armistice Day is what brought humanity out of our centralized scope to help us acknowledge a much larger world than our own. I think that's special, and if I choose to do that more than just the 29th of every year than so be it. I think Ash realized that, and she joined me. We shared some drinks, swapped some stories. After all, we both had family who involved in the First Contact War. My father, her grandfather. We just...talked. We talked about religion and the idea of a greater being: me being Jewish and her being Christian certainly made for interesting conversation. Then there was all the fuss with her sisters talking to me over comm link...that was embarassing. For Ash, mostly."
"Ha! I remember hearing about that!" Kaidan chortled, coughing from inhaling his drink too quickly from his amusement, "Only time Johnson wouldn't do his job. He was too busy laughing. Pressly gave him an earful for that stunt, but Johnson said it was worth it. From what I heard, Sarah thought you were hot, and spent the entire time trying to convince Ash to 'make a move.' Lynn and Abby weren't any help either."
Marcus nodded, "Yeah, that was pretty much it. Sarah took a while, but she got the hint. A matter of fact, I think she started jabbing at Kaidan next. Ashley looked about ready to punch a wall. Even asked me afterwards why she 'needs a man' and that she'd 'kick down sixteen walls if it got Sarah to shut up about it.' I just told her that any man lucky enough to get her attention better not piss her off. She...laughed it off. And boy was she a fan of poetry, too."
"I found her whispering one under her breath at one point," Kaidan admitted, "Walt Whitman, she told me."
The N7 nodded in acknowledgement, turning back to the table, "I think what we all are getting at is that Ash was truly charismatic. She was a treasture trove of personality. She could take out a geth from six hundred yards away and then recite to you poetry while in the mess. She was stubborn, but intelligent. Blunt, but in a good way. She was flexible, as was the case with her dislike of you guys changing into varying forms of friendship. Duty was her Bible, as much as the Bible was her duty. She was strong and courageous, but beautiful and easy to talk to. I don't think Ash is a kind of marine we'll ever see again, and it's a shame she never lived to see herself promoted to Lieutenant Commander."
"She was?" Tali asked. Marcus turned to her with a sad expression and the quarian sighed, nodding back at him, "Posthumously. I see."
"Quid pro quo," he replied, sighing a little himself, "A favor for a favor. We'd saved the Citadel and Ashley had given her life to save the galaxy, so I asked Hackett to give her a promotion to the rank she would be at today if she hadn't been a Williams. As it was, Hackett had the Marine Corps promote her to Lieutenant Commander," he smirked, "My old rank."
"What did her family say?" Liara asked, curious.
Kaidan spoke in for him, "I visited them myself sometime after Shepard's first death, before reassignment. Lynn, Sarah and Abby were devastated, but were proud of their sister. The mother said her father would have been proud of what she had done. As for her grandfather...he passed away shortly before the Battle of the Citadel. But he heard about Ashley's sacrifice...she said that he was annoyed she didn't get the rank she deserved but was happy she had returned honor and integrity to the Williams name."
Marcus raised his glass in the air, completing the toast, "To Ashley Madeline Williams, may her sacrifice remain a testament to the willpower and fighting spirit of this squad, and all it has accomplished and plans to accomplish. May her spirit fight alongside us and push us towards victory. She may not be here to fight the Reapers, but knowing that she'd want to is all we need," he smiled warmly, letting his pride fill him, "To Ashley, For Ashley, Without Ashley."
The rest of them responded in kind, tapping their glasses with his before taking drinks from their own, falling deathly silent: a moment of silence for the fallen marine.
Three years later, and we're still recovering from her loss. Damn it...
A shadow fell upon their table, blocking out the pulsing lights of the club and seemingly absorbing the shadows of the dancing asari on the main floor. Troubled by this, Marcus looked up to see a medium-sized krogan, dressed in a tight-fitting blue shirt and equally coloured pants, lime green eyes focused on him, his form imposing if it had not been for Marcus having a krogan friend who was far taller and more intimidating.
He met the krogan's look, who the rest of the squad were looking at now, "Can we help you? Are you one of Wrex's men?"
The krogan shook his head, "I do not serve Chieftain Wrex. While I disagree with his methods, his overall goal is admirable. But that is not why I'm here. I've been sent to summon you, Captain Shepard. Please follow me."
He shook his head, placing his glass down on the table and lazily sliding it away, "Nobody summons me, sir. Who wishes an audience with me?"
"Aria T'Loak," the krogan grumbled, jabbing a thumb to the doorway, "She wishes to speak with you. Come."
He widened his eyes at that. Aria wants to talk with me? I thought I'd gotten what she wanted. I got her the Blue Suns, Eclipse and Blood Pack in turn for all of them fighting for the UGC. She's got everything she wanted, perhaps except...
No. She wouldn't need me for that.
Or maybe she does. Surely she's heard of your exploits against Cerberus. And she would need someone like that if retaking Omega is still on her mind.
He stood up, motioning for the others to stay behind and enjoy their drinks, signalling he would be back soon. Tali was adamant though, standing up to follow him when the krogan held up a hand at her, "She wishes to speak with Shepard privately. Your crew will have to remain here...including your wife."
He sighed, turning back to Tali with a pleading look. She gave in after a minute, sitting back down reluctantly. He smiled at her, before wiping it from his face as he followed the large krogan out of the club, Marcus feeling anxious enough to escape the club's pounding, ad nauseum beats. Lights flashed in his eyes, while people all around the club shouted to get themselves heard. A trio of asari huntresses, identified by their black and blue armor, stood by with omni-tools out, looking to be sharing information with one another. He ignored them all as they left the club, door shutting behind them and shutting out the loud beats almost immediately, a distant thrumming all that could be heard over the new sound of skycars whizzing by in the traffic, nothing but the Presidium as far as the eye could see.
The krogan walked him over to the side of a fence, where he braced himself against the railing. Marcus frowned at that as, when he arrived at the railing, there was nothing but a fifty storey drop and a few alien-like birds flying around, including an advertisement for the latest omni-tool on a wall nearby, flashing in bright orange, eye-catching color.
Before he could open his mouth to speak however, the krogan had leaned back, a gust of wind blowing in Marcus' face as a skycar had quickly ascended from below directly into their view, the back car door opening with a loud click of the lock releasing, revealing the occupant in the back, legs crossed in tight black leather, a white jacket wrapped around their torso but unzipped, arm drapped along the side of the back seat casually, her tattooed face turning to Marcus with her usual, harsh and aggressive, but simultaneously humoured and casual, demeanour, "Get in, Shepard."
Marcus didn't fail to notice the batarian in the driver's seat; likely one of her lackeys or bodyguards. The krogan stepped into the car, Aria standing up to allow him to sit on the other side. Marcus, hesitating for a moment, exhaled with exclamation as he climbed up into the hovering skycar and took a seat, door automatically closing behind him.
"Bray, take us into the traffic, make us look casual. Blend in," Aria ordered, and the batarian he now knew was Bray simply nodded without a word, the skycar shooting away from Purgatory towards the fledging traffic ahead.
Turning to him, Aria scowled; not an aggressive one, but one she seemed to naturally possess when talking to anyone, even one of her own men, "You've already met my krogan lieutenant, Nakmor Dreg, Shepard."
He scoffed, "Yeah, he was a real house warmer. Do you usually summon people with vague explanations and arrogant supposition?"
Aria simply leered, leaning back into the car as it entered the Presidium traffic lanes, "Don't tell me Dreg hurt your feelings, Shepard. I knew you were an idealist, but not a sook. So what if I summoned you? You came anyway, so it doesn't really matter, does it?"
Marcus shifted in the leather seating of the expensive car, looking back at the former Ruler of Omega, "I was curious. Do warn me if the curiosity is about to kill the cat, because I need to know if there's enough satisfaction to bring it back a second time."
"Humans and your overly idiosyncratic idioms," Aria rolled her eyes, "Fine, I got you here, so I might as well get straight to it. Dreg, the datapad if you please."
The krogan handed her a datapad, which Aria quickly flicked through with a deft finger before handing over to Marcus, "As you've probably figured out already, I brought you here to talk about my plan to retake Omega."
He nodded as he took the datapad, looking through its contents, which was largely information about how many troops she had, the station's layout and her primary plan of attack. So she really did 'summon' me to talk about her assault on Omega. I wonder what she has planned.
Before he could speak, Aria continued, shifting in her position as she spoke, "But, this conversation isn't without its benefits to you. My war to retake Omega is your war too, Shepard. Don't think for a second it isn't. As long as Cerberus continues to hold my station, they've got a crucial operating base for their military. They can refuel ships, resupply their troops, recruit from the population and launch attacks from a comfortable position without having to return to a station five clusters away...and most importantly of all, they can control the Terminus Systems with impunity. You know this, the UGC knows this and I know this. So my war is your war."
"You won't get any argument from me," Marcus summarily replied, looking up from the datapad to regard her, "Omega has been a pain in the UGC's ass for the past two months this war has been going on. None of our victories against Cerberus have meant much of anything because of it. We liberated Eden Prime, but they'll still have Omega. They lost Noveria, but they still hold bloody Omega. Their siege on the Citadel failed, but they can at least try again, knowing they still have Omega. Retaking Omega however...that would put Cerberus in a very compromising position...may even cripple their ability to wage war, at least temporarily."
"So we're thinking on the same page. Good," Aria declared, "So then you'll be happy that I've finalized a plan to kick them off my fucking station. The Illusive Man is still squarely at the top of my shit list," she smiled, turning to Marcus, "This is the part where I ask for your help. I've amassed quite the army; mercenaries mostly, but I've also managed to acquire former military contractors and freelancers looking for a score. I've got a large fleet of ships, ranging from modified freighters to even a hijacked Cerberus cruiser," seeing his raised eyebrow, she merely grinned wickedly, "Do not ask how I came by such a prize. What matters is that I have an army, a fleet and a fuckton of muscle, but what I lack is brains and tactical knowhow. My admiral, Jarral, is a moron bordering on mentally incompetent, requiring somebody to hold her hand. You...I've seen the reports. You know how to fight, how to command and how to inspire those under your leadership to follow. Admittedly, they are qualities I largely lack," Aria turned to him again, looking like she was about to choke on the next few words, but managed to say them regardless, "You also have experience fighting Cerberus. The Liberation of Eden Prime. The Battle of Noveria. The Siege on the Citadel. Each time, you've learnt their tactics and strategies. Nobody else in my forces has that kind of knowledge. I'm asking you to help me retake Omega, Shepard."
He nodded, absorbing all the information he had just been bombarded with. Turning back to her, he sighed, giving a final nod, "So what exactly are we looking at in terms of enemy force deployment? What have they got?"
Aria motioned to the datapad in his hand, "You'll find all the intel I've collected on there. Including the leader of the occupation himself."
He read through the datapad as prompted, quickly finding the intel she was referring to. He had to whistle at the figures he was looking at. Forty thousand troops garrisoned on Omega? That's forty thousand well-equipped, well-trained, properly armed and technologically superior cybernetically augmented supersoldiers, likely in entrenched positions of which they are now comfortable with after six months of getting to know the terrain. Not to mention they have Atlas mechs in support, and some kind of new LOKI mech variant called a Rampart, which looks dangerous by itself.
He continued looking through, getting to their naval composition. The entire Cerberus First Fleet, spearheaded by the flagship, CAW Elbrus. That's going to be a tough nut to crack. Like the ground troops, they've likely dug in and become accustomed to the terrain.
He looked back at her, shaking his head, "They've got an entire fleet and quite the army on the ground. Aria, you brought me here on my expertise regarding Cerberus. I'll tell you this: no matter what you've brought with you, none of it will be enough to win this war you're planning. They've got technology on their side, powerful warships and almost limitless supply lines. Their troops are too well trained and equipped for your mercs to handle, and with an array of mech support at their disposal, they'd be able to box your mercs in and wipe them out without losing more than a hundred men."
Aria smiled, "This is Omega. The odds don't scare me, that's why I brought you. But any man can battle an army and defeat a fleet. It's the man in charge you should be worried about," she reached over to the datapad and scrolled down, revealing a mugshot of a heavily-bearded, stocky looking man in a white Cerberus officer's uniform, "Meet General Oleg Petrovsky, supreme commander of the Cerberus military, admiral of First Fleet and commander of the Omega occupation. He was responsible for kicking me off the station, and now he holds the position that is rightfully mine."
Marcus nodded to her words as he slowly read through Petrovsky's dossier, finding himself impressed by the man's service record. Former Field Marshall in the Russian Federation. Fought during the First Contact War as a Colonel in the Alliance. Was a pro-humanist, but not a xenophobe. Regarded as a brilliant military strategist: has the added quirk of using a chessboard as his own virtual, tactical battlefield. Had a family, but is currently divorced. Left the Alliance and disappeared into obscurity...
...only to reappear as the Supreme Commander of the Cerberus military and at the spearhead of an occupation force.
Marcus had to admit that Petrovsky had quite the record, which worried him. The man was quite a fan of Sun Tzu, and given he's a brilliant tactician, that means he's not like any other general I've fought before. He's no Balak and he's no Harbinger. Balak was driven by rage and couldn't comprehend tactics and strategy to save his life. Harbinger simply rushes you, knowing he's got superior technology and will win. Petrovsky doesn't have the luxury of the latter, but with a quick-thinking mind, he can be a deadly opponent.
He turned to Aria, lowering the datapad ever so slightly to look at her, "The Illusive Man must really want Omega if he's got his best general in charge of that garrison, Aria. Which just furthers my point...your meagre little armada, no matter how big it is, is woefully underprepared. You're no match for him, Aria. If he defeated you once, he can easily do it again, and the first time you were far better equipped. How many people in this armada can you say, with absolute certainty, are loyal to you, aside from your usual retinue?"
"I've tried to tell her that myself," Dreg spoke up, arms crossed, "She doesn't listen. Omega is all she hears and all she wants to hear."
Aria scowled at the krogan, before turning to Marcus with a simple smile, "All brilliance has its weakness, Shepard. Petrovsky's is that he has a soft spot for civilians. He's...not what you expect from Cerberus."
Marcus frowned at that, "Soft spot for civilians? How so?"
"He absolutely refused to harm non-combatants," Aria declared, "He even killed his own second-in-command to prevent such a thing from happening. Only time he directly threatened innocent lives was when he was calling my bluff. Said he'd have his ships destroy the station if I didn't surrender and leave. Unfortunately, I didn't have the luxury of calling his own. I couldn't risk my station. But somehow, even today, I wonder if he could have pulled the metaphorical trigger. His soft spot is something we can easily exploit."
Marcus was finding himself more and more impressed each time. This Petrovsky seems like an honourable man. He's brilliant, but isn't willing to put innocent lives at risk. A pity he's with Cerberus. We could have used brains like him.
"If your plan is too weaponize the population, you can forget it Aria," Marcus firmly declared, handing her back the datapad, "If that's your plan, let me out at the next stop. I don't care how important Omega is; we will not be taking it at the cost of innocent lives."
The asari merely chuckled, shaking her head, "You can be so naive, Shepard, but I see your point. I have no intention of weaponizing the people, be sure of that. No point in retaking Omega if most of the people in it are dead or hate me more than they usually do. Might as well be ruling over a loaded gun," she shook her head, turning to him, "No, I am simply letting you know what we're up against. A strategist needs to know their enemy, and I've given you the intel. You know Petrovsky and what he's capable of, and you also know he has a fuckton of troops at his disposal, an almost endless supply of resources and a big fucking fleet surrounded by asteroids for cover. I can tell you the rest of my plan during my debriefing tomorrow, but I need to know now: are you in or out? Or do I need to find a new man for the job?"
He thought over it for a moment. He knew their odds of success were minimal with what they had. An army of mercs and a ragtag band of ships against a properly prepared fleet of warships and entrenched soldiers was hilariously unfair, even Aria had to know that. Even with Shepard and his squad helping her, the odds of success were so low as to defy possibility. But he knew they had to do it. Omega had to be snatched out of the Illusive Man's hands. And the result of a victory was too tantalizing to resist.
If they had victory, the following would happen: Omega would fall into UGC hands, giving them a plentiful supply of element zero fuel for their ships, as well as snatching away Cerberus' choke hold on the Terminus systems and allow the UGC more mobility while taking it away from Cerberus. Capturing or killing Petrovsky would deprive the Illusive Man of his most capable general, as well as the commander of his entire military. He would lose forty thousand troops and an entire fleet, which for Cerberus, would be unacceptable losses. Cerberus would effectively lose their military advantage not just over the Alliance, but over the entire galaxy.
In the end, the idea of victory influenced his decision, and he nodded at Aria, "I'll help. I'll inform my crew."
"Do what you need to do," Aria turned back forward but before she could give the order for the skycar to turn around, she held up a hand, having reached an epiphany. Lowering her arm, she spoke without looking at him, "I...also have...objections to some of the company you keep. Your...squad. So...you'll have to leave your ship and your squad behind."
He laughed, causing Aria to look at him with a raised eyebrow. He looked back at her and laughed again, causing her to deepen her scowl, wishing to know what part of her wording had been humorous to the human, "I fail to see what was amusing about my statement, Shepard."
Reeling in his amusement, he shook his head, still smiling as he spoke, "My squad are some of the best specialists and soldiers in the entire galaxy. We stopped Saren together, wiped out the Collectors together, took down the Shadow Broker together. And now, we're fighting this war together. Do you honestly expect me to just say goodbye and fuck off alone to help you retake Omega?"
Aria rolled her eyes, leaning back, "Let's just say...I want you all to myself."
He chuckled, shaking his head, "No can do, Aria. My squad is coming, as is the Normandy."
She snapped her head to face him, expression contorting into anger as she pointed at him, "Careful now, Shepard. Do not get comfortable. This is my war, not yours. You will do as I wish if you want that element zero. You have nothing to bar-"
"That's where I'll stop you, Aria," he held up a hand, halting her words as he spoke again, "You see, you don't have shit over me. Way I see it, you desperately need Omega. I saw it the first time I saw you in Purgatory. You looked furious, but defeated. I saw the hatred, but the desperation as well, in your eyes as you spewed insults at the Illusive Man for taking Omega. You want the station so bad you're willing to do anything to get it. That's why you need me," she opened her mouth to speak, but he just kept talking, ignoring her, "Remember what you said just before? Your war is my war. Yes, the UGC needs Omega and needs its element zero. But you know what? What are you going to do to stop us from taking it, Aria? These aren't your glory days, and you're not Petrovsky. If you took Omega and refused to give us the eezo, I could very easily just send a UGC fleet to take it from you. We're more than capable of doing so, and you'd be helpless to stop us. So don't tell me you hold all the cards. You don't."
Aria had closed her mouth, clearly taken aback by his words. His smile disappeared, expression serious as he continued, ideas pouring into his head, "Now, I'll say it now, because noone here has: if you try to take Omega with what you have and you will lose. Even with me, you will lose. Petrovsky is smarter than you and has had months to learn the station just as well as you know it. He knows all the chokepoints, ambush areas and has likely rallied the population to his side, especially if he's as honourable as you say he is. If you want to win this war, you're going to do this my way, and that means letting me bring my squad of professionals and letting me bring the Normandy. And that's only step one."
He stopped for a moment, gauging Aria's response. She looked at him, wondering what he had in mind, "And what exactly is step two, Shepard? I'm listening."
He smiled, "Oh, you know, I just so happen to have quite a few alliances during my time in this war. The UGC is more powerful than its ever been. And with the quarians and geth now added to the mix, we can effectively wage entire campaigns. Now, what if I told you I could pass word of this down the UGC command chain and perhaps 'acquire' a proper army to take this station?"
She frowned at him, "The UGC would never agree to help me."
"You're right. They wouldn't," Marcus replied immediately, "But they wouldn't be. They'd be taking a key strategic location in the Terminus Systems from the hands of the enemy, facilitating a liberation, boosting the morale of the troops in the process as well as crippling their enemy in the process. They've got every reason to want Omega out of Cerberus hands as much as you do. Point is, are you willing to put your pride aside to allow them to help, or are you going to try and take Omega yourself, and inevitably lose? And make no mistake: with Petrovsky at the helm, you don't stand a chance. He'll have your forces wiped out before they even get to see the interior of your station."
It took a few moments for Aria to think through that. Those moments felt like hours as Aria T'Loak, former Queen of Omega, weighed her options. In the end, she turned to him, appraising him apparently. She then gave a slight nod, "Very well. Inform your friends in the UGC. Tell them I have a briefing at my HQ tomorrow; I'll send them the time and the coordinates."
He turned back around, noticing that Bray had brought the skycar back around to Purgatory, where he was currently descending, "Smart move, Aria. I know you want to do this your way, but it simply isn't possible. But remember: no matter how you take the station, you will take it. Omega will be yours, be sure of that much."
Aria didn't even nod or answer his question directly, simply motioning out as the skycar arrived, door popping open, "Just be discreet, Shepard. I don't want the entire galaxy knowing my plan. Cerberus has ears everywhere."
Stepping out of the skycar and back onto good old, solid ground, he looked back behind him just in time to watch the skycar door click shut, ascend and then shoot back out into the Citadel's traffic, blending back into their traffic lanes. Knowing that her debriefing was tomorrow, he decided to make preparations. It was once again time to jump back into the fray.
Turning around, he opened his omni-tool, contacting a particular person who he knew would be of assistance. It took a moment before the line opened, and a familar voice sounded through the line.
"This is Admiral Gerrel, how may I assist you, Shepard?"
"Have you been reassigned yet?"
"No. We're still awaiting orders from the brass in the UGC."
"Then consider me the brass. I've got the perfect first assignment. How would you like to help liberate a space station?"
"Keelah...I'll never forget the battle to retake Omega. At that point in the war, it was the most ambitious military operation the UGC at ever taken."
- Tali'Shepard pav Rannoch.
"Omega is now known as Alpha, but the scars of its past still haunt that station, even under Sanctum control."
- Reia'Inas pav Earth.
"The Sanctum?"
- Marcus Shepard.
"I'll explain later. What happened next?"
- Tali'Shepard pav Rannoch.
"What else? The debriefing. And, perhaps, a completely unexpected, surprise visit from someone I hadn't spoken to in a while..."
- Marcus Shepard.
A/N:
Yes, I know what you're thinking. Ashley was portrayed as, for lack of a better way to describe it, a complete cunt in I: Enigma. And before you start getting all victorious and self-righteous (specifically talking to you Myron), let me get one thing straight: I've never been happy with how Ashley was treated in I: Enigma, I simply didn't want to admit I'd fucked up. I was so focused with moving the plot forward that I didn't care much for how I treated a character that was now dead anyway. But I felt I needed to rectify that at some point, hence part of this chapter was dedicated to 'clearing her name' as such. As I've announced, I plan to fix my errors with her character in the remaster of I: Enigma, and everything you saw mentioned about her in this chapter will be featured in the remaster. In retrospect, I quite like Ashley and given I was new to writing (fresh from the abomination To Survive II), I certainly went overboard with the characterization, and perhaps took her 'slightly racist' personality into 'full-blown, automatic racism.'
In other news, I dedicate this chapter to Carrie Fisher. In Loving Memory of that beautiful and fantastic woman, I dedicate this chapter. I know this has nothing to do with her or what she did, but I feel I need to do that. Carrie Fisher is one of many actors I have immense respect for, and her passing was devastating for all of us, I'm sure. She not only be remembered for her role as Princess Leia, but be remembered for how she affected us in different ways, including be a powerful and effective symbol for women. She demonstrated that women can be powerful, influential and badass in their own way, and for that I say:
Keelah Re'lai, Carrie Fisher. May you find rest in the homeworld's skies.
