Chapter 6: Virmire
Virmire, a lush and habitable world in the Sentry Omega Nebula, in the Hoc System. There have been several times where the council and the alliance have made deals with the local gang and black marketers to secure a sizeable amount of land to colonize. Each time the original leader was killed and the deal broken. Happened so many times that we gave up on colonizing it. Now though, it seemed that all Gangs and black marketers here have been all but annihilated. The Geth and Saren had set up shop, a massive shop too. A massive base complete with Anti-Air defenses and shit loads of Geth.
Shepard mentioned the council had been notified about the base because of a distress signal. Only the distress signal was little more than static. So instead of risking a war with the Terminus Systems, they send us in. Big surprise there. The council was more concerned with Politics than they were with the threat Saren posed against the Galaxy. I swear, sometimes I wish we had Generals and Admirals calling the shots on big military related business and not fucking politicians who've never been to war. The only reason we were hear from that damn transmission was because it was on a channel reserved for mission critical reports only.
Big deal, I bet the only sent us was so we'd end up fucking up the damn mission. Give them a reason to chew our asses. God how I hated politics. "Thompson, Mike, Garrus, Tali and Kaiden report to the Garage. We're going in to take out those A.A. towers. Oh and Thompson, bring some heavy weapons incase we run into any heavy stuff," said Shepard.
"On it chief," I said. I opened my weapons locker and felt good to be back on the Normandy. Felt very different and out of place to be on the Warsaw, sure it was an Alliance vessel but I felt more comfortable on the Normandy, no idea why though. I grabbed an M249 and three cases of ammo. Along with that went two L.A.W's(Light Anti-tank Weapon). I strapped a Desert Eagle and M1911 to my hips so I had some close range support. I closed my weapon locker and grabbed three blocks of C-4, never know when you'd need to blow something sky high. I met everyone Shepard had called down in the Garage and saw that Garrus and Mike had patched up the Greyhound while I was away.
"Alright listen up, Geth have the airspace firmly locked down. That means A.A. towers and everything. So we're going in as two separate Teams. Garrus, Mike and Tex will go ahead of us and clear out as much of the Geth as they can. They have twenty minutes. After which Tali, Kaiden and I will come up and destroy what's left and deactivate the towers if Tex fails to do that," Shepard said.
"Thank you sir. Your confidence is overwhelming," I said.
"Operations Chief, I suggest we put Jones in the turret and you drive. Garrus can provide maintenance if we suffer any hull damage or shield drainage," said Monty.
"I was about to think that but thanks. You can count on us Commander," I said.
"Good. Get to work people. We don't have long," Shepard said. My team and I quickly got loaded into the Greyhound. Tali, Kaiden and Shepard loaded into the Mako.
"Alright. We are charged and ready to go," I said.
"Good. Hey notice that Shepard trusts us a bit more now that he uses our first names?" Mike asked.
"Yeah, but he's used mine. It's you he doesn't like," I said.
"bull. He hates you. You can't seem to stop getting injured you know?" he said," I swear I think if we stay on long enough, Chakwas will have a medical table labeled just so you know where to go next time you get hit." Garrus laughed at that, probably since it may end up true.
"Just keep yer eyes out for the Geth, finger on the trigger and we'll make it in on piece," I said.
"Roger that sir," he said mockingly.
"Approaching the drop point," said joker.
"Greyhound squad get ready to accelerate once we hit the ground. Remember you've got twenty minutes before we start rolling. Try to knock out as much resistance as you can," said Shepard.
"Affirmative. Mike's already itching to do that sir. Garrus be ready may need you to operate the main gun. Mike's got the M.G. but he can't operate two guns at once," I said.
"Affirmative Tex," said Garrus. The Normandy's bay doors opened and the Greyhound fell out first. It was almost immediately followed by the Mako. The mission clock of Twenty minutes began ticking down as we hit the water. I popped the Greyhound into first gear and sent it "flying" through the natural road given. Geth drones and soldiers lurked everywhere. But Mike didn't get the Expert rating in basic just by asking. Mike showed off his superb shooting skill as he began knocking Drones to the ground and sent the soldiers into the water.
Unfortunately there was also the Colossus that was stationed not far from us. Garrus fired and took out its shields. Mike sent a multiple of heavy rounds into the things head and caused it to explode. The greyhound smashed through the destroyed chassis and went further into the Geth outpost until we hit a road block.
"Damnit. Geth sent up a locking mechanism. Mike, Garrus cover me, I'm going in," I said. I exited the Greyhound and entered the outpost. I drew two Geth Destroyers into the open and let Mike mow 'em down. I ran to the controls and opened the Gate. The Greyhound began rolling through and I jumped onto it. "Oy! Who the hell is driving?" I asked.
"That'd be me Tex. While you and Tali were away doing god knows what, I had Shepard let me take this thing out for a spin. So you get to gun down any baddies with the M.G." Mike said.
"Smug bastard," I said quietly. I got into the opening and manned the gun as Mike drove the Greyhound through the Geth defenses. I let loose a lot of bullets and killed damn near all the Geth in our way. I looked at the mission clock and noticed that we had only five minutes to go before Shepard and his team tried to catch up. As we reached our twenty minute limit we cam up upon another roadblock.
"Tex do yer thing," Mike said. I got out and began racing for the console and barely saw the two Destroyers in the way. A burst from the Greyhounds M.G, solved that though. I hit the controls and the gate opened.
"Mike hold up. I think I found the A.A. controls for the A.A. guns keeping the Normandy out of reach. You guys give me some cover," I said. I looked at the controls more closely and said," uh actually might need someone else up here with experience with Geth tech. I have no clue how to operate this."
"I'll radio Shepard. Tali might be able to get the tower. They can't be too far behind," said Mike.
"Roger that. In fact isn't that him behind us?" I asked. Shepard and Tali came up the steps with Kaiden covering.
"Good job clearing the way. Managed to get here a lot faster than we thought," Shepard said.
"Thanks sir. But uh we still need these guns down and I haven't got a clue on this operating system," I said.
"Tali's got it. You and your team go clear out any resistance we may come upon," said Shepard.
"Affirmative," I said. I keyed my radio and said," Mike you're gunner, I'll drive." we switched out and drove on ahead. Pretty much what we saw on the way here, well with a lot less Geth and no Colossus. We stopped at a third roadblock and this time Mike got out and hacked the controls. We reached the Salarian camp ahead of Shepard and the Normandy and relayed that there was a lot less Salarian's than there should've been. Guess they'd gotten in a big firefight and taken heavy losses. Big surprise, this time sarcastically. Salarians have been known to hold their own in big fights, most notably against Krogan. Shepard and the Normandy showed up just a few minutes after us.
"Thompson, status report," Shepard said.
"Uh well things for the Salarians are kinda fucked up. Apparently they were expecting a fleet not a single starship. But Council wouldn't have listened anyway. Their captain has more details. But they were able to find out the true value of this base," I said.
"What is it?" he asked.
"Apparently this base actually a research facility. Looks like they're studying the Genophage and actually breeding Krogan," I said. That drew Wrex's attention.
"Breeding Krogan? Tell me you're not lying," he said.
"Wrex all I know is what that captain told me. So if you want more details, I suggest going to him if you want more," I said. Shepard went to the captain and was told about everything. Mike and I just waited around for an order, or at least he did. I checked my rifle for any damage or jamming. But I looked at my original ammo and decided I'd need something else. I went over to the requisitions officer and got a new rifle, pistol and shotgun. I had my original weapons taken back to the Normandy.
"Thompson get yer ass here now!!" Shepard shouted. Great something must be wrong with the plan now, I thought. I ran over to where he was and saw some anger in the group.
"you wanted me sir?" I asked.
"Yeah, well Captain Kirrahe wants someone to help lead the assault he's got planned for the base. And I want in it. If there's one thing I know you can do, it's blow up Geth," he said.
"Sir, yes sir. Glad to be part of this," I said. I grabbed some "new age" grenades and prepared for the battle. Shepard was able to calm Wrex down but now he wants Saren's head.
"Well looks like someone upgraded. Decided to go with something that's got some type of firepower and no ammo?" Tali teased.
"Yeah figured I was about to head into a shit storm so thought why waste precious bullets? Plus gives my guns a rest," I said. But she noticed I was off or something.
"You okay?" she asked.
"No not really. Never thought I'd be in an offensive this early in my career. Then again, the guys in D-Day didn't think so either. Just great, well guess I'll catch you on the flip side," I said. I attempted to walk away but Tali didn't let me.
"Flip side?" she asked. She wanted to use that excuse to spend some more time before the fight.
"Meaning see you in heaven, the flip side in other words," I said. Tali shared with me a hug before I went to the departing Salarian teams. Kirrahe put me in the team labeled Aegohr, one of the Salarians first Colonies, with me was Kaiden Alenko. "Well here we go huh?" I asked.
"Yep, lets hope we make it out of this hell hole alive," he said.
"Yeah, suddenly I got a reason to make to out alive," I said. He chuckled at what I said.
"mind if I ask what that reason is?" he asked.
"Not at all sir. That reason is well mainly in the form of a crew member on the ship, that's all I'm saying right now. You'll have to figure that out by yourself," I said. We reached the outskirts of the base and Kirrahe made the final preparations before we engaged the Geth and got inside the Base. I gripped my rifle in death grip as we waited for the order.
"All teams this is Mannovai, we are ready to hold the line. All teams engage, I repeat engage," he said.
"guess that's us," I said. We ran up to the gates and found them closed. With the others approaching we had to get the door open.
"Tell me you got something in yer pack to help us," Kaiden said.
"Hell yeah," I replied. I grabbed the C-4 from it and began wiring it to the door. Geth forces however were coordinating their defense with extraordinary success.
"Damn, Shadow this is Aegohr we are having a hard time reaching the enemy's "house". Tex is getting us a door n but he needs time. See if you can disrupt any of their communications," he said as he covered me. I stuck a demo charge on the door and armed it.
"We're set," I said.
"Good. All teams this is Aegohr we're about to get us a hole in the wall," Kaiden said. We got away from the door and hit the button. The charge blew the door inward and allowed us to get into the base. "Tex! Sounds like the Geth are getting disorganized," said Kaiden.
"What makes you say that?" I asked as I shot at several Geth troopers.
"Hacked into their comms or what passes as it for them, sounds like their receiving some real shitty commands," he said.
"Must be Shadow or that weird Geth I encountered," I said.
"Weird Geth? What?" Kaiden asked.
"I'll explain later, after we live," I said.
"I'm holding you to that," he said. He laughed at the thought of a weird Geth and I joined in a bit. Then Geth artillery began pounding us.
"Oh shit!" I shouted.
"Mannovai, this is Aegohr Geth are hitting us hard with Artillery. Be advised over. From the looks of it they're using some typed of Satellite uplink to zero in on us, only way they could have got several kills in a single shot," Kaiden said.
"Roger that Mannovai. Shadow, Keep your eyes out for an uplink, its hitting us hard," said Kirrahe. I shot at several Geth and moved to another position.
"Hey Kaiden I see I a door. And according to these specs that door will take us to the west A.A. tower, we bring that down and Joker could pick us up," I said.
"Well open it," he said. The Geth's open interior of the base provided them with perfect opportunities to hit us with Artillery and overhead sorties with drones and drop ships. I ran to the door and tried to open it manually.
"Fucking Geth locks. I'll blow up every goddamn door if I have to. These fuckers ain't stopping us that easily," I said. I pulled out another block of C-4 and began wiring it to the door.
"Aegohr this is Shadow over," said Shepard.
"Commander, you know you can call us by our names right?" I asked. I fixed the charge to the door and armed it.
"Right I'll remember that when I'm filing for a transfer," he said.
"Sorry sir, just not used to these damned call signs yet. First big op you know," I said. A Geth flyer shot at me and made my shields ripple from the shot. "damnit! Fucking Bugger!" I shouted. I looked over at Kaiden and shouted," Hey if your not busy how bout giving me a hand? Keep those damned things off me. I screw up in setting this up and expect to see me in an extended stay in the Med bay," I said. I finished arming the charge and ran to cover. The Charge blew and I noticed that several Geth were charging in through the door.
"All troops, looks like those flyers are bugging out. Bunker in and prepare to see them again. Shadow if you can try to take them out," said Kirrahe.
"Roger that captain. Oh and you can thank us for stopping those arty strikes," Shepard said. I grunted as I threw a disk grenade at a group of Geth. I half expected it to bounce about but watched as it stuck on one. I clicked the detonator on it and watched as several normal Geth go down.
We waited for well over fifteen minutes for the flyers to come back. But as luck would have it they didn't.
"Captain Kirrahe looks like Shadow did it's job. I'm not seeing any new flyers. Looks like we are green," I said. I watched as Kaiden took out two Geth with his biotics and took out a third with his pistol. I saw stalker, similar to what we saw on Feros, come up from behind and shot it. Luckily the round was able to reach it and alerted the lieutenant to the danger. He finished it off with a few rounds to the chest.
Kaiden and I rallied Aegohr team and advanced on the A.A. tower. Geth were determined to keep the damned thing. We would've just left it too them but the Normandy needs the airspace clear to get the bomb down to the ground. The Salarians quickly began to storm up to the tower but three were quickly cut down by the Geth snipers. However me and the other Salarian soldier were able to spot them and take 'em out.
Kaiden assaulted the position with the rest of the squad as I came up from behind covering us. He moved over to the console and deactivated the tower. Blow up our ship huh?, I thought. Unfortunately Geth reinforcements showed up and several Salarians flew in an instant.
"Fall back!!" Kaiden shouted. We desperately tried to get the hell out of dodge. But the Geth were pressing and we were effectively cut off. Kaiden took a bullet to his abdomen and had to rely on a piece of cover to stay in the fight.
"Shepard this Thompson, do you read over? Please Shepard we're not going to hold for long," I said.
"Thompson what's going on? Why aren't you here? We're setting the bomb and Tali's going nuts about where you and Aegohr are," Shepard said.
"Sir, we are screwed out the damned yin-yang here. Geth forces have pinned us down and now we're taking heavy losses. Can't get to you. Sir, just set the damned bomb and get the hell out of here. You can't wait for us. The Geth could be on you at minute," I said.
"we are not going to discuss this marine. Tali, Wrex, Jones and Garrus get over to Aegohr and get them back here post-haste," Shepard shouted. The fight dragged on for roughly about twenty minutes, felt like twenty days for us. Geth forces were advancing and the Salarians weren't going to be alive for much longer. Not to mention Kaiden and me.
"Hey what's the status on that team Shepard sent?" Kaiden asked.
"Hell if I know, those damned Geth are creeping closer I haven't had the chance to check the radio. You check mister wounded soldier, I've already had enough trips to the med-bay to last a lifetime. I'll cover you," I said.
Suddenly a Geth soldier went flying over my head as Wrex ran and shouted," I. AM. KROGAN!!!"
"Uh forget what I said, the cavalry's here," I shouted. Tali and mike went over to Kaiden to evac him while I stuck with Garrus and Wrex. We're just cheating death like crazy nowadays, I thought. Everything went our way until we saw the bomb site being assaulted with Geth. We joined just in time as Saren came into the mix. Some type of shock wave sent all of us flying onto our backs. Saren was about to kill Shepard before he kneed him in the stomach. Saren retreated a little after that, guess he knew what was coming.
We set the bomb and piled into the recently arrived Normandy. Kaiden went to the med-bay while I stayed out, for once anyway. About time someone other than me went there, I thought. Even though we were well over a ways away, we could feel the bomb go off. Captain Kirrahe and the other squads all made it out, minus what he lost in the initial scouting op.
Tali told me about what they found there, several Salarian soldiers indoctrinated, just walking aimlessly. One guy hadn't been turned and was able to flee. Even an innocent Asari scientist got out unscathed. Hopefully any way. But with those soldiers, I couldn't think of anything worse than that, death seemed to be the right thing for them with no freedom. The age old expression of Freedom ain't Free sprung to mind, if you had freedom, then a bunch of soldiers had died so you could have it.
Now we were headed to the Citadel guess the council's getting off their dumb asses to fight Saren. Guess that made us big damn heroes captain, I thought. I chuckled as I got to work on my rifle. I visited Tali and she was still both ecstatic about the data I gave her two missions ago and scared about Virmire. No one died but still facing a battalion of Geth does tend to make one realize how close to death they really came without ever actually dying. Now we just had to wait for confirmation.