The shuttle door on the Kodiak opened to the moon of Palaven. It was a dark barren place with rocky crags giving the moon a bluish glow. Boulders and rocks of varying sizes littered the ground, with no vegetation to speak of. The atmosphere allowed Shepard to leave her helmet in the Kodiak, something she appreciated; wearing it tended to cut off her peripheral view. Husks were all over the landing pad and they couldn't land. Shepard clung to the door across from Vega, scanning the landing zone. Since there was nothing to latch them into the Kodiak Liara was behind them using small amounts of biotics since she only was able to use one hand; the other she was using to hold on to the ceiling strap.
Two circling sweeps and she, Liara, and Vega were able to clear the landing pad. As they descended to land she said, "Ok people. I want to make this quick. I'm not a fan of being a politicians' errand girl." A true statement for her but unfortunately she was going to have to be one a while longer.
"There have to be more husks out there, keep your eyes open." She then turned to Cortez in the pilot's seat. "Cortez, coordinates."
"Straight ahead 40 meters, I've transferred the coordinates to your Omni-tool. Be careful." He said back.
"Got it," she confirmed, looking at her Omni-tool. Making sure a fresh clip was loaded; Sarah felt the familiar jostling of the upward thrust from the Kodiak being so close to the hard ground. She shouted "Let's go!" to the team, leaping out first to lead the way.
On the ground they fanned out, scanning the terrain for the glowing eyes of husks. A few husks tried to attack, but with Liaras' biotics and Shepard and Vega's assault rifles they never got close. They seemed to come in groups of six to ten Shepard observed. Three came first from behind a rocky crag, Liara sent out a warp field to hold them and Shepard and Vega picked them off quickly. A few moments later two husks came up the side of the rock formation and dropped down ten yards to Vega's right.
Shepard knelt on one knee but instead of firing she watched Vega, who was in front of her, walk towards them firing and dropping them easily.
"These guys are too easy Commander." He looked back at her, enjoyment written on his face.
She agreed with him, it was almost too easy, and like him she enjoyed combat too, but the look in his eyes went right through her. Ignoring the ridiculous tingle that enveloped her body she said instead. "Just keep your mind focused Lt., we can't afford to get sloppy." She cringed as she said it because the enjoyment left his face and she was left with a mask of indifference.
She led them to the small gate on the outpost. Shepard started in surprise when Liara yelled 'Watch out!' and slammed a husk to the ground then finished it off with her pistol.
Liara gave her a concerned look, Shepard just smiled as a thank you and walked into the post when the Turian guarding the gate opened it for them to pass.
"Everyone check your gear." She said as she looked around. The post was makeshift, built around the terrain, with one side of the post bearing an impressive looking mounted cannon gun, and across from that a line of bunkers. Crates were scattered everywhere, Shepard immediately hoped there would be supplies that her team might be able to use.
When she realized her squad hadn't responded to her she looked back at them and saw that they were transfixed on something. She followed their line of sight and her stomach clenched; Palaven was burning. How could she have missed it, she thought. The great planet dominated the eastern horizon, enormous craters of fire streaked across the surface, plainly showing the reaper's disastrous path. She couldn't fathom how the Turians managed to focus on fighting while watching their planet be destroyed.
"Is that what Earth looked like?" Liara asked quietly.
Shepard couldn't immediately answer. Looking at Palaven made fresh the pain of having to leave Earth in such a state. "Yes."
"I'm so sorry."
After a moment Vega said firmly. "Let's go. The sooner we finish this mission the sooner we can do something about it." He looked back at Liara and then Shepard. "For everyone."
Shepard nodded her agreement. She turned to her left and called out to the nearest Turian who was guarding the gate. "We're the ground team from the Normandy, where's your commanding officer?"
Without taking his eyes away from scanning the area they'd just come from the Turian said. "General Corinthus, fourth bunker on your right."
"Thanks." Shepard said and they continued south. The bunkers were more like cargo pods with one wall cut off and open and they elevated off the ground about a meter. They passed a bunker with gold colored tarps on a platform, Shepard realized these were dead Turians.
"I wonder how many they've lost." Vega said soberly.
Liara responded. "Not near as many as Earth, though it appears they might be catching up."
Shepard didn't say anything, she didn't really know what to say so she continued on and no one said anything more until they reached the General.
"General Corinthus…"Shepard started but the General interrupted her.
"Commander Shepard, I didn't really believe it would be you. It's an honor to meet you." He said looking at her and saluting.
Always flustered at the undue praise she saluted back and said. "You too, I wish it could have been under better circumstances."
"Agreed." The General said, and then asked. "What can I do for you?"
"I'm here for Primarch Fedorian, we need him to help with uniting all races against the Reapers." She specifically withheld that it would be to approve Turian troops to help save Krogan lives, you never knew who was ok with it and who would bat crap crazy about the idea. She was glad neither Liara nor Vega gave any hint that she wasn't being completely forthcoming.
His mandibles flared and he said. "He's dead. His shuttle was shot down as he was trying to leave for Palaven." His shoulders dropped and he looked at the map on the table in front of him not really seeing it.
"I'm sorry General, I heard he was a good man." She had heard that, she just wasn't sure if it was true. Pointing that out though wasn't something she felt was really important at the moment.
"Thank you commander, he was a friend, and he was an outstanding diplomat."
Shepard allowed a silence to follow in acknowledgement of another comrade falling. She didn't wait long though. For Shepard, time was a noose and she was standing on a trapdoor, never knowing when it would drop and time would be up. "Who would be next in charge, isn't there a hierarchy?" She asked him.
Liara chimed in. "There should be, lines of successions are very clear in the Turian culture." They all looked at the General expectantly.
He sighed. "Yes, but with so many dead and so much chaos I don't know who that is right now. If I could contact Palaven I could find out but right now it's not possible." He sounded frustrated.
"Why not?" Shepard asked hiding her disappointment.
"The comm channel is currently down and I don' have enough men to protect this outpost let alone spare a few to fix the tower."
Forcing herself not to sigh she smiled instead. "Not a problem, we'll take care of it. Where is it?"
"You keep going south through the post, it'll be on a platform fifteen meters from the gate."
"I can see the comm tower commander." Vega told her. "It's to the left of that main barricade outside the gate."
She nodded to Vega and Liara, they walked off the platform and waited for her. Shepard turned back to the General and said, "We'll be back." She motioned for them to follow her in the direction the General pointed them in.
She was wary as they spread out and walked towards the comm tower. They hadn't run into any real life threatening situations yet and while that was nice, it put Shepard on edge. She kept her gun pointed in the directions she looked as a precaution. The husks didn't make another appearance until they reached the tower.
"Shepard! On your left!" Liara yelled.
She turned in time to see it almost on her. She fired three shots then switched to her switch blade and cut a jagged hole in its torso up to its neck. Another one followed him but Vega finished him off before he could get close and two more from behind them that Liara handled and the area was clear again.
Liara walked to the controls and after fiddling with them she said. "Shepard, we can't connect the signal from here we have to manually engage it from the top, this panel has been destroyed."
"Ok go, Vega and I will cover you."
"I'll fix it as quickly as possible." Liara climbed the ladder to the top.
Shepard had no worries about that, Liara would fix it, probably better than it was before it was put offline. "Vega I want you over there behind that rock to our right on the small rise, I'll stay here." The rock being on a small rise in the ground would provide him some cover, a 360 degree vantage point of the area surrounding them, and an eye on the gate to the post in the distance.
"Hell yeah."
She felt his enjoyment coming out again and this time didn't say anything about it. His attitude was infectious and if it helped him be more focused it worked for her. It took only a moment for Vega to spot husks coming in front of them at a distance. She turned with him to take aim. The husks kept coming but she and Vega worked in unison to make sure they weren't overwhelmed. There was almost a pattern to their attack, they would run up, her squad would kill them, they'd have a moment to collect themselves and they'd attack again. It was odd.
Just like now, they'd killed about five husks and now they were in a moment where they could check their ammo and get ready for the next wave.
"Why is it only husks?" Vega said over the comm. It was an impressive observation and a good question, one which Shepard intended to find an answer to.
"Not sure, I noticed that too." She looked at him out of the corner of her eye, she liked how he meshed with the team. He took commands without question and had started in some respects, anticipating her moves. He looked good in his gear too. A sing song 'Done' from Liara interrupted Shepard's thoughts.
"Good job." Shepard said to Liara as she came back down. Liara took Shepard's place while she engaged her communicator. "General Corinthus do you copy?"
There was a crackling then the Generals deep voice. "Loud and clear Shepard. Is the tower functional?"
"Yes. Let me know as soon as you know anything, my team will stay out here and help your men along the wall."
"You have my thanks Commander, I'll let you know as soon as I do. Corinthus out."
Shepard turned the communicator back to squad frequency. She didn't want to go back mostly because doing nothing while she was waiting for something was a torment to her. But mostly combat helped focus her, it wouldn't allow her to think about Earth or Palaven or the impossible task set before her. Plus, if she could help the guards posted along the wall of this outpost the better. She had no doubt they were tired, the more men they lost the slower and longer the shift changes got; she knew from personal experience.
They walked closer to the gate and two cannibals made an appearance. She felt the pressure of the bullets as her kinetic shield stopped them. In one fluid motion, they all got low, found cover and started firing back. A husk was running up on Liara's left so Shepard took aim and gunned it down just as Vega and Liara finished off the cannibals. Before they had time to catch their breath Corinthus crackled in her ear.
"Commander."
"Shepard here." She said as she watched a loan husk that had run towards the gate get levitated in a blue bubble and simultaneously got dropped with a few shots from Vega's assault rifle.
"I've had word you can return."
Just what she wanted to hear.
"On our way. Shepard out."
No more husks or cannibals were in their area so they walked with purpose back to the Generals bunker.
"Shepard, I have good news and I have bad news." The General said. All of a sudden he snapped into a salute. "Vakarian, sir I didn't see you there."
"No problem General, at ease." Came Garrus' deep baritone.
Shepard whipped her head around and couldn't believe her eyes, a wave of relief swept through her at seeing her old friend alive.
"I thought I heard you over the radio. It's good to see you again Shepard."
"Likewise." She'd hug him but now was not the time. "I thought you were on Palaven…" She trailed off, worst case scenario in her mind had been he was killed. He would have gone down in a blaze of glory, but still dead or at least somewhere he wouldn't be able to contact her and she'd never hear from him again.
"I was, but some people believed us Shepard, and they put me in charge of getting the Turians as ready as possible. Fortifying positions, having alternate supplies routes, I'm the expert advisor for the Reapers now." She couldn't tell if he was happy about that or not. Still, it had to be nice to have someone believe in you before the physical proof was in their backyard.
"That's great Garrus. I'm glad you're alive."
"Likewise. Now, I didn't mean to interrupt, General Corinthus you said you had good and bad news for the Commander?"
"Yes sir. The Commander is here to pick up the new Primarch. It's Adrien Victus. The good news is that the last contact with him was here on Manae, the bad news is we can't raise any of the outlaying posts and we don't know where he is."
Before that statement could irritate her Garrus said. "I might be able to help with that. I was fighting with him this morning and we split up not too long ago. I could take the Commander in the direction I last saw him."
"Great." Shepard said before Corinthus could say anything. "Let's go. Thank you General."
They walked down the ramp from the platform, if Garrus was coming with her, she would have to send Liara or Vega back. It took a moment to make her decision, she wouldn't need any biotics with Garrus's sniper rifle and there was probably little need for hacking skills, Shepard would be able to get them by in a pinch.
"Liara, I need you to go back to ship and get to the bottom of that reaper weapon. I want to know absolutely everything about it."
"Got it." Liara took off towards the landing pad.
"You remember how this goes right Garrus?" She asked smiling as they pulled out their guns to get them ready for the long trek.
"Believe me Shepard, I couldn't forget if I tried." He said following right into step as they left the compound, weapons at the ready.
As Shepard and Vega followed Garrus she asked. "Garrus, have you seen any other types of reaper husks? So far we've run into those cannibals and human husks but that's it." There had to be other species that the reapers had taken, it was their MO. Destroy or repurpose everything.
"Yes." Garrus replied. "They've taken Turians. I'm thinking they probably have a few other species too."
Vega said from behind her. "Since discovering the Collectors were Prothean reaper husks, we might even run in to some ancient ones we've never seen before."
"The runt is right, we'll have to be careful Commander, they might all have different capabilities too."
"Thanks Scars." Vega said.
She rolled her eyes, she hoped this was them becoming friends and not having a pissing contest. She had to make sure they stayed focused though, if she had her way there'd be plenty of time for that on the Normandy. "Guys, could we stay on track? Galaxy to save?"
Garrus was the first respond. "I was just trying to give him a compliment Commander." He said sarcastically.
With a wicked grin Vega said. "And I was just trying to accept it."
She had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing as they continued forward.
Vega liked this Garrus already. Anyone who could be sarcastic and tease Shepard was alright with him. As they continued their march over the rough ground, James kept himself alert, checking behind them every now and then. When the terrain began to get rougher, they had to jump up small edges and over rocks and the path they were taking started to narrow like a hallway. There were rock like walls on both sides of them that came up to Vega's head, and he could have touched both sides of the wall by stretching out his arms. Garrus turned a corner when he suddenly shouted.
"Down!"
Both he and Shepard immediately crouched, Shepard was out of view of what was ahead due to a small curve in the path, but Vega had rolled forward behind an outcrop on the right rocky wall. Some rocks were on the path and some were big enough to hide behind, like the one Garrus was behind a little farther in front of them.
"It's a Turian husk, a Marauder." Garrus shouted. "They're tough sons of bitches."
Vega peaked around the rock and saw what looked like a Turian but was covered with strange alien machinery and the telltale glowing eyes. He was forced back behind the cover as a spray of bullets flung rock pieces at him.
"Any weaknesses?" Shepard asked. Glancing back at her she had a puzzled expression. He would have admired its cuteness if a movement above her hadn't caught his attention. A husk running on top of the cliff wall trying to get close to Shepard to drop down on top of her. Not on his watch he thought and gunned the husk down. Shepard gave him a grateful look as Garrus replied to her question from in between shooting and ducking.
"His shield is strong but once it's down he'll be easy." Garrus had switched from his sniper rifle to his assault rifle since he was too close to use it. My kingdom for a grenade James cursed to himself. He popped up and fired at one of the cannibals. "Anyone have any grenades?" Vega asked.
"No." Garrus said and shot a husk that tried to run up on his right.
"No." Shepard said. She still hadn't done anything, what was she thinking he wondered.
"What the hell kind of weapons do they use?" He asked. He noticed his kinetic barrier was down to 50%. On Mars even with the Cerberus troops they'd run into his shield hadn't dropped that much.
"Not sure, they appear to be the same that we use but they seem much more powerful, or at least energy draining." Garrus replied.
He flicked his eyes to Shepard again. She shot him a determined look and switched to her shotgun. His stomach dropped as she ran out in the open towards the Marauder. That's what she'd been thinking he realized, she'd been trying to figure out the fastest way out of the situation. He couldn't help but be impressed. He stood up exposing himself to help take some heat of her and provide suppressing fire on anything he could get in his sites, shield be damned. He saw Garrus do the same thing as she ran by him. Shepard kept her sights on the Marauder and fired four shots then rolled behind a rock sticking out of the ground.
Vega ducked behind the rock, switched to his shotgun and with two more blasts took down the Marauder. He did one quick sweep and saw Garrus finished off the last cannibal and one last husk. Vega holstered his weapon and went to Shepard to make sure she was alright.
She looked up at him with those innocent eyes of hers and said through her heavy breathing. "That bastard almost ripped through my shields."
He couldn't help but smile. What a woman he thought. He put out his hand and helped her to her feet. She pushed her bangs from her face. Her eyes were bright and her cheeks were red from the adrenaline of combat. "Thank you."
She looked away first towards Garrus and Vega was glad. He was such a fool around her, he'd forgotten to ask her if she ok, the reason he went over to her in the first place. Of course she was though, she was Commander Shepard, her breathing was back to normal already and her cheeks weren't red anymore.
Shepard asked Garrus. "Please tell me this Victus is worth it. Will he help us?"
"Honestly Shepard I'm not sure, I can't imagine why not."
"What's he like?"
"He's career military, gets results and he's popular with his troops. His ways might be unconventional but I think we need unconventional right now."
Vega agreed but waited to see what Shepard said.
She just looked at Garrus for a moment. She mastered the you-can't-read-my-thoughts-no-matter-how-long-you-stare look. It was something he was getting used too. By the end of her stay in Vancouver he was beginning to read her too well. Finally she said. "Alright. At some point I may ask you to elaborate but I trust you." She didn't move and this time he could read her expression, she was nervous. "Garrus, why don't you join us on the Normandy, it'd be like old times."
Garrus replied. "I was hoping you'd ask, being an 'expert advisor' is not as fun as it sounds and everyone wants to salute me." He said. The way Garrus cocked his head Vega knew he thought it was strange to have people saluting him. It made Vega wonder what Garrus did before becoming an expert advisor. His loyalty to Shepard though was sincere and confirmed many rumors Vega had heard of Shepard's crew. Their loyalty was legendary, she did anything for them and they did anything for her. Including following her on suicide missions, apparently any time she asked. He smiled to himself, he would too he realized as he looked around at where they were.
Vega followed as Garrus and Shepard started walking again.
"We should be there soon. This was where we split up, he said he was going to go to the post just a little farther ahead of us."
A moment later they all stopped as they heard the popping sound of gun shots in the distance.
"That's coming from the post, come on!" They ran to the post and stopped short of running into the fray. They needed to assess what they were up against. The post was swarmed; cannibals, husks, two marauders and some huge hulking thing. "What in the holy hell is that?" Vega asked.
It had a massive body that looked like it was covered with black, stiff armor plating, its arms were as thick as a human body and there long spikes sticking out of its spine. It had a long bony skinny neck and a human skeleton as a head. It was hideous and it walked on all fours and lumbered until it charged, then it was like a moving wall. They watched it charge a Turian and hit it with a sickening thud, the Turian didn't get back up.
"Garrus." Shepard said quietly. "I want you high, pick off anything with glowing eyes." She turned to Vega as Garrus took off to find a high point for his sniper rifle. "Vega watch my back, we have to stop that thing before it kills anyone else."
"What's your plan Commander?" He asked.
"We need to try and down that thing. He's slow until he charges so we'll have to trade off being bait. Garrus will pick off any that he can and will cover our backs when he can."
"Is he good at it?"
Shepard looked at him. "Yes, trust me."
He did and said. "Ok, if you trust him then so do I. Anything else?"
"Stay out of my way and don't let me die." She smiled at him eagerly.
"Right." He said. "Not a problem." A woman after his own heart apparently. He followed Shepard as she ran into the small clearing and created havoc. The husks and cannibals that were closest looked at her but that was their mistake. The Turians they had pinned came up from behind their cover and finished them off. Shepard took out a husk close to her and ducked behind a small rock pile. He could see she was slowly making her way across the field to the hulking reaper. He killed two husks, one got close and he knocked it down with the butt of his rifle and shot it in the head. He watched as the Turians struggling with the hulking reaper.
Vega saw that it was bending down to charge a Turian trying to crawl away from it when Shepard stepped out from behind the rock pile and went straight for the hulking monster firing rapidly from her rifle. It turned toward Shepard abandoning its prey and started bending towards Shepard. Vega knew it was his turn. He ran out from where he was and repeatedly fired at the thing until it turned toward him
They did that several times but it just wouldn't go down. They didn't give up, as it went to charge him Shepard shot at it again, and again the thing turned on her. This time it charged and she didn't roll out of the way in time. Its huge arm swung at her and hit her square in the back with a thump and she was flung to his right.
He ran up on it he emptied the last of his shotgun bullets into it to get its attention. Relief flooded him as it turned to him and away from Shepard. In that split second as Vega waited for it to charge him one side of the things head exploded and it dropped. His respect for Garrus' ability jumped as well as his appreciation for the Turians' timing.
"Garrus cover me, I'm going to check on Shepard."
"I've got you, go."
Vega ran to where Shepard was. She was on her stomach. His heart started to beat normally again as he saw her slowly pushing herself up, using her gun for support but stumbling a little.
"Shepard, are you alright? Do you have any medigel?" He asked concerned she may have broken something.
She groaned a little. "Yes." He gently grabbed her underneath both her arms and helped her stand. Garrus made it over to them indicating they were safe. "I'm fine really, I just got the wind knocked out of me." Her hand remained on his arm a little longer to help steady her.
"Good, we're clear and I see Victus." Garrus said.
Shepard slowly stood on her feet, took a deep breath and let go of his arm.
"I'm ready." She said. "Let's get this over with, I want a shower and a bed." She walked forward and Vega forced the imaged of her in a shower out of his mind as he and Garrus followed. It wasn't really fair to her, in his mind it was all happening in slow motion and there was no soap, just water slowly cascading down her luscious body, sliding through every nook and over every curve, like some erotic water nymph.
He wasn't paying attention to where he was going and stumbled over a small rock on the ground, he managed not to fall but Shepard looked back at him.
"Your first day walking?"
"Ha." He said, it was a good thing people couldn't read minds he thought. "No, I was distracted by that." He pointed at the reaper walking on the moon in the distance, they'd already noticed it but that was the first thing that was safe that came to mind.
He thought she looked like she didn't believe him. He thought she was going to say something but she turned forward and a moment later they reached the very small post where Victus was. There were only three bunkers here and very little crates. They reached Victus and Garrus introduced the Commander to the new Primarch. As was becoming apparent, everyone knew who Shepard was. Vega didn't listen to much of what was said after the introductions, not actively, he kept his eyes scanning the horizon and watched the remaining Turians dressing wounds.
The snippets he heard was Victus's sadness at hearing he was being forced to play politics and that another Turian was dead. Victus sounded just as frustrated as Vega was. How could no one in the alliance know about a Brute, he wondered. That's what the Turians were calling it. As he continued to half listen he almost scoffed out loud when he heard Shepard ask for the Primarch's help. It was a perfect example of why he wouldn't be good at leadership. The entire galaxy needed to work together, this wasn't as small as one group hating another. She shouldn't have to ask.
"I'll help Shepard." Victus cut into his thoughts. "I'll go to this summit and I'll offer any support I can."
His frustration lessoned after hearing that. Shepard immediately got on the comm. and contacted the Normandy to send the Kodiak for them. He couldn't help but be amused at how quickly she got on the comm.
As they waited for pick-up he thought back to when he first met her. He couldn't believe this tiny woman saved the Alliance and the galaxy, twice. His estimation of her had been right, no one saw her coming. He had a feeling if she put her mind to it she could convince the batarians to love humans. He laughed to himself. One thing at a time he thought, the easy part first, save the galaxy, then worry about the batarians.