"Fear. That is your weakness. And it is one I do not share."
"Go over that one more time."
Garrus held back a sigh. Vega had every right to be agitated about the situation at hand, and worried besides. But based on what Vaya had reported, they didn't have a lot of time to sit around arguing.
"Harbinger's back, and he has an entire Reaper fleet in dark space waiting to invade." Kaidan said tonelessly, as someone repeating something multiple times often does.
"Damn it, is anything ever over?" Vega threw his hands up in exasperation as the meaning of the events began to sink in.
"We intend to make it over." Garrus said. "But this is just one step. Obviously, we need to take back the colony..."
Vaya shook her head immediately. "Not with those numbers. Any assault would be tactically inadvisable."
"We don't need a tactical assault." Garrus pointed out. "Just a distraction. Our plan hasn't changed. Vega takes his men, Lokkan and...ah...Lokkan around one side and makes way for the defense systems. Meanwhile, the three of us cause enough havoc to give you a fighting chance."
"So, we get to go and turn on some turrets while you get yourselves killed?" Vega asked.
"We've had worse than a couple of batarians." Kaidan assured him.
"Hundred." Vaya corrected. "A couple hundred batarians."
Kaidan looked at her, then back at Garrus. "...Are you sure this is a good idea?"
"No." Garrus admitted. "But we don't need to gain ground, just make noise. And we can't call in for reinforcements, either. Our choices are fairly limited."
"In that case, sir," Vaya said. "I request permission to engage the enemy on a separate front alone."
"You'll be out of contact until their signal stops jamming us." Kaidan said. "No backup in case you get pinned."
Vaya slowly turned to look at Garrus. "Sir, is he actually implying what I think he is?"
Garrus sighed. Openly, this time. "Permission granted, but keep close to us. Bring them back to our killzone if it gives you an advantage.
"Understood."
They all stood in a circle for a time, silent. They traded looks with each other, most grim, and despite the urgency of the situation, none of them could bring themselves to be the first to start what could be their last fight. For his part, Garrus was mostly reflecting on the inherent unfairness of facing his death at the hands of a bunch of batarians. He'd personally much rather it be a horde of charging krogan, for example. Hell, even the mercenary triumvirate back at Omega would do. But this...it felt too ignominious for his tastes.
Eventually, Lokkan, their Lokkan, as was his wont, was the first to speak. "Well are we goin' or nae? I always hate ta miss a chance at gettin' shot."
"Right, yeah." Vega nodded. "Garrus, send me your comm signal. If we manage to get communications back, I want to be able to get a hold of you."
Garrus nodded, pulling up his omni-tool. But Lok- Mavarr was already transmitting a data stream to all of them. "This one has a link the any surviving scientists and security." He said. "Better contact."
"Appreciated." Vega clapped Mavarr on the shoulder. The turian looked at him strangely and lightly brushed his hand off. "Also, you're in charge."
"Wait." Mavarr held up both hands. "What?"
"Aye, run tha' by us again." Lokkan raised an eyeridge.
"Hey, I'm still hopped up on stims, so are they." Vega motioned to the two marines he'd chosen behind him. "Plus, you know where everything is. We've got the muscle, you've got the know-how. Don't worry, we'll be right behind you."
"Walking headlong into danger." Mavarr grumbled dryly. "This is exactly how I wanted to spend my afternoon."
"Pah, like it's not a daily expectation." Lokkan said. He got a stare for his trouble.
"And...you are coming as well?" Mavarr asked Lokkan suspiciously.
Lokkan nodded. "Aye. Admiral says I'm coming, so I'll go. Plus I wouldnae miss a chance or two ta save yer sorry arse."
"I'm...thrilled to be under your protection." Mavarr said uncertainly.
"Special tip; dodge the flamin' explosive balls I migh' throw past ya. They sting a wee mite."
While Mavarr was busy putting a hand over his face, Garrus gave Vaya a small nod. She disappeared into the brush, leaving he and Kaidan to proceed forward while the others went their own way. He sighed again.
And at the same time, his hand was ready to smack Kaidan if he used the words 'simple' or 'easy'.
Vega hated the planet. He hated the trees, hated the brush, hated the insects, the monkeys, the people...hell, he even hated the wind. Maybe that was just a reaction to being trapped there by the same circumstances which caused the deaths of so many people he'd known. An entire Alliance ship. Dozens of good men, just...gone. Much as he hated the planet, he hated the soldiers who'd done that more.
But he wouldn't allow his anger to push him into making stupid mistakes. His fatigue and the stims were already bad enough. If there was a shot at some payback when everything was clear, when it wouldn't hurt the mission...maybe. He knew his remaining men must have been thinking about the same thing. They were good people. But they might not have had the presence of mind that he did. They certainly hadn't had Shepard.
He winced when the thought crossed his mind. Gaah, no es beuno. Gotta leave that wound closed. But some wounds were harder, once opened, to close again than others. Try as he might to keep his head on straight, it was getting harder and harder, and he was glad Lokkan was leading the way. Or, well, Mavarr. And Lokkan. The Lokkans. Whatever.
"We've got a problem." He heard Mavarr mutter ahead of him only minutes after they set out. He felt like replying that, yes, of course they had a problem, there's an army of batarians and a supposedly dead Reaper taking over a science camp, but didn't feel it would be entirely necessary. "They have the back entrance guarded. Three of them, all armed."
"Eh, no problem." Vega shrugged. "You two and Ben can take care of it from a distance." He thumbed behind him towards 'Big Ben', his team's sniper.
Both Lokkans exchanged looks that Vega couldn't quite interpret beyond that they made him uneasy. Mavarr looked back first. "I can't fire a rifle accurately from this range."
"What?" Vega asked incredulously. "Don't turians all get the same military training?"
"Training doesn't make you good t it, just mildly proficient." Mavarr explained in a huff. Clearly it was something of a sore topic. "Why do you think I'm a scientist?"
Vega covered the top of his head with a hand and turned to the other Lokkan. He held up his weapon of choice and said, simply: "Shotgun."
"Great. Fantastic." Vega drew his assault rifle, hoping very dearly that a silenced Mattock could get the job done. "Ben, Louis, find some cover and engage on my go."
"Your go being...?" Louis asked, swapping his preferred omni-tool for a Viper reluctantly.
"Me firing or one of them dropping dead, whichever comes first." Vega grumbled. "Just keep your beads on one hundred percent. Get going." He moved further towards the enemy position for a decent vantage point and found that the foliage he'd been keeping cover behind ended about two hundred meters from the guards. Good enough for them not to notice him yet, but everything closer was wide open space.
He silently cursed. His tactics more often than not relied on getting in close for a mow-down, not precision strikes. While that distance might have been nearly trivial for an experienced marksman (which he technically was), he wasn't confident in his abilities in this particular situation. He might not be able to hit at all in the first few bursts, much less manage an instant kill.
Reluctantly, he flipped his gun to single shots and waited. He gave his men a good two minutes to get into a ready and waiting position, then lined up his firing sight. He remembered covering this at some point - slow your breathing, adjusting for target movement, the works - but putting it into practice wasn't as familiar as it should have been. He promised himself that, if he got out of this alive, he'd punch out his pride and get some sniping lessons off of Garrus.
Slowly, he squeezed the trigger. His shot flew across the intervening distance and plugged home...inches from the batarian's head. A puff of dust flew out from the wall behind him, and all three tangoes immediately turned in place. For some reason, it apparently occurred to none of them to move away, and Vega took another shot. It hit the dirt next to his target's right foot.
"Oh, come on." He muttered. The other two toppled over in unison with gouts of red mist, thanks no doubt to his teammates. For the third time, he aimed, fired, and...hit the batarian square in the eyeball.
"Yeah!" He cheered, standing up and raising his arms. "Did you see that?!" It took a moment of awkward silence before he remembered that comms were out. "Gah, damn it."
Louis came by and clapped him on the shoulder. "Nice shot, boss. Don't worry, I won't tell Ben it took you three tries."
"You won't, huh?" Vega asked suspiciously. Louis would never miss a chance to razz him to Ben about a missed shot.
"Nope." Louis assured him.
Ben himself came by not long afterward, helmet unhooked, Vega suspected, just to be able to level at him the look he now was. "Lieutenant-Commander, what the hell was that, sir?"
"It was pretty obvious." Louis continued.
"All right, all right." Vega muttered, shouldering his rifle. "Lock it down, would you? I got him eventually."
"And if you'd thrown a horseshoe or a grenade, close would matter." Ben relied sardonically.
"Actually, I think he might've done more damage with a horseshoe." Louis snickered.
"It clear yet?" Lokk- damn it, he really needed a way to tell them apart. Shotgun-guy asked from behind them. "Me bum's gettin' sore from all this sittin' around."
"Yeah, let's roll." Vega motioned Science-guy to the fore. "Adelante, guide."
Science tentatively approached the small gate, looking around him constantly for any threats. Vega thought that maybe he was a little jumpy, then remembered they were still in hostile territory. "Hey," He muttered to Ben and Louis. "Make sure he's got close cover, huh?" They nodded and sped off, Shotgun in tow.
Science had no troubles opening the gate. In fact, he audibly remarked that he was disappointed the batarians hadn't even bothered to change the code. Shotgun and Vega lead first look detail into what looked like a back alley behind a few buildings. He motioned the others to hold position and crouched next to Science. "All right, what's the plan from here?" He asked.
"The communications relay system building is just across the street from these buildings." Science whispered. "If we can get there, I'll be able to rewire our uplinks to ignore signal jamming."
"You can put us back in contact with Alpha?" Vega asked. Science nodded. "I'm guessing the place is gonna be guarded. You and me, we run for it when I give the signal. Your brother gets to take the other side." He motioned Louis over. "You guys run interference and cover for us when we cross."
"Yes, sir."
Vega leaned around the corner and took a look at what the street looked like. As expected, there was a veritable swarm of hostiles. But they all seemed to be running away. He grinned. "Looks like Alpha's keeping them off our tails. Keep close, we move in five." He held up his oustretched hand.
The entire group tensed. He lowered one finger. Then another. Another. He gripped his Scimitar more tightly and held up his last finger. Most of the batarian boots were already fading off into the distance. He formed his hand into a fist and raced across the intervening distance as quickly as he could. He bowled over a straggler, but kept running. A blast behind him made an assurance that the dazed enemy wouldn't be getting back up any time soon.
The three of them dove past the door and closed it behind them. The CommSat building looked more like two buildings spliced into one - the entry area, which was a largely empty space mostly devoted to the twisting lines of circuits that lined the walls, and the back end, which housed the actual control console. Vega followed Science up to the main console, where he went to work. Shotgun stayed back by the entrance, his namesake weapon trained on the front door.
Mere moments after he began, Science nodded triumphantly. Background noise crackled to life over Vega's communications earpiece, and he heard the sounds of combat on the other end. "Alpha team, come in." He said. "Short-range communications are back online, do you copy?"
Garrus' voice came back, nearly drowned out by enemy fire. "That's great, but we're a little busy here!"
"Yeah, well you'd better-" Vega began, but was quickly cut off. An enormous explosion rocked the foundations of the building, and blinded all three of them. Fire rained down from the ceiling. Vega himself was thrown bodily into the control console. When his eyes decided to register something again, the first thing they saw was that a large beam and other various debris and rubble had collapsed down the center of the CommSat building. He couldn't see any movement on the other side.
Of course they had the place rigged. He thought halfway out of panic. He reached out to make sure Science was still there, and was relieved to find the turian still moving. He tapped his earpiece. "Ben, Lou, respond!" There was no answer. Vega's heart fell.
Science took a moment to look desperately over the fiery barrier, and with a jolt, Vega remembered why he looked so much more shocked than he should. Oh God. He thought. He just lost his brother.
"He'll meet back up with us outside!" Vega didn't even believe himself, but he had to say something to get Science moving out that door. Soldiers were probably already inbound to take them away or take them out. "We need to go, now!"
Science pushed himself up and towards the door. He opened it, and took one last look back behind him. Vega vaguely heard a shot coming from somewhere.
Science's head exploded in a fountain of blue.
The helmet already muffled outside noise, and had extra systems in the case of flashbangs or other possibly incapacitating noises, but this was different. Like the world had suddenly dropped out of focus. If he hadn't seen it happen so many times before, it would have lasted longer, but he pushed through it. He kept low, and sprinted out the open door. He saw cover across the street and made a beeline for it.
Rounds impacted the ground around him, and a few even hit his armor. He didn't see who was shooting, but he fired indiscriminately around him to cover himself while he ran. With one last push, he rolled over a steel fence-like construction and settled to catch his breath. He heard crackling in his earpiece as Garrus tried to contact him.
"Bravo team, come in!" Garrus shouted. "What's going on in the east side?"
Vega was talking before he actually registered he was talking. His mouth moved at a million miles an hour while he brain tried to come up with a plan. "I'm taking a beating over here, don't know how much longer I can last without the defense systems online!"
"What about the others?" Garrus asked. "Where's your backup?"
Vega exhaled inaudibly. "They're down, Garrus." He slumped against the fence and let his tone take on that final, defeated note. "Lokkan's dead."
It wasn't really Vaya's fault. She couldn't have know exactly what she'd be walking into. Not at that time. Her skills certainly weren't to blame - anyone else would simply have been found much sooner and, in point of fact, she had managed to eliminate a dozen enemies before being pinned. But the counter-attack in itself...was not going as planned.
The building that the three of them had elected to take cover inside was already beginning to crumble under the combined force of so many attackers. Vega was alone and under fire. Neither group was, in relative terms, anywhere close to the Defense Network. Garrus had been in a similarly hopeless situation before, one that he'd always hoped he would never have to repeat. So much for that.
As such, he kept himself appropriately blank when he responded to Vega's pronouncement. "Hold position. We'll think of something."
Naturally, Kaidan caught on the moment the line was cut. "You don't have a plan, do you."
"No, we're done." Garrus sighed and slumped against a wall. A sniper round made a hole just above his head. He raised his Mantis and drilled another right between the eyes of the opposing sniper without much thought. Each of them could kill dozens of batarians without any problem. But there were too many, and all it would take was one lucky shot, and then there would be two.
"That's all, then?" Vaya growled. "We're going to lay down and die?"
"Not now, Corporal, I'm thinking." Garrus reprimanded her softly. His thoughts drifted somewhat. He originally thought there would be more tension between them when she first came aboard. But it seemed that both of them recognized their previous dalliance as without emotional attachment. He was gladdened by that. It wouldn't put undue strain on any of them. Well, aside from her being a blatant spy for Empyreus. Even though his main motive for placing her aboard the Normandy was as obvious as a charging krogan, and Garrus honestly believed that Empyreus genuinely wanted to keep Davisson some measure of safe, it would be almost a crime not to use an asset like that for reports as well.
That was probably why Vaya was so angry. Not because she thought she might die, but because if she did, she wouldn't be able to report on it to the hierarchy.
"Vaya, do you still have that map of the encampment?" He asked.
She nodded. "I can avoid just enough contact to reach the Defense Systems building. After that, I can't promise anything."
"Read my mind." He smiled a bit. "Find Vega, take him with you. Backup won't go amiss."
"What about you?" Did she sound almost...worried?
Garrus reset his weapons systems for armor-piercing rounds and loaded a new thermal clip. "Someone needs to cover your escape."
He could almost hear the disapproving sigh in her tone. "Spirits guide you, Admiral."
"Walk softly, Dalias." He motioned Kaidan to take the opposite doorway and ready a firing spread. "Carry a thermal clip."
She waited, crouched by the doorway, until she could hear her compatriot's simultaneous fire. Then, she slid out the side door, launching a drone out the window as an added distraction measure. A small squad had already begun to flank on her side, but she decided against an attack. That would waste time.
"Flanking hostiles, ninety degrees from the window." She called into the comm. Then she continued running. She went through open doors, rolled underneath various gardens, and even vaulted a few fences. Her HUD lit up the direction and distance from her to her objective. All she had to worry about was getting there. Sprinting full-tilt across the encampment like a shadow out of the void, it didn't take long.
She skidded to a halt just half a block from Vega's position. She counted thirteen hostile forces attempting to gain the upper hand, but they apparently felt that getting closer would be a terrible idea. At least they had some grasp of tactical assessment. It took only moments for her to formulate a plan.
"Lieutenant-Commander Vega." She whispered. "Can you hear me?"
"Just fine!" He replied. "I'm guessing you're my backup?"
"Just so. Listen very closely - when you hear pistol fire, wait seven heartbeats, then join the fray on your right side." She instructed.
"Wait, wh-" he began, but she cut off their comm link before he could ask unnecessary questions. She hoped he had the presence of mind to follow along. she took out another drone and gave it instructions to move across the battlefield from her before firing on the batarian unit. The small orb obliged, taking the long path around. She made sure her Phalanx had proper armor-penetration already installed into its systems. Then, satisfied, she waited.
The unit in front of her react almost unanimously to the 'threat' of the drone, turning to fire as one. Sloppy. Panicky. But she didn't mind. She jumped up and closed the distance silently. The first one fell to a broken neck, as did the second. By the time the drone had been destroyed, she was already firing and moving simultaneously. Her pistol made a neat hole in the head of another.
She slid under one's legs and used her new position to kick a knee loose. She launched herself back up to a standing position and grabbed the now-kneeling batarian's head as a launching point. She leveled a double kick to the helmet of the one she'd slid underneath and used that momentum to flip and twist over the batarian whom she had a grip on. His neck snapped, too. Five seconds, four deaths, one unconscious. She was displeased that her progress was so slow.
Vega popped up exactly seven human adrenaline-fueled heartbeats later and began to fire, as instructed, on the right-side group. The ones on his left, Vaya was already taking care of. She landed in a crouch and pulled her omni-blade, turning a batarian to her left into a paraplegic in short order. She barely stopped for more than half an instant, and rolled away just as rounds struck against the dirt where she had been.
She propelled herself from a roll to a cartwheel and cut a head in half, landing with a jolt by driving the blade deep into another skull. She raised her pistol and removed another imminent danger. She spun on a heel, getting into position behind one of the now-few living opponents, and grabbed him from behind, around the neck. His own comrades executed him, leaving Vaya free to distribute more rounds into each. One yet remained on her side, so she kicked her prisoner into him and took his momentary loss of guard to disarm him, knock his breath loose, trip him, and pin his heart into the dirt by way of her blade in one blinding series of punches and kicks.
She stood and turned. Vega appeared to have killed the rest of them. Though, she noticed a few moving chests, including the one she had merely kicked off of earlier. She made it a point to walk around in a circle, answering intakes of breath with execution.
"Who...the hell...are you?" Vega had his weapon hanging loosely at his side, and was staring at her with not-at-all-disguised amazement.
"Corporal Dalias Vaya." She said shortly. "For the remainder of this mission, however, 'ma'am' will be fine." She took the opportunity to check her omni-tool, and by extension, the location of the Defense building. It was close. Very close.
Her comm unit crackled to life and, from Vega's expression, so did his. They both listened in quietly as an unfamiliar voice took the distant stage.
"...Repeat, this is Security Chief Jacob Taylor. Is anyone out there? We detected new linkups to our system..."
Vaya nodded Vega down and synched her unit to the new signal for a reply. "Chief Taylor, this is Corporal Vaya with the Normandy SR-3. What is your status, over?"
Jacob was apparently momentarily shocked into silence. "SR...? We're in pretty deep, Corporal. Most of my force is dead and we have hostiles in the labs. Please tell me you have an army topside."
"No, Chief. I apologize, but the two of us are all you have."
Another stunned silence. "Two? There are two of you? There are at least a few dozen hostiles down here, plus a whole lot more above ground!"
"And we are heavily outmatched." She finished. "The thought crossed my mind. Where are you?"
"Just behind the first lab levels. In a vent." He sounded as though he wasn't surprised by his predicament, merely mildly annoyed. "Listen - they disabled the security systems before you came in here. If you can get to that building..."
"That was our main objective, Chief." Vaya assured him. "I must ask that you hold position until we complete it. Then we will come for you."
"Sounds good." Jacob murmured. "Not like I'm going anywhere any time soon. Just...hurry, all right?"
"With all speed." Vaya confirmed. The line went silent. She nodded to Vega and started off north, towards the Defense building. Their path was, for the most part, clear - unfortunately, it seemed as though most of the invaders were busy dealing with Garrus and Kaidan. But, as they approached, it became apparent that the building itself wasn't guarded, either.
"Why isn't there anyone here?" Vega was, apparently, just as confused by this turn of events. "Do we have the right building?"
Vaya nodded and looked around. No traps that she could see...but that didn't necessarily mean there weren't any. She made a snap decision to do something stupid. "We can question our good fortune later. Cover me." Before he could protest, Vaya broke into a run. She made it up to the door and paused. She rationalized that since she wasn't dead yet, it was a good start. She made sure he pistol had a fresh thermal clip and pushed open the door. She stuck her head inside. No guards. Just consoles. Something definitely wasn't right here.
Of all the places Jacob had to hide in the past, he thought that a cooling vent was hardly the worst. If he started doing a guide to the galaxy's best hiding places in the event of a batarian attack, he'd give it a solid six, six point five.
He heard movements around him constantly. Bootsteps, faint shouting, even occasional gunfire. No one had found him yet, but that didn't give him an excuse to stop. He slowly inched his way toward the security department again. His office. Full of turrets closed off from the main hub and a lot of guns. A last-stand sort of place.
"Chief Taylor." The flanging voice from earlier was back in his ear. "I'm at the defense hub."
"Good." He whispered. "The code for activation-"
"I can't activate it."
"What?" Jacob asked, alarmed. "Why not?"
"Someone has rearranged the IFF protocols. Everything is reading as hostile."
"That's not..." Jacob wanted to end that one with 'possible', but in actuality, it probably was possible. But how, was the question.
"Chief, this is very important." Vaya continued. "What is the enemy objective?"
"They didn't tell me." Jacob informed her sardonically. "Could be they're abducting colonies again."
"If so, why this one?" Vaya didn't sound convinced. "What does it have that a planet in the Terminus does not?"
"The scientists." Jacob was starting to catch on to her line of thinking, and he didn't like the picture it was painting.
"On Eletania, we encountered evidence that Cerberus intends to manufacture a new line of Collector. But they keep failing. Improper genetic sequencing."
"And they need geneticists to do it right. We've got the best, lined up right here." Jacob felt like smashing his fist into the side of the vent, but that would have blown his cover. "Damn it. Cerberus...I thought we were done with them. You think the batarians are Cerberus, too?"
"No. Though Cerberus appears to have formed an alliance with the Blue Suns."
"Guess they can't be picky about who they sign up with."
"Correct. I believe I have a solution for the IFF sequencing problem. Can you send me your exact location?"
"Sure." It was only a momentary adjustment for his omni-tool, but Jacob had to shuffle forward a bit more so the light wouldn't get him noticed.
"I think I can task the system to tag individuals as friendly. What was the code?"
"Wait. What about the scientists?"
"You will have to send me their locations so that I can input them before I activate the security systems in a given area. I will be sending my teammate to assist you momentarily."
"Got it. Code's Uniform, Two, Delta, Two, Lima, Romeo, Lima, Romeo, Bravo, Alpha."
"That seems an odd code."
Jacob shrugged. "One of the scientists in the mech division came up with it. I think he was trying to screw around or make a joke."
"The defenses are online aboveground. Inform me when a room is clear or when all friendlies are tagged."
"You got it. When is my reinforcement gonna be here?"
At that moment, he heard faint gunfire coming from the level above. He hefted his sidearm. "Oh." He muttered. "Nevermind."