Mass Effect: A Few Good Soldiers
Chapter 6: The Cure
Shepard lay with her head resting on her lover's chest while her arms were wrapped around his waist. While Garrus's skin was harder than human skin it was also warmer… like her own little private heater she could snuggle with. Blinking the sleep from her eyes she rolled over glanced at her night stand. The clock on her stand read 05:50 which was less than four hours away from Virmire. In about thirty minutes she was going to have to conduct the briefing and finish preparations for the Virmire assignment.
She'd reported back to the Council after the Noveria assignment and they'd been extremely displeased to learn that Binary Helix had been cloning Rachni. They'd promised to send investigators to Noveria and had promised to look into the new data she had sent them on Benezia and this "Sovereign" ship.
Despite her optimistic hopes it appeared that far more was going on than just a rouge Spectre's private vendetta against the human race. The Reapers, who or whatever they were, were involved and that boded ill for everyone. If her visions were anything to go by than the Reapers were the single greatest threat the galaxy had ever faced.
Beneath her she felt Garrus's chest rumble, a clear sign that he was waking up, "What's up Kara," he said groggily and she felt his hand come to rest on the small of his back as he pulled her close to him and began to nuzzle her neck.
Closing her eyes she let the sensation sweep over her. He'd been good to begin with but over time they'd spent together he'd only gotten better, "As much as I hate say it," she moaned as Garrus's hand went south of the border, "we have to stop… we have to get ready."
Garrus groaned as he removed his mouth from her neck, "Shower," he said urgently.
"What," she muttered dumbly glancing down at him.
"We've got to take a shower right," Garrus answered in a sultry and suggestive tone.
Propping herself up on her elbow she took on an innocent tone, "Why Mr. Vakarian are you suggesting… a quicke," she said putting on airs but that didn't last long before they both collapsed in a fit of laughter and giggles.
"Why not," she finally said when the laughter died down and she saw Garrus's eyes go wide in surprise as she jumped from the bed. She felt Garrus's eyes follow her naked form When she was halfway to the shower she threw a glance over her shoulder, "coming lover?"
XXX
"Saren, Spectre," the monotone voice of a geth trooper intone, "the attack by the salarian infiltration unit has been repulsed. Do you wish units to pursue and exterminate?"
"No," the Spectre ordered sternly, "let them withdraw."
Unlike previous occasions the geth didn't immediately move to carry out his orders and instead questioned, "Why," it finally blurted tilting its head in a questioning matter, "we cannot reach consensus. Logical dictates the immediate destruction of the opposition force."
Saren rapped his talons on the armor plating of his thigh, "There is one being in this galaxy who may or may not know what we are trying to do," he started glaring hard at the geth's optical sensor, "this Kathryn Shepard touched minds with the beacon on Eden Prime , captured Shiala on Feros and killed Benezia on Noveria. So far she's proved to be the greatest single threat to this operation."
"You wish to draw her into a trap using the salarians as bait," the geth calculated and it was confirmed by a brief nod, "Question: how do you know that Agent Shepard will be assigned to rescue the infiltration team?"
"I know the Council's operating procedures," Saren barked harshly, "tracking me is Shepard's assignment. They'll turn over all information relative to that objective to her and that will bring her here where I can deal with her once and for all."
For a creature without an expression the geth did a good job of looking thoughtful, "Affirmative," it finally said, "We will comply," and with that it left.
Saren watched the geth leave with barely controlled anger. During the last few months all of his plans had begun to go wrong. On Eden Prime he hadn't managed to cover his trail and that got him ejected from the Spectres. On Therum the geth botched the chance to get their hands on one of the foremost Prothean experts in the galaxy and on Feroes the geth couldn't even kill a plant! To make matters Benezia had gotten herself killed on Noveria and according to his sources on the Citadel she had even talked to the human before expiring.
He wasn't quite sure what Shepard did or didn't know but he was sure that he didn't want her around to interfere in his future plans. He needed to neutralize Shepard and do it fast. Killing her was certainty the easiest and quickest way to get rid of her, but it wasn't the easiest or perhaps even the best.
Saren gave thought to attempting to convince the human Spectre to join his cause. As formidable an enemy she had become he'd bet she'd be just as formidable as an ally. Perhaps it was a move of desperation to seek an enemy as an ally but Saren was beyond caring. This was bigger than either of them. If she didn't see the light then he'd just have to put her down.
XXX
Admiral Steven Hackett the Admiral of the Fifth Fleet and the commander of all Alliance Forces fighting the geth sat in his office onboard the Orizaba while it and the rest of the fleet commenced repairs after their battle in the Armstrong Cluster.
He took a sip of his black unsweetened coffee as he read over the latest logistic reports from the dockmaster of the naval shipyards on the status of the repairs to the fleet. Most of the major repairs were completed and now they were just waiting on replacement fighters and for the main cannon of one of the cruisers to be realigned.
There was a brief rap at his door and he looked up, "Enter," he called out and his personal yeoman entered holding a data pad.
"Admiral we received a communiqué from the Office of the President relaying a request from the Commander of the Combined Citadel Defense Fleet. General Septimus has requested we link up with the Allied Forces massing at the Citadel," the Admiral's aide reported.
Hackett sighed glancing up from the pad. General Orlan Septimus was a turian war hero of a dozen minor brush wars and the turian's most experience flag officer, "I'm going to guess the president didn't make that a request, "the admiral said wearily. He didn't have anything against the turians or aliens in general. He was however wary of putting his sailors, soldiers and marines under the command of a foreign officer.
"Aye Admiral," he said with a slow nod, "our Commander-in-Chief has ordered us to rendezvous with the Allied Fleet as soon as the Fifth is fully operational again."
He gave a grunt of acknowledgement as he reread the orders for himself before dismissing the yeoman and taking another sip of his coffee. Putting down the datapad the yeoman brought him he picked up another, the one he had been reading before he was interrupted.
The datapad contained a full layout of Shepard's field reports and findings from her assignments. What was troubling the old admiral the most was her growing concern that the geth and Saren weren't the true threat. He watched the helmet recording of the asari on Feros and Matriarch Benzia talk about this fearsome and mysterious dreadnaught Sovereign and these Reapers.
The strategist in him was irate that something this big, this important, could have been overlooked. He'd seen the reports from what had been salvaged from the marine garrison and observation satellites and any third-rate analyst could tell that that Sovereign clearly wasn't a geth ship.
In fact their encounter with the geth in the Armstrong Cluster proved that. He had received the analysis report he'd asked for back on a comparison of Sovereign's energy readings from Eden Prime to the energy readings they took in their battle. They didn't match… except on the most basic levels and that didn't say much because on the most basic levels a human ship would match a turian and whatnot.
He had forwarded the results to Fleet Command on Arcturus Station and a copy to the Citadel. Whatever his position on the Allied Fleet may have been it didn't do anyone but the geth and the reapers any good if he withheld it.
Hopping onto his computer he logged into a secure channel and began typing up a reply to Fleet Comm and the President saying that he'd comply with his orders and depart from Terra Nova the moment his fleet was fully operational again. After sending that message he prepared another for General Septimus requesting information on where exactly the turian wanted him and what his assignment would be.
When he finished with that he closed down the computer and swept up the logistics datapad to continue his check of the fleet.
XXX
"Commander we've just exited FTL, stealth systems are engaged and we're moving in to take up a position in orbit," Joker's voice came over the loudspeaker.
Glancing up from where she had been strapping her side-arm to her thigh Shepard replied, "Copy that Lieutenant make sure your scanning for burst transmissions," she reminded him. On the way here she'd put in a call to Salarian Special Operations Command requesting a crash course in STG tactics and procedures.
She'd spent a good six hours on the comm with a STG Colonel as he went over what she'd could expect and how to best link up with the covert unit with giving them away. While linking up with another Spec Op unit that was something she was familiar with the other team had always been another human military unit with similar SOPs.
The STG Colonel had informed her that STG teams, when expecting support, used a very fine stream data burst transmission which contained their location and status. So if the STG were following their own operating procedures then this mission would be off to a good start. If not Shepard wasn't quite sure what she could do.
Shepard spared a glance at the rest of her team and Garrus's team as they suited up and ran checks on their weapons. She hid a smirk as she glanced back down to insert the charging handle back into her rifle. This group of misfits who, six months ago she would rather gone on a mission by herself than with, them was shaping into the best, or perhaps luckiest, unit she had ever commanded.
"We have the signal commander," Joker blared interrupting her thoughts, "decrypting now."
"Any sign of the geth Lieutenant," Shepard questioned warily. If this planet was as important as the Council and the STG teams seemed to think it was she would have expected a fleet of ships orbiting the planet.
"Negative, negative commander," he said after a few moments, "Skies are clear."
After hooking her helmet to the back of her belt Shepard frowned. Somehow that was almost if not as bad as if he had said they were facing hundreds of warships. The only reason to leave something so apparently import was one: it wasn't as important as everyone seemed to think it was, two: it was a secret facility that Saren wanted to keep hidden and three: it was a trap.
Shepard could believe the first one without much difficulty. Armies in wars throughout the ages have devoted countless men and material in efforts that would later be revealed to be a wild goose chase. Even the vaunted Salarian Intelligence Services was capable of making mistakes.
She, however, was much more skeptical about the second possibility. Saren wasn't an idiot. Despite the fact that fate seemed to be against him Shepard wasn't stupid enough to consider him her inferior. They didn't make stupid Spectres. The secrecy of whatever was on this planet was clearly gone and Saren should be rushing reinforcements to defend or evacuate whatever was so important.
The finally possibility was the one she was most worried about. The Normandy would be invisible both in and out of the atmosphere but the moment her boots it the ground both she and the Normandy was vulnerable. The geth had to have AAA and SAM's all over the place and as soon as a firefight started any mobile batteries they had would go on high alert looking for the Normandy. Any evac option would have to get them beyond the range of the AA units or they'd have to destroy those batteries themselves. Either way it wasn't pretty plan.
The thought that it was a trap was an interesting one or more importantly it was interesting though of whom the trap was set for? Somehow she doubted the trap at been set for a single STG unit and while it was a flattering thought she didn't think it was a trap sent for her. The best rational her mind could come up with was that Saren and the geth were setting up a trap for the Allied Citadel Fleet.
The last she had heard from the Council was that they had put out a call to the turians, asari, salarian, and Alliance governments for ship to defend the Citadel and respond to the threat posed by Saren and the geth. If the geth got the Citadel Fleet to move and wiped it out before it was properly bolstered then the Citadel would be vulnerable to attacks as the Council scrapped and begged to replace its losses.
"We have the location of the salarians and I've already done a flyby," Joker's voice once more echoed over the comm system, "It's a heavily wooded area with a river running through the middle of it. Don't big enough for a jump."
Before answer she turned her neck to look back at Garrus, "Get them down to the cargo bay," she said. If the area had been open enough she would have preferred conducting a combat jump froma least a hundred and fifty meters off the ground so the Normandy didn't have to come in at treetop height as it did now, "Do have eyes on anything else in the area Lieutenant?"
"Aye skipper," the pilot sounded, "there's a facility surrounded by a ring of triple A and SAM batteries about two klicks upriver."
She grimaced even as she said, "Nice work Lieutenant take us in," she wasn't so much worried about the SAM's the Normandy's stealth systems and ECM would take care of them. She was worried about the anti-aircraft-artillery as it was unguided and therefore unaffected by the stealth systems and the ECM.
She took a last look over her equipment before she was satisfied she had everything and headed to where the rest of her team was waiting. She had another potentially suicidal mission to accomplish.
XXX
"Jaeto, Four coming in," a voice whispered over the comm giving the running password for the operation and the number of troopers returning from their patrol.
Captain Kirrahe the commander of the 3rd Company of the 3rd Infiltration Regiment STG waited until the four salarian came into view before lowering his rifle and clicking the safety back on. He tapped each commando on the shoulder as they moved into the company's security zone to make sure he had a correct count of all his men.
When he was finished he followed the last man back to the middle of the security zone for a debriefing on their recon patrol, "What did you see corporal," the STG officer questioned the moment they were secure.
The salarian NCO activated his omi-tool bringing up the feed from his helmet camera, "Sir if you notice here it looks like they went and pulled all their patrols and anti-air back behind the facility's perimeter," the operative said as he scrolled through the feed.
"Good job corporal," he said as he downloaded the data from the salarian's omi-tool, "take you're men and get something to eat."
"Yes sir," the corporal said.
The Captain couldn't see his eyes beneath his helmet the commando's body language told him he was weary… they all were weary. They'd lost too many comrades, too many friends, investigating that damn facility. He just hoped what every officer hoped when he or she was called upon to lay not only their live but the lives of the soldiers under them. He hoped that in the end it would be worth the blood price they paid.
With the data on his omi-tool he walked over to where his second, First Lieutenant Rentola, was catching the thirty minutes or so that at the very minimum a salarian need to function properly. When he reached him he gave the Lieutenant a gently kicking in the side.
The salarian was on alert immediately reaching for his weapon before he saw his commander and let the weapon go, "Sir," he questioned as he slowly pushed himself off the ground mostly likely assuming the Captain wanted him to take command while he went on a patrol or something like that.
"Sit back down Rentola," the captain said softly not wanting to wake the other slumbering commandos, "the patrol just got back and I want you to look over their finds with me."
"Yeah," he said throwing a look up at the heavens, "I hope our reinforcements get here soon."
Kirrahe too looked up at the heavens. He on more than one occasion over the last few weeks found himself straining his eyes to see if he could catch even the slighted glimpse of shadow that meant reinforcements or as humans put it, the cavalry, has arrived, "They're already too damn late," he cursed as the faces of his dead men swam up before his eyes, "Too damn late."
XXX
With a thump Shepard felt her boots it the soft sand of the river bank and fell forward catching herself with her hands and knees. Quickly she unlatched the straps on her eezo pack and let it fall to the ground before shouldering her rifle and scanning the area.
As the rest of her squad came in behind her she make a quick gesture for them to make a b-line for the tree-line. Holding on her rifle with her right hand she picked up the eezo pack and followed her team into the tree where they were stashing their packs underneath some dense brush and vegetation.
After stashing her pack as well she formed up her team, her, Alenko and Wrex, at the front of the formation in a wedge formation with her in the point man position at the very front. Garrus's team followed about fifteen meters behind and in an identical formation.
Next to Urban Warfare, Jungle warfare was the most hazardous and hard mentally and physically on the troops who fought on the ground. The minimal visibility, constant threat of ambushes and bobby traps and the unnerving feeling of being surrounded made it a hellish environment to fight in.
Upon reaching roughly 200 hundred meters from the estimated salarian position she held up her left hand in a fist signaling them to halt and then made a sweep motion with the same hand signaling them to drop to their knee and take cover.
Doing the same she brought her left hand to the side of her helmet near her ear and opened low frequency short-range comm channel on frequencies the STG colonel had given her, "STG forces this Agent Shepard with Special Tactics and Recon and seven friendlies coming up on your southwest perimeter," she paused before repeating her last sentence.
There was a brief pause and Shepard was about to set a wider frequency range when she heard a voice come over the comm, "Shepard this is Captain Kirrahe. It's a pleasure… southwest perimeter is open hurry through."
"Roger that Captain," she said and motioned her team forward. Shouldering her rifle her team picked themselves up and continued forward towards the STG's forward defensive position. As they moved Shepard kept a keen eye open for the salarians in cover. It was a point of professional to spot them before they spotted her; it was made far more difficult because the salarians were stationary as she was on the move.
"Halt," a voice crackled from the brush and Shepard cursed under her breath. She let go her weapon with her left hand and pointed the barrel of her weapon towards the air in a nonthreatening manner. As two camouflaged and armored salarians emerged from the brush, "Captain Kirrahe is waiting for you in the Cee-Pee Agent Shepard."
"Lead the way," she said with a small nod and the STG operators lead them back to where their captain had set up a small command post.
The captain sat on a stump with his helmet off. He stood as she approached and held out his hand, "I think this the correct gesture," the STG captain said with a small smile on his face.
Shepard took his hand and shook it, "It is… nice to meet you Captain."
"Likewise Agent Shepard," Kirrahe replied as he sat back down, "So you're the pathfinder's for the rest of the fleet… right?"
Beneath her helmet Shepard felt her lip twitch. They were expecting the fleet…, "Sorry to disappoint captain, but it just my team and my ship in orbit. We were sent to investigate the transmission your sent. It was grabbled and couldn't be understood."
The salarian's horizontal eyelids blinked rapidly, "That is a repetition of our original assignment," the captain hissed, "I've lost a lot of good men investigating that damn facility!"
Shepard grimaced at the captain's reaction. She imaged that if something similar had happened to her, her reaction wouldn't be all that different from his. The captain's men had been out dying in the jungle awaiting the fleet to come in and rescue them, but instead got a single frigate and a squad of troopers.
"Sorry captain," she said as sympathetic as she could be, "but we're all you got," she paused, "I hate to be a bitch but time is not an element on our side. Show me what you've got."
The salarian captain slowly nodded before bringing up his omi-tool and deploying a 3-D topographical map of the area.
XXX
Lieutenant Commander Adam Lee sat in the officer club in the naval yard in New Belfast. It was one of the most popular destinations for naval and marine personal on leave. He knocked back another shot of tequila and motioned for a refill.
"Scuttlebutt says were gonna be heading out to the Citadel," Commander Aaron Maxwell the CAG of the SSV Einstein said as he held a bottle of beer by its steam, "you heard anything Lee?"
Lee shook his head, "Sorry Max … haven't heard anything new," he said as the bartender refilled his shot glass, "though it makes sense. The news has been making a big deal about the fleets gathering at the Citadel."
"Not sure I like the idea of serving under an alien," another man with the gold oak-leaves of a Marine Major said as he ground the butt of his cigarette into the ash tray before lighting up another, "just doesn't seem right to me."
"Doesn't sit well with me either," Commander Maxwell said sipping on his beer, "but what are we gonna do about it," he finished setting the empty beer bottle on the bar's counter. He spun on the stool to ace Lee, "By the way I never congratulated you on becoming an ace," he finished throwing Lee a mock salute.
"Thanks," the commander of the twenty-fourth interceptor squadron said raising his shot glass up into the air. He quickly downed the shot before standing and pulled his wallet from rear pocket and swiped his ID through the slide that would charge his account, "Sorry boys I need to get back to ship," and with that he left.
As he left the bar he pulled his uniform overcoat as the chilly wind of New Belfast tore through the air. The Lt. Cmdr. could have caught a cab back airstrip but instead he decided that he could use the fresh air. It'd been a hard couple of weeks and looked as if things were only going to get harder.
Before this the only thing the Navy had been doing was patrol duty, the occasional disaster relief and the even rarer skirmish with pirates and raiders. He had rather enjoyed the chance to trounce a few pirates and raiders in outdated and sometimes even antique fighters and ships which didn't stand a snowball's chance in hell of standing up to a real ship of the line.
As he thought back to it now seemed like they had almost been playing at war compared to their battle with the geth. Back then Alliance losses were few and far between as they always had a clear advantage over their opponents. Now they were fighting an opponent who technologically was at the very least their equal.
For the first real time he realized that this war was going to be a bitch. By the time the geth had been driven back behind the Veil, assuming they could be beaten in a full scale war, millions if not more would be dead mostly likely concluding himself and all his men. It was a very sobering thought.
He flashed his ID card two the MP's at the checkpoint to the airstrip before passing through the gate and onto the tarmac towards the shuttle. When he reached the shuttle he slapped the release button and the hatch popped open.
"Pilot," Lee called out has he entered the shuttle, "How long until we take off?"
The pilot checked his logbook and then said few words to the tower before turning back, "We can go now if you want Commander doesn't look like we have anyone due back for at least an hour."
Lee nodded, "Take us out," he said as he strapped himself into the co-pilot's seat.
The pilot ran down the checklist and Lee assisted to make the preflight check go faster. When they were finally finished the pilot radioed the tower one last time before the pilot throttled up the engines and the shuttlecraft rose into the air.
Throughout their flight the commander noticed that the pilot kept glancing over at him like he wanted to ask a question but wasn't sure how to ask. As the shuttle broke orbit Lee leaned back in chair as the orbital dockyard of Terra Nova and the Big-E herself came into view.
Suddenly he noticed something strange out of the corner of his eye. The patrols of frigates and cruisers were breaking from their standard patrol routes and where taking a position between the docks and the direction of the Mass Relay.
"What's going on," Lee asked rapidly glancing from ship to ship in the dockyard.
If the pilot was going to say anything he was cut off as Admiral Hackett's voice cut across the communicator, "All ships this is Admiral Hackett on a priority one transmission. Possible geth activity sighted near the Relay; Set Condition One throughout the fleet and man your battle stations, this is not a drill."
"Shit," the pilot cursed angrily, "I'm getting out of here!"
"Get to the Enterprise," the Commander said sternly placing his hand on the pilots arm, "That's an order ensign."
XXX
Shepard carefully nodded as she studies the maps STG officer presented and felt a twinge of envy pass through her. These were perhaps best recon photos she had ever seen apart from a satellite or off the Normandy herself.
She scrolled back to a still of the facility, "Do we know exactly what this is," Shepard questioned circling the picture with her forefinger.
"It's a R&D facility," the Captain said softly before delivering crushing news, "breeding an army of Krogan to serve him."
Apparently the captain had not been as quiet as he should have been because moments later the krogan battlemaster Wrex grumbled his eyes ablaze, "That's impossible… the Genophage prevents it!"
The vertical slits of the salarian's eyes blinked rapidly before the STG officer exhaled, "Saren's apparently has developed a cure to reversal the genophage's effects. It that's true…," the man trailed off letting Shepard form her own conclusions.
And form them the commander did. She nor any other human had been around during the Krogan Rebellions but knew from the history holos and texts that it had been a war the Council had been well on their way to loosing before the salarians had developed the genophage bio-weapon. If Saren could use the sway the krogan or even breed or clone and army of his own in conjunction with the geth he already commanded… the thought brought Shepard to a place she didn't want to go.
Whatever her personal moral feeling about the salarian sterility plague she was smart enough to realize that the Council hadn't a choice in the matter. If they hadn't they would have been overwhelmed and civilization as a whole would have been destroyed.
"We have to destroy it," she finally said to Wrex's dismay.
'What," the inflamed krogan roared inserting himself brutally in between Shepard and the salarian officer, "No this cure is the salvation of my people Shepard," he paused for a heartbeat as his nostrils flared and eyes narrowed , "I've fought for you Shepard and for reasons beyond the credits you pay me, but things are starting to look a little foggy."
Shepard grit her teeth and gestured over to the side away from the prying ears of the STGs, "We'll be just a minute captain," she hissed.
When she had pulled the enraged krogan away she glared at him, "Listen Wrex," she growled in a low voice, "I'm not going to even pretend we're friends, but Saren isn't your friend either."
"Saren offers a cure for my people," the krogan bit back just a little too loudly.
Shepard spared a glance over Wrex's shoulder and saw both Garrus and Williams cycle the bolt of their weapons. She gave a slight shake of her head and they both relaxed… if only slightly, "Use the fucking organ in between your ears for something else than to old your helmet on," she cursed backhanding the krogan across the face, "Saren doesn't give a fuck about the krogan you're little more than a walking fleshy mechs to him!"
She took a step back and pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration as she calmed down from anger, "You have to make a choice Wrex," she said softly, "you can be Saren's…," she paused searching for the right word, "slaves, his bitch or you can stand against him… it's your choice."
Wrex ground his teeth and rolled his massive head as he brought his hand up to cradle his jaw, "Damn you Shepard," he hissed, "Damn you, your fucktoy over there and damn your whole fucking race to hell if you're not right," he sighed deeply his shoulders sagging, "I'm in but I want that bastard Saren to pay."
Shepard ignored his remark about Garrus, he'd pay for that later, "I'll let you rip his head off if we get the chance," she said absolutely serious. She wasn't quite sure how her ad Saren's confrontation would pan out but she doubted the ex-Spectre would let himself be taken alive.
Thrusting a glove covered finger at her face he growled, "I'm gonna hold you to that Shepard."
"I bet you will," she added without much emotion, "Now," she continued steel reentering her voice, "fall in line and let's get this shit over," with that said she pushed her way pat him hoping that he wouldn't turn and cave her head in.
But thankful he didn't make a move but just walked off grumbling under his breath. Garrus stepped up to her with a concerned look on his face, "You had be worried for a second Shepard," he whispered softly.
Shepard threw a quick glance over shoulder before turning back to face her turian, "I need you to watch him Garrus and if…" she made a quick cutting gesture across her throat.
The turian nodded and patted the side of his rifle, "I understand."
XXX
The mighty Big-E shook as a nuclear device impacted against the kinetic barrier. Lee found himself thrown up against the wall as the low yield tactical nuke detonated. He scrambled to his feet and continued making his way towards the launch deck for the fighters.
"Shit," he cursed. The Shipyards at Terra Nova were supposed to be one of the most secure places in the Alliance and someone, he was going to assume the geth, had not only managed to slip through the perimeter, but had brought nukes with them.
He'd already dressed in his combat flight suit and joined up with the reserve fighter unit as they headed towards their fighters. Dashing through the last doors to the launch bay, ignoring the blaring sirens and avoiding the damage control teams, he ordered the pilots to their craft and hurriedly sought out the deck chief.
"Chief," he hollered at the top of his lungs as he found the grizzled old NCO yelling at a couple of deck hands, "What the hell's going on here?"
The Deck Chief glared at him, "We got caught with our damn pants caught down around our waist and the geth are giving it to us up the ass," he shook his head before shouting out a few more commands to the deck hands, "a couple of big cruisers wiped out the Relay Patrol before they could get a word off and overloaded the sensor grid with so many pings it still sorting it out."
"How many targets," the commander said quickly as he climbed into his fighter and quickly started an emergency pre-flight.
"After all the big ships left about six or seven nuclear armed suicide fighters slipped in… that's what you felt hitting the Big-E," he explained before slapping the side of the fighter, "Your good to go commander."
He gave the chief a give nod and Lee pressed the button that caused the cockpit canopy to slid forward and seal. The commander gave the chief a thumbs up before the Raptor was loaded onto the sled and launched.
Lee felt the old familiar sensation of being slammed chair by the force of acceleration back in his chair before the sleek fighter broke free of the Enterprise's artificial gravity and out into the blackness and weightlessness of space.
"Knights," he heard the voice of the Enterprise's CAG call for his squadron over the comm, "proceed on vector two-eight by nine-three and kept your eyes peeled."
"Roger that Enterprise," Lee called before switching over to his squadron comm channel, "alright boys and girls we're gonna spilt up by pairs and go hunter killer."
One by one the flight leaders acknowledged and they split off into pairs darting through and around the ship yard like angry bees defending their hive. As Lee and his wingman flew back over the length of the carrier he winced as he saw the damage the Big-E had suffered. A good circular scorch ring of black and twisted metal scarred the side where the nuke had detonated right above the starboard flight pod where the ships would come into land.
His lip twitched at the thought of what would have happened if the Kinetic Barriers hadn't been deployed the nuke would have blown the pod to kingdom come and probably taken the carrier with it. Alliance Carriers were never met to enter combat and they weren't even close to armored enough to stand up in an open fight.
As another nuke detonated against the hull of the Enterprise Lee cursed again. Someone or something had fucked up here real bad.
XXX
Shepard move slowly, each step carefully planned for minimal noise, through the forest with only Virmire's two moons for light. Alenko and Williams followed behind her as they moved towards the breeding facility from the west side while Garrus and the salarians moved in towards from eastern side to prepare for a diversionary strike.
The plan as it was relatively simple. The Salarian Special Tasks Group commandos and Garrus's team would assault the facility drawing the geth towards them and away from her infiltration team while they slipped into the back and planted the nuke. The Salarian had wanted to jury rig his ship's drive core to create a faux nuclear bomb, but she had nixed that idea. Improvised explosives were great if you couldn't get your hands on the real stuff, but when you had a standard Alliance issue Fury Tactical Nuclear Weapon.
While they hadn't ever been used in anger Alliance N7 commandos generally kept a few on ship in case they were ever needed. It had been a simple enough matter to get the Fury airdropped in from the Normandy. While the blast of the Fury was only about twenty megaton it still had enough kick to vaporize everything for at least ten square kilometers in every direction.
Normally though, even N7 Commandos would have to receive authority from a flag level officer of at least 0-10 grade, full Admiral or General, for authorized use of Nuclear Ordinance. As a Spectre she was legally above the law, but she knew Alliance Command wouldn't be very please she broke nuclear protocol.
Almost without thought she reached her left hand around and touched the football shaped device attached to her belt at the small of her back. Again Nuclear Ordnance Protocol demanded the only the team leader should carry the weapon. While in training she had carried a dummy one like everyone else this was the first time she had a live one. She was a little bit nervous about having a nuke strapped to her ass. Logically she knew there was no way for it to go off unless she armed it, but it was still unsettling. It was a far cry from training where they had actually played a game off football with the dummy.
As they approached the western wall of Saren's compound Shepard felt a feeling of unease well up in her stomach. She glanced to her right and left then judged the distance between the tree line and the wall as less than twenty meters. Anyone building a base in the middle of the forest knew they had to push the forest back around them to at least two to three hundred meters to prevent any sneak attacks on the base just like they were doing now.
"Low crawl," she whispered to her squad-mates and she eased herself to the ground and began the low arduous crawl through the mud and grime towards the base of the wall. When she got to the wall she got to her knees and pressed her against the side, "Williams," she whispered again, "satchel."
Williams nodded and pulled a shaped satchel charge from her pack, stripped the paper covering off the back exposing the sticky side. She pressed the charge to the side of the wall and made sure the seals were good before plugging the detonator into the plastic materiel that made up the charge.
Shepard felt the gunny tap her on the shoulder as she moved around in front of her, "Stand Clear," she whispered and quickly activated her omi-tool Shepard synced her tool up with the detonator and waited. The diversionary attack should be starting soon and she needed something to over the sound of the explosion. She waited listen as the first popping of gunfire shatter the peaceful silence of the night.
Suddenly an explosion rocked the air and Shepard wasn't quite what it was but it didn't make any difference. She triggered the detonator and a tenth of a second later the wall blew in. Shepard made a quick and signal and shouldered her rifle entering the newly made door with her team in tow.
She warily glanced around. Her team the aptly named shadow team purpose was to infiltrate the facility, plant the bomb and get the hell out while the other team bought time and provided a distraction. It would make this mission a hell of a lot easier the longer they went unnoticed.
Sticking to the shadows they moved silently their suppressed weapons held ready just in case. Fromm the corner of her eye she saw an orange flare and heard a deafening explosion. For a second she felt her breath catch and her chest tighten with worry about Garrus and the others. Shaking off her worry she focused back on the mission.
Eventually after dodging a few patrols they came to the main laboratory building, a massive structure that rose out of the ground in an ominous fashion. The came to what looked like a massive loading doors for shipping containers and transport vehicles and beside it on the left was a normal door.
Williams moved to take up positions on either side of the door while Shepard took a position up in front of it. She watched as Alenko brought up his omi-tool and began to fiddle with it, "The door has a secondary level of security that'll trip if attempt to disable the top level without first disabling the bottom," he paused for a moment, "give me a few seconds."
As he was working on Shepard popped the breach on her rife she inserted a concussion round in into the chamber and cycled the rifle. While not as powerful as explosives a concussion was far quieter and less dangerous to the breaching team.
A concussion round was ideal for breeching situations where you didn't want to risk explosives and the door was too strong to bash in manually. Finally Alenko shut down his omi-tool and flashed her a thumbs up before re-shouldering his rifle.
Moments later Williams nodded signaling she was ready and Shepard raised her rifle and focused in on the side of the door with the handle. Tensing she pulled the trigger and with a "whoomp" the concussion round fired and shattered the door lock and it brokenly swung open.
Williams was the first to enter SWAT style with Alenko seconds behind her. Shepard shouldered her weapon and advanced. The moment she crossed the threshold she shifted her aim to cover the stair case at her ten o'clock.
"Clear," the gunny called out from the base of the stair.
Shepard glanced up the three flights of stairs with a worried expression on her face which thankfully was concealed by her helmet. She had no idea what waited for them once they made it into the laboratory or at least she assumed that this building was the laboratory as their scans had revealed that most of the bases electrical power was being funneled into this building.
"I'm on point gunny," the Spectre said brooking no argument. She put her right put boot on the first step while at the same time her weapon was aimed up toward the top of the stairs. Slowly one step at a time she and her team began to climb the stairs.
Shepard felt her heart pounding in her as the harsh sound of her breathing echoed in her ears as she advanced into the unknown. Finally they reached the top flight of the stairs and stood before door like the one they had previous forced themselves through.
She let Alenko pass her on the right so the LT could check for addition security features. When the Lieutenant finally reported it was clean he fell back into line and she reached forward and very slowly pushed the door open.
"Clear," she whispered as she fully opened the door and went through it. If the recon photos were correct they were on the right track towards what the STG eggheads had calculated as the optimum position to place the bomb.
Like a wisp of cloud they ghosted their way through the facility avoiding two patrols of geth troopers that were making their rounds. As they passed through the labs Shepard couldn't help but feel a sense of unease as they walked through a phalanx of krogan fetuses and embryos floating in glass tubes. She wasn't a religious person, at least not for a long time now, but what they were doing here didn't sit right with her.
She could actually understand where the desire to cure the genophage came from but what Saren was doing to the krogan, breeding them like a hunter breeds a hound, was wrong. How or why the Blood Pack krogans would allow the allow Saren to turn them into slaves was beyond her.
Eventually they made their way through the lab and into another room which looked somewhat like the council chamber with a long walkway extending out over a lower level.
"Commander," she heard Alenko say quickly, "look down there. Is that what I think it is?"
Shepard spared a glance down to the lower level and her eyes went wide as she did… a second Prothean beacon, "I think it is," she hissed as painfully memories of her first encounter with a similar device flashed through her mind, "Take positions at the entry ways ," she ordered the two marines as she started down the stairs.
When she finally stood before the beacon she activated her omi-tool and recorded the signals emitting from the device. As she stood near the beacon she could felt almost like the device was calling out to her. She grit her teeth and tried to focus on anything but the beacons siren song. Eventual against her own better judgment she reached out with her right hand and laid her palm flat against the cool metal skin of the device.
The moment her gloved hand touched the prothean beacon she felt something like electricity jolt through her entire body. "Fuck," she hissed in pain has a host of images, most being extremely disturbing, assaulted her mind. As the beacon released her she collapse down on one knee, "Son of a bitch."
At least it didn't cause her to pass out like last time. That would have complicated matters beyond all belief if Alenko and Williams had to carry her unconscious body. While on one knee she planted the bomb behind the beacon. It wasn't the spot the STGs had suggested she planted it but she wanted to make sure that no matter what the beacon was destroyed. With one last curse she forced herself back on her feet and started stumbling back up the stairs.
"Are you alright commander," she heard Alenko questioned looking back over his shoulder.
Shepard chuckled and giving the man a look, "I just got brain fucked lieutenant… again how do you think I feel," she shook her head and was about to say smoothing else that could be classified as a 'smart-ass' remark when she noticed a red glow being projected on the wall in front of her.
"Is that a VI," she heard Williams question as Shepard turned around to investigate the source of the strange light. She approached the familiar looking holographic figure warily… it was Saren's flagship… Sovereign if she remembered correctly.
She only gotten a glimpse of it back on Eden Prime but she was sure it wasn't something she'd forget anytime soon. The more important question was if Sovereign really was a Reaper then it made sense the Saren had just found it, as unlikely as that sounded, and had merely learned how to operate it. If Saren figured out all its secrets and even worse if the geth had the technological capacity to produce more ships like Sovereign then Saren may not even need the rest of the Reapers.
If it was a schematic of the reaper ship then maybe they could find some weakness in its design. That would be a major intel coup for the boys in the Citadel Intelligence Agency. She stepped forward with her omi-tool activated to record all the data from the terminal.
As she neared the end of the outstretched platform she heard three artificial and chilling deep words issue forth from the hologram, "You are not Saren."
Ok… definitely not a simple set of schematics, "Ahhh no… I'm not," she drawled before pausing, "are you some kind of Virtual Intelligence interface," she echoed Williams's early question.
"Rudimentary creatures of blood and flesh, you touch my mind, fumbling in ignorance, incapable of understanding. There is a realm of existence, so far beyond your own you cannot even imagine it. I, am beyond your comprehension. I… am Sovereign," it said in that same lifeless but chilling tone.
"Definitely not a VI," she intoned eyes wide underneath her helmet before they narrowed with revelation, "fucking hell," she intoned as the realization fully hit her, "you're not a reaper ship you're an actual reaper!"
It was an important distinction. Geth capital ships, at least all the ones they'd seen so far, were just like anyone else's; ships that required people or in the geth's case actuall troopers or platforms to crew them. A ship that was an AI not merely crewed by them was something no one had ever seen before and presented a huge threat. Weapons and tech aside such fighting such a ship would be like fighting a living creature. It wouldn't require a captain to give orders to be relayed to the proper department all it would have to do it think and its body would move.
"'Reaper?' A label created by the Prothean's, to give voice to their destruction. In the end, what they chose to call us is irrelevant... we simply, are."
"That was fifty thousand years ago," Shepard exclaimed. It was hard to believe anything could have lasted that long; though… she had to admit for a machine it was possible depending of what level of maintenance was required and the quality of the materials involved in its construction. Of course this all brought into question who built them.
"Organic life is nothing but a genetic mutation, an accident. Your lives are measured in years and decades, you wither and die. We are eternal, the pinnacle of evolution, and existence. Before us, you, are nothing. Your extinction is inevitable. We are the end of everything."
Shepard straightened up in a defiant posture, "The entire galaxy will unite to fight you."
"Confidence born in ignorance, the cycle cannot be broken. The pattern has repeated itself more times than you can fathom. Organic civilizations rise, evolve, advance and at the apex of their glory, they are extinguished. The Prothean's were not the first, they did not create the 'Citadel', they did not forge the 'Mass Relays' they merely found them. The legacy of my kind."
Cycle…? Was it series? That meant not only were the protheans not the first galactic civilaztion or the creators of the citadel and relays… the reapers were. That begged the question, "Why would you construct the relays… the citadel for us to…. Slowly she closed her eyes in understanding.
"Your civilization is based on the technology of the Mass Relays, our technology. By using it, your society develops along the paths we desire. We impose order on the chaos of organic evolution. You exist because we allow it, and you will end, because we demand it."
The more she thought about it the more it made sense. When civilizations encountered the relays and the citadel it shapes the direction technologies develop. Previously before discovering the prothean cash on Mars and the Charon Relay humanity was experimenting with slip-space technology as a form of Faster-than-Light Travel, but abandoned it once discovering mass effect technology. This way the reapers could make sure no "wildcard" technology that may pose a threat to them was created.
"What's the point in all this," Shepard questioned. That was the one thing in all this she didn't understand. The geth for the large part had merely defended their existence when the quarians tried to destroy them. It was possible the reapers wanted to destroy all organic life out of a sense of self-preservation, but that didn't make sense because they could have just wiped out organic while their still at Stone Age level technology instead of waiting until they were capable of developing interstellar civilizations.
"My kind transcends your very understanding, we are each a nation, independent, free of all weakness. You cannot even grasp the nature of our existence."
So far the thing at the very least was talkative so she decided to go for broke and ask the one question she hoped to God she was right, "Where are the rest of the Reapers… are you the last of your kind?"
"We… are legion," the Machine responded with absolute resolve, "the time of our return is coming. Our numbers will darken the sky of every world. You cannot escape your doom."
"Cheerful," she muttered sarcastically as its words brought her visions into a greater clarity. The events that took place in her visions had been the prothean… "culling." A shiver went down her spin as she thought of it, "We'll stop you!"
"Your words are as empty as your future, I am the vanguard of your destruction, this, exchange, is over," and with those last foreboding statement the hologram winked out of existence.
She stood for several seconds completing what the Reaper had said before making sure her helmet cam had gotten everything. When she finished confirming she had the footage the next thought that ran threw her head was that the Council was going to piss themselves when they saw this… hell everyone was probably going to piss themselves.
"Let's get the hell out of here," she finally said shouldering her rifle. She had the feeling that if her team hadn't yet been discovered then they were now.
XXX
Garrus flattened himself against the ground as an RPG detonated a few dozen meters away. Shaking the dust and dirt off his armor he returned fire towards the enemy position where the RPG had come from. Garrus's team and the salarians had knocked down the gatehouse with high explosives launched from a shoulder mounted launch system.
The plan called for them to distract the garrison enough to let Shepard in and plant the bomb. So far they'd done just that. After establishing more or less of a foothold inside the compound perimeter they bunkered down and weathered the geth assaults.
From behind the rubble that had become his cover he fired his weapon at the advancing geth. He cut down several of the machines adding them to the growing pile in the middle of the road. He shifted again and saw a krogan and put a full burst center of mass.
The krogan stumbled as the bullets pinged off its chest, but didn't fall. Garrus raised his aim a bit from the krogan's chest to the flexible rubber part that covered its neck. Pulling the trigger of his rifle he sent a burst of metal hurtling through the air which pierced the krogan's neck and sent it tumbling to the ground.
There was the ear shattering rumble as Wrex's mammoth shotgun discharged blowing three geth troopers away. Garrus shook his head trying to get the ringing out of his ears from Wrex's shotgun; it was actually more of a cannon than a shotgun.
"Kirrahe," the turian shouted over the comm loud enough to be heard over the gunfire, "how are you holding out!"
Moments later the STG captain shouted back, "Can't hold much longer… hope Agent Shepard finishes her assignment soon!"
"Don't worry," he said sternly, "Shepard doesn't know how to fail," he finished glancing up to the top of the artificial waterfall which followed off the top of the main lab facility. He wasn't quite sure why they wanted a waterfall and a river flowing out of the facility especially as the drainage through the compound wall was an obvious weak point.
For them however it presented a near perfect escape route. Shepard team could repel down off the roof or even jump off the roof into river below and swim their way out. He fired off his rifle before he caught a glimpse of three figures on the top of the building.
He felt his hear skip a beat as he realized that it was Shepard and her team. He breathed a sigh in relief and was about to call out to Kirrahe when he saw the middle figure on the building spasm and fall head over heels off the top.
XXX
"Williams," Shepard heard Alenko scream at the top of his lungs as the female marine fell off the edge of the building.
Cursing Shepard spun and saw some sort of aerial platform and on top of that platform was none other than Saren Arterius. Aiming down the reflex sight she fired on the platform and she must have hit something important because the platform careened out of control and crashed down in front of them and exploded.
The explosion knocked Shepard off her feet and sent Alenko, who was closer to the edge than she was, tumbling over into the river. As fast as she could Shepard rolled over with the familiar taste of her own blood in her mouth as she did and promptly rose to her knees and raised her rifle.
Saren however was up from the crash just a bit faster than her and already had his side-arm drawn on her. She saw him squeeze the trigger and the muzzle of his weapon flashed. Thankfully for Shepard either his aim was off from the crash or he didn't want to kill her because his first shot hit her rifle and not her.
Without hesitation Shepard hurled her useless rifle at the former turian Spectre and as he ducked the flying missile she launched herself at him and closed the distance before he could readjust his aim and fire again.
Leading with her shoulder she slammed into the former Spectre knocking him to the ground. The moment they hit the ground Shepard wrapped her left hand fingers around Saren right wrist and slammed it against the hard stone while she had her right forearm pinned up against his throat.
Saren released his weapon and seconds later drive his right knee hard to her left side knocking her off him. They both staggered to their feet and the ex-Spectre launched into a flurry of punishing attacks that Shepard had a hard time defending against all of them. Finally Saren did manage to breech her defenses delivered a powerful punch to her mid-section that cause her to drop to her hands and knees.
"Fuck," Shepard cursed under her breath and resisted the urge to spit out the blood that had gathered in her mouth as it would have gone only into her helmet. She closed her eyes not only from the pain of what was probably at least a single cracked rip but of a stinging sense of defeat as she waited for Saren to finish her off.
Saren moved over and retrieved his weapon but to her surprise he didn't immediately pulled a bullet in her head but instead let out a long deep chuckled "You've got spirit in you Shepard I'll give you that," he intoned wiping the blue blood that was tricking from his nose, "my geth were utterly convinced the salarians were the real threat."
"Thanks," she mumbled pushing herself up on her knees, "have to admit it wasn't my plan," she took several deep breaths before pushing herself up solely on her knees and looking the turian in his beady little glowing eyes, "I have a question… are you stupid or just plain insane?"
"What," Saren snapped tilting his head in a way that reminded Shepard of a dog trying to hear a far off sound.
"The Reaper," she clarified in an exasperated tone undoing the seals on her helmet and pulling it off her head, "he's gonna kill everyone and you're helping him," she finished spitting blood into the crystal blue water all around her.
"You've seen the visions Shepard," Saren started with a tone in his voice that made her think we wanted… needed her to understand him, "You, of all people should understand what the Reapers are capable of. They cannot be stopped. The protheans tried and they were exterminated, but what would have happened if they'd surrendered… isn't submission preferable to extinction."
As he said that memories of Torfan and a half a dozen other raids against slavers she had been a part of swam up before her eyes. She remembered the sorry states of the slaves the batarians had taken the tortured eyes and broken minds. Was submission preferable… hell no!
She looked up a Saren with hard eyes, "Even if the Reapers would let us live I would rather die as a being with free will then die as an indoctrinated slave," she noticed how Saren filched at the word, "Sovereign's influencing you just like it did everyone else."
"No," the turian said perhaps a bit too forcefully and sudden, "I've studied the effects of indoctrination. The more control Sovereign exerts the less the less capable the subject becomes. That is my saving grace… my usefulness. Sovereign needs me to find the conduit. My mind is still my own… for now, but the transformation from ally to servant can be subtle. I won't let it happen to me."
With a grunt Shepard stood, "You stupid ass" she yelled at him, "I bet Matriarch Benezia thought the same thing," she took a deep breath, "my people have a saying, 'the rode to hell is paved with good intentions."
She could see her words were having an effect on the former Spectre as his hand shook and his weapon wavered. She hadn't fully convinced him but she had at least caused him to question himself. The turian sighed, his whole body sagging, "The visions… cannot be denied Shepard… this is our only hope."
"There's always hope as long as someone's willing to fight," and as she finished she hurled her helmet at his head and without waiting to see the results of her action she spun on her heels and bolted for the edge of the rooftop. As she reached the edge she dove off the edge in a near perfect dive like she had done so many times as a child at the base's pool.
However unlike the pool at the naval base there was a thunderous crack behind her and she felt a sharp pain flare up in her shoulder as she went over the edge. Shepard gave a yelp of pain as she tumbled through the air and splashed into the water.
XXX
With a snarl Saren dashed to the ledge and saw Shepard splash into the water below. The rouge Spectre raised his pistol and aimed it at the water below. His finger tensed on the trigger but he didn't pull it but instead holstered his weapon.
He thought about what Shepard had said and it resonated deeply within his soul. It wasn't true… Sovereign couldn't be manipulating him he'd know about it… he'd feel it. Besides Sovereign still needed him to find the Conduit; that hadn't changed. If he proved organics were worthy then they'd survive Sovereign wasn't some sadistic monster would wanted to destroy all life just for kicks.
When it came down to it Sovereign… the Reapers were machines and therefore governed by rules of logic that organics couldn't even begin to understand. They didn't do anything on a whim, everything has a deeper meaning. If organics could prove themselves too useful to destroy then the Reapers would realize organics value and they would survive… if only as servants.
Surely that was better than death, he mused, as the sound of metal 'boots' on stone grew rapidly in his ears. He turned and saw a platoon of Geth troopers coming up on his rear. Turing back he saw the enemy gunfire slowly cease before the Salrians and Shepard's commandos slipped back into the forest.
"Spectre, Saren," the lead geth said monotone, "we've swept the facility… no intruders remain," it glanced down over the edge, "Shall we pursue?"
"No," he paused, "is the lab intact," he added waiting for the trooper to respond.
"Affirmative equipment is secure."
That wasn't a good sign. Shepard had obviously infiltrated the facility and he had caught her on the way out. Whatever she'd wanted she had accomplished or she wouldn't have been leaving, "Evacuate the facility… now," he roared as he spun on his heels and made a b-line for the hanger bay and the geth fell in quickly behind him, "and have your platforms search the base from top to bottom."
He made it to the hanger bay in record time and boarded a geth FTL equipped transport. He had such a bad feeling about this.
XXX
Garrus glanced down at Shepard noticing the grimace of pain on her bruised face. She had her left arm wrapped around his shoulder and he had his right around her waist trying to keep some weight off the ankle she sprained in her fall. She spared another quick glance at her back. Saren's round had torn through the armor and even now a small trickled of blood leaked from her wound.
He gripped the handle of his rifle so hard he thought for sure that the plastic compound would break… either that or his bones would shatter. He was furious that Saren would lay a hand on his mate and try to kill her. Every primal instinct his body was screaming for the ex-Spectre's blood.
His boot hit the ramp of the Normandy making a metal clack as it did. He heard Shepard grunt in pain he helped her up the ramp. When they reached the top he helped her into the cargo hold and the hatched promptly closed behind them.
The cargo which had been refitted by the medical staff as an emergency medi-center for all the wounded from the battle and at the sight of the first corpsman he called, "Corpsman over here," he said and the Normandy jolted; the telltale sign it was starting to take off.
The Navy medic rushed over as Garrus gingerly laid Shepard on the deck face down and said worriedly, "Gunshot wound to the right shoulder."
"It's nothing but a little scratch," Shepard hissed as the Corpsman probed the wound. Garrus watched a sickening feeling building up in his chest as the Navy medic dug his fingers into the open whole in Shepard's armor and dug about the wound, "there's got to be others worse off."
The man removed his fingers and Garrus caught a whiff of the tangy smell of Shepard's blood. It wasn't a new smell to him, but with her laying their bleeding on the floor it made his heart clench, "Is she going to be alright," he asked as calm as he could.
The ship was already filled with rumors about him and Shepard and while he personally wanted to mark her, thump his chest in pride and exclaim to the galaxy that she was his he doubted she could appreciate the gesture. He learned working at C-Sec that sexuality was a very private thing among humans.
The medic words roused him from his thoughts, "She'll be fine for now," he then pulled two hypo-sprays from his bag and handed them to Garrus, "If the pain gets too bad give her one of these. They'll numb the pain," he stood and gestured over by the wall near the aid station where several empty cots lay, "put her right there for now."
"Right," Garrus said as he helped Shepard to her feet.
"I can do this by myself," she protested but made no move to separate herself from him. He chuckled softly, he'd let her have her pride.
"I know you can I'm just worried about you to," he whispered as the crossed the room, "When Williams," he paused at the dead marine's name. While they hadn't been particularly close he considered her a true comrade in arms and they were all worse off without her, "I thought it was you," he finished his voice so soft he wasn't sure she could hear it.
To his horror she whispered back as he laid her own the medical cot and started to undo the clasps of her armor being careful not to agitate her injuries, "A part of me wished it was," she took a deep pain filled breath but Garrus wasn't sure whether it was because of her wound or William's death.
"Don't say that," he said softly as he removed the back half of her upper armor and started on the arm pieces, "I couldn't bear to lose you."
He saw the corner of her lip that was visible twitch slightly in a small smile, "I don't have a death wish or anything… it's just I'm tired of writing home to the families of sailors, soldiers and marines who've died under my command," she exhaled nosily, "Williams has three younger sisters did you know that?"
Garrus shook his head and was about to say no when Shepard's omi-tool began to be franticly from the pile of armor he had removed. Garrus titled his head, "What's that?"
Looking down he saw Shepard pink little talented tongue wet her slips before smiled again, "Williams's twenty megaton funeral pyre."
Garrus blinked before spreading his mandibles in a grin, "I think she would have like that."
"Not with a whimper… but with a bang," Shepard said and Garrus nodded not really understanding what she was quoting from but he did like the sound of it.
XXX
The Naval Yard at Terra Nova was an absolute bee's nest of frantic activity in the aftermath of the geth's surprise nuclear attack. The SSV Enterprise which, other than the Orizaba, had been the pride of the Fifth Fleet stood ravaged by the action. The Big-E herself had been towed into the massive dry-dock system where a small army of repair workers were working to replace the melted and twisted hull plates caused by the nuclear detonations.
Several smaller cruisers and frigates had been completely crippled during the attack which over all left the Fifth Fleet at about one-half of its previous strength levels. In his office onboard the Orizaba Admiral Hackett waited patiently for his next "appointment" to arrive.
There was a knock on his door and Hackett called out, "Enter."
The door slid open and in walked and older man in an Alliance Naval uniform with the single star of an Alliance Rear Admiral Lower Half, "Rear Admiral Jacob Donald reporting as ordered sir," he said coming to attention and saluting.
Hackett rapped his fingers on his desk before he finally said, "Be at ease Mr. Donald."
The commander, or perhaps soon-to-be former commander, of the Terra Nova Naval Yards adopted the position of 'at-ease' and promptly found a spot on the back wall that he seemed to find extraordinarily interesting.
"Care to explain what happened," Hackett questioned the junior flag officer.
"The geth managed to catch the relay patrols off guard and wiped them out before they could get out warning," he paused, "they overwhelmed the early warning computer systems with a virus… we've managed to get all the systems back online now and we're in the process of upgrading the firewalls and anti-viral systems now."
"Why weren't the patrols reinforced after the battle in the Armstrong Cluster," the Admiral countered. He'd sent a detailed report out after the battle warning all Alliance Naval Bases about the geth incursions and capabilities.
The Rear Admiral's cheek twitched, "We're deep behind Alliance lines at the second largest Naval Base outside of Earth… didn't think," he trailed off no doubt realizing how inadequate his explanation sounded.
Wiping his hand across his face the Admiral sighed, "I want you to draw up an entirely new defensive plan for this installation and a redeployment of your assets by tomorrow morning."
For the first time the Rear Admiral looked down and him with a confused look on his face, "I'm… retaining my command?"
Hackett nodded, "For the moment at least," he confirmed, "until Alliance Command can decide whether or not they want to have you face a board of inquiry," the Fleet Admiral paused for a split second, "off the record I've looked at your jacket. You're a good officer but you tend to get complacent… fix that and I'm sure you can finish out your tour without being dismissed from service," the Fleet Admiral shifted his eyes up, "If you can't handle that than I suggest you turn in your letter of resignation and get the hell out of my sight."
"Aye… Admiral," he bit out, "with that be all sir."
"Dismissed."
XXX
Shepard stood in the comm room of the Normandy with her right arm in a sling as she stood before the holographic images of the Citadel Council, "So," she started, "I take it you've gone over my hardsuit data," starring up at them as the exchanged manfully glances.
"We have Agent Shepard," the Asari Councilor said with a worried look on her face, "and have found them most disturbing."
"Assuming it's all true," the turian interrupted harshly, "I find this all a little preposterous."
Shepard nearly rolled her eyes at the councilor's remarks, "You heard Sovereign and Saren, why the hell would they make this stuff up," she took a depth breath and sighed, "Listen councilor," she said throwing a pointed look towards the asari, "Dr. T'Soni did the whole embrace eternity thing on me to get some sense of the visions. If you need conformation…," she trailed off.
"Ilos," the Asari said with a nod, "yes I remember the place from the report and I don't think a mind meld will be necessary Agent Shepard."
"Are you assembling a strike force to go to Ilos to secure the Conduit," she questioned eagerly. She still had no idea what the Conduit was but Saren had seemed almost obsessed about finding it and that was enough of a reason for her to try to keep it from him.
"We'll explain everything in short order," the salarian councilor said with a quick glance over at his fellow councilors, "first we need you to come back to the Citadel."
"Alright Shepard," the Spectre said with a curt nod, "I'll be back as soon as possible… Shepard out," and with that she killed the comm channel. After finishing with the council she turned and left the comm room and saw Garrus had been waiting outside for her.
"So…," he drawled watching her as she left.
"We're heading back to the Citadel for further orders," Shepard said.
"I've heard the Council's assembling a massive fleet at the Citadel," her turian voice with a smile in hi tone, "Sounds like they're really getting geared up to take on Saren and the geth head on."
Shepard felt a frown tug at her lips, "So you hadn't heard then," she added softly looking him straight in the eyes.
Garrus paused, "What news?"
She motioned him to walk with her down the length of the Normandy's bridge toward the cockpit, "The Alliance Fifth Fleet was attacked in its berth at Terra Nova," she paused as Garrus's eyes went wide in shock, "the damage wasn't has severe as it could have been but the Alliance Fleet won't be at the Citadel when we get there."
"How long," he questioned.
"A week or two," she finally answered, "hopefully this will all be over soon. Saren arrested or killed, Reaper invasion averted and the Conduit safely in our hands."
XXX
You have failed me again.
Saren cringed as the reaper's echoed through his head. He knew this had been coming ever since he left Virmire. He had failed Sovereign and possibly doomed all organic to destruction all because he let that little vixen twist him all up with her words.
"I'm sorry," he hissed from his kneeling position, "I was weak… I let Shepard filled my head with doubt about you… about our arrangement, about our deal."
Flesh is weak. It is a handicap of all your kind. You are creatures of base instinct and desire… weak.
"Forgive me," Saren reiterated he starred passively at his boots, "I won't fail again," he paused, "though we now have the location of the Conduit… we can begin anytime."
The voice was silent for some time before it finally returned in full force.
You will go to Ilos; while I prepare the fleet for engagement, but what happened before cannot be allowed to repeat itself. Before Saren could even voice the question about what the old machine meant by that it continued, I will reshape you in the perfect blend of organic and machine. You will never again doubt.
The former Spectre hesitated. He didn't necessarily like the sound of that. He opened his mouth to say as much before he felt a pressure on his mind and suddenly couldn't remember what it was that he had been so worried about, but whatever it was he was sure Sovereign would do what was best.
XXX
Author's Note:
Virmire like a couple of the other planets is designed for gameplay rather than to make sense. For one the STG's are sitting out in the open and attack the facility, the layout of which doesn't make much sense, in broad daylight.
Secondly, and which I think is the biggest brain fart of the entire series is that even though Shepard and her team has recording devices in their armor they never send the information to the council. Here they had proof and never used it….. WTF?