Chapter 27: Crossing
Taylor peered nervously over the plateau. They hadn't seen any enemy forces yet, but he was prepared for anyone who was coming. Surveying the rocky planet, he saw the compound in the distance but no activity.
Turning around, he said to Kasumi, "Still clear."
She looked back at him and smiled, "You have nothing to worry about. I'm a professional."
The master thief went back to work on the electronic system connected to the power supply. Their part in the plan was simple: disrupt the power when the raid took place, and don't be seen under any circumstances.
Offering her services to Shepard for this mission, she thought it likely she could disrupt the power relays with minimal disruption. If there were any anti-air defense system, they would be disabled and the Krogan strike time would be able to land and wreak havoc. If one side could have mercenaries fight by proxy, so could the other.
Focusing her attention on the terminal, she now had a tap on the power supply where she could turn it on and off at will. The interruption to the power supply was unfortunate, but unavoidable. Surprised there was no surveillance at this station, she came up behind Jacob and reported.
"It took a minute, but I'm hooked up now," she said with a smile. "Now it is just you, me, and the stars."
Jacob walked a few steps toward a clearing and put down what looked like a smoke bomb. Not wanting want to draw attention to themselves through communications that could be intercepted, Taylor sent the message to Normandy another way. A plume of gas was released into the air containing a certain composition indicating success. It would be colorless and odorless, but traced by the ship.
Taking a step back, Jacob looked at Kasumi and said, "Now all we can do is wait." He came back and took a seat where he had an overview of the entire ridge.
He felt Kasumi put her hands on his back, and he looked over at her. "Don't worry, Lieutenant," she said, "Now I've got your six."
She smiled and even Taylor had to laugh. "Okay, but if I say move, you'll listen."
"Yes, sir," she saluted, and she let herself come close to him. Even with thermal gear, it was a cold night and the warmth was welcome to them both. It was quiet now, but it wouldn't be for long. Within ninety minutes, all hell would break loose on Edolas.
Back aboard the Normandy, EDI reported the news. "Lieutenant Taylor just released the signal flare. The composition indicates success without discovery."
"Excellent," said Captain Shepard. After debriefing Grayson and the survivors from the theft of the Prowler, the testimony they gave strongly indicated a base on the planet. Using advanced tactical scanners, the Normandy was able to pinpoint the location of what seemed to be a ship port, and it was confirmed when the Prowler was rushed from there under military escort. Rather than chasing the ship, however, Shepard waited in stealth mode rather than returning to Therum.
"Wrex, are you sure you want to do this?" Shepard asked not for the first time. "I'm sure Grunt or someone else could lead the strike team."
Arming his weapons, the clan leader said, "You're right that they could, Shepard. But where would the fun be in that?"
Standing behind the Krogan, Grunt added his approval, "Krogan fight. This is going to be good."
It wasn't the choice he thought Wrex should make, but Jared recognized he wasn't about to tell him no either. Wrex had been in a tight spot many times before, and he had complete confidence in the ability of the Krogan along with thirteen others to wreak utter havoc upon the Blue Suns base.
Standing next to Shepard, Lawson reminded the Krogan, "While I recognize this is a mission to destroy the base, any intelligence you can acquire would be helpful."
Shepard nodded and said, "When we fly in, we have to do this quickly. The Normandy can't be seen here, so there will be a drop zone three kilometers to the East. It's dark, so we should be able to come in behind the hills there and get your crew on the ground. For extraction, Jacob and Kasumi will be waiting with the shuttle. Any other questions?"
Stringing extra ammunition over his chest, Wrex said, "Yeah. When does the talk end and the fighting begin?"
The captain laughed and said, "Come back in one piece."
Wrex grunted and nodded for Grunt to follow him. They walked to the cargo bay and to their comrades in arms. The Krogan were starting to get excited and looked forward to the operation.
"Men," Urdnot Wrex said, "Tonight we are going to show what a few angry Krogan can do. These mercenaries won't know what hit them. Keep silent until we get in the compound, but once we get there, do as much damage as you can."
As trained warriors, they pounded their chests but were subdued in their responses except for Grunt. He roared as he hungered for another chance at combat.
Signaling the bridge, Wrex said to Shepard, "We're ready."
The Normandy approached Edolus from the opposite side of the planet, seeking to minimize risk of detection. The flight path would carry them quickly toward the destination, but near to the rocky surface and hopefully beneath whatever scans were being conducted.
It didn't take but a few minutes for the Normandy to reach the drop off position, and the door of the cargo bay opened to reveal a ramp to the surface. In two lines, the Krogan strike team ran off the ship, and once they were clear, the Normandy reversed course and left them in the cold dark night.
Looking at the time, Wrex said, "We have three kilometers to travel and twenty-six minutes to get there. Move quickly, but quietly."
The physical capacity of a Krogan was rarely matched by any species in the galaxy, and the men traveling with Wrex were the best of the best. The most talented warriors of Clan Urdnot, he recognized he was risking much by taking them with him on this mission. But the nature of his species was as fighters and to pretend they were less would diminish his clan and himself.
They ran silently, seeing as the compound slowly resolved itself in the distance. There was nothing on the surface to block the Krogan from entering, but the clear line of sight also meant their approach would be detected if there were any cameras in the area. It was a concern, but the best way to solve it was to bridge the gap quickly.
With fifteen minutes before the assault began, and the team now within a kilometer of the entrance, Kasumi got up from behind Jacob and said, "It's time. When I overload the system, it should take out their power grid for at least a half hour."
Jacob asked his partner, "Will they be able to trace it to this location?"
"Eventually they may, but we should be gone by then. The system will need to reboot and to run a diagnostic scan to determine the location of the attack. We'll have at least an hour."
"Then why don't you light the fireworks?" he asked.
Smiling, Kasumi pulled out her tool of choice, and sent a high frequency shockwave into the power line. The intensity of the boost would have caused the power to shut off, and the base was now dark inside. Nobody outside could see it, but Jacob now kept his eye focused not only on the front door, but also searching for any other escape routes.
Checking the time, Grunt unloaded a turbo mortar and set it up with several high intensity explosives. It would be set on a three minute delay, allowing the Krogan time to come close to the base and enter at the moment of maximum confusion. The blasts would hit the surface above and behind the main entrance.
Setting the trajectory and loading ten rounds for individual fire into the feeder system, Grunt left the casing behind, took out an assault rifle, and nodded to Wrex that it was ready for launch.
"Night vision scopes," called out Wrex, and the Krogans brought down lenses that would allow them to see thermal and infrared in the pitch black they expected to find. Not having floor plans, they would have to be careful.
"Time to fight," he said, and Grunt activated the timer for the mortar launch. The entire team charged across the distance to the door, hitting it forty seconds before the projectiles were due to launch.
While this was happening, Thane Krios was awake once more inside the compound and wondering why the power had gone out again. Convinced something was wrong, he had loaded his weapon and moved to wake Jack again.
"The power has been out more than three minutes this time. You better wake up," he told her.
She rolled over lazily and said to the Drell, "Maybe this base always has problems like this. Do you see anything strange?"
"Other than what is happening, no," he admitted. He was going to list his reasons, but then the chamber shook as a loud explosion happened overhead.
All the men woke up as did Jack to the pitch black room, and she said, "What the hell was that?"
Another strike sounded against the metal and you could hear creaking as the door was threatening to give way right about the Encounter.
Taking command, Jack said, "Everyone to the hallway, now!" Half-dressed men thinking more for their lives than their equipment rushed and stumbled toward the door as they heard bending and twisting above. Prepared, Thane looked up and said, "It should hold, but I don't know how long."
Jack grabbed her own sidearm and yelled once more, "Everyone out. And let's see if we can figure out what is happening!"
Amidst the confusion as the bombs blasted the roof of the facility, the Krogans kicked down the door to the main entrance and came in hot, firing in all directions. The security machines were shredded by incendiary fire, as were the two Batarian guards who had been sitting there, not knowing what was happening.
The team ran to the elevator and saw it was inoperable. Grunt punched the doors, wanting to find the way down. They searched for stairs as an alternative, but not finding those, Wrex had to come up with an alternative.
He had two team members pry open the doors and looked down the long shaft. "Rocket," he barked. Taking a shoulder held weapon, he fired a rocket down into the shaft at the passenger car. Whipping his head back, he yelled, "Clear out," and the projectile slammed into the car causing a mighty blast and a plume of flame to fly up the shaft. Once it cleared, the car had fallen to the bottom in a wreck, leaving the cords hanging.
"Now there's no way out," exclaimed the leader. "Let's get them all!"
A roar went up from the team as the specialist in climbing went first. He was able to secure two lines from the top assembly that would have an electronic winch capable of bringing each Krogan back up the elevator shaft. Then, having set it in place, two other soldiers started sliding down, quickly finding their way to the bottom. Ten seconds later, another two joined them. Within ninety seconds, the whole team was now at the bottom of the shaft, with only a door separating them from whatever was on the lowest level.
Not able to risk backfire, the door would have to be opened manually and Wrex hoped it would just be a matter of strength. With two Krogan on each side, Grunt mounted a super high velocity machine gun just behind the doors that would give cover as forces jumped into the fray. In the pitch black, no one could see, so they had to communicate by voice and whisper.
"Now," roared Wrex as he stood behind Grunt, and the doors were opened. Five Krogan jumped to either side as two secured the elevator, and Grunt began firing at will. Even through the deafening sound of the bullets flying, Wrex could hear glass breaking, metal being pinged, and an occasional scream. The thermals showed quite a few people in this room, and the weapons of those flanking the elevator began shooting indiscriminately.
An alarm began to howl throughout the facility as Grunt stopped firing the heavy caliber gun and walked out with Wrex into the chaos. "Lights" called out the clan leader, and they looked upon the chaos. The dead were mostly Batarians who were unarmed and dressed in a military uniform.
Seeing only these casualties, Wrex wondered where the Blue Suns were. After his warriors secured the entry room they located what appeared to be the main hallway. As they peered into it, the first Krogan who went in was sent backwards with a blast that disabled his armor and left him shaken. Only his shielding had saved him. Bottlenecks were always trouble.
While they were considering their options, emergency lighting flickered on throughout the base. An announcement followed over the loudspeaker, first in some Batarian and then again in galactic standard, "The base is under attack. All soldiers to duty stations. Evacuation protocol Beta-Four-Tango-Seven in effect.
On the opposite side of the base, the huddled crew of the Encounter heard the message and didn't know what to do.
Lieutenant Chebek took the lead, saying to the crew, "Come on. We need to report to the Field Commander and…"
A shot rang through the air as Jack drew her sidearm and shot Chebek right between the eyes. He fell over dead instantly and the crew looked to their captain with shock and wonder.
"He was a little shit and would have betrayed you all like he betrayed me," Jack shared with them. "If the loudspeaker says evacuate, I say we take our ship and do just that. I'm not here to die for someone else's war.
Looking for the other lieutenant, she spotted him and asked, "Can you get the Encounter ready for launch?"
Richards responded, "I can, but we aren't going anywhere without that gate open."
Jack nodded and said, "Get the Encounter ready for launch. I want the crew on board. We haven't heard any more blasts, so it should be as safe as anywhere."
She could see the crew was hesitating about whether to follow her orders, so Jack added, "We can either get out of here and live, or die. Which is it going to be?"
Their hesitation lifting, the crew jumped to follow her command and ran towards the ship. Only Richards and Thane remained. Richards asked, "What are you going to do now?"
"I'm going to open the door, take care of a little business, and then we're leaving here," she said. Pausing, she looked at Richards and added, "If you ever do what he did," pointing to the bleeding corpse of the gunnery officer, "you'll know what to expect."
"I never liked him anyway," said the pilot, and he left running toward the ship. Jack turned and headed in the other direction.
"Do you have a plan?" asked Thane as he walked along side her, drawing his weapon as they advanced down the long hallway amidst the dim lights and blowing klaxons. The two walked along the hallway for about twenty seconds, saying nothing, standing tall, with only the sounds of their footsteps punctuating the alarm sirens.
"Yeah, if it moves, kill it."
Author's Note: I imagine how much fun it would be to play this scene.