A/N: Two missions for the price of one in a slightly lengthier chapter today. Because I'm just such a nice guy. :) Also, perhaps I just want to move on to the more exciting stuff quicker. :P
Chapter 66 - Preserving Alliances
"I don't like this," Shepard mutters to herself, looking outside the shuttle as Cortez carefully attempts to bring them as close to the turian crash site as possible. It is a typical Tuchanka landscape, with one of those ancient partially exposed underground bunkers, unfortunately swarming with Reaper forces. She can see remains of the frigate deeper in the ruins, and smoke and fire rising from the many escape pods scattered through the area, those inside now heavily besieged by the Reapers. "Hell, what a mess."
"Attempting to raise Lieutenant Victus," EDI says, trying the turian comm frequencies, but so far not having much success.
"From what you have told me and now seeing this... things don't look good for Victus," Garrus shakes his head, also taking in the situation.
"Tarquin might still be alive, we must not lose hope," Liara attempts to sound brave.
"I didn't necessarily mean him, but his father," Garrus replies. "Promoting his son without merit might cost him dearly. And then to watch him fumble the mission? That's... beyond bad. The others in the military will not be forgiving about this debacle."
"He said he needed someone he could trust implicitly," Shepard says. "I'm really curious just what it is that he's so desperate to hide."
"Agreed, Shepard," Garrus nods. "The Primarch knows that his own seat might be on the line here, so it has to be something of incredible importance."
"I understand he did say it was the matter of galactic peace," Liara says, looking at Shepard, Morgan nodding back at her. "I suppose that would qualify."
"Commander, I would not risk landing the shuttle inside the ruins," Cortez alerts them from the pilot's seat. "I spotted several harvesters in the area."
"Sure, drop us as close as you can get without attracting attention," Shepard agrees, having no desire to watch their shuttle crash and burn after a harvester attack.
"All signs indicate that the Reapers are unaware of our presence," EDI says, as they all prepare to disembark. "Their attention is focused solely on the turians."
"Having the element of surprise on our side is so unusual, that I suddenly have no idea on how to make the best use of it," Shepard chuckles as the shuttle finally lands and the cargo bay doors open.
"In that case, Commander..." Garrus says, the first to jump out and hit solid ground. "Just watch and learn by following my lead."
"I have established contact with Lieutenant Victus, Shepard, but the connection is bad," EDI informs her as they all exit the shuttle, weapons at the ready. "Patching you through."
EDI is not kidding about the connection being bad, Shepard can barely understand the sitrep that Tarquin Victus gives her. Apparently the main force of the Ninth Platoon still at the frigate are being boxed in by the Reaper harvesters and taking heavy casualties. Just like Shepard has observed, there are also many survivors in the escape pods, scattered through the ruins. At Shepard's request, the younger Victus fires a flare that goes up deceptively close, but knowing that traversing these labyrinths will not be as easy as jogging in a straight line, Morgan is aware that reaching the turian platoon might take considerable time and effort.
"Alright, it seems as if we don't have a lot of time," Shepard says, urging her squad onwards. "Let's save these turians."
For a while, they see only husks wandering around in small groups, and they fall swiftly, allowing Shepard and her group to continue on without disclosing their presence to the bulk of the Reaper force. The first turian escape pod they come across provides disturbing sights, it looks singed from the fire of twin cannons of the mutated klixen. Several turians have managed to crawl out, injured and bearing heavy scorch marks, but now they lay with their ribcages torn open, killed and eaten by husks, their victims helpless to resist.
They have better luck at the next escape pod. The turians are entrenched just outside the pod, facing heavy fire from cannibals and marauders across a chasm, and to add to the joy, a harvester is flying just above their heads, now and then taking shots at the desperate survivors. Morgan and her team manage to sneak up on the Reapers from behind, coolly executing them without allowing a single shot to be fired in their direction. Chasing off the harvester is a more difficult proposition, but it eventually flees, taking heavy damage from their combined weapons fire, plasma rounds fired from Shepard's and EDI's omni-tools and Liara's biotics.
"Damn you, Tarquin," Garrus curses quietly as they swiftly climb up a rickety ladder to the upper floors to reach another crashed escape pod. "I'm not sure that a family name as famous as Victus can withstand the dishonor that this debacle will bring. This is more of a mess than I thought it might be."
"Nothing good ever comes from burdening your children with the successes of your parents," Liara shakes her head sadly.
"I knew you were about to say that," Shepard looks at her. "But you've outgrown Benezia already, no matter what anyone else might think. Besides..." she flashes Liara a lopsided grin. "Think of all the burdens of success that our blue babies are going to face!"
Liara just rolls her eyes in reply, while EDI jumps in to spoil the fun. "Shepard, the chances of defeating the Reapers are so astronomically slim, that you do not need to concern yourself with that probability," the AI helpfully explains.
Shepard sighs deeply as they move on. "I defeat your cold logic with my blind optimism and positive outlook, so there," she says, sticking her tongue out, EDI missing the childish gesture.
"Quiet, Commander," Garrus warns her. "Reapers ahead, and the next pod. Looks like we've got the jump on them again."
"I could get used to this," Shepard grins, as they crawl closer to the unsuspecting cannibals and marauders.
This time, the Reaper force is more numerous, and those surviving the initial ambush now turn around to face them, exposing their backs to the turian snipers at the pod. Boxed in between the two groups of attackers, the Reapers fall swiftly, failing to inflict any serious harm. As the turians cheer at them, the harvester from the previous pod returns and decides to join in and crash the party, nearly succeeding in taking the turians by surprise. This time, however, it doesn't get the chance to retreat. As it takes back to its grotesque wings again, the harvester has taken too much damage, crashing back down and falling nearly on top of the turian pod, burning fiercely before exploding in a blast so bright that it makes Shepard temporarily blind.
A few of the turians have failed to escape the blast alive, but those who do thank them and promise to rendezvous at the frigate crash site, moving through the other side of the compound at a slower pace than Shepard and her comrades. The younger Victus occasionally contacts them on the comms, the connection getting clearer as they approach, but the turian lieutenant's voice is getting more and more urgent, as he requests their ETA in every short conversation.
"You can hear it in his voice, he knows he has made a bad call, disgraced his family," Garrus remarks after their latest update from Victus.
"I'm curious what is it exactly that he did," Liara wonders. "In any case, I wonder about this kind of operation on Tuchanka without letting the krogan know about it."
"Everything we have learned so far implies that this mission revolves around something that the krogan definitely do not need to hear about," EDI points out.
"And because of Victus' failure, now they will," Garrus curses.
"I'm not sure I can just keep lying to Wrex. Or that I want to," Shepard sighs. "Besides, the krogan themselves would have noticed something this big going on under their noses. It's only a matter of time until they start asking some hard questions."
"I guess we can decide what to do once we actually learn what this is all about," Liara shrugs her shoulders.
"And we're about to do just that. Look!" Shepard exclaims, pointing ahead. The burning wreck of the turian frigate lays just in front of them, the remains of the turian platoon entrenched around it, trying their best to fight off the massive Reaper force moving towards them, new ground troops being constantly brought in by a pair of harvesters. "Let's play this safe! We can't lose those turians, but if we rush across, those harvesters will just drop reinforcements on our heads."
"We've got them boxed in down there," Garrus says, his mandibles forming what Shepard has come to recognize as a grin in anticipation of violence. "Let's stick to this side and snipe them down one by one."
"That could take a while if they just keep getting reinforcements," Liara says. "We need to thin out their ground troops, but we also need to drive off those harvesters!"
"Dr. T'Soni and myself can focus on the harvesters when they appear," EDI suggests. "Commander Shepard and Garrus would be more efficient at quickly eradicating the ground forces."
"Hey Garrus, looks like it's time for another contest," Morgan grins, getting her sniper rifle ready, the turian following her example.
"Bring it on, Commander," Garrus says, as they both release their shots at once, striking true.
For a while, they are able to execute their plan to perfection, until one of the harvesters drops a pair of brutes very close to their location, likely identifying them as the greatest threat. With Shepard and Garrus immediately switching their fire to the brutes, they manage to bring the last one down as it is already charging at the unprotected EDI. Not wanting to see any more brutes being introduced to the battlefield, Shepard decides to swap to the harvesters herself, aiding Liara and EDI and eventually managing to bring down one and severely cripple the other, sending it packing. With the Reaper stream of reinforcements cut off, the battle is effectively over and shortly after they cross the corpse littered battlefield to meet up with the remains of the turian platoon.
The turians have taken heavy losses and by the time Shepard reaches them, the rank soldiers are already busy chewing out Victus, looking ready to lynch their superior officer. Only Shepard's arrival at the scene forces cooler heads to prevail, as Morgan demands an explanation from Tarquin Victus.
"I made a bad call, and they are right," he points at his angry looking soldiers. "This is all my fault. I chose caution and clever tactics over a head-on attack, and my men paid the price for it."
"That's my preferred tactic... when it works," Shepard shrugs. I guess the turians hold themselves to different principles, and I probably shouldn't question them right now.
"We could see on holo that Reaper forces were blocking our intended path. Staying on course guaranteed heavy casualties," Victus explains further. "I decided on a safer route, skirting the enemy, but when we encountered resistance in these ruins, we had no room to maneuver. I lost half of my men in this disaster."
"How many men would you have lost if you had stuck with your intended course?" Shepard asks.
"His intentions don't matter. Only the results do, Shepard," Garrus speaks up.
"Correct," Lieutenant Victus nods. "The mission is a complete failure. Once we have recovered all the survivors, we will return to the fleet."
"The Primarch seemed to believe that your mission here could determine the galactic peace," Shepard says. "I still have no idea what it is about, but Primarch does not seem like the type to lie or exaggerate. If his words were true, then you can't abandon your mission."
"There's a… bomb on this planet," Victus finally discloses the goal of their mission. "We were sent to defuse it. This bomb is enormous and capable of unquantifiable levels of destruction. And… Cerberus has it."
"What?" Shepard exclaims. Of all the possibilities, something like this she has not expected. "They really want to ruin this krogan and turian alliance, don't they? Well, we can't allow them to do that, Lieutenant Victus!"
"With all due respect, Commander Shepard, but what are we supposed to do about it?" Tarquin protests. "We're short by thirty men, and I doubt those remaining will want to follow my commands anymore…"
"Then make them!" Shepard shouts, knowing that too much rests on this. "Kick their asses! Appeal to their honor! Whatever! Fate of Palaven depends on this alliance, don't you get it?"
"I… do get it, Commander," Tarquin Victus sighs heavily. "Very well. We will do all we can to complete our mission. Your aid would be appreciated as well."
"We'll be there," Shepard nods. "Send me the navpoint coordinates. Do you have means to travel?"
"Some of our shuttles are still intact," Victus replies, uploading the relevant data to Shepard's omni-tool. "As soon as I have convinced my men to continue our mission, we will be on our way to join with you."
"You better," Shepard adds with a hint of warning, watching with a corner of her eye EDI contacting Cortez to arrange their extraction. "This is an opportunity for you to redeem yourself and your family name. I suggest you make good on it." Tarquin Victus nods before returning to his men.
Cortez swiftly brings the Kodiak in and they climb inside, listening to Victus shouting at the rest of his men in the background. "All done, Commander?" Steve asks. "Ready to return to the Normandy?"
"Not yet, Steve," Shepard shakes her head. "EDI will give you new coordinates," she motions to the synthetic AI. "Take us there, but slowly, pick the safest path. I think those turians will need a little time to clear the air before they follow us."
"Shepard, those coordinates point to a spot in the heavily populated Kelphic Valley," EDI remarks. "It is an ideal place where to place a bomb if Cerberus intends to maximize casualties."
"Yeah, it seems like that would make sense, considering they already went to such lengths to destroy krogan and turian alliance on Sur'Kesh," Shepard says thoughtfully.
"But…?" Garrus prods her, sensing that she is not telling everything.
"It makes little sense, when you think about it…" Liara speaks, equally ponderous.
"You see it too, don't you?" Shepard asks her lover, Liara nodding back at Morgan. "If it's a Cerberus bomb, why would Victus want to hide it from krogan and from us? I think it's something else entirely. Maybe it's a turian bomb?"
"Why would turians plant a bomb on Tuchanka, we need this alliance," Garrus shakes his head. "Unless it's something done long time ago… maybe to keep the krogan in line? After the Rebellions?"
"All I know is that I'm suddenly very glad I managed to distract Wrex," Shepard sighs. "Though he'll learn about it sooner or later, and I can't imagine he'll be happy..."
The turians report in twenty minutes later, their shuttles approaching their target, choosing to land on the side opposite to Shepard's. According to Victus, the bomb is within this yet another complex of ruins, recently dug up by Cerberus, who had somehow learned of its existence, also confirming Shepard's theory about the bomb's origins. Area scans paint a very grim picture about enemy numbers, and they face heavy resistance immediately after landing way outside the facility, their approach hampered by troopers as well as heavy mortar fire.
At first, they are merely able to hold their position, their advance from drop point less than twenty yards. "Perhaps it would have been advisable to come clean to the krogan and ask for their assistance," EDI suggests, before reaching out from the cover to fire a few shots to force a bold Cerberus centurion scrambling for cover.
Shepard is almost forced to agree with EDI, but then the Ninth Platoon reports of having started their own advance, and soon enough, part of the Cerberus forces retreat from the battlefield to lend their hand against the more numerous turian attackers, taking the heat off from Shepard and her crew, letting them finally press forward again. "We need to get to the cover of the buildings," Garrus grinds out, keeping his head down as the mortars prove to be incredibly annoying nuisances.
Once they have finally reached the relative safety afforded by the walls of the collapsing compound, Victus contacts her on the comms to explain their plan, which is to reach the bomb and reprogram the trigger mechanism, so that it cannot be set off. "I can't believe that we could lose this alliance, and with it all our hope for victory because of one monstrous act of the past!" Liara exclaims, as they slowly press forward, despite the heavy Cerberus resistance.
"I wouldn't exactly say monstrous... those were desperate times," Garrus shrugs.
"Well, we're taking care of one fuckup of the past in the shape of genophage, might as well take care of another," Shepard smirks, before leaning out to quickly aim her rifle and place a shot right between the little slit in the guardian's shield, sending a bullet through his indoctrinated brain.
Not long after they come out on an open ramp, the site of Cerberus excavation spreading before them. The bomb is there, and it is enormous, like one of those early hydrogen bombs she has read about in the history books. Massive metal frame keeps the bomb casing suspended above the ground, and Shepard can see what is left of the Ninth Platoon heading straight for what appears like a control station nearby the planted bomb. "That's where we're going," she tells her squad, pointing ahead.
"I'm at the control panel, Commander," Victus reports on the comms. "But Cerberus have set up a firewall around the trigger mechanisms to slow us down. I'll need time to bypass it."
Garrus cuts in, grabbing Morgan's hand and turning her slightly to the left. There is a stream of Cerberus reinforcements approaching, heading straight for Victus and his decimated platoon, rank troopers, engineers and even the dreaded Atlas, at least three dozen foes in total. "You have a hell of a welcoming party incoming, Lieutenant, tell your men to get in position!" she quickly shouts on the comms. "We'll try to cut them off!" Not sure how smart it is to have thirty Cerberus troops focused on us, but we have to do it. No other option...
"Understood," Victus reports back. "Commander. Thank you for giving me the chance to make this right."
"Thank me when we're done here, Lieutenant," Shepard replies, before turning to her squad. "Well... I guess this is it. Let's move out."
"Wait, Commander," Garrus interrupts. "The turian platoon still numbers close to two dozen. Let them engage Cerberus, then hit them from behind."
"But they will be wiped out!" Liara exclaims.
"Our chances to withstand this kind of firepower are miniscule at best, Dr. T'Soni," EDI agrees with Garrus.
"They understood the risks," Garrus says grimly, looking at Shepard. "You know it's the right thing to do. If we die here, then the hope for this galaxy dies with us."
Shepard grinds her teeth. "Hold fire," she says tersely, until she hears the turians opening fire on the Cerberus forces, watching the Atlas fire its rocket launcher, the impact shaking the ancient walls in the distance. "Bring down that heavy mech first, then the engineers."
Their flanking operation catches the Cerberus forces off-guard. The Atlas is destroyed before it can clumsily turn around to fire at them, but the engineers manage to plant their turrets and they manage to give Shepard and her friends a pause. Liara has been shot in the left shoulder, wincing in pain until the medi-gel kicks in, blood staining her white suit. Garrus has been nicked in his left arm, making it hard for him to hold the rifle. Shepard herself has somehow managed to be shot in the left thigh twice, having no recollection of how it might have happened. EDI's shiny frame boosts a lot of ugly dents and scratches, and Shepard already knows that Joker's complaints will be lengthy and particularly insufferable.
The battle hangs in the balance for a good while, neither side being able to press forward. "Firewall's down, I'm in!" Victus suddenly shouts on the comms. "...spirits!" he swears. "Cerberus hacked the trigger mechanism! It's set to detonate!"
Morgan feels the sweat running down her back turning into ice water. "Can you disarm it?" she shouts back.
"No time!" comes the returned shout. "I need to separate the trigger from the bomb, now!"
"Victus? Lieutenant Victus?" Shepard yells in the comms, but there is no response.
"Look!" Garrus pulls on her arm, pointing towards the bomb in the distance. There is a small shape of a turian climbing up the support beams to reach the heavy carcass of the bomb. "What the hell is he doing? Oh... don't tell me he's going to..."
"Keep shooting the Cerberus!" Shepard yells, herself being unable to keep watching Victus' insane efforts as he runs across the beams, reaching the bomb and now standing right on top of it, fiddling with something inside its casing. "They'll try to snipe him if they catch on to what he's doing!"
Everyone quickly refocuses on their efforts at keeping the Cerberus forces at bay, in particular harassing the engineers to prevent them from setting up any more turrets. Slowly, inch by inch, they are pressing Cerberus back, and the turians on the other side of the battlefield are holding their ground as well. In the distance, it seems that the bomb is now pulsating with a threatening yellow light, indicating that it is about to blow up.
"Lieutenant!" Shepard yells in the comms, growing desperate. This isn't how I imagined it will all end. We were supposed to stop the Reapers, damn it!
"Goddess..." Liara whispers, looking at the bomb, forgetting to fire at the Cerberus troopers. Victus is now hanging down from one side of the bomb, tearing off metal plating from its casing and reaching inside to remove something, likely the trigger. He seems to be pulling at something with all of his might, trying to tear it off.
"Victory... at any cost..." Shepard hears him speaking on the comms, as the casing with the trigger separate from the core of the bomb and topple to the ground, taking Victus with them, swallowed in the explosions and roaring fire as the construction crashes on top of the surviving soldiers of the platoon. The core remains held safely high up in the air, Victus' heroic last effort preventing its detonation.
"Damn it..." Morgan swears, watching the Cerberus forces now turn around to converge on their location. "Uh.. we might need to leave in a hurry. Cortez? Cortez, do you copy?"
"I'll say," Garrus nods, still looking quite shaken from watching Tarquin sacrifice himself to prevent the explosion. He then points to the ruins on their right, more and more armed soldiers arriving. "Cerberus reinforcements are on the way, we should make ourselves scarce."
"Those are not Cerberus soldiers, Garrus," EDI points out. "Those are krogan."
"By the goddess, EDI is right," Liara exclaims, having watched the Cerberus forces now coming under attack of the enraged krogan, getting quickly overwhelmed.
"This changes nothing, though," Shepard says, leading her squad back deeper into the ruins and away from the fighting, punching their coordinates through to Cortez. "If there's one thing I don't want to do here, it's to explain the situation to an angry clan of krogan..."