A/N: May there always be enough seashells in heaven for you to run tests on, my friend. You will be missed.
Chapter 70 - Last Salarian Action Hero
Shepard quickly leads her friends towards an old bridge stretching across the chasm below, hoping to cross it before Kalros decides to return. More Reapers await them on the other side, this time thankfully no rachni, but more cannibals led by the mutated turian-krogan fusion, which they fortunately bring down quickly before it can charge them. After a few more tough battles with the Reaper forces, requiring some light applications of medi-gel afterwards, they finally reach the end of the ruins to come onto a long stone bridge leading to the next large complex. "We've reached an open area and some kind of a bridge, Wrex!" Morgan shouts on the comms. "Sending you the coordinates!"
"Alright, got it," comes the reply. "Seems we're close. I have visual on the bridge. We'll be coming under it, so get down there and we can pick you up!"
Morgan can already see the trucks coming up in the distance, frantically starting to look for some kind of stairway that leads down from the bridge, but nothing comes to view immediately. "No! Wait! Abort, Shepard!" Wrex suddenly yells, and Morgan immediately realizes the reason for it. There is something massive rising just behind the desperately speeding trucks, a dark brown and spiky tidal wave that tries to swallow the vehicles, cutting through the middle of the bridge and showering Shepard and her friends with dust and large debris.
"Shiiiiit!" Shepard exclaims, rising from the ground, pulling Liara up with her, Garrus angrily tossing a stone plate aside after it had painfully crushed his leg. "Wrex? Wrex, you still there?" she shouts on the comms desperately.
"Yeah, but Kalros is closing fast! Go on ahead, Shepard, we'll try to shake her off and catch up with you again!"
"Right," Shepard closes the comms, coming up to the edge of the now ruined bridge, looking at the several yard wide gap, uncomfortable looking landing looms below her. "I've heard that the turians don't know how to duck, but can you at least jump, Garrus?"
"You bet, Shepard," Garrus grins in reply.
"Wait, I'm first," Liara interrupts. "I am the lightest and have best chance of making the jump. And if you happen to fail, I can always catch you with a singularity."
"Which also gives us a wonderful incentive not to fail," Shepard snickers, watching in adoration as Liara gracefully leaps across the chasm, easily making the jump. Garrus follows it up, also successful despite his heavy armor, and Shepard just about makes it too, throwing herself into a somersault as she lands.
They waste no time in crossing the ruins ahead of them, time and time again checking in with Wrex, the last two krogan trucks being chased around the complex by the persistent Kalros. "Thresher maw getting closer!" she hears Mordin reporting urgently.
"Tell me something I don't know!" Wrex growls back, sounding irritated.
"Metal in truck an excellent supplement for maw's diet!" Mordin squeaks rapidly.
"There's probably a lot of tasty metal in that destroyer at the Shroud, maybe we should suggest Kalros to eat it?" Morgan asks, not entirely seriously.
"...about that, Shepard," comes the reply from Wrex. "Did we mention that we have a new plan? We'll discuss it once we catch up again. You're going to love it!"
"I'm afraid to even ask..." Morgan sighs, as they move through an ancient memorial of sorts, impressively large krogan statues placed along the walls and standing in a circle at the middle of the complex, forming either a place of worship or quiet reflection and remembrance, neither really fitting the current generation of the krogan.
More Reaper ground forces await them, but they fail to slow down Shepard and her friends, as they reach the other side of the complex, starting to climb down the stairs leading to the plains of sand and rubble. The trucks appear in their view again, speeding towards them and fortunately, this time they do not see Kalros hot in pursuit. "We're coming, Shepard!" Wrex shouts on the comms, pulling his tomkah along the stairs. "Get in, quickly! Wreav, keep an eye out on Kalros, I don't want it sneaking up on us!"
"Go, go, go!" Shepard yells to the others, running full speed towards Wrex, but they have not yet reached the tomkah when the heavy tremors caused by the thresher maw knock them off their feet again. As they struggle to reach the truck, Kalros reappears right in front of Wrex's vehicle, then taking a dive downwards, just narrowly missing the tomkah, but crashing right into Wreav, his screaming on the comms quickly dies down as the mother of all thresher maws pulls his vehicle with her underground.
Shepard and the others use this moment of respite to quickly climb into the tomkah and Wrex swiftly resumes driving, while Kalros is busy feasting on Wreav and his truck. "I take it we're the only ones left now?" Morgan asks, after they have put some distance between themselves and the ancient memorial.
"No way Wreav survived that," Wrex shakes his head. "Good riddance, he was a pain in the ass anyway."
"Seemed like a potential troublemaker, yeah," Shepard agrees. "Though of course, now it's just... us against the Reaper."
"Suits me just fine," Wrex chuckles grimly. "All the more glory for us!"
After dodging some scattered Reaper ground forces, some twenty minutes later the tomkah finally pulls up near the Shroud facility. The look outside is not promising. There is a large partly collapsed stairway leading up to the needle of the Shroud, but between them and their target, stands the interposing figure of the Reaper destroyer, facing towards them, even if it does not appear to yet be aware of their arrival.
As they get out of the track and observe the situation up close, their faces grow grim and hope seems to wane fast. "We don't have any heavy weapons or anything..." Garrus mutters, sounding a little dejected. "Wrex's plan better be a good one."
"It was hers, actually," Wrex says, pointing at Eve, making Shepard immediately feel more optimistic.
"What you said, Commander," Eve says gravely. "Kalros. We summon her to the Reaper."
"Plan sound. Already discussed and approved," Mordin nods energetically. "Just need to distract Reaper, draw it from tower. Meanwhile synthesize cure, then release."
"Alright... suppose we agree to this crazy plan, how do we actually summon Kalros to the Reaper?" Shepard wonders. "I don't imagine just asking nicely will work..."
"The Shroud tower was built in an arena devoted to Kalros' glory," Eve explains. "The salarians thought she would scare away intruders."
"Appears to have worked," Mordin says, looking approving. "Current mission specific circumstances, driven by desperation, possibly lack of all sense."
"There are two maw hammers inside the arena, the largest in existence," Eve continues. "If you can activate them, Kalros will come. That will distract the Reaper."
"Meanwhile, Eve and I head for the nearby laboratory, finish synthesizing cure," Mordin adds. "Reaper ground forces distracted by your attack. Should make reaching the laboratory... relatively safe."
"So... we'll have to cross those stairs, climb into the arena, with the destroyer likely shooting at us, Reaper ground forces trying to kill us, and during all that we have to activate those maw hammers," Shepard quickly summarizes their task. "They called storming the Collector base a suicide mission... how would they call this?"
"Nobody said curing the genophage would be easy," Wrex roars, before turning to Morgan. "Shepard. I want you to know that no matter what happens... you've been a champion to the krogan people, a friend of Clan Urdnot... and a sister to me. To every krogan born after this day, the name 'Shepard' will mean 'hero'!" With that he smothers Morgan into a crushing bear hug, while she struggles to swallow the heavy lump in her throat.
After a speech like that, we just have to pull this off, we simply must, Shepard thinks desperately, looking at Liara, the expression on her lover's face grim yet full of hope, and she finds herself drawing strength and reassurance from it.
"Here they come!" Wrex shouts, drawing his shotgun and turning to his right, shapes of four of those mutated rachni appearing and getting ready to aim their cannons at them. "Get to your tasks! I'll hold them off!" he growls as Mordin and Eve quickly disappear in the cover, stealthily heading for the longer, safer way around to the labs, Shepard, Liara and Garrus running towards the stairway that leads up to the arena.
Behind them, they can hear the sounds of raging Wrex tearing through some very surprised rachni, his mad charge making them forget to fire their cannons. "I AM URDNOT WREX!" he yells, tearing one of the rachni in half with his bare hands, then grabbing it by the cannons as if wielding a giant club and using it to smash another mutated monstrosity to gruesome and ignoble death. "AND THIS. IS. MY. PLANET!" he roars, charging the last of the rachni attackers, knocking it over an edge of a concrete block, the momentum carrying him over as well and the old krogan battlemaster falls into some kind of deep crevice, making Morgan worry whether he is alright, even as she leads her own team forward.
The stairway leading up to the arena is swarming with the mutated batarians. While on their own they prove little threat, eliminating them is also attracting the attention of the massive destroyer and it takes a few steps forward to the edge of the arena, clearly interested in who is causing the commotion and clearing out all of its dispensable minions.
"Shepard! I took care of those rachni!" Morgan is relieved to hear Wrex's voice back on the comms. "Busy climbing out of some pit, how's it looking?"
"On a scale from one to ten?" she replies. "I think it's pretty much 'spare underpants time', Wrex."
"That good, eh?" he chuckles back, undeterred. "Listen, someone's got to release those maw hammers before you can activate them. Lucky for you, I can do it without attracting the Reaper's attention!"
"Then get to it already!" Morgan shouts back. "I don't want to reach those hammers and then encounter the amazing surprise of not being able to use them!"
"Don't get your knickers in a twist, sister, I'm on it," Wrex laughs, ultimately succeeding to make Morgan smile as well, as she leads Garrus and Liara up a little stairway to the side of the arena, hoping to sneak by the Reaper, but unfortunately the path doesn't go on any further but rather leads towards a bridge spanning across the arena.
"Shepard, some luck!" Mordin calls in as they debate whether to dare cross the bridge or not. "Original strain in storage. Preparing the cure now."
"That's great, but we're kind of busy here," she replies, looking at Liara and Garrus for suggestions.
"We should be able to jump down there safely," Liara points at a spot further up on the bridge and a large collection of rocks directly under it, ensuring a convenient way of climbing down.
"I think that thing firing at us is the greatest concern," Garrus sighs. "But this plan is insane anyway, so... what are you waiting for, Shepard? Let's go!"
Carefully they move across the bridge, hoping that the destroyer won't notice them, but their hopes are crushed fast. The Reaper's firing chamber glows bright red and the deadly beam cuts right through the bridge before anyone of them can even react. Morgan feels an uncomfortable wave of heat licking her right side, the beam missing her by a couple of yards at best. The bridge quickly collapses underneath them and they jump, all as one, trying to escape the falling rubble.
Shepard is relieved to see Liara and Garrus both getting up alive and well, but she becomes far less relieved at seeing the Reaper straightening up to start slowly moving towards them, it's firing chamber still glowing angry red. "Shit, shit, shit!" she yells, pulling Liara with her as they run for cover, Garrus right behind.
"This is insane, do you know that?" Garrus yells at her. "We are so dead!"
"We're not dead yet," Morgan shakes her head defiantly. Though only a complete idiot would choose to bet on us now, she thinks grimly, finding comfort in briefly squeezing Liara's hand.
"Shepard! We just got shot at by a Reaper!" Garrus exclaims, shaking his head. "It doesn't come any crazier than this!"
"I know! But we need to cross that arena and use those maw hammers! Even if it means getting shot at by a Reaper... repeatedly," Shepard says with stubborn determination.
"I've released the hammers!" Wrex roars on the comms. "You can proceed, Shepard! I'll be coming back in to cover you!"
"Alright... get ready guys... this is it," Shepard says, breathing deeply, getting ready to dash across the arena.
"Should we stick to cover, Morgan?" Liara asks, looking a little paler than usual.
"I don't think that will work, Liara," Garrus shakes his head. "That beam just melts or cuts through any rock, cover simply won't work. Also, running in a straight line is likely to get you killed."
"Agreed, let's try to zigzag across, you both stay on me as close as you can," Shepard orders.
"Are you sure that is wise, Shepard?" Garrus asks. "If we spread out, there's at least the chance of some of us making to those hammers, but if we stick together and get hit by that beam..."
"No! No, if we spread out, it's also almost a certainty that the beam will hit someone," Shepard objects, horrified by the very thought. "I'm not... I'm not losing anyone here, not today! I refuse to!"
Garrus sighs in defeat. "Understood. Shall we?"
"Alright. Three... two... one... go, go, go!" she yells, leaving the cover and sprinting across the arena floor, watching the firing chamber glow, the red beam coming straight for them, just narrowly missing Garrus, running at the back of the group.
Shepard cuts to the side and changes direction sharply, heading to the left, and the Reaper narrowly misses them again, the beam cutting through the scattered blocks of stone, large sized rocks flying over their heads but miraculously failing to hit them. They continue this tactic for a while, successfully avoiding five or six of the beams, but then Shepard realizes a flaw in their plan. The entrance to the next part of the arena is a narrow bottleneck, and the Reaper has suddenly stopped firing, waiting for them to appear and get instantly incinerated.
"Fuck, what now?" Shepard wonders, sitting in cover, much in need of the brief respite.
"I think it's rather obvious, isn't it, Commander?" Garrus asks, grim expression on his face. "Let me do it. After it has fired, you two can cross and continue without me..."
"No, Garrus!" Liara looks distraught at the suggestion. "There has got to be another way."
"Don't worry, Liara, I'm not letting him do anything like that," Shepard shakes her head resolutely. "Wrex is on his way, maybe he'll have an idea-"
"Commander, this is the Artimec Wing," she suddenly hears on the comms, seeing the remaining fighters appearing in the distance, there are four of them left not two as she had initially believed. "We'll try to give the Reaper something else to shoot at," the turian pilot says, as they start their attack on the destroyer, the Reaper momentarily facing away from Shepard to deal with this new nuisance.
"Spirits be praised... I knew they would not give up," Garrus exclaims, relieved.
"Now's our time to go!" Shepard yells, jumping out of the cover and resuming sprinting, now daring to dash in a straight line, knowing that the Reaper is properly distracted. They have reached the middle of the arena when Shepard can finally spot the two distinct elevated platforms on either side, holding some kind of contraption that could only be these so called maw hammers.
Finding themselves almost under the Reaper, the destroyer busy shooting at the persistent turian fighters, it still manages to catch Shepard and her friends with a nasty surprise. A massive claw of the Reaper suddenly comes down, taking a huge swipe at them, and they dodge in the very last moment, avoiding certain death. "Shit, that's not fair!" Shepard shouts. "That fucker can multitask!"
"More bad news, Shepard," Liara exclaims, running back up to her side, pointing ahead. "Brutes incoming! ...four of them!"
Shepard drops on her knee to take aim with her sniper rifle, hoping to catch one of the brutes unaware, but suddenly another of the Reaper's claws comes down on their position and she is forced to jump to safety again. "This is impossible, we can't keep dodging the Reaper and fight those bastards at the same time!" she shouts in irritation.
"Agreed, Shepard!" Garrus yells back at her, splitting away from the group and starting to move towards the rightmost hammer. "Let's split up and each tag a hammer. I take right. If Kalros takes out the Reaper, we can deal with the brutes!"
"Good thinking!" Shepard agrees. "Liara, let's take the left one, keep the pressure on those brutes!"
"Almost there, Shepard!" Wrex roars somewhere close behind. "Leave something for me!"
"Take those brutes off us when you get here, Wrex!" Shepard yells back. "And watch out for the Reaper!"
They have already reached the elevated wing on the left, the hammer in their sights, but the three brutes are close behind, one having settled to chase after Garrus. During all that, the Reaper takes another swipe at them, this time managing a glancing blow that shatters Morgan's kinetic barriers and knocks her painfully against a wall, leaving her breathless and struggling to get up. Liara is upon her immediately, helping Shepard back to her feet, but the brutes have sensed their opportunity, and are about to charge, when suddenly... the brute at the head of the group himself becomes a victim of a biotic charge, Wrex arriving with thunderous roar and throwing the foe against the wall, before raising his shotgun and emptying it in the ugly mug of another brute.
"Take care of that hammer, I'll help Wrex!" Liara shouts and Morgan quickly obeys, closing the last few steps and pulling down on a rickety iron lever, but nothing happens.
"Garrus, what's taking you so long!" Shepard shouts on the comms. "Talk to me!"
"...almost there... Commander," the turian replies, wheezing, sounding in a lot of pain. "I got that last... brute, but... bastard of a Reaper... swatted me bad... don't feel so good..."
"C'mon, Garrus, hold on... you can do this!" Shepard speaks, bringing up her rifle and joining Liara in trying to free Wrex from the amorous embrace of the last brute on their flank, it seems to be pummeling the krogan somewhat fiercely. When they finally bring it down, Wrex collapses with it, grunting in pain.
"...done," Garrus croaks on the comms, before falling silent. The maw hammers finally come down and strike the base of the pedestal, emitting a deep, booming noise. Immediately, the familiar, heavy tremors start shaking the ground, signaling Kalros' impending arrival at the scene.
"Guys, you don't want to be here when Kalros arrives!" she shouts out on the comms, watching Wrex slowly get up from the ground, his secondary systems kicking in to compensate. "Wrex, I need you to grab Garrus and get back to the truck!"
"Understood, Shepard," Wrex says, starting to slowly move towards Garrus' position.
"Liara, go with them! Garrus might need medical assistance!" she tells the asari.
"And what about you?" Liara stares at her defiantly. "I'm sure Wrex knows how to administer medi-gel just as well as I do!"
"I need to get to the lab and meet up with Mordin," Shepard shouts, getting a little bit annoyed. "Don't question-"
"I'm not questioning anything. But I'm staying with you," Liara retorts resolutely, refusing to move from her side, and Shepard is forced to sigh in acceptance.
The Reaper above them seems to be sensing that something enormous is approaching. It takes several steps to move itself out of the arena and towards the rapidly closing trail of dust in the distance. Shepard grabs Liara's hand and together they run as fast as they can to put some distance between them and the Reaper. Suddenly, Kalros is upon the Reaper, tackling it just above the firing chamber, as the Reaper opens fire, missing the maw completely. The mother of all thresher maws brings the Reaper down, it's red particle beam spraying all over the arena chaotically, cutting through blocks of stone and creating a cloud of dust and mayhem, Shepard and Liara hardly able to see where they are running to, desperate to avoid falling chunks of stone.
"There!" Shepard points to a narrow stone bridge leading upwards and out of the arena, towards the Shroud and its laboratories. A massive chasm spreads between them and the base of the bridge, however, result of the Reaper's destructive beam etching it several yards wide. "This time I'm going first!" she exclaims, making a mad dash and leaping, arms and legs flailing in the air as she lands heavily on the bridge. Shepard is back on her feet quickly, turning around to look at Liara, her heart in her mouth as she sees Liara taking the jump a mere second before the rocky elevation from which she had jumped becomes swallowed by the red particle beam of the destroyer.
Liara lands safely on the platform, crashing right into Shepard's waiting arms and toppling her over, both ending on the ground in a rather romantic looking position, if not for the very disturbing image of a thresher maw suddenly being flung over their heads as the destroyer is desperately trying to shake the deadly foe off. Much to Shepard's dismay, Kalros ends up hitting the Shroud, the tall spire barely managing to withstand the impact, rocking to its very foundations.
Kalros pulls itself back below the ground, and the Reaper appears to believe that it has driven the maw off, now turning back towards them, as Shepard and Liara stand on the bridge utterly exposed, without anywhere to run, clinging to each other as the Reaper's firing chamber ignites... only to miss them completely as Kalros now appears from behind the destroyer, sending it crashing with its firing chamber pressed into the ground and starting to crackle dangerously, not being able to discharge the stored energy. Kalros wraps itself around the helpless Reaper and then begins to submerge, one monstrosity dragging the other under the sands of Tuchanka.
"Goddess, that was... I don't think I would believe if anyone were to tell me this story," Liara shakes her head, wide-eyed from the incredible near-death experience, then the expression in her eyes is quickly replaced with fear and worry as she turns towards the Shroud, together with Shepard realizing that it is in a woeful state, the entire tall spire wracked in explosions, several sections of it on fire. "...this can't be happening! We cannot be denied in the last moment!" she exclaims desperately.
"Come on, let's catch up with Mordin," Shepard reminds her, and together they run towards the base of the Shroud, dodging bits of rubble starting to fall from the slowly collapsing structure. They reach the salarian busy working on a console at the very base of the Shroud, he is alone and there is no sight of Eve nearby. "What's going on, Mordin?" she asks quickly. "Where's Eve?"
"Procedure traumatic for Eve, but not lethal. Maelon's research proving invaluable. Sent her back to the truck," Mordin replies, looking satisfied with his work. "Cure ready and loaded for dispersal in two minutes."
"Finally some good news," Liara says, sounding relieved.
"Agreed," Mordin nods. "Her survival fortunate. Will stabilize new government should Wrex get any ideas. Good match, promising future for the krogan."
"Yeah, she'll keep him in line," Morgan agrees. If only Wrex doesn't decide to frolic around with Liara's dad again. Or that Aleena chick of his, that krogan sure likes his asari tough. But then again, Aethyta isn't exactly bad influence, despite being a... little crass.
At that moment, a larger piece of debris falls right on the console next to Mordin, smashing it to bits and pieces, sharp piece of metal splintering off and impaling itself in the salarian's shoulder, but he doesn't show any reaction at all, continuing to hammer away at the computer terminal.
"If the cure is already loaded for dispersal, why are we standing around here?" Liara asks, looking at the burning Shroud with growing concern. "We need to get out of here!"
"Control room at the top of the Shroud tower," Mordin explains, pointing at the nearby entrance. "Must take elevator up!"
"Are you insane?" Morgan shouts. "You can't go up there, the whole building is about to come down on us!"
"Have to. Manual access required," Mordin says determinedly. "Must counter the STG sabotage. Ensure cure dispersed properly."
"I... I can't let you do this!" Morgan's voice become pleading. "Please, Mordin, there has to be another way! You have always managed to find another way!"
"Not this time, Shepard," Mordin shakes his head, a little sadly. "Remote bypass impossible. STG countermeasures in place. No time to adjust cure for temperature variance." He stands still, silent for a while, nobody saying a word. "No. No other option, Shepard. Not coming back. Suggest you... get clear. Explosions likely to be... problematic."
Morgan is shaking with emotion, tears starting to flow down her cheeks as she realizes the meaning of Mordin's words. "Mordin, no... I can't let you... we... I need you!" she starts to walk towards him, reaching out with her hand, trying to stop him, unable to watch her friend sacrifice himself.
Mordin swirls around quickly. There is a brief flash of silver in his hand and a spike of pain explodes in Shepard's knee. She stumbles and falls, crying out in pain, looking up only to stare into the barrel of Mordin's Carnifex pistol. "Please, Shepard," his voice is as kind and tender as she has ever heard from a salarian. "Do not make this harder. Do not try to stop me. Need to do this."
"Can't... lose... another friend..." she grinds out, hobbling towards the salarian who simply takes a few steps back to avoid her. "Liara... stop him, please, I beg you..."
Mordin raises his pistol at Liara, who freezes instantly. "Please, Dr. T'Soni. Do not wish to shoot you, but will do so," he says softly, but they all know that he is not bluffing. "Shepard, this is my work. My project. My cure, my responsibility." He takes a deep breath. "Would have liked to run those tests on the seashells..."
"Not fair," Shepard mutters angrily, trying to rise, but the ruined knee is making it very difficult. "It's NOT FUCKING FAIR!" she yells in rage, collapsing back on the ground as the knee gives out, sobbing inconsolably as Liara is at her side immediately, together watching Mordin step into the elevator, looking on at them with a kind smile, as if to give them one last image to remember him by.
"No regrets, Shepard," he says, nodding at her. "Had to be me."
"Someone else might have gotten it wrong..." Shepard and Liara reply as one, embracing tightly as Mordin presses the buttons on the elevator and disappears from their view, leaving his friends behind, crying their hearts out for his noble sacrifice.
Liara and Shepard are still holding each other tightly, when there is a massive explosion at the top of the Shroud, and with it, they see a burst of white mist suddenly expunged into the atmosphere, the particle cloud growing, spreading and slowly starting to blanket the entire planet.
The first particles finally reach the ground where they both lay, Morgan reaching out with her hand and catching a few, watching them dissolve against her armored glove. "It's like snow... it has been so long since I've last seen snow..." she whispers, as Liara frantically tries to pull her to safety, fearing the building is about to explode any moment now. "Snow... so pure... so beautiful..."