Chapter 91 - Rest in Pieces, Quib-Quib
"Commander Shepard? This is Admiral Xen," Morgan receives the transmission shortly after the shuttle has left the Normandy. "Have you reached Zaal'Koris' escape pod?"
"We're on our way," Shepard replies. "What's the situation like?"
"I am organizing the Heavy Fleet in defense of the liveships," Xen tells her. "The Civilian Fleet has taken significant losses since Admiral Koris sacrificed his ship to destroy the geth ground cannon. Searching for their lost admiral is the only thing keeping the captains from panicking. If you fail to rescue Zaal'Koris, some of our noncombatants might leave the flotilla. I'm sure you can picture the consequences."
"I'd cheer them on. I've been preaching the whole time that you should abandon your plans for war," Shepard shrugs. "Though I admit that an unorganized retreat will just lead to more of your people getting wiped out."
"We need those ships, and the wants of their captains are immaterial," Xen snaps, visibly irritated. "We will protect our civilians both from the geth and from themselves, whether they want it or not."
Charming. I wonder if that means she'd rather blow them out of the sky than see them defecting... "How is the health of Admiral Gerrel?" she finally decides to ask, out of politeness.
"Our doctors are doing their best, but his condition remains critical," Xen explains in an extremely cold voice. "He keeps slipping in and out of unconsciousness."
"Are you worried that he might be unable to take part in an important vote?" Shepard asks, smirking a little. Xen's reply, which apparently consists mostly of candid insults, is drowned in sudden static, disrupting their comm transmissions. "Didn't get that, Admiral Xen, there's a lot of static on the line."
"...Zaal'Koris crashed... geth jamming tower... disable to contact..." comes the broken up reply, before it disappears completely. Fine with me, I was getting extremely tired of that bitch anyway, Shepard thinks, turning back to her crew eying her with curiosity, Javik, Kaidan and Garrus, Vega sitting in the pilot's seat and steering the shuttle towards their destination.
"So, Commander..." it is James who picks up the thread of conversation. "We've been wondering why you didn't want Blue along on this mission. Don't tell us there's trouble in paradise, eh?"
"Sorry, James, but it's nothing like that, there's still no chance for you with either of us," Shepard laughs back at him.
"You just wanted to enjoy the company of four manly men, didn't you, Lola? Or three men, and Prothy," James chuckles. "Anyway, can't blame you for getting bored of all the girly stuff, y'know what I mean?"
"I only know that you're slowly digging your own grave, Lieutenant," Shepard replies.
"Right, right, shutting up now, sheesh," Vega laughs, still undeterred, as Morgan sits next to Kaidan and Garrus, talking amongst themselves, while Javik is pacing around the small space at the back of the cargo room, happy to avoid everyone.
"I've been meaning to say, nice job on the dreadnaught, Kaidan," she butts into the conversation, just as Garrus has finished telling Kaidan stories about his battles on Menae. "Seems like the chemistry with the old team is still there, eh?"
"Glad to hear that, Commander. Definitely felt like that to me," Kaidan smiles. "Still remember all your tricks, but the tips Liara gave me at start helped a great deal. Her biotic potential was impressive back in the day, but she just uses it so much more rationally now, not overextending herself when there's no need for it."
"Back then, she just really wanted to attract Shepard's attention by causing a lot of impressive explosions," Garrus chuckles.
"Hey, she is a smart girl, her plan worked like a charm!" Shepard laughs back. "You alright, Garrus?" she asks then. "Looking a bit unfocused there."
"I've also been wondering how come you didn't take Liara with you and send me with Tali, that's all. But she said you had your reasons, so I didn't push," Garrus says, looking her in the eyes. "And... alright, that's not all. Just before we dropped out of the range of the comm buoys and went dark beyond the Veil, I had a conversation with the Primarch."
"Oh? What did Victus want?" Shepard asks, curious.
"He was updating me about the situation on Palaven. Didn't like what I heard. The krogan are there in force, but all we've achieved is a deadlock," Garrus sighs. "Doesn't look like it will be enough, Shepard."
"They're buying us the time we need, Garrus," Morgan reminds him. "That alone is very important."
"Victus also wanted my advice on fleet strength once the Crucible is ready. Can't believe people are asking me questions like that..." Garrus shakes his head.
"Successful deployment of the Crucible should free the whole galaxy from Reapers, Palaven included. Theoretically," Shepard adds, hesitantly, hoping that their faith in the Crucible's capabilities is not misplaced. "We'll need every ship you can spare, Garrus."
"Don't worry, Shepard," Garrus replies. "That's exactly what I told Victus. Even if it means that... well, can you tell me how many turians will die on Palaven if we withdraw the majority of our fleets? Millions? Billions? That's the ruthless calculus of this war. Ten billion people over here die so that twenty billion over there can live. You fine with that, Shepard?"
"I don't see any alternatives, Garrus," she shrugs. "And remember, Earth has not had any support from our fleets since the start of the war. Our people have been slaughtered and harvested on a whim all this time."
"Yeah... I know, it's just... how do you live with the weight of these decisions?" the turian asks.
"I don't know. I haven't actually been living for many years, all I've known is fighting and trying to survive," she replies. "Ask me this question again after the war, Garrus. Maybe we can help each other figure it out."
Garrus just nods sourly as she rises, first stepping closer to the pilot's seat to check their ETA and seeing that they are still several minutes away, she returns back to the cargo space, approaching Javik. "Well, you're pacing around like someone who forgot to use the bathroom back on the Normandy," she tells the Prothean.
"We must talk, Commander," Javik looks at her sternly and Morgan immediately groans inwardly, knowing she will probably not like what is coming. "The machines of your cycle, these geth. You allowed one of them on your ship. Why?"
"Because Legion has proven to be a very helpful ally in the past. And it is proving to be one now, as well," Shepard replies, crossing her hands on her chest.
"It will betray you in the end. All machines commit treachery, and the one you brought onboard is no different," Javik lectures. "The machines of our cycle, the zha'til, taught us as much. Listen to what I tell you and throw the geth out of the airlock."
"Organics betray each other constantly as well, in that they are no different than synthetics," Shepard replies. "Yet you do not seem to advocate me throwing my organic squadmates out of the airlock, just on the off chance that they might betray me."
"There is a fundamental difference between synthetics and organics that you either are willfully oblivious or naive to ignore. Organics do not know how we were created, synthetics on the other hand know that we created them. And they know that we are flawed. They are not trapped by the limitations of time and short lifespan. And they know reasons for their creation, while organics spend their existence searching aimlessly for their true purpose. In their eyes, we organics have no reason to exist."
"And pray tell, how did you arrive at that conclusion?"
"Because they believe that they are superior to organics! Isn't it obvious?"
"That is a ridiculous leap of logic, Prothy," Shepard shakes her head in disbelief. "We are superior to, say, plant and animal life, but does that mean I believe it has no right to exist? Or that I spend my time trying to hunt, I don't know, wild boars into extinction? I believe it's actually the other way around, with increased level of intelligence there should come greater appreciation for life and its variety. Your entire argument is based on the fact that you Protheans subjugated all the weaker races into submission, but not everyone is like your people. A fact that I am exceptionally happy about!"
"There is room for only one order of consciousness in the galaxy: the perfection of the machines, or the chaos of the organics," Javik repeats stubbornly. "Throw the machine out of the airlock, Commander."
"That's enough," Shepard snaps, raising the volume of her voice. "I heard you the first time. If you will continue to press this issue, I will throw you off this shuttle myself, is that clear?" Javik straightens his back, glaring daggers at her as he stiffly nods.
Shepard returns to the front of the shuttle, the view of the geth jamming tower is starting to grow larger in the distance. "Approaching our destination, Commander," James speaks, then suddenly taking the shuttle lower in a swift move that tosses Garrus and Kaidan in a heap. "Shit, we're being fired upon, muchachos!" he yells, trying to attempt evasive maneuvers as two massive energy spikes blast right above the shuttle. "Damn! They must have put some AA guns next to the jamming tower!"
"Gee, you think?" Shepard glares at him, having been shaken about wildly by James' crazy piloting. "Set us down in a safe place away from the tower and we'll go in on foot and take out the AA guns. Then you can come in and blow that tower up with the shuttle."
"With this puny thing?" James asks, scratching his head, then laughing. "Damn, Esteban will be so pissed. He's been dreaming about shooting something with these crappy cannons, and now that there's finally a chance, he's missing out on it."
"Feel free to record footage for his viewing pleasure," Shepard grins, as the shuttle finally lands in a cover of cliffs of which there seem to be plenty of on Rannoch, and they are safe to disembark, Javik getting out first, Morgan following him, then Garrus and finally Kaidan.
They advance across the rocky terrain, Shepard watching the scenery around her and coming to a conclusion that Rannoch is only a few tiers above Tuchanka on the scale of terrible planets. There are rocks and more rocks, and she cannot see any fertile soil anywhere, but at least there is some greenery, stubborn plants growing from the barren ground, and a disfigured looking tree here and there. Apparently there is more fertile land around the bodies of water, at least she remembers so from Tali's stories, but she sees nothing of that now. Well, I guess the 'no insects' bit is really nice, at least, she concedes.
There are scattered remains of the Quib-Quib in their way, along with the corpses of the quarian crew and geth patrols searching for the crash survivors. The geth squads are fairly small and easy to deal with, but they have managed to leave some irritating presents in their way, and Javik pays for it dearly by stepping onto a mine. His leg is crippled so badly that after a generous application of medi-gel, Shepard is forced to contact James on the comms and ask him to help Javik return to the shuttle, while she together with Garrus and Kaidan continue their trek towards the AA guns and jamming tower.
The geth defenses around the AA guns are more serious, large groups of troopers immediately trying to swarm them, receiving support from their rocket-launcher wielding fellows. By the end of the fight, their kinetic barriers have been disabled and all of them are carrying one or two light injuries soaking in medi-gel, and Shepard wastes no time in dashing to the control panel of the AA battery, seeking a way to disable those guns. As she is busy working on a solution, the geth decide that this would be a good time to send in some reinforcements, including a couple of hunters, and worst of all, a Prime, leaving Kaidan and Garrus to deal with them, trying to cover Shepard, dangerously exposed as she works.
The AA guns are finally disabled, and Shepard quickly rejoins her friends on the field of battle, her arrival tipping the scales of the skirmish in their favor, but Kaidan and Garrus have already suffered injuries, Major's left hand next to useless and Garrus is limping severely, having been shot in the leg by a stealthy geth hunter. After more applications of medi-gel, they are ready to continue, even if Shepard does not feel encouraged by the beating they are taking, quietly hoping that the geth forces surrounding the jamming tower won't be as numerous.
"Don't hear you mentioning how this is just like the good old times, Garrus," Shepard remarks as they proceed away from the AA battery, having to walk a little slower to match the turian's pace.
"Eh, Shepard... I've decided that I actually hate the 'good old times'," Garrus replies sourly.
"Hear, hear," Kaidan echoes. "I remember the great camaraderie of SR-1, yes, that I certainly miss. But the joy of shooting endless waves of geth? Not so much, Commander. Not so much."
"Just can't please you guys," Shepard sighs theatrically.
"Maybe that's why you chose to be with Liara," Garrus chuckles, then wincing as Shepard throws a playful punch at him, and the turian is once again betrayed by his inability to duck.
Their banter is interrupted by a miraculous discovery of a quarian survivor, who unfortunately succumbs from his devastating injuries not long after, but at least the brave Dorn'Hazt, while not having any new information for them, manages to leave his last words meant for his son with Morgan and she resolves to pass them on at the first opportunity.
The jamming tower now comes in their sight, along with two more AA gun batteries they must disable before calling James in to deal with the tower. Shepard activates her cloaking and tells her squad to remain behind as she elopes on a quick recon, quickly establishing an important detail. There is a very intriguing looking mounted turret situated at the base of the fortifications, currently occupied by a sole and unsuspecting trooper. If they were to take control of this turret and turn it upon the nearly two dozens of geth crawling around the jamming tower, their task would be made much easier. In fact, Shepard isn't sure that there is any other reliable way to deal with the geth pyros and Primes, holding the fort here.
She quickly sneaks back to her friends and lays out her plan, which will require her to open the hostilities by removing the turret operator and seize control of the turret herself. This part of the plan is executed flawlessly, though of course the geth immediately become alerted as soon as she blows out the trooper's circuitry with a point blank shot from her Carnifex. As she jumps into the turret and quickly tries to make sense of the controls, Kaidan and Garrus sprint across from their cover to take positions at her side and keep the geth from flanking them.
The turret mows down the two Primes, a pyro and several other platforms, before the geth realize that storming the turret is definitely a bad idea, so they decide to instead hold position, possibly waiting for reinforcements. Knowing that time is not on their side, Shepard realizes that they must press the attack, which sadly for her means abandoning the turret and the three of them go on the offensive against the now depleted geth forces. The pyros are incredibly irritating opponents, the range of their flame throwers is deceptively massive and both she and Garrus learn it the hard way, getting a little singed, but fortunately their shielding saves them both from more severe burns. Nevertheless, despite their dogged resistance, the geth are eventually destroyed and Morgan sends Kaidan and Garrus to take care of the last two AA guns, hoping that James would notice that his shuttle is no longer getting fired at, saving her the long trek back to catch up with the lieutenant.
Sure enough, the Kodiak appears shortly after the towers have gone down and James cheerfully proceeds to pepper the jamming tower with shots from the shuttles puny weaponry. Meanwhile, Morgan is standing a little away from the jamming installation, ready to radio Zaal'Koris as soon as the tower comes down, sadly lamenting the good old days when Cerberus resources provided them access to funny toys such as Avalanche, or especially the Cain, that would have proven especially lovely for this occasion. Maybe I should bitch to our procurements specialist about that, she ponders idly.
As James lands the Kodiak and Kaidan and Garrus climb back in, Shepard remains outside, busy trying to reach Admiral Koris on the now clear frequencies. The admiral responds soon enough, distraught to hear about the death of Dorn'Hazt vas Quib-Quib and the others, but Shepard has no intentions of letting him grieve for his crew while they are all still in mortal danger, requesting that Koris sends her his coordinates immediately.
"My surviving crew found a way to a clearing," he replies. "I'll upload their location."
"Right, got it," Shepard speaks, jumping into the shuttle as soon as she has the coordinates. "Stay together, we're on our way."
"You misunderstood, Commander. The geth have cut me off," Koris says. "I am on my own, and I hear another wave of geth approaching."
"I need your coordinates, admiral. Not those of your crew," Shepard tells him sternly.
"No! Leave me. My crew will soon be overrun! My people are noncombatants, Shepard. They'll be slaughtered! Rescue them," Koris appeals pleadingly.
Well, I may have misjudged Koris after all. He understands the meaning of honor and sacrifice. A shame that I must deny him the honorable way out. "I'm not going after your crew, Admiral Koris. It's either you or nobody at all," she says, aware of the scrutinizing stares immediately turned in her direction, the others not immediately calling her bluff.
"Damn you, Shepard! How can you be so heartless!" Koris shouts at her, desperately.
"Admiral, the Civilian Fleet is collapsing without you," she continues, hoping to persuade him to reveal his location. "If you do not return to them, they will panic and get themselves killed while trying to escape the geth blockade! Your crew or the whole Civilian Fleet, what will you choose?"
"What does it matter now, Shepard? Our race has doomed itself with this war," Koris says darkly, as she hears the first sounds of gunfire on the comms. "You can't possibly think that you can stop this war, can you, Commander?"
"I can and I will!" Shepard yells on the comms, her ferocity startling Koris as he falls silent for a moment, also busy to return fire at the geth.
"Ancestors forgive me," she finally hears Koris speaking quietly, her lips tugging into a grim smile as she sees a set of coordinates appearing on her omni-tool's display and she passes them to James immediately. The geth are closing in on Koris' position in a tight circle, surrounding him, as they arrive in the last moment, Shepard executing a daring jump in the best krogan airdrop traditions, landing on one rocket trooper, using the butt of her rifle to smash in the flashlights of his fellow trooper before sending a plasma projectile that makes a very surprised geth pyro expire in a spectacular explosion. Garrus and Kaidan provide covering fire from the shuttle and Morgan guides Koris to safety, helping him into the transport, then jumping in herself. Moments later, they are back up in the air, out of the range of geth rocket troopers, heading back to the Normandy.
"Wait, Shepard!" Koris protests, seeing that they are leaving Rannoch. "My crew! Perhaps there is still time!" he dashes to the communications console, trying to reach out to them, but all that greets him is the sound of static on empty frequencies. After shouting in the comms for a while, he finally nods his head in acceptance, as Shepard slowly approaches him from behind.
"I'm sorry, Admiral," she says quietly. "And I'm sorry for bluffing to you. I was out of time and had no other options."
"You could have saved my crew. You could have done it!" Koris turns around to point at her accusingly. "I did not expect such coldness from you, Commander."
"Admiral, I think you will agree that I made the right call when you return to the Civilian Fleet and see what the situation is like," Shepard shrugs her shoulders apologetically. "I would have preferred to save both you and your crew... but this war just keeps forcing us into unpleasant choices."
Koris nods, taking a seat. "Perhaps you are right, Commander. I will pray that my people at least found comfort in the homeworld's skies..."