Chapter 116 - The Hades Cannons
Shepard spends the next hour digesting the intel concerning the Hammer attack to take out the Hades cannons. Apparently there are three of these massive cannons in the outskirts of the metropolis, and eventually Morgan decides to send four shuttles loaded with seasoned marines at each of the cannons. Two shuttles will be assembled from the Normandy squad, Morgan herself together with Aria, Liara and EDI will be flying with Cortez, while Vega will be bringing Javik, Garrus and Tali to lead an assault on the second cannon.
Most of the squads have been provided by the Alliance, but there are some asari and turian forces joining as well, the turians also carrying several krogan with them. Having heard that Major Kirrahe is in charge of the salarian squad assigned to the first Hammer wave, she promotes him to lead the assault on the last cannon. Once she has a complete view of the squads under her command and the frigates and carriers responsible for delivering the first Hammer wave, Shepard sends her report to Hackett, stating that they are ready to proceed with the first phase of the attack. While she is waiting for the reply, Morgan rejoins Liara and James back at the bridge, standing there, bristling with impatience, as the final preparations are made before the fleets begin their push.
"Any other interesting messages coming in, EDI?" Morgan eventually asks, tired of fiddling around while waiting for Hackett to give the all clear to proceed.
"I am not certain what criteria would qualify a message to be considered interesting, but I have heard from your old friend Kasumi Goto," EDI replies. "She is accompanying the Crucible support fleets, and expresses disbelief and outrage about once again being involved in a suicide mission. She seems to imply that this is somehow your fault, Shepard."
Morgan lets out a deep sigh. "What isn't my fault these days?" she asks no one in particular. "Anyway, I bet she's secretly enjoying this, she's just too proud to admit it." For a moment there is thoughtful silence, before Morgan speaks again. "Miranda promised that she'll be here too, though I have no idea who she might be flying with. Probably not the Alliance."
"Shepard, there are great many privateers who have linked up with the Terminus Fleets. It would not surprise me if miss Lawson was on one of those nameless frigates or cruisers," EDI makes an educated guess.
"Yeah, suppose you're right," Morgan nods. "Any news on Wrex or Grunt? Wrex said he'd be here."
"My intel places his last known location aboard the 'Unbreakable', his forces are flying with the turians," EDI reports.
"It's amazing how well they have been getting along with the turians," Liara remarks, looking surprised, but also extremely pleased. "I guess fighting side by side on Palaven has helped them forge bonds of friendship and respect."
"Hey, how can anyone not like the krogan!" James exclaims jovially. "They're crazy sons of bitches, but at least they're fun! There's no one else I'd rather have watching my back than an angry krogan with a shotgun. Uh... with the shotgun pointed in the other direction, not at me!"
"It would appear that Primarch Victus is also on the same ship as Wrex," EDI continues. "However, I have no news on Grunt's location. It is possible that he has not joined the fleets in the battle for Earth."
"Bah, he would have been so useful to have along," Morgan sighs, but just then some kind of priority message comes in and Lia'Vael reacts instantly, starting to press buttons on the controls, there is the quiet hum as the Normandy's engines respond almost immediately and they are moving again, this time towards Earth.
"We are to continue together with the Sword fleets until they have engaged the enemy," Lia'Vael explains as the fleet quickly begins to move through the system, swift on their way to reach Earth, the Hammer ships readjusting their position along the way, pulling behind the main Sword fleets, only the Crucible, the Turian Seventh and a part of the Alliance Sixth protecting the super-weapon lingering further behind.
The view as they come upon Earth again after not having seen it for months is simply demoralizing, as are the Reaper numbers surrounding the planet, and the Citadel, almost unrecognizable with its arms closed, looking like a massive tall space needle. The Reapers do not quite block the view of Earth with their numbers, but there are still great many of them, the destroyers numbering in hundreds, but the most fear inspiring are the massive capital ships, and there are at least a few dozen of those as well, nearly impervious to destruction, Harbinger most likely amongst them.
"Keelah, here it comes..." Lia'Vael sounds excited and frightened both at once in the pilot's seat. "We have time to hit them with the good stuff before we need to leave the Sword, EDI? Please, oh please, say yes?"
"We most certainly do, Lia'Vael," EDI replies kindly. "Weapons are primed for use, awaiting the command."
Wonder how much damage combined fire of sixteen thousand ships can do to these ugly bastards, Shepard thinks to herself, watching the Reaper ships beginning to move in anticipation of the attack, like gigantic black angry spiders against the fire-lit surface of Earth in the backdrop. The galactic fleet is approaching fast, coming close to the firing range, and she instinctively reaches out to where Liara is standing, finding her cold, sweaty palm being grabbed by an equally clammy asari hand, her bondmate struggling with nerves just as badly as Morgan herself.
Several more seconds pass, before EDI speaks again. "Fire!" is the short command, and Lia'Vael lets out something that is very likely some kind of ancient quarian curse, then punching the firing controls and the Thanix cannon comes to life, together with the GARDIAN laser joining sixteen thousand other ships firing all at once as the sky around them grows blindingly bright blue from the discharge of weapons.
When Morgan has recovered her eyesight, she is extremely encouraged to see that the Reapers have actually felt this first attack. Several of the destroyers have been severely crippled, and one or two eradicated outright. The reply is immediate, myriad of red particle beams slice towards them, so many that evading them appears impossible and the only thing to count on becomes luck. The dreadnaughts are well capable to shrug off attacks by a single destroyer, but all the smaller ships are either immediately destroyed or rendered completely useless.
Undeterred, the galactic fleets continue their course towards Earth and the Citadel, the ships now launching their fighter squadrons to counter the swarms of oculus fighters deployed by the Reaper forces, the space swarming with crafts, discharges of red and blue beams, constantly lit up by fiery explosions of their ships, now and then also of some Reaper destroyer as well. The battlefield looks like complete chaos at the first sight, and Morgan quietly hopes that Hackett has the situation under control, even if the numerous midair collisions between fighters during the battle does not fill her with much confidence. She looks around to the other ships of the Fifth Fleet, hoping to see how the SSV Orizaba is coping, but of course she has no chance of spotting her mother's ship in all this madness surrounding them.
"Breaking off," Lia'Vael reports, having received the orders for Hammer transports to leave the battle. "Preparing for descent."
"We should head for the shuttles, Commander," EDI tells them.
"Yeah, gladly. Watching this isn't really helping my already frayed nerves... not that the ground action will be any less hectic, at least I won't be just a passenger for the ride there," Morgan sighs. "Lia, are you coming back to rejoin the Sword after dropping us off?" The quarian simply nods in affirmation, too busy replying to another urgent report on the comms. "Well, good luck, in that case. Kill some Reapers and don't let them turn Normandy into a piece of scrap metal, okay? Somehow I've grown accustomed to this ship over the years."
"Will do, Commander!" Lia'Vael replies with forced cheerfulness, but the young quarian is actually performing excellently under duress, her lightning fast responses and excellently timed commands are nearly of the same level of skill as Joker's.
"Let's move, folks!" Shepard says, rushing away from the bridge, smiling at the saluting Traynor as they all move past her, into the elevator and down to the shuttle bay, where Garrus, Tali, Aria and Javik are already waiting for them.
"Shepard, last one to the FOB buys the drinks after we're done here, alright?" Garrus shouts towards her as they are already piling into their respective shuttles. "I hear this London of yours has some fine establishments!"
"I'll hold you to that, Garrus," Morgan grins at her turian friend, watching Liara jump into the shuttle, Shepard following her lover immediately afterwards. "ETA, Steve?" she asks the pilot first thing after strapping herself into a seat.
"Almost over London, Commander," Cortez replies. "In a few seconds," just as he has said that, the docking bay doors are opened and Vega's Kodiak is the first to leave the Normandy, Cortez following close by.
"All the squads have coordinates of their targets?" she asks, receiving a swift nod of confirmation from Steve.
Morgan falls silent then, trying to take in a deep breath to relax herself, but the tight knot in her stomach does not want to allow her even that, sending a painful spasm through her body and she hopes that nobody has seen the twitch of discomfort on her face. I'm sure it'll feel better once we're actually on the ground, shooting at things. This nervous waiting to be thrown into action is pure torture, she thinks to herself. But we have eight hours to put things right. Probably less than that now. No pressure.
"Some impressive fireworks up there," Aria remarks coolly, nodding at the battle raging overhead, sounding so relaxed that Shepard's first reaction is bitter envy. "Almost felt like staying back on your ship to watch. But I figure that there should be some fun groundside too..." she leans forth to observe the scenery outside through the window in pilot's cabin. "Though, I hate to say it, but you might need a new planet after this is over, Shepard."
"Not looking good, I take it?" Morgan asks, loosening her seat buckles and also coming to look at the view outside. It is just as she has expected it, and yet seeing it with her own eyes feels so raw and painful, there is not a single square yard of London that would not have suffered devastation in some form, only shells of buildings remaining, streets littered with rubble, burning skycars and cut down trees. "Yeah... a new planet might be a good idea. But we humans are really stubborn, we'll want to rebuild."
"This is... just like Thessia all over, isn't it..." Liara sighs, pressing lightly against her side, and she revels in the warm, casual touch. "I'm sorry, Morgan. I know how much it hurts."
"Approaching the LZ, Commander," Cortez informs them, Shepard watching the small console at the front panel of the shuttle, four dots on the grid representing Hammer transports moving towards a large red blotch, the destroyer holding the Hades cannon and now and then the massive energy discharge blasts skywards to probably take out another ship of the galactic fleet, fighting up overhead.
"I can see why they want us to get rid of that thing," Shepard grumbles. "Damn, maybe we should have taken Admiral Koris along for the ride after all. He's really good at taking out these planetary defense cannons..."
"Shit! How the... it has locked on to us!" Cortez suddenly exclaims, starting to put the shuttle through some stomach-heaving moves. The transport is suddenly rocked side from side and having already unfastened their seat buckles, they all end up tossed around painfully, but miraculously the shuttle somehow holds together after what felt like a blast from the Hades cannon. A quick glance at the console, however, informs them that the cannon has just taken out two of the Alliance shuttles on their team, leaving them with just the asari commando squad to support them.
"Set us down immediately, Cortez!" Shepard barks, realizing that if the cannon has locked on them, the next blast will take out either them or the asari. "Don't bother with the LZ, we'll get to the cannon from here!"
Cortez, much to his credit, reacts immediately, the Kodiak drops down low onto an empty street, and Shepard is relieved to see the asari also following with the same maneuver, though they are forced into a rough crash landing, black smoke rising from their shuttle. Steve tries to guide them as close to the defense battery as possible, but eventually he is also forced to stop and land. "That's as far as I can take you, Commander, you'll have to make the rest of the way on foot," he says. "I'll try to stay out of sight until you are done."
"Those asari might require extraction too, their shuttle looked damaged beyond repair," Liara says.
"Also, you might want to inform the other teams to be extremely cautious when approaching their targets..." Shepard sighs.
"Already done, Commander," Cortez nods.
"Alright, let's grab our heavy weapons and go... hey, Steve, where is our kit? Did we pack them?" Shepard asks, unable to spot the heavy ordnance.
"It would be incredibly stupid to head on a mission to destroy a planetary defense cannon and not have any heavy weapons loaded onto your shuttle. Especially insulting if you consider that your pilot is also the ship's procurement specialist," Cortez replies a little tersely. "They're at the back, Shepard."
"Here you go, Commander," EDI passes her the Cain, the synthetic herself already has the M-560 Hydra missile launcher strapped on her back. "I have heard from reliable sources that your infatuation with M-920 Cain is comparable to your attraction to a certain asari doctor."
"Well... it's not quite that bad, although..." she grabs the Cain from EDI and starts to cradle it in her arms like a small child. "Come to me, my precious... you know you want to..." she makes cooing noises, looking fondly at the weapon of mass destruction.
Liara lets out an exasperated groan. "Can we just pretend that we didn't see that?" she asks.
"What?" Morgan gives her an innocent grin. "I love my precious Cain. Oh yes I do!"
Aria merely pushes her in the back and forces Morgan out of the shuttle, following the others. The ruined metropolis surrounding them is grey, bleak and depressive, the miserable sights intensified by a typical British downpour, hampering the visibility. "Fuck this. Killing Cerberus was fun... but getting dragged into such a mess? What was I thinking, agreeing to this?" Aria grumbles, readying her twin pistols, trying to see any movement on the short range scanners.
"Well, we haven't killed anything yet, of course it's not fun, just be patient," Morgan replies, trying to keep the spirits of her squad up as they carefully begin moving towards the defense battery, Cortez lingering behind for a little while but then he lifts off again and proceeds to seek some safe spot where to remain undetected from the Reaper troops. "EDI, think you could set up some comm channel with the asari group from the other shuttle?"
"In a moment, Commander... assigning frequency... Team True Blue, you are now linked in with Team Powerpuff Girls," EDI speaks into the comms, before giving Shepard and the others access to the channel as well. "Please report, True Blue."
"This is Lieutenant Kurin of the True Blue... and I'm going to kill whoever came up with that name," the asari swears, Shepard giving EDI a threatening glare. "We just saw two of the Alliance squads go down. Is Commander Shepard in charge of the Powerpuff Girls?"
"That would be Commander 'Blossom' Shepard," EDI says. "She will-"
"She will dismantle one smart aleck synthetic, she thinks," Shepard growls on the comms. "Hey Kurin, good to hear your voice. We met on Thessia, didn't we?"
"That's right, Commander," comes the acknowledgment.
"I remember you went off with Grunt, any idea where he is?" she asks.
"HI MOM!" suddenly the krogan roars on the comms, almost making Morgan's eardrums explode.
"Gah, who let him on the channel!" she exclaims, rubbing her aching ear. "Hey Grunt, good to hear from you too... now, try to keep your voice down, alright?" Grunt's only reply is that nasty little cackle of his. "Kurin, do you want us to link up or will you try to hit that cannon from the other side?"
"Let's remain split up, Shepard," Kurin replies. "There's a buttload of Reapers around that cannon, I figure we can keep them off balance if we time our attacks from both flanks."
"Sounds good," Morgan nods. "Let me know when you're in position to attack, alright?"
Having received another acknowledgment, Shepard proceeds to lead her team deeper into the ruins, looking around for enemy troops, trying to judge the distance to the defense battery. They are still some ways off from the cannon, and she does not want to risk wasting their heavy ordnance from unreliable distance, knowing that they have only limited opportunities to take out the dreaded defense cannon.
"That's... a lot of Reapers, Shepard," Aria says stiffly, having poked her head around the corner to take a look at what awaits them ahead. The area is swarming with cannibals and marauders, and a few of the more dangerous brutes and ravagers. "We could use a distraction. Tell the asari squad to draw fire from us and we can quickly move in, hit the cannon and get back out."
"You can't be serious, they will not survive even a few minutes if we divert all these forces towards them," Liara protests.
"Few minutes is all we need. I still fail to see the issue with my plan," Aria shrugs.
"No, I won't sacrifice them, especially not Grunt. He has somehow declared himself to be my adopted son or something..." Morgan lets out a deep sigh, explaining as she sees the question in Aria's eyes. "It's strange, complicated and involved an accident with a krogan breeding pod."
"Kinky," Aria notes, grinning. "Anyway, those Reapers won't go away while we stand here and talk nonsense. We still need a plan."
"If you do not wish to sacrifice Team True Blue, Shepard, the only other opportunity is to hit the Reapers head on simultaneously on both flanks. Their forces will be divided and we can use their indecision to quickly crush them," EDI suggests.
"I guess you're right, EDI," Shepard nods, activating her comms again. "Kurin, are you guys in position to hit those suckers? We need to do it simultaneously so they don't all swarm one of our squads."
"We're good to go, Shepard. Give me a signal, and we'll hit them with good old krogan charges!" Kurin actually sounds excited.
"Right... wait, charges? You mean you have multiple krogan with you?" Shepard blinks. "I thought I was assigned with an asari commando squad!"
"Well, of course. I'm the asari commando and the Aralakh Company is my squad, Shepard. Grunt brought three of his pals along for the ride. Now give the signal already, there's only so much time that these krogan can wait before charging into battle!"
"Right, just a moment..." Shepard speaks, readying a cluster of grenades and so does EDI, Liara and Aria quickly discussing where to place their biotic detonations for maximum damage. "Okay... three, two, one... GO!"
As Morgan reaches out to quickly toss the frag grenades at the entrenched cannibals, she hears the deafening roar of krogan charging nearby. She quickly pulls back behind the cover, the ruined building they are hiding in is shaking from detonations, few loose bricks smashing down next to the crouching Liara, just missing the asari. Once the smoke from the explosion clears, she pokes her head back out, observing the damage. Reaper corpses are strewn about in the near vicinity, only a few survivors still moving. "Go, go, go!" she shouts, leaving the cover and racing across the open plaza, finishing off a few badly injured marauders as she runs past them, others hot in pursuit.
Kurin and her krogan on the other side are making their push at a faster pace than Shepard's squad, and the Reapers react instantly, diverting more forces to cut Team True Blue off from access to the Hades cannon. This allows Shepard's crew to make swift progress, but she is not about to allow Kurin and Grunt get overrun, slowing their pace and making a little diversion to the left, gaining position from which to snipe down the Reaper forces advancing on positions of their fellow squad.
Despite their best efforts to relieve Team True Blue, one of the krogan ends up being torn apart by the brutes, but fortunately it is not Grunt, and the death of their fellow only serves to enrage the other members of the Aralakh Company, the Reapers soon regretting their violent transgression. They can see Grunt roaring madly as he tears a ravager in half, grabbing the lifeless upper body part of the abomination by its mutated guns and then using it to smash a brute over its head. The ravager's mutilated torso gets stuck on the brutes head like a grotesque oversized hat and the disgusting looking monster is wandering around blindly until a smaller blue glowing shape crashes into it with a biotic charge, the detonation of the nova sending the brute slumping to the ground and the creature doesn't get up.
"Oh, a vanguard, is she? No wonder Grunt is so fond of her," Morgan chuckles, then turning towards Liara. "I'm glad you're not doing those biotic charges, babe. Not sure how I'd feel about you charging into a brute like that!"
"To be honest, Morgan, I'm not keen on finding out how that feels," Liara smiles back.
"Alright you lovebirds, shouldn't we be in range of the cannon by now?" Aria asks impatiently. "Let's take that thing down and get out of here!"
"Is the range sufficient, EDI?" Shepard asks one more time, just to be sure.
"It should be, Shepard," comes the swift reaffirmation. "I suggest that we target the firing chamber when the cannon is being used."
"More Reapers coming in from the right, Shepard," Aria suddenly reports, the strained tone of her voice making Morgan feel a little uncomfortable. "I don't even know what sort of creatures those are!" The Pirate Queen exclaims, but the screeching cries far off in the distance tell all the story Shepard needs to know.
"Banshees!" Liara gasps. "Aria, we need to slow them down!"
Meanwhile, EDI and Shepard are readying the heavy weapons for use, waiting for the Hades cannon's destructive blue beam to shoot skywards before they let go with the Cain and the Hydra respectively. Morgan is able to see with the corner of her eye how Liara and Aria are frantically throwing their biotics at something fast approaching, but fortunately the Hades cannon becomes activated before their attackers reach them. A cluster of missiles leave EDI's Hydra, followed by the heavy explosive slug surrounded by mass effect fields, leaping from Shepard's Cain, quickly reaching the destroyer and disappearing into its growling mouth, spewing blue death. For a moment, there is no reaction and Shepard gives EDI a worried look, but then the mounted cannon on top of the destroyer is blown to small pieces, the destroyer's tentacles becoming limp and the Reaper monstrosity stumbles and collapses, legs no longer able to support its weight.
"I suggest we go... NOW!" Aria yells, as two banshees have nearly reached them, quickly catching up to their position with their biotic jumps.
"Go, go!" Shepard agrees by shouting her frantic order, herself not moving until she sees Liara leaving her position and dashing for safety, only then daring to follow, bringing up the rear. "Cortez, we need extraction, ASAP! Do you copy?"
"Got your position, Commander," comes the swift reply. "ETA less than a minute."
Running by and gunning down the last of the Reaper forces trapped between them and Team True Blue, Shepard ducks to avoid Grunt's attempt at an enthusiastic hug when he sees her dashing in his direction. Grunt actually manages to look a little like a kicked puppy, but Shepard doesn't allow herself to stop. "Fall back! Fall back to the shuttle!" she yells, ordering Kurin's squad to follow her back towards the Kodiak shuttle, appearing over the ruined buildings, on its way to pick them up.
The ravagers are already opening fire on the Kodiak by the time they have finished getting in, Morgan throwing herself into the co-pilot's seat and sending a little glance behind her to make sure that Liara hasn't been crushed by the overenthusiastic krogan. As the shuttle quickly lifts up and leaves, Shepard finally allows herself a little sigh of relief before turning to Cortez. "Any news from the other squads?" she asks.
"They haven't made contact yet, Commander, though the scans show that all the Hades cannons have been destroyed," Cortez replies. "Try contacting them, Shepard. If they have survived the assault, they would be moving towards the FOB as we speak."
"If they have survived... wash your mouth with soap, Steve!" Shepard reprimands the Lieutenant, before activating the comms and looking down the designated squad names still active on the channel. "Team... Dextro Love? Come in, Team Dextro Love, Garrus, do you copy?"
After a few agonizing moments, she hears the turian's voice, all crackly and quiet. "Copy that, Team Powerpuff Girls... spirits, who keeps coming up with those names?"
"I think EDI is making up for Joker's absence, there," Shepard sighs. "Anyway, report, Garrus."
"The cannon is cold, Shepard. Lost two of our shuttles though, one Alliance, the other turian. Our people are all good, Commander, only Javik took a shot in the shoulder, but that won't stop him."
"Alright, Garrus, I will see you at the FOB. Be ready to buy me those drinks," Morgan snickers, abruptly ending the conversation before Garrus can make a retort, fiddling around to select another channel with the intent to contact Kirrahe's squad. "Team Kermit? ...come in, Team Kermit... EDI, that is mean!" she growls, though inwardly she is laughing. "Major Kirrahe, do you copy?"
"Hearing you loud and clear, Powerpuff," Kirrahe responds swiftly. "Objective completed, proceeding to the rendezvous point."
"Good, good," Shepard says. "Casualties?"
"Rentola's squad was wiped out by the cannon. Lost two of mine to one of those banshees. Bad way to go."
"Okay, got that, Major. Bloss-... ugh, Shepard out." Sighing, she turns towards Cortez. "Right, time to send the order for the rest of the Hammer to move in," Shepard says, taking a deep breath. "And then hurry up to the FOB, Steve. If Garrus beats us there, I'm holding you personally responsible."