A/N: This chapter can probably be taken as a huge middle finger to the whole Valentine's Day nonsense, and guess what... that's just fine with me. :D
Chapter 118 - The Time is Running Out
The Forward Operations Base is by now filled with marines, soldiers of every species, awaiting further orders from their commanding officers, and Shepard squeezes herself past the crowds on her way to the CC, muffled whispers, praise and cheers always accompanying her passage. She sees some faces in the crowd that look familiar, Kirrahe speaking to a small group of salarians, one of them winking at her and she recognizes her fellow Spectre Jondum Bau, replying with a nod of the head.
As she enters the next room on her path to the CC, she immediately notices EDI, standing in the corner and speaking with someone very familiar looking. "Jack?" Morgan asks, grinning as she recognizes their old comrade, once a deranged and insane criminal, now occasionally responsible and dependable biotic instructor. "What are you doing here?"
"Jack has asked me to transmit a short message to the Normandy," EDI says before Jack has had a chance to open her mouth. "I'm afraid that my profanity protocols do not allow me to vocalize the content of this message."
"Now I have to demand an explanation," Shepard speaks, very curious.
"Ugh, Shep, I hate your timing," Jack groans, looking very unwilling to elaborate.
"I hate my timing as well, it's very lousy. Started off with being born clearly at the wrong time," Morgan sighs theatrically. "Now, I didn't think there was anyone left aboard the Normandy that you passionately disliked and wanted to rant at?"
"It was more... sexually explicit than outright offensive," EDI explains.
"Ah! I see... been thinking about Sam, eh, Jack? I've heard she's been wandering around lovesick after your encounter at the Purgatory," Shepard chuckles. "She was trying to get in touch with you as we were leaving the Normandy."
Jack looks a little embarrassed. "Eh... what can I say," she then shrugs. "She might be a keeper, really. Just sent her a few excerpts from the latest 'Bedroom Biotics', thought it might serve as incentive for her to survive this stupid war."
"Like I told James, we all have different reasons why we fight in this war. Some apparently do it to get laid after it's all over," Shepard rolls her eyes, but then her expression changes to a curious one. "Say, did I hear that right, there's a new edition of 'Bedroom Biotics' released?"
"Yup, a week or so ago," Jack nods. "You probably want to get a copy for your blue bitch so that she can fuck you even harder. Some tips in this one will make your eyes pop out when you try them, I swear."
"And here I thought that Aethyta was crude," Shepard mutters quietly, feeling her cheeks burning with heat, as EDI's platform makes several sharp jerks, the synthetic's eyes close tight and then open again, several seconds later. "Uh, EDI, you alright?"
"Yes, I should be fine now. My visualization matrix overloaded, forcing an unexpected system reboot," EDI explains. Shepard gives her a disbelieving stare, EDI managing to look both smug and amused. "That was a joke, Commander."
"So anyway, Jack, you're here with the 103rd? Alone, or did they send your students down as well?" Shepard asks.
"They're here, alright. Just saw Rodriguez sucking on some marine's face a little while ago, girl's a bit on edge. Can't believe the brass decided that this is a good idea, but I guess we're that desperate," Jack shrugs. "Heard something about Hammer heading out in waves. We'll be going with the last one, providing barriers and shit."
"Alright, I see," Morgan nods, then turning to EDI. "What about you, EDI? Any last lingering questions or issues?"
"Nothing that I need to burden you with, Commander," EDI replies.
"Are you keeping Joker up to date with what we are doing?"
"No. Knowing him, it would only make him more frantic. It is better that they keep him sedated on the hospital fleet."
Shepard sighs deeply. "Perhaps that is for the best. Listen, EDI..." she hesitates, feeling guilty and embarrassed. "I... I wish I had learned the things I found out on Cronos Station earlier. Then the way I treated you and Joker... might have been different. For what it's worth... I'm sorry for how things turned out."
"Your reaction was still far more accepting than that of an average organic, Commander," EDI replies. "You have nothing to apologize for. I greatly value my experiences working alongside you and your crew, Shepard. And now I look forward to defeating the Reapers by your side."
"Thanks, EDI..." Morgan smiles, then nodding as she is about to move on. "I better get going, they are slowly starting to gather at the CC," with that, she waves both EDI and Jack farewell, heading onwards into the next hall, this one having been claimed by the turian troops. She is very surprised and touched that Primarch Victus himself has joined the Hammer, ignoring the sizeable risks, now giving last instructions, shouting to some of the turian grunts.
Garrus is there as well, and so is Tali, the two of them standing a little ways off from the others, speaking amongst themselves. While Morgan is willing to give them a little bit of privacy in these last minutes, she also knows that this might be that last time she speaks with either of them, and so she swallows heavily and approaches two of her oldest friends.
"Shepard," Garrus notices her first. "So, I guess this is..."
"...just like old times?" Shepard musters a forced grin, then having to smile in earnest at the inappropriateness of her words. The madness and destruction surrounding them is not even remotely close to the 'good old times' that Garrus is so fond of recalling.
"Probably the last time we get to say that," the turian's voice is very strained, as if he was trying to sound cheerful, but the outcome is very unconvincing.
"Don't speak like that," Tali elbows him in the side, upset. "You just told me that we're going to kick the Reapers back to whatever black hole they crawled out of, don't tell me you just lied to make me feel better!"
"I absolutely did mean that, my Chiktikka," Garrus offers apologetically. "How else could we put the other part of my cunning plan into action, retiring somewhere warm and tropical to live off royalties from the vids."
"Oh, that sounds great, but only if I can bring Liara along for that," Shepard grins. "Damn, now I want to see her in a bathing suit."
"Of course, Shepard, it wouldn't be the same without Liara," Tali says. "But I hope it's not too warm, even with the environmental modules this suit can get very uncomfortable in the heat."
"I am very eager to say that I'm definitely going to retire after this is over, but... if you would have watched old Earth vids, you'd know that saying something like 'I am only a few days from my retirement' is a sure recipe to get myself killed," Shepard says, fully aware how tempting the thoughts of retirement are, but forcing herself not to think about that just yet.
"James told me of another old saying here on Earth. 'May you be in heaven half an hour before the devil knows you're dead'," Garrus says.
"That's pretty good, never heard that one. Maybe because I'm not a true Earthborn," Morgan shrugs.
"Well, I don't know if the turian heaven is the same as yours, but if this thing goes sideways and we both end up there... meet me at the bar," Garrus says grimly.
"Not sure I believe in the concept of afterlife, Garrus... but damn, I hope I'm wrong about that. And if there's a bar? Yeah, I'll be there," Shepard nods. Not sure I'm going to heaven, though. Too much blood... regardless of reasons, way too much blood on my hands.
"Just make sure you leave some room there for me, Garrus," Tali tells him.
"Let's not plan that far ahead, though. Garrus, remember, we're the Normandy's sniper team," Morgan says. "King and Queen of the Bottle-Shooters, right? There's no Shepard without Vakarian, so you better remember to duck."
"We turians don't know how to do that," Garrus shrugs apologetically.
"I'll be sure to teach him before we head into the final battle, Shepard," Tali says resolutely.
"Ah, to hell with this," Morgan exclaims, swiftly pulling both Tali and Garrus into a group hug. "Guys, if I'm up there at that bar and you're not... just know that I'll be looking down. And I'll always have your backs."
"It has been a pleasure to serve with you, Captain Shepard vas Normandy," Tali says, her voice sounding strained to the point of breaking.
"It has been both a pleasure and honor to have you with me, Admiral Tali'Zorah vas Normandy," Morgan manages a smile, but then she has to swiftly turn around and walk away just to avoid breaking out in tears.
She quickly makes her way across a bridge connecting two buildings on the opposite sides of the street, the short walk offering her great view at the courtyard of the FOB. It would appear as if the last Hammer shuttles have landed, the sky is now filled only with swarming harvesters, not a single shuttle remaining in sight. Someone very familiar looking gets out of the last shuttle, and Morgan lets out a deep breath of relief, recognizing the black and white skin-tight 'armor' of Miranda Lawson. She's holding true to her promise to stand with us in the last battle. I knew I could count on you, Miri, she thinks, entering the other building which also houses the CC somewhere deeper inside. Now, let's just hope that she doesn't come across Jack and that they don't stage the most poorly timed catfight in the known galactic history.
The part of the building that Morgan walks through now is partially collapsed, one wall completely giving way, and she sees her old friend Wrex standing there atop of a pile of rubble, bellowing orders at his troops below. On the other side of the room, Shepard spots Aria T'Loak, leaning against the wall close to a window, appearing to be listening to Wrex's shouting, but her eyes are always drawn skyward, towards the battlefield in space above, the sealed Citadel somewhere in the middle of it all.
"Impressive speech, isn't it?" the asari says, seeing Shepard approaching her. "If I were a krogan, I'm sure I'd have plenty of motivation to go out there and tear some Reaper asses apart."
"Didn't look like you were paying much attention, Aria," Shepard remarks, pointing at the sky above.
Aria sighs. "Another touchy-feely talk, Shepard? Not sure I can do one right now. Not really in the mood. Just... pissed off at it all."
"Pissed off is a good way to feel right about now," Morgan chuckles. "Say, Aria... I noticed something when we were fighting the Reapers at the Hades cannon. You certainly killed a lot of them, but... all that violence didn't have the same effect on you as on the Cronos Station."
Aria winces and utters a quiet swearword. "Yeah, back then I had no idea Tevos and the girls had been taken by the Reapers... nothing has felt the same ever since. Nothing has felt right, damn it." She sighs again, almost looking confused. "Go bother someone else, Shepard. I have only a few minutes left to get my shit together before they want us to go out there again."
"Aria, admitting to yourself who and what you're fighting for will give you all the focus that you need, trust me," Shepard offers one more encouraging smile. Aria looks at her, a little dubious, then slowly nodding. "And Aria... let me just say that I feel very honored by your presence here. Thank you."
"Shepard, stop embarrassing me, or I'll get really mad," Aria barks at her, but there is no true bite and venom in her words, she is simply on the verge of showing more emotion than she is accustomed to, not feeling ready to offer such display to Shepard. Morgan merely smiles and proceeds on towards Wrex, the leader of Clan Urdnot having concluded his fiery address to his troops.
"Shepard, damn it, you did it!" Wrex greets her as she climbs to the top of the pile of rubble he is standing upon. "You managed to unite the galaxy. Not sure why you bothered with some of the soft races, and I don't know about these geth... hate those things, but I trust you know what you're doing."
"Eh, I'm just making it up as I go, Wrex," Shepard shrugs, giving the old krogan a slightly lopsided grin. "Most of the time it even seems to work!"
"Well, it's going to work this time, Shepard, and do you know why?" she shakes her head at him. "Because you brought the krogan!" he adds with a roar. "Oh, and before I forget, Bakara sends her regards. She's already pregnant. Ah, the benefits of being a clan leader."
"I guess congratulations are in order," Morgan smiles, offering her hand and Wrex squeezes it, showing great care not to mangle her limbs.
"She's really serious about naming the firstborn 'Mordin'," Wrex says then. "I suppose I will have to go along with that."
"It would be fitting," Shepard nods.
"Yeah. Listen... Shepard," Wrex leans a little closer, whispering. "Liara's dad, she didn't come with you? Wondering if you've heard from her."
Shepard can't stop herself from chuckling. "We left Aethyta in the asari home system, she went to defend one of their colonies. Having seen her in action... I'm pretty sure she's going to be alright. She's not an easy lady to forget, is she?"
Wrex harrumphs uneasily. "Could say that, Shepard. Miss the drinking and the... well, you know. You're with Liara, you know perfectly well what the asari can do."
"Uh-huh... and I assume Bakara doesn't know anything about this?"
"We krogan don't really do all that marriage nonsense that I've seen humans get crazy about. We run things a little different back on Tuchanka... though Bakara is getting some ideas about changing that..." Wrex shrugs, then becoming a little more hesitant. "Still, best not to mention about Aethyta to her. She has developed an extremely good aim for flinging frying pans."
Shepard laughs, clapping Wrex on the shoulder. "If you want to risk your testicles getting violently removed, Wrex, go ahead, it won't be me who reveals your secrets," she says. "Anyway, we're moving out soon, my old friend and brother in arms. Give them hell out there, Wrex."
"You too, Shepard, sister mine," he replies as softly as a krogan is able, nodding at her as she turns to move away, towards the next part of the building, repurposed as an impromptu medical facility, already knowing that she will find Liara within, her beloved doing all she can to help the resistance doctors in providing for the injured who have somehow made it back to the FOB.
The many cots in the medical center are mostly empty, only a few patients present. One of the human doctors takes something away in a brown bag, disturbingly looking like an amputated leg, and as she sees Liara standing near a wash basin nearby, scrubbing her hands clean, Shepard cannot force away a light shudder running through her. The asari spots her almost immediately, wiping her hands clean and rejoining her, looking subdued.
"Not a lot of treatable flesh wounds," Liara says, shaking her head. "There is not much that can be done for these people."
"Yeah, seems to be a common case when fighting the Reapers," Shepard replies grimly. "It's almost time, Liara."
"I know..." the asari sighs, taking a step closer as they join hands. "I... I feel as if I'm supposed to say something deep and meaningful, but... I can't think of anything. All those little blue children will be disappointed that I didn't have a speech."
"We'll whip something really impressive sounding once we're done with this, alright?" Morgan tries to find the strength to summon one last encouraging smile, but it falls very flat. "Damn it, I don't know what to say either, Liara... this is it, but the words I have just seem so inadequate to describe how I feel..."
"I remember what I promised you Morgan, and I will hold that promise," Liara says quietly. "But I want you to know that regardless of what happens... I will never stop loving you. Because I am yours. Unconditionally yours."
Morgan tries to fight the sob that is tearing up her chest, trying to escape, and she pulls Liara in a tight embrace, hiding her face in Liara's shoulder, muffling the strangled noise that leaves her throat. "I can only offer you the same in return and hope that it is enough," she whispers, pulling away from Liara's shoulder and looking into the asari's face, a few errant tears running down her lover's cheeks. She leans closer and kisses Liara on the lips, savoring the bittersweet memory just in case these are their final kisses. "Thank you for everything, love. You helped me discover feelings I never thought I was capable of having."
"Those feelings transcended death once already," Liara whispers back. "They will guide us through this as well, I am sure of it. But now..."
"Yes... we're out of time. Just... this one last kiss..." she leans in, claiming Liara's lips one more time, almost unable to find the strength to turn around and walk away, even if she knows that there is no choice in the matter.
With heavy steps she makes her way out of the medical center, then through one last corridor on the way to the CC, struggling to reign in her raging emotions and hastily wiping at her cheeks to make herself a little more presentable when she enters the room ahead, facing Anderson, Coats and Johnson standing over holo displays of the terrain of the battlefield, debating something with several of the squad leaders.
"Shepard," Anderson notices her, waving for her to step forward and the others respectfully part, nodding as she walks past to take her place next to the Admiral. "We can't count on any more Hammer shuttles making it through. We have a little over 50% arriving at the FOB... not ideal, but it will have to do."
"Let's get the ball rolling then, Admiral," Morgan replies. "The more we wait, the more pounding our fleets are taking... speaking of which, do you have reports of how the battle above us is going?"
"I understand that the losses are devastating, but they have gained some foothold around the Citadel," Anderson replies grimly. "That is also why we must hurry, it is unclear how long the fleets can hold out. The task before them is desperate, but so is ours..." he points at the holo displays, motioning for Major Coats to start outlining their plan.
"You all understand the objective before us," Coats begins to explain, staring hard at all the squad leaders. "We have to push through the Reaper controlled territory here, break past their defenses and get to the relay beam leading up to the Citadel. The entire area is crawling with Reaper forces, not to mention the destroyers wandering in vicinity. One of them appears to have been assigned with the specific task of guarding the relay. We will need to take it out."
"Due to some kind of interference, we cannot bring in air support to deal with it," Johnson adds to answer the unspoken question on the minds of some of the gathered squad leaders. "We will need to take it out from the ground. Fortunately, we have a good supply of Thanix missiles to deal with that monstrosity."
"The Reapers have cut a swathe, a no-man's-land, through the city," Coats takes over again. "There will be some limited shelter on the other side, but we expect heavy ground resistance. We need to get our tanks across the no-man's-land and within the range of that destroyer, so that the Thanix missiles can do their job."
"But if we simply throw all our tanks out there at once, the Reapers will overrun us with brute force," Anderson says. "This is why we have decided to deploy the Hammer forces gradually, in four waves. The task of the first wave is... unenviable. There are literally no chances of survival, which is why I cannot ask this sacrifice for Earth to be made by our alien allies. However, some of our turian and krogan brothers have volunteered nonetheless. They will be joining the Alliance marine squads appointed for the first wave. It will be the smallest of the waves and will have the least amount of tanks, equipped with dud missiles, since we do not expect them to survive. We expect the first wave to be annihilated and thus give the Reapers the mistaken belief that our attack has failed. This is when we will begin deploying the second wave, twenty minutes after the first wave has engaged the enemy."
Anderson takes a deep breath before continuing. "The second wave will be made up of roughly 25% of the Hammer and 20% of the tanks. We expect the second wave to pass the no-man's-land while the remnants of the first wave are still engaged in fighting the Reapers, and make a deep push within the Reaper controlled territory towards the relay. But we do not realistically expect the second wave to bring the tanks into the firing range. The survival odds of the second wave are less than ten percent. This wave will have the majority of the krogan forces and several other heavy hitting squads."
Damn it, I guess Wrex will be there as well. And I doubt I would be able to talk him out of it, Morgan thinks worriedly. With these crap odds... if he doesn't make it, the political ramifications for the krogan... unpleasant, very unpleasant.
"Fifteen minutes after deploying the second wave, we will launch the third wave," Anderson continues to explain their tactics. "This will be the most numerous of the waves, with roughly 40% of both marines and artillery support. If everything goes according to plan, the third wave has a realistic chance of carving a path far enough to have a shot at that destroyer. Depending on how the battle is ongoing, we will release the fourth and final wave to reinforce the third wave whenever it is needed. We will begin launching the first wave in twenty minutes. We have an adequate supply of amphetamines and other drugs in the medical center for all the soldiers of the first wave, I would ask them to report to the medcenter immediately. Dismissed."
Drugging them and sending them to slaughter, like kamikazes, Morgan feels sick to her stomach from the thought as Anderson turns to her. "Your people have sacrificed enough, Shepard. I do not want to see any of your crew in the first wave. Assign them to the other waves as you see fit, Commander."
"I will do so, Anderson," Morgan grinds out, turning around to leave. "Now if you will excuse me... I must speak with my people one last time."