Chapter 16- A Battle Won
August 10th, 2164
Sur'Kesh
Three days. It had been three days since the battle of Sur'Kesh had begun. Shepard was growing tired of the constant fighting. His squad had lost another member, a human named Jenkins, and Shepard mourned his loss. For any other human, that would have been normal, but for Shepard, this came as a shock. He was engineered to be a perfect soldier, and he knew that war could not be won bloodlessly. He was not supposed to feel any emotion, other than hatred of the enemy, so why did he feel sadness over the death of a fellow soldier? Jenkins could easily be replaced, and his replacement could be more competent, so why did he mourn. He asked this of Kaidan Alenko, with whom he had developed a friendship, which was yet another thing that Shepard was not supposed to do.
"Am I defective?" Shepard asked his squadmate, during a temporary lull in the fighting, as the Salarians retreated to create more of those screechers.
"What do you mean?" Kaidan said.
"I was created to be a perfect soldier. I was never meant to develop friendships, or feel anything other than hatred for my enemy. Why, then, am I mourning the loss of Jenkins, or for that matter, speaking you when not giving an order?"
"As I have said many times, despite your modifications, you are only human. The fact that you are feeling emotions proves this! You speak of yourself as if you are just a tool to be used!" Kaidan replied.
"That is because I am! I was created to be a tool for humanity, nothing more!" Shepard said.
"If the people at Cerberus wanted a tool, they would have designed a new rifle, or a mech. Instead, they wanted a man, so they made you. These emotions are proof of their success, rather than a sign of a defect." Kaidan replied.
"If they wanted a soldier, they could have trained a thousand for the money they put into me."
"This one believes that the ones who created you wanted more than just a soldier. This one's own humble opinion is that the ones who created you wanted someone better than an average human. The ones who created you wanted a human that can surpass all flaws that inhibit you against the Enkindlers' killers." Blasto said, butting into the conversation, his 8 pistols hanging on holsters on his side.
"Exactly! I was not meant to be bound down by flaws like emotions!" Shepard said.
"Lets put it this way. When you see Earth, what do you feel?" Kaidan asked.
"I feel an urge to protect it, as if it were hard-coded into my brain. I am reminded of it whenever I feel I cannot continue the fight." Shepard said.
"Exactly. That is emotion. You are fighting, not because you were created to do so, but because you are fighting for those you love! Be it someone back home, like me, or for the human race, like you, we are all fighting for them." Kaidan said.
"But those emotions were specifically implanted into me! I was not designed to feel sadness for those I know I cannot save, nor feel friendship for those who could die any minute!" Shepard said.
"And yet you still do." Kaidan said. "This is what makes you more than a machine or a tool. You are a soldier, not a gun. Act like it."
Before Shepard could reply, the orders came in. "Attention all troops stationed in Talat. We have cleared a path towards the enemy's Capitol. We are to move in and secure the Salarians' leader."
"You heard the man! Lets move!" Shepard said. The seven other living members of his squad shouted their agreement, before moving on the Salarian Capitol. As they moved into the streets, an M-44 Hammerhead moving with them, the first of the Salarian opposition began to make themselves known. Missiles flew from the Hammerhead's turret, Shepard's squad keeping the street clear, while the vehicle's missiles headed into various sniping positions, from where Salarian snipers peeked out, attempting to kill Shepard's team, or to destroy the Hammerhead.
A loud screech preceded the arrival of a mob of Screechers, as well as a new type of husk that Shepard had not seen before. It looked like three screechers fused together, their cranial horns forming a pronged triangle for a 'Head'. Shepard watched as this cluster of spines glowed, before releasing a massive bolt of electricity at the M44. It struck, bypassing the null barriers, sparking all over the vehicle's hull. The smell of ozone in the air filled Shepard's nose, before his squad opened fire on the new type of husk. It was charging for a second shot, when Blasto's eight laser pistols cut it apart. The resulting electric discharge caused the nearby screechers to be electrocuted, dropping them, as the squad cut through the remaining husks. Once they were all down, Shepard ran over to the Hammerhead, to check for survivors. He was about halfway there when the vehicle restarted, which meant that the people inside lived. The squad continued their advance, marking the new husks, named Bolters, as priority targets. One of Shepard's squadmates took a direct hit from one, being roasted inside his armor. Shepard felt sadness again, before attempting to force the feeling out, with little success. Finally, the team reached the city's capitol. The tall, pyramid shaped building was the home of the Dalatrasses of Sur'Kesh for millennia. It had been one of the largest hatcheries on Sur'Kesh. Now, however, it had been turned into a fortress. Orbital bombardment had done little damage, due to some extremely powerful kinetic barriers capable of taking multiple human tungsten rods with ease. As Shepard watched, another volley of rods arced down, impacting the dome of energy, doing nothing. The human troops began to emerge into the plaza in front of the building, while screechers, bolters, and yet another new type of husk emerged from the Capitol. The new husks were tiny, and numbered in the thousands, each one looking like a partially formed Salarian. It suddenly hit Shepard. These were embryos, turned into husks while still inside their eggs. The human forces opened fire, laser beams cutting into the oncoming horde. It was not enough. One of the small husks leaped up, and grabbed onto the face of Tarak, his Batarian squadmate. Tarak screamed, before the creature exploded, killing the batarian instantly. An M35 Mako drove in, its wheels spinning as they reduced huge amounts of husks into a pulpy mass. However, the little Leapers eventually jumped on top of the tank, covering it in reaperified biomass, before detonating. Human forces continued to fire at the oncoming tide, but there was not much they could do. Suddenly, a laser beam from above carved into the reaper forces. Looking up, Shepard saw a human frigate hovering above the plaza, its point defense lasers and mass accelerators pounding the enemy. Suddenly, a voice carried across the battlefield. Looking towards its source, Shepard saw the target, Dalatrass Linron, or at least what she had become.
"YOUR STRUGGLE IS WORTHLESS! YOU CANNOT EVEN COMPREHEND WHAT THE REAPERS ARE, MUCH LESS RESIST THEM. YOU ONLY PROLONG YOUR SUFFERING BY CONTINUING TO RESIST! OBSERVE THEIR POWER!" The salarian screamed.
The Capitol shook, before a wall crumbled, and a massive machine walked out. It was tall, at least three hundred meters, and it possesed a single glowing red eye. A loud mechanical roar shook the battlefield, before a crimson beam flew from its eye, impacting an M44 Hammerhead, taking it out, before sweeping across human lines, overloading null barriers, atomizing their users. Finally, the beam stopped. The Reaper moved forward, its kinetic barrier dome still being projected. The frigate fired its point defense lasers at it in response, only for the relay steel armor of the reaper to absorb the shots with little to no effect. The beam fired again, burning through entrenched UEA soldiers. Then, came a volley of tungsten rods. First five, then ten, then twenty rods flew down, smacking into the barrier. Already under stress from the frigate's bombardment, the barrier flickered for a few moments. Another volley of rods came down, shattering the barrier.
"YOUR KIND WILL NOT SUCCEED AGAINST US. WE ARE LEGION. OUR NUMBERS WILL DARKEN THE SKIES OF EVERY ONE OF YOUR WORLDS. WE EXISTED BEFORE YOUR WORLD HELD LIFE. YOUR KIND CANNOT STOP US." The reaper said. Then, it started to rise, the Salarian councilor onboard. Then, when it was around two kilometers in atmosphere, it jumped to FTL.
In atmosphere FTL jumps were extremely dangerous. The massive radiation spike alone fried all electronics in the area, and easily burned through radiation shielding. The sudden vaccum where there once was a starship caused powerful winds to begin to blow, and the heat from the starship's passing through the atmosphere scorched the city below. The wind carried debris through the air, as well as picking up alliance soldiers, throwing them into the air. All aircraft in the area were sent spinning, as their stabilization systems failed in the middle of the wind. The frigate listed, its systems barely keeping it stable. The battle of Sur'Kesh had been won, but the thousands of soldiers dead in the central plaza were only part of the price of victory.
"Do we have any idea where that thing went?" Admiral Hackett asked Kirrahe.
"Based on what we have seen down there, the Reapers are capable of turning civilians into mindless super-soldiers. The Reapers will likely attempt to acquire a significant amount of them." Kirrahe replied.
"So they will go where there are the most soldiers to acquire?" Hackett asked.
"Yes."
"Do you know where, exactly?"
"I think so, but I pray that its not the case."
"Where."
"Tuchanka, the Krogan homeworld."
A/N: The delayed chapter is finally out! Next up, the Krogan finally make their appearance!