Chapter 16
Krishk hated krogan, he really did. They looked down on vorcha, treated them like animals, beat them and even killed them if it was their fancy. Still, they were larger than any vorcha, more powerful. And Krishk may not be smart, but unlike most vorcha he knew better than to challenge an obviously superior opponent. For this reason he didn't object when his master, Gern, ordered him brusquely to stay behind and search the battered storefronts on the street for supplies.
He surveyed the area for a moment. The street hadn't been badly hit by the bombardment, short as it had been, but all the windows had been blown out and the sharp shards sparkled across the pavement. Of course, his master hadn't seen fit to grant him the privilege of boots. Few vorcha were ever granted more than insular pieces of armor, a shoulder pad here, a gauntlet there; more so the krogan could tell them apart than for any tactical or protective reasons. He hissed as he made his way towards the first storefront. His people may be resilient, and a foot full of glass shards wouldn't kill him but that didn't mean it didn't hurt.
The first store he surveyed yielded very little in terms of useful supplies, just a tube of medigel from a first aid locker in the back. The tube felt stale instead of the normal squishy consistency one would expect, but he was anything but picky. The store had been a food outlet of some kind, not quite a restaurant but plates sat out on a few unturned tables with food still on them, half eaten. He sniffed at what looked like a piece of charred meat and promptly gobbled it up. It was dry and cold and the spices tasted foul, but still better than the grain he was usually fed. Spitting a piece of bone from his mouth, he ventured outside and proceeded down the street. The second storefront looked more promising as it appeared to have been selling various tech components. Perhaps he'd even find an intact omnitool, and if he was very lucky he might even manage to hide it from the others and keep it for himself. He let out an appreciative hiss as he began to rummage through the toppled shelves and boxes.
He stopped cold as he hard a click behind him, followed by the unmistakable sound of a mass accelerator weapon whirling into action. "D-drop the weapon." a modulated voice behind him stammered. He hissed again, this time less than appreciative.
"D-drop the weapon."
Jani cursed herself. She had meant to sound authoritative and dangerous, but her voice caught and it came out much like she felt, as if from a scared little girl. Still, it was done now and there would be no do-overs. She flicked the gun sideways at the vorcha in her sights for him to throw his weapon on the floor. The creature simply glared at her unmovingly. She was unsure if it had even understood her. While she had spoken in pidgin for the sake of clarity, she'd never met or even seen a vorcha in the flesh before. If she was honest with herself, the thing looked like a monster, all wiry limbs, knotted scars across greenish skin stretched thin over dense muscles and sharp teeth like some of the deep water predators on Rannoch. Suddenly, it spoke, and Jani unconsciously flinched a step backwards in surprise.
"Quarians weak!" it screeched at her "Krishk can take you!"
The vorcha raised it's weapon to fire. Jani yelped but squeezed the trigger, like Shia had told her to and everything got dark. She didn't even register the shot, but she did register the eerie silence that followed. For a brief, terrifying moment she thought she might have died, but realized that she had simply shut her eyes. Carefully she opened one and then the other. A light mist had filled the room from the heat of the nozzle and the dust from the impact on the wall after it had passed through its target. And on the floor lay the vorcha, unmoving with a pool if blood forming under it, a large ragged wound on its back jutting outwards like a flower petal. She shuddered at the sight. Still grasping her pistol tightly she moved slowly and deliberately towards the entrance of the store, prodding the vorcha with her foot when she reached it. No reaction. She proceeded to the door and peeked out. The street was deserted, it appeared that the vorchas companions had moved on without him. She sighed in relief and went back inside. Feeling suddenly brave, she took a moment to survey her hiding place. Seeing all the tech strewn about, she perked up. She couldn't believe she hadn't realized it before. A radio, of course! She began excitedly rummaging through the piles, pulling out circuit boards and conductors and actually had to suppress a squeel of delight as she found treasure in the form of a functional soldering gun. I may not be much of a soldier, but engineering is another matter. She tittered as she got to work.
"Is war always this quiet? We've only heard a few shots in almost an hour..." Ben whispered to his sisters as they moved slowly behind their new impromptu commander down the deserted streets. In fact, he realized, they'd only hard a single faint gunshot in the distance for the past 15 minutes. Either this was good news, or a bad omen.
"Calm before the storm, I'd say" Shia replied from the front, shocking him slightly that she'd been able to hear him at all, and also for confirming his fears.
"Spaceport's on the other side of the central district though, so if we're lucky we'll have free reign to the FOB. Never hurts to be careful though..."
"Aye, ma'am." he replied and swallowed hard.
"Will you stop fidgeting! It's making me nervous." Maria hissed. Ben ignored her. He knew his sister well, and knew she was prone to take her own nerves or fear out on others, him especially. It could be annoying at times, but this was hardly the time to get into it. They suddenly heard a loud explosion, followed by a cacophony of gunfire.
"Sounds bad, and it's coming from downtown..." Maria said worriedly.
"Alright, double time." Shia called out and picked up the pace. She didn't like taking two kids towards the fighting, but she also knew that's where any friendlies would be. She just hoped there would be some left when they got there.
"Fuck!" James cursed loudly "Shore up the barricade!" He keyed his omnitool. 'Still another hour and a half to go, shit!'
"Aye!" a young woman, a Lieutenant, answered and proceeded to shield the gap created by the missile impact with a biotic field as another soldier enveloped a cargo container in a shimmering glow and carefully directed it to fill it. Up on what remained of the barricade, his troops had opened fire. All of them.
"This is it!" he called to the assembled marines, infantrymen and assorted police officers. "Get to a firing position and give 'em everything you've got!"
Satisfied when they all sprung into action, he climbed the barricade himself to gauge the situation. No more mechs this time. 'Guess the fight's kicked out of Eclipse, pansies.' he mused with a smirk. A veritable sea of mercenaries were present, however, krogan this time along with the vorcha. And for the first time since they bunkered down, he spotted batarian regulars, or as regular as a soldier fighting for a rogue separatist state could get, amongst the attackers. He tapped his finger to his ear.
"Vega to tower team."
The "tower", as he'd dubbed it, was a small perch on a mostly intact balcony overlooking the FOB. A large hole had been blown away on the concrete wall that served as a railing, where he had placed Amherst with a banged up M-97 scavenged from the local police forces.
"Go ahead sir." Amherst replied over the light static.
"I want fire discipline. Krogan overseers and batarian troops, without a command structure the vorcha packs will be in disarray."
"Aye, aye!"
A moment passed before he heard the dull thump of the rifle and watched as a krogan, a fresh hole in his head plate from an armor piercing round, slumped to the ground. The process repeated itself over and over again, each one tugging on the corners of his mouth slightly. As predicted, the vorcha shocktroopers began to loose focus and the attack become disorganized before his eyes. They were still a prominent foe of course, but the pace slowed down as they began to attacking each other as well as the Alliance soldiers and their fortifications. His earpiece crackled.
"Sir, movement by the rear barricade."
He felt the urge to groan loudy, 'This day just keeps getting better and better. If the fucking Reapers show up at the end of this I'm quitting'.
"That has to be it, right?" Maria huffed behind her, both recruits seemingly out of breath from the fast pace, lack of sleep and stress. Shia smirked when she heard Ben's equally breathy muttering of "God I hope so."
"Yep, that's it, hold up!" she replied, raising her hand with a clenched fist out of habit.
"Flash!" she shouted. While there were no code signs for this operation that she knew of, and there wouldn't be considering, the classics were always a good choice. She doubted many outside the Alliance military would know even the most clichéd responses anyway, barring an obsession for human war movies.
"Thunder!" a voice called from the barricade, and she saw a shiny blue helmet pop up from behind cover briefly. "Friendlies inbound, get the ladder!"
She turned around and grinned at the two kids. "Home sweet home."
The trio made their way to the barricade, a solid wall of stacked rubble, skycars, parts of a prefab wall and a cargo container stacked tighlty between two of the buildings. The soldiers on top lowered a ladder of polymer rope.
"Maria, you first, Ben second. I'll cover." She said, waving her forward.
"Aye, ma'am." the girl replied, slinging her rifle on her back and started her climb. Her brother followed neatly behind. She made to follow, but stopped to make sure it was clear.
"I've got it, Corporal!" a young solider called from atop, trailing his rifle down the street.
"Appreciated." she called, already halfway up.
As she reached the top of the barricade, she hauled the ladder up after her and handed it to the Private. Turning around, she was immediately engulfed in a one armed bear hug fit for a krogan.
"Oh thank god!" Ashley sighed in her ear. "Thank god..."
"Ummh, aunt Ash... there's a war?" Shia said haltingly when Ashley showed no signs of letting go. Ashley held her out at arms length with her uninjured arm, a slight flush to her cheeks.
"Yes, yes of course!"
"You two should report to the shelter:" Shia said, turning to the slightly dumbstruck Maria and Ben. She glanced at Ashley for approval. Receiving a nod and a proud little smirk in response.
"Aye, ma'am." They replied, heading off towards the administrative bunker that now held much of the cities' population in its extensive basement level.
As the two kids scurried away, she saw James arrive.
"Captain!." she greeted him with a crisp salute. James, of course, waved it off, grabbing her affectionately by the shoulder.
"Glad you're in one piece, kid. " he said "And we could sure use you."
"How bad is it?" she asked, glancing over his should to the forward barricade where the smattering of gunfire was still ongoing.
"We're holding for now. Fleets still an hour out though, and we don't know if this is the brunt of it or if they're just softening our defenses." He replied, looking in between grim fatalism and hopefulness.
She looked around the compound, praying silently to see a flurry of mossy green fabric bounding towards her, shining eyes behind opaque glass, but saw only her fellow soldiers. Biting her lip she looked back to James and Ashley, ready to ask the dreaded question. James, able to read her well, anticipated the unspoken question.
"We haven't heard anything yet," he said glumly "but no news are bettwe than bad news. We'll find your girl, kid. She's smart, she's laying low, I'm sure of it."
Shia nodded "Thank you, Sir."
James smirked and patted her shoulder "Good, now get to a firing position, can't afford idle hands right now."
"C'moon you bosh'tet" Jani grumbled, working her fingers frantically to slide the last conductor into place. With a satisfying click, it slid in and she sighed. Hovering her omnitool over her creation to give it a jolt, she watched the contraption in anticipation. The power surge made it crackle slightly, a few sparks flew but it appeared to have power. She smiled shakily and interfaced the data port to her suit. A buzzing of an open radio channel filled her auditory outputs, and her smile broadened. Selecting the first channel on the band, she began a recording.
"Engineer Jani'Nara, SSV Narva to any Alliance personnel, please respond." She saved it and routed it through the new impromptu radio system she had created and set it to repeat transmission while cycling through the open channels. 'And now, I wait...'