I don't own Mass Effect
The idea to write this chapter came from Blaze, it would have been out earlier but writing your own unique chapter does take a bit longer, plus I've been playing a shit ton of Starfield on my xbox one via gamepass. That and my little sister came to stay and spending time with her was more important. There will also be one more chapter after this one, a sort of epilogue/intro to set the scene for the next story. Originally I was going to do a bunch of small chapters but I thought multiple chapters that were only a few hundred words each would just be annoying.
Foxy-Floof; The amount of ass ripping I want to give the Council is nigh infinite, unfortunately in a lot of cases if you keep selecting the renaged you sound like an ass or a loony...at least some times. This story allows me to make valid points and insult the bastards.
captaindickscratcher; I'm glad that I got you to replay Mass Effect, hopefully you are one of many (I'm doing a second run through were I'll be hanging up on the council every time they start to piss me off). Also, yes Callum will definitely be more experienced in me2 not as much as Shepard but I've got away around that and to make the Normandy crew a lot more dangerous. I've already got a plan about Garrus's team but thanks for reminding me about Kasumi, I thought Kenji was already dead by this point. As for weapons, I've got a lot of ideas that will help to even the odds.
edboy4926; I've already got a plan for Cerberus...I think your going to like it and it's still going to be 'cannonish'
Darlok; I can't say anything about Jack Harper without giving something away but I can say that Callum's replacement is going to be badass.
Ap0c4l1pS1S; you probably aren't reading this or maybe you are. Your review was on chap 2 after all, your right it that I've broken up momentum of the scene by taking about heat clips and weapons. I thought about rewriting it but decided against it, at least for now. I feel that my writing improving each chapter has a nice relationship to how Callum has improved. If I was to rewrite it I'm afraid that I might write him as too combat experienced as a newbie.
ps keyweilder, thanks for the review I've already made the changes.
Story start
Citadel-before the attack
Team Solana
A few of the marines grumbled about Solana being in charge. Whether it was due to her being a turian or because she wasn't Alliance they didn't say. But she had fought next to Shepard and if the Commander said she was in charge then she was in charge.
"What's your orders sis?" asked Garrus
"As Shepard said we need to lay low. I'm assuming you have a place in mind?" asked Solana
"...I might have something. There used to be a warehouse that was being used to smuggle illegal substances onto the Citadel dressed up as spices of all things. The investigation has stalled and their still trying to work out what to do with the place. Place should be clear for us to camp there for a few days as long as we're careful. That or I take you back to my place but if Pallin descides that he does want to talk to us that's going to be the first place they look." answered Garrus
"Show us to the warehouse, if that's a no go then we'll try to think of something else." said Solana
With Garrus leading the way they made their way to an unused warehouse. It was locked but Garrus was able to override the door before locking it behind them to avoid attracting any attention.
'The warehouse is decently size and asside from some digital police tap over some boxes there was no sign anyone had been there. It wouldn't be comfortable but it could work. Find something to use as mattresses and corner off one section and make a makeshift toilet. It wouldn't be pretty but it was better than leaving the place everytime that someone needed the loo.' thought Solana to herself
"Stay away from the tape." warned Garrus "It sends out an alert each time its breached and there's nothing I can do about it without alerting everyone in C-sec."
"Thanks for the warning." said Solana as she looked around at the place where they would be spending the next twelve to twenty-four hours...maybe more. But maybe that came with it's advantages...it gave them time to plan.
"As you know we've been hunting Saren for sometime, before she died Benezia was able to briefly break free from her indoctrination to warn us that Saren had a way to get geth onto the Citadel." said Solana
No one said anything, the word indoctrination and what it was had spread throughout the Normandy. There was a lot of doubt regarding it, but at the same time Shepard was taking it seriously which meant it was a valid threat.
"How much of a threat is this? Surely Saren couldn't just drop off dozens of geth right?" asked a marine called Tristan
"Geth can easily be dissembled and then reassembled as long as their is a single intact geth they can rebuild their army. For all we know there is a kid out there putting them together thinking they're lifesize geth models. What you need to remember is Saren used to be one of the top Spectres out there and has been for longer than most of us have been in the military. We also don't know how long he's been planing this, for all we know he's been slowly buying storage sheds and filling them with geth parts. However, we also don't know if overwhelming numbers was his plan. If any of you have looked at the geth platforms we've encountered you should know just how much damage hoppers can cause in small numbers. A few dozen of them could cause a lot of damage quite easily, especially if they sneak around." said Solana
"The Pasidium is too high profile to hide a lot of geth, parts or otherwise for a long period of time especially after he was outed which is why we think he might be hiding them out in one or more of the Citadel's arms." said Garrus taking over
"Since we have no idea which arm they'll be on let alone which ward, we'll focus on the targets they'll likely to be after. These include; Citadel Control, C-sec, the Embassies and the Council themselves. If they get to Citadel Control they can hamper any responses. They will even be able to bring in geth reinforcements without their ships being flagged. As for C-sec, if they can pin them down they can stop them from responding to emergencies throughout the Citadel or allowing reinforcements. The embassies however have a lot of high value personnel." said Solana
A successful attack there will cause a lot of damage and have far reaching consequences long after everythings over. There's nothing we can do about the Council, they have there own evacuation plans that neither myself nor Garrus know anything about. I only hope they went over them and changed key details or Saren likely knows what they are likely to do."
"There are other targets too." added Garrus "Communication relays, sabotaging the arms so they can't close, etc but most of the targets are around the Presidium."
"Our goal with either to intercept them or take those zones back, failing that we will simply occupy as much of their forces as we can to take the heat off of everyone esle." finished Solana
"If I might ask, how long we will be here?" asked Alice
"We don't exactly have a timetable for Saren's attack. That said we expect his attack to happen in the next two days or so. If nothing happens by then we'll try and get into contact with Shepard for an update." answered Solana "We'll be taking it in turns to listen to C-sec communications, a VI will be doing most of the work and eliminating most of the day to day stuff but I want someone awake and aware at all times." answered Solana "Everyone else try and get some rest, I doubt we'll have much rest after things start."
With that, they waited...and waited...and waited. Until eventually, after over half a solar day of waiting.
"I think I have something." said Garrus, it had gone full circle and once again he was in charge of listening into C-sec communications. "I've just heard something about the relay..monument glowing." said Garrus catching himself
"...Fuck me." swore Solana playing along "It all makes sense now."
"What does?" asked one of the marines that worked on security detail.
"This whole time Saren has been after something called the Conduit. We've had no idea what that was but the relay monument shouldn't be glowing unless..." trailed off Solana, hoping someone would connect the dots. It wasn't critical but it was something that could go a long way.
"Unless it was a miniature relay." realised Alice
"Saren will be able to bring his entire geth and krogan army through into the centre of the Citadel while almost empty ships attack from the outside. Stuff the plan, we check Control and then do our best to make sure they don't flood the wards."
Quickly leaving the warehouse they made there way towards Citadel Control, they had barely been out of the warehouse for five minutes when the normally warm lights of the Citadel flickered to a menacing red
"The Presidium is under attack, I repeat the Presidium and the Citadel is under attack. Please vacate to your nearest safe zone as soon as possible. If there are no nearby safe zones please remain at home and lock your doors."
As the message replayed both audibly over speakers and visibly over any screen. Those screens and Avina were also pointing to the nearest safe zone. Despite the warnings, people were slow to react. Not that it was surprising, not even at the height of the Rachni Wars or the Krogan Rebellions was the Citadel itself threatened.
However the sight of multiple heavily armed individuals plus the sounds of distant mass accelerator fire. With people starting to panicking, Solana and her team had to push their way through.
"I've been trying to get in contact with Citadel Control." said Garrus as he worked on his omni-tool "But I'm not getting any response."
"Could the geth from the beacon already have taken it?" asked Solana only to get a shake from Garrus
"I don't think so. From what I'm getting, C-sec and any other armed forces are managing to hold the bulk of Saren's forces in the Presidium for now but they're being pushed back. They've already made it into one of the Wards and are close to making into others. That said they have given the residents there enough time to evacuate...for the most part."
Left unsaid was the fact that no matter how quick any response was, nor how good, was going to prevent not a single person from dieing. All they could do is try their best to limit the casualties.
Moving forward they made it to the base of Citadel Control, the once distant sounds of gun fights were now significantly closer.
"The doors not opening." said Solana after she tried to access the door panel "Can't seem to hack it either."
"Let me try something." said Garrus, pushing her asside.
Pulling out some cord he lays it over the doors seams.
"While Shepard got most of the explosives I kept some for myself." explained Garrus "Everyone get clear!"
Detonating the cord with a loud bang a gap appears between where the seam once was.
"Wrex, you think you can pry that door open?" asked Solana
"Shouldn't be a problem." growled Wrex as he channelled his biotics and used them and his natural strength to slowly prise the doors apart which groaned in protest. "Just make sure no one shoots me in the ass."
Pushing the doors further apart, he was able to get an elbow in. Enabling him to apply more force, then he was able to get a shoulder in. Soon about half of him was through the door and the gap was almost wide enough for everyone else to walk through when a gunshot went off making Wrex jerk his head.
With his biotics and kinetic barriers the round only him, having to raise his arm to block a pipe that was heading towards his head didn't improve his mood.
"Stand down! We're friendlies!" said Garrus quickly to the turian in a uniform with the label Citadel Control stitched on before he tried for another hit, or before Wrex could show his displeasure.
"You sure about that?" asked the turian suspiciously eyeing Wrex. Already noticing the C-sec armour Garrus was wearing.
"You got two choices. One you can stop trying to hit me, two...I make it so you are unable to." said Wrex giving the turian his options.
"Well if you put it like." that said the turian letting go of the pipe
"Glad you made the right choice." growled Wrex
Ignoring him the turian looked at Garrus
"You and your group better come in, there's no way they didn't hear that."
Entering the room the only person they saw was a scared looking asari, around the same age as Liara...give or take a decade. Judging from the pistol in her hand she was also the one who took a shot at Wrex.
"What do you know?" asked Solana stepping forward.
While it was understandable that the other turian would assume Garrus was the one incharge due to his armour, it was probably best to nip it in the bub before he got used to defering to Garrus. She was insulted, but turians operated best when the chain of comand was clear. When that got messy so did everything else.
Giving Solana a look the unamed turian shared a quick look with Garrus passing on a silent message
'Is she in charge or are you.' asked the turian with his eyes
'She is.' answered Garrus, giving a slight nod at Solana
'Males.' thought Solana to herself with a slight head shake.
"Garrus tried to get in contact with you. With the lack of response and the fact that the Citadel's under attack we figured something was up." said Solana
"And you'd be right ma'am. We'd barely heard some reports about some disturbances at the Presidium when multiple consoles suddenly exploded. We tried to get word out but comms are completely blocked." informed the turian
"Why aren't your comms working?" asked Garrus "And why did the consoles explode?"
"A couple of days ago some technicians came in saying some parts needed to be replaced. No one took any notice of it at the time as they only worked on a handful of consoles. Ones that were either due for a maintenance check or had been having operational trouble recently." answered the turian
"I doubt that was a coincidence." grumbled one of the marines behind Solana
"It wasn't, as I said though no one gives a second look at the person fixing your vid screen. They also knew not to meddle with too many consoles to avoid attracting attention. Also I'd say they somehow got a list of faults from the real techs otherwise they wouldn't have known what consoles to focus on. David's been complaining for the last three weeks that his console was glitchy, he was over Menae that it was finally fixed. Also all the doors were completely locked down.
As for why communications are down we have a comm override down in the basement. I don't know how it works but its supposed to override any communications on any ship we hail. Its to ensure that any ship that we're giving a last warning to can hear it and not busy chatting with their girlfriend or mother. Unfortunately, it was also messed with, instead of doing its job its acting as a jammer stopping us from getting anthing out. A couple people tried to get down there to fix it but something took them out."
"Any idea what it looks like?" asked Solana only to get a head shake
"Unfortunately no, whatever it is though is small and fast from what survivors could say. Everyone else tried to keep it occupied while Seos and I made another attempt at the comm. With all the doors locked there was no other choice, we had almost made it when a red beam nearly took my head off, there's either more than one or it's already killed everyone else.
We came back up here to try and figure out what to do when the door opened. Sorry about that by the way, when the door was forced open we figured that someone was coming to finish us off." said the turian looking at Wrex
"Just don't try it again." said Wrex shortly
"It sounds like you were dealing with some geth hoppers." said Solana
"Geth hoppers?" asked the asari named Seos, confused and worried "Theres geth...here?"
"Theres a small amry on the Citadel and we think more are incoming. Hoppers are a small, light but extremly mobile and fast geth platform. If you can pin it for a moment their usually easy to take out unlike their bigger troops." explained Solana "How good are your biotics?"
"Not that good." answered Seos embarrassed "I'm more of a tech, I only use my biotics to grab a tablet when I'm too lazy to get up, nothing strong enough to use in combat."
"Not the answer I was hoping for." sighed Solana before turning to the turian "How crowded is it down there? What weapons would be effective. "
"Enough room for assult rifles and shotguns, snipers would be too difficult." said the turian giving a look at Garrus "Names Tulsa by the way."
"Well Tulsa I want you to show me the way to the blocker, Wrex your with me. Everyone else stay here, once communications are back up you might need to aid any survivors that are left. Seos do you think you can get everything up and running?" asked Solana as she hands Tulsa a spare assualt rifle
"Most of the important stuff is upstairs but I should be able to access it from here." answered Seos
"Good get on it, without this place up and running Citadel forces will have a much harder time keeping track of any incoming drop ships. Tristan, Alice I want at least you two to stay with her while she works. There might not be time to wait for us to comeback if anyone upstairs is in a firefight but we can't afford leave her on her own. Once we're done downstairs we'll do a full sweep." ordered Solana
"Understood ma'am." said Alice
With that, Solana, Wrex and Tulsa headed down a nearby flight of stairs. It wasn't long before the muffled sounds of weapons fire started going off, Wrex's shotgun being the most distinguishing of them all...as was his laughter.
"G..rus, Sol..an,..ex...any of the...orman..y crew?" asked a voice, a familiar one
"...Shepard that you?" asked Garrus, stepping closer to the door that was forced open in the hopes of clearing up the signal.
"Garrus?" asked Shepard
"I'm here, Solana and Wrex are a bit busy at the moment." answered Garrus before taking a shot. "Wrex has really enjoyed using that pack. Things have been hectic ever since the monument started acting up."
"It's not a monument, it's a relay. Saren's brought his entire army through it." answered Shepard "Looks like I was wrong about Saren sneaking geth on to the Citadel."
"I wouldn't be sure about that." responded Garrus "Soon after the monument/relay started glowing we started getting reports of sabotage and attacks on the limbs of the Citadel. My guess Saren really did have some Geth on the Citadel, that or some of his thugs managed to avoid C-sec this whole time." said Garrus
"Any chance you can meet up with us?" asked Shepard
"No sorry, there's too many geth between us and you. They're not pushing at the moment but that could change, also they kind of need us here...the Citadel got hit hard. Thankfully they've been unable to push too far into the wards." said Garrus
"Understood, we'll follow Saren and deal with him. You do what you can down here." responded Shepard
"Good luck Shepard." said Garrus before hanging up and waiting
"Garrus the comms should be working now, can you hear us?" asked Solana a few minutes later
"I can, loud and clear. Just so you know I spoke with Shepard a few minutes ago. She confirmed that Saren used the Relay Monument to bring his army through, she's following after him and wanted to know if we could assist. I told her we couldn't." responded Garrus
"As much as I would have liked to help her we need to get this place under control first before we do anything. Heading back to you now." said Solana
"What about the comm, someone could use it to jamm them again." pointed out Alice
"Already ahead of you, blew it up to stop that from happening. Someone's not going to be happy with me later but didnt have much of a choice." said Solana "Listen Tulsa's gotten into communications with some survivors, as soon as we get back I want all Normandy security with him. There's also a small armoury, I want you to use it to arm anyone you come into contact with...as long as they can be trusted to use it properly" said Solana before hanging up
"Have you got anything up and running?" asked Garrus turning to Seos as she worked to get things up and running again.
"Some." said Seos with a frown. "I'm still locked out of most of the systems and a lot of sensors seem to be damaged or destroyed but I'm getting a decent image. There's...there's a ship over two kilometres perched on the Citadel tower?"
"That would be Sovereign, Saren's 'flagship' and if Shepard doesn't succeed at stopping him there's going to be a lot more of them to deal with." said Garrus "Anything else?"
"The arms are closed, stopping any more ships from entering but there's already few dozen small ships inside. What do you mean 'more to deal with?'" asked Seos
Before Garrus could answer Solana, Wrex and Tulsa returned.
"Update." said Solana shortly, as the Normandy marines followed Tulsa as he lead them upstairs.
"The arms are closed and we're picking up what I'm guessing are geth drop ships bringing in reinforcements. " answered Garrus
"That's not good, its a struggle keeping the geth back as it is. They drop in behind anyone and its over, we need to warn them." ordered Solana
"How?" asked Seos sounding frustrated "You knocked the override out and at the moment all I have access to is civilian level communication protocols which I only just got up. Anything I send out is likely to be ignored as unimportant. For a priority line or something that has the right sub-codes to not be filtered out by a VI or make it to someone important, I need access to either the military section of the building which is a several levels up, or one that has a higher security clearance like the ones that deal with dignitary ships.
Unlike what most people think, Citadel Control is split up into multiple sections or a single building. Mainly between civilian and military. Up until now my main job has been logging incoming ships before transferring them to their proper department! Like most of my colleagues I wasn't even carrying a side arm before this started. "
"Do you have access to the public announcements? Message boards and speakers?" asked Solana ignoring the outburst
"...yes?" answered Seos questionly after checking
"Use the VI's to monitor and predict the dropp ships trajectories, then use them to warn the areas that might hit." said Solana
"That should work, I'll have to make some changes but it should work. " said Seos typing in some commands before holding a button down. "This is Citadel Control, if you are hearing this message than a geth ship is incoming at your location. I repeat, if you are hearing this message there is a geth ship incoming."
Releasing th button she turns back to Solana "That will have to do."
"Good now..." started Solana before being interrupted by every console lighting up with pings.
"I've got over a dozen incoming communications, picking out the most important." said Seos
"This is General Verapia Octavicius, what is going on over there?! I've gotten calls about speakers suddenly blaring out warnings. Using public speakers is not how you get out valuable military information." said an annoyed Verapia Octavicius
"We didn't have much of a choice general, my team only just took back Citadel Control." said Solana, taking over the conversation from Seos
"And who is this?!" asked/demanded General Verapia Octavicius
"Solana Vakarian, I'm a member of Commander Shepard's team. She left me here with two other members of her ground team and five marines incase the geth she thought were smuggled on to the Citadel attacked while she was gone. We just finished taking back this Çitadel Control building, in doing so we have already taken out three geth hoppers and I'm assuming there are more around." answered Solana
"Spirits." swore the General "We've tried and failed to get into contact numerous other departments. We and assumed that it was because communications were down or the effect of dampeners. Not because they had been taken over...listen a lot of those geth ships will be landing near armed forces that are barely holding back the bulk of the geth troops if not falling back already, if they manage to get in behind anyone they'll fall faster than a gambling addicts bank account in a casino. I'm sending you a list of locations near you. If you can help any of them it will free up men I can use to help out other areas." said the general
"We'll do what we can." said Solana before getting onto her own comms "Alice, Tristan how's it going up there?"
"We've got two more survivors who were hiding in a closet. We've also taken out one more hopper, hopefully that's the last of them." answered Alice
"Listen we need to get out of here and reinforce friendlies. Send them down here with two marines to keep them safe and get ready to fend off more attacks. I wouldn't b-put it past the geth to try and take this place back if they can." ordered Solana
"On it ma'am, send Hofter and Jacob your way." responded Alice
"What about me?" asked Seos with worry "If you leave what am going to do if someone comes through the door?"
"It shouldn't take long for them to get back down here, keep an eye on the door and be ready to hide behind a desk and you'll be fine." said Solana "Everyone else let's go."
Leaving Citadel Control behind they continued on...it wasn't long before they started to encounter signs of battle, a few dead bodies of the civilian and the occasional geth platform. Sadly there was more of the former than the later, if not for Callum and Shepard, Solana shuddered to think how much worse things would be...should have been.
Entering a hallway they came across the sight of a geth Prime banging on a biotic bubble that was barely being held by an asari, behind that bubble was that asari herself, a young juvenile asari who was hovering over a middle-aged turian who seemed to be unconcous. Just as the entered the room the bubble failed and the adult asari fell to the floor as the Prime aimed its gun directly at them.
With a roar, Wrex charged and collided with the Prime with such a force the Prime flew into the wall behind it. The Prime tried to rise and take on the new threat but two close range blasts of Wrex's gun stopped that from happening.
"You should get yourself and your kid out of here. The way we came should still be clear." said Wrex with a growl
"T-thank you." stuttered the asari before throwing one of the unconscious turian's arm over her and started moving away with some difficulty.
"We better keep going." said Wrex "If a Prime made it this far the other geth won't be far away. She won't make it if we don't keep them occupied. "
"Who would have thought you were such a softy." joked Garrus
"Shut it Vakarian, unless you want that rifle to go somewhere it shouldn't." warned Wrex gruffly.
It was a few moments after that they encountered a mix of C-sec police and armed forces as well as a few human marines and a single asari under fire from multiple geth in all directions.
"Garrus hit anything you can, Wrex be careful you don't put a hole in the wrong person." said Solana
Garrus started off with his sniper rifle, when that overheated he switched to his assault rifle, laying out meticulous bursts. Solana used her shotgun, the reduced overcharge function allowing her to deal a greater amount of damage at a greater range than would normally happen with a shotgun. Wrex...well Wrex just fired over and over, often taking out not only the geth he was aiming at but damaging anyone nearby.
Soon numbers started to thin, then geth were nolonger in every single direction. Without being subjected to nearly overwhelming fire from every direction, the ragtag group of fighters quickly turned the tide on the geth and soon they were all gone.
"Thanks for the assist." said one people they just saved. A turian in heavy armour with the rank of corporal on his shoulder " I don't think we would have lasted much longer with out taking significant casualties. What group are you with? Your more than welcome to join us, as you can see our group isn't exactly standard." said the turian pointing behind him before continuing "We picked up a few friends along the way when this whole mess started and it looks like you did the same."
"We're the ground team that Commander Shepard left behind in case something like this happened. Though it was more along the lines of helping to deal with small geth teams dealing out sabotage, not a geth army walking through the back door." answered Solana
At the turian's confused look she elaborated
"The supposed statue of a relay in the Presidium is an actual Relay, if in miniture. We just got word from our commander that she's chasing Saren down before he can do any more damage. As for us we just retook Citadel Control, we're giving support to groups like yours that are getting pinned."
"Then I assume your the ones to thank for the warning about incoming ships. Looks like you saved our lives twice. If it wasn't for that warning we would have gotten hit halfway down a hallway, we would have been cut down in minutes. As it was we were able find a place where we could bunker down.
Communication has been limited and we haven't been told much of what's going on, only that a lot of geth suddenly appeared and that we need to hold them back. The monument being a Relay would certsin explain some things.
Come to think of it, things should be worse off. A surprise attack on this magnitude should have already made it fully into the wards by now yet that hasn't happened. Also...a number of this group are combat vets who were suddenly told to vacation on the Citadel. That asari back there, she hasn't given her name but no way she isn't a experienced hunter."
"The Commander's been working over time trying to convince people that Saren's a threat and that he has-had something planned for the Citadel. I guess some of them finally listened." answered Solana
"Well I'm glad she did, things would have been a whole lot worse if she didn't. What will you and your group do now?"
"Move on and help the next group, and then the next until this is all over." replied Solana
"In that case I wish you good luck. We'll stay here and lick our wounds for a bit and then push forward again...see if we can get the attention of some geth to help you out. It's the least we can do."
"Just don't push too hard or fast. You're not used to fighting geth like we are...actually." said Solana activating her omni-tool "There, I just sent you a list of the geth platforms that we encountered, there strengths and weaknesses and some of the ways we took them out."
"I'll be sure to go over it carefully." said the turian gratefully
With that Solana and her team left, heading towards the next group that needed help, and then the one after.
With some they arrived just in the nick of time, any later and the defenders line would have been completely broken. Some had already taken loses and a few were all but wipes out by the time they got there.
They hadn't made it through unharmed however, Wrex had a few new scars, Garrus had a wounded shoulder and Solana had a few cracked chest scales thanks to a charging krogan that took her by surprise while Wrex was busy dealing with another. If it wasn't thanks to her armour taking most of the damage she would have been instantly taken out of the fight.
As it was she switched weapons and took position near Garrus covering him, leaving Wrex at the front.
Eventually, as the Citadel's arms opened, the number of geth they had to deal with decreased. As they stopped invading and those still with ships that weee able, retreated back through the Relay. Despite the fact that geth were no longer bejng dropped off or coming through the monument, there more than enough geth still remaining to take out.
3 days later
Phoifezia Luese D'roneis Hospital
(Callum's POV)
It had been a number of days since Saren's defeat and I had spent most of them in the hospital. Unfortunately, while most of the team had injuries that they could recover on their own some of us needed a longer stay at the hospital, such as Solana who had her chest plates set at another hospital. She and Ash had already been discharged the day before.
My eye however was not recoverable, they had already removed my damaged eye and were watching to make sure it didn't get infected.
I already had a couple of doctors come in and go over my options. One was to get a cloned eye, it would be more or less exactly like my old one but the vision might be even better. The benefit of an eye that has never looked at bright light or become strained from looking at something in the dark, however it would take almost eight months for me to get it.
The other option was cybernetic, just as expensive if not more than the cloned eye with a slightly shorter wait time.
I wasn't in a rush to choose, at the moment looking up my choices was really the only thing I could do at the moment. Ash told me that Shepard had left with the Normandy to pick up Kaiden, Liara and Tali. If Joker didn't push the engines there expected return time should be sometime today or tomorrow. Ash, Solana, Wrex and Garrus were helping out by clearing out debris and looking for any survivors.
Next to me sitting in a chair on my left was Gamora, like me she was also looking at what kind of options I had in her words she didn't want me to get a 'substandard' eye. Unlike me however she was free to come and go wherever she wanted and while she spent the spent the majority of her time with me in the hospital she
had also spent a number of hours helping out the rest of the Normandy team who were still on the Citadel.
Speaking of Gamora, I suddenly felt her hand slide underneath the sheets before trailing up my leg and stopping at my thy. Looking at her she gave a smirk.
"I know you have not yet healed but it has been nearly four days since our last and first physical activity together. I think both of us would like it if we continued what we started in shower." said Gamora as her hand slowly trailed up...and the door suddenly buzzed open.
Heart hammering, I looked in the direction of the door. With my missing eye I almost had to completely turn my head. Entering my room was Admiral Hackett and a woman I didn't recongise. Next to me Gamora sat innocently, as if she wasn't almost caught with my dick in her hand.
"Wait here, I want to speak to them in private." said Admiral Hackett
"Understood Admiral." saluted the woman
As the door closed Hackett turned to face me, eying me up and down, pausing slightly at my eye before pressing a button on his colar.
"So you're the one who's behind everything. I don't have much time so I'll be brief, I still don't believe the story Shepard told me...that said what happened was almost exactly what I was warned about and then shown.
Because of that I'm here to ask you what you know, anything that might not have been in the drive that Shepard gave me. I'm also here to that I can meet the person responsible for the information that everyone is putting so much faith in, before I take any further actions.
Officially however, I'm here to give you these." said Hackett, handing both me and Gamora a small box
Opening them we saw a large green medal in the shape of a star.
"For your acts for the Battle of the Citadel and those leading up to it, I'm awarding both you, and the rest of the Normandy ground crew the Medal of Honor. Normally there would be a speech but there isn't time.
Now lets get back to the topic on hand, are there any strategies that you know of that were particulate effective. Or strategies that ended in disaster. "
"To be honest Admiral I don't of any. For the most part I just followed behind the Commander. I wasn't told any sofisticated strategies, Shepard's goal was to get as much of the galaxy as possible to fight together instead of letting the Reapers pick us off one at a time." I answered, getting as close to telling the truth as I could
"Then what can you tell me." said Hackett
"The biggest mistake was not preparing when we could. The Reapers will arrive in two to three years, we only spent six months at most preparing for them and even then I doubt that time was used as well as it could have been." I answered "To deal with that I've tried to get evidence to prove their existence. "
"Two or three years?" asked Hackett "That's a hell of a variance son, can't you give me a more accurate time?"
"Shepard was dead or near dead for two years, a little over six months afterwards the Reapers arrived. However, Admiral I don't know how fast there were travelling. Whether they they were giving all the had to get here sooner, or traveling at a proverbial jog to conserve energy.
It's the same reason I didn't give a list of colonies the Collectors hit, they chose weak ones they could easily capture. Some of them didn't have names and if you provided some sort of protection the Collectors would have just chosen another target. Some of the colonies however were Horizon, Freedoms Progress and Faris Fields.
What I do know is that we need to make ever second count. Even if we had the next twenty or forty years to prepare I still wouldn't like our odds. The first ones that were attacked were the batarians, I'm not sure if Shepard told you or you read it but a lot of batarians in positions of power are fully indoctrinated thanks to studying the body of a dead Reaper.
After the Batarians they hit Earth and Palavan. The turians managed to hold them back somewhat, Palavan was burning but they still had defences on their moon. With Earth however...one second Shepard was in a room talking to numerous Admirals and Generals the next Luna fell silent and then the Reapers started to land. You sacrificed the remains of one of the defending fleets to buy enough time that the others could escape. You were also one of the few admirals left alive as Arcturus station was destroyed.
The asari weren't attacked until much later, they and the salarians were of the position to let us buy them more time to get ready. Not that it helped them much, Thessia was hit just as hard as Earth was if not more, as by that time they had a much wider selection of husks to throw at them."
"Despite how powerful asari commandos are portrayed, they're not front-line fighters and salarians don't enter a battle they know they can't win." said Hackett "What else can you tell me...any strengths or weaknesses...any suggestions or even advice?"
"The Reapers are exceedingly powerful, thankfully not many are as powerful as Sovereign...you could say he was a Reaper N7. While there are certainly a lot of Reapers most of them are significantly weaker. They're also faster, stronger and have better weapons. We got the bulk of our tech reverse engineering what was left from the Protheans, the Reapers have much better tech that they've had a lot more time to perfect. That said they do have some of the standard weaknesses, such as not having kinetic barriers in an atmosphere.
There's also the fact that we have a dead Reaper, one of their most advanced ones at that. If we are careful we can bridge the gap. At least partially, but only with extreme caution and even that might not be enough. One of the things gained from the destruction of Sovereign was the creation of thanix cannons, a turian design. If we can can fast track their creation, add them to every ship and even the makos then we have a shot at stopping from taking Earth or at least a much better chance at winning." I said
"What are these thanix cannons?" asked Hackett
"A turian invention thanks to looking at Sovereign, in hindsight any turian that looked and scanned the wreckage probably ended up indoctrinated. I don't know how they work, but if the Normandy, the current one, had one or two of them then it would be on par with the Destiny Ascension on how much damage they can do." I answered
"They're that powerful?" asked Hackett critically
"The same ship that destroyed the original Normandy was torn apart with just two of them, a ship that could definety take out, if not cripple the Destiny on its own. They were only around the size of shuttle, just imagine if they ran the entire length of the ship. That said there might be guns out there more powerful, the massive valley on Klendagon was from a mass effect round that missed. That same weapon took out a Reaper, if we found it and if the Reapers left it intact, it would give us a massive advantage."
"I can't give you the exact dimensions of that valley but anything that can hit a planet with that much force would definitely wipe out the majority of life of any planet it hits if it misses." argued Hackett
"I'm not much of a tech or engineer but shouldn't it be possible the render any misses ineffective? Like its own power starts it to break up after 'x' amount of distance?"
"That might be possible." said Hackett stroking his beard "I'll have to get someone to look in on it. What else?"
"If Shepard hasn't told you there's a living Prothean burried on Eden Prime, there might also be a design for a Reaper killing weapon in the archives on Mars but that could be a trap. Liara was the one that first discovered it, with more time she might be able to figure out if it is the real deal or not.
Another thing sir, after the Battle of the Citadel thermal clips started to be used by the entire galaxy for the most part. They were similar to the weapons we've had custom made except they no longer vented heat. For short firefights they were better than standard heat sinks, however during the Reaper war there was constant supply problems as they were dropped or lost." I said
"Which is why you kept the heat sinks...it seems that you've already done a lot to change the future. Our time is running up, if I have any further questions for you I'll find a way to communicate that won't draw attention. Before I leave though do you have anything else to say?" asked Hackett
Racking my brain, I try to think of anything else that I could say that I hadn't already or that might not have been given to him.
"I can only think of two things, during the Reaper War communications with Earth were limited, but from what Anderson could tell us the Reapers hit the cities first and concentrated on them while almost ignoring small towns and regional areas. They also targeted large groups of people. Hospitals, makeshift garrisons and barracks were all hit almost as soon as they went up. People that were evacuated to a 'safe' zone were then hit again.
Also, guided missles might be a no go. Shepard was on the ground once and needed to take out one of the smaller Reapers, luckily there was an intact missle launcher nearby. She fired two missiles and both went off course immediately, the Reaper could jamm or hack the electonics that kept them on target.
Finally, I suggest trying to get the geth and Krogan on our side. As much as certain individuals might not like it, a cure for the genophage is needed. Or one that at leasts allows them to have children without the stillbirths." I said
"Thank you private, I'll take everything you said under advisement. Its clear I've got a lot to think about. Now I don't think I have to say anything about keeping this conversation a secret?" asked Hackett seriously
"Of course not sir." I responded
"Good, if anyone asks I was debriefing you about Shepard's actions between when she left the Citadel up until the death of Saren." ordered Hackett
"Understood sir."
"In that case I bid you good day, get well soon. If everything you told me is true we're going to need you out there." said Hackett before leaving
The door was barely closed before Gamora's had was once again under the sheets.
As her hand closed in all I could think was that this was going to be the most enjoyable hospital stay ever.
Elsewhere...far far away
Things were progressing well, there had been been few unexpected changes but everything was within expected parameters, at least for now. Clearly, it had chosen well but only time would tell. As it was, it would be two years before it became time for the next step, hopefully, the changes would not become greater than the margin of error.
An thus it waited, as it had done since its creators vanished all those years ago.