A/N: Content warning, discussion of dead children and torture.
Chapter 62
The first Human boots to land upon Batarian territory pounded the barren dust of the barely habitable rock mercilessly as companies of marines erupted from more than a hundred landing vessels. Less than an hour in and communications, a hospital, food and shelter had all been established as the allied soldiers began their preparations to march upon the outpost.
Turian and Asari soldiers alike, even the elite Turian shock troopers and Asari commanders stood slack-jawed at the ruthless efficiency with which the Alliance war machine was deployed. Humans, Quarians, Krogan and Geth all working in concert to set up defenses and move material where it needed to be.
"Ancestors, I thought they said their last war was a hundred years ago." General Korvus, leader of the Turian forces on detachment with the Alliance.
"It seems that their memory is longer than their lifespans. I mean no offense, General, but in our war games with Turians I've never seen such efficiency. They must constantly drill." General Noruva, Korvus' Asari counterpart said.
"Let's go find Commander Shepard and find out if there's been any change to the game plan." Korvus said, leading Noruva over to the command tent where Shepard was issuing orders and reading a blueprint of the outpost thanks to Rothschild's sticky virtual fingers. Noruva lead t he way in holding the tent flap open for Korvus.
"GENERALS ON DECK!" Shepard bellowed, snapping off a sharp salute followed by everyone else in the tent.
"At ease, everyone. Commander Shepard, this is your show, remember? I think we can dispense with the salutes." Noruva said.
"Oh, right. Generals are your soldiers in place?" Shepard asked.
"Almost, I must say we're both impressed with your soldiers." Korvus said.
"As am I with yours. The Asari that assisted during the battle for Cochrane fought with ferocity and distinction, and the Turians I've encountered in my travels have done the same. It will be an honor to fight alongside you and your people." Shepard said.
"The honor will be ours, Commander. Have there been any changes to the plan?" Noruva asked.
"Negative General. We already have the outpost surrounded, we'll breach all five entrances simultaneously and push forward, meeting in the center of their administrative building. Be warned however, they're definitely up to something. Rothschild confirms that the chip control signal is scrambled and the occupants of that admin building know it, but the only escapees we've rescued have been from the very outskirts of town." Shepard reported.
"Understood. Both the Turian and Asari units have been instructed specifically to avoid as much civilian casualties as possible. We'll escort any who surrender back to safety as we press forward." Noruva said.
"Thank you General." Shepard said. A small explosion in the distance caught all of their attention, and Noruva and Korvus both reached for their rifles.
"That's our doorbell. The comm feeds to Kar'shan have been destroyed, we are now free to enter the city. We'll meet you at town square." Shepard said.
"Go with the Goddess." Noruva said, bowing slightly.
"May the spirits watch over you." Korvus added, also bowing.
"I am not a spiritual woman Generals, but I have faith in my friends, and we will see each other through this day. Now let's go and kick some ass!" Shepard said. The tent erupted with "ooh-rahs" from the marines inside, and while confused, both generals felt strangely emboldened by it.
The push into the outpost was more difficult than was expected. The Batarian loyalists here were fanatics and compared to the slaver crews and invasion force Shepard had encountered before, but they stood no match to the combined might of the Alliance, Turian Hierarchy and Asari Republics. Battle cries in more languages than Shepard could count erupted as defenders were shot, blown apart, beaten bare-handed and partially vaporized by geth particle weapons.
A sniper crew and small detachment of soldiers were holed up in a three-story building about a kilometer from the city square, and were wreaking havoc on a pinned down group of marines when Kurg's squad from the Normandy happened upon it.
"Any ideas?" Kurg asked.
"I have a ridiculously stupid one." Reegar said, attaching his sniper rifle to its latch on his back and withdrawing instead his trusty shotgun.
"I'm all ears, Reegar." Kurg said. Up in the top floor of the building the Batarians were not doing well. All were injured, two severely and they only had one functioning sniper rifle between them, which was currently engaged keeping the first squad of marines pinned down.
"What the fuck are those idiots doing?" A Batarian spying down at Kurg's squad with the scope of a broken sniper rifle. The Quarian whispered something in the Krogan's ear that caused him to break out laughing so hard he could barely respond. Instead he simply nodded, as the Quarian readied his shotgun. Before he had the chance to wonder why the Quarian was going to try to snipe them with a shotgun, to his sheer amazement and horror the Krogan picked up the Quarian and hurled him through a broken window into the third floor where before he even landed he had already downed the Batarian sniper and the three soldiers beside him.
"What the fuck?" served as the observing Batarian's last words as Reegar leveled the shot gun down to his head and splattered his brain against the filthy floor. Kurg was still down on the ground laughing three minutes later when he heard the muffled voice of Reegar shouting from inside the building that it was clear.
"Get up you lazy humps, we got slaves to free." Kurg said after he walked over to the formerly pinned down marines and helped their squad leader an older Quarian to his feet.
"That was amazing! Rothschild, please tell me you got footage of that!" The squad leader said
"Oh you better believe it, bitches. Now quit distracting me I'm bothering some jerks." Rothschild replied from the soldier's omnitool.
"Let's go then!" the Quarian leader yelled as his squad followed him and Kurg's squad towards the city center.
"Status report." Shepard requested.
"Shepard commander, all squads have surrounded the city center and are awaiting orders. Casualties are relatively minor. Five marines, three Humans, a Krogan and a Quarian have been killed in action, a further twenty have sustained minor injuries." A smaller Geth platform in the command tent said
"Damn... Any Geth casualties?" She asked.
"None, Commander. We've lost seven platforms but all Geth were able to escape before they were destroyed.
"Ash anything going on upstairs?" Shepard asked into her comm,
"Negative commander, the only traffic is ours and our allies'."
"Thank God. Let's get down there and finish this." Shepard said, leading the Geth unit towards the last objective, the town hall. By the time Shepard arrived, cover had been set up all around the town hall building and defensive positions had been established.
"Any civilians yet?" Shepard asked Grak who was assisting Kurg with a quick armor repair.
"Negative Commander. This place should be swarming with them, the Hegemony must be holding them hostage." Grak said
"That complicates things. We'll have to go in carefully. General Noruva, your commandos, they're skilled in stealth infiltration right?" Shepard asked gesturing at the heavily armed, dangerous looking Asari
"Affirmative, what are you thinking?" the general asked. Shepard opened up a map of the building and surrounding area on her omnitool.
"I'm going to send a special ops team in through the sewers here and here." shepard said, pointing to a point to the north and another to the southwest.
"I want your commandos to breach this wall here and attempt to sneak in. They have the armor upgrades we provided right?" Shepard asked
"Yes, thank you for that by the way." Noruva said. Shepard grinned, then turned to address the commandos.
"Your role will be to breach the wall and create an ungodly mess of things for the Batarian defenders. While you are distracting them, my team will come in from the sewers and rescue as many cvilians as possible." Shepard asked. One of the commandos raised a hand.
"Yes, Corporal?" Shepard asked
"Ma'am, we're commandos, the elite of the Asari military, why are we relegated to decoy duty?" The corporal asked. Noruva was about to lay into the corporal but paused when Shepard raised a hand to stop her.
"Because, Corporal, I am intimately aware of the tactics and capabilities of the Alliance special forces, I have trained with many of them while attaining my N7 rating. My knowledge of Asari commandos and your capabilities and tactics is limited, however I do know you are adaptable and trained in many different specialties, and will be able to make the best of whatever situation we find behind that wall." Shepard said with an even tone of voice but a dangerous look in her eye. The Corporal immediately backed down.
"I'm sorry, Commander." She said, looking down.
"Don't be sorry, go out there and fuck up some slavers." Shepard said.
"Corporal, since you seem so eager to explore sewers you can spend the next week helping maintenance cleaning the waste reclaimation systems back on the Divinity." Noruva said.
"Yes General." The corporal said, now relieved that she wasn't being demoted. Cleaning the toilets for a week would be worth not losing her posting.
"Commander Shepard, my team is ready and awaiting orders." A young woman wearing all-black form fitting armor said from behind Shepard. The Asari couldn't even see her until she stood out of the way.
"Excellent, Sargent Goto. You are cleared to proceed immediatel, and Sargent?"
"Yes Ma'am?" Goto asked.
"I'll take my watch back please." Shepard said, holding a hand out and grinning.
"Dammit I'm getting sloppy." Goto said while laughing and handing the pilfered timepiece back.
"Go in there but be careful, alright Kasumi?" Shepard said.
"Of course, Jane." She said and with a click of a small device on her belt she dissolved from existence, startling the commandos and their general.
"Commander, I've got to ask, she stole from you why didn't you have her arrested?" Noruva asked.
"She and I were on the same team during N7 training. With me I was a military brat and always looking to test myself, that's what landed me in N7 training. She took a... different route. She got arrested for stealing a priceless artifact from some rich collector's private gallery. When she explained to the court how she'd managed it, they offered her ten years in jail or military training and service, and she took the latter. Ever since every time we meet she tries to take something from me and I always catch her, it's become a game. The few times I missed it she always gave the item back and she never takes anything of sentimental value." Shepard explained.
"Permission to speak freely ma'am?" Another of the commandos asked.
"Granted." Shepard said
"Humans are weird." She observed.
"Yeah we are. Move out!" Shepard said smiling happily. With that the commandos moved around the barricades and into position, starting immediately on breaching the wall.
"Kasumi they're working on the back door." Shepard said into omnitool.
"Ooh on the first date? That's bold." Kasumi responded
"Keep that one-track mind focused on the task at hand, girl." She said.
"Keep ruining my fun, Shep. Kasumi out." She said. Shepard chuckled and jogged over to the Hospital tent.
"Are we set here?" She asked Dr. D'inan.
"Yes Commander, Karin is handling the Southern hospital and coordinating with the Asari medical staff." D'inan said.
"None of them are giving you any shit are they?" Shepard asked.
"If they know what I am, nobody's mentioned it." D'inan said.
"If anyone says anything remind them of your citizenship status and if that doesn't work remember you are surrounded by armed Alliance soldiers whose job it is to protect Alliance citizens." Shepard said.
"I will. Thank you Commander." D'inan said, smiling warmly and then returning to sterilizing her surgical implements. Shepard nodded and went back to their defensive position.
"Any idea what's going on in there?" Shepard asked Kurg.
"No idea. The commandos broke through the wall as quickly as we expected, and we spotted a lot of movement then but nothing since." Kurg said, his gaze never leaving the building. Shepard noticed his concerned expression.
"This doesn't sit well with me either Kurg. Keep an eye out and be ready to follow me in." Shepard said.
"Aye Aye Commander." Kurg said, adjusting the sights on his rifle. The comm on her omnitool sprung to life at that moment.
"Commander Shepard... The Batarian resistance has been defeated... You better come down here." Kasumi's flat, lifeless voice said. This alarmed Shepard as well as the muffled sounds of sobbing she heard in the background. Shepard gestured to Kurg and sprinted for the town hall, kicking through the front door and making her way down towards where she knew the basement and thus sewer access was. Kurg and the rest of his squad were right behind him, their eyes darting around searching for an ambush. It only took a few moments to make it to the basement but when she did the world came to a crashing halt.
Kasumi was kneeling in the corner consoling one of the Asari commandos who was sobbing uncontrollably while the others were alternating between quietly weeping and looking horrified and lost. The floor was littered with dead slaves. Dozens of Batarian, Asari, Human, Salarian, and Turian bodies, all heaped in piles, with terrified, agonized expressions locked on their faces. Most of them, children.
"What... What the fuck?" Shepard asked.
"When we got in through the sewers, only those two were guarding the room. The kids were all dead when we got here. Scans show the bodies are at room temperature already. Commander... They must have killed them as soon as we landed." Kasumi said, gesturing briefly at two dead Batarian soldiers with far more bullet holes than would have been necessary to subdue them.
"But, Rothschild scrambled the chip signal..." Shepard said.
"They were shot and stabbed..." Kasumi said. Shepard's gaze went cold.
"Are there any Batarian soldiers alive?" Shepard asked.
"One." Kasumi said, the first bit of animation to her voice Shepard had detected since she came in.
"Commandos, stand down. Report to the hospital stations. Kasumi, have your squad do the same. I need you to bring me to the living one." Shepard said. Corporal, please tell General Noruva what we found." Shepard said. The corporal nodded and lead her colleagues out. The special ops squad followed suit immediately after. Kasumi led Shepard up the stairs and into an office where a smug looking Batarian sat with his hands bound behind his back.
"Name." Shepard growled at the Batarian. The smugness left his face at that.
"Noorian" He said
"Talk." Shepard growled.
"Why should I, human?" Noorian said, the last syllable barely made it out of his mouth before Shepard's fist connected with the Batarian's throat, causing him to gag and choke. Shepard gave him a few seconds to recover.
"TALK!" Shepard bellowed.
"FUCK YOU!" Noorian said, Shepard wound back to punch him again but her arm was caught by a Turian talon before she could hit him.
"Commander Shepard, I've read quite a bit about your military. Your people have very specific laws about the use of torture on prisoners of war, do they not?" Korvus asked.
"They can have my bars. Did you see what this piece of shit did?" Shepard asked.
"I have not but I have been briefed. Back to the topic at hand, Commander, were you aware that my people have no such prohibitions on torturing prisoners of war?." Noorian paled when hearing this. Shepard hesitated, at first but when she saw Noorian begin sobbing at the very thought at Turian torture techniques, her mind was made up.
"I want a doctor in here to keep him conscious." Shepard said, this elicited a renewed round of sobbing out of the terrified Batarian.
"Of course. I will let you know what we find out as soon as possible." Korvus said, gently guiding Shepard through the door. As Kasumi followed her through it, the door shut behind them and Noorian wailed in despair loud enough to be heard through it. The rage that had built in Shepard dissolved and was replaced by overwhelming sorrow. She'd failed. Innocent people, innocent children had died because she failed. She crumpled to her knees and stared into the middle distance, tears streaming down her ashen face.
"Kasumi, I...failed. I got them killed..." Shepard said.
"Jane I'm going to pretend I didn't just hear you blaming yourself for that nightmare. Jane, LOOK AT ME." Kasumi said. Shepard didn't respond. Kasumi slapped her.
"JANE! YOU DID NOT KILL THEM! THE HEGEMONY KILLED THEM!" Kasumi yelled at her, barely controlling her own tears.
"Kids... Oh Kasumi, there were kids!" Shepard said, now openly sobbing and clutching to Kasumi as though she were afraid she'd drown.
"I know Jane. God, I know." Kasumi said and with a strength that seemed impossible with her tiny frame, she pulled Shepard to her feet and began guiding her out. As they made their way out of the horrible building, Kurg and the squad saw their commander and knew something truly awful must have happened. They all made their way over and surrounded her, silently escorting her to the medical tent. Karin saw her and immediately rushed over and embraced her, letting her cry and gently urging her to sit down on a gurney. Kasumi and the squad left her in the capable medic's hands.
"You're Kurg, right?" Kasumi said to the Krogan
"Yeah, Sargent Goto right?" Kurg asked.
"Yeah. She's going to need you guys after what we saw." Kasumi said.
"If you don't mind my asking, what happened down there?" Kurg asked.
"The Hegemony loyalists murdered the slaves. Once they discovered the slave chips weren't working they shot and stabbed them. Kurg, there were a lot of kids down there." Kasumi said. She was surprised when she found a heavy, armored, four-fingered hand resting on her shoulder.
"Are you going to be ok, Sargent?
"Yeah, thanks. I'll probably have nightmares about it for a while, but Shepard feels responsible, and I'm hoping that doctor of yours does a better job of convincing her she's not than I did." Kasumi said.
"Don't worry, If she tries blaming herself again I'll headbutt some sense into her." Kurg said, Kasumi chuckled at this, and waved walking back towards the rest of her unit.