A/N: Thank you jediserenity82, Vorcha Girl, Kirabaros, tlcinbflo, Jules Hawk and ela11 for your wonderful reviews! They made my day! And now, with no further delay, the next chapter. Enjoy! Oh yeah, this chapter may be canon divergent ...
Chapter 27. Virmire
Nick watched as Ashley stuck two fingers in her mouth and whistled loudly, beckoning the remaining team over. They assembled quietly.
"Okay, listen up," Shepard began, letting her gaze sweep over her squadmates. "This is the situation: We have a heavily fortified research facility here in which Saren is trying to breed an army of krogan. The salarians have the idea of converting their drive system into a twenty-kiloton ordnance. The problem is the fortification of the facility is too strong to drop the bomb from orbit." She paused. "That means we have to bring the bomb in on foot." Another pause. Nick watched as the information slowly sank in before she continued.
"You've probably come to the same conclusion as Captain Kirrahe," she pointed back over her shoulder,"or Lieutenant Alenko," Nick looked at him, her expression unreadable, and then turned to face the others again. "We don't have the numbers to take this place head-on. The plan is as follows: The salarians are going to split into three groups and attack the front of the facility to draw out the main force. Meanwhile we'll form an infiltration team and enter the base from the back. The captain has requested that one of us joins his team. Chief Williams is going to be the one to do that, but she will not be alone."
Ashley looked at Nick in surprise, but waited silently for an explanation as her CO went on.
"This has to be an all-hands mission. We can't afford to be idle. Every single one of us has something to do today, because I'm not planning to lose anyone from my team. Not. A. Single. One. Wrex, Liara - you two will accompany the salarians together with Williams. I want as much offensive power as possible on the salarian team. Tali - you will work with the salarians to convert their drive system into a nuke. My infiltration team will consist of Vakarian, Alenko and myself. Questions?"
"Who's going to arm the bomb?" Garrus inquired.
"Lieutenant Alenko is responsible for the bomb once it's in place," she responded. "Any further questions? No? Good. Then gather your gear and prepare to move out. Dismissed!"
She turned around and saw the Kirrahe approaching her.
"I heard what you told your team," the salarian began. "I wanted to thank you for granting us more help than requ-"
"You'll need all the help I can give you," Shepard interrupted. "I've given you two of my squadmates that are more than proficient with the assault rifle as well as two biotics. That should give you an edge. And you don't have to worry about Wrex. As much as it pains him to destroy this possible cure for the genophage, he knows the krogan bred here would all just be slaves of Saren. But maybe let Chief Williams or Dr. T'Soni give him orders, though."
Kirrahe nodded. "Very well. I will have the ordinance loaded onto the Normandy and brief your crew on its detonation sequencing."
Nick confirmed they were ready to move.
"In that case I will go prepare my men. Commander." The salarian dipped his head and left.
Nick turned to look at Kaidan and Ashley.
"Weren't you supposed to grab your gear, Chief?" Nick asked, raising her eyebrows.
"I'm all set, Skipper." Ashley answered. She hesitated and looked at Kaidan. "I guess this is it then. Don't do anything stupid, LT. You either, Skipper."
Kaidan let out a short, mirthless laugh. "We'll be fine. You see to it you don't get yourself killed."
Ashley grinned at him. "Hell no! Who else is supposed to talk sense into your thick headed skull? It just feels strange going under someone else's command." She turned her head towards Nick. "It's been great serving with you."
Nick shook her head. "That sounds an awful lot like a farewell, Chief," she admonished. "We're still a team, you know. No matter if we're in the same unit during this assault. Just fight like the hellcat you are. We're all coming out of this in one piece!" Her tone broached no argument. It was obvious that both Kaidan and Ash were feeling distinctly uneasy about this mission. She had to nip this in the bud.
"We'll see you on the other side, Ash." Kaidan said.
"You bet!" Ashley replied, pulling him into a hug and whispering something in his ear.
Nick scowled, but managed a neutral expression again. Sometimes jealousy stirred when she saw how relaxed the other two were with their friendship. She watched as Kaidan returned the hug without any hesitation, patting each other on the back before Ash stepped back, saluted and walked away.
"Do you still have to talk to the salarians about the detonation sequencing?" Nick demanded in a clipped voice.
"No, ma'am. Tali is working with them. She can send me the information via omni-tool or give me a quick run-down when we place the bomb," he returned.
She was about to reply when she saw the salarians assemble and Kirrahe stepped forward, beckoning for silence. She cast a quick glance at Kaidan and nodded curtly. They listened as the salarian captain reminded his men of their history, of their heroes; calling upon their sense of duty and telling them to hold the line. When he was done, Kirrahe turned to face Shepard.
"Good luck, Commander. I hope we will meet again."
"Godspeed, Captain," she replied and then turned to Kaidan and Garrus, who were standing a few steps behind her. "Let's go kick some ass."
"I thought we're an infiltration unit, Shepard? That means the others get to do the ass-kicking," Garrus commented as they set off.
"And I thought you were a sniper, Vakarian! It just means we'll kick ass quietly," she shot back, leading them away from the camp.
Shortly after they passed through a gate leading to the facility Kirrahe radioed Shepard for a comm check. He informed her they would start their push at the AA guns and hinted that any possible sabotage of the facility's defences would be good.
No kidding.
Nick led her team carefully through the shallow water, listening on the radio as the salarian captain ordered Ashley and the others to go with Aegohr team as well as telling the other two salarian teams to draw some attention.
On their way to the back entrance of the facility the disabled a geth communications outpost as well as a refueling station for drones before reaching the actual facility.
Inside the base they passed a large number of holding cells filled with salarians. Nick frowned. Kirrahe had mentioned he had lost half of his men. She had assumed he had meant they had been killed, but seeing the salarians in the occupied holding cells she wasn't sure if that wouldn't have been better. Most seemed unaware of their surroundings; mindless shells vegetating from one moment to the next.
Shepard gripped her shotgun firmly as she stepped closer to a holding cell with a single salarian in it; the only one that wasn't speaking unintelligible nonsense. The salarian begged to be released, claiming he couldn't bear the whispering anymore. It made her skin prickle.
"Something isn't right here," Kaidan whispered. "This sounds a lot like what Benezia told us about indoctrination."
Shepard nodded and turned away from the salarian without another word. As they walked away they heard his insistent calls to let him out followed by a deafening crash. They followed the stairs up to the next level. Nick hesitated at the sight of an elevator and two doors. Which way?
The first door she opened led to a catwalk. There were more holding cells on the lower level and as they made their way across the catwalk they heard a salarian voice from below inquiring who was there. She chose to ignore it for now and continued to the door on the far side. Whoever was calling appeared to be in one of the cells; he wouldn't be going anywhere.
The door opened to a small antechamber with several terminals inside but little else and a door on the opposite side.
"Lieutenant, check if you can get any useful information from these consoles." She motioned at the terminals. While Kaidan extracted data from the terminals she walked toward the other door.
"Nothing, Commander." He shook his head after a quick glance at the discovered data.
Shepard punched the door console and it slid open revealing a number of indoctrinated salarians as well as geth. She pulled up her shotgun as the air filled with the short bark of Kaidan's pistol and Garrus' assault rifle. The explosion of a tech grenade stunned the geth rocket trooper in front of her and she shot it in the head.
A large shadow loomed at the corner of her field of view. Nick turned her head in time to see a geth destroyer rushing at her. She slammed the butt of her shotgun into the face of a salarian in front of her and leveled in on the destroyer, her heart pounding ferociously as the charging geth closed the distance between them. A flash of blue sped past her, leaving a smell of ozone in the air. The biotic attack knocked the destroyer back and she knew if she turned her head she would see Kaidan surrounded by a tell-tale corona.
Two tech explosions followed, stripping the geth of its shields and Shepard fired her shotgun at the destroyer until it lay sprawled motionless on the floor. They advanced slowly into the large storage room, encountering more waves of geth, but the combination of Kaidan's and Garrus' tech attacks held them at bay. Finally the last hostile was down, leaving a heavy silence interrupted only by the sound of their breathing.
The storage room revealed no further information and they turned back crossing the catwalk once more, feeling apprehensive. Had the strong defense in that room been intended as a trap?
"I want to get down there," Shepard said under her breath as she heard the voice from before call out again..
"We could try that other door," Garrus suggested and she nodded.
They passed through the door and found themselves outside of the facility on a ramp leading to the lower level. There was no sign of hostile activity nearby, but far off they could hear the sound of weapon fire barely audible over the surf. They continued down the ramp and through the door leading into another room filled with holding cells.
A voice called out once more and Shepard led the way to the cell on the far left. A salarian waved through the bars of his door. He introduced himself as Lieutenant Ganto Imness and it quickly became clear that he was still in control of his thoughts. He guessed they were an infiltration unit sent to destroy the base. After a short conversation with the salarian she decided it was safe to trust him and agreed to open his cell, giving him a chance to outrun the blast.
"What about the others, Commander?" Kaidan asked, nodding his head toward another occupied cell.
"Look at them, Lieutenant." Blue eyes burned into brown as she swung her arm, pointing at the salarian prisoners. "They are mindless. I can't free them because they might endanger the mission running around the base. The only thing I could do is put them out of their misery. Move out."
They returned to the higher level and took the elevator to the top. Husks in stasis pods greeted them as they stepped off of the elevator. Any hope of passing through the stasis chamber unnoticed was thwarted when the scientists working in the room became aware of them. The krogan scientist and his asari assistant released the husks and attacked.
Nick shot the first husk square in its face, but there were several others ambling toward her, arms outstretched. She backed up to keep a minimum distance between her and the hideous creatures. The smell of ozone filled the air once again as Kaidan caught two more in a Throw, sending them careening through the air, while Garrus filled the third with Shredder rounds.
Shepard focused on the krogan and started to raise her shotgun when she suddenly froze, unable to move. With horror she realized the asari assistant had caught her in a stasis. She could feel the biotic trap tingling unpleasantly against her skin, like a thousand needles pricking her, the pain intensifying the longer the stasis held. She found it increasingly difficult to breathe and her lungs burned as if they were on fire. She fought against the stasis, willing herself to move.
Finally it grew weaker and Shepard broke free, gasping for air and stumbling into cover to catch her breath. She cast a glance around the corner of the table she was behind and saw the krogan backing her way. The asari was nowhere to be seen. In a swift movement she brought up her shotgun but the krogan collapsed before she had a chance to get off a shot.
Silence filled the air.
"Let's get moving." Her voice was curt as she motioned towards the door; she couldn't shake the feeling they were running out of time.
The two geth guarding the entrance to the next part of the facility were quickly disposed of and they entered what appeared to be an office. Shepard walked briskly towards the locked door at the far end of the room. A noise had her on alert and she saw somebody crouching under a desk. She slowed down and an asari stood up, holding up her hands.
"Don't shoot! I just want to get out of here! This job isn't worth dying for, or worse."
Shepard said nothing. She just leaned back and crossed her arms in front of her, head tilted slightly to the side. The asari used the silence to tell them she was a neurospecialist. Her job was to find out more about the effects of indoctrination on organics.
"Or so I thought," she went on. "Saren pretty much kept us in the dark about what was going on. But," she quickly continued as she saw the scowl on Shepard's face, "I can grant you access to Saren's private office." The asari walked to the locked door and punched a code into the door panel. "See? Full access! Can I go now."
Shepard shook her head. "I want more information first. What were you studying?"
The asari neurospecialist informed them that indoctrination was linked to the ship, Sovereign. It emitted a signal which made people feel compelled to do things. Direct exposure lead to being a mindless slave like the salarian test subjects, while indirect exposure was more difficult to track.
The asari paled as Shepard mentioned their intention of blowing up the facility casually and appeared on the verge of panicking.
"If you run fast enough, maybe you can outrun the blast." Shepard stepped aside with a smirk and pointed at the door.
They watched as the neurospecialist tore through the door before they continued to Saren's private office. Inside they saw an eerie greenish glow emanating from an alcove and walked closer.
"Commander, it looks like another prothean beacon," Kaidan pointed out.
"You've seen something like this before?" Garrus asked, staring at the pulsating light surrounding the obelisk. Shepard walked warily toward the beacon and paid little attention to the conversation between her squadmates.
"Yes," Kaidan answered when Shepard remained silent. "The prothean artefact we were supposed to pick up on Eden Prime looked like this. It, uh, knocked the Commander out cold for nearly fifteen hours."
The reminder sent a shiver down her spine and her mouth went dry as the images of the last beacon flashed through her mind. She hoped this one wouldn't be so problematic.
You have no choice.
Tentatively she took another step closer, reaching toward the artifact with her hand when the familiar pull of the beacon took hold of her. The greenish glow grew stronger and she levitated in the air; Kaidan's and Garrus' cries sounding muffled in the background. Images of violence and destruction flashed before her inner eye. It showed her an unknown solar system, concentrating on one planet, then the beacon released her.
Shepard fell to the ground, panting hard. She shook her head to clear it and stood up slowly, waving away the outstretched hand that appeared next to her. She turned her head to meet Kaidan's gaze, but found she didn't know what to say and merely nodded.
How about thank you? Her inner voice chimed up. And you could say you're sorry.
She watched as he dropped his hand but held her gaze for a moment longer.
"Are you okay, Commander?" He sounded worried but businesslike as he activated his omni-tool and scanned her quickly, doing his duty as field medic.
"I'm fine, Lieutenant!" came her curt reply.
She walked past both Kaidan and Garrus briskly and returned to the higher level. A holographic interface caught her attention and she approached it hoping to find a facility VI. Instead, an image of Sovereign appeared.
"I've got a bad feeling about this," Kaidan muttered.
"Is that a VI interface?" Garrus asked at the same time.
"You are not Saren." A metallic voice boomed through the room. "Rudimentary creatures of flesh and blood. You touch my mind, fumbling in ignorance, incapable of understanding. There is a realm of existence so far beyond your own you cannot even imagine it. I am beyond your comprehension. I am Sovereign!"
"I don't think that's a VI," Kaidan replied to Garrus question.
"Saren didn't find a Reaper ship. This is an actual Reaper!" Shepard exclaimed.
"A label created by the Protheans giving voice to their destruction. in the end, what they choose to call us is irrelevant. We simply are," Sovereign declared.
"The protheans vanished 50,000 years ago! You couldn't have been there!"
"Organic life is nothing but a genetic mutation, an accident. your lives are measured in years and decades. You wither and die. We are eternal. The pinnacle of evolution and existence. Before us, you are nothing. Your extinction is inevitable. We are the end of everything," the Reaper proclaimed. "We have no beginning; we have no end. We are infinite. Millions of years after your civilization has been eradicated and forgotten, we will endure."
Shepard shook her head slowly. "No. Whatever your plan is, it'll fail. We'll make sure of that!" She hoped she didn't sound too much like a child trying to convince itself it wasn't afraid of the dark.
"Confidence born of ignorance. The cycle cannot be broken. The pattern has been repeated more times than you can fathom. Organic civilizations rise, evolve, advance. And at the apex of their glory they are extinguished. The protheans were not the first; they merely found the legacy of my kind." Sovereign continued to boast that the Citadel and mass relays were meant to be found, so organic life would evolve along lines the reapers desired. "We impose order on the chaos of organic evolution. You exist because we allow it. And you will end because we demand it."
"How many of you are there?" Kaidan asked, voicing a question that had been circulating through her mind.
"We are legion. Our numbers will darken the sky of every world. You cannot escape your doom!"
"Well, that sounds lovely," Shepard remarked dryily.
Sovereign was not finished yet. "I am the vanguard of your destruction. This exchange is over."
A sudden explosion shook the air, smashing the windows of Saren's private office.
"Commander," Joker's voice came over the radio immediately after the explosion subsided. "we've got trouble."
"Let's hear it, Joker," she answered, walking towards the door.
"That ship, Sovereign? It's moving. I don't know what you did down there, but that thing just pulled a turn that'd shear any of our ships in half! It's coming your way and it's coming hard! You need to wrap things up in there - fast!"
"Thanks for the heads up, Joker." She turned to her squadmates. "You heard the man. Let's get to the breeding facility and blow this place to hell!"
Outside a geth destroyer awaited them, blocking their way back through the first office, but an Overload from Garrus and a Sabotage from Kaidan rendered it defenseless, giving Shepard enough time to take it out with her shotgun. They jogged through the office and met resistance in form of several krogan warriors outside.
Kaidan glowed blue next to her as he unleashed his biotics, throwing the first krogan back forcefully, followed by a Neural Shock while the other two shot it. They continued over the catwalk to the next door in this manner, keeping the krogan warriors off their feet with a combination of biotics, tech and firearms as they advanced through the empty hallway behind the door.
After considerable resistance they managed to get to the bomb site and clear it. Shepard radioed the Normandy to bring in the bomb and she watched as the ordnance was set in position. Kaidan had gone over to Tali and some engineers and was busy talking to them, going over the detonation sequence for the nuke. Nick chewed her lip as she watched him kneel down next to the bomb and adjust something before walking over to her.
"The bomb is in position," Kaidan said over the radio, so all teams got the information. "We're - "
"Commander, do you read me?" Ashley's voice interrupted him. They could hear yells and insistent gunfire in the background. "We're pinned down on the AA tower and taking casualties."
"Fall back, Chief! I want an orderly retreat! Lay down suppressing fire and all hands converge on the bomb site. We're coming your way to take some heat off you." Shepard responded. She turned to Kaidan with a worried expression. He didn't have much backup. "Will you be all right?"
Kaidan gave her his lopsided smile and her heart fluttered. "I need a few more minutes to arm the nuke. Go and get Ash and the others. I'll wait here."
Shepard returned a short smile and put her hand on his shoulder briefly before leading Garrus and Tali to the AA tower. She felt her gut churning as dread settled in; dread that she might be too late to save the assault team, dread that she might be too late to get back to Kaidan in time.
You are an idiot, Veronika Shepard. You've wasted days because you can't admit you were wrong and apologize. Instead, you acted like a complete bitch. And now it might be too late.
This plan of yours had better come together.
Kaidan watched them disappear around the corner and turned his attention to the bomb in front of him. All it needed was a few final adjustments. He had lied to Shepard when he told her he'd need a few more minutes, but he didn't want her to feel more pressure than necessary.
He threw a short glance at the salarians that were guarding the bomb site. There weren't many and he hoped any geth reinforcements would be sent to the AA tower without cutting off the assault team's retreat. Kaidan listen to his teammates engaged in battle and looked up at the sky nervously. His hands were sweating in his gauntlets.
To take his mind off of the passing time Kaidan checked the fuse again and ran through the detonation sequence in his mind. He hoped he would get a chance to talk to Shepard once they were done here. That little smile she had given him before laying her hand on his shoulder had burned itself in his mind.
Maybe Garrus was right and she was coming around again.
The sound of a geth dropship yanked him back to reality.
"Crap," he muttered under his breath and pulled his sidearm.
His radio crackled.
"Heads up, LT! There's a troop ship headed to your location!" There was an edge in Ashley's voice and he knew she was afraid.
"It's already here!" he responded. "And it's dropping geth all over the bomb site."
"Can you hold them off?" Shepard cut in, her voice coming in short gasps. She must be running.
"Negative," he answered as he Overloaded a geth's shields and fired his pistol several times before ducking back in cover. "There's too many." He scooted around the bomb and focused on another geth. His omni-tool was still cooling down, so he Lifted two geth intent on killing one of the salarians, but more geth poured from the ship. There was no way he would be able to hold out long.
He had to arm the nuke; it was the only chance.
"I'm activating the bomb," he informed them as he began punching in the detonation sequence, relying on the few salarians to keep the heat off him.
"Damn it, Alenko! What the hell are you doing?!" Shepard's voice nearly cracked. Or, that's what it sounded like on the radio. But then maybe it was just wishful thinking.
Kaidan felt strangely calm. He knew he was the only one now that could ensure this ordinance did it's job and he would defend it to his last breath. "I'm making sure this bomb goes off. No matter what. Get Ash and the others and get the hell out of here."
Ashley let him know what she thought of his plan with a few choice words and Kaidan smiled to himself. If he didn't make it out of here, he would miss her.
And by God, would he miss Nick.
"Joker," Kaidan heard Shepard say, sure she would order the Normandy to the AA tower. "Meet us at the bomb site. We're heading back! Chief, get your people out of there now! Go, go, GO!"
The radio fell silent and Kaidan focused on the incoming geth forces, Sabotaging the weapons of another geth. To his left, one of the salarians fell. He swept the area and saw a rocket trooper and a sniper standing close together and Threw them back as hard as he could.
His heart dropped when he saw not only two Geth Destroyers, but also a Geth Prime and a Juggernaut appear. Kaidan concentrated on the destroyer closest to him and used every skill he had to keep it away from the bomb. His implant was slowly growing warm.
The sound of weapon fire intensified to his far left and he risked a quick look, seeing Shepard ducking behind a tank together with Garrus and Tali. The Geth Prime headed for the newcomers and Kaidan moved around the bomb to hurl a Sabotage at it. Suddenly his shields frizzled out and he dropped back into cover. He couldn't help the others against the Prime of the Juggernaut, he had his own problem right now.
Kaidan tossed the grenade intended for the Geth Prime at a rocket trooper closing in on his position. The geth kept on advancing and he fired his pistol repeatedly until the synthetic exploded. A sharp pain in his abdomen flooded through him and he glanced down to see a scrap of metal sticking out of his armor. With a curse he administered some medigel.
He looked up again to see Shepard walking towards him and called out a warning as Saren appeared behind her, but she had sensed the danger. He watched as she twisted around with amazing speed and fired at the rogue Spectre, before dodging his biotic attacks. Kaidan felt the blood rushing in his ears and was aware the water around him was slowly turning pink from his blood. He punched the command in his omni-tool for another dose of medigel. A warning flashed on his display - he was out of medigel.
One hell of a medic you are, Alenko.
Kaidan grimaced as he searched for another medigel pack. At the same time he tried to discern what Shepard and Saren were talking about, but the wind carried the words away.
Suddenly the sound of gunfire filled the air again as more geth arrived and Saren attacked Shepard. Kaidan pulled himself up again and fired at one of the geth when he saw Shepard fall to the ground and Saren close in on her with quick, long strides. Rage filled him as the turian grabbed her by the throat and picked her up. Kaidan willed down his biotics, knowing they couldn't help right now. Shepard was in his line of fire.
The blaring of a horn sounded a two-minute warning for all teams and Saren was distracted long enough for Shepard to punch him. He dropped her and fled.
Kaidan tried to get up, but his legs didn't seem to carry his weight. He heard the sound of Normandy's engines as well as voices coming closer. One was Shepard's voice, he was certain. And, Wrex? He closed his eyes briefly and when he opened them again Shepard was standing in front of him, an angel of vengeance, eyes wild, cheeks flushed from battle, offering her hand to help him up.
He took hold of her hand, trying to get up as pain seared through him.
And the world went dark.