A/N: Surprise! After more than two months I've finally managed to update! Thank you to my old followers for being so patient and sticking around, and welcome and thank you to my new followers. Thank you Jules Hawk, Vorcha Girl and the guest for your reviews on the last chapter. They kept me going, seriously. And as always another thank you to Vorcha Girl for beta reading!
Enjoy!
50. Menae
Palaven was burning.
Shepard held onto the handrail tightly, her heart sinking as she watched the news feed. As far as she knew Garrus was somewhere on that planet, but she wasn't going to Palaven; she was heading for Menae, this god-forsaken moon. She missed her friend. It would have been nice to have her sniping partner back, but it seemed rather unlikely.
"Holy hell, they're getting decimated," James said, his eyes glued on the screen. He was obviously thinking the same thing she was. This was the strongest military force in the galaxy, and they were helpless against the Reapers.
"Yeah, and we have a friend down there somewhere," Shepard remarked curtly.
Maybe Garrus had gotten off-world in time?
"Was it like this on Earth?" Liara asked.
"Yeah," Shepard replied, her eyes still on the newsfeed. She turned her head to look at Liara and Vega. "Get ready. Cortez, bring us in," she told the shuttle pilot.
"Aye-aye," came the quick reply. "The LZ's getting swarmed, Commander."
"James," she ordered, "open that hatch."
Gripping her rifle tightly, her gaze darted over Menae's rocky surface as the shuttle descended downwards, the turian homeworld ablaze in the sky above it. A shiver ran down her spine as she turned her attention to the view in front of her. Cortez was right; the landing zone was swarming with husks. An odd calm spread through her as she brought her rifle to the ready, firing short, controlled bursts at every hostile in her crosshairs as the shuttle touched down.
After the path was clear she approached a guard tower and called, "Who's in charge here?"
A turian soldier answered, pointing them towards the command center, and they made their way to the barricades in search of the commanding officer. Her eyes narrowed as she swept them over the operation's base until she found what she was she was looking for. With long, confident strides she approached the shelter where the general - Corinthus, the guard had said - was busy giving orders. He made the impression of having received troubling news not too long ago, but given the situation that wasn't surprising.
"General, I'm here to get Primarch Fedorian," she opened bluntly.
Corinthus bowed his head, his mandibles clicking softly. Shepard shifted, narrowing her eyes as she waited for an answer. Time was pressing.
"Primarch Fedorian is dead," the general finally said. "His shuttle was shot down an hour ago as it tried to leave the moon."
"Fuck. As if things weren't complicated enough. Damn Reaper bastards," Shepard sighed, putting her hands on her hips and chewing her lip thoughtfully. A bubble of irritation rose from her gut. She willed it down and focused on the matter at hand. "How does your line of succession work? Do you have a vice primarch or something like that?"
"The turian hierarchy provides very clear lines of succession as far as I know," Liara put in before Corinthus could answer.
He nodded. "Your teammate is correct. Unfortunately with such heavy casualties it's hard for me to know who the next primarch is. Palaven Command will know. However, contacting them is impossible as long as the comm tower is out. We can't get near -."
"I'm not leaving this moon without the next primarch," Shepard interrupted with a swipe of her hand. "We'll take care of your comm tower while you get in touch with the brass and find out who's next in line." She looked at her team. "Let's go." Without another word she turned away and headed toward the gates.
Reaper beams exploded close to their position soon after passing the barricades. Husks emerged from the impact sites, instantly attacking them. Their moaning voices brought back memories of Eden Prime and the Collector ship. Shepard ignored the shivers the sound sent down her back and pressed forward, sending a Carnage into the first group of husks. Liara caught another group in a Singularity, and a wave of satisfaction washed over her as James detonated it with a Carnage of his own.
"Those things give me the creeps," James mentioned after the explosion subsided. Liara mumbled in agreement as they moved on.
Once the communication tower was operational again they returned to the base hoping Corinthus would have more information on the next turian primarch. The general seemed uncomfortable with the information he'd received from Palaven Command, but Shepard was in no mood for playing guessing games.
"Listen General, I don't give a flying fuck who it is as long as they can get me the turian resources we need," she snarled.
Corinthus' mandibles twitched. Shepard crossed her arms in front of her and looked at him expectantly. He was about to reply when a familiar voice spoke behind her.
"Don't worry, Shepard. We'll find the primarch."
She hadn't heard that voice since she had turned herself in. Stunned, Shepard turned around to face the approaching turian, and a grin split her face. "Well, fuck me sideways," she exclaimed. "Garrus! God, is it good to see you in one piece. I thought for sure you'd be on Palaven!"
Shepard clasped his shoulder firmly before turning her head. "Vega, this is Garrus Vakarian, one of the best snipers out there. Apart from me, that is. And he's damn good at tech, too."
Garrus snorted and gave her a friendly shove before turning his attention to Corinthus. The general cleared his throat. "According to Palaven Command the next primarch is General Victus."
Garrus whistled through his teeth.
"Something I should know?" Shepard asked, looking from Corinthus to Garrus.
"The general is very popular with his troops but not with Palaven Command," Corinthus explained. "He has the habit of making risky and unconventional decisions."
Shepard snorted and looked around pointedly. "I don't know about you, but I think unconventional thinking might be just what we need right now."
The general's position was under heavy attack when Shepard and her team reached it. Not much longer and the turians would be overrun.
"Double time it, people!" Shepard called to her team. They couldn't afford to lose the general; he needed to take his position as turian primarch.
The gates of the outpost lay in ruins as they passed them. The high-pierced sound of a grenade reached her ears and Shepard threw herself into cover. The air shook under the detonation. She shook her head to clear the ringing in her ears from the explosion and brought her rifle to the ready.
James threw a grenade at a small group of hostiles, and she watched its trajectory out of the corner of her eye before returning her focus to her target. Her shot rang out sharply and the cannibal crumpled to the ground. A marauder fell to a combination of Garrus' Overload and James' assault rifle.
They moved into the compound. Gripping her rifle tightly Shepard hunched behind a large boulder as shots whizzed over her head. She scooted to the side carefully and peeked around its edge. In a distance she could make out the shape of two brutes through the smoke and dust fogging the view of the battlefield.
"Fuck," she muttered, ducking back quickly. Shuddering she checked how many spare clips she had left and suppressed a groan. There were less than she would have liked. Leaning back against the rock she cursed under her breath. She needed a plan. Or ammo. Or both. There was no way she was going to die on this rock. "Not today, fuckers. Not today."
"You okay over there, Shepard?" Garrus called over the sharp report of his sniper rifle.
"Running low on ammo," she replied, twisting around and aiming at a marauder. Two shots echoed in quick succession, stripping the marauder's shields with the first shot and taking him down with the second. She cast a quick glance to her right flank. There were supply crates not far from her position. She grinned. No, she wasn't going to die on this rock.
"Give me cover!" Shepard called and dashed across the path. She stayed as low as possible while Garrus and James put down suppressive fire. Keeping an eye on the battle around her she quickly opened the box and began filling the pouches of her armor with spare clips and frag grenades.
A shadow suddenly loomed over her.
"Shit!" she exclaimed, jumping back and opening her omniblade with a flick of her wrist. The cannibal lunged at her, and she stepped forward, punching her arm forward and driving the omniblade up into her opponent's skull. It dropped dead. Her pulse raced. How the hell had it gotten through Garrus' and James' suppressive fire? Panting hard she looked up and saw the brutes had moved in closer.
"There comes a big one!" James called. "Make that two!"
Shepard brought up her sniper rifle and fired three quick shots at the first brute. The beast roared and charged, whirling up dust in its wake. A grenade hit it before reaching her and it stumbled, giving her time to get to safer position. She heard another roar further back where Garrus and James had taken on the second brute. She hit it with a Carnage, but it still didn't go down. Swapping her sniper rifle for her shotgun she quickly brought it to the ready, and fired. Finally it fell and they moved further into the outpost.
Weary and dusty Shepard stepped off the shuttle into Normandy's shuttle bay, the turian primarch following a few steps behind her. The ride back had been silent. Luckily the Normandy had little more than a skeleton crew, so it wouldn't be much of an issue finding a bunk for Victus until they arrived at the summit.
In the CIC she ordered one of the marines to show Victus to the war room and went to Traynor.
"Any new messages, specialist?"
Traynor shook her head. "None, Commander. There has been damage to the comm buoys in this system, so messages may be delayed."
The corners of Nick's lips tugged downwards as she nodded. Her expression was unreadable as she opened the galaxy map and set course for the Annos Basin. It had been more than ten hours since leaving the Citadel, and she had really hoped for a message either from Kaidan or, in the worst case, from the hospital.
"EDI," Nick asked, "what's our ETA?"
"Five hours, Commander. The relays are busy."
Nick sighed. Five hours. At least she'd have time to shower, take care of her weapons and armor, and, with some luck, really get a few hours of sleep. Menae's fine dust had crept through every crack and fissure, and she needed to oil everything down soon. Rubbing her face with her hands she turned around and headed back down to the shuttle bay.
The constant beeping of a heart rate monitor crept through Kaidan's clouded mind as he fought to return to full awareness. It was always there, faint at first but growing steadily louder. Voices murmured softly around him. He stirred. A chair creaked, a needle pricked his arm, and footsteps walked away as he drifted back into drug-induced sleep.
He wasn't sure how much time had passed when he opened his eyes. His head hurt, a dull throbbing beginning at the base of his skull. His shoulders ached and his throat felt oddly sore. Memories of Mars flashed through his mind and he shuddered. He blinked, temporarily blinded by the light falling in through the large windows of the room. For a moment he watched sky cars passing in a distance. He was clearly at a hospital, and on the Citadel at that.
He probably shouldn't be surprised, but he was. He'd been certain he was going to die on Mars.
The soft rustle of uniform fabric caught his attention. Somebody else was in the room. Hope stirred in him and he turned his head to see a figure slouching on a chair. The small movement sent a wave of nausea rolling through him and his stomach lurched unpleasantly. He squeezed his eye shut hoping he wouldn't have to vomit. As soon as his stomach had settled he took a slow, deep breath.
"Nick?" he croaked uncertainly, his voice rough.
"Not quite, Kaid," Ashley answered. "I'm glad you're finally awake even if you still look like shit."
Kaidan opened his eyes again and looked into the worried face of his friend. "It's good to see you too, Ash. I was worried for you when we left Earth." He swallowed. God, that hurt. Speaking was difficult. "How did you know where to find me?"
"Liara," came the simple reply.
"Ah." He closed his eyes again. Liara was probably one of the reasons Ashley hadn't stayed on Earth, but not the only one. Her unit was under Hackett's command, and not stationed on Earth. "Your unit?"
"At Pinnacle Station. It's the new command center for Alliance forces now that Arcturus is destroyed. I'm heading there in a few hours."
Kaidan nodded carefully. "When did you get here?"
"Sometime the middle of last night. I stopped at the apartment to check messages and get my spare omnitool because my old one kicked the bucket, and Liara's message was already several hours old. I came straight here, but the doctors didn't want to let me in at first. Tony saw me and knew instantly why I was there. He said you got really lucky." Tony had been the blind date she had talked him into before Horizon. It made sense that he was there. He was a trauma specialist, after all. "You were in bad shape. They kept you sedated for several hours until they were certain the swelling was going back."
You were in bad shape.
He tried not thinking of how bad his injuries were, but he knew he was lucky to be alive. His thoughts wandered to Nick. Where was she? Was she okay? Was she worried about him?
"If you've talked to Liara, have you also talked to Nick?" Kaidan asked, hoping Ashley would have some news about her.
Ashley leaned back. "No, sorry. Only to Liara. She said Nick was really busy and pretty worried about you considering you apparently acted like a complete ass on Mars," she said, lifting an eyebrow quizzically.
"I -," he began, "I didn't mean to. Did Liara tell you about the Cerberus troopers? How they were somehow … reaperfied?" He glanced at Ashley who simply nodded. "Well, uh, there was this trooper that looked like a husk, and I asked Nick if Cerberus had done something like that to her. Or if she knew anything about what they did to her when they rebuilt her." Shame welled up in him at the memory of the hurt in Nick's eyes. Her anger had probably been something he'd deserved.
"You're a fucking idiot sometimes, Kaidan Alenko," Ashley said shaking her head slowly.
He shrugged and winced as pain shot through his body from his shoulders, "I guess so."
"At least when it comes to Shepard," his friend muttered. "Honestly."
Silence fell between them. After a few moments Ashley began speaking again. "Liara told me Nick was frantic to get you here. She carried you onto the Normandy and all the way into the med bay, and after they reached the Citadel she came to see you here before meeting with the Council."
Kaidan drew a deep breath and closed his eyes. Nick had carried him? How? "I thought I'd heard her talking to me at one point, but it felt like a dream. I figured it was my imagination playing tricks on me." He looked down at his hands. "I miss her, Ash," he added quietly.
"I know. And I'd say she misses you too."
"I should send her a message. Let her know I'm awake and allowed to have visitors," he said softly as though thinking out loud.
"You should," Ashley agreed. The door opened with a hiss, and a doctor entered. She cast a quick glance over her shoulder and stood up, giving him a gentle hug. "My shuttle leaves soon, and I probably won't drop by before leaving again. Get well soon otherwise I'll have to kick all that Reaper ass without you, and that wouldn't be any fun."
A/N: I hope you enjoyed it! Reviews are most welcome! :)