Virmire, to any of those who visited the planet, would be considered a paradise. Lush jungles, beautiful landscapes, and amazing beaches running along a vast ocean.
But the sights were ruined by the knowledge that Saren and the Geth had set up shop on the surface.
When the Normandy entered the planet's atmosphere, Joker immediately picked up several AA gun emplacements that would shoot them out of the sky if they got within range. Shepard took Garrus and Ashley in the mako and had the pilot drop them off several kilometers away from the anti-air batteries before taking back to the air and staying out of range.
An hour later, the Commander reported the guns were down and Joker brought the ship to where the STG team had set up a base of operations on a nearby beach. The rest of the ground team disembarked just as the mako pulled up onto the sand. Shepard and her group stepped out as a squad of Salarian's greeted them.
"Who's in charge here?" asked Jane.
"I am." The Salarian leading the others spoke up, "Captain Kirrahe, Third Infiltration Regiment STG."
"I'm Commander Shepard. What's the situation here Captain?"
"The situation is that you and your crew just landed in the middle of a hotzone. Every AA gun within ten miles was alerted by your presence." said Kirrahe. "We've been dug in for a while now, waiting for the Council to send reinforcements."
Shepard looked to her team for a moment, "We are the reinforcements. Your distress signal was hard to understand and they sent us here to investigate."
The Captain blinked before rubbing his eyes in frustration, "I lost half my team 'investigating' this place. We'd need a fleet to destroy this facility."
"What did you find?" asked Jane.
"Saren's base of operations." said Kirrahe, instantly getting everyone's attention, "He's set up a research facility here, and it's heavily fortified. From what our teams were able to uncover from ongoing comm chatter, Saren's using the base to breed Krogan."
"How is that possible?" asked Wrex, stomping forward a bit and making a few of the STG team nervous.
"Apparently, he's discovered a cure for the Genophage." said the Captain.
Shepard furrowed her brow, "Geth are bad enough. But an army of Krogan? He'd be unstoppable."
Kirrahe nodded, "My thoughts exactly. That is why this place, and all its research, must be destroyed."
"Destroyed? I don't think so. My people are dying, this cure could save them." Wrex rumbled with an edge in his tone.
"If the cure leaves this planet, the Krogan will be unstoppable." said the Salarian Captain without remorse, "We cannot make the same mistake twice."
The Krogan mercenary growled and got in Kirrahe's face, "We are NOT a mistake!" he all but roared before stomping away farther down the beach.
"Is he going to be a problem? We have enough angry Krogan running around." asked the Captain.
"I'll talk to him." said the Commander. A heavy hand on her shoulder had Jane looking up at Flynn, the slayer sending her a look from behind his visor before he followed after Wrex.
He found the scarred Krogan just outside the camp, firing his shotgun into the surf randomly. "This isn't right Taggart!" he bellowed, knowing who had followed him. "If there's a cure for the Genophage here it can't be destroyed! This is the hope for my people they are throwing away!"
Wrex turned to the slayer, "A thousand years since the Rebellions. Mountains of dead children who didn't even take their first breath. The Salarians and Turians made it so my species bleeds to death slowly while they act superior, throwing us aside after we did their dirty work!"
The slayer let the Krogan mercenary vent his rage before adding his input.
What Saren is doing here isn't a solution. Flynn signed. He's breeding Krogan, sure. But they are mindless puppets to be used and discarded. They are not true Krogan, true warriors. Is that how you wish your people to be remembered? Tools to be used by a Turian?
Growling, Wrex turned and glared out over the vast ocean, deep in thought. Flynn came up and stood beside him. Your people deserve a cure, and justice for what they have suffered through. And one day they will. But right now you are able to stop them from becoming slaves. You want to fight for the Krogan's future? Start here.
The mercenary smirked, "For a guy who enjoys ripping his enemies to shreds, you got a silver tongue. Or fingers, in your case." Red slitted eyes turned to his fellow warrior, "You made your point. The Krogan were used as pawns once, and as thanks we were neutered. Doubtful Saren will be as generous. But when this is over, I want my pound of flesh from the bastard."
Flynn smirked back before they ventured back to the STG camp.
With the minor crisis averted, the ground team and the STG came together to come up with a plan of action to strike the facility. Kirrahe and his unit had explained how they were in the process of turning their ship's drive core into a warhead strong enough to wipe the base off the face of the planet. From there, he and Shepard planned for the Salarian operatives to attack the front while the Commander could slip a small team in the back to gain a foothold for the bomb.
After hashing out the details of the plan, Jane approached her team and informed them of the situation.
"So the Captain wants one of us to go with him to keep the Geth busy." said Garrus. "Practically a suicide mission on its own."
"It won't be easy. But it's the only way to keep Saren's forces distracted enough for the Normandy to drop off the nuke." said Shepard.
"I volunteer," said Kaiden.
"Not so fast, LT. You'll be needed to help arm the nuke. I'll go with the STG team." Ashley threw in.
The Lieutenant gave her a look, "With all due respect, Gunnery Chief, it's not your place to decide."
Ashley sighed, "Why is it whenever someone says 'with all due respect', they really mean 'kiss my ass'?" Garrus snorted in amusement at the statement.
Shepard thought hard about it, she would potentially be sacrificing one of her own. A decision she didn't take lightly, or even liked for that matter. If there was another way to do this without someone-
The racking of a shotgun snapped the Commander out of her thoughts, casting a glance toward Flynn who sent a meaningful look right back. "I take it you're up for a little 'recycling'?" she asked rhetorically with a grin.
The slayer grinned right back in response.
"So we got the distraction, what are the STG going to do the whole time?" wondered Garrus.
"They'll be useless unless they intend to be Taggart's cheerleaders." Wrex answered with a chuckle.
X
Captain Kirrahe had experienced a number of things since he first joined the Salarian Special Tasks Group. Having completed several operations across the traverse and received many commendations for his service to his people and the Council.
And even though they weren't expecting this mission to go as roughly as it did, he and his men were prepared to see it through to the end. No matter the outcome.
But currently, the Captain was in deep contemplation about the one Commander Shepard had sent with him and his squad. The, admittedly large, human in heavy armor was easily as big as any Krogan he had encountered, and from the muscle mass he could see was probably just as strong if not more so.
Kirrahe had never, however, seen a human this size before. And his armor looked stronger than any currently in circulation, for any species. Not to mention his odd ability to pull weaponry from seemingly nowhere had his intellectual side going into overdrive with questions.
His men gave the large man a wide berth, a few of them just as nervous around him as they had been when the Krogan on Shepard's team had started to rage. He hadn't said a word since they left the beach, but the aura that surrounded him made the seasoned operatives anxious. Like he was an ordinance that was about to go off.
This, coupled with what the Commander had told him before they headed out, left Kirrahe a little unnerved himself;
"When the bullets start flying, you and your men find cover and stay out of his way."
The Captain gave her an odd look, "With all due respect, Commander. But I don't think that your comrade-"
"Captain, I'm being 110% serious about this." Shepard cut him off with a sharp tone. "Flynn isn't your run of the mill soldier. He's on a completely different level entirely. He was able to break a Krogan's neck with his bare hands and can take on a small army of Geth without a scratch. Trust me. When the attack starts, stay out of his way. And all your men will be going home alive."
He still didn't want to believe what he had been told. But something in Shepard's voice had him questioning if she was telling the truth. Casting a glance at the silent giant among them, Kirrahe thought about all the men he had lost since arriving on Virmire and secretly hoped that she was right.
The squad continued on through the foliage a few more minutes before approaching the front of the facility. Kirrahe held up his hand before getting on the comms. "Shepard, we're in position."
"Shadow team's on the ground. Whenever you're ready, Captain." replied the Commander.
"Acknowledged." Kirrahe turned to his unit, "Men, get ready." The other Salarian's readied weapons while Flynn looked at the large structure. Thinking over his approach for a few moments before sending his shotgun back to storage and taking out his BFG-9000.
The appearance of the massive energy cannon caused the STG unit to immediately stop what they were doing as the slayer began to approach the facility with long, powerful strides.
Several Geth units from Troopers to Juggernauts that were guarding the front of the base were alerted right away and took up offensive and defensive positions before opening fire. The pulse rounds doing nothing against the Praetor armor as Flynn continued his march forward. Once he was halfway to the main door, he pulled the trigger.
The front of the BFG glowed its usual electric-green before unleashing its payload. The massive ball of condensed argent energy surged forward, burning the sand beneath it to glass along its trajectory. Any synthetic within five meters were destroyed by stray volts of electricity that came out of the core of the projectile, while any that were unlucky enough to be in its path were completely vaporized.
Kirrahe and his men could only look on slack jawed as the blast of unknown energy obliterated the guarding units before slamming into the main gate of the facility. Exploding in a flash of green and orange that caused a small tremor to shake the whole base.
X
Shooting down a Geth Sniper, Jane paused when she felt the ground shake beneath her boots. "Sounds like Flynn fired the first shot."
"No kidding…" said Ashley looking at the base to see black smoke rising from the other side.
Wrex chuckled darkly, "Those Salarians are probably shitting their pants right about now."
X
["Slayer Gates" - Doom Eternal OST]
The smoke cleared to reveal a massive hole burned through the main gate, the reinforced metal around the new opening a dull, glowing orange and melted like a burning candle with big fissure cracks stretching out along the walls from the power of the impact alone.
Kirrahe and his men remained frozen in abject shock at the damage that had been caused as Flynn began to walk forward again. Switching the BFG for his chaingun and snapping the shield-mod into the side of the barrel just as Geth and several Krogan began to pour out of the gate. The barrel spooled up and the energy barrier activated before a barrage of hot lead was unleashed.
With the opposing forces just barely coming through the opening his BFG had made, they were effectively bottle-necked around the entrance. Making it easy for the chaingun's payload to tear them to shreds before they could set up defenses.
Snapping out of his stupor, Kirrahe quickly took stock of the situation before turning to the others. "Look alive, men! Taggart's given us an opening, attack!" The operatives followed their Captain out onto the killing field, taking up positions around the slayer and picking off any stragglers that managed to avoid the hailstorm ripping through their numbers.
Keeping stock of his ammo counter, Flynn powered down the chaingun and switched arms. Bringing up his heavy cannon in his right hand and his plasma rifle in the left, dual wielding both weapons as he kept up the assault while pushing forward, the Salarians bringing up the rear.
Heavy slugs, plasma rounds and mass accelerated bullets tore through several Geth units as the squad entered the facility. The STG team quickly spread out and took cover as the slayer laid down covering fire for them.
A pair of Krogan roared and charged the Hellwalker with bellowing roars. Flynn snapped his foot up and caught one in the face with a satisfying crunch before backhanding the other with enough force to send it into a nearby wall leaving large cracks and a crater.
Switching to his super shotgun, the slayer jammed both barrels into the first Krogan's mouth and blew the back of its head open. Reloading the spent shells, he blew the chest of a Geth Prime open before reaching in and tearing out what would have been its heart had it been organic.
Reloading again, Flynn extended and slashed his Doom-Blade through the empty air. A spray of sparks and fluids erupted from the headless Geth Hunter as its active camo fell.
"Keep pushing! We need to reach the other side of the facility!" Kirrahe called out over the alarms that were now blaring all around them. The team approached a thick steel door at the far end of the corridor, the locks flashing to red as it was locked down.
The Captain had two of his men check the door, both shaking their heads to him after scanning the locks with their omni-tools. "Commander, we're blocked off. Is there anyway you can-" Kirrahe paused when Flynn approached the door.
Sending the super shotgun to his quantum pack, he reached forward and dug his fingers into the center of the door where it was sealed. His arms flexed beneath his armor as the reinforced metal groaned, sparks shooting out of the tracks as the two halves were forced apart. With one strong burst of power, the doors were thrown open. Slamming into the wall and leaving more sparks and small trails of smoke in their wake.
The STG team were once again left in stunned silence as they watched the slayer pull off what should have been impossible. Their Captain tapped his earpiece after a moment, "Never mind. Your associate made us a path." he lowered his hand, swearing that he heard the Krogan on Shepard's team laughing in the background, and turned back to Flynn who pulled out his combat shotgun and attached the full-auto mod to the barrel.
More Geth and Krogan greeted them as they continued farther in, Flynn's shotgun spewed out a continuous stream of buckshot that chewed through armor and flesh in seconds. A Geth Hopper leapt from a high wall at him and was caught by the neck, the slayer's other hand coming up and grabbing it around its thin waist before ripping it in half.
A Krogan attempted to tackle him, but Flynn merely caught them. Slidding back about a foot on the steel floor, he cracked his neck to the side before driving a knee into the large alien's face, snapping their head back and allowing him to grab the Krogan's head plate where he then proceeded to tear it off effortlessly.
While the Krogan screeched in agony and humiliation, the slayer brought the severed plate around and tore the alien's throat open with the jagged edge. The Krogan gagged, clutching its gushing neck before collapsing to the ground and bleeding out.
Smirking behind his visor, the slayer continued his campaign of carnage through the facility. The confused and very terrified STG team followed in his wake.
X
Alarms blared from every corner. Though a majority of the forces stationed on site were scrambling and converging on the attacking force toward the front of the facility, a few small squads stayed behind to guard the most sensitive areas.
These groups were found and put down by Shepard's team as they crept through the base toward the marked point where they could place the ordinance. Cutting down any opposition that stood in their way.
When they first got into the facility they engaged any hostels that got in their way. Surprised to find several Salarians attacking them with the Geth and discovering that they were missing STG agents.
This had been proven when the team found a prison that contained the rest of Captain Kirrahe's men, all of them in various forms of mental instability brought on by Saren's scientists experimenting with indoctrination.
Shepard found herself hating this place more and more. And wanting it to be a crater with each passing second.
"Captain, we're getting closer to the center of the facility. How's everything on your end?" The Commander asked after they had cleared another lab.
Kirrahe didn't answer at first which worried her before he came on a moment later. "We're…We're okay on our end, Commander." The STG leader's hesitation had the rest of the team wondering what had happened.
"Something wrong Kirrahe?"
"...Shepard, where did you find this man?" the Captain asked bluntly.
"He was a surprise recruitment when we first started our hunt for Saren. Why?" asked Jane.
"Because everything we've seen in the last few minutes has me questioning if the Alliance has somehow perfected a super-soldier." the Salarian replied, "He has personally wiped out most of our opposition without a hint of exhaustion, his arsenal and armor are beyond even the brightest minds can comprehend, and his combat tactics make a bloodlust fueled Krogan look like a rampaging toddler."
Shepard took a moment to soak that in, the rest of the team looked to be hiding their smirks at the situation. "That's just his process. In most combat situations it really levels the playing field. You get used to it after a while."
"I highly doubt that, Commander. Two of my men have vomited since this operation began after seeing what your subordinate does to his enemies…make that three. How in the name of the Dalatrass can a spine bend that way?" The last statement was mostly said to himself.
Wrex let out another deep laugh at how uncomfortable the Salarian Captain sounded. "We'll keep pushing forward, Captain. Keep us posted on your end." said Shepard.
"Same to you, Commander."
"Well…at least the remaining Salarians will make it home in one piece." offered Liara.
"Pretty sure none of those guys are gonna be the same after watching Flynn work up close." Ashley threw in.
Wrex snorted, "Pansies."
"Let's get the job done people, we'll worry about Kirrahe and his men's weak stomachs later." said Jane before they stepped through another door and came face to face with a cowering Asari behind a desk.
X
Another Krogan was thrown into a nearby wall seconds before a massive boot crunched down on top of its head and crushed it like a rotten pumpkin. Flynn then grabbed a Geth trooper and tore it in half and tossed its remains to the growing carnage around him.
Every room, corridor and lab that the slayer had gone through was decorated with the bodies of enemies and painted with their viscera. At several points, the Geth seemed to try and flee the rampaging human whenever he appeared. The clicking noises they made sounded alarmed and desperate as they tried to escape.
He was pretty sure Tali would get a kick out of learning machines could indeed feel fear.
Finishing with another room, Flynn brought out his combat shotgun and made his way into the next corridor where the STG team was already trading bullets with another squad of Geth. The slayer lobbed a sticky bomb into their ranks before barreling into them. Crushing two with his bulk before proceeding to rip apart the rest.
He'd just finished off the last unit when alarms began blaring around the facility. "Flynn, Captain, do you copy?" Shepard's voice came over the comms.
"We're here, Commander. What's the situation?" asked Kirrahe.
"Saren's dreadnought is on its way here. We need to get the ordinance setup and bug out ASAP."
Flynn knew immediately what had happened. Jane had gotten the rest of the beacon's message and had her 'chat' with Sovereign. Meaning the Reaper Vanguard was on its way to them at that very moment.
And even though he was confident in his skills, the slayer knew he couldn't take on something a hundred times bigger than the Icon of Sin conventionally. Though that didn't mean he still didn't want to try at some point.
"We're nearing the AA gun emplacement on this side of the facility, once that's down your pilot should be able to deliver the warhead." the Salarian Captain reported before turning to his men, "We need to hurry, men! Time isn't on our side!"
Kirrahe then turned to Flynn, "We're on your six, Taggart. Give them hell."
Wracking his shotgun, the slayer nodded before jogging toward the end of the corridor with the STG team in step behind him.
There'd been very little in the terms of opposition after that, but the reasoning why was proven when they reached the base of the AA gun and found a small platoon of Geth, Krogan and a handful of indoctrinated Salarians waiting for them.
Flynn didn't waste a second and lobbed several explosives via shotgun and equipment launcher toward the enemy line. Immediately switching to his super shotgun, he fired the meathook into a Geth Prime and slingshot himself straight at it. Delivering a blood punch that obliterated its armor and staggering everything around it before tearing the unit's head off.
Kirrahe and his men took cover and provided support, being sure not to hit the slayer as he caused chaos among their enemies and giving them openings to get clean shots. A couple of the Salarian soldiers even throwing tech attacks ranging from overloads to incinerates to keep them further staggered.
The roar of a chainsaw split the air as Flynn brought it into the fray. Knocking a Krogan to the ground before driving the whirling blades into its face in a shower of orange blood and gore. Ripping it free, he then started swinging the deadly instrument in different directions. Cleaving bodies and severing limbs with each pass, finishing on the last Geth trooper as he cut it clean in half from the head down.
With the opposition dead, the slayer turned to the AA gun. Finding the console, he shut the weapon down before smashing the panel to ensure no one could restart it.
"Shepard, AA gun is down." Kirrahe reported. A few seconds passed before they all could see the Normandy coming in and touching down on the other side of the base.
"Package is here, Captain. Come meet us at the LZ, my team and I will set it up in the meantime." said the Commander.
"Heads up folks! Geth dropships coming in!" Joker cut in as three transports made themselves known.
"Fallback Joker! We'll radio when the LZ is clear again!" Shepard ordered, the Normandy taking off to avoid taking damage from the Geth ships. "Flynn! You and the STG team make your way to us! We're gonna need the backup while preparing the bomb!"
The slayer brought out his heavy cannon as the Geth ships began dropping new units throughout the facility. He and the Salarians began making their way back through the base in the direction of the LZ, cutting down any opposition that popped up along the way.
They made it to a large heavy door where the others could be heard fighting on the other side. One of the Salarians ran to the controls and began hacking into it, but cursed in their native language seconds later. "I can't hack it, sir! It's completely locked down!"
"Commander! We're on the other side of the door but it's locked down tight!" Kirrahe said as he and his men fired on several Geth that dropped in behind them.
Flynn looked the door over briefly, knowing it would take too long for him to open it with his hands, so he quickly came up with another solution. He tapped the Captain on the shoulder to get his attention, motioning to his eyes then toward where they'd come from, the universal sign of 'watch my back' as he brought out his chainsaw again.
Only this time he fiddled with the engine part and hit a switch, activating a feature Tali had told him she'd installed after he'd first tested it out.
The blades began to spin…then began to glow red with waves of heat emitting from it.
Approaching the door, the slayer raised the chainsaw and slowly pushed it into the thick metal. The overheated blades cutting deep and melting the material as Flynn began to make them an opening.
"Keep the Geth off Taggart!" Kirrahe ordered as they took cover and fired back at the attacking synthetics.
It took over two minutes before the slayer got halfway, but if he pushed too hard he ran the risk of breaking the chainsaw. Upgraded or not, the tool had limits, and he was severely pushing them to their limits.
Pushing the sounds of combat around him from his mind, he focused on his task and continued cutting. A few more minutes passing before he pulled the now heavily overheated chainsaw from the steel and drove his foot hard into the center of the large circle he'd cut, sending the chunk of steel flying into the open area on the other side and leaving a hole they could all pass through.
Sending the weapon to his quantum pack, Flynn and the STG team stormed the LZ. Finding a couple Alliance marines laying dead in the ankle deep water around them, Ashley and Liara were hunkered down behind a pillar, the Gunnery Chief nursing a bullet wound in her shoulder, Garrus and Wrex were firing on a few still active Geth units providing support for Kaidan and Tali who were with the bomb preparing it for detonation.
As for Shepard…
She was on the far end of the open space away from everyone else, forced deep into cover while taking fire from a lone Turian on a hover platform that was raining bullets and biotic attacks on her position.
The slayer clenched his fists tightly as Saren continued his assault. Unaware of the sudden arrivals…which would be the last mistake he would make.
Summoning his ballista, Flynn charged ahead. Firing several blasts that slammed into the rogue Spectre's shields and nearly knocked him off course. Whipping his platform around, Saren barely had a moment to register his newest attacker when the slayer fired a destruction blade that sliced his platform in half and send it pitching toward the ground.
Growling, Saren jumped from his transport and landed with a heavy splash. His cybernetic eyes leering at Flynn who glared right back with greater ferocity.
In that moment, nothing else was seen or heard by the two warriors as they glared at each other. The first time they've encountered one another…
And only one would be walking away…
X
A/N: Pretty sure we all know who it's gonna be. But Saren's a crafty bastard, which we also know.
As I wrote in Slayer of Pandora, I am BACK! And I also stated that I have seen the newest trailer for DOOM DARK AGES which inspired me to play the previous DOOM games which gets us to the here and now.
I'm glad to be writing this again, and with a week of vacation to look forward to I intend on adding more in the coming days. But since it's been a while I'm going to be taking my time to shake the dust off and make sure my content is up to snuff. So bare with me while I keep doing what I do.
The anticipated fight against Saren is next, which will lead to the battle on the Citadel. And believe me, none of you wanna miss what's coming next.
Till next time!