|
Post by cellomynameis on Nov 29, 2012 7:32:18 GMT 1
A Mass Effect fiction recounting the actions of Commander Mikayla Shepard and her teammates during the final hours of the Reaper War.
Rated M for Mature Audiences (violence, gore, strong language)
To whom it may concern: yes, the first chapter is almost verabatim part of the original ending. I use that as a tie-in and do not own said dialogue therein.
|
|
|
Post by cellomynameis on Nov 29, 2012 7:42:31 GMT 1
Mass Effect: Verity
_______^^^_______
Shepard dropped her pistol. She struggled to reach Anderson, whom she had involuntarily shot only moments before. It was almost finished. The Illusive Man was dead, and she was almost at the Control panel that would open the Citadel arms. A few presses on the keypad and the massive construct opened like a flower in full bloom. Shepard eased herself down next to Anderson.
"Anderson? We did it, sir." she gasped.
"Yes, we did. We both did." he said faintly with pain in his voice, but with a sense of satisfaction. "It's...quite a view."
Shepard choked, desperately trying to hold on. "Best seats in the house."
"God...feels like years since I just...sat down."
"I think you earned a rest."
The two watched the fleet fight it out with the Reapers. Despite the tumultuous scene before them, it seemed almost peaceful from where they sat.
"You ever wonder, how things would have been different? How our lives would have been different if, this hadn't happened?"
He looked out into space, obviously deep in thought. "I never had a family, Shepard. Never had children."
She smiled at the suggestion. "There'll be time enough for that now."
They both laughed. "What about you? Ever think about settling down?"
Shepard winced. She and Liara had talked so much about having a family together. How she longed to have the children they both wanted! Now it seemed like a fairytale that would remain in her heart until the day she died.
"Yeah, I like the sound of that. Not sure I'd be much good at it though."
"Sure you would. I think you'd make a great mother."
"Uh-huh." Shepard sighed with a certain amount of disbelief.
"Think how proud your kids would be, telling people that their...their mom is Commander Shepard."
"I don't know about that." she rasped. "Not everything I've done is something I'd be proud of."
"I'm proud of you. You did good, child. You did good."
She did not know what to say. Her eyes filled with tears at the words her mentor just declared to her. Of all the things she had endured through her fight against the Reapers, in that moment it was all worth it to hear those words.
"Thank you, sir."
Anderson groaned. Shepard felt his grip loosening. "Anderson, stay with me. We're almost through this. Anderson?"
She grimaced as her friend breathed his last and lay still next to her. So many people that she loved had died. "How many more will I have to lose before this is all over?" she thought. Try as she might to find strength to go on, she could feel the life ebb away from her too. It would not be long now. After surviving over a hundred battles, enduring countless wounds and injuries, this would be her final resting place. As her energy dwindled Shepard could hear the faint noise of what sounded like Hackett trying to reach her. She tried to respond, but the words would not quite come out. It was at long last that Shepard's face met the cold platform floor and exhaled her last breath...
---o---
|
|
|
Post by cellomynameis on Nov 29, 2012 7:47:47 GMT 1
Shepard awoke on a sandy beach, with peaceful waterfalls cascading in the background. It was sunny, even if it appeared to be near sunset. Or maybe it was sunrise. It was not possible to be certain. Was this it; the final destination? As she raised herself up she took notice of a crowd of figures standing around her. After studying them more closely, she discovered that these were people that she knew; her friends.
Kaidan offered her his hand and pulled her up. Mordin, Thane, Legion, Jenkins; even Benezia was there to greet her arrival. In the background, there was also a strange man standing next to a woman with a familiar face. Then it came to her; it was her own face. They were her parents. She had never met them, but she could sense the connection. Everything within her wanted to go meet them, but something about it did not feel right. There would be a time for them, but it was not now.
Finally Shepard gained the courage to speak. "So, it this it? I am dead?" she inquired curiously.
Kaidan spoke for the group. "I don't think so. They said you died in the Normandy crash too, but yet you lived again. I think that you are not here to stay for long. You were always the one to finish the fight, you know that. We all played our part to help you stop the Reapers. Eden Prime, Virmire, Ilos, Tuchanka, Rannoch; they were all stepping stones for what I think you about to do now."
"But I thought I died on the Citadel. I was trying to reach the place where I was supposed to fire the Crucible."
"You are not ready for death yet. When you see us again, you will have come to stay. I know that you have a lot of regrets. I know you did not want leave me behind on Virmire, but you did what you had to. I am proud to have served under you regardless. There may be more sacrifices left to make, you may even have to sacrifice yourself to complete your mission. I don't know. What I do know is what we have been saying since before you were a Spectre: that the Reapers must be stopped no matter what. You are the final hope for life in the universe. "
Everyone around nodded in agreement. Shepard felt a renewed sense of purpose.
She motioned to speak. "Everyone here has given everything that could be asked of you and more. If the Reapers win that will all be in vain. I will never let that happen. Thank you all for giving me this chance. I will make sure that it is not wasted. Though I miss all of you but I still have things that I need to do, promises to keep. This is the culmination of everything that any of us ever fought for. It is up to me to finish the task that has been mine for so long."
Kaidan gave a satisfied nod. Her parents beamed. Shepard could tell that they were proud of her.
"Shepard!" a voice called.
"Anderson?" she responded.
"Shepard!!!" the voice came still louder...
---oo---
|
|
|
Post by cellomynameis on Nov 29, 2012 7:49:56 GMT 1
Shepard woke to a start, lying near a pile of rubble. The familiar sounds of gunfire erupted from nearby. Javik's beam rifle, and Ashley's M8 Avenger. Apparently Coats had been standing over her with his Mantis sniper rifle covering her while Anderson had been doing his best to wake her up.
"Shepard get up right now, soldier! That's an order!"
"Anderson? I thought you were dead."
Anderson suddenly seemed to be slightly less perturbed at Shepard's inaction.
"I was thinking the same about you. But we may all be dead soon if you don't get back up right this instant!"
Shepard stumbled to her feet only to almost fall back down to ground again before being caught by Anderson.
"It's alright. I got you." taking her arm over his shoulder. He handed her his sidearm. "You might need this, but take it easy."
Anderson nodded at Coats, who sent a squad command to Ashley and Javik. The Prothean was the first to respond and fall into formation, then after pumping a few more short bursts at the enemy force surrounding them Williams followed.
"Come on, push these monsters back!" Anderson shouted.
The team executed a flawless leapfrog maneuver, covering each other's reloads all the while maintaining a steady fusillade of fire. Inch by inch they gunned down dozens of enemies, leaving behind a steady trail of bodies. Javik intermittently sent his biotics downrange to throw the enemies off balance. "Hold on tight. We have no idea where we are going to end up on the Citadel, and we have no idea who will be there when we get there. Stick together!" Anderson called to the others as they passed into the beam and flew towards the sky.
---ooo---
|
|
|
Post by cellomynameis on Nov 29, 2012 7:50:56 GMT 1
The team's journey up the beam ended in a dark narrow hallway. This was obviously not a place that was frequented by the Citadel commoners. The dim orange lighting suggested that they were near the Citadel's core.
"Right, anyone have an idea where we are?" Ashley said as she signed the all clear.
"Probably one of the keeper tunnels. Not anywhere I've been before anyway." Anderson said with a grunt. "Maybe before we go anywhere we should get the commander back in the fight."
Coats fiddled with a medigel applicator in his hand, then tossed it at Anderson. "Last one. Make it count." In one smooth motion Anderson thumbed the sheath off and jabbed it firmly into Shepard's shoulder. She stifled a grimace from the familiar sensation.
"Hey, next thing I know you'll be telling me that hurt." Anderson said with a small laugh. Shepard smiled, and slowly got back on her feet to stretch the feeling of pain off. Gripping her borrowed pistol with renewed strength she surveyed the room they were in.
"Bailey said that Kai Leng gained access to the Citadel during the coup using the keeper tunnels. There must be some way to get to the surface and back."
"Well we don't have a whole lot of time to explore. We need to get to the surface and kick Cerberus out of here. You said that Prothean VI told you the Illusive Man moved the Citadel here, he must still be here."
"Let's get moving. Every minute we spend talking here means more casualties in the Combined Fleet."
"Right behind you, skipper." Ashley said with the swing of the rifle.
"If we hear voices there is probably an entrance to the passage somewhere nearby." Javik asserted.
"Good thinking." Shepard replied.
The team moved quickly and quietly through the passages. Whatever was keeping Shepard from moving before was obviously gone because she moved about every bit as lively as the others. Only Anderson needed a quick breather every now and then before resuming their run through the tunnels. "I'm getting too old for this." he puffed.
At last they reached a junction in the corridor. The group decided to stop and take a bearing.
"Now where? Either one of these passages could be the way out or the way further in." Ashley quirked.
"The right way seems to be warmer than the left. Maybe it heads towards a reactor, in which case we need to go left."
"Or the left way could be cooler because it ventilates into space."
Anderson paced around casually. "Don't mind me; I am just catching my breath." Javik touched the ground and sat on his knees briefly. "Some small creatures went left not half an hour ago."
"Sounds like keepers."
"Keepers, commander?"
"Yeah, the little green buglike things that maintain the Citadel." Ashley chirped.
"I forgot you had not been around the Citadel much before." Shepard added. "Maybe we should find you a souvenir to put in your room. If you do not mind our 'primitive' artifacts."
Javik scowled. "Seeing the Presidium will be enough for me." he growled, gripping his rifle.
"Alright, let's get going."
After traveling a short distance, they heard noises on the other side of the wall. At first it sounded like a piece of electrical equipment malfunctioning but then they heard the roar of a synthetic monster echo on the other side, followed by the all-too-familiar earsplitting scream of another.
Banshees...
---oooo---
|
|
|
Post by cellomynameis on Nov 29, 2012 7:53:33 GMT 1
"Control to Echo 5-1, Echo 5-1 respond."
Static. Liara hung her head in resignment. She prayed that Garrus was okay. Outposts had been dropping out of contact at an alarming rate. She did not want to lose another friend today. Worse still, scouts had reported that Shepard and the infiltration team never made it to the beam. All this time she knew that things would be bad, especially after seeing what happened to Thessia with her own eyes. But not like this. She had no idea whether Shepard was dead or alive. While Liara knew better than anybody that Shepard had made it out of some really tough struggles, like with the destruction of the Normandy a year or so back, she felt horrified that she was powerless to do anything to help the woman she loved. Not even to be there by her side.
"Control, you called?" came a familiar voice over the radio.
"Goddess, Garrus you can't do that to me. Leaving me hanging like that."
"You admin guys pick the absolute worst times to call." the turian chuckled. "My squad is knee-deep in Husks, one of my guys jams his rifle and takes a round in the shoulder before he can get back in cover, and you call on the link like we are bored standing here on guard duty."
"I am glad to hear from you too, Garrus." Liara smiled.
"Well if it makes you feel better the situation is in control...for now."
"It does. Outposts have been going silent almost right and left. The entire Alpha quadrant has gone dark along with most of Charlie and Bravo."
"Nice to know you would miss me." Garrus coaxed. "How about Delta and the infiltration team? What are they up to?"
"Delta is doing the best by far. That's Wrex's territory, along with some biotic students from Grissom Academy. Only one outpost stopped reporting in."
"What about Shepard and Anderson?"
Liara breathed deeply. "The scouts said they never made it to the beam. I am not sure how they can see anything out there, but I hope that they are mistaken."
"She'll be okay, Liara. She's made it out of scrapes like these more than anyone."
"I know. Still, it does not make me feel any better about what they are telling me. We all know that if she did not make it to the Citadel this whole battle will be for nothing. I wonder how the fleet is doing keeping them occupied because we are surely not going to win by naval might alone."
"I know what you are feeling. I think about it every time I ask about Tali's whereabouts. But we need to keep it together or we will lose it all before we know what hit us. All the organics in the galaxy are depending on you and me to end things here. Because we all know that if we lose here there will be no one left to save everywhere else, and then this cycle is doomed. No pressure."
"You're right. Thanks, Garrus."
"Hey, I know if I lost Tali I'd lose it too. Hang in there."
"Any more enemy activity where you are?"
"No. That is what confuses me; they almost had us, then all of the sudden they retreated and went west."
"Towards the beam?"
Garrus stopped for a moment, as if to make sure the heading was correct.
"Yeah, probably. Why?"
"Because I am sure that is where they are going."
"How? Why?"
"The only thing left in that sector was the infiltration team, and the only person more important to the Reapers than all of us is Shepard. She is alive, and she is on the Citadel. The Reapers must be calling in reinforcements behind her."
"Give the order and we'll redeploy somewhere else." Garrus chimed pridefully.
"Done. I will check with the other outposts, and if they report the same thing I will send them as well. Remember every Husk you neutralize here is one less that can keep Shepard from her mission. We all need to do our part to make sure she succeeds."
"Acknowledged. Echo 5-1 out."
Liara knew that Garrus' unit was the best hope she had for keeping the enemy from advancing. Even if Wrex and the Geth Prime units started moving right now most of the horde would make it through before they could get in position.
"Delta 3-5, come in..."
---ooooo---
|
|
|
Post by cellomynameis on Nov 29, 2012 7:55:28 GMT 1
"Everybody keep quiet." Shepard whispered. Moving along the corridor they found the keepers they were trailing; all dead. With all this activity there had to be a door somewhere nearby.
"I think that's our door." Ashley pointed with her rifle.
"Careful, we don't know what all is behind it. There could be a dozen or so Reaper troops waiting in ambush." Anderson said in a matter-of-fact tone.
Shepard went into action as the battlefield commander. "Left side, door breach. Stack up."
The team assumed the ordered position, with Ashley on point. Shepard listened for enemy movement. Nothing they could hear, but something told her that that did not mean anything. There were enemies on the other side, she could feel it.
"Frag and clear."
"Frag and clear, aye."
In an instant the door burst ajar, quickly succeeded by a grenade toss. After the grenade detonated, Ashley kicked the door all the way open and the team flew single file through the door. A little over half a dozen Marauders and Husks were behind the door, dazed or killed by the explosion. The ones left were swiftly gunned down with expert precision.
"Clear?"
Ashley and Javik scanned the rest of the hallway with their rifles. "Clear. All tangos neutralized."
"Back on me."
"With you, ma'am."
Shepard stopped at a corner to listen again. This was going to take a while to get through to the surface at this rate. She signaled the team to move up. The way she figured, these maintenance corridors must stretch through the entire station. That meant that to get anywhere in a timely manner they were going to have to pick up the pace.
"Well, that looks more familiar." Anderson sighed with relief.
"The Wards. Finally, we're getting somewhere." Ashley breathed.
Relief quickly turned to alarm as gunfire commenced across the plaza. Everyone hit the deck and readied their weapons. Shepard peeked out from cover and saw multiple squads of Husks, each with its Marauder commander, all escorting a half dozen Ravagers.
Shepard motioned for the squad to regroup. "Okay, we have fifty-plus infantry, 6 armoured infantry units, and more than likely more on the way."
"There's some cover over there on their left, behind the low wall." Ashley said, pointing to the area so as not to catch the enemy's attention.
"Javik, Ashley, take the left. Anderson, Coats, we have the middle and we'll move up the right. If things get too hot we'll all move back to this fallback point. Keep an eye out for any friendly reinforcements or enemy heavy armour. Coats will use Overload to drop enemy shields, then we will take out the Husks and single out the Ravagers. Wait for my signal to engage."
The team sprang into action, careful not to give away their presence. For the time being the enemy seemed to be more intent on killing a group of people in an upper entrance to a building. Shepard whipped out her omnitool and started a short countdown synced to everyone else's unit.
"Weapons free!" Shepard shouted as the timer terminated.
A split second after the Overload came, Ashley and Javik swung out of cover and opened fire on the mixed infantry units. The Husks suddenly turned to face their new assailants. Some of them started to move towards the bridge connecting the platforms, screaming all the while running. Anderson riddled the first one with a burst from his M8 rifle, while Coats sent a round through the head of the next.
"Contact right!" came a call to Shepard's left. Cannibals had arrived on the scene to bolster the numbers of the now beleaguered Reaper forces. But now they were getting hit from two sides, and whilst they figured out what to do about it the people across the atrium and Shepard's team whittled down their numbers.
"Focus on the Cannibals. We will probably need their thermal clips before this is over." Shepard said as she put a bullet between the eyes of her target.
"Contact left! Banshees are back!"
---oooooo---
|
|
|
Post by cellomynameis on Nov 29, 2012 7:58:24 GMT 1
"Grunt, advance your squad over to this position and stomp those synthetic pyjaks into the dirt!"
The young krogan let out a sinister laugh. "It'll be my pleasure."
Urdnot Wrex was getting afire with the rigours of war. It was in his blood to be excited about a battle. The Reapers had done everything they could to put down the Battlemaster and his cohorts but nothing so far had succeeded. They would rue the day they thought they could overpower the mighty Krogan! But the trick up his sleeve was not his army of bloodraged minions but a small human woman with a lot of tattoos and even more attitude. Something about her was so Krogan that her tenacity almost matched his own. Her squad of biotic students had ensured that this place would stand for as long as he cared to stand on the hulking pile of rubble.
"Control to Delta 3-5, Delta 3-5 come in." came the voice on the jury-rigged loudspeaker overhead.
"Yeah, yeah I hear you Liara. What's up? I doubt that you are having as much fun as we are. Locked up in that command post, you must be bored."
"Actually Wrex, I think I will stay here."
"Suit yourself. There's plenty of bad things to break over here if you change your mind."
Liara looked at him unamused.
Wrex sighed. "I know, you squishy Asari prefer your ivory towers to the frontline trenches. But I am guessing that you have more on your mind than your morning kill count? Or lack thereof."
"Wrex, what is the enemy activity like in your area?"
"Getting boring, to be honest. The last wave of Reapers ran back to their holes to lick their wounds. I've sent detachments to make sure that as few of them get there as possible."
"How intriguing, seeing as I was just about to ask you to do that very thing."
The old Krogan sniveled. "If you want something dead fast, you're talking to the right person."
Liara smiled. "Well, seeing as you're so eager, there is a whole army of Reapers headed towards the Citadel beam."
Wrex grumbled. "How many? And why are they headed there instead of here? Don't they know how to find a proper fight?"
"I suppose you could ask them, but I have never known Reapers to be very talkative. Of course, with you being on the frontlines, you may be more familiar than I. As to how many there are, all of our scouts in that sector have dropped out of contact or rejoined their units. We have no idea how many there are but I can tell you that it is a massive force, probably several division's worth."
Wrex gave out a fearsome roar. "Ha! That is good news. You mind if we leave right now to go crush their stupid heads?"
"By all means, be my guest. Have some fun for me. Oh, by the way, Garrus is already on his way there. You will have to move fast if you want to get the first kill."
"Liara, you just made my day! Tell that ugly-faced turian that he's gonna lose, because we're gunning for the beam and stampeding anyone in our way."
"Well then, have a nice day Wrex. Control out."
Wrex bellowed a hearty shout to everyone in earshot. "You hear that boys? Get to the tomkahs; we got ourselves some vermin to obliterate and some turians to humiliate!"
Cheers erupted from all around.
"Let's get out there and show them why they should have never picked a fight with the Krogan!"
---ooooooo---
|
|
|
Post by cellomynameis on Nov 29, 2012 8:00:50 GMT 1
Shepard peeked out of cover to view the new threats on the scene. "Anderson, keep our six clear! Everyone else target those Banshees!"
Javik sent a Dark Channel to disrupt the enemies' barriers while Ashley continued to quick controlled bursts to whittle them down. Shepard and Coats assisted in drawing the Banshees' attention from the civilians in the enemy's rear. Every second brought the team closer to their fearsome claws' reach, and Shepard knew it. However she also knew that the people on the other side of the atrium were probably not combat veterans and that if her team ignored them they would more than likely end up dead, leaving their own team with one less advantage.
"Threat eliminated." Coats called after he placed a round clean through the first Banshee's head with a spray of cybernetics flying out of its head. That was one down but left the second one much closer and almost untouched. Shepard sent a Shockwave towards it but had little effect. Anderson downed two Cannibals that made it across the bridge, but their position was quickly becoming harder pressed.
"Fall back!" she shouted as she tapped Coats' shoulder and set up again a short ways away from their advanced position. Coats put another shot downrange and then nudged Anderson to let him know he was the next to peel off. The team met back at their starting point, and Ashley ducked into cover just as a biotic blast slammed into the garden divider near her head. By now the Banshee was on the bridge. It would only be a few seconds until it was on top of them.
A faint hiss wafted from afar, and the Banshee was suddenly rent in half in an enormous explosion; its' mangled corpse being sent in multiple directions. Shepard glanced over the barrier at where the once-encroaching monster was standing. That thing would not harass them anymore. There were near two dozen Husks left but they were not nearly as durable, and without their more resilient counterparts to give them direction they went down comparatively easy.
"Friendlies!" one of the gunmen shouted across bridge, holding a ML-77 launcher. Shepard and the team went to meet their assisting party.
"You people are a sight for sore eyes." the first man said as the Spectre's team came up the steps to their holding place. "We've been trying to keep those things out every since they showed up."
"How long have they been here?" Shepard inquired.
"About a solar day, I think. Those Cerberus guys showed up like they did a few weeks ago; capturing people, putting them on these spiky things. Feels like an eternity since we heard from anybody else."
"We got smart the second time around." a Salarian piped up. "We knew we needed to get something to defend ourselves with. Luckily, someone high up on the Citadel thought so too. Gave civilians clearance to buy weapons, and we jumped right on that as soon as they let us."
"I gave that order. I'm Commander Shepard, a Council Spectre."
"I know you." the man interjected. "You're Alliance Navy, that soldier that fought off Cerberus during the coup. I would ask where you've been all this time but the half-destroyed armour and dried blood gives me an idea. Glad to know someone cared enough to send a Spectre."
"We probably aren't safe here. Is this place secure?"
"Secure enough to hold out until you showed up. But we're running low on thermal clips, and I imagine after that firefight you are too."
"Is C-Sec still up and running?"
"Doubt it. Cerberus hit the Presidium hardest. They may have the best equipment and more people but near as I can tell they aren't responding anymore. No one came by here at least."
"Well you can probably scrounge some ammo off the Cannibals. You need it more than we do. We're headed to the Presidium to get rid of Cerberus, but we may stop by C-Sec Headquarters to see if we can pick up some help."
The man nodded. "We'll try to keep our heads down. I don't know if we can survive another fight like that last one without some help."
"Hopefully with us headed towards the Citadel Tower they should leave you alone."
Shepard hand signalled to reform and the team departed, leaving the piles of dead Reaper troops behind them.
"You think Bailey and the others made it out alive, skipper?"
"I don't know, but we're going to find out soon enough. Let's get going. Cerberus is between us and destroying the Reapers for good. Everyone here is depending on us to make it through."
---oooooooo---
|
|
|
Post by cellomynameis on Nov 29, 2012 8:02:04 GMT 1
Explosions dotted Earth's atmosphere as the Normandy SR-2 slipped through the prevailing wreckage. Thanks to its nimbleness and its relatively small size, and Jeff's expert piloting skills, it was one of very few ships left in the detachment that was still near unscathed.
EDI came up to the bridge and sat in the seat beside him. "We are running out of ships to fight the Reapers. The Asari Sixth Fleet is at half strength, the Turian Sixth Fleet is nearly decimated, and the Terminus Fleet is dispersed."
"Really? The mean, tough-as-nails Turians are getting their butts kicked? I mean I'm not really surprised about those space pirates breaking ranks, but Turians? The same ones that are supposed to be the baddest hunks of metal in the sky?"
"These are Reapers, Jeff. We came into this knowing it was going to be a one-way battle."
"I know. I'm...just trying to make sense that we might actually not make it. Shepard always beats the odds somehow. I guess I thought that maybe we could pull through here too."
"We have lost contact with the ground units on Earth. We do not know what is going on down there. Our transmissions could be getting blocked but I do not detect a ship-bourne jamming source. It must be a planetside disruption of communication."
"Or they could all be dead, and we're all fighting up here for a signal that won't come."
"Jeff, please." EDI pleaded in her synthetic voice.
"Sorry. I just get nervous about not living through this."
"I know. I do too." she said as she put her hand on his arm.
Jeff straightened up in his chair. He knew he needed to give his girlfriend some emotional support. She was desperately trying to hold onto hope.
"Shepard will get it done. She always does. Besides if they did manage to finally kill her the Reapers would all be so busy celebrating they would probably forget about the rest of us."
EDI smiled. "That's my Joker."
Jeff sighed to himself at his success. It was not much, but he was going to take whatever he could get. They all needed something to carry them through.
"Let's hope we can hold out until she does."
---ooooooooo---
|
|
|
Post by cellomynameis on Nov 29, 2012 8:08:29 GMT 1
"Acknowledged, Creator Zorah. Rerouting to your designated location."
"I'll check back with you soon, Array. Admiral Zorah out."
As the Geth Prime's image fizzled off the vidcom, Tali sighed to herself. It was going to take a while to adjust to working with and being in command of Geth platforms. Never in her wildest dreams did she think that would be possible. Of course she also never thought that she would be here, on the Human homeworld, fighting for all of galactic civilization. In any case she needed to report in to Liara, and so she made her way for the command post.
The Alliance marines saluted her as she approached and entered the door. That was another thing she was still getting used to. A little over two years ago she was a non-descript Quarian, a nobody in the universe's eyes trying to avoid being trampled by all Council races. Now she was one of the foremost figures among her people. Shepard had truly changed her life.
Liara met her as she walked into the room. "How are the Geth doing?"
"Not as well as I had hoped. Heavy armour went through their area, and they lost a lot of units—people, I mean."
"I see we are all getting used to calling them that."
Tali nodded. "Anyways they are headed to assist Wrex and his command. They should all be in position in little under half an hour. That should keep the Reaper forces busy long enough for Shepard to fire the Crucible."
Liara nodded. "Garrus sends his love."
Tali shifted about. "Did he? What did he say?"
"Well, not in so many words but he said that he was thinking about you."
"Liara, I'm scared. I sent the person I love the most into the most dangerous place on the planet. I don't know how to handle this."
Liara hugged the Quarian tightly. "I know how you feel. Shepard is somewhere up there in the Citadel. I cannot see her or help her if she needs it."
"I guess that is it, being powerless to help. Still I feel should be there by his side, but instead I am here."
"You are helping Garrus by coordinating the ground campaign. At least you know where he is. Not everyone has that kind of knowledge about their loved ones."
Tali rubbed her neck. "I know I should not complain but it's really getting to me."
"Well, I am here if you need some emotional support. In the meantime, we should be monitoring the situation."
"Right, sorry about sidetracking you."
"No, not at all. You needed it. We all need to keep it together, so if you have a problem we need to address it. Let's check on how things are moving over on Garrus' end, shall we?"
Liara went over to the vidcom screen and tapped a key. "Control to Echo 5-1, Echo 5-1 status report."
"5-1 here. Almost in position now. Something new come up?"
"Wrex and the Grissom students are on their way, as are the Geth. They should be coming from the northeast in about twenty minutes. All of Alpha, Bravo minus the Geth, and Charlie quadrants have gone completely dark."
"We'll need anyone we can get. Not sure how many there are but they're making the ground shake. Thankfully the Destroyers have been giving us a break and have not shown up for a while, so we have not had anything bigger than a Brute since your estimate of when the infiltration team went through. Let's hope our luck holds."
"We have lost contact with the fleet, but I cannot imagine they can hold out much longer. Everything now rides on Shepard."
"And Shepard needs us to watch her back."
"I know you'll do what it takes, Garrus. Be careful out there. Someone here is waiting for you to come back."
"Tell her I miss her too. Keep her safe, Liara."
Another Turian approached Garrus from the side.
"They're coming into view now. Spirits, watch over us." he breathed quietly as he switched his intercom off.
---o---o---
|
|
|
Post by cellomynameis on Nov 29, 2012 8:10:31 GMT 1
"It's too quiet." Anderson whispered to Shepard as the team arrived at the Presidium Commons.
"If this were my offensive I would have targeted us by now. Everything about this shows sign of an ambush." Javik muttered with a tone of voice that indicated disgust.
"For once, I'm going to agree with the creepy alien. This feels wrong, Shepard." Ashley asserted.
Moving from cover point to cover point may have offered protection from an enemy marksmen or concealment from weary eyes but it certainly made for slower travel, and speed was of the essence.
"There's our answer." Shepard sighed, pointing at a secluded spot. The grisly objects near the grass were surrounded by pools of different coloured blood. Dragons' Teeth.
"Oh God, I think I'm going to be sick." Ashley said putting a hand over her mouth.
"You make it sound as though you have never smelled blood before." Javik sneered.
"Doesn't mean I like it any better."
"Well, that's where everyone is going." Coats affirmed grimly. "We've been killing them all day."
Shepard stood up for moment and looked around. "Has anyone noticed we have not seen one Cerberus trooper since we got here?"
"I've been thinking about it." Anderson grunted. "I can only think of two reasons; either they are all hiding up in the Tower, or they degraded into Husks themselves."
"Bloody cowards deserve it." Coats pitched in. "About time they started being on the receiving end of the Reapers' machines."
"Who do you think they were used on first? Williams and I saw them on Mars. They implant their own people to keep them from realizing what they're doing so they can pull off their atrocious missions, like attacking the Citadel." Shepard scoffed.
She fell to her knees, eager to move away from the scene of what amounted to the murder of countless civilians. Even though she knew it wasn't somehow it felt like it was her fault they died. She could have been faster, could have been stronger. These were the people she had fought and bled to protect, yet here their spilled blood declared her failure. What was the point of struggling for when the Reapers negated her every effort?
Anderson put a hand on her shoulder. "Come on, we need to go."
"What do we fight for, Anderson? How can I go on knowing that the people I'm trying to save will die anyway?
Anderson looked at the blood-soaked pavement and caught her drift. "These people didn't die because you failed. You and I both know that we can't save everyone. That's war. You can't do anything for these people now, but there are thousands out there fighting the Reapers and the longer we stay here the more of them will die. That you can change, make the difference."
"Yeah, you're right."
Shepard stood up. "It's not far now. We'll probably have to take a detour because the elevators will be inoperable or maybe even sabotaged."
"We're with you, Commander. Just say the word." Ashley chirped.
They walked past the elevator that they usually took from the Commons; there was little doubt it was rigged to explode if it worked at all. "We need to find a maintenance access point to find a way around."
"Climbing in the vents, eh?" Coats grumbled. "Cerberus would have them locked down tight so as to keep people like us from getting in."
"They're the only way in, other than the elevator. We'll just have to deal with it."
"What if we sent the elevator up anyway, as a distraction?" Ashley chimed in.
"That actually sounds like a good idea."
Anderson shook his head. "I'm not so sure. We have no idea if the enemy is aware of us. If the enemy starts hearing explosions in the elevator shaft they're definitely going to know someone is here."
Shepard found the door to the shaft and forced it open. "Let's play it safe and go in quiet as we can. We can handle any guards inside."
Anderson shut the door behind himself. "Watch yourselves; something jumps out at us in here let's not all start shooting.
The maintenance tunnels were indeed narrow and constricting. Of course they were not meant to have so many people traveling through them at once.
"So which way do we go, ma'am?"
"Up and straight ahead. The nearest C-Sec station is near the Embassy offices. From there we can maybe find some supplies before we head up to the Tower."
Shepard led the way through the long passages. The labyrinth of seemingly endless shafts and rooms was beginning to grate on all of them. Time was running out and the journey seemed to never end. Even with the occasional ladder to mix things up the tediously boring trek through the heart of the station was a test of everyone's endurance.
Ashley finally spoke. "Are we sure we're headed the right direction? These rooms all look the same."
"We haven't changed heading. We have to come out somewhere eventually."
"Shepard! Over here!" a voice echoed through the passages.
---o-o-o---
|
|
|
Post by cellomynameis on Nov 29, 2012 8:11:29 GMT 1
Garrus watched the enemy move into the square from his perch on the top remaining story of a ruined building. All the known types of Reaper, save the ship classes, were headed their way and in about ninety seconds they would be all over them.
A lieutenant slid in beside him. "Sir, ranges are set up and the field's mined. The other fireteams are in position and awaiting your command."
"We'll correspond by omnitool. Make sure everyone's ready because we're only going to get one shot at this. We engage when the first mine goes off."
"Liara wasn't kidding when she said that everything the Reapers had left in the vicinity was coming this way" he thought to himself as he checked his Vindicator one more time. He was not the praying type but he hoped that something or someone would let him see the end of this. There were easily over a thousand Husks spilling into view, with dozens of Brutes and Banshees reinforcing them. He had done everything he knew to do, but he only had a handful of men versus a multitude. No one was coming out of this one without a scratch.
Garrus primed the countdown and unslung his Viper sniper rifle. They all waited in anticipation for the first unwary enemy to trip a proximity mine. "The rubble should channel them into the killzone." he whispered to himself.
Finally one of the Husks sent itself and a handful of its companions up in a ball of fire and shrapnel. On cue, two dozen Turians began firing at their designated targets. The Husks moved about agitatedly. They knew that they were being attacked, but no idea how to respond in kind. Their Marauder leaders on the other hand returned fire. On the other side of the square two Brutes and a Banshee erupted into a massive fireball sent from a M920 Cain, sweeping a number of Husks with them. Even so Garrus' team was doing little to quell the sea of Reapers.
"Vakarian, sir! We need a new position. Awaiting orders."
"Find it quick! We need to keep as many as we can from getting to the beam."
Garrus knew that every soldier he lost between now and the time reinforcements arrived was one he could not afford if for no other reason than he needed every rifle he had to fire at the horde that was headed for the Citadel. The bullet he fired knocked the head off of one Husk and it overpenetrated another. Over and over he did this, yet it seemed that there were an insurmountable amount of them. For every enemy combatant he neutralized it was as though three took its place. He did not want to admit it but it was starting to look like a losing battle already.
As he continued firing into the army of malicious synthetics, he could feel the ground shake. Very faint at first but it became more prevalent. Then came the tell-tale claxon of a Reaper Destroyer. Garrus looked up at the enormous machine charging up its main weapon.
"Get clear!" He shouted as he dove to miss the red beam that spelled certain death for him if it hit him. He jumped across a gap in the floor to another window to fire from, only to have the red beam follow him there. The hulking machine was hunting him inside the building. Hiding behind a pillar, he peeked out at the technological terror that was set on killing him. The Destroyer caught his gaze and fired. Garrus rolled out of the way just in time to avoid being hit. The chunk of the floor he was laying on suddenly severed and collapsed into the lower floor. He coughed as the dust settled. He was out of the reach of the Destroyer's laser for now but it missed him and cut a section of the northern wall out; the one that was facing the Reaper horde. Then he heard screams in the stairwells. Husks were coming up to his level, and a lot of them. He would have a minute or two before they were upon him.
He retrieved his Vindicator in favour of his Viper in preparation for a close-quarters battle. They were coming up both sides of the building. He needed a place to hold them at, a choke point. Or maybe stop them from coming up one way. Switching the rifle's mode to Armour-Piercing, he shoved some furniture towards the western wing. After satisfying himself that the barricade would hold for a little while at least, he took a stance a few paces from the stairs and flipped the fire selector to semi-automatic. The first Husk came up and promptly took a round between the eyes. Garrus methodically took out every one of the synthetic zombie-like creatures in turn as they came up the opening. Provided he had enough thermal clips, he could conceivably do this all day. The barricade rattled while the Husks behind him clawed away at the makeshift barrier.
Garrus quickly ejected the thermal clip, just as a Husk scrambled to take advantage of his reload. He kicked his attacker back down the steps, sending its huddling compatriots with it. At least his teams would be safe. The floor that the Husks would need to reach them was gone. On the flipside, that left him alone to face the enemy horde. No one would be able to help him if things took a turn for the worse. While he gunned down the synthetics clamouring up the steps, he considered his next objective. The Reaper Destroyer had not left him with a whole lot of options. He had this set of stairs covered for now, but it was only a matter of time before the enemy breached his makeshift barrier. Even worse, he had a small amount of thermal clips in comparison to the number of enemies he faced. Without a fresh source of ammunition, he was as good as dead. The gun wielding Cannibals and Marauders were all outside, so there was nothing he could scrounge from them either.
Suddenly there were roars echoing in the stairwell; Brutes. He definitely did not have the space to deal with them by himself. They would come through the barricade with ease. The only exits were blocked, and there was no way he could jump to the next building. Outside the Destroyer was still firing at his squads. That was it! The section of wall to his right rear was open, with some rubble not far below it. He could escape there. Sure he would be out in the open, but at least he would not be forced up close with the heavily armoured monstrosities. At that very moment the first Husk clawed its way through the sofa that had helped serve to funnel the mindless Reaper troops into a single file line. Now it was time to leave before they boxed him inside.
A short jump and he landed a story below where he was before. Then a large synthetic creature bellowed behind him. Garrus turned to face the hulking mass, the largest of the Reaper ground forces. It was the last thing he wanted to meet right now...
---o-oo-o---
|
|
|
Post by cellomynameis on Nov 29, 2012 8:13:57 GMT 1
Shepard instinctively raised her weapon, ready at a moment's notice to gun down the author of the voice in the corridor if it was hostile. She shot a glance at Ashley as if to say "look before you shoot," which was followed by a nod from the soldier. With her back to the wall the commander leaned out to peek around the corner.
"Friendlies!" she called out.
There Jenna stood with a gun in her right hand and her omnitool activated in the other. "Commander...I was beginning to think you were never going to come."
Shepard gave the okay signal. "Sorry for the delay. Things are rough on the surface."
"Well, things are not much better here." Jenna sighed heavily. "Cerberus showed up again in bigger numbers than last time. Worse yet, they've been converting all the civilians they could grab into Husks."
"We saw the Dragon's Teeth coming in. Did anyone get out alive?"
"Hell if I know." the former C-Sec agent gritted. "It has been a long time since I have seen anybody outside of a few people within Citadel Security. Bailey and some others have managed to keep their heads down but not a soul has come through here except Cerberus patrols, and I don't count them as having one."
"We found some civilians holding out a few blocks back, near where we made it up to the surface."
Jenna looked around, fidgeting all the while. "I was supposed to be on the lookout for you in case you or someone else showed up. Now that you're here I imagine Bailey will want to get moving with the plan."
"You have a plan?"
"Not a very good one, but at the moment I think it's the best we have considering the circumstances and what we have to work with. I'll let Bailey fill you in."
Jenna led Shepard and the team into a small room with a few people huddled in groups. The floor was littered by empty food packaging and spent drink containers; no doubt scrounged from vending machines in the chaos of the recent Cerberus incursion. A few datapads and weapons lay in a pile beside an exhausted Bailey, who sat in a corner with his back against the walls trying to catch some quick shut-eye. Jenna gently nudged the C-Sec commander on the shoulder to get his attention.
"Sir, she's here."
Bailey woke with a start, and then looked up at the wartorn Spectre. "Shepard...I was starting to think you weren't going to turn up. Looks like the Reapers tried to blow you to pieces but missed your head again."
Shepard smiled at the remark. "I should probably take a permanent residence here. Every time I leave it seems that something happens and it looks a lot different from how I left it. Anyway, I'm glad I could make it."
"We'll catch up later. I don't need to remind you that we're short on time." Bailey said as he came to his feet. He turned to the people sitting on the floor. "Alright people, this is it." he said in a raised tone of voice that implied action was expected. He waited for everyone to pick up a weapon and then gather in a circle around him and his datapad.
"Okay, Commander Shepard finally made it to the party. Nobody alive knows how to put the hurt on Cerberus or the Reapers like her. We'll divide up into three teams. Shepard and her crew will take the direct route in to retake the Citadel Tower. That's where the enemy leadership is, and it's also where the control panel for the station is located. Jenna is going to take an infiltration tech team in the side...here. Their job is to sneak around the enemy flank and make sure that Shepard's team doesn't get locked out of the Council Chamber. I am going to take a team to back up the commander. No doubt Cerberus has some surprises for us so we will also double as overwatch. We'll radio in on this frequency only if another team is in imminent danger. Otherwise we are on hand signals only."
Anderson spoke up. "How many do you figure they have in there?"
Bailey shook his head. "No idea exactly but there were at least a hundred during the first coup attempt and they came back with a whole lot more the second time around. We have thermal clips over there if you need 'em. Any questions about who's doing what?"
No one interjected. "Alright, I'll take that as everyone knowing what is expected of them. Let's move out!"
Shepard picked up an assault rifle and booted the onboard computer. In the coming firefight she would need the extra firepower. After everyone did a quick weapons check they filed out of the room with renewed purpose. The maintenance door slid open and to the Presidium Embassy.
"That looks more familiar." Anderson offered. "The elevator's to the left down the hallway. We have to get up to that level first though."
Ashley punched the elevator button and the door slid halfway open before jamming.
"Well, that'll complicate things." Shepard said disgustedly. "Coats, check for traps on the top of the elevator car. We're going up through the top."
The major activated his omnitool, popped the hatch, and scanned the outside.
"It's clear, and that bothers me." he said with puzzled look on his face. "Anyone smart enough to pull a coup in the seat of galactic government should know to sabotage the entry points to their holdout point."
"You think we have yet to run into it." Ashley finished.
"Yeah, that's about it." Coats nodded.
"Let's be careful, but we need to move fast. I don't know how much longer we'll have a fleet to keep the Reapers distracted." Shepard asserted.
Anderson found a ladder nearby to take them up. "I hope no one's afraid of heights. It's a long climb to the top of the Tower."
---o-ooo-o---
|
|
|
Post by cellomynameis on Nov 29, 2012 8:15:00 GMT 1
The crash of rubble on the undercarriage dimly sounded in the bay of the tomkah amidst a dozen hearty Krogan singing battle songs of past glories. Wrex smiled wryly to himself at the sentiment. He knew that there was much more glory to be found at the end of the ride. The same soldiers that might have yesteryear called each other enemy were now riding together with a common goal: to raise the glory of their people in the eyes of the galaxy, at the expense of the Reapers. That in itself was a victory in the old warrior's mind.
"Coming into position, sir." the driver announced.
Wrex let out an enthusiastic roar. "Alright, you whelps; time to tear some Reapers to pieces!" The door opened and the battlemaster led the bloodthirsty pack as they jumped onto the ground. The Husks had already noticed their arrival and were coming to attack.
"Come and have some pain!" he bellowed as he charged up his biotics. The first couple were quickly rent asunder by the battlemaster's grip. His cohorts charged into the fray, gunning and punching the enemy down with seeming impunity. Then the higher ranks Reaper ground forces began to make their appearance. A Ravager opened fire and hit one soldier in the shoulder, who went into a bloodrage frenzy and pummeled his way towards the one who wounded him. He grabbed the Ravager by the barrel and cantilevered it over himself into the ground. Before he could regain his footing however he was swarmed by Husks. A clanmate gunned them off of him but he did not get back up.
Wrex stood atop a pile of rubble for a moment to survey the area. On his far right was the Citadel beam, mysteriously still active. Guarding it was a Reaper Destroyer that was busy firing at a tall building in front of him that had lost its upper floors with a massive chunk missing out of the wall that faced him. There were muzzle flashes coming from the top remaining story which he assumed were Garrus and his team. In front of him was a sea of Reaper ground troops of all kinds. A figure jumped out of the building to ground level. "Not bad for a Turian." he thought to himself. The figure landed next to a Brute, which he was desperately trying to avoid being clawed by.
He yelled to his subordinate. "Jack! I'll be right back! I need to go save a Turian's ass!"
With that Wrex made a biotic charge headlong into the Brute, firing a carnage blast into its face as he came to a stop. The beast slumped over dead, and Wrex gave a sigh of deep satisfaction. A shot whizzed over his shoulder and caught a nearby Husk in the face. The battlemaster looked over to see Garrus gun down some more enemies before punching another. Then came the warning sound of the Destroyer.
"Down!" Garrus called.
Wrex sidestepped the beam and put up his Barrier. The Destroyer moved closer to the building, each step pulverizing the ground beneath it, ready to fire another shot. Suddenly the Reaper was rocked by a series of explosions, and the Normandy flew past with two Geth fighters in wing. Before the Destroyer could recover they were out of sight again.
"Air support?" Garrus puffed. "I thought the fleet was out for the count."
"Nah, they're just busy dancing with Harbinger and his friends. That's what I think anyway." Wrex surmised.
The Destroyer stood back on its leg-like appendages, ready to attack again. It fired at a few other people on the other side of the street.
"I need to get back to my men." the old Krogan remarked. "I guess you could come with me. I can always use more fighters."
"Lead the way, Wrex." Garrus said as he bludgeoned a Husk with his rifle.
The battlemaster kicked the knee of a Marauder and blew its head off as it knelt before him. The two pushed back to where the Krogan and the Grissom students were holding position. They walked past the shredded corpses of a few Banshees and other assorted enemies. A few of the students and Krogan were still taking out anything daring enough to climb their little rubble pile, allowing Garrus and Wrex some respite.
"Ah, Jack! You do me proud." The small tattooed woman walked up to Wrex and smacked him in the shoulder plate angrily.
"What the hell, Wrex?! You left us all back here to fend for ourselves! I had to take command of your unit while you were out there on your glory trip!"
Wrex looked around. "Everyone seems to be doing fine to me. Krogan don't need orders like you humans do. If there are no orders, we can find the fight on our own. That is who we are."
"Tell that to the Asari on the radio. She's been trying to get ahold of you for the last fifteen minutes."
"I'll see what Miss Shadow Broker needs." Wrex sighed. "Watch Garrus and make sure he doesn't run off."
"Wrex, where have you been?" Liara asked adamantly as she came on the tomkah's comlink.
"Oh, you know, saving Garrus for the millionth time. What's up?"
"First of all, I wanted to let you know that the Geth have arrived on the scene, a little less than ten minutes ago as of now. Second, now that we have the extra communication boost from our synthetic allies, we can call in limited air support."
"I saw the Normandy hit a Destroyer in our area."
"Jack called that in."
"Well, good for her. I thought the fleet was too tied up to do anything down here."
"Actually it works in both of our favour. Running sorties between the Citadel and the surface makes in harder for the Reapers to take out our ships as opposed to staying up there in a general engagement. They have to chase them one by one, and they are slower than most of our vessels. In short, they live longer and we get fire support. It's a win-win for us."
"So as long as the Geth are intact we get to bring in the big guns? Sounds like a deal to me. Seeing one of those squidheads get hit with a shell in the face never gets old." Wrex said with a hearty laugh.
"I will not keep you from your mission any longer. Stay in touch." and with that Liara's image diseminated into the air.
Wrex walked over to Jack, who was currently overseeing their position of defense.
"Are you done talking? Because we have asses to kick."
"Pipe down, Jackie. We're getting there."
"While you were chatting it up with Shepard's loveydove, The Normandy came in on another run. The bitch isn't dead yet, but I think between those turians on the roof, us hassling them over here, and getting shot in the ass by starships every few minutes I think it will be soon. I keep expecting more of them to show up though."
"We'll teach these bastards that if they want to kill us they are going to have to put in more effort." the battlemaster sneered. "Liara says that as long as the Geth are here to boost the comms we get to bring in the real firepower.
"Good." Jack replied contentedly. "Until that thing moves forward my students can't get a good shot at it. I'm not sending them into the open to get killed. They barely made it out of the Academy alive."
"It's guarding the beam. I don't think it's moving anywhere."
"Perimeter breach!" one of the students called.
Jack suddenly lurched forward and collided with a Brute and Ravager that were headed up the mound to where they stood. Her biotic-charged fist eviscerated the Ravager's head with a powerful punch, and then she ripped the gun off its back and stuck it through the Brute's chest before finishing it with a Warp blast.
"Damn, Jack! That was a work of art by Krogan standards." Wrex proclaimed proudly as the ex-Cerberus subject walked back up the hill.
A small smile briefly appeared on Jack's face before it dissolved into her typical serious look. "At least we're holding out here. In all my time with Shepard I don't think I've ever seen so many Husks."
Wrex nodded his assent. "Once we have that Reaper down on the ground we should be in great shape."
Right as he said that, the Normandy screamed out of the stars and delivered another barrage of destruction. The red beacon from the Destroyer's eyelet dimmed as it stumbled from the blow. The enormous machine let out an earsplitting malediction as it crashed to the ground, which shook the ground all around and gave a few teetering buildings the final push needed to collapse.
Jack and Wrex cheered at the end of the monstrous terror that had beset them. Then came more tremors. The ground shook anew as six more Destroyers surrounded the square...
---o-oooo-o---
|
|