To Survive: Terminus Coalition

Chapter 52 : Spoils of War

"Thanks for hauling me to Palaven." Garrus thanked, "And thanks for being there when I needed you: both of you." He specified as the three companions rode together in their rental vehicle, Shepard piloting.

"I'm just happy it helped. How are you holding up after all that?" Shepard asked.

"For the first time in a long time, I think I understand my father." He sighed in relief. "I'm a fool, Shepard. He pegged me better than I ever have. My father, a man that hasn't even seen me for over two years, understands me better than I understand myself." Garrus voiced.

"That's what dads do if we let them. Your father is a very observant man, and I'm sure he's spent a lot of nights worrying about his son." Shepard responded.

"Shepard, Tali… I'm not going to quit on you. I'm not going to give up on either you, I'm not going to give up on my family, and I'm not going to give up on this galaxy." Garrus resolved.

"I'll hold you to it."

"You better."

"And don't forget that I'm here for you too," Tali added from the backseat.

Garrus turned his look around to speak directly to Tali, "I know you are, Tali. Thanks for talking with Sol. It was pretty clear that she didn't want to speak with me before you changed her mind."

"She loves you, Garrus. I'm happy that you spoke together too, but you've got to let her in. Change things. Keep in touch and tell her the truth." Tali insisted, "I didn't grow up with siblings and that was hard at times. But she has this bosh'tet big brother that she looks up to and she's worried all the time that she'll never get to see just how big a bosh'tet you really are. What's the harm in telling her the truth?"

"It just hasn't been that easy." He justified, "Shame, I guess. Maybe I've just been afraid that she wouldn't approve of me, just like my father…" Garrus breathed deeply, "but it's different now. It's all out in the open from now on."

"Sounds good to me." Shepard smiled, "You know, that Paravian Hunting Ground place sounds pretty cool."

"I killed a shatha there once."

"No you didn't." Shepard's jokingly asserted as he continued to look forward while he piloted the shuttle.

"It's true," Garrus smiled with high mandibles.

Shepard glanced over to see his overt expression, "Proof, Vakarian. I demand proof. You didn't mention this when your dad was around to be questioned."

"It didn't come up." Garrus defended his claim to glory.

"Are we supposed to trust you?" Tali joked, "I barely know you!" she exclaimed.

Garrus chuckled, "I was standing in the brush," he began to tell the tale, "It was a trip with my father; a gift for sticking out my sniper training until I won my first tournament."

"Mr. Vakarian never mentioned you winning any tournaments… ever." Shepard interrupted. Tali giggled in the back.

"I see, you think you know my whole life story after spending an afternoon with my father." Garrus replied lightheartedly, "It was several years of training after what my dad told you about. He forced me to keep at it, but I never really appreciated it until I started consistently winning." Garrus reminisced.

"Back to the story, I was in the Paravian brush tracking this shatha with my dad's help. He was sort of teaching me how to track, and doing most of the work in the process." Garrus admitted, "So eventually we tracked the beast to this valley, and it was pretty clear that it was feeding from the river further down. So," Garrus emphasized, "my Dad pointed to a part of the river that was visible from my position and he told me to watch it and fire when the shatha came into view. It had to have been about 250 meters down."

"Okay," Shepard insisted for him to continue when he paused to remember the events in better detail.

"My father then left me to hike down into the valley alone. At that point, I was freaking out. I mean, it was a shatha, and I was a kid that had never hunted big game. I just clutched my rifle tight and watched the river like my dad told me. Next thing I saw, my dad running right across my line of sight with the shatha chasing him," Garrus was raising his voice, "I panicked and fired wide. My dad circled arounf after shooting it in the paws. I lined up another shot and fired three times, hitting him once in the shoulder, and again in the neck."

"So your father taught you how to shoot, tracked the shatha, baited it, and stalled all to set you up with the kill shot?" Shepard pointed out.

"I know it wasn't really my kill, but he always gave me the credit. Spirits, I was happy after that day." Garrus grinned.

"Sounds like a good father to me." Tali added.

"It sure does." Garrus nodded.

"Come now Kal, Shepard doesn't just let just anyone on his crew." Anderson prodded.

"Afraid he made an exception, sir. I'm just like any other quarian marine. Perhaps less special." Kal replied.

"What would you mean by that?" Anderson asked curiously. They had been chatting for a little while in the armory as Anderson familiarized himself with the armaments, and Kal examined the N7 requisitions that Anderson had brought with him.

"Frankly, I'm not a combat engineer, and that makes me mighty less important."

"How is quarian training and specialization handled?" Anderson asked.

Kal decided not to relax as he continued to answer, "The bulk of the quarian military is in the navy. The navy requires a great deal of skilled positions beyond just troops, requiring all of the support crew needed to run military space faring vessels. A lot of the budget goes into making sure we can fight from orbit. The marines are different. Quarian marines all meet strict medical training because of the high risk of infections on the battlefield, but it's hard to say if it helps. Other than that, we have similar specialists to other species that receive special training, though our techs give us the greatest advantage. So, a lot of resources are spent ensuring that the best become techs." Kal breathed, "You understand, the marines are the only ground force my people have, and for good reason. They don't want to put us out there, so they pick the expendable best."

"Like I was saying, Shepard doesn't let just anyone onto his crew." Anderson smirked.

"Shepard is a member of the Flotilla. He honoured me with this position as a human, but as a quarian he treated Lana and me like family. He is more quarian than he realizes." Kal complimented. He really did feel like a member of Shepard's extended family, especially given his relationship with Tali. What Shepard did was more than he expected from half of his quarian brethren these days.

"I see." Anderson smiled, "So you fall into the group of marines without combat engineering training. Are you commissioned?"

"No sir. I'm about equivalent to the rank of an infantry master sergeant in your military. It's not often that a commissioned officer sees any action in these here 'peace times'" he underscored.

"I can respect a man that had to work his way up." Anderson congratulated. "Peace or not, the Quarian Marine Corps must be missing such an experienced NCO. Do you have plans to return, or do you plan to stay with the Captain?"

"The Flotilla will always take priority. Admiral Han'Gerrel countermanded my CO so that I could help here for now. Shepard provided a great deal to Lana and I, and the Admiral has decided that I should stay to provide aid where as I can. Of course, I will return to the Flotilla on a moment's notice." Kal replied honestly. "No war has broken out, so I'd probably just be in the way back home. With Xen dead, I won't be needed to protect Tali'Shepard on her dirty suicide missions." He let slip, but didn't mention anything else about the nature of his missions. He was about to mention that he was tasked with escorting techs looking for solar dark energy anomalies but nothing was coming up. He caught his tongue when he realized how classified the studies were.

Anderson nodded his head, "You're my kind of man, Kal'Reegar. It takes a special kind of person to get to where you are now without any obvious advantage. Commitment and perseverance: nothing makes you stronger."

"You seem to have forgotten sacrifice, sir."

Anderson grinned weakly, "Yes, I did. I'm sure we'll all be reminded at some point of how much that means."

"I don't think Tali'Shepard should be required to sacrifice anymore. She's stronger than most, but there is a point of sacrifice that a quarian can't grow stronger from."

"When did you meet the good Captain," Anderson inquired.

Kal'Reegar shifted uncomfortably from his previous slip and simply answered, "He interrupted Tali'Shepard and I while on a classified op. He never told me how he found us, but I know when I shouldn't ask. Tali'Shepard and I would both be dead if he hadn't shown up."

Anderson didn't want to pry into the details of the mission, as Kal's body language made it pretty clear that he wasn't going to mention specifics of a classified mission. "What were your initial impressions of Shepard?" He decided to ask.

"I wasn't going to put up much of a fight in an argument against the soldier pulling me out of the fire. Glad I didn't after watching him do what my entire squadron couldn't while his team provided moral support." Kal emphasized. "Seems he really wanted to get to Tali." he nodded.

Anderson smiled, "Well Kal, we'll have to spend some time in the simulator I've heard so much about since coming aboard."

"Sounds like a good time, sir."

"You can call me Anderson,"

"Yes sir."

"How was your trip?" The Illusive Man asked, sitting across a table from two men, comfortable in his office. They were all surprisingly relaxed given the work they did, and the ill-tempered reputation of the Illusive Man.

The two other men looked at one another from across the fairly large round table. The one was dressed in business attire slightly more formal than the Illusive Man, while the other was in a more flexible suit designed for stealth and combat applications. His apparel was a charcoal black, with only a grey hood to contrast.

The formal man replied first, "God TIM, I'm just glad I'm not on Pragia right now," he smirked, "Evaluating Dr. Emily Whatever was not something I was genuinely looking forward to. To be frank, it's about time you started treating me more like Ms. Lawson." He asserted, "I've only been doing everything you ask since she left; quite successfully I might add." He responded with a light English accent.

"As much as it pains me to admit, you're never going to able to replace Ms. Lawson." The Illusive Man chuckled. "She was much more efficient." He said much more seriously. "And you, Operative Martin?"

"Leg room could have been better, and the whole ride reeked of salarian." he replied much less dramatically, leaning back into his chair.

"Good nose. We've been tight on funding, as you're both aware. We've had to cut all but a handful of our most promising projects. That ship was bought off a batarian colony in the Terminus. Undoubtedly the product of slave labour given the price we got it for. Salarian would be common."

"You have a good job for me this time? You know I don't like to waste my time with these pitiful contracts you've been doling out lately." Operative Martin asked.

"I'll get to it Brandon, I would like to go over Cerberus' situation before getting to your specific duties." TIM replied. It wasn't often that he shared his plans so openly: the last time being with Miranda before beginning the Lazarus Project. In both circumstances, The Illusive Man was about to make a large investment that could put an end to Cerberus if it failed. These two were now his most trusted operatives, as far removed as they often were.

"Alright TIM, give it to us." The formally dressed operative suggested without trying to sound inappropriately forceful.

TIM sighed, "Project Regeneration isn't doing as well as expected. The krogan blood rage destroys the subjects after sending them on an uncontrollable rampage. I've moved a lot of the research offsite to be continued when I have more test subjects to spare. Our biologists were needed at Project Benezia's site to examine recent developments, but Emily has been left to see if she can salvage the project. I know that I've kept the Project Benezia cell hidden from both of you, but I want to put it to use sooner than later."

The Illusive Man continued to explain the project, "Project Benezia sought to understand a Reaper artifact recovered from the Alliance, known as Object Saren. The object was thought to be tied to indoctrination: the sort of mind control that Matriarch Benezia was subjected to leading up to the Battle of the Citadel. I've had my top physicists, mathematicians and biologists examining this thing, and they recently hit a breakthrough. This is what they've come up with so far," he introduced before sliding his finger across the top of the table. A holo-display immediately materialized in the center of the table to demonstrate.

"Object Saren releases an untraceable FTL particle called a Tachyon." The display showed a visible representation and a mathematical derivation from element zero created dark energy. "The particle shapes the brain by destroying or shifting certain neural links and forcefully degrading the brain to a simpler form. The tachyon travels by leaping across space instead of travelling conventionally. Each leap has an effect on the space it crosses, and the faster the particle, the longer the jump and the bigger the effect," it displayed a ball instantaneously moving from point to point on a fabric labeled space and next to a line labeled 'Speed of Light' that grew slower than the ball hopped. Every time the ball moved, the fabric it had passed tore between the points.

"By using low amounts of energy, the object affects its targets quicker, but the brain tissue is destroyed quickly because of how large the jumps are, and only the simplest uses are viable. By using a slightly higher energy input we have been able to create both feral and submissive subjects. Taking no more than fifteen hours to get these brain states, the subject often experiences fatal brain hemorrhaging a week after exposure. The higher the energy input, the longer the subject lasts and the more complex a brain state can be shaped, but the process of indoctrination also takes longer." The visual showed test subjects and the many disturbing symptoms of the process. Most notable was the leakage of blood the facial orifices until the victim was pale.

It continued, "We have reverse engineered the artifact and created working prototypes, but to create an object that would work on a larger scale and to understand how to form more complex brain states, we will need many more subjects and much more time." The display faded, and the two operatives waited for TIM to continue.

"Operative Martin I needed you to see that so you understand exactly why I need you to capture as many subjects as you can. I'll let you look over the cell registries to put together as big a team as you need with exactly who you want. You'll also be getting a ship, and the supplies you need to get the job done."

"A custom ship, or another purchase?" Operative Martin asked to test if his boss thought he was anywhere equal to Captain Shepard.

"You know our ship manufacturing facilities were taken when we lost Borkat Combine as an investor. You will be getting your pick of any of our existing frigates." The Illusive Man replied with a hard stare. Shepard was special. Cerberus had invested more in him and the SR2 than any other project before. It wasn't common for them to request custom ships from Borkat Combine, and Brandon wouldn't be getting one if TIM still had the ability to do so.

"They've told me that the krogan regenerative processes seem to make them immune from indoctrination, so you can focus on the other alien races. All my transporting resources are at your disposal to haul your captures to out testing facilities. The coordinates will be supplied will be supplied to you by Jackson along with a manifest of the priority races." The Illusive Man waved, "You're free to go."

TIM waited for Brandon to rise up from his seat and exit the room. His slow paced perturbed the Illusive Man to no end. Finally, he was left alone with his formally dressed friend.

"Well TIM, this is quite the technology. Even if you could get the range up enough to effect a city with the brain hemorrhaging, you've got a great product I know a few terrorist organizations would pay a pretty penny for. It could get us out of this economic slump."

"You're thinking too small, Julian." The Illusive Man's lip curled up, "I've got a real job for you this time."

"He was nailed to the fucking ground? Holy fucking shit! Now that's a story! You're my fuckin' hero Grunt!" Jack shouted in hysterical excitement. Her hard liquor spilt as she keeled over the side of the rock she sat on, in sidesplitting laughter.

"Yeah!" Grunt responded bobbing his head trying to emulate Jack's display of excitement. He just couldn't shake his brick-like demeanor.

His lame response only sent Jack rolling around in the sticky dirt where her liquor had spilt.

"I don't think he likes battle anymore." Grunt smirked and took a swig of his ryncol.

"That guy was a piece of shit!" Jack exclaimed joyously over the loud background noise as she got up from the ground to sit on her stone seat again. The surviving Urdnot had the pleasure of looting Clan Gurge's liquor stores, and the large chief's chamber was serving nicely for the victory celebration. At least, it was for those that could fit inside.

Grunt picked up Vreck's head from the ground beside him and plopped it on the large tablet serving as their table. "I can see the resemblance," he nodded. Volumes of blood still seeped from the neck and dripped from the eye sockets.

Jack shook her head at the joke, "I got to pick this fat ass krogan up and chuck him right into his pals that were runnin' away and he couldn't keep the fuck up with them. He hit the ground before reaching them and mowed them all over like a god damned fuckin' bowling ball!" Jack continued in her thrill. She grabbed Grunt's ryncol and took a sip against all the warnings she's heard about it.

"A fat krogan?" Grunt contemplated with a puzzled look.

Part from the overpowering liquor, and part from the hilarity of Grunt, Jack spat all of the ryncol out and began choking on what she had swallowed.

Grunt chuckled and with a strong hand he slapped Jack's back until she finished sputtering.

"Fuck Grunt that was funny. Yeah! A fat krogan." Jack smiled and drank some more ryncol.

"You probably shouldn't drink that."

"I'll be fine with a bit. There isn't much of that other stuff." She said referring to the liquor she spilt that tasted similar to bourbon.

"It's for children." Grunt shrugged.

"KROGAN!" Wrex bellowed from the Gurge chief's former dais. Every krogan present turned to look at their mighty warlord. "Today we have destroyed the last clan that stood against us! Today we are a united krogan!" He shouted powerfully as everyone burst into deep and merry cheers. "I AM URDNOT WREX, and I say: WE DRINK!"

"Yeah!" Jack shouted along with everyone else, and she took another drink of Grunt's ryncol, which he quickly yanked back and gulped down the rest of.

Wrex approached them with Urgen at his side. They looked happy, but not high on excitement like every other krogan seemed to be. "How'd you find that, Grunt? I see you've picked up a souvenir." Wrex remarked on the head.

"I like war." Grunt admitted.

"If this is a regular thing, I'll totally just live on Tuchanka," Jack responded too.

"I'm glad you could be part of this, boy. The last insurgent clan is gone. My real work begins now." Wrex smiled.

"Thanks for the training. My battlemaster was wise to have me learn from you. I am also proud to have killed for my clan." Grunt answered humbly.

"Haha!" Wrex hollered. "Urgen, what do you think of this whelp?"

Urgen remembered back to how Grunt had stood atop Vreck and defeated him despite his broken knee, "I don't think he's a whelp at all." He said. Grunt felt especially honoured.

"I guess not," Wrex replied joyously as if he had heard exactly the answer he was hoping for, "I guess it's time we give you some responsibility."

"KROGAN!" Everyone in the hall turned to the five young krogan warriors that stood on the dais shouting in ragged unison. Three of them looked badly battered, and one had an eye missing, but their smiles weren't any less than anyone else present.

The rightmost krogan spoke to the crowd, "We dug this dusty old song up before today's battle and thought it would be right to sing!" The krogan announced looking across the room and then back to his friends.

Together they raised their rough voices:

Weeeeeee grabbed our guns

We took our swords

To beat them back

And bathe in gore

The older krogan that knew the chant joined in

For gore it was

Just ask our foe

Who drowns in blood

And chokes with woe

For now we sing

Their chief is dead!

And now we shout

We have his head!

As merriment fills us this day

With spoils of war!

The spoils of war

(Drink!)

The spoils of war

(Drink!)

Our brothers fell

Their blood was spilt

For spoils of war!

Weeeeeee marched from home

Our females cried

For our returning

Glorified

And now we've won

Red soil our badge

To be our pride

To come home glad

As victory marks us this day

With spoils of war!

The spoils of war

(Feast!)

The spoils of war

(Feast!)

Our brothers fell

Their blood was spilt

For spoils of war!

Noooow aralakh shines

A gracious light

Upon her sons

Un'fraid to fight

For what was good

On T'chankan soil

Today we won

With peace our spoil

Yes peace is fully won today

Our spoil of war!

The spoils of war

(Peace!)

The spoils of war

(Peace!)

Our brothers fell

Their blood was spilt

For spoils of war!

Wrex laughed heartily as he walked towards the young warriors, "Well sung sons of Urdnot!" He stepped up on the dais and put his arms around two of the krogan. "Not often do we sing of peace," he yelled over the entire crowd. The song had extended to krogan far outside of the hall. "But that is our victory today! We are ready to begin saving our people and building up for a more glorious war than our ancestors had ever imagined, but for that we needed peace. The Reapers have challenged us all, and we will show them how the krogan wage war TOGETHER!"

The crowd of warriors burst in shouts of victory with their stone mugs raised high. They returned quickly to their drinks, and smaller groups could be heard singing various victory songs across the camp.

Glossary

Bosh'tet: Animal, native to Rannoch. With no insect life, other species of life had to fill the niches that on earth fell to the insects. One such niche was the dung beetle. A bosh'tet falls into the category of roller on earth as it moves the dung found to a central location. Though differing in colors, from the green/yellow of the cooler climates to the blue/white in the more tropical areas, they are the same species. Known for their apparent inability to distinguish between dung and small rocks, it is considered extremely stupid. Many have been found dead, surrounded by small rocks, as it tried to feed on them.

Author's Note

I wanted to clear something up for the future, the galaxy map I use for mass relay connections is the map with "Made by Winner" watermarked in the bottom left. It does leave out some minor systems (that probably won't be important), but for those I use the map on posted by NeonKnight. Just so you're aware that I planned a lot of strategies using these maps, and I don't intend to change.