Mass Effect: Knight of the Old Republic - Chapter 84 (Patreon)

Shepard was really starting to just get tired of all the shit from the past coming back to haunt them at the worst possible moment to ruin all hopes of people cooperating against the Reapers.

And nothing had screamed ‘cooperation ending shit’ quite like a centuries old Turian bomb buried right next to a major population center getting dug up by Cerberus and only failing to go off because the Primarch’s own son sacrificed his life to disarm it.

Both Wrex and Victus were at each other’s throats over the whole thing and only the fact that all of them had bigger enemies to deal with stopped it at that.

But things didn’t end there.

“Shepard, we’ve got a problem!” Joker called suddenly. “Sensors show a Reaper parked outside the Shroud facility! No way you’re going to be able to land a shuttle there.

“Shit. Okay, get everyone assembled in the War Room. I want eyes on the Shroud.”

“Aye, aye, Commander.”

“And EDI, I need an ETA on Revan’s arrival. If they’re too far out, we might not be able to wait for them.”

“Actually Commander, Revan’s shuttle just contacted us for docking clearance. They will be onboard within a few minutes.” EDI reported. “She’s also indicated she needs to talk with you immediately.”

Some good news at least. Even if Revan needing to speak with her sounded foreboding.

“Once her shuttle lands, tell her to head to the War Room too. I’ll meet her in the elevator.”

It was always something, Shepard cursed as she started heading through the ship.

-o-

“Hi Revan, who’s your friend?” Shepard asked as the Empress breezed into the elevator followed by an unfamiliar Asari.

Normally Shepard wouldn’t have cared much beyond wanting to say hi. But the lightsaber dangling from her belt meant that there was more to the newcomer than her just being another of Revan’s subjects.

And Shepard had enough on her plate wrangling Wrex and Victus at the moment without worrying about another fight breaking out between a Jedi and Sith in a recreation of how Revan and Samara first met. So, she was really hoping to hear Revan had just taken another apprentice at some point.

Those hopes were mercilessly dashed by the Asari’s introduction.

“Greetings, Commander Shepard. I am Jedi Master Enes Daliza.”

“Right…” Shepard trailed off as she suddenly had several more questions and very little time to ask them. “I’m not going to need to worry about you two, am I? Cause we’ve got enough problems and last I heard your groups weren’t exactly getting along.”

“Don’t worry about that, Commander.” Daliza said. “The situation has changed for us as well. There will be no fighting between us for now.”

“Hate the way you phrased that.” Shepard muttered. “But fine, anything that can’t wait? Otherwise we need to get to the War Room, stat.”

“It can wait for now.” Revan replied. “We can do nothing about it from here, so your crisis takes priority.”

“Really hate the way you phrased that.” Shepard repeated.

The rest of the short trip was spent in silence. But the heavy expectation of future unpleasant conversations did little to help her relax.

Neither did walking into the War Room and seeing an image of a Reaper floating in the holotank.

“New form of Reaper, Shepard.” Mordin said by way of greeting as the three of them entered. “Using Shroud to poison Tuchanka’s atmosphere. Problematic.”

“Sounds like an understatement. But I thought the Reapers in the system were being destroyed by the Empire’s fleet. Where did this one come from?”

“Same place the rest of the bastards did.” Wrex grumbled. “They send groups to draw off the fleet and then slip one or two down through the holes in the defense while they’re busy.”

Shepard could only nod at that.

Space was deceptively huge. And no matter how good the crews were, it was impossible for a handful of ships to perfectly blockade an entire planet.

She turned to Revan.

“Can the Empire ships be pulled back to destroy the Reaper?” 

Revan nodded. “Yes, but there’s a significant chance of the turbolasers damaging the Shroud, let alone the Ion Cannons.”

So that was out. It could never be easy, could it?

“Sounds like we’re going to need your help then, Primarch.”

Victus sighed. “That could be difficult. Between Palaven and everything here, our losses have been catastrophic.”

“We’re doing this for Palaven.” Shepard reminded him without being harsh about it. The Turian was obviously still grieving, and his position wasn’t exactly giving him a lot of time to rest. But the galaxy wasn’t going to wait for them to pull themselves together. “No one said it would be easy.”

Victus gave her a tired stare before visibly refocusing himself on the holotank. “What did you have in mind?”

“A combined attack. Your people hit the Reaper with an airstrike.” She narrated as she manipulated the hologram, trusting EDI to handle the finer details. “At the same time, Wrex, your soldiers will hit it from the ground. Together we can draw it away from the tower.”

“That will only allow for a small team to slip in unnoticed.” Daliza pointed out. “Will that be enough for what you have in mind?”

“Yes. Genophage cure will need to be synthesised in Shroud facility. Will need Eve to come with us, but doable.” Mordin assured.

“Wanna introduce your new friend, Shepard?” Wrex grunted.

“Jedi Master Enes Daliza, apparently. She came with Revan and we haven’t exactly had time for a chat yet.”

Wrex gave her a look. “So someone finally managed to stay on your ship for more than five minutes without you trying to talk their ears off? You must be slipping.”

Shepard just barely managed to not flip him off in front of two other heads of state.

Look at her, consummate politician right there!

“We’ve never faced a Reaper up close like this before. Everyone on board?” She said instead.

“Heh, there’s even a doubt?” Wrex laughed. “Let’s move, pyjacks. It’s time to cure the Genophage.”

Half the room started following the large Krogan and Shepard was about to go with them when her personal comm suddenly got a message from Traynor. “Commander, I’ve got an incoming message marked urgent. I’ll put it in the comm room for you.”

Shepard grimaced.

That was terrible timing. But the only way something flagged urgent actually reached her was when it was verified. Which meant this couldn’t wait.

She waved the others on as they started heading towards the security gate and made her way to the QEC.

And while there was a temptation to have whoever was calling wait a few minutes for her to mentally shift gears from planning a ground assault on a Reaper to whatever this was going to be, Shepard accepted the call.

She regretted it immediately.

“Dalatrass.” She greeted the Salarian as neutrally as she could. Going by the head tilt she got in return, Shepard was pretty sure she failed a bit at that.

Well too bad. If the Dalatrass wanted a warmer welcome, she shouldn’t have sold them out to Cerberus on Sur’kesh!

“Commander Shepard, we know you’ve reached Tuchanka. And by now I imagine Mordin Solus has proposed using the Shroud.”

“Sounds like the STG is doing a good job.” Shepard sassed.

“Hardly. The Shroud is the only viable course of action open to you.” The Salarian leader waved off, though Shepard wouldn’t put it past the STG to have actually been keeping an eye on them anyway. “Commander, you cannot allow the diplomatic pressures of war to cloud your judgement. Do you honestly believe curing the Genophage will result in a lasting peace?”

“We have to give the krogan that chance. You can’t condemn an entire species on what might happen.” Shepard stressed.

“What will happen is the krogan will reproduce out of control.” The Dalatrass shot back. “We uplifted them specifically for their violent nature, not their diplomatic skills. Another war is inevitable.”

“Dalatrass, in case you haven’t noticed, we have a war going on right now. And we need EVERY advantage we can get.”

“And you are ignoring what happens AFTER the Reapers, Shepard!”

Both of them were getting heated.

And Shepard didn’t have time for this.

“What do you want, Dalatrass?”

“Years ago, our operatives sabotaged the Shroud facility to ensure what you’re planning couldn’t be done. Mordin will likely detect this malfunction and repair it. But if you ensure that he doesn’t, then the cure’s viability will be altered just enough so that it fails. No one will notice the change.”

“You mean trick the krogan.” Shepard said flatly.

The Dalatrass waved her off. “They need not be any the wiser. Let Urdnot Wrex believe you fulfilled your promise.”

“Putting aside why you think I’d be okay with that, Mordin would never stand for that.”

“You are a Spectre, Commander. Some things must be done for the good of the galaxy. As for Mordin Solas, how you deal with him would be up to you.” The Daltrass said. “And in return, we can provide you our very best scientists to build the Crucible… and the full support of our fleets.”

And there was the hook Shepard was expecting.

There was no way the Dalatrass would think she would consider sabotaging something as important as the Genophage Cure without an incentive. And the support of the Salarian fleets was–

“A completely useless reward.”

Shepard did her best not to jump as she was suddenly very aware of Revan standing next to her when she would have sworn she had been alone.

“Warlord Revan. Skulking in the shadows I see?” The Dalatrass frowned.

“If you are going to use titles, use the correct one.” Revan replied blandly. “And I was hardly skulking, but after hearing such an insulting offer I just had to speak up.”

“Insulting? Even if they are not as numerous as the Turians, the Salarian fleets are one of the most technologically advanced in the galaxy.” If anything, the Salarian ruler frowned harder. “More than a suitable reward for merely ensuring peace after the Reapers are dealt with.”

“...after the Reapers are dealt with?” Revan’s voice sent shivers down Shepard’s spine, like a knife sliding through silk. “Dalatrass, are you perhaps an optimist? Or are you just a moron?”

“Excuse me?!”

“No. Tell me, are your fleets more powerful than the Prothean equivalents?” The Sith Empress continued mercilessly. “Are they more numerous? Can they fight for years against foes like the Reapers without dedicated support or repair facilities and supply lines?”

Shepard had a feeling Revan’s tone alone would be enough to convince most people the answer to all of those was ‘no’.

“The Prothean Empire was more unified, more militarized, and more advanced than this cycle, Dalatrass. They fought the Reapers for over three centuries. And. They. Lost.” The words hung in the air for a moment before Revan continued. “For you to be concerned with a hypothetical war no one might live to see while holding back assets for the war we are currently fighting unless we sabotage an ally giving their full support speaks of either insanely naive optimism… or a profound failure in understanding our reality.”

“Someone needs to keep the future in mind, Warlord, even if it is inconvenient in the present.” The Dalatrass’s own voice was arctic. “And don’t insult my intelligence. Your own ships and technology prove that we can face the Reapers on even terms.” She turned to Shepard. “Think carefully about my offer, Commander. The choice is yours.”

The QEC disconnected immediately after she said that.

“Beuracratic idiot.” Revan said dismissively.

“Tell me how you really feel about her.” Shepard snarked before getting serious. “She’s going to be a problem, isn’t she?”

“Special operations strike teams at the very least.” Revan agreed.

“Fantastic. Anything we can do to convince her not to?”

Revan shook her head. “Short of killing her, likely not. And we don’t have the time to go hunting her down right now even if that were an option. The best we can do is let our allies know she made the offer to you and will attempt to attack us during our mission. Then we can wring as many concessions out of her or perhaps her successor as possible.”

“Got it. Mind if I ask why you didn’t even consider accepting her help though? As much as I hate it, the Salarian fleets are no joke.”

“They aren’t but that is because each one is built around cutting edge technologies. They rely on hit and run strategies and overwhelming firepower to survive. But if any one of those ships gets damaged, it could take months or years to repair them – assuming they even have a stockpile of replacement parts nearby.” Revan explained. “The Salarians could get away with it because the Turians and Asari could provide additional numbers while any damage was being repaired. But with how the battles have been going I estimate the Salarian fleets by themselves will only be combat effective against the Reapers for three engagements each, assuming they outnumber the enemy as well.

“Make no mistake, they are an asset. But a fragile one not worth risking losing the krogan alliance as a whole.”

Shepard nodded, happy to hear there were practical reasons for telling the Dalatrass to kick rocks beyond her own analysis. Especially because she knew her own judgement was biased.

“Great! Then anything else? Or should we catch up to the others?”

“Yes, actually.” Revan’s tone suggested Shepard was not going to like this. “About the Asari…”

Shepard’s feeling was correct. She didn’t like it at all.