Commander (the_commander) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2012-05-20 20:53:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, commander tyra shepard |
Our influence will stop Saren;
Who: Shepard, plus dream!Kirrahe, dream!Kaiden, dream!Ash, Dream!Wrex, etc. (narrative) (being vague on actual squad composition on purpose!)
What: The collected dreams of Virmire. And then Shep wakes up to a nasty surprise. And guilt. Oh the guilt.
When: Morning!
Where: Virmire and her place
Status: Complete
Rating: PG-13 for command decisions.
Shepard had driven the Mako in as straight a line as possible (which generally meant through everything in the way), and they'd managed to burst through the Geth defenses to the Salarian Camp. That's where they'd learned of the Krogan breeding pits. Things had gotten tense. A part of her didn't like it, but she agreed with the Salarians. It took some convincing but she got Wrex to understand that Saren was just using them.
She didn't have to shoot Wrex. That was a relief. She'd seen Ashley's finger on the trigger of her gun and had been certain she'd been only moments away from losing an asset; and a friend. She then spoke with Captain Kirrahe, and listened to his plan. She sent Kaiden. Ashley was too hot headed and Kaiden would work better with aliens. Admittedly, she also wanted Ash a bit more out of harm's way - for all her growing feelings for Liara, she had a fond spot for her fellow marine.
So much was at stake. Kirrahe understood. And as he spoke she grew to respect him. She believed he would hold the line.
“You all know the mission, and what is at stake. I have come to trust each of you with my life -- but I have also heard murmurs of discontent. I share your concerns. We are trained for espionage; we would be legends, but the records are sealed. Glory in battle is not our way. Think of our heroes; the Silent Step, who defeated a nation with a single shot.
Or the Ever Alert, who kept armies at bay with hidden facts. These giants do not seem to give us solace here, but they are not all that we are. Before the network, there was the fleet. Before diplomacy, there were soldiers! Our influence stopped the rachni, but before that we held the line! Our influence stopped the krogan, but before that, we held the line! Our influence will stop Saren; in the battle today, we will hold the line!”
The battle went hard and fast. Shepard took care to assist the Salarian whenever he needed the help. He was committing his team and his resources to her cause. She would be damned if she wasn't going to keep an eye out for him and his people. Finally they break into the main complex. At the top of an elevator they find an Asari.
Shepard presses her for information, her temper nearly causing her to kill the woman, but ultimately she let her go. Deeper, inside Saren's lab they find another beacon, and Shepard gains the full vision of the fate of the Protheans.
Its in the lab that they talk to Sovereign, and the full weight of what they face falls onto Shepard's shoulders. A cycle, never ending. She knows they must be stopped, the council warned, the people of the galaxy warned.
The battle to escape makes the battle coming in look like a playdate. They fight through waves of Geth and Krogan, before the Normandy arrives. Ashley walked down the ramp with a modified drive core. A bomb to wipe out the base and all of Saren's efforts on this planet.
While Ash armed the bomb, Shepard led her crew to an AA tower, to free up Kaiden and the Salarians. As they make their way across the base, a massive dropship came in. Geth began to swarm the base.
Ashley radio'd that she was going to make sure the bomb went off, no matter what. Kaiden shouted for her to go back for Ash, and the two argued.
There wasn't time to save both.
Burying her emotions, Shepard made her decision based on the rule of one versus many. On the scale of life, Kaiden, Kirrahe and the STG team outweighed Ash.
When she reached Kaiden and the others, she finally got to face Saren again. She tried to buy time, and tried to appeal to whatever shred of the Turian still remained true to himself and his people. The fight goes bad, and he dangles her over the edge of the tower. She got a particular sense of satisfaction with the right hook she gave him when his attention was diverted.
The Normandy swept in to pick them up, Joker struggling to keep the ship ahead of the blast wave. Tyra doesn't look away from the window until the explosion had faded.
She accepted Liara's offer to join minds to make sense of the vision, though her mind is elsewhere.
Shepard woke, tears streaming down her face. She'd seen Ashley's face in glimpses before, but this was the first time she knew the woman's name. She'd left her to die and the guilt tore through her chest.
She sat up, rubbing at her eyes, and hissing sharply in pain. She got to her feet, padded into the bathroom and looked in the mirror.
Fresh scars crisscrossed her cheeks and forehead. What was happening to her?