They were all running before Rothan could process any of it. Arkeer. Rea. Grelk and his squad. He wanted to protest. Niria was somewhere not far from here, alone and wounded. She was going to die.
There can be no retreat. That was what the Alliance Admiral said when the push towards the Conduit beam began, somewhere in the chaos of all that had happened, Rothan had forgotten why he was here in the first place.
~~~~
Nine months ago.“And you think you have the right to make that decision for yourself,” Admiral Xen said, head cocked.
“It- It’s important,” Rothan began.
“So reclaiming the homeworld is not,” Admiral Gerrel said, incredulous.
Rothan looked away from the holographic displays of the admirals and his father. They had all gathered, set up this secure channel, and informed Rothan of the upcoming plans for retaking Rannoch.
If news like this had come at any other time, he would have been overjoyed. He would have enlisted with his people in a heartbeat, but his time on Thessia had broadened his perspective. The Asari were mobilizing to counteract the new threat. From what he had heard had happened to Earth and increasingly more worlds, the Reapers were the true threat. Rothan’s training taught him how to coordinate his biotics in a group military setting, skills that he knew would be useful in the coming war.
War. That was what he was signing up for. He was signing up for his own death, far from his family, his people, and his homeworld. He understood why the admirals would be upset, but they did not understand his perspective.
“Rothan,” Admiral Raan began, “we sent you to Thessia so you could receive proper training for your abilities. The nature of your pilgrimage has always been that you would become of great use to the Quarian people. Your people need you now.”
Rothan nodded. “I know… but not in the way you think. By fighting the Reapers, I can defend the fleet. And who knows, maybe… maybe the war will never reach you. If I can help make that happen then this is worth it.”
“You represent a considerable investment to us,” Admiral Koris cut in. “You would risk throwing it away?”
He meant that he would risk his own life. Rothan knew what he was getting himself into.
Gerrel turned to the others. "This is ludicrous. Rothan’Vells Nar Ketsa, we are officially summoning you back to the fleet.”
“With all due respect, Admirals, isn’t it the right of every Quarian child to decide when their pilgrimage is over,” Rothan asked levelly.
The Admirals were silent for a moment, then looked to Rothan’s father who had remained quiet the whole time. He did not look back to them. His gaze remained fixed on Rothan.
“Very well.” Admiral Raan stated. “If that is your decision, then we wish you well in your endeavors, Rothan’Vells Nar Ketsa. Keelah Selai.”
“Keelah Se’lai,” the others admirals joined.
Rothan returned the gesture with a bow of his head.
“We’ll give you a moment with your father,” Raan said. With that, the image of the admirals dissipated.
For a moment, they sat in silence. Then Rothan’s father spoke up.
“You’ve made up your mind then,” Calban’Vells said.
He nodded.
“You would have made a fine engineer,” his father said, more to himself. “The Ketsa could have used you.”
“You and mom will take care of her,” Rothan said.
“We will,” Calban sighed. “They’re outfitting most ships with weapons. The Ketsa is getting a total conversion, evacuating all the civilians.”
“The Ketsa,” Rothan said, incredulously. “A warship? That’s insane!”
“That’s the sort of madness the Admiralty is getting us into,” his father looked down “Chendra is staying with your uncle on the Gamellon for the time being. Who knows… You may even be safer fighting your war.”
It donned on Rothan at that moment that this may be the last time he could speak with his father.
“Stay safe, dad,” Rothan said somberly.
“You too... Keelah Se’lai.”
~~~~
The group pressed on. It was clear that they needed to make up for lost time, catching up with the majority of Hammer forces. Rothan tried not to think about Niria, or his father, or anything but kept running.
He was broken from his single-minded focus. His omnitool began pulsing.
“Hold on everyone,” Rothan yelled. “Something is here.”
“What is it?” Grelk said at once.
Rothan called up his omnitool. Before the batte began, Rothan had configured him omnitool to alert him to battlefield anomalies. Unidentified troops, special machinery, unmanned but active vehicles, special weapons, anything that could become useful to his squad would cause an alert on his omnitool.
Rothan called up his omnitool while the others circled around.
“Heavy ordinance,” Rothan confirmed, staring at the display. “Within fifty meters.”
“What kind of heavy ordinance?” Elaine asked.
Rothan focused further on the display. “With the power signatures I’m seeing here, likely ground to air missiles.”
Rea stepped in. “It’s likely that a squad carrying them was ambushed here.”
“If that’s the case,” Arkeer chimed in, “then why didn’t they use them? Weaponry like that would cause a ton of damage on ground targets.”
“They were probably meant for the Reaper guarding the Conduit beam,” Grelk said.
Elaine shook her head. “What do you mean? Personnel-use missiles wouldn’t even dent a reaper!”
“No but about fifty or sixty fired at once to Reaper without outer defenses would,” Rothan said.
“This squad was likely going to take up a vantage position to do just that,” Rea pondered aloud.
“With Commander Shepard and his squad assisting the Thanix batteries,” Elaine added. “We could have the opportunity here to do some real damage to a Reaper.”
“Change of plans,” Grelk said, raising his voice so the others could hear. “Spread out and find these missiles.”
Everyone activated their omnitools and searched the area. Within minutes, Rea discovered the bodies of several Alliance soldiers, curled defensively around a stash of two ML – 77 Missile Launchers and a box of ammunition. The launchers had been modified, larger than their typical model. It was clear that the missiles would require someone with demolitions experience.
No one in the group fit that description.
Grelk turned to Rothan. “Do you think you could figure these out?”
He grimaced. “Maybe.”
“Arkeer!” Grelk called the krogan over. “You carry theses missile rigs. Rothan, you have until we reach the vantage point to figure these out.”
“Right,” Rothan stammered.
“Great, carrying things again,” Arkeer muttered under his breath as he hoisted the missile rigs onto his back.
Rothan knew he was speaking about Niria. He wondered if he would ever stop inconveniencing the people around him. The Admiralty. His squad. Now these new people.
“We’re moving out,” Grelk called. “Protect the missiles at all cost!”
Modifié par Khambilo, 08 juillet 2013 - 04:58 .
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