For Clan Bragus on Tuchanka, the alien concept of "sport" is seen as a frivolous waste of time. But for a young Bragus krogan named Thul, who is unable to complete a traditional rite of passage, the human sport of gridiron football seems like the perfect challenge to prove his worth. In just a few years on earth, Bragus Thul gains the respect he fails to find for decades, culminating in a Super Bowl win with the NY Giants in 2185. However, Thul soon finds himself traded to the newly established Havana Castellanos in 2186. There, the krogan quarterback struggles to captain the third-rate team of a backwater earth nation.
Thul is ready to kick off the Castellanos' inaugural game when news of the invasion breaks. In the ensuing chaos, he takes a microphone and tells the stadium that "we always have to fight for what we believe in", just the Bragus shaman once told him. And so Thul would stay on earth, even when he is given a seat on a ship out of the solar system.
At first, Cuba's insignificance seems to be its salvation. As the more developed North American mainland is ravaged, the Caribbean island escapes the initial assault. When the reaper does come, they come as...diplomats?
Desperate to avoid the slaughter happening all over earth, Cuban president Ruben Salcedo accepts the reapers' peace offer. But not long after he emerges from a "negotiation", Salcedo begins acting peculiarly. Tens of thousands would be ordered into "refugee camps" and never return, and the Cuban police and military soon replaced by collectors.
Upon seeing signs of President Salcedo's indoctrination, Thul flees into the
Sierra Maestra. Thousands of others, including the remnants of Cuban security forces, would form a resistance there. Thul organizes small-scale raids against reaper outposts, like he would organize touchdown plays on the football field. In one such raid, a fellow resistance member captures a photo of the football jersey-wearing krogan charging a group of husks with a Cuban flag in hand, and a cigar in his mouth. After that, Bragus Thul becomes an icon.
However, the resistance soon suffers a disastrous setback when indoctrinated leaders deliver nearly a third of their people straight into the reapers' clutches. Against all odds, Thul inspires the resistance to fight on.
During a mission across the Caribbean, the Cuban resistance find a QEC amid the ruins of Kingston, Jamaica. This enables secure communication with prominent resistances elsewhere around the globe, and one of them is commanded by Admiral Anderson, who invites Thul to join forces at London, where the admiral says a decisive counterattack is happening soon. Thul declines; he cannot abandon his people. So Anderson proposes an alternative, a local offensive in Cuba, in coordination with hundreds of similar moves around the world. This will prevent reaper reinforcements from being diverted to London.
When the day comes, Thul marches on Havana alongside 1511 resistance fighters. Instead of a ruin like Kingston, they discover the city almost perfectly intact. And instead of facing hordes of husks, they encounter President Salcedo, now bedecked in reaper implants, asking them to lay down their arms and join him in "transcending mortality".
The resistance stands defiant. Thul leads the charge, fighting their way to the presidential palace until a reaper destroyer stops them dead in their tracks. This mechanical monster, nicknamed
El Embajador for "negotiating" with Salcedo, proves too much for the shoddily armed resistance. But then, multiple shuttles and gunships descend from the clouds. They belong to a galaxy-wide coalition, and they are the reason behind Anderson's gambit.
Finally inside the president's office atop the palace, Bragus Thul meets the shell of a statesman.
El Embajador's destruction momentarily disrupts Salcedo's indoctrination.
"You condemn me for protecting my people." Salcedo mumbles. He opens the windows and looks down to the ground far below. "History will absolve me."
President Ruben Salcedo plunges to his death, finally free from reaper control.
Then another reaper arrives, a Sovereign-class dreadnought; even allied reinforcements are no match for it. This is one of the few moments Thul feels completely hopeless. Though in the next moment, the crucible fires, the reaper crumbles in Havana Harbor and Thul realizes his rite of passage is complete at last.
Havana emerges from the war as one of the least damaged cities on earth. Salcedo might have saved his capital, but not its people. Over a million residents have been liquefied in dozens of reaper processing centers, and the "augmented" leaders die instantly when the crucible blast overload their reaper implants. The survivors need someone to lead their recovery, and while humans still head the nation, Habaneros would have none other than Bragus Thul.
Mayor Thul's first order of business is celebration. Like after a hard won football match, only the rowdiest party would be the fitting conclusion. A painful hangover later, Thul is contacted by Captain Lee Riley, an N7 engineer of the Alliance 3rd Fleet, who would assist in reopening Havana spaceport. Additionally, Thul reaches a deal with the crucible's circuitry department. They dismember the reapers together, Thul keeps
El Embajador's eezo core for the city power grid, and Dr. Jelize's people haul away the rest for study.
By April, these monumental first steps to rebuilding are done. The news of a thriving tropical city spreads even beyond earth. Thousands flock to Havana each day. With prosperity comes the inevitable chaos; thieves, scammers and gangs infest the neglected parts of the city. Keeping the peace becomes increasingly difficult for the resistance-turned-security forces. Still, Bragus Thul refuses to let a few bad guys dampen the mood. In fact, another week of parties is exactly what he needs to bring everyone together.