Chapter Four"How far?"
Shepard asked as they jogged along.
"Not far as long as we don't run into any trouble."
Garrus replied as he jumped up onto a ledge followed by Shepard and Angel. The then slid down an embankment and they paused as Garrus looked up at Palavan.
"Look at Palavan…you see that big blaze of orange? That's where I was born."
"Any family…?"
Angel asked softly.
"My father…a sister."
"I'm sorry…how many lost?"
"Three million the first day…five the second."
"That's rough hun…but at least you guys are still kicking."
"Yes. But how long before the fight is kicked out of you? If only they had listened to Shepard's warning about the Reapers…we might have been better prepared."
"I dunno…something like this…can someone really ever truly be prepared to face it?"
The jogged along in silence once more, rounding corners and jumping up on ledges. Angel paused and tilted her head to the side and turned to slam the butt of her rifle into the face of a husk behind her.
"Creepy ass bastards! Ugh! We got more incoming!"
Husks climbed up to them and attacked from front and behind and they took them out quickly enough before jogging along once more.
"These things are everywhere…all over…I can't even think about my home…"
"It's gonna be bad all over sis. Just try not to think about it."
"Right…"
They came upon some Turians, some wounded, some still fighting.
"Solider, you alright?"
"Yes sir. We'll be alright."
"Have you seen Victus?"
"Yes. Heading south about an hour ago."
They kept pushing forward, heading south now. A ship was taken out be a Harvester and crashed in front of them, Angel squealing in surprise.
"That was a little closer than I'd like!"
Yelled Garrus before ruffling Angel's hair again.
"That certainly makes me feel a bit better in all this. Hearing that."
"Well…don't get used to it."
They jogged along once more in silence until Angel spoke up.
"Sis, do you really think this summit will work? Turians? Salarians? Where's the Krogans and Batarians? Where's the meat?"
"It's not that easy."
Shepard replied.
"Batatrians were hit first. Not much of them left. And the Krogen have never forgiven us for the genophage."
"Right. Turians sterilized them."
"The Salarians came up with it."
"And the Krogan hate them both for it."
Shepard stated.
"So, they won't be joining us."
The ran along and saw a Reaper ahead of them and then heard shots and gunshots from the camp to the side of them.
"That didn't sound good!"
Yelled Angel.
"Alright, double time people!"
They all broke into a sprint and ran inside and took cover, popping off round after round at a nearby Cannibal.
"Move into the compound!"
They did so, finding cover where they could and they caught sight of another brute.
"Holy hell, not another one of these…"
Angel tsked and hit it with a few warps as Shepard and Garrus fired at it.
"Fuck…two more of them! Oh my god…this is getting ridiculous…"
The three of them pushed through, taking out every single enemy they faced until the camp was cleared. They saw Victus in the distance and approached.
"General Victus?"
"Yes?"
"I'm Commander Shepard of the Normandy."
"Ahh, I've heard of you Commander. I can't wait to hear about this. Valkarian, where did you go off to?"
"Attack from a Harvester on the rear flank. I believe your exact words were 'get that thing the hell off my men.'"
"Much obliged."
"General, you're needed off world."
"It's going to take something of vast importance to get me to leave my men, my turian brothers and sisters."
"Fedorian is dead. You're the new Primarch."
Victus paused and looked at Garrus before looking up at Palavan.
"We're conveying a summit and we need you there to help us in the fight against the Reapers."
Said Shepard.
"I'm the new Primarch? The turian speaker? I can't be a diplomat. I hate diplomats."
"War is your resume. Right now, we need that. I need the turian fleet."
He paused and looked back at her and nodded.
"Give me a moment to say goodbye to my men."
He walked off as Angel and Garrus joined Shepard.
"If he leaves there's a good chance we lose this moon."
Garrus said.
"If he stays there's a good chance we lose everything."
"Look at that."
Garrus said as they looked up at a Reaper.
"They want my opinion on how to defeat that? Failed C-Sec officer, vigilante…do you really think we have a chance Shepard?"
"I dunno Garrus…all I do know is we have to try."
"Well, for what it's worth, I'm with you."
"Good to have you onboard."
He shook her hand and Angel grinned.
"Ready to go Primarch Victus?"
"Commander, while I appreciate your need for turian support, I cannot provide it. Not while my world is burning. If the pressure could somehow be taken off Palavan…"
"That's a pretty tall order."
"We need the krogan. Get them on our side and we can help Earth."
~~~~~
Shepard groaned as she walked out of the vid comm room and rolled her shoulders. She had tried, unsuccessfully, to convince the Asari councilwoman to join the summit. The Salarian Dalatrass was livid as well.
She walked out of the War Room and began walking towards the scanners as the lights flickered.
"Commander, EDI just went offline."
"What do you mean 'offline'?"
"I dunno but she's not responding and I can't reach the AI Core. You better get down to Deck 3."
~~~~~
She walked into the medical bay and looked over at Dr. Chakwas and Angel.
"Shep, is everything okay?"
"That's what I'm hoping to find out."
She walked over to the doors that lead to the AI Core and radioed Joker as she heard noises from the other side.
"What's that noise?"
"Fire extinguishers. Could be an electrical fire…or something."
One of the engineers scanned the door with his omni tool and nodded, singling that it appeared to be safe.
"I'm going in."
Shepard opened the door and the other engineer walked in, spraying the extinguisher, taking out some small fires here and there.
"EDI, talk to me."
From the smoke came none other than Dr. Eva's body, strolling along casually, her orange visor lighting up from behind the smoke.
"Is there a particular subject you'd wish to discuss, Shepard?"
"EDI…you're in Dr. Eva's body."
"Not completely. It was not a seamless transition. I am in control of it however."
"You should have told us before you did this. It was dangerous."
"Telling the crew would have been counter productive. It would have taken up time."
"So, are you still part of the ship as well or…?"
"Yes. For optimal use, this body should stay within range of the Normandy."
"Are you planning on taking that body somewhere?"
"The Normandy's weapons are not suited for all combat situations. With this, I could do more."
"You mean you could come with us?"
"Correct."
"I want you to make sure this mech has no surprises. Run some tests and then we'll talk about taking it out for combat."
"One moment—I am running some tests. Complete. I can send them to you if you like."
"Just uhh…don't be surprised if the crew is a little wary of your new body. It was just shooting at them a little while ago."
"Yes. I should have the ship resume normal function to let them all know it'll be alright. And I'll head to the bridge. Joker would like to see it as well."
"On that we can agree on."