Would you like to know the reason this chapter took so long*?
I BOUGHT MASS EFFECT! ^o^
Yes, after several months of you guys badgering, compelling, and poking with pitch forks, I gave in a bought ME 1 and 2. And then had to re-write this entire thing to fit the ME canon ;.;
*the real answer is Collage!
Disclaimer: I do not own anything in this story, not even the OCs.
oo00O00oo
Tali and I bumped around in our harnesses as the Mako sped up the Peak 14 access road.
"Mako," I muttered, slamming backward into my seat as the Captain accelerated up a slope, running fleeing Geth troopers down like a woman possessed, "why is it always a Mako."
"What I want to know," Garrus grunted from the gunners seat, swaying as he tried to bring the gun to bear on an armature that was rapidly drawing closer, "is why Shepard brings both of you on missions. Normally we have a three man policy, but she seems to like keeping you two together."
The roar of the main gun drowned out further speech for a few seconds, the rattatat of high power repeaters jittering our teeth around in our skulls. Shepard swung the tail end of the Mako around, slamming on the brake pedal just in time to avoid sliding us off a precipice. We skittered and slipped for a second before the tires caught on the ice, shooting us forward onto the thin mountain road. I almost felt bad for the squad of Geth we landed on, but not really.
I was not the only crew member to mutter a prayer of thanks as we clambered out of the ATV and into the hail of blistering, but preferable, snow. Garrus had taken out the door guards with the main cannon, so we made it to the door without problem, only to be jumped by a Geth colossus not a handful of seconds in. I will admit that here was some slight panic at first, but a couple overloads left the construct open to Shepard and Tali's shotguns, their shots tearing it apart. Advancing through the garage was a bit tougher, but we made it through. Tali and I tag teamed the Geth and Krogan scattered around the garage, me laying down sniper fire while she rushed the next cover spot, then her covering me while I moved up. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed the Captain and Garrus using the same tactic, but with the addition of Shepard's Biotics. That's the problem with my Biotics. Most Biotic abilities are close to medium range, and I am decidedly long range. As such, I'm only able to use them every now and again, mostly throwing Singularity's so Tali could better reach our aggressors.
We finally made it to the entrance and scrambled in, Garrus sealing the door behind us. We all breathed a collective sigh of relieve, taking a second to enjoy the slight warmth of the inside world.
"Attention all facility personnel," A voice from above made us all jump out of out skins, "there is a biohazard warning on levels 1-15, please be aware..."
The voice, a prerecorded message it seemed, droned on for a few more seconds before repeating. From it we learned that the main VI had gone down and some kind of containment breach in the sub levels. Shepard nodded thoughtfully and then gave us the signal to move out.
Shepard and Garrus took point, Tali was at mid and I was on rear. We systematically swept every hall we came across, calls of, 'Right clear." "Left clear." and "Move up." echoing out across the otherwise silent coms. We found some kind of sun room further in, swarming with geth. We cleared them out fairly quick, but I couldn't shake the feeling that there was something watching us. I kept glancing around, trying to assuage my worries.
It was Tali the ratchni hit first, leaping through a window to land almost on her head, pincers poised to strike. For a moment, everything blurred, a second image overlaying what I saw. Some small part of me dive sideways, the rest throwing itself forward, blue haze surrounding me as I shoulder rammed the offending insect with the force of a truck, knocking it back into the wall. Without wasting time it bounced off the wall and charged me, mandibles open wide to take a bite. By throwing all of my weight backward I manged to drop into a slid, Tali's shotgun barking twice before I passed under the stunned enemy, delivering a devastating biotic punch to it's belly. To be frank, it exploded.
As Garrus and Shepard gaped, open mouthed, I winced, the view from Tali's eyes still burned into mine.
"That, Garrus" The Captain stated, pointing at the downed bug, "Is why I keep those two together."
Garrus shouldered his assault rifle and moved up, checking the window the Ratchni had emerged from before helping Tali and I to our feet.
"Room clear."
Shepard nodded and moved us up the stairs, through another ratchni pack, and into an elevator heading down. It wasn't until we had boarded the tram heading for the over half of the facility that Shepard asked, "What was that?"
I was focused so intently on the fact Tali was holding my hand that I missed her question initially. She had to ask a second time before I heard her.
"Hmm? What?"
"You killed that Ratchni before the rest of us even knew it was there."
Tali chimed in, "The Bond. When one Quarian is in danger, their bond-mate can see, feel, and hear what the other does."
Garrus seemed skeptical, "So Jay literally saw the world through your eyes?"
I nodded, "Pretty much. There are even stories among our people of lovers who lived not as individuals, but as a single being with two bodies."
"One," Tali continued, "Even claims that when the female died, her mate took her into his mind and harbored her there till he too passed."
The Captain pondered this for a second, "Sounds almost like the Geth. Multiple minds, one body.."
I was dumb struck. I had heard that story from my mother hundreds of times, and it had never occurred to me the similarities. A little seed grew up in my mind. Was it coincidence? Sure, you needed hundreds of Geth programs to make a conscience, that much was clear. But why had the Geth made that so abundantly clear, stating it over and over again? Where they trying to get to us using our own myths?
I shook my head to clear it, we were coming up on the station now, I'd worry about the geth later. Fortunately for us, there weren't any hostiles on the arrival platform. In fact, it was strangely quiet all the way up to the AI core. A single ratchni pounce in the atrium, but it was easily brought down.
"This door should lead to the AI relay. Everyone stack up," Shepard whispered, sliding off onto the left side of the door, "Tali, on right. Jay, hack the door. Garrus, pop a grenade if anything moves."
Hacking the terminal was child's play. As soon as the heavy door swished open Garrus lobbed a grenade through the portal, finger hovering over the detonation switch. Shepard and Tali moved up, but the circular server room was empty. While most of us were trying to disarm the explosive disk our turian friend had managed to adhere to the single most delicate exterior components of the server the Captain busied herself poking around with the console. The VI helpful told us what was wrong (Like a million times) and we immediately set out to remedy the situation. Funny story, it took less time for Shepard to clear out the power relay and main generator then it did for both Tali and I to talk her through the VI reboot. That may explain why I almost cried when a reporter asked if the Captain was a tech-savvy person.
