7. Blown Sky High

Everything had been going smoothly. Too smoothly. Tali knew that the excrement was about to interface with the air recirculators. The Normandy had been ordered to assist in the evacuation of a civilian colony in the Attican Traverse that was under siege by the Geth. As ordered by Shepard, Joker had swung the Normandy into the atmosphere of the planet under stealth mode and had dropped the Mako containing Tali'Zorah, Shepard and Dr T'Soni before streaking off to provide cover for the evacuation transports.

Their task was to hold off the Geth long enough to rescue the civilians and cover their extraction. The Mako landed smoothly on the ferrocrete road that led from the small spaceport to the main colony buildings. The spaceport was a hive of activity - civilian transports were lifting off while military dropships descended and fighter squadrons roared overhead, strafing Geth positions.

As usual, Shepard was at the Mako's controls, Tali and Liara strapped into the small crew compartment and Shepard was driving the Mako at speeds best described as 'ludicrously unsafe.'

The 155mm main gun fired a shot and downrange, a group of Geth shocktroopers simply ceased to exist. The Commander whooped joyfully. Also as usual, Shepard was having altogether too much fun during combat. Didn't she realise they could all be killed? Or was it simply a facade she put up to convince herself that death wasn't imminent and to improve morale?

No, Tali'Zorah decided, as Shepard began singing along to her 'driving music,' the Commander really was having that much fun.

Then the road before them was blocked by a pair of Geth Armatures supported by at least a dozen Geth troops armed with rocket launchers.

"Hmmm, this could be problematic," Shepard said as the nearest armature swung it's turret-head towards the Mako. The head-mounted mass accelerator fired a blast that impacted the Mako's left front side, collapsing the kinetic barriers and shearing off the front wheel. The Mako's front dug into the road at high speed and the entire vehicle flipped over and rolled several times. The entire hull shuddered as a second blast hit it.

The Mako, shields depleted and hull compromised came to rest on its side, the remaining five wheels rotating lazily. From the shattered forward windows, Shepard could see the Geth troops closing in. "Oh crap," she said to herself and tried to unstrap herself from her seat. The impact had caused the supposedly quick-release straps to jam up and Shepard's fingers scrabbled uselessly over the buckle. The vehicle shook slightly with each footstep as the armatures closed in.

In the crew compartment, Tali'Zorah was faring better - she'd managed to free herself and was assisting Dr Tsoni, who was barely concious. From the front seat, Tali'Zorah could hear Shepard cursing and many of the words she'd never heard before.

"What is happening?" Dr Tsoni asked as the Mako shook from multiple rocket blasts.

"We've crashed and the Geth are closing in," Tali'Zorah said matter of factly. "We have to exit the vehicle soon or we'll be killed."

"Oh, I see," the doctor said.

Up front, Shepard had managed to use her combat knife to cut herself free and was now trying to open the hatch. Predictably, that too was jammed. Shepard swore as another rocket hammered the vehicle. Another couple of hits...

Alison thought she should be grateful that the armatures hadn't finished them off already.

"The hell with this," Shepard grunted as she unholstered her pistol and blew out the locking bolts. The door finally wheezed open. Taking advantage of the partial cover afforded by the Mako's hull, Alison popped out of the cockpit and opened fire on the Geth who were now just metres away. The armatures had apparently left their smaller brethren and were disappearing into the distance.

Small fires had begun to burn inside the Mako's hull, threatening the fusion plant. Alison hauled herself out of the vehicle and turned to see Tali and Liara struggling out of the cockpit hatch.

Tali seemed unharmed but under her enviroment suit, it was impossible to tell for sure. Liara had a cut on her forehead but was otherwise fine.

Shepard summed up the situation, "The fusion plant's about to go critical. Run."

The three women managed to hunker down behind a passenger vehicle abandoned during the evacuation just as the Mako detonated. The blast-wave made their ears pop and the concussion hammered them into the ground. Painfully, Shepard levered herself up and surveyed the area. A large smoking crater marked the spot where the Mako had been. Alison waited for the ringing in her ears to abate before calling the Normandy.

"Joker, this is Shepard. Require immediate pick up. Over."
"What's the situation, Commander?"

"Uh, the Mako's been blown sky high," Shepard said and cringed. Garrus would not be happy.

"Say that again, Commander?" Joker replied.

Alison closed her eyes and felt a bone-deep weariness descend over her as she repeated, "The Mako's been blown sky high..."