Interloper: Chapter 9
"Knock knock."
"Come in." I let myself into the small back office of the medbay. The asari archaeologist sat at her desk behind a massive stack of notes.
"Checking your old notes?" I asked. I pulled up a chair next to her. "Here, you weren't at dinner." I handed her a tray of food that I had rescued from the mess hall.
"Oh thank you." Liara said absentmindedly, "and no, these are just the notes I've written today. Matriarch Dilinaga's writing's are quite complex. The introduction alone is… oh, what is this?" she seemed to see the tray I had placed in her hand for the first time.
"I got you some food, you weren't at dinner." I repeated. Liara gave a small laugh.
"I'll admit, sometimes I can get carried away. I would spend days poring over ruins and digs, sometimes I would only eat once a week. I had a VI once that would remind me to take meals on a regular basis, I wonder what happened to that thing." She looked away distractedly.
"Wait, once a week? Is that healthy?"
"We asari can get away with eating very little when we aren't utilizing our biotics. In fact, when Commander Sheppard found me I hadn't eaten in weeks. I was actually convinced the entire team was an elaborate hallucination." She shuffled papers around to make space for the tray. She took a bite and said, "You wanted to hear about Feros."
"Yes, I know it's got some ruins and a small human colony, but that's about all."
"Not just some ruins… an entire Prothean megapolis…. Stretching up out of the clouds." She said between bites. "I haven't been myself, the Exo-Geni Corporation only allows human archaeologists permits to search the ruins."
"Exo-Geni runs the colony?"
"Yes, they funded the venture for the purpose of medical research. Personally I think they're tragically misusing their resources…"
From space, Feros just looked like a grey, soupy mass. It wasn't until we began our descent that the true scale became apparent. Tall towers rose out of the grey like broken teeth. Several Geth ships hung over some of the higher and more stable looking towers.
"They can't see us, can they?" I asked.
"Our stealth systems are engaged, we should be able to fly right under their radar." Joker replied. He took the Normandy into a steep dive towards the nearest tower. "You better suit up, the docking cradle's in sight." I ran back towards the stairs. Steiner joined me at a light jog.
"You ready for some real fighting, Liddle?" I nodded. "Don't get yourself killed."
We split up at the elevator. She continued down, while I went for my locker. I suited up quickly. The ceramic plates were getting easier to carry around.
"Looking good, Deputy." Commander Shepard past on her way to her own locker. She pulled out her own, slate grey armour and shrugged it on.
"Thanks, am I driving today?"
"That's a negative, we're going in on foot." She checked her rifle's ammo block and folded it onto her back. "Let's go." I fell into step behind her. The cargo hold was crowded. On one side, Kaidan and the other marines stood at loose attention. On the other side, Wrex, Garrus, Ashley, and Tali stood talking. Ashley looked a little uncomfortable.
"Everyone gather around, listen up. We haven't heard anything from the colonists, so we have to assume a hostile presence in the tower. Kaidan, you're going to take your marines down the ramp and sweep the lower levels. I'll take my squad out the airlock and take the upper levels. We meet at the colony; it'll be marked on all of your HUDs. Any questions?"
"No, ma'am!" Kaidan barked smartly.
"Good, move out." Shepard snapped on her helmet and motioned for us to follow. Behind us the marines rushed out down the ramp and into the city. It was a tight squeeze onto the elevator and a tighter fit in the airlock. We disembarked into a firestorm.
"Geth, take cover!" Ashley yelled. We all dove in different directions. I found myself behind a crumbling wall. A quick peek told me none of the Geth were looking at me. I fired a burst at the closest platform. None of my shots landed, but it distracted the Geth long enough for Garrus to get a shot on it. The Geth went over a rail and into the clouds below.
"Push up!" Shepard yelled. I came up to a knee and fired a longer burst, this time actually pitching a platform over. The overheat light flashed on my HUD a second before the gun stopped firing. My hand stung as the rifle vented, but I pushed it aside and rushed to the next piece of cover. Ashley fell in on my right, and Garrus landed on my left.
"Liddle, you see that column at the end of the bridge?" Ashley pointed to a shattered pillar of rock.
"Yeah? What about it?" I joined Garrus in putting down another platform.
"I'm going to rush it, try and set up defilade on the Geth across the way. I need you to cover me." She spun one of her grenades into a cluster of Geth.
"You got it, Chief!" I leaned out of cover and sprayed down the remainder of the attackers. Ashley charged the pillar. A tall, red armoured Geth charged out of the mist ahead of her. "Watch out! Juggernaut!" Ashley stopped short of the cover and tried to backpedal. The Juggernaut unleashed a torrent of tungsten. The bright-glowing rounds tore through the marine's shields and blew a hole in the pink-white armour of her midsection. Ashley went down hard.
"Focus fire on that one!" Shepard yelled. Our rounds skittered and bounced off the Geth's powerful shields. It advanced slowly, firing continuously. As it passed Ashley's still form, her arm jerked up. In her hand was a grenade. She slapped the disk onto the Geth's leg. The Geth continued to advance on us. "Garrus, you need to detonate that explosive!"
"I'm pinned down, Commander!" Garrus yelled back. I opened my Omni-tool, scrolling through the options, I had to have something.
Sabotage, that should work.
I extended the tool and launched the program. The Geth's gun hissed as it vented its heat sink. "Garrus, now!" the turian threw himself over the block and drew his sniper rifle. He scoped in and pulled the trigger. The Juggernaut's leg erupted in fire. The massive Geth platform toppled and crashed down in ruin. "Clear!" we rushed forward to where Ashley lay. The marine was drawing shuddering breaths.
"Ash, you got him, just hold on!" Shepard leant over the wounded soldier and pumped medigel into the wound. A look of peace crossed her face.
"I took a pretty bad hit back there, hey skipper?" Ashley said in a pained voice.
"Hold still, Ash, we'll get you out of here." Shepard put a hand under the Chief's head.
"Vitals are stabilizing, Commander." Tali had her Omni-tool out, "But I don't think we should move her."
"Just leave me here," Ash said, "the Normandy's just over there, I'll call the Doc. These colonists need you."
"She's right, Commander." Garrus added.
"Okay," Shepard said reluctantly, "You take care of yourself, Chief." She stood and looked the rest of us over. "We're down one member, and the resistance is stiffer than we thought. These colonists still need our help. Now we're going to make a push up to the higher levels, I need you to stay smart, we can't afford any more casualties. Let's do this."
"Just point me at the action." Wrex thumped his chest. The rest of us just nodded. We moved up the ramp, leaving Ashley propped up against a pillar. We moved through the ruins quickly, going in pairs from cover to cover. We didn't see any more Geth until we walked out into an open space.
"What are you doing? Get under cover!" ahead of us some of the colonists were hiding behind stacks of crates and metal heat shielding. Behind us the buzzing rattle of more Geth platforms was already getting louder.
"Turn and give fire!" Shepard ordered, "break and take cover with the colonists once the first wave goes down!"
As one we turned and dropped. I picked a Geth at the edge of the pack. The platform blew apart under a long burst.
"Break!" we ran back to the colonist's line. Behind us, I heard the whirr of Geth combat drones. Brocken masonry chips began to bite at my heels as near misses rained down around me. The colonists managed to take out the drones with their collection of pistols, but more foot platforms had shown up. I vaulted the nearest stack of crates and found myself face to face with a surly faced man. He nodded gruffly and fired over the barrier. I followed suit, picking off one of the few remaining Geth.
"Looks like you got 'em all. You should head back and talk to Fai Dan, he's what passes for leadership around here." One of the defenders said.
"Okay. Garrus, you stay here and secure this approach. Tali, I want you talking to the colonists, find out what they need. Liddle, you're with me."
"And me?" Wrex asked.
"I want to you to walk the perimeter, shoot anything with a flashlight head."
"With pleasure." The krogan ambled away. Shepard set a brisk pace through the colony. I followed closely, eyes peeled.
"Lieutenant Alenko, what's your situation?" Shepard was talking into her radio.
"It's not good, Commander," Kaidan replied over the net, "The Geth are putting up a stiff resistance. We lost Kowalski."
"The Geth?" Shepard asked.
"No, this huge Varren came at us out of one of the side passages. We managed to put it down, but Kowalski's gone, ma'am."
"Shit. What's your current position?"
"We've hunkered down outside the doors up into the tower. We're locked out from here, Jenkins just went up into the venting to try and run a manual bypass."
"We're in the colony itself, keep us posted on your progress."
"Will do, Commander." The scenario worried me a bit. I recalled a similar situation in which a non-tech was asked to crawl through a vent to open a door. At the end of the colony, a severe looking woman with close-cropped black hair stood arguing with an older man. The two stopped as we approached.
"Who the hell are you?" the woman didn't look too impressed.
"I'm Commander Shepard, Alliance Military. We're here to help." Shepard extended a hand. The man accepted it gratefully.
"You're the reinforcements? I thought there'd be more of you." He voice was slightly distant, like he was focusing on something else. "I'm sorry, where are my manners, I'm Fai Dan. I pass for a leader around here."
"I have a team of marines sweeping the lower levels as we speak, and my own squad is holding on the far side of the colony." Sheppard said diplomatically. "Do you know why the Geth are here?"
"You'd have to ask the people over at the Exo-Geni headquarters. They have all the cool toys, and most of the Geth who aren't here are there."
"How do we get to there?" Shepard asked, checking the surroundings.
"There's an elevator in the next tower that'll take you to the old Prothean skyway. I think a few Grizzlies should still be operational. But the next tower is still full of Geth."
"Alright, we'll clear out the next tower when we're ready to move. For now the Geth seem to be holding off. We'll secure the colony before we move on."
"Thank you, Commander." Fai Dan said. We walked back towards the colony. Sheppard looked out across the cloudscape. In the distance, one of the ruined spires collapsed under the weight of time and stray anti-aircraft rounds.
"Michael?" Liara's voice filled my helmet. Shepard didn't seem to have heard. I switched my radio over to private.
"Liara, what can I do for you?"
"Chief Williams just got back, Doctor Chakwas says things were close, but she will recover."
"That's good to hear," I replied, "do you want me to tell the Commander for you?" What was she playing at?
"Actually," Liara said hesitantly, "I was hoping you would ask the Commander to authorize me to help… secure the colony."
"So you want to sneak off and look at the ruins?" There was a long silence.
"You're not going to tell on me are you?" Liara asked.
"Of course not. I'll ask the Commander, but couldn't you ask her? She's pretty reasonable."
"I… I don't know how much she trusts me, but you seem pretty close to her. Let me know when you've talked to her." The connection closed.
"There a conversation going on in there, Deputy?" Shepard was actually waving to get my attention. "Hello?"
"Sorry, Commander. Liara wants to help secure the colony grounds, and Chief Williams has been recovered. Doc says she'll pull through."
"That's good news," Shepard said, "and we need all hands on deck here; these colonists are stretched pretty thin. Have you noticed how spaced out they seem?"
"Yes…"
"Commander." Tali had walked up. "These people are in trouble. They are running low on water, food, and power. Now, they used t hunt varren for food, but this big alpha moved in a few weeks ago."
"Didn't Kaidan and his team run into a big varren?" I said
"Right," Tali said, "they also say that their water is routed through the tunnels the Lieutenant and his team is in."
"What about the power needs?" Shepard asked.
"They don't know, Commander, they say they could have repaired their power systems with some vehicle power cells if we'd shown up a week ago, but they took another hit recently that knocked out they're generators completely."
"Keep at it, Tali, I'm sure you'll find something. Liddle, I want you walking perimeter too, at least until we've found some way to get the power on. I don't want to leave these colonists until we've secured a better fallback position."
"Yes, ma'am." I saluted and walked away. Shepard contacted Alenko to get him to look out for damaged water conduits, while I let Liara know she could come along. I passed Wrex moving in the other direction. We exchanged curt nods. After circling around a second time, something caught my eye. I thumbed on my radio.
"Commander, I've found something you might want to take a look at."
Author's Note:
You guys have been great; I hope you enjoy reading this story as much as I do writing it. To answer a few questions:
Liegelord: Jacob is still a Corsair at this point, so it is indeed possible he'll be able to go check up on the report.
Rc1212: Infamous, I don't know about that? The name yellowjacket might cross a few desks in the info business before the story's done.
