A/N: A big shout goes out to paxm, the only person who bothered reviewing the last chapter! While I didn't demand a set number of reviews per chapter they certainly do help. Few reviews makes me wonder if A) People are still interested B) The last chapter was sub par or C) People are just taking the fic for granted. If the answer is B please let me know so I can improve the rest of my work! Anyway, in this chapter Legion finally puts in an appearance and Shepard finally has it out with Miranda for having a Bastila complex. Enjoy!
Chapter X
Shepard came awake again with a start. As far she could tell she was somewhere in the wilds of Ilos. Glancing around her she found no sign of Creepers or the Thorian at all. It appeared as though her threat of unleashing the nanites on the Thorian was enough to secure her freedom. Surprisingly she also found that an antigrav sled complete with five barrels and her pistol sitting neatly atop them. It was without doubt the work of the Thorian's minions but the question of why it would go to such lengths to aid her still puzzled Shepard. As she was standing there she was overtaken by a sudden wave of nausea and fell to her knees wretching violently. It appeared as though the exchange of fluids and the mental link with the Thorian came with a number of unpleasant side effects. Shakily regaining her feet she collected her pistol and holstered it.
To Shepard's mind she had two goals to complete before she could leave Ilos behind. She first had to secure the Voltarium that the Thorian had provided her. After that she could see about finding Miranda. Despite the fact that there were loose Geth on the planet and despite their short acquaintance Shepard was almost certain that Miranda was still alive.
Shepard was startled from her thoughts by the crack of a twig from behind her. Spinning around she found a lone Geth eyeing her. Its weapons were holstered but that didn't stop Shepard from drawing her own pistol and training it on the drone. The two stood staring each other down for several moments before the Geth made any sort of movement. Several of its head plates arranged themselves in a gesture that suggested inquisitiveness. What was most surprising was that the Geth spoke.
"Shepard-Commander" the Geth addressed her.
Shepard's jaw worked for a few minutes from the shear shock of a Geth speaking to her.
"Who? What are you?" Shepard finally managed.
"We are Geth. We have been tracking a cell of heretic Geth in this system. It is unexpected to find you. It is also unexpected to find you alive." The Geth replied in a monotone.
"Why are we speaking? What's more how do you know who I am?"
"We are speaking because that is the primary form of information exchange between organics and advanced synthetics, such as Geth. The Geth are aware of your actions concerning the heretics and the Old Machines."
"You didn't answer my first question."
"That is because the first question posed to this platform was not specific. According to our analysis the intent behind your line of inquiry was to ascertain whether you shared common goals with this platform. To respond to that question the answer is yes."
"What common goals do I share with you?" Shepard asked incredulously.
"To defeat the old machines, to eliminate the heretic Geth, to uncover their interests in this planet and in this area specifically." The Geth listed.
"You mentioned the Old Machines?"
"The organic moniker for them is Reapers. You personally were involved in the destruction of the one known as Sovereign. We calculate a high percentage probability that you seek to end their threat permanently. That makes our goals compatible." The machine concluded in a matter of fact manner.
"Alright, so we have a shared interest. How do you propose to help me?"
"We have intelligence concerning the heretic camp and drop ship. We also have intelligence concerning the other organic that arrived with you."
"What about Miranda?"
"The organic you designate as Miranda was last seen shadowing the heretics."
"Why the devil would she be following a hoard of Geth?"
"Our supposition is that she wished to ascertain whether or not you had been captured by the heretics and following that to discover why the heretics were interested in this particular facility."
"Do you have any 'suppositions' about why the clankers were interested facility yourself?"
The Geth cocked its head at the last statement and its head plates approximated the appearance of a frown.
"The term 'clankers' does not appear in my lexicon. Please clarify its meaning and use."
"Clankers as in hostile Geth."
"Lexicon updated. Thank you for clarification. Our supposition is that the heretics were interested in a Prothean database concerning Reaper observations from the time of their fall."
"Alright, here's what we're going to do. You and I are going to get this sled back to my ship. We are then going to rescue Miranda from whatever mess she has gotten herself into. After that we'll scrap your heretics and recover the database. Is that acceptable?"
The Geth paused for a moment and considered.
"All runtimes favour this course of action. We have consensus."
The Geth waited patiently as Shepard holstered her pistol and then slowly approached the sled.
"We can interface remotely with the sled controls and navigate it by remote to your ship."
"That's surprisingly useful. Thank you." Shepard said with genuine gratitude.
As the sled bobbed away on its mass effect field the Geth gestured in the direction of the heretic's camp. The two fell into step as the Geth unholstered an assault rifle and wordlessly handed it Shepard. Surprised at the synthetic's generosity Shepard took the weapon with a polite nod.
As the unlikely pair made their way through an overgrown grove of trees Shepard found herself wondering if the Thorian had released its human thralls. Shepard was also beginning to doubt the agreement with the Thorian. To her it smacked of selfishness and manipulation. While the Thorian had upheld its end of the deal so far it didn't mean that it wouldn't try something later on. As they crested a rise Shepard set her thoughts to the side. Soon enough they would be facing the Geth and it wouldn't do to be bogged down in moralizing. The Geth held up a manipulator indicating that they should stop.
"Shepard-Commander we are approaching heretic base camp."
"What's the layout like?"
"The heretics have encamped in a basic circle and fortified their position with drones and mobile turrets. We have two advantages. First we have the element of surprise in that we can strike from two directions simultaneously. Second the heretic mobile platforms suffer from a shortage of runtimes."
"What do you mean by that last part? Are you implying that they're going to be less adept than the average Geth?"
"Precisely. Since Geth skill is dependent on the number of runtimes in a given platform or area the lack of runtimes reduces their processing efficiency and therefore their skill."
"Out of curiosity how many runtimes do you have?"
"This platform is currently host to 1,183 separate runtimes."
"Is that a lot?"
"It is sufficient" the Geth replied cryptically and left it at that.
"Alright I'll circle the camp and see if I can find Miranda. You stay put. I'll contact you when I'm ready to advance. Okay?"
"Confirmed." The Geth replied simply as it removed its sniper rifle from its back.
Shepard cautiously set off to circle the base. The Geth had been right about the configuration of the base. The insect-like Geth drop-ship sat in the middle of the base while various gun drones drifted around it like dust motes on an unseen wind. A few pre-fabricated structures had been deployed. As Shepard manoeuvred around the camp she noted a small grassy hillock that would provide excellent cover. As she approached the hillock she noticed that someone was already using it for cover. As Shepard slowly approached the crouching figure she was unsurprised to find Miranda.
"Leave it to an insurgent to pick the best vantage point." Shepard murmured as she approached the prone woman.
Miranda spun around pointing her pistol at Shepard.
"Shepard?" She asked, confused, "What happened to you?"
"I fell down a hole, found a Thorian, negotiated my freedom, found a talking Geth and decided to find you. How's your day been?"
"You know if you don't want to tell me you could just say that. You don't have to lie to me." Miranda replied crossly.
"Keep it down Miranda. We don't want those Geth drawing a bead on us."
"So what are we going to do now?"
"Pick a target and open fire." Shepard remarked, casually as she drew several grenades out of her dispenser.
Miranda nodded her assent and lined the sights of her assault rifle on several of the drones.
Shepard began to covertly flick several of grenades onto the structures and the drop ship itself. Exhausting her supply of grenades she flashed the omni-tool interface and detonated the explosives. The ensuing destruction was impressive. The two pre-fab shelters burst in to flame while the drop-ship shook on its landing legs. Numerous Geth and their drones began to mill about in confusion as Miranda opened fire with her assault rifle. The Geth began to fall from the storm of rifle fire but some of their luckier compatriots took shelter and began to return fire.
Most of the flimsy drones had been taken out during the initial attack leaving only the walking Geth who were proving to be somewhat more difficult to eliminate. The Geth that had taken cover were gradually picked off either by the combined fire from Shepard and Miranda or the shots from Shepard's Geth ally. Soon the gunfire died away leaving only the crackling of flames and the acrid smoke of destroyed synthetics.
Shepard cautiously emerged from cover followed shortly by Miranda. As the two made their way into the camp they were greeted with only silence punctuated by the crackle of fire. Shepard made her way over to the Geth drop-ship. The drop-ship itself was almost totally ruined and had tilted at a 45 degree angle to one side. Luckily for Shepard and Miranda the crates of the Geth's cargo were still sitting outside the ship. Shepard prised one open to find an ancient looking Prothean data storage device.
"Pay-dirt" Shepard muttered with a grin.
Miranda was about to agree with her when Shepard's Geth emerged from the smoke of the debris, its weapons holstered. Miranda trained her own weapon on the Geth only to have the barrel batted to the side by Shepard.
"Hold your fire Miranda. This one's on our side."
"What do you mean on our side? Geth aren't on anyone's side!" Miranda shouted as she trained her weapon on the Geth once more.
"Shepard-Commander is correct. We mean you no harm." The Geth calmly intoned.
"A talking Geth? You sure have a knack for finding strange friends Shepard." Miranda replied, lowering the barrel of her weapon ever so slightly.
"I don't find strange friends they find me." Shepard added smirking widely. Miranda's jaw worked at the implication of Shepard's last comment and her obvious distaste at being lumped in with a Geth but she declined to add anything more to the conversation.
The Geth marched over to the crate and hoisted it into its arms with no apparent difficulty. Shepard took the opportunity to survey the other finds. The other crate held a series of pocket sized storage devices most of which were of Geth manufacture while the third crate contained an extremely ornate crystal encased in interwoven metal designs. Whether or not the crystal was merely a Prothean objet d'art or served some practical function was a question for another time as Shepard shoved both the crystal and the OSDs into any empty ammo pouch. Gesturing to her two companions they began their trek back to the shuttle.
Miranda never took her eyes off the Geth during the whole trip back but did, eventually, decide to holster her weapon. The Geth, for its part, completely ignored Miranda and carried the crate without complaint. When they finally reached the shuttle and the Geth had loaded the crate Miranda voiced her discontent.
"You can't seriously be planning on taking an active Geth back to the ship!" Were the first words to break the silence.
"Last time I checked Miranda, the ship was an AI and I was cybernetically modified so I could very well be an AI as well. So if this is about bringing a non-organic onto the ship I think you better re-think your position. You're the minority onboard." Shepard replied, sarcastically.
"When you're lying on your back with a Geth bullet through your head I hope you remember this moment. I just hope I'm not there with you." Miranda seethed as she spun around and stalked into the aft of the shuttle.
Shepard was fed up. The ongoing antagonism not to mention the constant stress was beginning to get to her. She grabbed Miranda by the shoulder and spun her around.
"You may not be military Miranda but you don't just walk away from me." Shepard shouted. "Here's the deal Miranda. Like it or not I was the one that Sira picked to join with which puts me in command of the ship. It also means that I make the decisions and you don't. Consider yourself lucky you don't have that responsibility because quite frankly, it sucks. Now I'm trying to do the absolute best job I can to prevent a galactic genocide but it certainly isn't easy. In the past few weeks days I've been brought back to life, shot, kidnapped, implanted with who knows what sort of cybernetics, almost been blown up trying to rescue you, gotten a good concussion, been captured by a plant that's taken a page from the Seventh Seal, and finally found a Geth that's willing to talk to me rather than attempting to riddle me with holes. I've also had the only other human being on board the ship questioning every decision I've been making. You've wanted me to make contact with Cerberus which means giving up my independence and becoming a Cerberus lackey with no will of her own. Well forgive me if I'm a bit attached to me independence and I don't want to make a deal with the devil."
Shepard finally finished leaving Miranda staring at her with a dazed expression. Shepard had the oddest sensation that no one had ever talked to Miranda that way before. Miranda's mouth opened and closed a few times but no words came out. A variety of expressions played across her face but none seemed to settle.
"Save it Miranda. We have to get back to the ship. The Geth is coming with us. I gave it my word."
Shepard left Miranda in the aft compartment of the shuttle as she walked towards the flight deck. The Geth had already strapped itself in but made no comment beyond inclining its head plates towards Shepard in what she took to be a gesture of respect. Shepard strapped herself in and sealed the shuttle's hatches. She was joined moments latter by Miranda who wordlessly strapped herself in next to Shepard.
Shepard banked the shuttle towards the research station where their collective odyssey on Ilos had begun. Glancing at her scanner display she noted that life signs were once again present in the complex. Apparently the Thorian had carried through on its promise. Now all that remained was for Shepard to carry through on her promise. Shepard slewed the shuttle towards the sky and edged the throttle forward. The shuttle leapt forward and rapidly cleared the planet.