Chapter 10: Hold This Position!

We switched our ammo types to Tungsten; rounds specifically made to tear through metal like tissue paper. I had Kaiden seal the doors, and Wrex and Garrus push boxes around for us to use as cover. We had also covered Tali and the panel she was working on with boxes, so her getting hit in the crossfire wouldn't be an issue. We'd need all the advantage against the Geth we could get. As we shored up out defenses, there was a sudden hissing sound as the Geth on the other side began to burn a hole through the door. "Tali" I said quietly as I sat behind the barrier "How much more time will you need?"

"No more then another 10 minutes or so" She whispered

'Damn' I thought 'We'll have been corpses for 5 minutes by then unless I can think of something'

"Ok" I said aloud "Everyone down. No one fired until my signal. Wrex, don't use your launcher yet, I want you to save your last 2 rounds."

We waited as the cut their way through the door, making a nice rectangular opening. When the door fell away, the Geth cautiously advanced into the warehouse. I waited for 3 seconds, then rose and threw a grenade. The grenade exploded in icy explosion that snap-froze some of the Geth and damaged more of them. Then Ashley threw an incendiary grenade, which blasted then in a wave of extreme heat. My hope was that whatever the Geth were made of would obey the laws of metal and would deform when frozen and then heated rapidly. It seemed to work, since the rest of the Geth not caught in the immediate explosion seemed to be slowed and disoriented. We opened fire and our Tungsten rounds tore right through then like a knife through jello. The initial wave was taken our quickly and efficiently, but then more began to pour in, firing their Geth pulse rifles. We returned fire, and with our superior positioning, weaponry, and the fact that they were caught in a corridor meant they would have to slog through our fire until we were inundated by their sheer numbers.

Agonizing minutes passed as we poured the fire on, making sure to alternate firing groups so that we wouldn't all overheat. I dropped my pistols, unsung my shotgun with my other hand and fired a Carnage blast. The resulting shot took down 3 Geth at once.

"TALI!" I yelled as I picked up my pistols again.

"I'm almost done Commander!" The Quarian girl yelled back over the gunfire "6 more minute!"

"Dammit!" I swore "Wrex! Launcher! GO!" The Krogan hefted the missile launcher and fire. The blast shook the room and sent Geth, or more accurately, pieces of Geth, flying in every direction. After the explosion, there was a long second of silence in which both sides ceased fire. Then the doors exploded in a blue blast. I peered through the smoke and saw that 2 Geth Armatures, smaller versions of Colossi, were coming in with a patrol of Geth troopers. The Geth advanced under a withering storm of fire, pinning us down. At that point, I knew it had to be now. If we didn't leave ASAP, things were going to get really ugly. Those Armatures could easily disintegrate any of us with one shot from its main gun. I heard a cry as Ashley's health made a sudden drop. "I'm hit!" The marine cried out.

"Kaiden! Administer first aid! We need-!" Suddenly I saw something that gave me an idea "Wrex!"

"What!?" Wrex called back.

"Fire your last missile on my mark!" I reached out with my biotics and grabbed a red crate about the size of a washing machine. It had a "Danger! Explosive!" symbol on it, and I hoped it was high grade stuff. With my biotics, I threw it at the Geth formation "NOW!"



Wrex popped up again, fired his last rocket and took a round in his hump for his trouble. The rocket struck true, or at least true enough. A millisecond after the initial explosion of the rocket, there was a second, far greater explosion that engulfed the Geth and blasted us all to the ground. There was a minute of nothing but the sound of sizzling. I stood up from my position and surveyed the situation.

The situation: crispy fried. The explosion had reduced the Geth forces and most of the doorway to molten slag. I don't know what metal the Geth are made of, but when you melted it, it smelled quite unholy. "Everyone ok?" I asked "Who's hurt?"

"I am, sir" Ashley said "But I'm ok, the Lt. saw to that."

"It's just a scratch" Wrex said "I've had worse"

"Alright, let's get out of here before more of them show up" I said "Tali, are you done?"

"Yes" She said "But there's something else"

"What?"

"I was looking through their records just now and found that they have some scientists prisoner. They're all experts in their fields and the pirates want to ransom them back to the Alliance."

"We have to do something!" Liara said "We cannot simply leave them at the mercy of the Geth!"

"We shouldn't endanger our mission over a few egg heads" Wrex replied calmly "There's more important things at stake, like our hides."

"Hey Wrex, don't forget" Garrus said agitatedly "Liara's a so-called 'egghead' too. Would you leave her behind?"

"It's your call, Shepard" Wrex said with a wave of his hand.

I thought about it for a few seconds and decided "We have to try. What level are they on?"

"Three levels above us in the detention area" Tali replied.



"Let's move out!"