"Hmmm. Incendiary looks promising for the shotgun," Etel said as she looked down at the list Nihlus had given them. It had been eleven hours since the briefing and she was fully rested, having woken up a mere two hours ago.
"I'm more inclined towards Sledgehammer or Shredder rounds for it," Williams remarked from across the mess hall table.
"I'm hesitant on Shredder ammo for a shotgun; fire works better for close range assaults. Besides, against larger geth, like those Prime units Nihlus keeps running into, Shredder isn't going to be very useful against their heavy armor," Etel said as she flipped over to the specs on the data slate.
"Yeah, but you use your shotgun more regularly than I do. I'm most liable to use it when husks rush," the Alliance commander retorted with a shrug. "Geth seem to prefer to stay at rifle range baring those Destroyers, so if I'm up against a Prime I'm likely to be using my sniper rifle if anything. And well, geth still have fragile internals. Just not as squishy."
"Of course, Destroyers are probably going to have more robust internals than those trooper models, but I can see your point," Etel shrugged. "I still think incendiary works better for shotguns, especially ones like the Scimitar that puts a bunch of flechettes downrange quickly."
"Kinda surprised you're using a Scimitar shotgun," Williams remarked as she raised an eyebrow. "I mean, you tend to prefer that over your rifle, so not why not use something like the Katana that's more accurate at range?"
"In close quarters you need as many shots as you can in a few seconds. Those Katana shotguns just lack the rate of fire I need. Better than krogan shotguns like that Claymore Wrex uses, sure, but they usually need that power to fight other krogan."
"Personal preference I guess. I just prefer to have some power in my boomstick," Williams shrugged as she returned to looking through the information on the data slate. "Of course, I'm prioritizing the assault rifle. The costs are probably going to be a bit prohibitive on what we can upgrade."
"At least you'll have the time to do it," Etel remarked as she looked at the average time that it took to perform the daily maintenance. "I need to make sure my biotic amp is in shape, so I think I'm just going to mod the shotgun and that's it. So, what about your assault rifle, what're you figuring you'd use for that?"
"Disruptor ammo is tempting," Williams admitted, "but between the cost and the fact that it's not that great against biotic barriers means it's a little too specialized. If it was just geth, it'd be perfect, but with Collectors and their biotic barriers it's not the best option. "
"What about incendiary?" Etel suggested, "Yes, geth are synthetic and not as liable to react to being set on fire, but it would still burn their armor. Meanwhile, the Collectors are organic."
"That's true, but I think I'll stick with Sledgehammer rounds for the rifle since they're pretty versatile and the extra force would probably help against husks," Williams entered her choice in on her data slate.
"As long as we all get at least one of our guns modded that should help," Etel responded as she looked at the price tags. "God, it's no wonder that so few soldiers use these. I mean, even without having to pay taxes since they're risking life and limb, an Imperial Army stipend would not be enough to handle this and keep the family comfortable back home."
"The only reason I don't get an ammo kit myself is because I'm not part of an active special forces squad," Williams commented as she started browsing the options again, "so when the ammo gets handed out I'm not very high on the list."
"But if you were you would probably be using advanced ammunition, since you're special forces?"
Williams nodded. "Yeah, N6, serious candidate for N7. If I was in a commando unit like Delta Squad or the Bridge Burners I'd probably have a choice of special ammo already. I could have done it with my own money, but I figured that I should save for retirement."
"That would be a good policy to keep in mind as a Spectre, albeit not for retirement," Nihlus cut in suddenly as he walked into the mess hall. Etel looked around and noticed they were the only ones there.
"How so?" Williams asked with a slight frown. "I thought Spectres were bankrolled by the Council. I mean, being their own top agents and all."
"Common misconception," Nihlus said as he walked to the table and sat down, lowering his voice. "In reality, Spectres are expected to be self sufficient in the event that they must operate beyond legal channels where a paper trail to the Council would be problematic."
Etel frowned. "Everyone knows that if a Spectre does it it is quite likely a Council operation, why would the Council be afraid of a paper trail?"
"A fair question," Nihlus said with a nod. "But, as a case study, imagine this Shepard: An Imperial Archduke is betraying the Empire, allowing its enemies to ferment dissent against the loyal Dukes and Barons owing fealty to him while the Archduke is quietly setting himself up to take the reins and seem to be more in line with the people."
"That is what the Imperial Administration is for," Etel cut in as she raised an eyebrow.
"Indeed, but for the scenario let's say that the Administration is either as hoodwinked as everyone else about the Archduke's true allegiance or it is something quietly supported. A conspiracy that means normal channels are unavailable. If the Archduke's cluster falls into chaos, it could leave the Empire vulnerable. The best course of action is to cut the beast's head off, no?"
Etel nodded at the metaphor. "So, the idea is that this is a situation where a Spectre would want to assassinate the Archduke to preserve the stability of the Empire and its frontier?" As she said it, she felt her stomach churn uncomfortably. Dealing with traitors was one thing, but outright murdering an Archduke, a man or woman responsible for an entire cluster like Argos Rho? Even if the Archduke was a traitor that screamed 'treason' to her.
"So it's like shooting a rabid dog," Williams cut in thoughtfully, "a crime against the Citadel to preserve its integrity. Sort of like if an Alliance system governor did the same thing and he's too good at politics to nail him in the courts. The idea is we could take them out as Spectres, sort of like that salarian bioweapons project centuries ago you told me about."
"Exactly," Nihlus said with a firm nod to both of them. "And as you can imagine, the Council would prefer to not have it seem like they authorized such actions. As such, while the Council will provide you with access to top of the line equipment to get started and unparalleled access to information, everything else you have to acquire yourself."
"We can ask the Council though, correct?" Etel asked as she frowned. "I mean, let's say we need to hit a pirate base but it is not something we can do alone, we need a small fleet group. We can ask them, right?"
"Absolutely," Nihlus said with a firm nod, "The Council does not just throw us to the varren once we get started, but we are expected to be independent operators who can supply ourselves for any dirty wet work we must do as part of our jobs. Otherwise, after putting a hole in that treasonous Archduke's head, imagine the diplomatic fallout if you failed to completely wipe the paper trail and it led to the Council."
Etel winced. "Even Emperor Baldwin would not tolerate that, and if the Administration already felt there was no treason due to their investigations…"
"Exactly," Nihlus said as he looked at her. She felt like it was almost something he felt sad about. "Spectres are given extremely broad authority, and to match that we're expected to be able to form connections to be able to supply ourselves as needed. However, in times of large scale war, the Council will provide additional funding to Spectres operating on the lines and is more hands on, but most of the time it prefers to be hands off."
"So if we become Spectres, we won't have much support from above most of the time?" Williams remarked as she glanced towards the captain's cabin.
"The Council will forward information and relevant leads as well as provide you with access, but that's the long and short of it. Of course it varies per Spectre and their chosen method of operation," Nihlus activated his omni-tool and showed an image of him and Saren, an image that looked to be from a few years ago as Nihlus had fewer scratches on the carapace protecting his face and Saren looked oddly different. The eyes lacked the soft glow she had seen when he was on Eden Prime.
"This was taken a few years ago when Saren helped save a Binary Helix facility from Blue Suns mercenaries," Nihlus explained. "It was also one of the first times he let me take the lead on a mission, though he was still mentoring me at the time. Saren invested quite heavily into Binary Helix to supply himself with advanced arms and armor and to have assets for providing provisions to armed groups or, very occasionally, refugee aid. Saren is, mind you, one of the more political Spectres. I prefered to keep most of my investments lower key and be the right turian in the right place at the right time rather than try to influence planetary politics."
It was clear to Etel that Nihlus was remembering this sadly as the turian Spectre shut his omni-tool off and the image faded. "Not all Spectres operate in the same manner. Some use very little in the way of additional assets, others focus on building large scale networks to supply themselves and their allies for missions. Some are political animals, some focus on being soldiers, some forgo battle entirely and stick to pure espionage and relay targets to fellow Spectres more inclined towards combat. There is no one singular judge of what makes a Spectre."
The two Spectre candidates paused, glancing at each other briefly. Etel's mind was wondering where she would be able to supply herself. Sure, she could always ask her family for help and she was fairly certain they would, but that would put them at risk as well if the paper trail was followed.
"So, that's why we only have a limited amount of budget for the special munitions then," Williams finally said.
"Correct," Nihlus answered. "And for the record, go ahead and find an ammunition that you would ideally want for each weapon you use. We can sit down and sort through who actually needs what and see what we have later."
Etel nodded. "I understand."
"Good," Nihlus said as he looked up as the lift from the engineering bay stopped. "Also, this was strictly between the three of us."
The two nodded as Nihlus walked away.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Four Hours Later
Ashley folded her arms as Joker was counting down the FTL disengaging for their arrival in the Knossos System. She was in the CIC along with Anderson, Shepard, and Nihlus as to see what they were up against, and had already put their armor on. "FTL sequence finishing in five, four, three, two, one… disengaging!"
The Normandy dropped out of the FTL and Joker instantly activated their stealth systems. Anderson, now standing on the platform over the CIC's main display, had decided to play it safe this time and do passive scanning first. After a few minutes of letting the sensors work as they approached Therum, he glanced up.
"Joker?" Anderson asked.
"Well, whaddya know, comms are jammed. Anyone noticing a pattern here?" Joker answered, sounding annoyed. "There's a geth signature on the surface. Looks like a frigate, based on data from New Syracusae. Picking lots of smaller readings on the surface too. It seems to be in the middle of unloading cargo, but I'm not detecting any other ships."
"Get us in close, but keep the stealth system up. Who's on gunnery now?" Anderson asked.
"That would be me, sir," Jenkins voice came over the radio. "Do you want me to get a firing solution?"
"Yes. Get us a clear shot at them," Anderson responded, before turning to Pressly. "Pressly, check for a possible landing site or barring that, a location where we can drop the Mako."
"Aye aye, captain," Presley nodded and began to look over the data.
"We should take the Mako anyways," Nihlus chimed in. "T'Soni is liable to be in one of the prothean ruins given the information we have," Anderson simply nodded.
"Firing solution acquired, sir. Joker is moving us to position," Jenkins reported as the Normandy began to approach an orbital position. "Firing position acquired; ready to fire on your command."
"This will reveal us to the geth on the surface, though," Joker warned. "I mean, I can move us elsewhere, but they'll know that someone's hunting them."
"I don't think it will matter much at this point," Anderson retorted before he grinned. "Jenkins, chap on the planet. Five rounds rapid."
"Guns, guns, guns!" Jenkins warned. Seconds after, Ashley felt the slight tremor as the Normandy's main cannon fired five times in quick succession. The group waited silently as the shots crossed the space between Normandy and the planet, burning into the atmosphere and impacting on the surface. A few seconds later, Joker spoke up again.
"Confirmed hit. Looks like we got them. The frigate itself is in pieces and the other contacts are scattering like cockroaches."
"Good. Get us up close and drop the stealth. Raise the kinetic barriers to full power and maintain the firing line on those other signatures. Prepare to fire if needed," Anderson ordered. "Williams, get the team ready for the deployment."
"Aye aye, Captain!" she answered and saluted. Shepard and Nihlus both nodded to Anderson and the three hurried down to the engineering bay.
"Nihlus," Anderson said over the shipboard comms as they were taking the lift down to the engineering bay, "I'm going to contact the capital and see if they need help, or maybe locate T'Soni."
"Understood," Nihlus answered. "We'll split into two teams if needed."
"I think we got the geth before they really deployed," Ashley commented. "They were still unloading that frigate."
"Maybe, but who knows how many other ships were here before," Shepard pointed out. "I'd like to think we got them before they turned the place into a warzone, though."
"Hope for the best, plan on the worst," Nihlus said as the lift came to a halt and opened. "Served me well so far. If needed I'll have Lieutenant Alenko take a second team elsewhere, but until we know more be ready for anything. I want you two with me for this one," They stepped out of the lift where the rest of the ground team save Jenkins were already in their armor and had their gear ready.
"Jenkins will be down as soon as they rouse Serviceman Pakti and get him on station," Kaidan said as he walked up and gave a brief salute.
"Good," Nihlus said with a nod as Ashley and Shepard grabbed their weapons from their lockers.
Once they were all kitted and Jenkins had joined them, Anderson's voice came again. "Nihlus, I just spoke with Governor Oleg Vodnik at Nova Yekaterinburg. He says that after a large cruiser took out their surface-to-orbital batteries, the geth hit an Eldfell-Ashland Energy industrial outpost on the other side of the planet and killed the miners and security there. They seem to be using it as a staging ground. They're also asking for us to refrain from further orbital strikes as the region is geologically unstable."
"Understood," Nihlus answered. "No cities under attack?"
"Negative on that," Anderson elaborated, "It seems the geth are focused on a series of prothean ruins, while the cruiser withdrew due to battle damage. He also sent us some security footage from near those ruins that made no sense to him. The Collectors seem to be at the ruins itself."
"What about the cruiser?" Nihlus asked. "We didn't pick it up earlier."
"It wasn't a geth ship, the governor could say that much. He's been paying very close attention to recent events and studied the ship profiles extensively. He is also sending the footage of it that he has now. He suspects it's a Collector ship and from the way he described it, I'm in agreement."
"Not good," Ashley said worriedly as she considered how frigates usually stacked up against cruisers, particularly lone frigates. "It could be back at any moment."
"We can't focus on that now," Nihlus said as he looked at her. "We need to focus on our objective. Any word on T'Soni, Captain?"
"Governor Vodnik is having an aide perform a file search on T'Soni to see where she went, but that'll take some time."
"Unnecessary, the ruins are where T'Soni is," Shepard said confidently, slamming her right fist into her left hand. "The Collectors seem to always go for the main objective while the geth cover them and run interference. T'Soni is Benezia's daughter, that's their target."
"Well, let's drop right on them then," Wrex grumbled. "Surprise them now."
"Can't do that," Anderson answered, "the geth seem to have set up a series of mobile Triple-A batteries on the surface near there and the nearest landing zone is a few kilometers out. We can take the anti-air fire if we're further out, but dropping right into the ruins isn't an option by sheer space, even if the AA wasn't there."
"Then land us as close as you can and we'll drive the rest of the way," Nihlus said, "And stay ready, if the area is geologically unstable we may need a fast pickup."
"Understood. Also, the industrial outpost is directly on your route to the dig site and has a jammer. It seems to be the source of the communications jam now that their ship is gone."
"Take that out, and the Alliance can spring reinforcements," Ashley pointed out with a slight smirk. "They might even be able to intercept that cruiser if we hit it fast enough."
"Then let's take it out before they try to use it to employ more direct forms of electronic warfare," Nihlus said firmly. "Everyone understands the mission?"
"Clearly," Ashley said as everyone else gave an affirmative.
"Good," Nihlus said with a nod. "Grab any extra gear you need and get on the Mako."
Ashley grabbed a modular rebreather for her helmet before boarding. Everyone else had gotten on board first, and Jenkins was giving her a quizzical look. "What? I'm the only one who's going to seal up?" she asked.
"Why do you need to?" Jenkins asked with a frown as he looked at her from the gunner's position, "I thought Therum's atmosphere was breathable."
"It is, but it's also hotter than the Normandy after an extended stealth drive test," she retorted as she edged her way through the troop hold and sat in the driver's seat.
"You just want something resembling AC, don't you?" Kaidan commented with a half grin.
"That, and I'd rather not argue with brimstone given where we're landing," she retorted. "You can only walk up to the edge of a lava pool in fiction without convection being a pain."
"Well, I'm sealed anyways," Tali remarked with what Ashley swore would had came with a smug smirk.
"Williams has a fair point though," Shepard chimed in. "The Mako has some backups, right?"
"Yeah, they should be in the box behind the driver's seat," Ashley answered before pausing. "Though, I don't think we have any turian or krogan ones."
"The turian system is built into our helmets," Garrus commented, "we just deploy a visor and turn it on."
"The Hierarchy decided it was easier to do that instead of a modular version," Nihlus elaborated in response to the strange looks he received from the Alliance Marines as Joker warned they were approaching the drop zone.
"Right," Ashley said as she checked the Mako's systems; fully repaired since New Syracusae. Adams had been thorough in his repairs.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Therum Surface
4 Kilometers from Prothean Ruins
Nihlus grunted as the Mako landed roughly on the surface. Joker had dropped them quickly and he could hear the impacts of long range anti-aircraft artillery firing after the frigate as it sped away into orbit.
"Are landings always this rough?" Tali asked as her hands were flying across her suit's face plate like she was checking for cracks.
"Sorry, we just dropped a hundred meters in free fall," Jenkins answered as he leaned down from the gunnery position. "Only so much you can do about gravity."
"Don't worry," Alenko added, "the eezo core will keep us upright. Unless we land nose first or don't have enough space to bleed our momentum, we shouldn't wreck ourselves."
"And if we don't have enough space to halt?" Vakarian asked worriedly.
"How many gun emplacements does turian heaven have?" Williams asked, earning a brief chuckle from the rest of the crew as Nihlus activated his omni-tool and synced with the tactical map display from the Normandy as well as the Mako's own sensors.
I need to talk to Shepard about building camaraderie, Nihlus thought as he observed the discussion while setting up the link. Williams has been doing good job welding the team together, while Shepard seems to still carry that "Leaders lead, grunts follow" baggage. She'll need to drop that before it becomes an issue.
"Commander Williams, Spectre Kryik," Pressly's voice came in over the Mako's comms and cutting off the mirth, "we'll provide as much tactical data as we can from up here, but the geth are jamming our scanners and may also adjust for our comms as well."
"Understood, we'll make due," Nihlus answered as he nodded at the display, primarily geographic information and the location of the industrial outpost. "The industrial outpost is to the west," he said as he looked towards Williams in the driver's seat. "Head north around the lava lake and then come back down along it; by the looks of it we're on something resembling a road."
"Understood," Williams answered as the Mako began accelerating along the rocky surface of Therum. As they drove up along the lake of lava, Nihlus noticed there were fuel lines. So did Shepard as she was looking at the omni-tool's display.
"I'm guessing these fuel lines go to the outpost?" Shepard asked.
"Probably," Jenkins answered. "No idea until we actually see it, though."
"It's too quiet," Wrex rumbled as they circled around the lake in a lazy U-turn, "The geth know we're here. They should…"
An explosion from the outside cut the krogan battlemaster off. Nihlus looked down at the map and saw their welcoming committee: an Armature class geth unit along with an escort of infantry. "Williams, evasive maneuvers. Jenkins, clear away the escorts before tackling the Armature."
"Got it!" Williams and Jenkins both answered as Jenkins fired the main gun at a Destroyer, hitting it directly and scrapping the upper half of the body before he switched to the machine gun and mowed down the other troopers. The simpler geth infantry attempted to scatter and threw themselves to prone positions, but there was only so much that a smaller profile could do against vehicular firepower. Jenkins used short, quick bursts as he lined the machine gun up with each one, occasionally using the main gun as it reloaded.
"Geth infantry down!" Alenko called out when Jenkins finished the last one off as Williams ignited the Mako's jets to launch them clear of a pulse from the Armature and continued to drive erratically to avoid enemy fire.
"Damn it, missed!" Jenkins shouted as a shot at the Armature went wide and hit the mountainside. "Can you keep it steady LC?"
"Sorry," Williams answered as she turned the Mako to avoid the lake, "just aim for the center mass, forget about trying to disable the gun!"
Jenkins fired again as the main gun reloaded and followed it with the machine gun, eating away at the Armature's shields while the Mako proved to be too quick for it to fire back at with its pulse cannon. Several impacts off the Mako's kinetic barrier reminded them that Armatures had more than their pulse cannons to fight with.
"Taking machine gun fire from the Armature!" Alenko warned, "Shields are holding, though. Armature's trying to move as well."
"Too slow," Jenkins retorted as the machine gun was cooling down and he fired the main gun, hitting the walker directly in the center and shattering the last of its kinetic barrier protection. "Alright, it's shields are down!"
"Hurry and finish it off," Nihlus ordered. "Williams, get us moving past it!" We're taking too long, Nihlus noted. We could have moved on already, but Williams seems to still fear losing members of the team. She can't be afraid to take risks, or she might as well stay in the military rather than become a Spectre.
The Mako turned around and drove towards the Armature's side and it turned to follow, firing ahead of them. Williams ignited the booster jets again, launching them over the blue pulse as Jenkins fired another round at it, staggering the walker.
"One more shot," Jenkins muttered as they passed it and fired, hitting the Armature and causing the four legged walker to collapse, the singular optic fading as the head crashed into the ground.
"Good job," Nihlus said with a firm nod. "That's one less patrol to deal with. Williams, keep us moving to that industrial outpost."
"Jenkins, let the gun cool down while the autoloader gets to work with the replacement rounds," Alenko chimed in as he was working on a console up front.
"Yes sir," Jenkins answered as he released the controls.
Driving around another small lake of lava in the twisting valley, they quickly came to the outpost and Nihlus recognized it immediately as a refinery - likely a fuel refinery of some sorts given the pipes they had passed.
"Whoa! That's a lot of heavy turrets!" Williams shouted as the Mako came to a halt and began reversing as multiple mass accelerator rounds fired their way, narrowly missing. One turret hit the Mako and an alarm began beeping.
"Shields down!" Alenko warned as Jenkins fired at one of the turrets and Williams turned the Mako. "I don't think we can't take that strongpoint head on!"
"Maybe we can find another way in?" Shepard offered as the Mako rattled again from a near miss with a mass accelerator turret.
"Those turrets look freshly deployed," Tali commented, looking at her own omni-tool as Williams ducked the Mako behind a hill on the right side, "probably means that they had to rush it; there may be a weak spot in the perimeter."
"Sounds good to me!" Williams retorted. "Anyone have any preference for which way?"
"I think you ducked us into a side route," Jenkins said as another mass accelerator - a single one from the sole impact - fired into the hillside they had hidden behind as their kinetic barrier was slowly recharging.
"Take it!" Nihlus ordered. Williams answered by turning the Mako into the side passage and driving along. It was a short passage but it lead them left and then right into the refinery. A single turret blocked the approach into it directly. Williams needs to seize the initiative and not wait for the team to agree, she needs to be willing to throw her weight around, Nihlus noted. Still, she is a capable leader when given a command; otherwise she would be a grunt like Jenkins, not an officer.
Jenkins fired the main gun at the lone turret and Williams launched the Mako into the air as soon as Jenkins finished firing. The main cannon hit the turret and blew off part of the armor. Nihlus turned to the Mako's occupants. "Drive us into the compound and park it, Williams! We'll clear the facility out on foot! Jenkins, stay on the gun!"
"Got it!" Williams answered as the Mako landed roughly, throwing them all around as Nihlus shut down his tactical display and reached for his shotgun while everyone else moved to grab their weapons. They drove forward and Jenkins finished the turret off as they drove past it.
Entering the refinery complex, there was over a dozen geth infantry waiting for them and more coming from the other buildings. Four geth drones were coming from the left side of their entrance, but a quick shot from the Mako's cannon set off a nearby fuel cell and blew the geth away. The resulting smoke and debris obscured the Mako as it came to a halt and the rear hatch opened. The team stormed out and rushed to what cover was available as dozens of rounds shot towards them from around the jammer.
"Heavy geth fire from the jammer!" Nihlus warned as he opened fire to suppress the geth surrounding the jammer in the center of the facility. The jammer was surrounded by metal fortifications and hex shaped kinetic barriers. Tali and Garrus took cover next to him, shotgun and sniper rifle in hand respectively, while Shepard used her biotics to throw a smaller fuel cell towards a pair of geth on their left flank. The fuel tank exploded and incinerated both geth.
"Destroyers at the far gate!" Williams warned as she and Kaidan exited the Mako as Jenkins continued to fire away. The Mako's kinetic barriers held up against the small arms fire impacting it but a rocket made a hit and rocked the IFV before Jenkins turned the gun towards the geth trooper that had fired it.
"I've got it!" Wrex shouted as he charged forward at the two larger, red painted geth storming out of the far gatehouse and directly towards them. There's some initiative, Nihlus noted with a hint of amusement as the krogan collided with the first one, stopping it and knocking it backwards.
Nihlus fired at the other Destroyer that peeled to its right to avoid the collision. Activating his omni-tool, Nihlus overloaded its remaining kinetic barriers as Shepard and Williams both unloaded into it with their assault rifles. Wrex then grabbed the first Destroyer's arm and pointed its flamethrower at the other one as it tried to fire it, spraying the second unshielded Destroyer and setting the outside of the fuel tank on fire.
"Get down!" Tali warned after firing her shotgun. Nihlus ducked as a grenade exploded in a blue pulse above them and both their kinetic barriers dropped.
"Shit," Vakarian muttered as his sniper rifle was venting heat after he picked off a geth sniper at the jammer, "That wasn't a normal grenade!"
"Disruptor grenades?" Tali offered as she activated her omni-tool and manually restarted her suit's kinetic barrier system.
"Maybe," Nihlus said as he finished his own manual shield boost and leaned out of cover, firing a burst down at the geth hiding in the jammer and hitting one of them. "Jenkins, direct your fire at the jammer! Suppress the geth there!"
"Roger!" Jenkins answered as the Mako's turret turned. Machine gun fire and a shot from its main gun scythed into the geth jammer, suppressing the infantry there and wrecking the hex barriers they had activated. An explosion to the side briefly concealed Wrex, but the krogan came out of it with only burn marks on his armor and helmet while the Destroyers were both down.
"Vakarian, Tali, Wrex, focus on the geth at the far gatehouse!" Nihlus ordered. "Shepard, Williams, on me! We're taking the one to the left!"
The team split, with the krogan battlemaster charging his target with a biotic barrier surrounding him while Vakarian began to lay down sniper fire at the windows. Taking effective sniper fire, the geth stayed down as Wrex closed the distance.
Nihlus leapt over the rocks he was using as cover and rushed towards his target gatehouse, Williams and Shepard behind him and firing their assault rifles to suppress the defenders. Nihlus activated his jet boots, launching forward and crashing into a geth trooper rising from behind a fence.
Knocking the grey armored synthetic down with the impact of his own body, Nihlus put a few rounds into its head, punching through the weakened kinetic barrier and wrecking its singular eye. Another geth trooper took a shot at him, but his recharged kinetic barrier caught it. Before it could do more damage the two Spectre candidates filled it with bullets from their rifles and caught up to him.
Nihlus gave them a quick gesture and they took a position at the door and he switched to his shotgun, nodding for them to do the same as Tali mentioned over the radio that they were driving the geth out of the far gatehouse.
"Go, go, go!" Nihlus ordered as the other two had their shotguns ready and the three rushed inside. Two more geth troopers tried to stop them but collapsed under the spread of shotgun pellets from the trio, white conductive fluids staining the metal flooring. Nihlus nodded to himself just before the gatehouse rocked from several explosions on the outside.
"The turrets outside are firing on us?!" Shepard shouted in surprise as she put her hand on the wall to avoid falling over.
"Guess they thought they could punch through and kill us," Williams offered as they ducked back into the refinery courtyard. The jammer was the only geth position still active as Wrex threw a white armored geth trooper out from the gatehouse he had stormed himself and Jenkins was firing on the jammer. It was damaged, but still functioning and the geth seemed to have set their fortifications up to protect them from shrapnel.
"Jenkins," Nihlus said as he activated his personal comms, "stand by to cease fire on the jammer."
"Roger that," Jenkins answered. A few geth were still in cover, but the Mako was keeping them suppressed and their hex barriers were long since ruined.
"On my mark, we storm it," Nihlus said to the two women next to him. The two nodded and he glanced over at the geth jammer. "Jenkins, cease fire," the Mako stopped firing. "Go!" Nihlus ordered, and the three sprang forward with shotguns in hand. Williams threw a grenade at the jammer, the disc shaped charge landing under the areas that the Mako could hit and detonating. While it did little damage to the jammer itself, the more precise explosion into the cramped quarters kept the geth fire down long enough for the three to leap into the fortifications.
Nihlus grabbed a geth drone that had the misfortune of having its back turned to him and tripped it before shooting it in the back. Meanwhile Williams and Shepard moved around the other side of the jammer to clear it. Nihlus continued to destroy the geth stragglers, shotgun blasts punctuating the geth fire and his kinetic barriers were depleted in the brawl. He soon found himself face to face with his two candidates and a small pile of wrecked synthetics throughout the jammer. Both women also had several new marks on their armor, and there were a few holes in Shepard's tabard. Williams was applying medi-gel to her wounds as Nihlus could make out a few small spots of red where she had been hit.
"Two managed to react in time with shotguns," Shepard explained, "Barriers and armor mostly caught it, though."
Nihlus nodded as others began calling the area clear. "Now, let's find out how to shut this thing off," Nihlus said as he looked at it. Despite the damage it had taken from the Mako, it was still operational.
"Tali, get up here," Shepard said as she keyed her headset. Nihlus tilted his head towards the knight. "She's the best we have for hacking."
Nihlus nodded as Williams leaned on one of the geth barricades as she checked the rest of her injuries. Tali made her way into the fortified jammer and walked around it before finding a power source.
"Oh that's brilliant," Tali said in an amused tone as the four were standing around the field generator.
"What?" Williams asked, looking up as she finished tending her wounds. "Huh, it looks like it wasn't finished."
"That's because they haven't even plugged in half the turrets," Tali explained before laughing.
"Hah!" Shepard smirked. "We finally caught them flat-footed for once.."
"Can you take it out?" Nihlus said sternly, cutting off Tali's laughter, though it did feel good to catch the geth off guard for once. I guess it takes four tries, he decided.
"No problem," Tali said as she opened up the control panel and began fiddling with it. "Let's see… Perfect! I can even disable the turrets from here."
"I thought they weren't plugged in," Williams added as she tilted her head. "Don't they have their own power?"
"They do, but I can access their local neural net and interrupt the turrets," Tali elaborated as her omni-tool glowed briefly and she nodded. "Just send the command and…"
The refinery suddenly fell silent and the jammer stopped humming. Nihlus glanced around and nodded to himself. "Good work."
"Thank you," Tali said when she paused and looked down at her omni-tool. "Um, Spectre Kryik, you may want to see this."
"What is it?" Nihlus asked as Tali activated her omni-tool and held her hand up so they could see what it was displaying. On one side of the transmission was Matriarch Benezia, on the other a geth platform and an armored Collector.
"The Collector looks like the kind we faced at the beacon back on Eden Prime," Williams commented as she saw it. "The thing that took way too much firepower to bring down."
"And if there was doubt about Benezia being in league with Saren, it's gone now," Shepard added with a slow nod. Nihlus gestured for Tali to start the recording.
"Have you found her yet?" Benezia began as Tali played the recording.
The Collector answered something unintelligible, sounding like an insectoid buzz with both mechanical and organic components contributing to the alien's voice.
"A Praetorian would be able to bring down those energy fields. Use one."
The geth answered next, the usual clicking noise of their language.
"No, do not assemble it in front of Liara. Doing so would traumatize her beyond usefulness. If we are to use her expertise, she must be sane. Bring it through the tunnels and then destroy the barrier before bringing her to us."
The Collector answered again.
"The delay is acceptable if we get her to help us. Her expertise would be extremely useful in the hunt for the Conduit. As soon as the repairs are finished the cruiser will return..."
"It degrades here," Tali commented. "I only managed to catch it because it was still in the local network before they could purge it. They seemed more concerned about schematics and troop numbers than this."
"So, T'Soni is not with Saren," Shepard commented as she put a hand to her helmet's faceplate as if she was rubbing her chin thoughtfully.
"Not yet anyways," Williams commented as she glanced towards the far gatehouse. "Though I don't like hearing about something called a Praetorian. Sounds bad, like they're getting out big guns."
"Those cannon husks, maybe?" Tali offered. "Praetorian might be their designation."
"No," Nihlus said as he shook his head. "Their firepower was not too far removed from a common missile launcher or small cannon. This sounds like something bigger, like it's a major investment of resources that they normally don't use. Like sending a tank to do a task you usually give a squad of infantry."
"Brilliant," Shepard muttered. "What about those geth turrets? They're down right?"
"They are, but we may want to have the Mako blast the turrets just in case. Stop the geth from reactivating them later and such."
"What about just disabling them manually?" Shepard asked. "Salvage them later."
"I'd be more comfortable destroying them," Williams answered as she folded her arms. "We can always study the wreckage and I'd rather not accidentally introduce geth into our own servers. Or get blown up by those guns on the way out if the geth reactivate them."
"We'll wire the jammer to blow," Nihlus said, "but if you can disable the turrets outside, do so. Have Vakarian on overwatch."
The quarian nodded and walked off as Nihlus unslung a set of demo charges from his belt and began wiring the jammer.
"Commander," Joker's voice cut in and Williams put her hand on her headset, "The jamming is gone and we're picking up some really weird readings a few klicks away. Really strange, off the damn charts. It's at the dig site."
"Copy," Williams said as she looked up. "Be advised, the enemy cruiser is going to be coming back so stay alert."
"Roger that," Joker answered and Nihlus nodded to her as she took her hand off her helmet.
"Ground team, this is Anderson."
"Go ahead," Nihlus answered.
"Adams did some preliminary analysis with the information Governor Vodnik provided; are you sure that it's a cruiser?" Anderson asked in disbelief.
"Matriarch Benezia identified it as a cruiser in an intercepted transmission," Shepard answered as she keyed her helmet comms.
"If so… then it's far too large for the firepower it has," Anderson finally said. "The thing is at estimated at being almost twice as big as one of our dreadnaughts, but from what we can tell it's not at that level of firepower with its guns. More than enough to destroy the local surface-to-orbital batteries, certainly, but not enough to classify it as a dreadnaught."
"That explains why they need the geth, then," Williams commented. "If their cruisers are that inefficient…"
Nihlus shook his head. "We don't know enough to make that call," he chided, though it was a sensible conclusion. "Either way, we should regroup with the others and move on."
"Be wary," Anderson warned, "If that ship shows up we may have to bug out."
"Understood," the Spectre answered as he re-keyed his comms, "Wrex, can you get the gate forward open?"
"Sure thing," the krogan answered gruffly.
Two minutes later, they were all back in the Mako and driving onwards. Tali had disabled the geth turrets without incident and Wrex easily opened the gates, and the injuries they had taken (mainly Garrus, who took several rounds that punched into his shoulder) had already been tended to. Nihlus brought the others up to speed, warning them to be ready for anything and that T'Soni was to be considered friendly unless told otherwise.
"So, T'Soni is innocent in all this?" Alenko asked as he restocked his medical kit from the Mako's on board kit.
"For now," Williams answered as she turned the Mako to keep them out of the lava as they approached what looked like an isthmus splitting two rivers of lava.
"Ground team, geth dropship inbound on your position!" Pressly warned.
"I see it! And a geth patrol!" Jenkins warned. "Including an Armature!"
"Take it out!" Nihlus ordered.
"Wait, that dropship's landing!" Alenko warned. "It's not dropping more geth off, it's landing and… opening the cargo bay?"
"They're pulling out!" Williams said. "Jenkins, fire at 'em! Take a few out!"
Jenkins had fired before she had finished giving the command, hitting the Armature and knocking a geth infantry drone apart from the shockwave as the dropship turned its gun towards them. Williams moved the Mako clear before it was hit and the kinetic barrier easily took the shrapnel from the miss as the dropship lifted off.
"Why are they retreating?" Shepard asked uneasily. "I don't like this."
"Me neither," Nihlus answered as he tapped his omni-tool. "Normandy, come in. What's the status on those geth dropships?"
"It seems that they're trying to consolidate," Pressly answered. "We see one of them unloading an anti-air battery that was located three kilometers to the west of the dig site at the dig site itself."
"Same with the patrols," Joker added. "Scanners are picking up two dropships going for the distant patrols. I think that whatever they want, it's still at the dig site. We can try to buzz them if you want."
"Let Captain Anderson decide that, but if you can blow those dropships up we'd appreciate it," Nihlus answered. "Williams, get us to the dig site ASAP."
Williams simply answered by revving the engine and driving the Mako forward along the path at full speed, slowing down only for turns.
"So Tali," Alenko said as they approached a tunnel, looking back from his seat, "Are there any quarian noble houses? I mean, there's been quarians in the Empire for centuries, right?"
"No, there aren't any," Tali answered with a shrug. "The closest to that there's been is a few romantic relationships between a quarian and a member of a noble house, but that's by individuals, not whole families."
"And almost all of those relationships include individuals like myself," Shepard added as they entered the tunnel, "Fourth children or others who aren't likely to rule a fief."
"No offense intended, but it sounds like quarians are second class to me," Jenkins commented.
"None taken," Tali answered. "Though if any noble house is going to end up being non-human, quarians will probably be the first ones there."
"Still," Williams remarked as she guided the Mako down the tunnel, "it's something to keep in mind. It's been three hundred years and no quarian has risen to a position of leadership? That seems suspicious to me."
"Earning a noble title is extremely difficult," Shepard explained as she leaned forward and looked towards the marines. "It's happened before, but it's very rare. Only the most extraordinary can do it. Most of the time people earn an aristocratic title for doing well, but to go above and beyond that? Far enough that it results in a new noble house being formed?" Shepard shook her head. "In the last hundred years I could count how many have done it with one hand."
"Wait, noble titles can be earned?" Jenkins asked in surprise before firing the main gun. "Geth patrol, two troopers, both scrap now."
"Good initiative," Nihlus complimented before turning back to his omni-tool, replaying the intercepted transmission from the refinery and only partially paying attention to the chatter in the Mako and the occasional two or three man geth patrol they blew away on the way to the dig site.
"So if noble titles can be earned, why hasn't a quarian earned it yet?" Jenkins asked. "I mean, you'd think there'd be a quarian that good by now."
"There've been a number of quarian admirals in the Imperial Navy," Tali elaborated, "and plenty have earned aristocratic titles, the admirals included since most high ranking officers prove themselves worthy of that."
"That's where most non-Chivalric Order knights come from," Shepard added. "That, and enlisted troops who go above and beyond the call of duty."
"That explains your assumptions with the Captain," Alenko remarked as they entered another tunnel.
"One kilometer out," Williams warned as they moved through the tunnel.
"Then it's time to stow the chatter and split into squads," Nihlus said as he looked at the latest display of the dig site. "The geth have set up their anti-air batteries on the hills around the dig site. However, we won't be able to bring the Mako in, it's too dense."
"What's the plan then?" Vakarian asked as he leaned in and Nihlus switched his omni-tool to display a full map of the dig site. There were two main strongpoint areas, loaded with rocks and other cover. First was an area below the dig site itself, but in their only way up, then a few small buildings at the dig site itself. The anti-aircraft artillery was on the hills surrounding the first area with one lone battery at the dig site itself.
"Vakarian, I want you, Alenko, Wrex, and Jenkins to focus on reaching each AA battery. Plant a demolition charge on each one or otherwise destroy it. Meanwhile, Tali, Shepard, Williams, and myself will advance to the main dig site and deal with the geth there."
"That geth strongpoint on the way up is a killzone," Shepard commented. "We'll have to punch through that one together before we peel off."
Good. She noticed the possible trap, Nihlus thought to himself. "Agreed," Nihlus said aloud and nodded, "but we should split into the separate squads now. We'll hit the first part together, but the rest we have to split up for. Vakarian, Jenkins, once you two are finished I want you two using your sniper rifles to provide overwatch for us if we cannot take the dig site itself and then move to support."
"Understood," Vakarian answered as he checked his sniper rifle again as they came out of a tunnel. Jenkins fired the main gun at a three man geth patrol that was waiting for them, before they could do more than make the kinetic barriers flicker. Half a minute later Williams had brought the Mako right up to the edge of a rock formation with one thin passage through and parked the Mako, opening the door for them to leave the IFV.
"Not sure I feel comfortable just leaving it here," Williams commented as she used her omni-tool to seal the Mako.
"Neither am I," Nihlus admitted, "but we need everyone on that strongpoint."
She nodded as she entered another command on her omni-tool. "Okay then, I locked it. It needs an Alliance code to open, so make sure me, the Lieutenant, or Jenkins are with whoever unlocks it."
"What about a code for all of us?" Wrex asked. "Not even a long term one, just a temporary one."
"We'd need to recalibrate the system," Alenko explained as he put a hand to his chin thoughtfully. "Probably should have done that earlier."
"To be fair we didn't expect to need to leave it behind," Tali chimed in as she checked her shotgun's heat sink.
"We don't have time," Nihlus cut in as he realized this would turn into an extended argument and looked at Williams. "Worse case worse I drag your corpse back here and use your omni-tool. Let's move."
"We could just cut her arm off after she dies," Wrex said with a shrug. "Would be easier to carry."
"Thanks, that's very reassuring," Williams muttered as she checked her assault rifle and the other two Alliance marines looked at each other uneasily even with their fully sealed helmets.
"Move out," Nihlus ordered. "Jenkins, Wrex, take point."
The two moved ahead of the rest of the group, creeping through the rock formation. As they were halfway through the first set of rocks, fire came from the other end. Jenkins ducked behind a rock while Wrex simply started firing his assault rifle. Garrus picked off one of the two geth recon drones watching the perimeter while Tali disabled the other one by overloading its shields and Wrex's assault rifle fire destroyed it.
"Choke point ahead," Jenkins warned as they arrived a narrow passage through the hills to the first strongpoint. The team waited behind the hillside between them and the strongpoint, out of sight of the geth below.
Nihlus nodded. "Vakarian, Jenkins, take up sniper positions and keep any snipers off of us. Williams, Shepard, come in behind us while Alenko and Tali stay behind you two."
"Understood," Shepard answered with a nod and the squad rearranged themselves. Jenkins and Vakarian took up positions behind rocks that jutted out from the passage and began firing their sniper rifles down the slope to suppress the geth.
"Sniper on a watchtower opposite of the strongpoint," Vakarian warned before he leaned out of cover and fired.
"You focus on that, Vakarian," Nihlus ordered as he nodded to Wrex. "Let's go."
The two stormed down the dirt ramp into the strongpoint, firing their assault rifles to suppress the geth infantry that was coming down from the other end on the small valley, from the path to the dig site itself. A sniper round caught Wrex's shoulder, but the krogan ignored it as it only broke his kinetic barrier and simply replaced it with a biotic barrier before charging a Destroyer trying to storm them with a flamethrower.
Nihlus leaned out of cover with his omni-tool and activated it. "Destroyer's shields down!" he called out as the krogan reached it and knocked it onto its backside. Several loud shots rang out into the Destroyer's head as Nihlus moved forward, taking out a geth trooper that had leaned out of cover to try and take a shot at him.
Williams and Shepard were close behind and took up the position that Nihlus had left behind. "Suppress the geth on the ridge!" he ordered as he switched to his shotgun. Wrex had done the same and was making a mess on their right flank, pinning down the geth there. Alenko and Tali were moving down the hill as the two candidates were keeping the geth suppressed and in cover. Vakarian was picking off the snipers, both the one he had spotted in the tower and the one that took a shot at Wrex from the upper ridge.
Which left him to handle the geth ahead with Jenkins' sniper support. "Shock Trooper down!" Jenkins called out over the radio as he hit his mark, leaving a large hole where the geth's lone eye had been.
"Don't radio every kill, Corporal!" Nihlus chided as he rose from cover and knocked a geth trooper out of the fight with a direct hit to the chest before hitting another trooper moving in tandem with the first. He hit the second with an omni-tool launched disc, shocking the platform and causing it to collapse as it was overloaded. He ducked down in time to avoid a sniper round before Vakarian eliminated the sniper on the ridge, the dark brown colored platform falling down the ride and landing head first.
"Snipers down; Alenko, Tali, move forward!" Garrus called as Shepard and Ashley were clearing the ridge themselves as Wrex cleared his side of the geth.
"Jenkins, I'm moving forward," Nihlus radioed as he glanced over and saw the geth moving around in their side of the rocks, eerily reminding him of a flight of birds moving together in the air and adjusting course together. "Watch my back while I get to work."
"Yes sir!" Jenkins answered. Nihlus leapt over the rock and launched into the area the geth were firing from, landing next to a Shock Trooper. The geth quickly deployed a hex barrier to block him, but Nihlus simply blasted it away with his shotgun. His kinetic barrier dropped dangerously low as the white armored geth shot him, but the second burst from his shotgun knocked the synthetic into a boulder before it could do any more. A third burst shot through the shieldless geth's torso and it collapsed.
Nihlus whirled around as a Destroyer and another Shock Trooper leapt in together, but the Destroyer suddenly spasmed with an electric currents running around its body. Meanwhile the Shock Trooper turned on the its larger, red armored comrade, setting off the fuel cell on the Destroyer's back with a shotgun blast and destroying both of them. Impressive, Nihlus noted as he glanced back and saw Alenko and Tali in cover next to Williams and Shepard, turning their omni-tools against the geth on the ridge above now.
Crouching down as he approached another standard geth trooper, he waited for his barrier to finish recharging before reaching over the rock the trooper was hiding behind as it rose to fire. Grappling it by the arm, the Spectre yanked the geth over to his side of the rock before stabbing it in the chest with his omni-blade, wrecking the geth's core components and leaving a gaping hole in its grey armor. Glancing over, he saw an opening and vaulted over, bringing his shotgun up as the two other geth who were slightly further ahead responded to his attack and fired.
Nihlus' kinetic barrier dropped again as he took out the geth on the right with his shotgun and several rounds went into his leg, causing him to land on his chest. He glanced up in time to see the geth trooper that had shot him switching thermal clips and seized the opportunity to strike. Activating his omni-tool, a small disc shot out and hit the geth's rifle, overloading its core components and causing it to spray heat and liquefied metal into the geth's face and interrupting the reload. Seizing the opportunity he grabbed his pistol with his other hand and shot the geth, taking it down before propping himself up against the rock base as his armor began applying combat medi-gel and stimulants to overcome the leg injury.
"The geth are falling back!" Shepard shouted. Nihlus looked up and saw that the few geth left on the ridge had moved back up the hill towards the anti-aircraft batteries surrounding the area. And just like at New Syracusae, they moved back together and traded off the task of laying down covering fire near flawlessly and adapted quickly to additional casualties.
Nihlus nodded as the geth left effective range. "Alright; time to split up. Alenko, take your team and sweep the AA. Shepard, Williams, Tali, you're with me."
The two teams moved up along the ridge, with Alenko's team breaking off towards the tower and making their way up the hill while Nihlus lead his squad up the main passage. They spread out, Williams and Tali on the left side of the path with Nihlus and Shepard were on the right, weapons trained and advancing slowly.
As they approached the dig site itself, Nihlus felt uncomfortable under his carapace as he signaled for the team to close ranks. Something was very wrong here. The AA battery was on the roof of the building to the left which seemed to be the main building for the dig site, the entrance to the ruins was to their far right. The two sites were connected by a bridge above them, but there was also ground level access. A small lava lake was far ahead, and there were crates scattered around, large enough for them to use as cover.
And scattered around the dig site was almost thirty of the strange devices the geth used for creating husks, all of which had bloodstains.
"I think we know what happened to the workers," Williams muttered.
"Oh God, is that how they make those things?" Tali asked in shock.
"Yes, they impale people's bodies and mutilate them with posthumous cybernetics," Shepard elaborated bitterly. "But where are the husks?"
"Benezia mentioned something about assembling something," Nihlus said as his mind wandered back to New Syracusae. "Those cannon husks were," he paused to consider how to phrase it, "assembled, for lack of a better term. But I only saw the very end of the process."
Suddenly, a shape leapt from the bottom of the bridge above to the wall and stayed there, a singular blue eye looked at them from the wall. It was synthetic - a geth, but unlike the normal geth which had armor on their torsos, this geth model was almost entirely made of the synthesised fleshy material used for their limbs. The only solid metal was that which made up their singular optic.
"What the hell is that?!" Williams asked as the strange geth hopped to the ground ahead of them before hopping back up to the bottom of the bridge. Several more came out as well. Realizing they were about to come under fire, they dove into cover as a large ship appeared overhead. Nihlus and Tali hid behind a large crate on their left, while Williams and Shepard were behind the one to the right.
"Dropship overhead!" Tali shouted as Nihlus looked up… and down dropped an Armature and several more geth troopers before the ship sped off.
"Stay down!" Nihlus ordered as the geth infantry opened fire in unison and the strange hopping geth leapt around, firing some gun mounted beneath their eye. The two groups worked together, like skirmishers and firing lines from millenium old historical armies. "That Armature will rip us apart if we're in the open!"
Williams leaned out of cover and fired a quick burst from her assault rifle, hitting one of the geth troopers and dropping its shields before Tali finished it off with her shotgun. Shepard meanwhile tried to catch one of the new geth with her biotics but missed, not triggering the field quickly enough before it hopped away. Nihlus leaned out of cover and tried to overload one of the hopping geth's shields. He hit it, but the geth leapt clear before he could capitalize on the downed shields and vaulted to the top of the bridge overhead.
"Armature firing!" Shepard warned and everyone ducked behind the heavy crates they were using as cover, Tali breaking off an attempted tech attack to avoid the large blue pulse that impacted between the crates they used as cover. Nihlus grunted as the force of the explosion almost knocked him over and he glanced to the side, noting that the building to the left had ideal cover…
"Tali, see that building to the left?" Nihlus ordered as Tali pulled herself back to her feet from the Armature's attack. The quarian nodded as the other team radioed in that they had taken out an AA battery. Nihlus put that to the side.
"Okay, cover me!" Tali said as she looked towards her destination.
Nihlus switched to his assault rifle and leaned out to the right, firing at the geth across the dig site as Tali sprinted over. With the geth focused on him and his two candidates, Tali easily reached the other side and took up a position as the Armature fired again, overshooting and the blue pulse impacted on the hillside behind them.
"Got one!" Shepard shouted as she caught one of the hopping geth with biotics and slammed it into the ground. The strange geth model hit the rocky ground and stayed in place, allowing Williams to shoot it and it powered down.
"Focus on the new geth then!" Nihlus ordered as he shifted to the left side of the crate and picked off one of the geth troopers as it moved forward to closer cover. "Tali, focus on the troopers - we need to clear the area before we tackle the Armature!"
The second team radioed in another AA battery destroyed as they continued to clear away the geth infantry, the synthetics losing cohesion as more and more of their infantry were destroyed. The Armature continued to fire, but whatever the crates they had found for cover were made out of, it was sturdy enough to protect them. Nihlus still did not want to stay pinned down any longer than he had to, though, especially against a war machine like an Armature.
Williams sprinted across the gap between the two crates as Shepard covered her with her assault rifle. Good, they're covering each other, Nihlus noted as he looked at the Alliance marine as her kinetic barrier briefly flashed as it fully recharged.
"Infantry are down and the last hopper is out," she explained as she switched to her sniper rifle. "Any ideas on the Armature?"
"Hang on," Tali said as she glanced up from where she was taking cover. "Do you think you could suppress the Armature and keep it away from me?"
"What do you have in mind?" Nihlus asked as he turned towards the quarian.
"See that AA battery on the far side of the catwalk?" Tali asked. Nihlus leaned out of cover and saw it before the Armature's machine gun forced him back into cover and took out most of his barrier's shields.
"That's risky," Nihlus noted as he weighed the option. "Can you do it?"
"Yes," she answered.
"We can probably cover her," Williams chimed in, leaning out of cover and hitting the Armature with the sniper rifle to no effect save weakening the shields. "But not for very long."
"Okay then. Take out that Armature's shields!" Nihlus ordered as he leaned out and activated his omni-tool, shocking the shields with an overload. The shields held as Shepard began to spray small bursts at it with her assault rifle, but the Armature backed away slightly before switching to its machine gun as the primary weapon.
"Cover me, I'm crossing!" Nihlus said. Williams and Shepard both opened fire together and drew the walker's fire away as Nihlus ran towards where Tali was taking cover and nodded to her, seeing how she was going to climb up. "Okay, stick to the inside and start climbing," he said. "You should be obscured from view until you reach the top."
"Okay," Tali answered, shaking slightly before exhaling and holstering her shotgun before she took a step back and rushed forward, leaping onto the support beams and grabbing the triangularly placed supports in the beam itself.
"Keep up the fire and wear that thing down!" Nihlus ordered.
The three began to trade off who was firing at once, keeping the Armature's fire spread out as the machine gun had to move around to the three different targets. It occasionally tried to fire its main gun, but they simply took cover when it did and moved away from the blast.
Tali lost her grip after one pulse nearly missed Nihlus but she managed to catch another bar before she fell too far and continued climbing. This is insane, Nihlus thought as he leaned out of cover to try and overload the Armature's shields again now that they were weaker. The omni-tool based attack hit and he ducked back into cover as the machine gun was turned towards him.
"It's huddling up!" Williams shouted.
"Just like that one at New Syracusae!" Shepard added as they continued to fire at the walker.
"Tali, hurry!" Nihlus warned as she reached the top. If the Armature got back up before she could finish what she planned on doing…
The next few moments passed tensely as Garrus radioed in that they were on their way to the dig site, but Nihlus was focused on keeping the Armature down as he heard Tali's footsteps as she sprinted across the catwalk above.
"It's getting back up!" Shepard warned.
"Try to keep its shields down!" Williams added as she dropped her overheating sniper rifle and started firing a long burst from her assault rifle. The geth walker stood back to its full height before it a loud whir from above caught Nihlus' attention. He looked up and saw the barrels of the anti-aircraft emplacement mounted above aiming at the Armature before firing rapidly. The impacts blinded Nihlus briefly as he and the others ducked back into cover, but not before he saw the Armature looking up.
When the anti-aircraft fire stopped, Nihlus looked up and saw nothing but burning wreckage and scorched terrain.
"TALI!" Shepard shouted as she looked up at the catwalk, "Are you alright?! Talk to me Tali!"
Nihlus had a comment in the back of his mind as he checked his omni-tool and the suit readouts. Tali's shields were down and the lifesigns were erratic.
"I'm okay!" she finally answered over their comm channel, "Just lost my shields when it tried to fire at me and I think I've got shrapnel in my suit, but nothing that actually punctured. The AA battery's still intact and can be manually operated."
"How?" Williams asked in confusion, "I thought the geth were in their vehicles and gear themselves. Ya'know, machines and all."
"They must have uploaded themselves out of it; all that's left are protocols. They tried to scrub it, but I was able to maintain control and can direct it with my omni-tool."
"Well done," Nihlus said with a firm nod. She was indeed as good as Shepard had described. "Pass the controls to Vakarian once he and his team get here."
"Got it, I'll see if I can find a lift or something."
"That was crazy," Williams said to Shepard as they stood and looked around. "But brave; if that Armature got up just a few seconds earlier..."
Shepard simply nodded in response as the other team joined them.
"Any injuries?" Nihlus asked.
"Just Wrex taking a lot of rounds and healing them himself," Alenko commented. "He pretty much drew all their fire."
The krogan smirked faintly. "The benefits of a strong body," Wrex commented as he idly wiped some of the white fluid the geth used off of his shoulder.
"Okay then. Vakarian, I want you on that catwalk - Tali hacked one of the AA guns and reduced it to manual control, I want you up there manning it in case any dropships try to come in," Nihlus explained. "The rest of you stay out here and man the fort, make sure our exit is clear. I'll take my team down into the tunnels and find T'Soni."
Everyone nodded or otherwise acknowledged the orders and they spread out. Alenko checked both Williams and Shepard as they had taken a few grazing hits from the Armature's machine gun, while Tali found a lift in the dig site's building and used that to get down, talking to Vakarian briefly and gave him the controls for the AA gun. Soon he was standing in front of the tunnel entrance with Williams, Shepard, and Tali on his flank.
"Alright, let's move," Nihlus said and gesture the team to follow them. They didn't get far into the tunnels when Williams gestured for them to stop.
"Movement, fifty meters ahead," she whispered. Nihlus nodded and gestured the team to hug the walls, to take what little cover they could. They waited in silence, until a human appeared from the shadows. Nihlus recognized Alliance markings on the human's armor immediately. He also lacked the breath mask that Williams had on.
"You're not geth?" the marine asked loudly, lowering his weapon before bending over and panting. Sloppy, we could be hostiles, Nihlus thought. However, he did notice that Shepard and Williams, while no longer aiming at the marine, still had their weapons held up.
"No," Nihlus answered. "Spectre Kryik. We are here for doctor T'Soni."
"The asari? She's somewhere down there, but the tunnels are full of bugs! I would not go there," the marine answered in a panicked voice as his eyes darted around wildly, clearly having lost what grip he had a long time ago.
"What's your name and unit?" Williams asked.
"Johnson, Private First Class, 411st Frontier Division," the marine answered, snapping to attention, though his eyes continued to dart around fearfully. "Our job was to look after that asari archeologist while she tried to figure this place out, but then the geth and bugs hit us."
"Collectors, I assume?" Shepard noted. When the marine gave her a funny look she elaborated. "The bugs."
"The big ones, yeah," the marine answered, before looking back at the tunnel and uneasily taking a few steps towards the exit.
"Big ones?" Nihlus asked for a confirmation. The Collectors they had encountered so far were almost all relatively similar in size.
"Yeah, walked on two legs, got guns shooting this weird white shit. Then there were the smaller bugs, the swarms... I barely managed to hide from them in the barrier curtains and get he- You hear that?" the marine suddenly said, turning around and pointing his gun down the tunnel, eyes wide in fear.
The group waited for a moment. Then Nihlus heard it too. The sound reminded him of the buzzers back on Palaven. From the sound of it, they were either close or there were a lot of them. As if on cue, a swarm of what looked like black dots burst from the depths, surging towards them. The marine screamed and opened fire, inflicting no damage to them.
"FALL BACK!" Nihlus shouted and the group started to run. Williams laid down suppressing fire with her rifle while Tali launched a disc from her omni-tool to cover them. But after realizing the rifle fire and Tali's tech attack did not even faze the bugs, they stopped firing and just sprinted out of there.
As they approached the exit, Alenko was standing at the top looking down at them. "What's going on?!" he asked frantically as Shepard threw a biotic attack at the swarm, but Nihlus didn't see if it had any effect. However, Alenko seemed to notice something, tilting his head slightly.
"Everyone outside!" Alenko shouted as Tali was the first out of the tunnel. Nihlus turned around next to the Alliance biotic just in time to see Johnson being caught up by the swarm. It took a moment, but the marine was paralyzed in place, like he was in some sort of stasis field. The bugs kept coming up towards them, however.
"If you've got an idea do it now!" Nihlus urged as Shepard, who was the last one out, sprinted past him. Alenko seemed to be concentrating. He then extended his hands and a biotic barrier covered the entrance. A few bugs managed to escape the barrier after it rose and rushed towards Alenko, but dropped dead before they could reach him. In Therum's open air their bodies burst into tiny flames.
"Good thinking," Nihlus nodded at Alenko, who didn't bother to say anything as he maintained the field and backed away from the tunnel slowly. Nihlus turned to see Williams finishing an explanation of what just happened as she caught her breath.
"So, we've got bugs that can paralyze us in the tunnels. They also don't care about weapons fire. Just lovely," Jenkins commented bitterly.
"At least they don't like the heat," Shepard noted, "and it seems like biotics disturb them."
"Well, this puts a dent on our plan," Williams said as she turned. "We're still heading down there, right?"
"Of course," Nihlus said as Alenko joined them.
"You need a way past those bugs," Alenko commented. "A biotic field seems to be able to keep them back, though. Maybe Shepard could put one up around you?"
"That could work, but I'm not sure for how long," Shepard remarked as she put a hand on her chin; or rather the part of her helmet covering it. "T'Soni may be deep in the tunnels and if the field fails for any reason…" she trailed off and left the rest unsaid.
"Then we change the team composition," Nihlus said as he glanced around the group and nodded to himself. "Williams, Shepard, Alenko, you're with me. We'll head down and find T'Soni. Shepard and Alenko trade off on maintaining the barrier. No biotic usage otherwise, I want you two as fully capable as possible for barrier duty."
"Shouldn't Wrex go with you instead of me?" Williams commented. "I mean, he's a biotic and that seems to be our only defense, so you should take a full biotic squad."
Nihlus looked at her briefly, trying to gauge whether she was trying to avoid the depths or not. No, just worried about the team being trapped down there and helpless, he decided. "A fair point, but we should leave one biotic up here. If there are bugs that resist the heat, Wrex can protect the group up here or lead the second team down if required."
Williams nodded. "Jenkins, once we start heading down grab Johnson and get him to the Mako. He's been paralyzed, so you'll have to drag him."
"Yes ma'am," Jenkins said.
"Otherwise, I want you four to maintain a perimeter," Nihlus continued, though he did approve of Williams' initiative with that order. "Call the Normandy and load both the Mako and Johnson onboard then have them stand by to pick us up. We may need a fast extraction."
Jenkins nodded. "Yes sir, we'll keep the entrance clear."
"Good," Nihlus said as he turned. "Okay then. Alenko, Shepard, I want both of you to make a biotic barrier bubble out here before we head down. Let's make sure you two can do it first."
The two biotics nodded and focused, blue biotic energy shimmering across their biotics before the field expanded from each of them in turn as they tried it. Nihlus nodded as they held the fields for a moment before letting them dissipate.
"As long as you stay inside you should be fine," Alenko said. "But we won't be able to fight while doing it, too much biotic energy, though we should be able to allow you to fire out of it. Also, if the barrier has to take too much fire..."
Nihlus nodded. "Warn us if the barrier is going to collapse so you two can trade off. Don't drop it until the other one is expanding. Alenko, you'll be up first as we head down."
The Alliance biotic nodded, and the four delved into the tunnel once more.
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End Chapter
Author's Notes:
While Nihlus is using the last names for every character, we decided not to do it with Tali, for similar reasons as to why Bioware did the same as they originally intended her last name to be the familiar, sort of like how in ME1 Ashley is almost always referred to as "Williams" in most dialogue outside the romance arc. However, it just didn't roll very well with the dialogue, so we did the same thing Bioware did: just used her first name.
Now, as you are probably asking: Why deploy Seekers on Therum, of all places, if they die in the heat? The answer was one we came up with early to justify why they would not be used on Eden Prime or New Syracusae: Geth ships could not carry them due to not having sufficient life support - after all, the geth didn't build their ships for organics. However, with a Collector Cruiser for this mission, they could bring them and use them underground. We will be explaining it in more detail, but this was something we anticipated being asked. As to why a Collector Cruiser at Therum but not elsewhere - mission parameters. The Eden Prime raid did not call for a massive cruiser as it was supposed to be a smash and grab followed by nuking the beacon for good measure. New Syracusae was likewise intended to be a quick smash and grab which the geth were suited for due to being more tech inclined than the Collectors. Using Seekers there would tip their hand, especially since they would be hitting places with reinforcements not too far out. Here? Well, Seekers are very useful in kidnapping a certain asari archeologist. As for why it didn't stay in orbit - better to perform repairs not where the enemy is liable to jump in with a bunch of troops suddenly. And well… Liara was a little more resourceful than they expected.
As to Johnson, we really just needed a way to show the threat early since they don't have Veetor's data to go on. The biotic bubble idea we figured would work if Kaidan had time to think instead of being nailed before he really knew what was going on.
Also, we want to thank RheasHelm, The Poarter, scottusa1, and dragon matt blue for their reviews.
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Codex: Planets - Artemis Tau - Knossos System - Therum
Colonial Information:
Affiliation: Citadel Space - Systems Alliance
Species - Human
Capital - Nova Yekaterinburg
Colony Founded - 2167 Common Era (2667 Galactic Standard)
Population - 34,000
Therum is a distant but rich industrial world claimed by the human Systems Alliance. Its plentiful heavy metals have fueled the recent manufacturing boom on Earth. Core samples rich with the fossils of simple silicon-based organisms indicate Therum was more habitable in the past than it is at present. Perhaps this explains the many Prothean ruins dotting the surface, most of which have been looted by mining corporations.
Therum is somewhat remote for an Alliance colony, one Mass Relay jump away from the Star Empire border in the Hades Gamma cluster. Military presence at Therum is generally limited to Alliance patrols through Artemis Tau and a standard garrison base for anti-pirate activity despite Therum's contributions to Earth's economy. This is much to the protests of the Russian Federation's representative on the Alliance Parliament who insists the colony should have a greater garrison, particularly given the presence of Citadel archaeological teams seeking to salvage what is left of the ruins after the corporations had finished their looting.
Despite the breathable atmosphere, colonial structures on Therum typically involve airlocks and full seals in order to maintain more hospitable atmospheres for its colonists, due to the sub-Earth pressures and vastly increased temperature. Eldfell-Ashland Energy (EAE), a major Earth mining cologomorate, has invested a considerable amount of resources into this project both for its own facilities and the residential neighborhoods of Nova Yekaterinburg, citing it as a necessary expense for human dignity that all mining corporations should be willing to pay for such colonies. Lesser companies with less resources find themselves hard pressed to match EAE's offerings to those entering the workforce of the colony.
