"Ready, Major," Kyo said while securing his seatbelt after sitting next to his friend. Shiro idly looked at the wall as if it were a window to avoid all of the stares in his direction from nearly everyone onboard. Even behind their tinted helmets, he could feel Quarian eyes burning as they scanned over him curiously. The shuttle launched without a hitch, shaking only briefly as Kaidan left the Normandy in their descent to Rannoch. Unlike a car, he didn't have a rear-view mirror to eye his passengers with and instead turned just enough to get the agent's attention while speaking up.
"What exactly are we looking for down there? You said you need some sort of abandoned Geth tech?"
"I need to interact with one of their bases and use a signal booster to get a lock on Shepard's location. Just because the Geth are no longer online, that doesn't mean the hardware isn't operational." Leliah chimed in with a knowledgeable and enthusiastic tone to her muffled voice.
"Yes, that is true. The Geth didn't directly control every piece of hardware they had. They created simpler programs to use for lesser tasks like AA guns, scanners, and other devices. We've utilized what was left after they…went dark." There was sadness at the mere mention of recent events. "It's very likely that there are several working signal towers which we could modify to boost a tracking frequency from remotely."
"No, I need a more direct interface," Shiro sat up straight only to shake his head in disagreement. "Major Alenko, you were there when Shepard plugged himself into the Geth consensus using the neural link pod, yes?" he asked while moving to stand and grabbed ahold of one of the overhead railings to hover over the pilot. "I can do the same without needing additional assistance, whether there are Geth programs in there still or not. With any luck, I can sync with Shepard's implant and extract coordinates." His grip tightened as the shuttle shook hard when it finally landed on the rocky open terrain and opened its doors.
"…Once you find Shepard, could you even speak to him?" Kaidan asked with some hesitation and a hopeful stare.
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves," Kyo smiled nervously as he wedged himself between the two biotics in fear of another fight breaking out if the wrong answer was given. "He said he might be able to find him is all, so let's just get to where we need to be first." With a nudge, he ushered his companion out of the way first before hopping down himself. The rest of the crew followed until all were on the barren ground. Shiro pressed his lips together as he looked at the horizon of the gorgeous golden landscape. It had been years since he had been out on his own and the dusty air stung his cheeks and eyes as the wind blew sharply through his ponytail, causing it to flap like a flag. Kyo's short black hair only got wisped around a bit while the major's brushed-back style didn't move at all. Still, everyone seemed to be enjoying the breeze as a small land speeder drove up towards them and parked itself a few meters away. On it was a male Quarian in a traditional blue-patterned suit.
"You guys from the Alliance?" he asked, as if expecting other visitors. "Admiral Tali'Zorah informed us that you were coming with a few lost young ones. Would have bought over the bigger transport if I knew there were so many of you."
"It's alright," Kaidan smiled in a much improved mood. "Take the kids down to the compound and we'll head there on foot."
"Roger that. Let me upload the coordinates for the ruins you requested to your omni-tool first. They are actually right behind you, but you can head to the village to the west if you need to stock up on any supplies. Without the Geth controlling the old settlement, we just scavenged what we could, but there's still a lot of refuge in there."
"Is leaving it unguarded wise?" Liara asked.
"Honestly, even with the Geth offline, travelers are still weary of the area. The caves are unstable, so blasting anything buried in sand and stone is out of the question even if some relic hunters are looking for a quick credit. We've regulated a lot of surface tech already to rebuilding settlements and monitor the site remotely, but you're clear to use what you need. It's the least we can do for Commander Shepard." The party's tools lit up as directions were uploaded and even though the siblings seemed weary to leave at first, Kyo took the time to say goodbye properly with a pecked kissed to Leliah's helmet as a thank you. Shiro snorted at the scene and focused instead on heading in the direction of the ruins opposed to the village, but stopped at the edge of a cliff to type away at his screen.
"This seems like a good start. I'll head there alone and cut across the terrain. The rest of you should wait at the village. I'll report in after I've completed the synchronization."
"I'm coming with you," Kyo's smile as he faithfully followed and stood by the agent's side.
"I'm coming as well," added the Asari doctor added, which left only Kaidan standing alone once the Quarians had left.
"We're all going," he grumbled as he walked towards the group after taking in a deep breath to find his resolve. "That's what we're here for."
"That's not very…ideal," Shiro disagreed as he nervously looked to Kyo. "For any of you to come. I can move faster on my own and…" but lost his nerve trying to explain as the sergeant squinted at him, not understanding why he was being distant. "…Let's take the shortcut down then," he sighed before grabbing his friend's hand. Taking a step back, he did a running jump off the steep ledge, taking the helpless passenger with him.
"Are you fucking nuts?!" the singer screamed as he was caught in a free-fall to certain doom, hand-in- hand with his own destroyer. Before splattering on the ground, their bodies floated briefly in a moss-colored hue to land with the force of a small leap rather than the deadly drop which actually occurred. While he roll-bounced after landing, the agent was more graceful and only lightly hoped a few steps before continuing forward as if nothing strange had happened at all. After grabbing Liara, who was only moments away from protesting about doing the same time, Kaidan also took the leap of faith.
"I hope you know what you're doing!" she screamed as they fell together. Just in case, she surrounded her own body in a sphere to slow her fall as Kaidan did the same and landed near the younger members of their group. She leaned over to hold herself up by bracing her palms against her knees as the other biotic looked upward, proud for doing something so reckless.
"I can see why Shepard likes you now. You're actually good at something," smiled Shiro as he stopped so he could be caught up to.
"And what the hell would you know about Shepard?" he was asked roughly, since the major had suddenly become unreasonably offended by the remark.
"It was a compliment. I was just being general…"
"Let's just…head to the building," Kyo suggested to him as a hand was placed on his shoulder to turn him away. Liara nudged Kaidan for attention as they followed and glared at him when she was looked at.
"What?" he asked, still annoyed. "He talks about Shepard like he knows him or something."
"Did you ever consider that maybe he does?" she asked in a hushed whisper. "John did work with Cerberus…"
"No, if he had any kind of relationship with this guy, he would have told me. We didn't keep secrets from each other unlike you did with me."
There was an uncomfortable stare between the two before they both turned away from each other and remained silent for the rest of the walk towards the abandoned outpost. The trip had few dangers outside of scattered wild animals who had taken up territory since the Quarians avoided the unstable area and the Geth no longer patrolled the skies. Kyo managed to mildly impress with his pistol accuracy and unconventional use of his light shield as a melee weapon. Shiro had stuck to minor biotic offensive es as Kaidan only shielded himself with his powers, but made heavy use of his assault rifle. Liara did little fighting with her sidearm or otherwise, more interested in the ancient carvings and architect. She did, however, disposed of a rat-like creature out of annoyance for defecating on her boot. Once they arrived at the structure, everyone was awed at the sheer size of it and its sealed tight door. "How the hell are we supposed to get inside of that thing?" Kyo asked, looking to anyone else for an answer. Kaidan seemed to also be a bit taken back as well and attempted to use his omni-tool as a way to find entrance.
"Of course, there are no windows," he eventually mumbled, but pointed upwards. "There's a vent duct up there we might be able to climb into."
"Not all of us can fly, Superman."
"No need," Shiro stated, already tapping away at his digital screen and took a few steps towards the door. With an extended hand, a light flare hit the dead panel and rippled visually through its internal circuits. After various echoing mechanical sounds from the inside, it shook the ground as it slid upwards. "This way." The major gave a glance to Liara with a head motion for her to follow him before walking towards the entryway. She took a moment to gather both her thoughts and courage before following close behind.