Deus Ex Machina

21. Intelligence

As the Mako zipped along the surface of the moon, Kaidan rechecked his pistol. It was an unfortunate habit he had developed during times when he was nervous, and today he had every reason to be nervous. Ellie had briefed him, along with Williams, on the nature of the mission, and he had strong misgivings about it. From what Hackett had said, it seemed the Luna VI hadn't just gone rogue, it had killed every member on the base too. The only reason he could think of for a VI to do that, was a reprogramming of its ally-enemy command recognition sequence. It would take somebody with exceptional skills to hack and reprogram a VI in such a way. He knew that Ellie had done it before, but only on individual mechs, never on something the scale of the Luna VI. It would take a computer genius to enact such a plan... but it was the only possibility he was willing to consider. The other possibility, that the Luna VI had somehow managed to evolve synthetically into an AI, was too disturbing to even entertain.

Though it had been some thirteen years since he had trained at the Luna base, he could still remember his time there well. The base consisted of three bunkers, each with separate challenges for soldiers to overcome. Various scenarios were acted out within the bunkers, with soldiers being pitted against the VI-controlled drones. It couldn't compensate for actual combat experience, of course, and it couldn't teach combat against an organic foe, but it was a good way to teach new soldiers how to overcome standard synthetic opponents and to learn to work together to achieve a goal.

"I can't believe you turned down a chance to get new Rosenkov armour, commander," Williams said. She was sitting at the mass effect cannon, whilst Ellie was, as usual, driving the Mako. It was where she preferred to be; in the driving seat. In control. Doing things herself. She wasn't so good in situations - such as Edolus - where she had no control. When she lost the ability to control a situation, she tended to go to pieces. Of course, she would vehemently deny her weakness, her one flaw, if he ever tried to point it out to her, so he didn't even bother trying. She was a good CO, and a good friend, and that was all that mattered.

"Alliance officers do not take bribes, chief," Ellie said, not moving her gaze from the HUD.

"But it's not really a bribe, per se, is it? I mean, if you're just accepting the equipment on loan, to test it out and make a recommendation based upon your assessments..?"

"A bribe's a bribe, Williams. The military already have a dedicated testing lab, which is capable of perfectly simulating a variety of environmental and combat conditions. They don't need me to tell them what's best for our soldiers; they have good, solid evidence as proof. If Rosenkov Materials really do make superior equipment, then the tests alone will speak for themselves."

"But there's nothing to say you have to recommend their stuff, even if you trial it, right?"

"It's principle, chief," Kaidan explained. "Once word gets out that you'll even consider taking a bribe, everything you do for the rest of your life is tarnished by that. People will always doubt that you're acting in their best interests, and you'll be swarmed by people who think they can use you for their own ends."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Ash acceded. Her face was lit up in the dim interior of the Mako by the orange and blue cannon console, and there was a dreamy look in her eyes. "Still, Rosenkov armour... I'd give my left arm for that. Maybe my right arm, too. Do you really think there's a chance of the military taking out a contract with those guys?"

"Probably not," Ellie said. "They're far too expensive to kit out every single soldier."

"That's a shame."

"We've lived without Rosenkov armour up until now, and we'll continue to do so in future."

They fell to silence as the vehicle steadily ate up the kilometres. Ellie hadn't want to bring the Normandy anywhere near the defence turrets around the perimeter of the bunker, in case the ship became a target of the VI. Instead, they'd dropped six klicks away - well out of range of the base defences - and opted to approach from as much cover as they could find. Kaidan glanced at his friend as she expertly guided the Mako towards its goal. She'd been... different, since Edolus. Quieter. More withdrawn. Almost as if she was purposely trying to distance herself from him. And the fact that she hadn't opted to let him go on every mission with her merely confirmed his suspicions.

He knew that it was partially because of her new rank. She was a commander now, and she couldn't be seen to be showing favouritism. Any preferential treatment she showed to him would be jumped on immediately and taken as a sign of poor judgement on her behalf. Other people would always suspect that his own achievements were only gained due to her favour, and neither of them wanted that sort of situation hanging over their military careers.

But it wasn't just because of her new rank that she had become distant. There were times when her moods grew darker, and she became withdrawn and tried to avoid company. It always happened at the same time every year, and the anniversary of Akuze was only a few days away. The mood of the Normandy's CO was only going to get worse before it got better, and not even he could cheer her up when she was at her worst of her melancholy moods.

"We're approaching the Luna base," Ellie said. "One klick."

"Charging mass effect cannon," said Williams.

"Main gun standing by," Kaidan confirmed, after consulting his own console.

Suddenly, a warning alarm sounded on one of the navigation consoles, and the display changed from amber to red. Ellie immediately changed direction, heading down into a small trench.

"We've been targetted," she said, her voice calm and factual, though he knew that her adrenaline must be pumping, just as his was. "Once we're out of this trench we'll have to make a run at the base, because there's no more cover. We're a hundred metres until weapons range, so as soon as you have a shot, take it. Aim for the turrets. You'll have to compensate for any velocity changes I need to make. The Mako's shields will take a few hits, but I'd rather not take any chances."

"Aye, commander. I'm ready," said Williams. She was hunched over the cannon console, her shoulders tense and her gaze focused on the targetting scanners.

"Good to go," Kaidan confirmed, hovering his fingers over the main gun controls and keeping an eye on his own targetting HUD.

"Right. Here we go."

Ellie increased the Mako's speed and the vehicle climbed the shallow canyon wall, clearing it in only a few seconds. As soon as it was free of the trench, the defence warning console flashed red again, indicating the enemy had locked onto the vehicle with their weapons guidance systems.

"Hold on, I'm taking us in," Ellie said, changing direction.

The rocket, which had been aimed at the Mako's last position, flew harmlessly overhead, exploding twenty metres away from the vehicle's new location. But the warning console did not change back to amber; several more blips appeared, each of them making their way unerringly towards the Mako. A sheen of sweat appeared on Kaidan's forehead, an internal heat response to the stress on his body as his sympathetic nervous system picked up its pace, preparing him physically for combat.

Ellie turned the Mako again without decreasing the speed, and he felt the slight centrifugal force as the vehicle was spun on its axis. Three more missiles, which had been closing fast on their position, exploded a short distance away, causing the Mako to rock slightly as it sped away from the area. Even with his attention focused on the weapon's systems, Kaidan manged to find time to be impressed by his friend's driving. Even though he often mocked her for it, she was an excellent driver. She always seemed to know when a softer touch was required, and when a vehicle needed to have the hell hammered out of it for best performance. Even when she was performing what seemed like reckless manoeuvres, she never put the vehicle or its occupants in danger. She had the same sort of innate skill with land-vehicles that Joker had with ships, and he was very glad she was the one driving right now. His own driving skills left a lot to be desired. Still, he was capable of lifting a krogan off the ground from a hundred metres away with nothing but a gesture; poor vehicle skills were a decent trade-off, in his estimation. Nobody could be good at everything, not even N7 marines.

Suddenly, his targetting console lit up as the Mako came within weapons range of the defence turrets. He picked a target and began firing, maintaining the weapon in five-second bursts with a five-second cooldown between them, to prevent it from overheating. At this distance the gun wasn't terribly accurate, and by the time they reached their target, the bullets had lost some of their initial velocity. But right now, every little helped, so he kept up the fire as Williams shot the mass effect cannon at ten-second intervals.

With no cover to hide in, Ellie was forced to drive circles around the base, and for a few minutes, her plan worked. Then she swore, and Kaidan quickly realised why.

"It's adapted itself," he pointed out, as the defence turrets stopped aiming at where the Mako was, and started aiming at where it was due to be.

"I noticed," Ellie said, her forehead creasing into a frown. She pulled hard on the Mako's steering controls. "I'm taking us right through the middle of them. I'm not going to get any room to maoeuvre, so whatever you can give me from those guns will be a real help."

His gun's targetting system flashed 200m, and as Ellie took the Mako straight towards the middle of the triangle formed by the three bunkers, that distance rapidly dwindled, until the vehicle was only 50m away from all three turrets. Kaidan selected his target and aimed the main gun, firing several rapid bursts at the enemy tower. He was rewarded with an explosion, and the turret disappeared from his targetting screen. A few seconds later, Ashley fired the mass effect cannon at what was, effectively, point blank range, and took out a second turret.

"Alright!" the chief grinned, enjoying herself far too much. "One more turret to go."

"One more turret, and then the hard work begins," Ellie said drily. "Coming around for another pass. It might not have felt like it, but we took a hit back there, so make this next one count."

"Right, commander."

It was easier to dodge the missiles, now that they were only coming from one turret and not from three. Ellie put the Mako on a straight heading towards the turret above the bunker, narrowing the vehicle's profile and making it harder to hit. One rocket was fired, and she pulled the Mako to the left. When the second rocket was fired, she veered towards the right. By the time the third rocket was fired they were only a hundred metres away from the turret. Kaidan fired the main gun in a long, continuous burst, sacrificing heat absorption for offensive power. It was immediately followed by Ashley firing the cannon one last time as Ellie swerved the Mako right again to avoid the incoming rocket. The turret exploded and Ellie put her foot sharply down on the brakes whilst turning. The Mako slid several metres sideways along the ground, coming to rest five metres away from the bunker's entrance. Switching off the warning console, which was advising a collision was imminent, she shut down the Mako's engine.

"And that's how we take out enemy turrets," she said.

"You have got to teach me to stop a vehicle like that, commander," Ashley said, her voice full of excitement. "I can't believe we didn't hit the bunker. Or that you didn't flip the Mako."

Kaidan shook his head. Women drivers. They were all crazy! What was wrong with coming to a good old fashioned controlled stop? Still, Ellie's driving had prevented the Mako from taking any real damage. The only hit had been taken by the shields, preventing the explosion from affecting the vehicle's body.

"Sure," Ellie replied. "The next habitable planet we find, we can stand Kaidan in a field and I'll teach you how to stop from high speed before hitting him."

"Very funny, commander," he replied. He was fairly sure she was joking.

"Don't worry, LT, I'm a fast learner," Ashley grinned.

"You know," he said, "I'm sure this is bullying. Or harassment. Possibly both."

"EVA time," Ellie said, ignoring his complaint. She pulled her own breather helmet out from beneath the seat. "Suit up."

Kaidan reached beneath his chair and picked up his helmet, pulling it over his head and securing the seals which attached it to his armour. Once all three of them were ready for EVA, and they had tested their radios to ensure they would work, Ellie depressurised the Mako's interior and they began to climb up the small ladder, onto the top of the vehicle.

"Remember," she told them, "Luna's gravitational pull is far less than that of Earth, or the artificial environments we're used to. We may only have to go a few steps, but make sure they're careful ones."

When all three of them were standing atop the Mako, they looked down at the surface of the moon, some few feet below them.

"One small step for man?" Kaidan asked, and he saw Ellie's smile through the clear material of her helmet visor.

"One giant leap for mankind," she replied, and stepped down from the Mako, landing softly on the moon's surface.

By the time Kaidan and Willams were on the ground, Ellie was already making her way towards the door of the nearest bunker. She was feeling impatient; he could tell by the way she moved and spoke, and the way in which she had patiently put up with the diplomats she had been forced to deal with, all the while looking more and more harassed. He thought he understood why she felt as she did; to her, Saren was the biggest threat around. Although Hackett was right, and she was perfectly suited to this task, the Alliance could have found another way. Bombing the facility from orbit, for example, or sending in a full battalion of soldiers would have done the trick. Apparently, he wasn't the only one having similar thoughts.

"Hey commander?" said Williams, taking an extra long stride to catch up with Ellie.

"Yeah?"

"Why didn't Alliance brass just drop a nuke on this place from orbit? I mean, it's not like there's an atmosphere to pollute, and all base personnel are already dead, right?"

"Bombing from orbit is too unclean. It would leave a lot of mess. And there's no guarantees it would work, even if using a nuke. The bunkers have magnetic shielding specifically designed to prevent their computers been taken out by an EMP. The-powers-that-be felt the only way to truly destroy the VI is to physically destroy the system it's using to control the facility."

All three of them stopped at the entrance to the bunker, and readied their weapons.

"This doesn't feel right," Ash said. "Luna is one of our most secure training facilities. For the VI to have gone rogue and killed everybody..."

"I know what you mean," Ellie replied. "Everything about this mission feels wrong. But there's not much we can do about it now. We have a job to do. I'll take point, Kaidan, you've got our six, and remember that the brass still have control of the surveillance system, so they could be watching. Mind your language."

Kaidan scoffed. "Says the woman who swears far worse than any trooper."

"Hit the door control," Ellie told him. "Since we've had confirmation that all base personnel have been terminated, you both have authorisation to shoot to kill. Anything that moves."

"Right," said Ash, gripping her assault rifle tightly.

Kaidan reached out and pressed the door entry button, and a single chime told him that it was about to open. He stepped to one side of the door whilst Ellie and Ash took the other side, pressing their bodies against the wall of the bunker, ready to glance around for enemies. The door slid silently open and Ellie glanced first. She must have seen nothing worthy of note, because she entered, her body tense, and Williams followed her. With a last glance around outside, at the ruined defence turrets, Kaidan followed them in.

o - o - o - o - o

There was darkness, and heat, and a sense of confinement. This must be how babies feel in the womb, Ash thought. She could already feel trickles of perspiration rolling down her forehead, but she ignored them, her eyes making use of every scrap of red emergency lighting available. This was the entrance room, the first area of bunker one, and at present it was filled with storage crates. She was crouched down behind one whilst Shepard glanced ahead, making sure the coast was clear. And when the commander moved forwards by a few paces, taking cover behind a tall stack of the crates, Ash followed, finding her own pile to hide behind.

"Why's it so hot?" she asked, her voice steady despite the palpable tension she could feel lingering in the air.

"Environmental system must be malfunctioning," said Shepard. She briefly consulted her omni-tool. "External temperature is fifty celsius. Our EVA suits can handle worse than this."

"Maybe the VI's trying to bake us alive," Kaidan suggested.

Nobody answered. From what Ash knew of the Luna base systems, which was admittedly very little, it was entirely possible for the VI to be controlling the environmental system. She just hoped that it didn't switch off the artificial gravity - combat in zero-g's was a nightmare.

Shepard moved forward again, and Ash followed, stroking the side of Suzie, her rifle. The base gave her the creeps, and not in a good way. The unpleasant heat, the ominous and sinister red emergency lighting... it was almost as if the VI had studied extranet vids to find out what creeped people out, and then simulated the same conditions. It was probably only a matter of time before it started to make the lights flicker, too. Was there anything more creepy than a flickering light in a hot, dark place? And to think, she had once had fond memories of basic training in this place, of meeting new people, making friends, working with the rest of her unit to overcome the odds. Now those memories were forever ruined, tainted by everything that had happened here during the past three days.

The commander's arm came up, her hand curled into a fist, and Ash froze on the spot, with Kaidan a couple of paces behind her. With her heartbeat pounding in her ears, she watched as Shepard moved forward and crouched down to examine something.

"A body," Shepard said, over the radio.

Ash hurried forward, with Kaidan right behind her, and they both looked down at the corpse. With the whole area bathed in the red of the emergency lighting, it was hard to tell where the blood ended. The man was lying where he had fallen, back against the wall. His face was probably pale, but it merely looked red, and the hole in his chest showed how he had died. She'd never seen anybody killed by rocket-impact before, but there was no denying what had happened here. The man wasn't even wearing armour, or carrying a gun. He was dressed in a plain blue jumpsuit, and when Shepard reached out to search beneath his shirt for tags, there were none.

"Base technician," Shepard said. "Probably running diagnostics whilst the soldiers were training. Poor bastard didn't stand a chance." She tapped her helmet comm button twice, opening the channel to any nearby transmitters. "To whoever is monitoring the surveillance system, this is Commander Shepard of the SSV Normandy. We've entered bunker one of Luna base and discovered the body of a technician who had been dead for several days. We are now proceeding into the tactical area and will soon reach the VI housing units. Will report back once we've retaken control of bunker one. Shepard out."

"Is it just me," Ash said, looking at the body of the fallen man, "or did it just get a lot hotter in here?"

"Deep breaths, chief," said Kaidan, placing a hand on her shoulder. At least, her suit's haptic feedback loop indicated he had put his hand on her shoulder - she couldn't bring herself to look away from the dead man to check. She was no stranger to death. When her father had passed away, she had been by his side, reading to him his favourite poem - Ulysses, by Tennyson. And, on Eden Prime, she had seen death up close. It had stalked her unit, walking amongst the colonists and scientists without discrimination. She had looked death in the face, and seen the geth looking back. But this... this wasn't supposed to be real. It was supposed to be a game, actors on a stage, young men and women little more than boys and girls learning how to fire weapons. Death was not supposed to know about this place.

"The long day wanes: the slow moon climbs: the deep

Moans round with many voices. Come, my friends,

'Tis not too late to seek a newer world.

Push off, and sitting well in order smite

The sounding furrows; for my purpose holds

To sail beyond the sunset, and the baths

Of all the western stars, until I die," she said, wishing she had better words, but not knowing any better than those Tennyson could offer.

"Is that poetry, chief?" Shepard asked.

"Ulysses, if I'm not mistaken," said Kaidan. "Tennyson, right?"

Ash turned and gave him a tight smile. It was rare to find somebody who knew the poem well enough that they could recognise a random section of the verse. Shepard, meanwhile, made a scoffing sound. "You don't like poetry, commander?" Ash asked her.

"Don't take it personally," Kaidan replied for his CO. "She doesn't like verse unless it comes with a catchy beat or some of that Italian wailing she's so fond of."

"It's not that," Shepard replied. "I read The Odyssey for fun, once. Odysseus was a poor leader, and an incompetent captain. He left his wife and son to plunder Troy, and on the way back, managed to get almost the entirety of his crew killed by making too many mistakes and not learning from them. Why anybody would want to idolise the man and make poetry about him is beyond me." Crouching down, she reached out to close the eyes of the dead man. "I hope he finds peace in death."

"Do you believe in the afterlife, commander?" Ash asked. It seemed a strange sentiment, for somebody who didn't like poetry.

"To be honest," Shepard sighed, "I'm not sure what I believe anymore. But talk of death isn't going to get our mission done faster. Let's go."

And just like that, they were back to business. By avoiding looking at the dead technician, Ash was able to regain her focus. Feeling the comforting weight of Suzie in her hands also helped, as did the knowledge that the Alliance brass were probably watching all of this in real-time. Ergo, she had to be at her best. She couldn't afford to let what had happened here affect her. Shepard and Kaidan were relying on her. And now, after all these years, she'd finally been given a place on a ship, she wasn't going to do anything to jeopardise that.

Daddy, I hope I'm making you proud, she thought, certain that he could hear her.

Their small group approached the entrance to the combat training area, and the commander pressed the door button. As it slid open she peered around into the room, then quickly withdrew as several bolts hit door frame beside her face.

"Shit," Shepard swore. "Williams, lay down some cover fire. I'm going to hack one of the rocket drones and see if I can take out one or two of the assault drones. Kaidan, concentrate on overloading their guns."

As both of the more technically-minded people activated their omni-tools and began rapidly entering commands, Ash stepped forward, activating her kinetic barrier and lifting her weapon to firing-height. Movement in the corner of her eye caught her attention, and she fired a burst at the assault drone approaching their position. A few bullets impacted its triangular frame, which began to spark. But instead of advancing it activated its small anti-grav unit and flew up into the air, firing from a new position. She felt stray bullets bouncing off her own shield, and was forced to withdraw to allow her weapon's heat-sink time to cool down. As soon as Suzie was ready, she leant around the corner and took aim once more, finishing off the assault drone that had so rudely tried to assault her. It exploded, but another one quickly took its place, and from the other side of the room a rocket drone appeared, attempting to flank her. She quickly ducked back into cover before it could do to her what it had done to the technician.

"Got it," Shepard said. She activated a program on her O-T and from within the combat area there came the sound of explosions. "Kaidan, how's that overload coming?" she asked impatiently.

"They've managed to adapt to prevent overload. I'm creating a work-around," he replied, his voice sounding strained. "I just need another minute."

"Williams," said Shepard, "see if you can get a count of how many drones are in that room."

"Right away, ma'am!" she replied. With the assault drones occupied by the hacked rocket drone, she slipped into the room and took cover behind a pile of crates. Peering over the top, she took a count of how many hostiles she could see. "Confirmed four assault drones and two rocket drones, including the one you hacked, commander," she reported. "But I can hear weapons fire from further back in the room, in an area I can't get a visual on. Possibly one more of each drone."

"I've got the overload ready, commander," she heard Kaidan say.

"Good job," Shepard replied. "I'm going to hack one of the assault drones, and Kaidan, I want you to execute the overload program at the same time. Williams, you and Kaidan work on taking out the assault drones, and I'll get rid of the rocket drones. Understood?"

"Aye, commander," Ash said.

"Alright. Here we go. Hacking assault drone. Kaidan, execute the program... now. Williams, go!"

Ash pushed herself up, appearing from behind the crates, and took aim at the drones. Most of them were attacking a single assault drone - the one Shepard had hacked - but some of them were just standing there, or floating there, not firing at anything. Those were the ones she targetted first, opting to pick them off before they recovered their ability to fire. As she was shooting, Kaidan appeared beside her, followed closely by Shepard. For several minutes they fought a battle consisting of firing a few rounds and then ducking back into cover. It was a deadly game of cat and mouse, and though the organic fighters were out-numbered, they had something the synthetics did not; true intelligence. When the weapons-fire fell silent, the room was littered with electronic parts.

"That's all of them," Shepard said, emerging from her cover and surveying the room.

Ashley followed suit, and soon wished she hadn't. A dozen bodies lay around the room where they had fallen, some riddled with bullets, others possessing burns caused by close-impact rocket explosions. Most of them had been hit in the back, fired upon whilst they weren't even looking.

"These people..." Kaidan said. "They were massacred."

"Just be glad you're wearing your EVA helmet," Shepard replied, glancing at one of the corpses. "Looks like some of them have started to decompose. "The smell in here must be terrible, especially with the heat set as high as it is."

"I don't recall seeing VI housing conduits the last time I was here," Ash said, to take her mind off the bodies.

"They're in one of the back rooms, which recruits don't normally see," said Shepard.

"But you just happened to have seen them whilst you were training here?" Kaidan asked.

"I might have taken a peek or two, whilst my supervisors weren't watching," the commander admitted. Ash shook her head. She hadn't realised that the hero of Akuze, commander of the Normandy, and humanity's first Spectre, would be such a... delinquent. "This way."

Ash followed Shepard into another corridor, one she had never been in before, towards a closed and locked door. The commander's O-T was put to work, and the door didn't stay locked for very long. When it opened, she found herself looking at several data storage units lined up against the wall; six she counted in total, and they seemed to be operating together in pairs opposite each other.

Kaidan entered the room last, shutting the door behind himself and looking around. "How do you want to do this, commander?" he asked. "Timed proximity mines, or pull the hard-drives and take them back to HQ for examination?"

For a response, Shepard lifted her pistol and pointed it at the closest VI conduit, firing a full round into it until the conduit exploded, sending a shower of sparks everywhere.

"Now that's a method of fixing faulty technology I can get on board with," Ash smiled. She aimed Suzie at another conduit and fired several shots of the rifle. The conduit exploded just as the first one had, and soon even Kaidan had joined in. When Ash took out the last VI conduit, she felt a sense of satisfaction. True, it wouldn't bring back the dead soldiers, but it would stop the VI from ever hurting anybody again.

"WARNING," came a computerised voice. The automated system, she realised. "DEFENCE PROCEDURES INITIATED. VENTING TOXIC GAS INTO BUNKERS."

"Sorry, Hal," said Shepard, "but we're not making the same mistakes as the men you murdered." She fired her pistol at the voice panel, and the warning siren went silent.

"Hal?" Ash asked.

"It's an obscure popular culture reference," Shepard explained. She suddenly looked very, very tired. As well as very, very hot. "Come on, team. We've still got two more bunkers to clear before the Alliance can come in and give these soldiers the respect they deserve."

"Aye, ma'am," Ash replied. As far as she was concerned, they couldn't be gone from this place soon enough.

o - o - o - o - o

Ellie glanced into the room, at the drones which had been activated upon the destruction of bunker two's VI conduits. As a result of the action her team had taken, bunker three was much better defended. The drones were more aggressive, their shields were stronger, and they took longer to shoot down. Something still didn't feel right. The VI was learning much too quickly, and the measures it was employing reminded her in some ways of an immune system, sending white blood cells to swarm a foreign organism detected in the body.

"Ready when you are, commander," Ash said over the comm. Ellie glanced at Kaidan, catching his dark brown eyes through his clear helmet visor. He nodded. He was ready too.

Their tactics had proven remarkably successful. Williams would provide target practice for the drones, laying down cover-fire whilst Ellie and Kaidan worked at hacking them and overloading their weapons. Their job had been made easier by the ammo they used; it was specifically designed to be damaging to synthetics, and they had set off with it from the Normandy, which had been well-equipped to handle the geth. Now, the ammo was giving them an edge over the VI which grew more dangerous with every encounter. If she and her team hadn't been wearing EVA helmets, they would have been gassed to death in bunker one.

"Alright, go," she said, her fingers flicking over her omni-tool's holographic interface as she commanded one of the drones to attack the other. It was slow work, because most forms of technology randomised their access codes based on a particular algorithm. Once you knew the algorithm - which had been provided to her by HQ before the start of the mission - it was just a matter of trial and error.

She successfully cracked one of the codes, and reprogrammed the drone to attack the others. Drones were much easier to reprogram than mechs... unfortunately, these drones were controlled by a clever VI, which made her job harder, but not impossible. Kaidan was struggling a little more, still trying to work out the code for overpowering the drones' weapons, but then, he'd never been quite as good at tech as she had. It was the one area she truly excelled and felt at home with. Technology was easy. It mostly only did what you told it to do. People, on the other hand, were far more complicated, and sometimes she felt that even with her intensive psych training, she was still using guess-work half of the time.

An explosion in the room signalled that Kaidan had successfully overloaded the drones' weapons, and as soon as he had, Ellie peered out around the door frame and began firing at a target. She managed twelve shots, which equalled the destruction of one assault drone, before she was forced to withdraw and let her weapon cool down or risk overheating. When she pulled back, Kaidan took her place, backing up Williams who was causing some heavy damage with her assault rifle. Then Kaidan was forced to withdraw, and Ellie began shooting again. By this point there were only two drones left; one of them was rendered inert by Williams' gunfire, and the last Ellie subjected to a sabotage program she had recently written. It caused a dangerous feedback loop in the drone's primary power distribution net, and it exploded violently, sending a shower of small machine parts across the room. When silence finally reigned, all three of them stood, and surveyed the conduit housing room of the last bunker.

"Man, I'm going to be so glad to see the back of this place," said Ashley. Her face, inside her helmet, had a definite sheen to it. Ellie knew just how she felt. It was still stiflingly hot in the bunkers, and the steady stream of adrenaline coursing through her veins didn't help either.

"Same treatment as last time, commander?" Kaidan asked.

Ellie looked at the housing conduits. It was a shame the VI had to be destroyed. It was a good VI, or at least it had been, serving the Alliance well ever since its inception. It wasn't it's fault that it had gone rogue; it was the result of either bad initial programming, or more recent tampering. The VI could have lasted many more decades, helping to teach and train new soldiers who would go on to fight in any number of important campaigns. Such a waste.

"Commander?" Kaidan reiterated. Looking at him, she saw concern in his brown eyes, and gave him a reassuring smile. He was a worrier by nature; never for himself, always for other people. He would have made a good doctor, she thought.

"Same as before," she replied.

They all raised their weapons, taking aim. She was the first to fire, and when she turned her gun to the last remaining VI conduit, she felt the moment of regret again. But the VI was too dangerous, now. It had killed people, turning on its creators, though clearly without any intent. Nothing could be salvaged from it. The new Luna VI would have to be designed completely from scratch. She pulled the trigger of her pistol, firing bullets into the conduit.

As the conduit began to spark, a screeching sound burst over her helmet's radio, and she subconsciously grasped at her helmet, as if she could cover her ears with her hands. It lasted only a few seconds, though, before dying away. And as it died, so did the emergency lighting, plunging the room into darkness. Against the odds, one light hung on for a moment longer, flickering in the darkness before switching off completely.

"That's just great," Williams said.

Ellie switched on her gun's side-light, lifting it to illuminate her crew-members. They both looked every bit as hot, sweaty and tired as she felt, and she knew that the disturbed look in their eyes at seeing so much needless death, was a reflection of her own.

"Come on," she said, leading the way back towards the exit, through the mass graveyard of humans and drones alike. "Let's tell HQ they can send somebody else in to clean up the mess. We've still got a job to do."