Sorry for not updating, everyone. I've been ultra busy trying to finish school and other stuff, but I'm back! And I hope you guys had a fantastic Thanksgiving! As late as that is... Thanks for your patience on this chapter. I know that you've been waiting for a WHILE.
Tali shifted her shotgun around nervously in her hands. She expected the next few minutes, or more, to be a bloodbath. She was thankful to have so many teammates to back her up, but she couldn't shake a feeling of uneasiness. It wasn't unusual, it was just that her gut told her that she was in over her head, but her brain was telling her that she could handle it; especially with Wrex, Garrus, Liara, and Shepard supporting her. She replayed Shepard's game plan over and over in her mind, praying that she wouldn't miss a beat in the battle to come.
The battleground would be an office setting, so there would most likely be numerous amounts of cover to take. Liara would stay back with Garrus the majority of the time, taking potshots at hostiles with her biotics. Wrex would move up with Liara, just in case Garrus couldn't cover her from his position. Wrex grumbled loudly at his 'new babysitting job', but Shepard insisted that it was necessary.
Tali would stay behind Shepard, and back him up when things got too close for comfort. He told her to let him handle mid-range combat, but if they rushed him, he'd be counting on her to help him. Garrus was also expected to assist Shepard and Tali whenever a longer range opponent was pinning them down.
Also, of course, there was always the possibility of not having to resort to violence; and such possibility, when spoken of, earned a growl of disappointment from Wrex.
Tali felt a lurch as the elevator came to a stop, and the elegant glass doors opened up to a corridor. On the other side of it was another glass door. From Tali's perspective, she could make out two guards inside of the office who seemed to be chatting idly. Shepard led everyone out of the elevator and down the hallway. One of the guards stopped the squad as they stepped inside of the office.
"Freeze! Hanshan security. This office is sealed."
Shepard's tone was icy as he responded. "What'll you do if I don't?"
The woman didn't take notice of his malevolent threat. "You're the Spectre, right? Lorik Qui'in is under investigation."
"Anoleis is paying you to shake this place down. That makes you a criminal." Shepard gestured to the pistol on his hip. "I can kill criminals."
The woman took on a nervous look of disbelief. "You're bluffing."
"You're right.", Wrex announced in an ominous low voice. "They're actually going to let me eat you."
Taking a look back at him, Tali found Liara skittishly taking a side-step away from Wrex. He really did have a disturbing, hungry smirk on his face. Garrus was hiding a grin by looking the other way. Of course it was funny to him.
The woman's eyes grew into a panic, and she seemed fearful on her words as she answered. "He ain't payin' me enough to take on Spectres, or Alliance troops, or whatever. How about this? You pretend you didn't see us, we'll pretend we didn't see you."
Shepard nodded slightly, allowing the two guards to hurry past them.
"Okay.", Shepard conveyed once the guards were out of earshot. "That still leaves all of the other guards that are searching the office. Get ready."
Tali checked her shotgun, making sure that everything was the way it should be. Wrex thumped his assault rifle, followed by Liara drawing her pistol, and Garrus priming his rifle.
The commotion that had ensued obviously alerted the other guards, as Tali could hear various footsteps and figures rushing to cover.
"Weapons free.", Shepard muttered.
The five disbanded instantly, Wrex and Liara breaking to the left, while Garrus slammed against the nearest wall, preparing himself to shoot. Shepard rushed forward to the wall adjacent to his, Tali falling in step behind him. Soon after they'd taken cover by the wall, two guards turned the corner, their shields already flaring up from Shepard's assault rifle. His effort was in vain, for a round found its way through both of the guards' heads. A glance backward showed Tali a smiling Garrus retreating back into cover.
Shepard pulled on Tali's small arm. She admired how large his hand was compared to her diminutive bicep, but she shook her eyes away from it. She could cherish Shepard's body later.
The two of them turned the corner, the beginning of a staircase coming into view on the left. As they jogged in its direction, a screaming body was hurled before them. His body glowed blue, and the way he impacted with the ground was enough to kill a grown krogan. Maybe. Tali didn't really know. The point was, he was dead.
Though Wrex's biotic skills are far from amateur, only Liara was capable of having that much force behind her biotic throws. Shepard and Tali continued on to the staircase, making sure no one would catch them by surprise at the top. However, that was exactly what was waiting for them. Three guards appeared at the top of the staircase, assault rifles in hand. There was no way around them, no cover, and they were too far up to try and run back down.
Time seemed to slow down as Shepard lunged at Tali, hugging her to his chest, with his back facing the mercenaries. His body buckled as he prepared for the barrage that would punish him.
Tali heard the rounds go into Shepard's shields, making him stagger forward. His shields threatened to collapse, until three rapid sniper rounds sounded out.
All three of the mercenaries fell the the ground, blood spewing from holes in their heads. Shepard opened his eyes slowly, his pretty blue eyes locking with Tali's.
The two of them stood together, not believing that they were both still alive. Shepard glided his hands over her body, making sure that her suit had not been punctured. His breath was quick and urgent, but he knew just as well as she did that she was alright. Tali began to giggle softly, causing a smile to grow on Shepard's features. Shepard heaved a heavy sigh as the gunfire in the office ceased.
"Are you okay?", Shepard asked her for final confirmation.
"I'm fine, thank you.", Tali said alluringly.
Shepard turned his attention to someone behind Tali. She twisted around to see Garrus with his usual stupid grin, and his sniper rifle over his shoulder.
"You... owe me one, Shepard.", Garrus said as he pointed a finger accusingly at him.
"I'm glad we got you that heat sink, Garrus. We would've been dead without it.", Shepard acknowledged.
Garrus shrugged. "I would've found a way even without it. But, a good quality heat sink just makes the job easier."
Liara came to stand at the top of the staircase, followed by Wrex, who had a satisfied smile on his face, and a bloody shotgun in his hands.
Liara grinned slightly at Shepard and Tali's well-being, then turned away to continue searching the office. Shepard, Tali, and Garrus ascended the staircase, finding Liara already on her way to the catwalk that led to Lorik's main office. The squad followed up behind Shepard, stopping once they finally reached the computer. As Shepard loaded the OSD into the computer, he took a look around. He seemed troubled, then annoyed. He shook his head and watched the computer's progress.
Tali observed her squadmates. Shepard, Wrex, Liara... Garrus was nowhere to be found. Maybe that was why Shepard seemed annoyed. Garrus was probably doing something to get himself in trouble, or looting bodies for a sniper rifle or whatever that crazy turian does. Shepard pulled the OSD out of the computer as soon as it finished its upload of evidence against Anoleis. Storing it in a pouch on his armor, Shepard strolled out of the room, his team following behind him.
But it seemed that they couldn't leave just yet. Three humans stood in the middle of the balcony, as if they expected Shepard to show up.
Tali recognized the blonde human woman from before. She was one of the guards at the main gate from before. Kaira Stirling. Only her expression was infinitely more harsh now. She stepped forward, her tone equally bitter.
"I don't think you're supposed to be in here, Shepard."
"Plan on making me leave?", He challenged her, narrowing his eyes.
"Leave?", Kaira said in disbelief. "You think I'm gonna let you walk out?... Uh-uh. Anoleis would throw you offworld for what you did here. I won't. You know what we did to cop killers on my world?"
Tali furrowed her brow. Kaira's hypocrisy annoyed her. She was the one here, off-duty, being paid under the table to cover up for a corrupted administrator. She stepped forward to voice her thoughts.
"You're here off-duty, breaking the law for bribe money. You expect us to feel bad for stopping you?"
The woman's eyes were angry as they locked on Tali "Shut up, suit-rat!"
Tali was taken aback. She forgot her people's place in the galaxy. She'd gotten so used to being treated as an equal on the Normandy, she completely forgot about her reputation. Inferior to everyone else...
She felt hurt.
Shepard stepped forward, his shoulders buckling, scorching rage chiseled on his face. "You bitch.", he growled savagely.
He ripped his shotgun off the small of his back, not giving Kaira a second to react. An ear-shattering blast invaded Tali's audio recievers as Shepard fired directly at the Kaira's face, various hunks of flesh being sent airborne. The shot had gone right through her shields, right through her skin. Shepard was merciless. The two guards behind her rushed forward, one of them already being flayed apart by Shepard's weapon. The last one dashed forward, attempting to smack Shepard with the butt of his rifle.
A well placed hole formed between his eyes as a round glided past Shepard and into the guard's forehead. The guard dropped to the floor, a blood puddle forming rapidly around his head. Garrus stepped forward, letting his rifle cool down. He must have just stood around, waiting for someone else to show up. Lo and behold, someone did. Shepard nodded at him in thanks.
Tali turned her attention to Kaira, who had met her gruesome fate. Her face was no longer recognizable. It was just a bloody mass of ripped skin and innards. Tali thought that she could identify part of her brain seeping from her skull. She turned away as she felt a sick feeling in her stomach, and bile rose in her throat.
A strong hand that she identified as Shepard's found her shoulder. She turned to face him, concern in his eyes. "You okay?", he asked for the second time.
Tali nodded, trying not to look at the eviscerated woman.
Shepard motioned for Tali to turn towards the staircase. "Let's go. We got what we came here for."
The elevator ride was completely silent. Either everyone was alarmed at Shepard's rage, or they were perturbed by the sight of the woman whose face was literally blown off.
Tali was somewhat somber. That insult brought her back to the real world. The real way that the galaxy was. She'd been under a veil for so long, protected from the hate and racism. She couldn't believe she'd forgotten what it was like to no longer feel that. She felt so undeserving of it, so unworthy.
But Shepard tore those walls down. She wasn't judged on the Normandy just because she was a quarian. She was judged by her character, her ideals, her virtues. She was even cherished.
Why it bothered her so much was beyond her. She liked to feel equal, but it felt so wrong. She shook her head to rid the thought from her mind. She couldn't keep going back and forth like this. She had a job to do.
The team of five stepped off of the elevator, Gianna Parasini standing outside to greet them.
As Shepard approached, a look of worry crossed her face. "Commander. There have been reports of noise from the Synthetic Insights office. Would you know anything about it?"
Shepard put on his best winning smile, and parted his lips to respond. "It's probably Mr. Anoleis' thugs ripping the place apart."
"Smartass, huh?", Gianna uttered. "That's fine. I can work with that. Meet me at the hotel for a drink. Before you talk to Qui'in. I'll be waiting."
Before Shepard responded, she turned on her heel and departed, leaving Shepard with a confused look on his face. He regained his composure quickly, continuing to make his way forward.
Shepard allowed the squad some time off before they went to Peak 15. Wrex hung mostly around the bar, spitting challenges and threats at anyone who seemed uncomfortable at his presence.
Liara scampered off to shop for casual wear. Something other than her scientist uniform that was apparently so dreadful to wear.
Shepard insisted everyone take a break, and he would take care of getting the garage pass. Tali objected, of course, pleading to let her come with him. Shepard denied her, joking that he would look awkward running around Port Hanshan with a quarian wrapped around his arm.
Garrus was the only one who wasn't engaging in an activity that didn't pique Tali's interest. In fact, he was going to go look for a new sniper rifle. He offered to help pay for another shotgun for Tali, but she didn't really need another one. The Scimitar that Shepard bought for her was still working just fine for her as when she got it.
She twiddled her thumbs thinking of what she could buy for Shepard as Garrus 'Ooh''d and 'Ah''d at different weapons and attachments.
The two of them were allowed to browse the private stock of weapons, since they were shore company for a Spectre. Originally, they wouldn't have been allowed to see any weapons at all. Shepard being a Spectre really did have its perks.
Gawking at a large sniper rifle behind a thick glass frame, Garrus spoke up from across the shop. "See anything you like?"
Tali swept her eyes over the rows of assault rifles that Shepard would possibly like. He favored the assault rifle, so she wanted the best she could find, if she could find anything good enough for her captain.
"I'm looking for something for Shepard.", Tali called to him, not taking her eyes off of the numerous firearms.
Garrus clicked his tongue. "You could give that man a stick and he'd still find a way to kick ass with it."
Tali laughed. "You're right. I just want to pay him back for all of the things he's done for me."
"You know, it doesn't always have to be a weapon, Tali...", Garrus remarked. "I know you're limited, but... you could always use your hands.", he said in a smug manner.
Tali found the nearest datapad, which appeared to be some sort of catalog, and chucked it across the store, striking Garrus in the back of the head.
"Ow!", Garrus chuckled. "Now, was that really necessary?"
"I don't need your advice.", Tali stated firmly, glaring at Garrus. Garrus stood up straight from where he was located, and opened his mouth to say something back, but then hesitantly closed his mouth again.
"Smart.", Tali said, turning back to browse.
After scanning rows upon rows of different weapons, Tali couldn't find anything that she thought Shepard would like. Garrus stood and tapped his foot as Tali gave everything a last look-over, hopelessly searching for anything to give to her sweetheart. Finally, she gave up, and the two of them left the store, finding Liara hastily rushing into another building. They followed her in to see yet another clothing store, and departments of clothing labeled, 'human', 'asari', turian', 'salarian', 'batarian', and even 'volus' and 'elcor' lined the walls and shelves. Liara was somewhere in the mountain of clothes, most likely somewhere around the asari section.
Then, an idea found its way into Tali's head. She could buy Shepard some nice human clothes. He would definitely appreciate that, especially since his usual casual wear seemed a bit uncomfortable.
Garrus must have seen something that caught his attention, for he locked his eyes on something in the turian section, and left Tali's side. The quarian made her way into the throng of humans' clothing. She found a large black and white suit, various t-shirts with human language markings on them, and strange leggings made out of materials she'd never seen before. She found a small female dress, something she could probably fit into, and a pair of human boots. They were oddly shaped, and large. She wondered if they'd fit Shepard. The boots seemed large enough to accommodate Shepard's feet, but she couldn't be completely sure.
Tali was about to forfeit her search when something small and shiny caught her eye. She peered at it in confusion, trying to determine whether it was real or not. She plunged her hand into the pile of clothing, digging for the shiny object. Her fingers found a soft cloth, and she yanked until she could see what she had found. It was a very small dress, only it wasn't like the other human's clothing. This dress was elegant, with dozens of beautiful symbols and patterns spanning its length.
It hit her like a cruiser. It was an old quarian dress. In the old days, the quarian females would put on these suits, and perform a dance for their village. It was a cultural ideal, but it was abandoned since the quarians lost their world to the geth.
She felt tears welling in her eyes as she remembered her mother's dress. It was the same kind as the one she held in her hand. Her mother would always wear it, and Tali would sit and talk for hours with her mother, telling her how pretty she was.
She remembered her mother combing Tali's hair, telling her that someday, she would be able to wear that dress, and she would look so beautiful in it. And she would kiss Tali on the cheek, and they'd tell each other how much they loved one another.
Tali's heart ached. She missed her mother intensely. She was Tali's best friend, and she was taken away from her, just like that. Tali whimpered and bowed her head, choking back a sobbing breakdown.
Her mother would have loved Damon.
Tali spotted the cashier desk from across the store. She had to have this dress.
Shepard had finally obtained the garage pass from Gianna Parasini. Getting Lorik Qui'in to agree to submitting his evidence against Anoleis took some persuading, but in the end, he came around. He spotted Wrex, still making a scene at the bar. He gulped down drink after drink, to which people would cheer and throw money down on the bar.
He was able to collect Wrex from the bar without taking a hit to the face in protest, and made his way with him to the elevator. He planned to find Garrus, Tali, and Liara and continue on to Peak 15. As Shepard and Wrex approached the elevator, it opened up to the trio of Tali, Garrus, and Liara.
Well, that saved him some time.
"Well, hi.", Shepard greeted them with a grin. "Ready?"
After the squad voiced their agreement, they strolled back into the elevator, making their way back to the garage.
Once they reached the door, a small female guard with an assault rifle spoke, stumbling on her words. "A-access to the garage is restricted."
By her voice, one could surmise that she was fairly young.
Shepard reached for his garage pass, showing it the young woman. "I have authorization. Excuse me"
The woman nodded nervously. "Yes, that's genuine. Drive safely. The weather's supposed to be pretty bad out in the Aleutsk Valley."
She opened the door, allowing Shepard and his squad inside. Shepard saw a Mako tank on the far side of the garage. So did everyone else, apparently. Groans of apprehension escaped from his team. He chuckled as he continued his walk forward. It would be a tight fit, but there were only five of them. They'll be alright.
Shepard's stomach lurched as he heard a familiar clicking of active geth. Two destroyers immediately turned the corner, their weapons already trained on his team.
Geth. Benezia.
Guess that explains what her cargo was.
"Geth!", Wrex growled as he pulled his assault rifle off his back.
"Find cover!", Shepard commanded as he dived behind a large crate. He stole a look behind him to make sure Tali was safe, then turned his attention forward.
From what he could see, there were two geth stalkers and destroyers. He didn't see any regular troopers yet. Not that he wanted to. Two destroyers were challenging enough. From what Shepard could see, Wrex was distracting one of the destroyers, taking a shot or two at it while Tali and Garrus overloaded its shields and systems, and Liara pummeled it with her biotics. The second destroyer was...
Clicking. Directly behind him.
Shit.
A force equivalent to being hit by a car sent Shepard barreling into the crate that he was next to, his left side aching from the impact, and his right side aching from being pummeled by the geth.
Already, he felt the air knocked from his lungs, and he felt light-headed and dizzy. A gurgling yelp escaped him as an iron grip clutched his neck and lifted him into the air, leaving his legs dangling. The geth clicked and whirred coldly as it rose its weapon to Shepard's face.
Out of the blue, Shepard felt the geth drop him forcefully as it was tackled around the legs. Shepard was still disoriented, and had limited air flow to his head, but he could still make out Wrex tangling with the destroyer. The geth gained the upper hand, calculating the krogan's next maneuver, and shoved him away.
Blue glows assaulted the geth, making it stumble backwards, but only by a few inches. Tali had taken a distance away from the geth, taking its shields down with shotgun blasts. Again, Wrex caught the destroyer's attention by grabbing onto its arm, and attempted to swing it around. Again, the geth gained leeway in his attack, hurling Wrex away.
Liara had overused her biotics, and resorted to her pistol, which would allow the destroyer to regain full control of movement. That wasn't good. Her biotic exertions on the geth were the only thing keeping it away from Tali. The destroyer rushed forward, attempting to bash Tali with its weapon.
She managed to dodge narrowly, but the geth was already attacking again by the time she could recover. She had nowhere to move, nowhere to run, even if she could, and the geth was upon her, ready to pulverize the quarian.
A sniper shot rang out, a bullet flying directly into the geth's sensory 'eye', sending the unit's head twenty feet away. The geth collapsed forward on its weight, crashing to the ground in a heap of metal.
Garrus, with his trusty rifle in his hands, stepped forward, that familiar shit-eating smirk on his mandibles. He gazed at the fallen geth unit as he approached it, shaking his head in pity. He kicked it halfheartedly, the geth unresponsive to the kinetic impact.
He turned to Tali, who had fallen on the floor from trying to escape the geth's strike.
"Well, Miss Zorah.", Garrus grinned. "Looks like you owe me one as well."
The Mako tank that was provided wasn't much different from the one on the Normandy. Its controls were the same, its targeting system was freshly updated, and Tali just had to make a few adjustments so that the display was translated to khellish, which was hard to do, considering that no once expected a quarian to take a ride in a tank.
Tali shifted herself around in her suit. Her body was sore from running, engaging in combat, trying to dodge colossal geth, and even walking was become a laborious task. She thanked the ancestors for a chance to sit down. But, she couldn't full-out relax just yet. There was still Peak 15, and Matriarch Benezia waiting for them. She popped her back with her knuckle before leaning back into her seat.
It could be worse. She could be sitting in the back. She glanced backwards to see Liara and Wrex, groaning in discomfort. Garrus sat in the middle of the front seat, taking charge of the Mako's weapons. He made a point that he was the smallest, best shot. Wrex would have been fairly competent with the Mako's weapons, but he would take up so much room, Shepard would have a hard time driving, and Tali wouldn't be able to watch the tank's status without being squashed.
Shepard finally reentered the Mako, scrambling to get into the driver seat next to Garrus. As Shepard crawled on his hands and knees, Tali fought back naughty urges to slap Shepard's bottom. She giggled as she imagined his reaction, Liara's awkwardness, Garrus' joking, Wrex's indifference. She was happy with her group of implausible friends. A turian, a krogan, an asari, and three humans. One of which was very special to her. She didn't think she'd find better companions anywhere in the galaxy.
"What's so funny?", Garrus demanded.
Tali sighed as her fit of laughter dissipated. "Nothing."
Garrus shook his head as he resumed his inspection of the weapon controls.
Shepard eventually found his position in the driver's seat of the Mako, priming the ignition. The machine roared to life, the garage door opening to reveal a frozen wasteland, ravaged by blizzards and ice. At least, that's what Tali imagined it to look like from the sensor display. Jagged formations of ice decorated the path that the Mako trod, threatening to pop the large tires. Fortunately, the material used for the tires was resistant to sharp objects. It would take more than an icicle to pop one of them.
The squad was thrashed around as the Mako barreled through the snow, making Tali feel the usual queasiness that seized her every time she was inside the vehicle. The tank rocked back and forth, a pattern forming in the influxes of writhing the Mako gave.
"I see something.", muttered Garrus as he leaned forward to get a closer look at his display.
"Geth.", he identified. He searched Shepard's face for permission to fire, and they exchanged mutual nods.
Garrus locked on to a geth trooper, dropping it with ease. Locking onto the other, it, too, fell to the Mako's might machine gun. The Mako rolled onward for a moment before Shepard ceased its movement. He peered with confusion at his sensory display.
"Looks like the geth have set up shields on the bridge. It looks like they were planning to stop anyone who tried to get past them."
He eyes his squad-mates. "Someone didn't want us here. Take a wild guess."
"You think its linked with the problems they're having at Peak 15?", Garrus suggested.
Shepard shrugged. "Maybe. It's not very coincidental that they'd lose communications with Peak 15 and have a loose geth problem at the same time. Matriarch Benezia is obviously linked to this."
Tali didn't chance a glimpse backward to look at Liara. She was sure that she'd winced at the mention of her mother, but she knew it to be true. Whatever Benezia was carrying out had to be a direct order from Saren. An asari Matriarch was hard to convert. Saren must have been profoundly convincing.
The Mako barreled through the shields with dominant force, continuing to traverse over the bridge.
Tali felt the biting chill of cold air seep into her suit as she dropped out of the Mako's hatch. She jogged to the door, the warmth of the Peak 15 facility heating her limbs.
As she rubbed herself with her hands to warm herself, she admired how the facility seemed to be built inside of an ice cavern. Windows on the wall revealed a white veil of ice and snow, making the small room glow a pale blue.
The squad continued on to enter a larger room, which linked the Peak 15 garage with the outside environment. As they approached the hefty door that led to the garage, it squealed open, unveiling geth that immediately took notice of the commotion. Gunfire rang out, and the team found cover behind various crates and metal contraptions.
Deep clicking sounds and whirring resounded through the garage, causing Tali's heart to sink into her stomach. A geth juggernaut. That would be a problem. Taking a peek out into the battlefield, she saw that most of the geth had already fallen under the squad's gunfire, but the juggernaut remained standing. It was closing in fast, and geth continued to funnel in from behind it.
Tali needed to think of something, and with haste. Maybe she could overload its shields, and render its armor vulnerable. She found the massive geth on her omnitool, setting a program for 'overload'.
The attack was a success, but largely ineffective. It was only slowed down for a couple of seconds. She had no time to waste. Just then, a cacophonous roar thundered from the middle of the garage. Once the ground was no longer trembling, Tali stole a glance at the battlefield before her. The juggernaut lay in pieces, a large scorch mark located by the largest pile of metal that it discarded. Someone must have shot a gas canister as the geth drew close, decimating it on the spot.
The team gradually abandoned their cover, regrouping on the commander.
"Everyone alright?", Shepard asked, receiving collective nods from all around.
Garrus cleared his throat. "Okay, I think-"
A crackling from overhead interrupted his sentence. A synthesized voice sounded over the intercom, most likely a station VI.
"User alert. All Peak 15 facilities have suffered a great deal of damage. Biohazard materials present throughout facility. Virtual intelligence user interface offline."
A silence ensued before Shepard faced everyone. "Tali, can you translate that to 'soldier' for us?"
Tali nodded. "We'll need to get the reactors back online. That should restore most of the essential systems in the facility."
"What did the VI mean by 'biohazard materials present throughout the facility'?", Garrus inquired. "What happened in here?"
Shepard didn't respond. He turned on his heel and resumed his pace. "Let's keep moving."
The sight that met Tali as they stepped into the next room was something she did not anticipate. There were turrets pointing to a door, but it was the door across from them, instead of the one the entered through.
"Why are the turrets facing the wrong way?", Tali examined, confused.
"Looks like they wanted to keep their people in as much as they wanted to keep others out."
Tali didn't prod any further. She didn't really want to find out why anyone was being forced to stay here against their will, but like she'd thought before, something was terribly wrong. She could feel it.
As they ventured further into the facility, the team found yet another squad of geth inside of an ice-covered room. It seemed to be a lobby, with walls adjacent from each other on the lower level, and rooms that seemed to laboratories upstairs.
The squad made short work of the geth, making sure that they got each other's flanks while in the heat of combat. Finally, another respite was awarded to the team as they finished off the last unit. The team was allowed to readjust and ready themselves to continue on. There were surely more geth deeper inside of the facility.
They also had yet to find anyone besides geth. Tali wondered if Benezia had even spared anyone when she had come up to Peak 15. There were no bodies, but no people either. Something was amiss, other than the geth.
Suddenly, a loud metallic creaking noise found its way into Tali's audio receivers. However, she was unable to pinpoint the source. It seemed to be all around her. The team of five were slowly trying to back into each other, attempting to make a circle with their bodies. Complete silence rumbled Tali's eardrums. Her heartbeat pounded in her chest erratically. Whatever had made the sound was preparing to attack.
She heard a shuffling sound, then a squealing as a body impacted the ground with a thud. Tali twisted around to see a brown, gargantuan, insect-like creature, wrapping tentacles around Liara's incapacitated figure.
The asari screamed and shouted, trying to push the insect off of herself.
"Liara!", Shepard bellowed as he began to pop rounds off into the creature's skin. The barrage of bullets seemed to do nothing to it. It maintained its advantage over the biotic, its high-pitched screech deafening in Tali's ears.
A massive red figure managed to tackle the creature off of Liara, a closer look identifying Wrex as the assailant. He had it pinned to the ground, its attention shifted to him, and its tentacles entangled with his arms. Wrex grabbed for his shotgun, managing to get a round into its 'mouth' before it finally scuttled away from him.
The insect scampered up the catwalk to the higher levels, squealing as green liquid seeped from its head. A glowing disc glided toward the creature, exploding as it drew near. Limbs and liquid spilled over onto the ground below, and its ear-shattering squeal was no longer heard.
Tali drew her attention to Liara, who was being attended to by Garrus. He had applied medigel to various cuts on Liara's face, and was attempting to force her to speak.
"Liara? Liara, it's okay. Can you walk?"
Liara had finally gained voluntary control, and she shakily rose to her feet, wiping off ice that she had collected on her armor while she was pinned to the floor.
Wrex and Shepard were investigating the now-dismembered creature on the floor across from them, watching it with slanted eyes.
"What the hell was that thing? Never seen one of those before in my life.", Wrex growled at Shepard.
"I don't know.", Shepard muttered in response. "But I think I know why Peak 15 hasn't been answering their comms."
"You wanna go back?", Wrex asked, seemingly in disbelief.
"No. The sooner we get to the bottom of this, the better. Let's see if there are any survivors."
Wrex scoffed. "Unlikely. The way that thing grappled onto that asari... she would be dead right now if I didn't throw it on its ass."
Shepard didn't say anything. His eyes were locked onto the strange insect creature, as if he could discover its identity by staring at it.
Wrex began to turn away from him, but Shepard stopped him. "You sure you have no idea?"
The krogan stared back at Shepard, his red eyes honest as they met his gaze. "If I had a clue in the galaxy, I would tell you."
Shepard looked back at him before finally nodding. He turned back to glare at the creature once more.
Whatever it was, it bothered Shepard profusely. Tali shook off chills that bounded down her spine. She was now much more uncomfortable with the situation than before.