Heyo! This is update 3/5! Hope you enjoy and are anticipating the end! Read, Enjoy, Review.
When John entered the room, everyone was already there, checking their weapons and passing out the heavy weapons to those that were the most qualified to use them. Garrus and Johanna were programming weapons to use their most powerful setting, and Jack programming some of the guns with Warp ammo. John walked past them, nodding to everyone he passed as he went to the head of the table. "This isn't how we planned on this mission, but this is where we're at." John told them as he reached the head of the table, drawing their attentions to him as he leaned against the table. "We can't worry about whether the Normandy can get us home. We came to stop the Collectors, and that means coming up with a plan to take out this station. EDI, bring up your scans." Everyone stopped what they were doing, convening around the table like they did during team meetings. The holographic display struggled to get up but managed to pull through, giving them a readout on the collector's base. The crash landing had not been kind to the Normandy but she was pulling through for them still.
"You should be able to overload their critical systems if you get to the main control center here." A blue indicator raised up and pointed to their destination.
"That means going through the heart of the station. Right past this massive energy signature." Jacob warned, lighting up the area he was talking about. It was clearly the largest chamber in the entire station, leaving the team to wonder what this massive energy signature could mean.
"That's the central chamber. If our crew or any of the colonists are still alive, the Collectors are probably holding them in there." John told them. The only thing missing now was a way to get there without being torn apart by Collector forces.
"Looks like there are two main routes. Might be a good idea to split up to keep the Collector's off balance and regroup in the central chamber." Jacob suggested.
"No good. Both routes are blocked. See these doors? The only way past is to get someone to open them from the other side." Miranda quickly shot down.
"It's not a fortress, there's got to be something." He muttered to himself as he scanned the holographic map of the Collector base. Then he saw it. "Here, maybe we can send someone in through this ventilation shaft." John told him.
"Practically a suicide mission. I volunteer." Jacob commented. John shook his head at Jacob. The man was a good soldier but he was too eager to throw himself into a potentially deadly situation. He also didn't have the required technical expertise to shut down the security systems in time. A good leader knew his own limitations as well as he knew his squads.
"I appreciate the thought, Jacob, but you couldn't shut down the security systems in time. We need to send a tech expert." Miranda voiced his thoughts to her fellow Cerberus operative.
"It's your call, Commander. Who do we send into the shaft?" Jacob asked, looking towards John for guidance. John took a deep breath and thought about who could do it. Mordin had a decent amount of knowledge in tech but he was more of a xenobiologist than a tech expert. Legion could easily hack their systems but the Geth was one of the strongest frontline fighters they had and he couldn't risk taking him out of the main combat. Kasumi was ideal, she wasn't a frontline fighter and she was capable of hacking any system but she would an invaluable flanker during combat, the same going for his sister, their tactical cloaks capable of fooling even the best scanner. Which only left one person he trusted to do this. He looked at Tali and took a deep breath. He trusted her to do this, just as much as he trusted Garrus and Johanna.
"Tali….you have the most experience. I'll send you into the shaft." He told her, looking towards the Quarian.
"You can count on me John." She told him.
"The rest of us will break into two teams and fight down each passage. That should the Collector's attention away from what you're doing." He told them. Miranda stepped forward as he mentioned this, holding her head high.
"I'll lead the second fire team, Shepard. We'll meet up with you on the other side of the doors." John almost scolded her, saying he hadn't chosen her to lead his team. Thankfully, Jack did it for him.
"Not so fast, Cheerleader. Nobody wants to orders from you." She told her, glaring towards her with anger. Much to Miranda's anger, a good number of the ground team nodded along with Jack, clearly still untrusting of the Cerberus XO.
"This isn't a popularity contest! Lives are at stake, Shepard—you need someone who can command through experience." She told them. John nodded, knowing this was the truth. Theoretically, anyone could lead the team, even Grunt. But only a few people would actually make the correct decisions involved in doing so. Jacob could handle the position well, but he was too eager to prove himself in a suicide mission and Miranda was another possibility, but it was important to have a fireteam leader that wasn't hated. Which only left the one obvious solution.
"Miranda's right." John told his team. Before her triumphant grin could get too big however, John turned to his turian friend. "Garrus, you up for it?"
"I won't let you down Shepard." Garrus told him, raising his sniper to show his readiness. Garrus had experience leading a team against suicidal odds and his previous team's numbers nearly matched the one he was leading now.
"Fine with me. Ugly's certainly better than Cheerleader." Jack agreed, pushing off the table. Miranda barely contained a disappointed sigh and walked back to where Jacob was standing.
"Well, at least he knows what he's doing." She said through her teeth, clearly unhappy she had been passed up. John ignored her for now, he would talk with her later.
"I don't know what we're going to find in there, but I'm not going to lie to you, it's not going to be easy." John told his team, pacing back and forth in front of the table. He looked at his team with a mixture of pride and happiness. These were the best soldiers of the galaxy, some of them rejects and others unknown to how to work with a team. But here they were, not as individuals facing the coming storm, but facing it together, side by side. Not a single worry or scared thought bouncing in their heads. Simply….trust. They were looking towards him for guidance. Not just as a commander that would shout orders, but as a friend and ally. He never would have guessed with some of them. "We've lost some good people and we may lose more. We don't know how many the Collector have stolen. Thousands, hundreds of thousands. It doesn't matter anymore. What matters is this. Not. One. More." He told them. The team began to stand taller and look more inspired. They weren't there to get revenge or for any personal grudge, they were there to protect others. And there was nothing better worth fighting for. "It ends with us. They want to know what were made of, I say let's show them. On our terms. Let's bring our people home."
Grunt roared with approval, shouting a war cry and slamming his fists together. John laughed at his eagerness and looked at Garrus. "I'm sending most of them with you. I'll take a small team and we'll follow the pipe to keep Tali safe. Who do you need for a fact?" John consulted.
"Jack and Samara for sure. Biotics can turn the tide of a battle and having those two powerhouses with us will make things easier." Garrus told him.
"Thanks Ugly." Jack said, accepting his compliment.
"I'll need Legion and his sniper as well. He's the only one capable of firing it without it breaking an arm and we'll need the firepower. We're going to be bringing in a lot of heat and I need to know we can fight it off. Anyone else is fair game." Garrus finished.
"Right. Mordin and Zaeed, your with me. The rest of you are with Garrus. Any questions?" He asked. When none arouse, he nodded and ordered: "Move out!"
"Alright Jack and Samara, I want you spread out and erecting barriers when needed, but otherwise hitting them area effects. Hit them with everything you got. Legion and Thane, I need bringing up the rear and shooting anything that comes into your scope. Grunt, Jacob, Miranda, and I will be the main party, when we move, you move. Johanna and Kasumi, put those tactical cloaks to good use and flank anyone who comes up on our side. Otherwise, keep near the main party. Avengers out people, we need to hit them with everything we got." Garrus ordered as they approached the door that would lead them to the next chamber. The chamber where the Collectors were no doubt waiting for them to enter.
"You know, I've never actually shot one of these." Kasumi commented, holding up her Avenger rifle as Legion began to hack into the door.
"It's easy. The recoil is just about the same as a Locust but it's easier to grip and to control even if bulkier. You'll get the hang of it in a few shots." Johanna assured her, getting into position. She took a deep breath as the door began to open, Legion sprinting away and into his assigned position. A certain quote came to mind as the doors slowly opened.
"Though I walk through the valley of the Shadow of death. I will fear no evil: For thou art with me; Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies." She said, loud enough for the whole team to hear.
"Psalms 23:4. King James Bible." Thane mentioned from where he was. "Seems appropriate given our current circumstances."
"I thought so." Johanna agreed.
"Everyone, get ready! Here they come!" Garrus cried from in front of her. As if on cue, a wall of fire erupted through the door, raining down on the team. Johanna ducked beneath her cover, listening for a break in the fire as she sat there, squatted down. The moment it came, the entire team moved in one fluid motion, standing up and firing, ripping apart the Collector that stood at the door before surging forward.
John ducked underneath a warp that the Harbinger imbued Collector threw at him and sent his own powerful warp in turn. The warp slammed into the Collector, causing it to disengrate into nothing more than some black ash, floating in the air. Tali could feel the sweat pouring out of her pores as she was forced to watch this battle without helping, without contributing anything. It didn't help that it was blistering hot and the heat only increased the longer she was in this damn tube. "John, it feels like my skin is on fire!" She told him through the comms. He needed to open the next valve so that she didn't burn alive. It was the second to last one, but the Collectors seemed to be doing their best to keep John away from the button, sending in soldier after soldier at him. She felt so useless behind this damn pipe! She punched the glass in frustration and immediately regretted it. The glass was absorbing most of the heat, so it felt much the same as punching red hot metal.
However, it seemed that hearing her voice gave John a new surge of adrenaline, causing him to use a biotic charge to hit a Collector near the release, sending it into the glass and then down into the never ending pit below them. John shot the next one in line with a point blank shot from his shotgun, ending its guard detail and jumped forward, hitting the button that released the valve. Tali almost screamed with relief as instantly, the area around her cooled enough to buy her a few more minutes as she ran forward, determined to get to the next valve. Every second she took was another second that could leave her in the sights of a Collector weapon, though she wasn't sure if they particularly cared about her at the moment. Thankfully, this time, the Collectors offered little resistance to the team to progress forward, attacking her protection from behind, allowing John to easily reach it and release her into the central chamber.
She turned toward John's door for a moment before stopping herself and sprinting to the other. She needed to let them in first. They were dealing with the larger portion of the Collector so they were in the most danger. She sprinted forward, quickly hitting the door buttons and rewiring their system so that the door opened. Garrus was the first through, firing his weapon until the thermal clip popped out. "Look out! Seeker swarms!" He warned as a large number of bug like enemies poured from the nearest pipe and surged towards them. The rest of the team hurried into the chamber, Tali barely closing the door in time to prevent to the bugs from tearing at them. Then, without skipping a beat, she sprinted over to the door where John was, explosions still slamming into the door. Was she too late? Did she take too long? She shook her head of those thoughts. John was a force of nature. No Collector or Reaper would ever kill him.
Hacking this door was even easier than the first one, since she had a fair idea what she was doing this time. However, just before she was about to open the door, a rocket shook the metal, causing the wires to begin to short out. "Bosh'tet!" She screamed at it, drawing Garrus's attention as she desperately connected different wires. She could open the door easy, but closing it was going to be another problem all together. So, without a second thought, she got the doors open just enough to let in John and his squad, the three firing at the growing horde. Damn, if this continued, she wouldn't be able to get the door closed without them taking some serious damage. The door shuddered and attempted to close but was prevented by the damage caused to it, which was slowing the process. If she could somehow force it to close faster, they would be safe.
"Suppressing fire! Don't let anyone through that door!" Garrus ordered from behind her as the entire second team let loose a torrent of bullets that tore apart the horde outside their doors. Tali was grateful for the extra time to think, quickly readjusting the wires and rerouting power from the rest of the station to give the door extra power. The idea worked like a charm, the doors shuddering for a moment before slamming closed. John stepped back, bending down with a relieved laugh. Tali jumped to her feet and wrapped John in a hug that almost crushed his back.
"Nice work, Tali. I knew I could count on you." He told her returning the brief hug, glad she was alright as much as she was he. When she let go, he returned his attention back to Garrus, who was watching them amusement. "Let's go, shall we?"
"Shepard, you need to see this." Garrus told him, motioning his head towards the central chamber. John walked towards to where Garrus was motioning, eyes widening as he approached. Row upon endless row of Collector capsules lines the walls. More than the Collector ship and that was more capsules than every human in the Terminus systems combined. How many of them were full, how many of them had some poor colonist in them, waiting for the Collectors to do whatever they had planned for them. It seemed like a worse position to be than when he was on Mindoir. He noticed one of them still had someone in them, a colonist from the look of them.
"Looks like one of the missing colonists." Tali voiced his thoughts as John stepped forward and wiped the glass to see better. Almost as if responding to his touch, the woman began to stir. "Look, there's the rest of the crew." Tali mentioned, walking past him and approaching the one holding Gardner. Their attention was suddenly drawn by a shot of pressurized air as something was pumped into the capsules. John watched in horror as the woman in the capsule in front of his began to turn black and melt, skin falling off in a sickening display and turning a pool of black genetic material. She scratched at the glass in a futile attempt to escape from whatever was happening to her. Every single attempt left some of the black liquid on the glass as the woman painfully died before them. The scene was so sudden and surprising that they could do nothing but watch until it was too late to save her.
"Get them out of there!" John ordered as he watched the same thing pumped into the other capsules. The team jumped forward, desperate to save those who remained. Grunt ripped off one of the lids with his bare hands while the rest of team, lacking his strength, had to resort to using the butts of their rifles to smash the glass. John, using biotic fill strength, pulled off of the lids, barely catching Mess Sergeant Gardner before hit the ground. Setting him down safely before sprinting over to the one that held Doctor Chakwas just as Miranda pried open the lid. "Doctor Chakwas, are you okay?" John asked, catching the elderly Doctor before she hit the ground.
"Shepard?" She asked, as if she had just regained her bearings. "You….you came for us."
"No one gets left behind." John told her, lifting her from the ground and to her feet. The rest of the crew got their bearing about that time as well, walking up to their Commander, the same look across all their faces.
"Thank god you got here in time. A few more seconds and…." Kelly greeted, smiling at him. She stopped as she reached this train of thought and shook it free of her head. "I don't even want to think about it."
"Those colonists were….processed. Those swarms of little robots, they—melted the bodies into gray liquid and pumped it through these tubes." Chakwas told him, looking up at the tubes that hung from the ceilings.
"Must be base genetic material. Would be most likely explanation for microscopic robot. Much more effective methods for other plausible explanation. Curious as to why the Collectors need it." Mordin suggested, dipping one of his fingers in the draining material in one of the tubes.
"Whatever the Collectors are doing, it ends here!" John growled, his anger raising as he thought about how many people suffered underneath this fate.
"We've gotten this far. Let's finish them off while we're at it." Garrus told John, knowing when his friend was feeling angry or not.
"Joker? Can you get a fix on our position?" John asked.
"Roger that, Commander. All those tubes lead into the main control room right above you." Joker told him. "The route is blocked by a security door, but there's another chamber that runs parallel to the one you're in."
"I cannot recommend that. Thermal emission suggests that the chamber is overrun with seeker swarms. Mordin's countermeasure cannot protect you against so many at once." EDI warned. John thought for a moment. These seekers weren't all powerful, they had to have a weakness. If there was just a way to keep them off of the team. John looked at his hands as an idea began to form in his head.
"What about biotics?" He suggested, talking to EDI and his crew simultaneously. "We could create a biotic field to keep them from getting near us."
"Yes….I think it may be possible. I would not be able to protect everyone, but we might be able to get a small team through if they stayed close." Samara told him, shrugging along. Jack shook her head and stepped forward.
"No way Grandma. This is my specialty. My biotics are the only ones capable of handling the strain." Jack protested, stepping forward.
"I could do it, too. In theory, any biotic could handle it. Shepard, who do you want to maintain the field?" Miranda spoke up. John immediately cut all the biotics from his head with the exception of Samara and Jack. They were the only two that would be able to handle the amount of time that would be required to get through the next chamber, giving them some leyway should anything slow them down. And he knew something would. He looked at Samara. She had the experience and her biotic powers were a result of training unlike Jack, who had her biotic abilities forced on her, which was why he had to leave her with Garrus. Samara was a heavy hitter with the experience to back it up, and while Jack was a powerhouse, she was not suited for extended frontline contact.
"Jack, you'll be maintaining the field. I'll take Tali and Thane with me." John ordered, looking at Garrus. "Think you'll be okay without Jack there to hold your hand?"
"Well, I might have to cry myself to sleep but I'll get over it." Garrus laughed. John nodded as the unsaid fact that Garrus would be leading the second fireteam once again.
"Alright, I need you to provide a diversion by going through the main passage. We'll open the security doors from the other side and meet you there." John told him. He turned his attention towards his crew as Chakwas approached him with a worried look.
"What about me and the rest of the crew, Shepard? We're in no shape to fight." Chakwas told him, his voice full of worry. John nodded, showing he had thought of this. He couldn't allow the crew to go without an escort but he couldn't spare very many people to do it.
"Commander?" Joker spoke into his comm, having heard the conversation. "We have enough systems online to do a pickup, but we'd need to land back from your position." John nodded and silently thanked his luck. This would be much more a problem to solve.
"We can't afford to go back, Shepard. Not now." Miranda protested.
"They'll never make it without help. I'll send someone with you." John promised, shooting Miranda down. Which left the question of who to send? This one answered itself, thankfully, in the form of a Salarian scientist.
"Shepard. Volunteer for mission." Mordin said, walking up to him. "Weakest physically. Win battles based on surprise and other varied elements. Paralysis, stuns, etc. Little room to do so here. Would be optimal choice. Will keep crew safe and fireteam will not be weakened." John nodded in acceptance. It was true that he had his doubts about the Salarian in the upcoming battle, his fighting style not meant for full on combat. Mordin nodded with his smile and typed in the coordinates into his omni-tool. He looked at his team, taking them one more time before saying:
"We've all got our assignments. Let's move out!"
I initially planned on extended Johanna's scene much longer, but couldn't think of what to write beyond shooting the Collector's, so I kept it short and sweet. And the way I chose my specialists and team leader was how I actually thought it through during my first playthrough, before I knew who would succeed. Looking at other's playthroughs, a lot of people choose Legion and Kasumi, but I always thought of them as a better fireteam since they both use ranged weapons while Tali used a shotgun. Also, you may have noticed a lot of hate for Miranda in my postings, because I really did hate her in ME2, because of how often she was shoved down the players throat. She's made XO and practically orders Shepard around throughout the entire game even though he was commander. I like her better in ME3 as a friend so, she'll get less hate later. Other than that, I got nothing more to say on this subject. See ya'll tomorrow.