A/N: Thank you jediserenity82, Vicky, Dragoness31, ela11, estringe and Vorcha Girl for reviewing the last chapter! They made my day! And now: Enjoy the next chapter!
Chapter 25. Geth Incursions
Nick slowly let go of Kaidan's hand and stepped away, putting a more professional distance between them. She ignored the odd sensation in her stomach; a churning mix of frustration and amusement. The only consolation was she saw the same emotions playing across his face. She watched as Kaidan looked at the vid screen, his features tightening momentarily, before he looked back with a neutral expression.
A few moments later the bulkhead opened, revealing Garrus and Ashley.
"We aren't interrupting anything, are we?" Ashley asked innocently.
Kaidan glared at her but remained silent, and Ashley's mouth began to grin widely. He shifted uncomfortably and rolled his eyes, certain she'd hoped to catch them out.
"Nope," Nick replied drily. "Just ... hockey talk." She turned around and winked at Kaidan.
"Oh," Ashley sounded disappointed and her grin faded. She turned to Garrus, "I told you we should've waited."
Kaidan and Nick shared an awkward look. Kaidan cleared his throat. "Uh, right. Are you going to watch the remaining game with us?"
Ashley shook her head with a short laugh. "You've got to be kidding, LT. I'm not into hockey."
With a wave of her hand she turned to leave. Garrus on the other hand stayed and Kaidan and Nick spent the large part of the last period explaining the game. The turian looked at the other two, shaking his head in disbelief.
"Why? Why would anyone want to do that? Play sports on ice?" Garrus gestured at the vid screen weakly, sounding horrified.
Kaidan looked at him confused. "Why not?"
"Because it's cold, that's why. Turians aren't made for cold weather. That said, Xawin was my definition of hell." the turian shook himself at the thought. He looked at the two humans. "Can either of you do that? Ice skate?"
Nick shook her head. "Nope. Well, not really. I haven't done it since I was a teen and I was always really bad at it." They both turned their heads to look at Kaidan.
"I can skate," Kaidan answered with a shrug. "I played hockey as a kid. And again in college. The only time I didn't play was at BAaT. I still play at every opportunity I get to be honest. Which isn't that often, unfortunately." He looked wistful.
Nick cast a surprised look at him as he mentioned BAaT. "Does Garrus know about BAaT?"
"Kaidan and I don't only talk about tech, Shepard. We've talked about BAaT and C-Sec." Garrus told her, clicking his mandibles.
She felt her cheeks flush with embarrassment, because she had assumed exactly that and now she felt foolish. She threw a quick glance at Kaidan who stood in his typical stance with crossed arms with a small grin playing on his lips. She thought of how close he had been to kissing her and quickly looked away, drawing a breath.
Stay professional.
"How did you get Ash out of Flux? She loves that place," Kaidan asked, drawing Garrus' attention away from Nick.
Garrus laughed quietly in his two-toned voice. "I think she really wanted to walk in on you two. Otherwise I doubt she would've left. She was enjoying the dancefloor quite a bit with Liara and Tali."
They laughed, but Nick wished they had come a few minutes later. At least then she could have kissed Kaidan properly. She bit down on her bottom lip.
Most of the remaining crew had returned by the time the game was over. There were only a handful of crew members missing when Joker called over the intercom.
"Commander, the Council is on the line for you. Do you want me to patch them through?"
Nick pulled a face and sighed. "Patch 'em through."
She turned towards the communication terminal and straightened her uniform. Kaidan and Garrus walked over to the bulkhead, ready to leave, but she glanced over her shoulder and shook her head. Then she signaled them to step closer again and activated the terminal.
Instantly the images of the three Councilors became visible and the curt voice of Councilor Tevos greeted Shepard. "Commander, we have information for you that may be critical to your mission against Saren."
"Is that so? And so suddenly? You haven't exactly been bending over backwards to help us, so why now?" Nick's voice had an icy tone to it, but with less hostility than when she spoke to Udina.
The salarian councilor frowned disapprovingly at Shepard. "We have received an urgent message from one of the infiltration units in the Traverse."
Nick leaned back, folding her arms in front of her. "Uh-huh."
"Spectres tend to draw attention, Commander," Tevos explained in a placating voice. "For monitoring developing situations it is often better to send Special Task Groups."
"We currently have several STG units scattered throughout the border regions of Citadel space," Councilor Valern informed them. "This unit was collecting information about Saren."
"And?" Nick sounded annoyed. "What did they find? Or am I supposed to guess?"
"Unfortunately," the salarian councilor continued, ignoring the interruption, "the message we received was little more than static. The infiltration team must be in a situation where they can't set up proper interstellar communications. But the message was sent on a channel reserved for mission-critical information. Whatever they were trying to tell us, we know it was important. Considering your interest in Saren we thought you might want to investigate this." Valern paused. "Find out what happened to our team. The signal originated from the planet Virmire."
Shepard nodded. "We'll look into it."
Tevos spoke again. "The Council would prefer not to become involved in the specifics of Spectre activities. We only want you to be aware of all options, including Virmire. Good luck, Commander Shepard. We will keep you advised if we learn anything else."
The connection was cut and Nick stood there a moment considering the information.
"Computer, set up a real-time connection with Captain Anderson." Nick waited silently for the call to be put through. The only thing that gave away any indication of her mood were her clenched fists.
When the former CO answered the call he didn't look surprised to see her. "Commander, I thought you might call. What can I do for you?"
"Do you know anything about Virmire?" she inquired, cutting straight to the chase.
Anderson sighed. "No. Unfortunately not. I'd never heard of Virmire until the Council mentioned it."
"Why didn't you mention it when I reported to you earlier?" annoyance crept into her voice again.
"I didn't have the info at that time," Anderson replied curtly. "If I hear anything essential, I'll let you know."
"Yeah, of course. Sorry," she replied sullenly, irritated with herself that she hadn't thought of that. Hours had passed since she had reported to the captain and this information was obviously fresh.
"Veronika, keep your chin up. You'll get it done. Good hunting."
She cut the connection just as Joker's voice sounded over the intercom.
"Commander, Admiral Hackett is on the line for you."
"Did I win some kind of popularity contest?" Nick muttered, still disgruntled by the condescending manner of the Councilors, the lack of information from Anderson and, to a certain degree, by Ashley's and Garrus' interruption. She straightened her shoulders and put on her Commander-Shepard face before she answered the call.
They listened as the admiral informed Shepard about a geth incursion in the Armstrong cluster. She agreed that it was worth looking into given the connection between the geth and Saren. Now the question was should they go to assist an STG unit or deal with the geth beach head in the Armstrong Cluster before the incursions could become a full-fledged invasion?
Nick took a deep breath and made her choice.
"Joker, get us to the Armstrong Nebula." She turned to Kaidan and Garrus. "Looks like we get to hunt more geth."
Nearly two weeks later the Normandy entered the Armstrong Nebula, course set for the Gagarin system. Shepard called her team together for a run-down after Joker informed her they were nearing the planet Rayingri. She met Kaidan's eyes as he stepped into the comm room, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. He sat down in the seat next to her, expression neutral as he watched the others enter as well.
He was so tantalizingly close. She could smell the spicy scent of his aftershave and the hint of ozone from his biotics. Nick shuddered, hoping no one would notice. They hadn't had much time alone the past two weeks; only odd moments here and there. A random touch when passing a data pad to the other, furtive smiles at each other over the table at mealtimes. They hadn't had a single late-night chat in that time. Maybe for the better, she thought. She craved the memory of that almost-kiss, but was aware that the faster they got the mission done the faster they would be able to figure out how to proceed.
Pull yourself together, Shepard.
"I want tech experts on my team as we'll be facing mostly geth. Tali, that means you're in," she told the quarian. Nick let her eyes roam over her other squad mates, fleeting back and forth between Kaidan and Garrus. After a short moment her eyes settled on Kaidan, "And Alenko. I want a biotic along just in case somebody has to be thrown through the air."
He nodded his head once.
"We should reach Rayingri in about half an hour, so get ready to suit up. Dismissed." She watched as her team filed out, sensing some disappointment from some of the others. She would have to speak with them once she and the shore party returned to the ship.
With a sigh Nick followed and headed to her cabin to grab her armor.
As she walked past the mess she saw Kaidan speaking to the mess sergeant who was handing him energy bars for biotics by the handful. Nick smiled to herself as she skimmed over his body with her eyes, taking in his broad shoulders and near perfect backside. Her smile turned into a grin as she walked into her cabin.
Grabbing her gear she forced herself to focus on the task at hand and almost collided with Kaidan in front of the elevator. Together they headed down to the armory where Tali was already waiting for them and prepared for the drop.
They landed on Rayingri's barren surface with the Mako, the planet's sun standing low over the horizon bathing everything in a red light. Tali monitored the Mako's life control systems while Kaidan had control of the weapons. Nick was aware he would've prefered watching life support, but life wasn't always a bowl of cherries; and she wanted someone with proper training operating the mass-accelerator cannon. Just in case.
The planet seemed desolate despite the comparatively temperate climate and promising mineral deposits. They stumbled over several scavenger camps, which had been long abandoned. But they didn't encounter any geth.
They drove on until they came across a road leading up a slope lined by beacons. Shepard slowed the Mako, not trusting the lack of hostile forces.
"Tali? Still no sign of geth activity?" she asked skeptically.
The quarian answered in the negative. Nick shrugged and accelerated the Mako up the slope until they reached the top of the hill. She cursed as she saw dragon's teeth outside a underground facility. That didn't bode well. She carefully maneuvered the Mako around a number of crates, driving up close to the entrance before ordering her shore party to disembark the vehicle. Nick softly nudged Kaidan, gesturing towards the dragon's teeth surrounding the facility. He nodded, expression grim.
"I want this to be your call, Lieutenant," she said quietly. "How would you proceed if this was your mission?" He shot her a questioning look and she nodded encouragingly, leaning back to wait for Kaidan's tactical evaluation. He cleared his throat as Tali looked back and forth between them expectantly.
"Tali," Kaidan called out. "Concentrate on Damping and Sabotage to slow down the husks. I'll focus on Overload, Neural Shock and my biotics."
"And Shepard?" Tali turned toward her.
Kaidan looked at Nick. "The Commander finishes them off with her assault rifle."
"Not my assault rifle," Nick objected and pulled her shotgun, gripping it tightly. She put all her confidence in her voice as she answered. "You two slow them down and knock them off their feet. I'll make sure they stay down. Be sure to grab some extra grenades."
They entered the facility; it's antechamber was deserted and boxes lay scattered across the floor. The sound of shuffling feet from the main chamber grabbed their attention. It wasn't the patter of shoes on the ground; it was softer, like bare feet being dragged across the ground; a dry rasping shuffle. No other sounds could be heard. No conversations of the staff, nothing, and Nick felt the icy certainty they had all been transformed.
They were too late. Again.
Cautiously they entered the main chamber. The room was filled with work consoles, and the sound of their cooling systems filled the air with a gentle buzz.
Kaidan passed her and took point. No sooner had he gone a few steps into the room when they heard the strangled combination between a moan and a cry that was so typical for husks. Kaidan instantly fell back to cover again, pulling a tech grenade from his belt and opening his omni-tool with the flick of his wrist.
Tali did the same thing.
Three husks shambled into view and Kaidan tossed his primed tech grenade, letting it explode as it fell between them. The husks stumbled and Tali sent out her attack. A fourth husk came running from the other side only to be shot at close range by Nick. It didn't get up and she turned to see if Kaidan and Tali needed help with the first three husks. She grinned as she saw one lying motionless on the floor and the other two cartwheeling through the air, wrapped in blue.
They encountered four more husks in the back part of the chamber and had just taken down two when the door leading to the further part of the facility opened and more came rushing into the main room, their piercing howls chilling Nick to the bone. Her mouth went dry as she saw the sheer mass of clawing hands, glowing eyes and gaping mouths pouring into the room, and she fought the impulse to turn and run. She brought up her shotgun, firing shot after shot as she retreated slowly.
Kaidan caught several in a Throw, propelling them back through the acrid air while Tali used another tech attack on the remaining group and Nick moved in close for the kill shots.
Adrenaline pulsed through her veins like a drug with every heartbeat. Finally the rush of husks ended and Nick took a deep breath after the last hostile fell. She turned her head in time to see Kaidan sweeping his omni-tool through the air in a half circle and cocked her to the side.
"All clear," he confirmed, answering her silent question, and they continued through the research facility.
They had almost returned to the main chamber when her HUD lit up and she heard Kaidan's hoarse whisper of, "Hostiles!"
The chamber was overrun with geth, forcing them to use every skill they had. The air that had almost cleared from the fight against the husks grew bitter with the smell of burning circuits and the billowing smoke of tech explosions. Tali hacked one geth destroyer, while Kaidan Lifted the other one after Sabotaging its weapons.
They fought their way through the geth but stopped short at the entrance. The security doors made it impossible even for Kaidan's high end military-grade omni-tool to gain useful readings from outside, and they had no way of knowing what awaited them. He looked over at Tali, who shook her head. No readings.
They exchanged quick glances before Nick hit the door panel and were welcomed by the sight of a geth dropship leaving the vicinity. They sprinted for cover as a rocket soared towards their position. The shock wave from its explosion washed over them; knocking Nick off her feet. With more luck than anything else she used the momentum to execute a shoulder roll forwards into cover.
She breathed hard as she peeked around the Mako to scope out the area and pegged the locations of all hostiles. They engaged in a brief firefight enhanced with tech and biotics before climbing into the Mako, ready for pick up. Unfortunately this had only been one outpost and according to the data they had found there were more within the Armstrong nebula yet.
They would have to continue their hunt in neighboring systems.
"Commander," Joker's voice rang over the intercom, "We've entered the Grissom system. ETA is fifty minutes."
Nick thanked him and sat back thoughtfully, putting the reports she had been working on to the side. They had spent almost a week seeking and destroying geth outposts in every other system of the nebula before they had enough data to back track the signal to this location; a large moon orbiting the planet Notanban. She felt uneasy. Wih every passing day it felt as if time was running through her hands like sand.
It had to be the main center of operations.
She decided to tell her tech team to suit up in person instead of calling them together over the intercom.
Nick left her cabin and was pleasantly surprised to see Kaidan and Tali sitting at the mess table with Chief Engineer Adams and several crew members from engineering, a mass of data pads lying between coffee cups and trays.
Kaidan must have sensed her approaching. He turned his head away from the conversation and looked straight at her, a small grin on his lips. She couldn't help but smile in reaction to his lop-sided smirk, though she quickly put on an impassive face.
"CHENG," she addressed Adams, "I'm afraid I'm going to have to steal Tali and Lieutenant Alenko for a mission." They both looked at her expectantly as she turned to face them. "Suit up. We're hitting dust in twenty five minutes." Tali and Kaidan excused themselves and walked to the elevator. Nick let her eyes roam over the littered table and turned back to the chief engineer. "Something I should know about?" she asked, gesturing at the number of data pads in front of her.
Adams shook his head. "No, ma'am. We're just trying to optimize a computing process. Are you sure I can't have the Lieutenant in engineering?
The corners of her mouth twitched in amusement. "Nope."
"I didn't think so," Adams sighed. "Tali is a real jewel. She can teach my people one thing or the other, but stick her together with Alenko and they have brilliant ideas. If they don't start arguing over omni-tools that is," he added as an afterthought.
Nick laughed, clapped him on the shoulder and turned to followed her team.
The first thing that met her eyes as she stepped off of the elevator was the lieutenant stripped down to his skivvies as he pulled on his underarmor. Her eyes widened in appreciation and she quickly glanced at Tali, who was leaning casually against her locker and chatting to Kaidan. The quarian had no need to change suits - her environmental suit was all she required apart from her weapons.
Nick quickly suited up and was trying to adjust the final piece of armor when she heard Kaidan's voice behind her.
"Hold on, Commander. The strap is twisted. It won't seal properly like that."
"Thank you, Alenko." She lowered her hand as he stepped closer to unclasp the buckle. She felt him securing the buckle again and then run his hands over the seams of her armor, checking the closures.
She was aware she enjoyed those short moments more than she should; the thought of his hands running over her body sent shivers of delight down her spine. Arousal pooled low in her stomach as she recalled the light brush of his lips against hers and she imagined his hand traveling this path without her wearing any armor.
"I hope this moon is more pleasant than the last planet we were on," Tali commented, pulling Nick out of her reverie.
Focus on the mission, dammit!
"What?" Kaidan remarked drily, humor sparkling in his eyes. "You didn't enjoy Antibaar?"
He gave Nick a double-pat on her back and she wondered if he was really as unfazed as he appeared. The quarian tilted her head to the side but didn't say anything as they climbed into the Mako.
Nick halted the Mako on a ridge overlooking a facility guarded by two geth Colossus and three manned sniper towers.
She was aware they couldn't stay outside of the Mako for longer periods of time as Solcrum's surface was scorching hot, but she wanted to use the precision of her sniper rifle to even the odds and this was a perfect spot; a natural wall offering cover. She pulled on her helmet and grabbed her sniper rifle.
Kaidan looked incredulous. "Commander, you can't be serious! The surface temperature is well above 300°. Your armor isn't - "
"I'll be fine," she cut in. She ignored any further protest of her shore party and disembarked the Mako, ordering them to stay put.
"Damn it, Shepard!" she heard Kaidan swear and almost turned around in surprise. He never swore.
Shepard moved into cover as a siege pulse passed over her head, and quickly assembled her sniper rifle. She cast a look at her suit's environmental surveillance system; there was enough time.
She zeroed in on the first geth and breathed in, preparing herself for the first shot.
Breathe out. Hold. Fire.
One down.
Repeating this twice more she took down the other two geth rocket troopers before scrambling back into the Mako. She almost bumped together with Kaidan, who held his breather helmet in his hands, obviously preparing to leave the Mako. Sweat ran in streams down her back and her breath came in rapid gasps. She pulled off her helmet, the air within the Mako cool on her skin. Kaidan put his helmet back on its hook and opened his omni-tool instead.
"We could've done that with the Mako's cannon," there was a clear reprimand in Kaidan's voice as he scanned her with his omni-tool, brow creased. It stood in odd contrast to the tender touch as he felt her pulse, counting silently.
"I'm fine," she rasped.
"Bullshit, Shepard," his voice was rough and she looked at him in surprise. His amber eyes were dark with emotion as he returned her gaze.
What was it she saw in his eyes? Anger? Fear?
"That," he gestured outside, "was reckless."
Anger welled up inside her. "It was my evaluation. I knew I could do it within the time limit given by the environmental circumstances."
"In any regular life-supporting environment I'd agree," he argued. "Or even if two of us were snipers. But in this case using the Mako should have been the obvious choice. Your Colossus armor is not made for these temperatures. Any longer and you would've cooked in there. You're already showing signs of heat exhaustion," he was almost growling. "You placed yourself and the mission in unnecessary danger. It was arrogance."
Nick felt as if she had been slapped. "I don't think I like your tone, Lieutenant. I know what I can do and how much time I need to do it. That's the end of this discussion and you are out of line. Have I made myself clear?"
"And what if you hadn't gotten a clear shot on all tangos? What then, Shepard?" Kaidan demanded in a low voice.
"I said enough!" she couldn't believe it.
They glared at each other. The only sounds were the whirr of the Mako's life support system and the quiet sound of Tali shuffling uncomfortably in her seat.
"Yes ma'am," Kaidan answered through gritted teeth.
The air was thick with tension as Nick hulled the Mako down and kept it behind the ridge, rising just high enough for Kaidan to get clear firing-solutions on the two Colossus.
"We have to break cover, Commander," he let her know after the first colossus collapsed to the ground. "The second colossus is still on the far side of the base. I can't get a clear shot like this."
Wordlessly Nick drove over the ridge and closer to the outpost to draw the remaining colossus out. She circled slowly while Kaidan whittled it down with the machine gun and cannon. As soon as it was down Nick sped the Mako as close as possible to the facility's entrance.
She gave Kaidan a seething look as she pulled on her helmet. She was still furious as she fastened her weapons in their holsters, but the focus of her anger had changed. Now she was angry at herself because he was right.
It had been arrogant.
They entered the outpost and barely had time to take cover when a Geth Destroyer fired a rocket at them. Kaidan and Tali aimed a tech attack at the destroyer, Sabotaging its weapons.
Nick pulled her sniper rifle and dropped on one knee.
"You synthetic sonofabitch." She whispered as she put the destroyer in her crosshairs. She was so intent on her prey that she hardly noticed the hopper zoning in on her until she saw a flash of blue energy streak past her. Kaidan caught the geth in a Lift and repeatedly fired his pistol at it, while Tali hacked another, turning it against its own for a short time.
Cover was minimal inside the chamber as the cargo crates crumbled under a few shots. Nick ducked into cover behind one box as it collapsed, revealing another destroyer behind it. She swore loudly and rolled off to the side to evade enemy fire. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Kaidan bathed in the blueish glow of his biotics as he Threw the destroyer back, giving her the chance to bring up her rifle for a shot.
Tali took down a stalker with her shotgun and had engaged a third destroyer when a shot from the balcony hit her, ripping through her shields and armor. She cried out in pain as a second shot hit home.
"Tali!" Nick yelled as she swivelled her sniper rifle to the side and aimed at the last destroyer. Kaidan hurled a Sabotage at it, taking out its weapons for a brief time. He rushed to Tali's position and pulled her into cover behind a pillar. Shepard could hear him talking to her in a low voice as he checked her injury.
Nick blocked out their conversation, catching only the words 'antibiotics' and 'infection'. After the last destroyer was finally down she turned her attention to the balcony on the upper level - and the juggernaut on it. Kaidan could take care of Tali's wounds, she would take care of the remaining enemy forces. Nick scoped out the room one more time and sighted a geth hopper lurking at the far end. She was about ready to pull the trigger when the hopper changed positions. Nick called out a warning, but Kaidan was already swathed in undulating blue.
She returned her focus on the juggernaut and calmly took it down with a few well-placed shots.
Silence fell.
Nick hurried to Kaidan and Tali; the young quarian was sitting upright and the lieutenant was packing away his medi kit.
"Will you be all right?" she asked Tali, worried. She didn't know much about quarians, but she knew they were very vulnerable to infections.
"I'll be fine," Tali replied. Her voice sounded strained. "I have some antibiotics and I've sealed off the damaged section of my enviro-suit. With the medigel Kaidan gave me I'll be fine."
Nick glanced at Kaidan. He had walked over to a terminal and was inspecting it. She watched as he opened his omni-tool and hacked the data terminal. He downloaded the data and turned to face her, his expression guarded. He nodded once, signaling he was done.
"Tali, you rest here while Alenko and I scour the facility for further information," Nick ordered and got up, walking over to Kaidan. "Anything interesting, Lieutenant?" she inquired, trying to sound casual.
"Possibly," he met her gaze and opened his mouth to say something, but snapped it shut again. He glanced at the data he had pulled from the console. "I'll have to run it through Normandy's computer. The files are too complex for my omni-tool."
"I see," Nick replied, her tone frostier than she had intended. "Let's see what we can find so we can get off this rock." She marched off, annoyed with herself. Why had she snapped at him like that? She wasn't angry at him, but he couldn't know that. They searched the remaining building for more evidence silently before returning to Tali.
Nick pulled up her radio to contact Joker. "Joker? We're ready for pick up. Send me the coordinates. And once we're aboard set course for Virmire."
A/N: My, my, somebody sure is grouchy. Next up: Virmire!