Author's Note: Expect it to be a little while until my next update. I'm still polishing up the next chapter, it's a bit ambitious in concept.
Chapter 24 Quarian Admirals
The ship shuddered under fire as it angled in to let Shepard drop out onto the battlefield. The Quarians were still alive and holding out, that much was clear as soon as her transport had established orbit. They also had a shuttle, a very badly damaged shuttle. So Shepard had replacement parts stuffed into her field pack.
Shepard dropped down the short fall and immediately started running towards the Quarian's signal. In the wide open landscape she had her assault rifle out and fired at various Geth drones as she moved. Fortunately the shuttle drop had put her fairly close to the location of the fighting.
Finally she found the Quarians holed up in a highly defensible location, but not one that is obviously so. She drove a line through the besieging Geth and even weakened their flanks. She hopped into cover with the four Quarians and looked around. Shepard nodded in approval, "Alright, who's in charge here?"
"Sergeant Kal'Reegar reporting, ma'am." A Quarian in a red suit saluted.
"Shepard's fine, Kal'Reegar. Han'Garrel sent me. I've got replacement parts for the shuttle in my pack."
"I'll take those, Shepard." Another Quarian motioned.
Shepard handed over her pack and turned to join Kal'Reegar at the edge of their defenses taking shots at Geth. He spoke first, "This your first shot at Geth?"
"Yes. But remind me to tell you about a few of the things I've done. Let me tell you, Batarian slave raids are really annoying to try and survive. I should know, I've been through two."
Kal'Reegar fired a few shots, "Slavers. I honestly think they're worse than the Geth, hope you killed a lot of them."
Shepard spoke in between bursts of fire, "At this point, I'm fairly sure I'm passed a hundred. And that's just Batarian slavers specifically."
"Damn! How about some pointers when all this is done?"
"The only pointer I could give, is one you clearly already know. Pay attention to your surroundings; and use them to your advantage, and your enemy's disadvantage. By the way, excellent location."
"Thanks, I insisted on it over a cave complex about ten clicks east."
"Cave complexes are tricky, so many twists and turns, and converging paths; the only defense you can have there is a fighting retreat."
"Sounds like you've had experience."
"Second Batarian raid."
"Sergeant?"
"Yeah, what is it?"
"The… the shuttle slid down the hill."
"Well, shit." Shepard said with melodramatic resignation and a pause between the two words. She couldn't see it, but Kal'Reegar smirked in his helmet.
"How is our only machinist?"
"Some of his suit took a rip, he's got an infection, but he's holding."
"Shepard…?"
"Hold steady, I'll see if I can finish for him."
Shepard made her way down the hill, Kal'Reegar keeping the Geth off her back as she went. Shepard found the Quarian and pulled him further into cover and applied a bit more dextro medi-gel on his wound. "Can you shoot?"
"I could never shoot very well…" He said shakily. He finished, "But I'm no worse than I was before I got this infection."
Shepard handed over one of her guns, "Good, cover me with this pistol." She moved into the shuttle and set to work. She had finished up the quality work this Quarian had already done and moved on to the last bit of repairs, "How are you doing over there?" She knew if the Quarian machinist was going to make it, she'd need to keep his spirits up.
"A little queasy. Not sure if it's the infection or the firefight." Came the quick, dry answer.
Shepard laughed, "Probably a bit of both, with adrenaline lessening it a bit."
"Not helping." The Quarian replied as he fired a few shots.
"Maybe this'll help, get in the shuttle. She's space-worthy again."
The Quarian limped in and sat down and strapped himself in, "Damn straight that helped. Now let's get off this… what's the Human term… Godforsaken rock?"
"That is exactly the right term." Shepard laughed.
Shepard lifted off and hovered the shuttle at the top of the hill as the other Quarians piled in quickly.
The shuttle had no trouble going through the flak the Geth threw at them with Shepard at the helm. Once the shuttle was aboard the small transport they quickly made their way back to the Flotilla.
/\
"Admiral, can I say thank you for sending Shepard. I have no doubt we'd never have gotten off that rock without her. And my machinist says she kept his spirits up after he got his infection. I'm pretty sure he owes her his life." Kal'Reegar finished his debriefing.
Han'Garrel nodded, "My condolences on your lieutenant and captain. However, your actions put you in line for promotion. Lieutenant Kal'Reegar." Han'Garrel offered him a formal salute; which was returned, textbook perfectly.
Shepard could see from his posture that he wasn't so sure he'd earned the promotion. That made her smirk, "Congratulations, Kal." They'd gotten to talking in the ship ride back to the Flotilla and established a rapport.
She'd even gotten him to call her by her first name, "Thanks Sarah. Hope I get a chance to work with you again."
"See you around." She turned to a clearly amused Admiral Han'Garrel, "Who has me next?"
"Daro'Xen, don't worry about her. She's a bit odd, but the job she has for you can be done right here in the Flotilla." Han'Garrel replied. He gestured with his head in the direction she was waiting in. "In fact I wouldn't be surprised if she only took up an hour or so of your time."
Shepard raised an eyebrow. Her first impression of Daro'Xen was that she didn't really have any reason to hire Shepard, even if the other Admirals did. She had to admit, she was curious.
She went in the direction Han'Garrel indicated.
It turned out Daro'Xen only wanted to know Shepard's impression of the Geth, and then she provided a bit of information on how the synthetic race functioned, a bit of their history, and their evolution as far as she tracked. After all of that she simply said, "Thank you, your candid observations will help a great deal in my research. Now, Admiral Shala'Raan is going to be expecting you aboard her ship the Tonbay."
"Thank you Admiral." Shepard stepped quickly, but with dignity, to a waiting shuttle.
/\
"I was originally going to ask you about the Crescent-Omega War…" Shala'Raan sighed, "Shepard, I'm going to need your help with a… a space battle."
Shepard raised an eyebrow, "Wouldn't Han'Garrel's presence be necessary?"
Shala'Raan nodded, "Normally true, but… I'd rather not involve him. This is strictly a Patrol Fleet matter."
Shepard nodded and moved over to the tactical map that the Admiral had. "Details?"
"Approximately equal forces. It's a group of Batarian pirates that want some practice before shipping out to Alliance Space."
"Simple enough, what's the layout of the battlespace?"
"Completely empty. No stellar material, no rocky material, nothing."
"Hmm… That's a problem. We'll need to rely on positioning and better aim. I assume you can borrow fighters and interceptors?"
"Absolutely. Rael stands by to offer whatever assistance he can. And Zaal'Koris is willing to help if necessary, but the Civilian Fleet doesn't have much in the way of weapons."
"Does Admiral Rael'Zorah have marines?"
Shala'Raan blinked in surprise. "Yes."
"Good. Have Admirals Zaal'Koris and Rael'Zorah coordinate, we need the nimble shuttles of the Civilian Fleet to funnel the marines as saboteurs aboard the enemy ships. The fighters and interceptors can fly interference and eliminate any outside resistance to the shuttles. Since these are pirates, the ships are going to have a fairly minimal crew."
"I'll prepare everything."
"Since I'm not in command of a ship this time, I'll join the marines." Shepard nodded and waited for the other Admirals.
/\
Her shuttle shook violently, but it wasn't damaged. Finally they got the green light, some things must be universal, and Shepard jumped off, leading the charge.
Between Shepard's shuttle and several other shuttles, the hangar bay of this cruiser was clear very quickly. Shepard pulled up her Omni-tool and checked over the schematics of this cruiser. She gave assignments to the marines, and then led her own group towards the bridge.
"Ma'am? Ever done this before?" One of them asked politely.
"Sort of… The last time I was in a situation like this I was in command of a ship ordering marines into capturing ships. Now…"
"Now you're one of the marines." The same one said in a welcoming manner.
Shepard was happy to be welcomed by them.
The fight to the bridge had some resistance, but she suspected most of the personnel were being sent to protect engineering, a smart move under normal circumstances. But they weren't looking to sabotage, they were looking to steal.
The bridge was of course closed down and locked, but Shepard simply charged up her biotics and tore the doors off their hinges. She used one as a shield against the hail of bullets, and the other as a blunt weapon. Once enough room had been cleared the marines rushed in and cleared the room.
Shepard checked in with the other two groups. The first one sent to clear out the crew quarters and extraneous sections of the ship were already done, the group going to engineering had run into stiff resistance but were holding firm. She sent the first group to back up the other one. And then she turned back to her own group, "Patch us in to the Patrol Fleet's frequency."
"Frequency open, ma'am."
"We're almost done here, how are the other operations going, Admiral?"
"Actually fairly well, no serious losses yet. Thanks to our positioning we've only lost a few fighters and interceptors. We're right on schedule." Admiral Shala'Raan seemed almost disbelieving.
"Acknowledged, update me with any significant changes."
"Admiral Shala'Raan out." The channel cut.
Shepard turned back to the rest of the marines, "Well, let's make sure not to lose momentum, start redirecting our movements and prepare a firing sequence. If the pirates try to contact us, inform them of some malfunctions and that we're dealing with them."
"You got it, Shepard."
The whole process took less than five minutes; no one knew ships like trained Quarians. In that time she received confirmation that engineering had been cleared and the two groups were now coordinating a sweep.
About a minute later her Omni-tool beeped and a five second countdown appeared. When it hit zero Shepard smirked devilishly and dramatically said, "Fire!"
There was a shudder that passed through the ship and then she watched the viewport as seven shots all converged in on the pirate's lead vessel. The cruiser exploded in a brilliant red-orange flash. Debris scattered out, bouncing off the kinetic barriers of enemy frigates and knocking them into the path of incoming fire from the Patrol Fleet.
Everything had been executed perfectly. Shepard joined the marines in a triumphant cheer. And then the stolen ships joined Shala'Raan and the Patrol Fleet on the return flight to the rest of the Flotilla.
/\
"Impressive. A pity I wasn't there to help. But, it clearly wasn't needed." Han'Garrel said with his arms crossed. He had great respect for Shepard and his respect for his fellow Admiral went up a few notches after he'd been briefed.
Rael laughed at his old friend, "Don't be so bitter about it, Han. You know as well as I do the Patrol Fleet is better suited to that type of mobile engagement than your slow and lumbering dreadnoughts. And Shala'Raan is just as good at you with leading troops."
Zaal'Koris jumped in, "And thanks to Shepard's clever plan we now have half a dozen easily refurbish-able cruisers.
Han'Garrel nodded and relaxed his posture, "True. Alright, I'd best go assuage the egos of my captains. Great work, Shala." That last compliment was sincere and slightly out of character.
Rael watched him walk away and said, "I think I'll see my daughter while I have time. I don't usually get a chance."
Zaal'Koris clearly stiffened in surprise. Shepard noticed and said, "I take it Rael'Zorah was the next one with a task for me?"
"Yes… but I wasn't expecting him to give up the slot so quickly. The Admiralty Board can be fairly petty from time to time."
"Like any political group, huh?" Shepard chuckled.
Zaal'Koris's smirk was evident in his dry tone of voice, "I suppose we Quarians aren't alone in that regard."
"Well, what is it you need Admiral?"
"In due time. I'm sure you're tired. I've noted that you haven't slept since you got here. Come on, my flagship has a few clean rooms you can use so that you don't have to sleep in your armor. Believe me; I know how uncomfortable that is."
Shepard released a great deal of tension in a long sigh. Her shoulders drooped and her head bobbed down, "Thank you. I'm so tired I can probably sleep through the migraine I have going, residual effect of a biotic implant that isn't there anymore. And surely you've noticed the scar on my face?"
"It's… uh… hard not to notice. Even through a helmet."
Shepard laughed deeply, "Don't I know it. Anyway, long story short, a constant minor pain that only spikes when I have migraines."
Zaal'Koris shook his head and led her to a shuttle.
/\
The sleep was actually quite peaceful and restful. Zaal'Koris was looking over some reports from his captain when he noticed her approaching him. "Good sleep?"
"Very good, thank you."
"Now, what I need is a very serious matter. There may be a traitor onboard this vessel and I need them stopped."
"Ah, so you wanted my investigative mind well rested. What leads do you have?" Shepard took the job seriously; but she had a smile on her face showing she didn't care if Zaal'Koris's offer was an ulterior motive or not, she still appreciated it.
Zaal'Koris nodded. He tapped a few buttons on a datapad and handed it to Shepard.
Shepard wandered into a nearby rec room as she read over the information. "This is… a load of bullshit."
Someone overheard her, "A load of what?"
She looked up, "Sorry, it's a human word that means it's not a credible piece of information."
The Quarian nodded in understanding.
Shepard reread the information now that the conversation had died down. She sighed, "All of this only points to one person in the list Zaal'Koris gave me. And it probably isn't even what it looks like."
Shepard stood up and went to Zaal'Koris and asked, "When did you start noticing these fluctuations?"
"About three months ago."
"Right about the time that this Quarian returned from his Pilgrimage, right?" She showed him the picture.
"So you suspect him?"
"All the evidence suggests him; that said I don't think he's the traitor you suspect he is.
"What do you mean?"
"These transmissions are too constant to be security updates. If you give me a chance to decrypt one of them I'm willing to bet all I'll find is a lovesick note to an Asari."
"Really?" Zaal'Koris looked willing to entertain the idea. "I can't risk letting him continue if you're sure it's him sending the messages. But I'm willing to offer you the chance to acquit him. I'll keep everything about his incarceration quiet while you work on one of the messages."
"Thank you admiral." Shepard bowed and decided to set to work right away.
The cipher for decryption, it turned out was not overly difficult. There was a slight coding to it, and it was written using Quarian and Asari characters. Once the first few letters were figured out, the rest fell into place.
"Admiral."
"Shepard, do you really have it decoded already?"
"Yes, and I have something to say… It's the worst poetry I've ever read. There's no hidden message except for the fact that he wants desperately to be with the woman he fell for."
"You sure?"
"Read for yourself."
Zaal'Koris looked at the datapad he'd lent to Shepard. After a few lines he mumbled, "Keelah, this is awful."
"What'd I tell you?"
"I'll let him go right away. There won't be any backlash, except now he has to clear outgoing messages with me… And I think I'll help him with the poetry."
"Good idea." Shepard agreed.
"Why don't you take another nap? Rael can wait a little while longer."
Shepard considered, "…Thanks, but I don't think I'm tired enough to sleep."
"Thanks for the help, Shepard."
"You are quite welcome, Zaal." He seemed pleased at the informality.
/\
"Hello again, Shepard."
"Rael."
"You remember my daughter? Seems she couldn't stay out of trouble."
Shepard smiled at Tali in amusement, "Hey Tali."
"Hi Shepard." She said in a fair amount of excitability.
Rael turned to Tali, "I need to talk to Shepard alone for a few minutes sweetie." She nodded and left.
"Anyways… What I need from you is something that presents a rather delicate problem. And a dangerous one."
"Well, this sounds lovely. Dangerous how?"
"It requires a trip deep into Geth Space."
"Oh joy, beyond the Perseus Veil."
"Yes… there are some components I want retrieved from… a three hundred year old lab."
"Components?" Shepard didn't believe him.
"Alright, that's what I'm telling the other Admirals, and I'd appreciate it if you could bring something back. But what I really need from that lab is any available data on the Geth."
Shepard had a bad feeling about this, but she wasn't going to back out of the contract, "…Alright."
Rael could sense her thoughts, "I know this is a lot to ask. A lot more than you were hired for. I'll send you with a few marines of my own. And there will be a big bonus for you."
Shepard sighed, tried to run a hand through her hair, but only bumped her helmet. She got up suddenly and stepped in the direction Rael indicated.