Upon returning to the Normandy Shepard went straight to his cabin in order to invite Traynor up.
"Traynor, if you're not doing anything, I've got a few hours free. Would you like to come up?" he asked over the intercom.
A few minutes later, Traynor walked into his cabin and just stared at everything and Shepard noted she was holding something in her arms.
"Your cabin is gorgeous. I've seen apartments smaller than this," she said in amazement. "Well, Commander… ready to play."
"Play?" Shepard frowned.
"I pick up a chessboard on the Citadel," she said holding out a board. "GUI interface—not nearly as nice as real pieces, but this takes up less space. And I recall you delivered something that closely resembled a challenge. So… interested?"
Shepard could tell instantly that she was very confident in her abilities and he soldier his reflexes told him that he was in danger. "This is a trap, isn't it?"
"I'm just a simple scientist, Commander. I'm sure your real-world experience will give you an edge," she said innocently.
With that the two of them play chess on the table and Shepard soon discover that it was indeed a trap. No matter how careful he was, Traynor somehow was able to counter every single one of his moves.
"Oh, come on!" Shepard groaned at the loss of another pawn.
Traynor leaned back on the couch and laughed. "My word, Commander. It's almost as though you wanted to spare your pawns the indignity of living under my regime."
"In real life, that tactic would have worked," said Shepard starting to get annoyed.
"Well, in real life, one doesn't move on an eight-by-eight square grid," Traynor pointed out.
"You know what I mean. The pawns are infantry. A good infantry line, like the krogan, can take a chance like that."
Traynor smiled slyly. "That reminds me of a joke: What's the difference between Commander Shepard and a krogan? One is an unstoppable juggernaut of head-butting destruction…"
Shepard could tell whether this joke was going. "…and the other doesn't have a smart-ass comm office to keep him in line."
Traynor laughed. "Ooh, that's even better than number-of-testicles punch line."
Shepard smiled at her. "I'm glad you didn't run back to the lab, Traynor."
"Thanks. So… rematch?"
"Hell, yes."
They played once again and Shepard was defeated once again. He then decided to make a tactical retreat to the CIC and decided this was the perfect opportunity to meet up with the qurians.
The meeting place was in the Far Rim just behind the Geth Border to meet up with the qurian and envoy team. Strangely their ship but had stealth technology and Shepard had a feeling that Tali might have given a few details to the qurians.
The envoys were the Admiralty Board, which he met during Tail's trial. He had a feeling that things were bad if all four of them were coming aboard.
"Commander Shepard. A pleasure to see you again, though I wish it was under better circumstances," said Admiral Raan as she and the other admirals entered into the War Room.
"I'd hoped for your support in the fight against the Reapers. What's going on?" Shepard asked.
"Seventeen days ago, with precision strikes on four geth systems, the qurians initiated the war to retake our homeworld," said Admiral Gerrel.
"Which was a clear violation of our agreement with the council to avoid provoking the geth!" said Admiral Koris angrily.
"A treaty violation is nothing compared to recovering our homeland and advanced AI technology," said Admiral Xen arguably.
"Your homeworld? You mean Rannoch?" said Shepard.
Raan nodded. "Correct, Commander. Three hundred years ago, we lost our world to our own AI creations, the geth."
"After we attempted to kill them," Koris pointed out.
"We didn't try to kill them, Koris. We tried to deactivate them. It wasn't murder," said Xen firmly.
Shepard was unable to see the distinction. "No, it was murder," he said narrowing his eyes at Xen.
"Commander, the quarians never intended to create a true AI. It was an accident," said Raan diplomatically.
Shepard shook his head. "Which you chose to correct by trying to kill them."
The admirals looked at one another unsure how to answer. It was hard to tell what they were thinking due to the fact he was unable to see their faces, but judging by the body language of Koris he was the only one that resented the war.
"Don't bother," he said looking at Shepard. "Admitting we were wrong undercuts the justification for this suicide invasion plan."
Shepard couldn't believe the quarians chose now to attack the geth. They couldn't possibly have picked the worst timing to retake their homeworld. "You're throwing yourselves at the geth? Again?"
"And this time, we may have destroyed our people look good?" said Koris angrily looking at the other admirals.
"We've driven the geth back to the home system when this signal began broadcasting to all geth ships," said Gerrel as he bought out the hologram of Rannoch and the strange signal on the War Table.
Shepard recognised the signal all too well. "The Reapers."
Gerrel nodded. "Under Reaper control, the geth are significantly more effective." He then gestured to the holographic images of the quarrian fleet which was clearly penned by holographic images of the geth fleet. "Our fleet is pinned in the home system. If we're going to win—"
"Win?" Koris roared. "You insisted on involving the civilian ships, Admiral Gerrel! We need to retreat or we'll risk losing the liveships!"
"Where's the signal coming from?" Shepard asked.
"Here. A geth dreadnought," said Gerrel as he pulled out the large dreadnought with in the geth fleet. "It can outgun anything we've got, and it's heavily defended."
"The Normandy's stealth drive can get us in undetected," said Shepard. "I can board, then disable the Reaper command signal."
"Yes, cutting off the signal should probably geth into complete disarray," Xen agreed.
Shepard knew the Reapers they would only be confused for short time before they regrouped. He could tell from looking on the battlefield that a new tactic was needed to deal with the geth.
"And while they're confused, you can get to a mass relay and retreat," Shepard finished.
"Good," Koris agreed. "Our civilian ships have seen too much fighting already. Are you certain you can disrupt the signal?"
"We'll get you out of there safely, Admiral," Shepard promised.
"Our newest admiral has also volunteered of a technical expertise…" Raan added.
Suddenly appearing out of the door was a very familiar person and even though her helmet hit her face he knew that she was smiling behind it.
"Tali'Zorah vas Normandy, reporting for duty," she said.
"Glad you can make it, Tali," Shepard smiled. He then looked at the other admirals. "Admirals, I'll already a team to hit that dreadnought."
"Thank you, Commander," said Raan gratefully.
A few minutes later, Shepard and Tali made their way to the briefing room so they would be overheard.
Shepard looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "Admiral?"
"It's mostly a formality. I'm an expert on the geth," she explained.
"That you are."
"Heh. I'm glad you're here."
"If I'd know and it was this bad, I would have come sooner," said Shepard as he leaned against the glass wall with his arms crossed.
"You've had your own problems. I'm sorry about Earth," she said apologetically. "We've got the largest fleet in the galaxy. If you can help us, we'll kick the Reapers with everything we've got. Or how much is left from this stupid war."
"I thought you'd support the invasion," said Shepard a little surprised.
Tali shook her head. "No. After talking to Legion, I thought maybe there was a chance for peace."
"So why help them?"
"I'm an admiral. People look to me for guidance. Public disagreement would divide the fleet."
Shepard could tell this was really troubling her. "We'll gets your people out of here safely, Tali," he promised.
"Thanks, Shepard. And just so you know, I need to keep things strictly business in front of the admirals. If you'd like to catch up, let's talk somewhere private."
Shepard nodded. "Sure thing."
Tali looked the window to a brief moment then back at him. "I'm ready to hit that dreadnought whenever you are."
About an hour later, Shepard made his way to his cabin so he could another talk with Tali.
"Tali, I'm free if you'd like to come up," he said over the intercom.
"I'll just be a moment," said Tail.
A few moments later, Tail end it into his cabin looking quite exhausted.
"Thanks for asking me up," she said gratefully. "I couldn't talk freely in front of Raan."
"You okay?" he asked noting that she was looking quite tired from her body movement.
"No. No, I'm really not," she said rubbing her helmet. "Seventeen million lives are riding on me… and I don't know if I can save them."
"You're doing everything you can," said Shepard placing his hands on her shoulders. "If the fleet fails, it won't be because of you."
"I helped my father, and… and Xen's ideas? The new technology that was too good to pass up? That's based on my father's work," she said annoyingly. She then moved away from him and leaned over his desk. "If they die because of me… if… if I don't…"
"We'll get them out of there safely, Tail," Shepard promised.
"I couldn't do this without you, Shepard. I feel like I'm buffering. Trying to convince them that the admiral's daughter knows what she's doing."
"Not the admiral's daughter. The admiral," Shepard corrected.
"I know. And at least now, I can push back on the worst ideas. That's why I accepted the position…" She then turned and looked at him. "And because of you."
"Me?" said Shepard slightly surprised.
"When they offered me this position, I asked myself what you'd do. I thought you'd take the chance to make things better. That probably sounds stupid. It's just. I know I'm not really qualified for this…"
"You're doing fine, Tail," Shepard assured. "And thanks."
"I should get back before the admirals get into trouble again. I'll talk to you later."
When Shepard got back down to the CIC he relayed instructions to head to the Perseus Veil. While they were making the trip Shepard got his team ready which included Ashley, Garrus, Liara and EDI, plus Tail as well.
Once he was so touched Shepard made his way to the bridge to know what their ETA was and what they could be expecting when they drop out of FTL.
"We're approaching the quarian home system," said Joker looking back at Shepard. "ETA to Rannoch: five minutes."
"What've you got from the comm buoys?" Shepard asked.
Joker looked at the data that was coming in. "Pretty much a big ol' shitstorm, commander."
"I have detected several hundred unique ship signatures engaged in active combat," said EDI looking from the data.
"Yeah, like I said," said Joker.
"Take us in, Joker," Shepard ordered.
Joker cracked his fingers and started to do his thing. "Stealth drive engaged. Only way they'll detect us if you all start singing the Russian national anthem."
Shepard started to make his way to the airlock and as he did the exited out of FTL. They soon found themselves in the most horrific space battle in their entire lives. Geth and quarian ships were everywhere firing at one another.
Joker carefully manoeuvred the ship towards the giant dreadnought in the distance. It was extremely difficult as he had to fly in between ships that were engaged in battle and trying to avoid being hit.
"My cyberwarfare suit has accessed their docking protocols," said EDI.
Joker nodded and guided the ship closer towards the dreadnought and they witnessed the destruction of several quarian ships. If this fighting carried only one survived much longer. Joker managed to manoeuvre the Normandy into position against the geth dreadnought.
Shepard and the rest of his team soon found themselves in the airlock as Joker attended to dock.
"All right, once we're aboard, we find whatever's broadcasting the Reaper signal and shut it down," said Shepard. "Tali's our experts with geth software. She'll be handling hacking and security."
"Your expertise with the geth is a welcome addition, Tali," said EDI.
Tali was looking slightly uneasy at EDI. "EDI. So… a body?"
"It has proven useful. I hope it doesn't cause you concern."
"Not unless you go crazy and decide to overthrow the humans."
EDI looked at both Shepard and Ashley, who looked her right back.
"If I decide to overthrow the humans, you will be the first to know," EDI assured. She then turned and looked at Shepard seriously. "Shepard, there is a problem. All tubes except one physically secure."
"I see the free one," said Joker over the radio. "Pretty torn up, though."
"Too risky for the whole team," Shepard frowned. "I'll secure the docking area. Everyone else can follow me over."
"Roger that, Commander. We'll just stay here—you know—quietly."
"Hang tight. It'll just be a minute," he said as he stepped out of the airlock door.
Shepard had to activate his mag-boots so that he actually stuck to the docking tube. Joker have been right in saying that it was torn up, because there are a lot of pieces missing and it didn't look terribly stable.
As he made his way through Shepard looked at the dreadnought. "No wonder the quarians were having trouble. That ship is enormous," he said.
"It is 30% larger than an Alliance dreadnought," said EDI.
Shepard then turned his eyes upon Rannoch. "Tali, you're going to like the view," he said.
"Better than a vid?" she asked.
"Much," he said smiling.
Shepard continue to make his way down the docking tube, his progress was slow due to the magnetic clamps on his boots, but steady. Sometimes he came across a large gaping hole and had to walk around the docking tube to find a proper crossing point.
"How are you doing, Shepard?" Tali asked.
"The lack of gravity is a little disorienting," he admitted.
"The dreadnought has artificial gravity. You should be okay once you're on board."
"Until then, I'll make do with mag-boots."
"Hey, take your time, Commander," said Joker sarcastically. "We're fine until they, you know, look out a window."
"Geth don't use windows, remember? Structural weakness," Shepard reminded.
"Like the geth are just sitting there saying, 'Those organics would never try the no-window thing twice!'"
Shepard was just a few steps away from the airlock when the docking tube broke away. He managed to jump and grab hold of the airlock, but the entire docking tube had broken away from the dreadnought leaving him stranded.
"Looks like the rest of the team isn't using the docking tube," Shepard noted.
"So I'm guessing you'd rather not solo that dreadnought," Joker guessed.
"Not if I can help it. Ask Tali to get to the dreadnought schematics," he said as the Normandy flew away from its position. "If you can point me at another docking tube, I'll override the controls and let the boarding party on."
Shepard approached the airlock and soon found himself inside the dreadnought and right in front of him was a large gaping hole in the hull. Fortunately, the dreadnought did had artificial gravity which was a bit of a comfort.
"I'm inside. I got gravity," said Shepard.
"Great. I'm looking for… Got it," said Tail. "There should be a hull breach not far from your position. The nearest undamaged docking tube is on the other side."
It wasn't entirely difficult Shepard to find the hull breach. "Think I found that hull breach of you mentioned."
"Admiral Gerrel tried a frontal assault. We lost six frigates. That tiny hole was the only damage we did," said Tail disapprovingly.
Shepard raised an eyebrow. "I wouldn't call it tiny. Not the way you'd have done it?"
"No, he was too aggressive. I argued, but as admiral of the Heavy Fleet, it was ultimately his decision."
"Want of the other admirals?" Shepard asked.
"Xen backs the invasion, largely as a chance to test her new toys," said Tail disapprovingly. "Raan gave provisional support. Only Koris opposed the war with me. And he was right. We could lose the whole fleet, Shepard."
In truth Shepard had hoped that the incoming invasion of the Reapers would have put their invasion plans on hold. Of course, he didn't count with the advancement in anti-geth technology they had created.
"We'll get your people out here safely," Shepard assured.
It took some doing but Shepard was able to get around the hull breach, but this entire area of the dreadnought was breaking apart. It was proven when Shepard attempted to cross the walkway and it gave way, if he had moved he would have fallen to his death.
He made his way through the door and found himself in yet another airlock and this one were completely intact.
"I've found another airlock. I think we're good to go," he said over the radio.
"Great. If you override the controls, we'll be right there," said Tail.
Shepard climbed the ladder to the docking controls and access the airlock.
"Got it. You're clear to board," he said.
Soon the airlock doors opened and his team emerged.
"Thank you, Shepard. I will find a more convenient docking points next time," EDI assured.
"Next time?" said Shepard wondering when the next time they would infiltrate a geth dreadnought.
Tali soon joined him at the controls. "Here, let me see if I can get this open," she said as she made her way to the door controls. She then dropped a pistol on the control console. "In the meantime, take a look at this." She then made her way to the door controls and it only took her a second to get them open. "There, it's open. We're clear to go."
Shepard picked up the pistol and examined it, he didn't recognise the design. "Looks impressive," he said.
"It's Admiral Xen's design," she said distastefully. "It transmits an energy pulse on contact that disrupts shields and synthetics."
"That'll be handy," said Shepard as he put it in his holster. He then turned back at Tali. "So where are we headed?"
"We're looking for an operational centre. I disabled the Reaper command signal from there," said Tali.
"Where's the closest one?"
"Past the defence network and through a centre cluster."
They made their way into the defence network and Garrus marbled at the technology they were using. "GARDIAN antifighter lasers. Looks like they're using ultraviolet frequencies… like the salarians."
That explained a lot. "Expensive. Bet it gives them an edge in close combat, though," said Shepard."
"When the fleet rushed the dreadnought, those lasers carved right through our ships," said Tail.
"Come on. Let's get to the opt centre before they lose more."
They started to make their way through the defence network and Shepard had access a set of bridge controls so they could cross the walkway. Then just at the bridge span across the gap they saw several geth troopers making an appearance.
"Watch out! Geth incoming!" Tali yelled at the geth fired at them.
They quickly took cover and Shepard in waste any time to use Xen's new pistol. And though it pained Shepard to admit, her new pistol was certainly giving them the edge. He practically took out their shields and deactivated them and soon they carried on.
Unfortunately, it in take them very long to encounter more geth hostiles. It was as if they were aware of their presence.
"More on the way!" Ashley yelled.
"I don't hear an alarm!" Shepard yelled as they did battle with the geth forces.
"They're geth! They sent alerts to every unit on this ship!" Tali yelled as he unleashed a drone to distract the geth. "We need to get the operation centre before they box us in!"
When they took out that way they carried on, but they have encountered yet another wave. This wave now contained in rocket launchers which made finding cover a lot harder.
"The geth lacks self-preservation techniques," EDI noted.
"Network intelligence! As we kill them, their attacks become more aggressive!" Tali yelled as she ducked as a rocket launched over her head.
"Any new geth trick I should know about?" Ashley asked looking at Shepard.
"Disable their shields!" Shepard yelled.
"Then take them down before they recharge!" Tali added.
Garrus managed to disrupt their shields and Ashley then bombarded them with her rifle. Shepard took this opportunity to activate his cloak to sneak behind and what he is behind the he plunged his omni-blade into the back of a rocket launcher.
Once they took out the remaining geth forces they made their way deeper into the dreadnought and that's when Shepard noticed a signal console.
"Look, the signal's hitting all geth processes. The Reapers have completely under control," he said as he looked over the console.
"I transmitted what data we had with a few codebreakers. I haven't heard anything back," said Liara.
They continued making their way through the corridor and found some sensor data.
"Sensor data. How are the quarians looking?" Ashley asked.
"We're taking heavy losses," said Tali looking over the data. "The geth have a planetary defence cannon. It's ripping through our fleet."
"Is there anything we can do to help them?" Shepard asked.
"Just make the sacrifice worthwhile."
They kept on moving until this network console.
"Why do we need to find the operational centre? Wouldn't any access console do?" he asked.
"Unlikely. Consoles like this are accessing programs being used by hundreds of geth simultaneously," said EDI. "They are all networked cooperatively. To disable the Reaper signal from here, you will need to override all the geth."
Tali looked at EDI curiously. "Do you ever… wish you were like them? Networked?"
EDI shook her head. "No. I enjoy the freedom of intelligence without requiring consensus."
"You don't feel lonely, being the only AI on the Normandy?"
"I have the opportunity to socialise with the crew. And I do so for curiosity or pleasure, not out of cognitive necessity, as the geth do."
They pulled away from the console made their way to a large door.
"The dreadnought's operation centre is just ahead," said Tali.
"Good. Let's cut the Reaper signal and get the fleet out of here," said Shepard as Tali hacked the door controls.
The doors opened, but they quickly took cover as the room was filled with geth hunters. They quickly cloaked and they were soon attacked by geth troopers.
"The hunters are moving in!" Tali yelled.
Fortunately, Shepard was well acquainted with cloaks and as such he could see the outline of those using them. He quickly pulled out his sniper rifle and quickly took out a hunter. Tali had unleashed a drone to confuse the geth while EDI disrupted their shields.
Liara saw a geth hunter reappearing and used her biotics to push it back. Ashley then fired several rounds into its armour killing it and Garrus took out yet another hunter.
"That's the last of them. Let's see if that console is operational," said Tali.
Shepard then noticed a data console and looked over the data that was being recorded.
"Look at how much data the dreadnought's central processes handling," he stared.
"I think it's handling information from all geth everywhere," said Tali in amazement.
He then made their way to the operational console and at once Tali hacked into the system. She was able to pull of the schematics of the dreadnought, the way her body was moving gestured that she was frustrated.
"Damn it, they've locked down the Reaper signal," she said frustrating. "We can't shut it down from here in the operation centre." She started to look for an alternative route and at once a piece of the dreadnought glowed red. "There! The Reaper signal's coming from the drive core!"
"So if we get there, we set it down?" Shepard asked.
"Right, but how do we get there? The geth have sealed emergency bunkers to block us off. We need a route to the drive core that can't be blocked, a path that runs the length of the ship."
Shepard looked at the schematics and then noticed something any highlighted the main battery. "How about the main battery? It runs right by the drive core."
"That could work," said Tali uneasily.
"But?" Shepard pressured.
"The geth still has is locked in here. We need to get these doors open. They've locked high-level processes. We need something basic…" She then set up. "Like a ship-wide emergency, like a fire."
"What about the heat diffusion systems?" Shepard asked highlighting another portion of the dreadnought.
"Wait. If I faked a thermal warning, it would open all maintenance tubes for emergency venting!"
"Would that override the lockdown?"
"Yes!" She then reached for the console. "Okay, I've got it primed. But be ready. I'm reading hostile geth on the other side of the doors."
It only took a few seconds for Tali to send the fake morning and instantly the schematics of the dreadnought glowed red. They then saw one of the maintenance doors opening and pouring out were geth troopers. Then suddenly geth began to drop from the ceiling.
"Dropping down from the ceiling!" Ashley yelled.
"Be ready for more cloaked geth!" Liara yelled as she created a singularity that drew several geth troopers in.
Garrus and EDI disrupted the geth shield and Tali uses opportunity to hack into the geth systems just to slow them down. Shepard and Ashley continued gunning down any geth they could see with their rifles and Liara was creating her own bit of chaos with biotics. It took some effort but finally they were able to bring down every single one of them.
"Let's get to the maintenance shaft before more reinforcements arrive," said Tail.
They soon entered a maintenance shaft.
"All the time we spent fighting the geth years ago…" said Ashley shaking her head. "I thought we took care of them at the Citadel."
"Most geth don't worship the Reapers. The one we fought at the Citadel were a splinter group, the heretics," Shepard explained.
"Yeah, I read the file."
EDI however was more focused looking at the walls. "I detect the faint presence of geth intelligence. Those not loaded into mobile platforms serve in the ship itself," she said in wonder.
"Efficient. When you need manual labour, you load people into a body. When you don't, they're just part of the ship," said Garrus impressively.
"Shouldn't be too much farther to the main battery," said Shepard. He then began to bypass the security door and as he did he looked at Tali. "I'm surprised they'd sent you on this mission, Tali."
"Even Admirals are expected to serve," she shrugged. "I'm better at hacking than I am ordering ships around."
"Yeah, against an enemy dreadnought, your combat drone would just float there making that… noise," said Garrus.
"I missed you too, Garrus."
They soon entered into the maintenance area and started making their way down to the main battery. They could hear it by having them where they were indicating that they weren't too far away.
"Damn it," Tali cursed. "Priority message: A planetary defence cannon just took down Admiral Koris' ship."
Shepard looked at her. "Survivors?"
"They got to escape pods, and I've got Admiral Raan trying to establish a secure link."
"Put her through."
"Shepard, this is Raan," said Raan over the radio. "The Heavy Fleet is collapsing. I don't know how much longer we can hold out."
"We'll have the Reaper signal deactivated shortly, Admiral," Shepard assured as he accessed the door to the main battery.
Once they entered they found that the main gun was still operational and firing. In fact you are sending a massive shock wave every time it fired. Shepard would have been struck by the shockwave if he hadn't ducked behind cover.
"What's the shockwave! That's a big gun," Shepard warned.
"We should be okay if we stay and cover!" said Tali.
That was easier said than done the only brief interval was to cross to the nearest cover. To make matters worse geth forces appeared out of nowhere blocking their path.
"More incoming! I think they've figured out what we doing!" said Tali.
Soon they were in a massive firefight with in the main battery avoiding getting struck by the shockwave and engaging the geth forces. The closer they moved forwards the last time they had for cover.
"We need to shut it down!" Shepard yelled narrowing avoiding getting hit.
"There should be a maintenance lock near the battery itself!" Tali yelled as she took out the rocket launcher with her shotgun.
Eventually they were able to demolish the geth forces and reach to the maintenance lock. Shepard quickly release the lock allowing them to pass through.
"The main gun is off-line," said EDI as the entered the battery.
"We're savers long as the maintenance lock is in place. Let's move," said Shepard not wanting to be inside the battery longer than they had to.
They haven't got very far when the entire place shock.
"Gun's powering up!" Ashley warned.
"Come on! Let's get out of here!" Shepard yelled as they ran.
They ran as fast as they could towards the maintenance shaft and one by one they made their way over it. Shepard was the last of them to cross it and he had a jump to avoid being blasted to smithereens.
They soon found themselves on the other side of the battery and will begin attacked by geth forces. Knowing that the quarians were getting decimated outside they began making their way through the geth as quickly as possible.
They were able to take them out and made their way onto an elevator. They managed to get it operational and were heading upwards just as geth rocket launches entered. They fired several rockets that struck the elevator and soon came to a stop and was about to collapse.
Shepard's team were able to jump off the elevator, but Shepard was still on it and it was about to give way any minute.
"Shepard!" Tali yelled extending her hand. "Grab my hand!"
Shepard ran and jumped just as the elevator gave way and he found himself clinging onto the edge.
"Hang on!" said Tali pulling him up.
"I'm all right," Shepard assured.
"Good. Hopefully we're done with elevators." She then gestured them to follow her. "Come one. The drive core shouldn't be far."
They had to climb the rest of the way by ladder, but it in take them long to reach the door. Once inside the saw the drive core and Shepard recognised the technology instantly.
"That's definitely Reaper tech," he said as he approached the terminal. He had noticed there was some sort of pods beneath the drive core. "But what's…"
The moment he accessed the terminal the pod opened and inside they saw a geth plugged into it with several wires in its back. Shepard recognised the geth, but he was wearing a piece of old N7 armour.
"Shepard-Commander. Help us," Legion begged.
Shepard's eyes widened. "Legion."
Ashley stared at him. "You're on a first name basis with a geth?"
"Yes. It helped me fight the Collectors. It's on our side," said Shepard.
"Wait. Even if that's true, all the geth were reprogrammed," Ashley reminded.
Shepard shook his head. "Legion helped us fight the Reapers before. There's no way it would have agreed to this."
"Your caution is understandable. Once freed, we will submit to any restraints you deem necessary," said Legion.
"That is extremely reasonable, Legion," said EDI.
Legion then looked towards her. "Greetings, EDI. We did not expect you to gain licence to operate a personal unit."
Tali just merely shook her head. "I never thought I'd say this, but… it's good to see you again."
Legion nodded. "Likewise, Creator Zorah."
"So what is this thing?" Shepard asked.
"It uses our network architecture to broadcast the Old Machines command signal to all geth simultaneously."
"Then getting you out of there will shut off the Reaper signal."
"Wait. You cannot simply remove the restraints. We are secured via hardware blocks nearby that shackle our operation protocols."
"I am familiar with the concept," said EDI bitterly.
Shepard nodded. "The AI shackles Cerberus used to keep you under control?"
"Yes. Used by organics, it is understandable. For geth to install this in a formally independent unit is… unnecessary."
"The hardware blocks on the far side of the room," Legion gestured.
"Far side of the room, you said?" said Shepard as they made their way to the elevator.
"Yes. The activation should be simple. The geth protect them against viral attacks, not physical removal."
"How'd the Reapers to control the geth?" Shepard asked as he operated the elevator controls.
"They did not. The creators attacked. The geth wished to live. The Old Machines extended an offer," Legion explained.
"So we went that geth station and destroyed the heretics for what? Nothing?"
Legion shook its head. "No. Removal of the heretics made the decision to ally with the Old Machines more difficult. Had the creators not attacked, it would have been unnecessary…"
"We'll have out there soon," Shepard promised.
"The geth only allied with the Reapers for self-preservation," said EDI.
"Nothing excuses an alliance with the Reapers. They could've found another way," said Tali angrily.
"The only other way was to die. It's hard to argue with a species trying to survive," Liara pointed out.
"Damn it, I begged them to negotiate rather than attack. I did," Tali cried.
"Let's just get Legion out of there," said Shepard as he override the restraints on Legion. "Got it."
"Tali'Zorah to fleet. The signal is about to go offline," said Tali reaching for radio.
"This is Admiral Han'Gerrel. We're in your debt," said Gerrel over the radio.
"Hardware blocks offline. We are free," said Legion as he freed himself from the restraints.
The platform he was standing on then lowered to the lower levels of the drive core and he jumped off. Suddenly the drive core went offline meaning that the dreadnought was now sitting duck.
"Keelah," Tali breathed.
"As a gesture of cooperation, we have disabled the dreadnought's drive core. All weapons and barriers are offline," said Legion.
Suddenly they heard noise and Shepard had a feeling that the geth were not too pleased by this.
"Alert! Geth reinforcements incoming!" Legion warned.
Suddenly falling from the ceiling were more geth soldiers and leading them was a geth prime. They instantly took cover and began to fire back at the geth forces.
"The geth fleet is destabilised. The signal is offline," said Xen's voice.
"Civilian Fleet, prepared to withdraw. The Patrol Fleet will cover once the Heavy Fleet is in position," said Raan. "Whenever you're ready, Admiral Gerrel."
It sounded as if the quarians would now be able to get away and then they can sort out the geth later.
Unfortunately, the geth prime was making things difficult by creating drones and turrets that cause confusion. The turrets were so small that it was very hard to hit them and the drones weren't being nothing but annoying.
Shepard activated his cloak to get behind the geth prime and waited until Garrus disrupted its shields before he plunged his omni-blade into its back. It was not to bring it down, but Ashley fired a couple of rounds into its chest bring it down.
"Admiral Gerrel, what are you doing?" said Raan over the radio.
"Raan, check your screens! The dreadnought is helpless!" said Gerrel. "No barriers and the main gun is offline. We can remove their flagship if we strike now!"
"Damn it, this is our chance to withdraw the Civilian Fleet safely!" Raan yelled.
"What are you talking about? We're still on board!" Tali yelled.
Apparently the admirals were unable to hear them and Shepard had a feeling that Gerrel was already moving his ships into position. He should have known that he attacked the geth with the first opportunity he had.
"We can't waste this chance. Heavy Fleet, all forwards. Take out the dreadnought!" Gerrel ordered.
"Patrol Fleet, hold position!" Raan ordered.
"You do that, and the Heavy Fleet get wiped out. And if we die, a simple retreat won't save you from the geth response!"
"Damn you, Gerrel."
"Damn it, what are they doing?" said Tali in disbelief.
Shepard however was more preoccupied with the geth forces that were boxing them in. It appeared they were determined not to allow them to escape and with Gerrel advancing towards with every intention of lowering the ship they were on the needed to move and fast.
"Forces on the geth! We'll worry about the admirals later!" Shepard yelled.
Tali managed to speed things along by hacking into several geth and forcing them to attack their comrades. Unfortunately, this hacking attempt didn't last very long so they had to take them out before they could retaliate.
Ashley tossed a few grenades to confuse the enemy and Shepard and Garrus use their sniper rifles to make precise hit on a geth prime. Once it collapse they made their way down the ladder over the grating just above Legion.
"Patrol Fleet, flagging support in the Heavy Fleet. Give them a firing lane," said Raan over the radio.
"All ships, open fire!" Gerrel ordered.
Suddenly the entire room shook as explosions emerge in different areas. Legion's containment unit then broke apart and fell past them. Legion would have been crushed if it hadn't moved in time.
"Shepard-Commander, the creator fleet is firing upon this vessel," it said looking up at him. "Without barriers, this ship will be destroyed. We must evacuate."
"We need to get to the escape pod," said Shepard as they ran to the closest door.
"Geth transmit intelligences via remote signal. We do not use escape pods," Legion informed.
Shepard should have expected this. "Suggestions?"
"Geth fighters are docked in the port-side fighter bay. We can pilot a fighter to safety."
They began rushing as fast as they could to the fighter bay, but it wasn't easy with explosions erupting every few seconds. They were almost flattened by debris that happened during one of these explosions.
"Shepard to fleet! Hold fire! I repeat, hold fire!" Shepard yelled over the radio.
"They're not responding!" said Tali, who was having similar difficulty with her radio.
"Damn it!"
"Shepard-Commander, we have taken control of docking protocols," said Legion over the radio.
"We'll be right there!" said Shepard as the entered the fighter bay.
They saw Legion right in front of them accessing a fighter, but then the platform they were standing on gave away. Fortunately, they landed on the platform below them.
"Shepard-Commander, we can only launch from the upper level," said Legion.
"Let's go!" Tali yelled as they ran up a ramp to Legion.
"Shepard, the door!" EDI yelled at the hanger doors began to close.
"Double-time, people!" Shepard yelled always been knocked off by an explosion.
"Hurry, we're losing the environment fields!" Tali yelled.
"We'll make it!"
Suddenly there was a huge explosion and they lost gravity and we didn't have enough time to reactivate their mag-boots. Found themselves floating in the docking bay, but Legion had already magnetised himself to the fighter and began calling them to the fighter.
"Normandy to Shepard: I'm reading a lot of gravity. You okay over there?" Joker asked.
"Fine," said Shepard grabbing hold of the fighter. "We're leaving a geth fighter. Transmitting rendezvous coordinates."
Shepard managed to get himself and join the rest of his team in the cargo bay of the fighter. Legion was already in the pilot seat and operating the control is just as he entered.
"Does the storage compartment have adequate room, Shepard-Commander?" Legion asked.
"We're fine! Go!"
Legion began to pilot the ship away from the dreadnought just as the hanger doors closed. The quarian ships were firing everything they had against the dreadnought and it looked as if it was going to explode in any second.
"Just wiggle the wings or something so I know which one is you," said Joker.
It was obvious that they just escaped the dreadnought in time, because about a minute later the dreadnought exploded. Unfortunately, this gave the geth the opportunity to block their access to the mass relay making them unable to escape.
He was going to have a few words with Gerrel when he got back onto the Normandy.
Rick was now with the other Councillors to give them the report of the Perseus Veil.
"Do we know what's happening in the Perseus Veil?" the Asari Councillor asked.
"It appears the quarians have been waging a war against the geth to retake the homeworld," said Rick.
"That explains a few things," said the Salarian Councillor.
"They have terrible time considering we need them now," said the Turian Councillor grimly.
"You don't know the half of it, because in their attempt to retake their homeworld they have forced the geth to ally with the Reapers," said Rick.
"I thought the geth were already allied with the Reapers," the Salarian Councillor frowned.
"I'll have Miss Johnson to give you the full report, but according to a recent intel the geth that attacked the Citadel were in the minority, a splinter group," said Rick. "And in truth they wanted attack organic they would have done it 300 years ago. In fact Shepard believed they could have helped us against the Reapers."
"So what you're saying is the quarians have cost us a very valuable ally and have endangered themselves in the process," said the Turian Councillor.
"Hopefully with Shepard's experience of uniting enemy species, he might be able to calm the waters," said Rick. "If not he'll have to choose which race would best help us."
"Let's hope this comes down to a peaceful solution," said the Asari Councillor.
