Mass Effect Andromeda Series II: Chapter 37
The ongoing pulse of the drive core was almost hypnotic as Garrus leaned up against the panel staring off in the distance. They were getting ready to activate the Omega 4 Relay and he went down to Engineering to monitor the drive core along with Kenneth Donnelly. His mind was elsewhere. This was at the point of no return and if their ship was not up to code, hard to know what would happen to them on the other side. "You put some serious tech in our systems, Garrus. I'm very impressed," Kenneth's thick Irish accent brought him back into the "here and now."
"Glad to lend a hand," Garrus nonchalantly answered. His blue eyes were still looking at the drive core, but in his mind all he could see Andromeda's smiling face at him. Would he ever see her again?
The drive core started to pick up speed as the Normandy raced through the Relay towards the Collector homeworld. "Here we go. This should be exciting. Finally get to see what she can do," Kenneth smiled eagerly as he held up a data pad that fed specs from the system so he could give an assessment to the cock pit.
"How we doing down there, Garrus?" Shepard asked through the comm.
"So far so good. She's holding together."
"Keep monitoring. We are getting ready to deaccelerate."
The ship lurched as it quickly slowed down its speed causing Garrus to grip the panel so he wouldn't fall over into the drive core. Connelly lost his footing and fell against the rail hard and his body began to tip over. Quickly seizing him, Garrus pulled him back to upright position. "You okay?"
"Yeah. That was close. Thank you, Garrus," The Cerberus engineer smiled as he patted him on the shoulder. "I need to scan the system to make sure nothing is out of place from that jump." The red-haired man walked down the corridor to his station leaving Garrus once more standing there.
Suddenly a klaxon wailed throughout the ship making Garrus cover his ears. "What's going on?!" He asked through the comm.
"We got company through the hull!" Joker came back to the line. He was in total panic mode. "Shepard went down with Zaeed and Grunt to take care of it."
Garrus, along with Tali, who must have heard the conversation, raced to the glass window that overlooked the docking bay. Shepard, Zaeed and Grunt were seen fighting a large black sphere that broke through the ship's bottom structure. Luckily, the ship put up kinetic barriers to block the hole to prevent pressurization so no one would get sucked out into the dark abyss of space. "What is that thing?" Tali looked on as the team below were firing rampantly at the intruder.
"I have no idea. It can't be good. Apparently, the Collectors were ready for any ships that came here." Garrus let out a sigh of relief as he saw the sphere crash down, deactivated.
"We got company!" Joker screamed through the ship's PA. "You may want to get back up here!"
Without a word, Garrus raced to the elevator to head up to the CIC. "Where are you going?" Tali called after him, but he ignored the question.
Miranda was standing behind Joker's seat as Garrus walked up to the cockpit along with Shepard behind him. "Looks like the Collector Vessel is approaching us," She informed them and then she looked over at the troubled Turian in front of her. "Hope your upgrades to the Thanix cannon work."
"I tripled checked everything," Vakarian said confidently.
"Then let's use it on the bastards. Joker, fire the main gun," Shepard ordered.
After a punch of a button, a single blast launched out with on course trajectory with the incoming foe. The impact broke through a good portion of the ship's outer structure causing multiple explosions. A cheer broke out in the cockpit. "How you like that, you sons of bitches?" Joker threw up his arms in celebration.
"Hit it again. Show no mercy," Shepard hit the button this time. Garrus watched eagerly as the Collectors got hit again, this time the ship couldn't take anymore and it began to implode. A shockwave broke through as the Normandy passed.
Alarms blared as the Normandy's mass effect generators went offline causing the ship to drop altitude as its stabilization was disturbed. The strong shift caused Garrus to slam up against the cockpit's wall. He struggled to gain footing as Miranda and Shepard desperately held onto Joker's chair. "EDI, give me something!" Joker struggled at the controls as the stabilizers continued to fail.
"Generators unresponsive. All hands brace for impact," EDI replied. That was the last thing Garrus heard until the ship spiraled out of control and slammed hard onto the Collector base.
With EDI, and Joker having to repair the Normandy's damage, that left a window of several hours. It was time to come up with a plan for a ground assault. Shepard had called all of them to the briefing room for their assignments. There was a bit of argument as to who would leave the second fire team, but ultimately Garrus was picked, due to his experience with command. "We all have our assignments now," Shepard stood at the head of the table. "Legion, you will go into the shaft, Garrus you will leave the second fire team to help divert attention away from Legion. Thane and Miranda, I want you with me. The Collectors took our friends, our crew. This has to end. Let's hit them where they live! Everyone grab ammo and your weapons and depart down to the starting point."
"How was the trip with Legion?" Garrus asked Tali as the two went to their armory lockers to retrieve their gear.
"Shepard decided it was best to destroy the heretics. I see his point."
"Better than?"
"Rewriting them. After talking with Legion, that would be like brainwashing them."
"You don't seem as upset with him. Things going better?"
"I don't think I'll ever be able to trust him, Garrus," The Quarian sighed hard. "But for now, I'll work with him. I'm hoping after this, I can get more information from him."
"Like?"
"Geth stations, alert systems."
"To help fight against them?"
"To help take back my home world," Tali raised her voice in defense.
"And you think he will just give this information out?" Garrus shook his head. "I'm tired of wars."
"What will you do after this?" She changed the subject.
His mind flashed to Andromeda. "I'm not sure. I have some loose ends then maybe go see my family on Palaven."
Once inside, the two fire teams broke apart. Garrus led his squad down one corridor while Shepard ran parallel with the shaft that Legion would be in. Shepard's team would be insuring Legion's survival. "We are the Harbinger of your perfection," Harbinger's voice rang through opened chamber of the next room. In came a swarm of Collectors. As soon as they landed, they took cover and opened fire. Harbinger possessed the center one as it loomed closer.
"Kill the bugs!" Grunt yelled as he shot at them with his shotgun.
"You will not stop us," Harbinger taunted as he targeted Samara. Samara ducked as her shields were taking the blunt of the hits.
"I need help over here!" She called to her team in frustration as she tried to retaliate.
"Focus fire on Harbinger!" Garrus ordered as he and Zaeed joined in to nail the possessed Collector over and over, till finally the creature screamed and vanished.
"Two more!" Tali pointed at the remaining Collectors.
"Assuming direct control!" Harbinger possessed one of the two and shot Tali hard with its pulse rifle. The Quarian cried out as her shields dropped to a dangerous low level.
"What the hell? That thing keeps taking over any of them!" Jack noticed as she unleased her biotics against Harbinger
"Kill the remaining Collector! We can't let Harbinger take another body!" Garrus redirected his attention to the unpossessed Collector, hitting it in its vulnerable head. The Collector wailed before it fell over dead.
Grunt finished off Harbinger with a satisfied laughter. "Let's move."
Worried, Garrus ran over to check on Tali who was standing back up. "Are you alright?"
"No suit ruptures but I have antibiotics if needed. Keelah, I don't want to get sick while I'm here," Tali shook her head as she rechecked her weapon.
"If you do, you are to head back to the Normandy immediately."
"Garrus, I can still fight."
He went to protest, but Jack jumped in, overhearing their conversation, "She said she can fight, damnit. If she falls, I'll just carry her ass. Let's go."
Defeated, Garrus motioned his team to follow him. He looked back at them and heaved a sigh. "How does Shepard manage?"
After battling several pockets of Collectors, his team managed to get to the rendezvous point first. He knew that Shepard's team should be entering on the other side but there was no sound of their approach. "Garrus, here. We made it to the room. You'll need to hurry," He tapped into his comm.
The sound of gunfire crackled over his earpiece as Shepard came through the radio, "Kind of busy here. Got him! Okay…we are here."
After opening the door, Shepard and his team met up and managed to hold off the Collectors. A loud gasp made everyone turn around to see where Kasumi was. She was standing near the back of the room where several pods were standing straight up. "Oh my…." Her voice shook.
Shepard moved around to take a better look. The first pod contained a woman, who appeared to be a colonist. Suddenly, as she was coming to, the machine her pod was hooked up to came on and she began to release a piercing shriek and wail as it started to absorb her body, breaking it down to a red horrid fluid. Alarmed, Shepard looked over to the remaining pods to see it was the Normandy's crew. There was no telling to when they would have the same fate. "Get them out!"
Moving over, Garrus with Thane's help, managed to release Chakwas and the grey-haired woman collapsed into his arms. Her body was damp from moisture, but warm. She murmured softly as she slowly began to come to. Gingerly laying her down, he lightly tapped her face as he looked up to see that the rest of the team released the remaining crew. He then looked back at the empty now pod where the unsuspecting colonist woman was and he felt bile form in his throat. Is this what happened to the rest of the missing colonists?
With Mordin's help, the Normandy crew was going to be escorted back to safety. Shepard and the others would keep the Collector's focus on them to provide a safe way back. Garrus had no doubt that Mordin would do everything in his power to keep them alive if they ran into any trouble. He showed that while he ran the clinic on Omega. The Salarian professor amused Garrus and he knew he would need to hear more of his stories about his STG work when this was over, well other than with the genophage.
Shepard would push ahead to draw the swarms with protection from Samara. She would use a strong biotic barrier and endure the trip to protect her, Shepard and Grunt from the swarms. Meanwhile, Garrus would lead the diversion team and get to the next chamber. That means they would face the blunt of the army.
Working their way through, they faced multiple resisting Collectors along with husks, abominations and scions. The sickening groan of the scion sent a chill down the Turian's spine as two of them staggered closer to his group. "Yuck! Getting hit here, Garrus!" Jack shook off the fire that covered and made a huge dent in the biotic's shields.
"Thane! Sniper that son-of-a-bitch!" Garrus moved over to get the Drell's attention as he switched to his own Mantis. "I'll get the other."
The Assassin Drell took aim and nailed direct hits in the bulbous scion's head. The scion wailed before it collapsed. "Into the sea."
"One less to worry about!" Garrus cheered as he took down the other.
"We have more husks!" Miranda unleased a singularity to toss one into the air before firing at it with her pistol.
"Garrus! I found the room ahead!" Jacob called back to him.
"Keep pushing forward! We need to get there!" Garrus jumped over the cover and shot as he ran. He winced as more Collectors took aim at his moving target while they landed.
"Assuming direct control" Harbinger's familiar voice chimed in nearby.
"Great," Jack groaned as she turned back to fire at the controlled Collector. "Not this asshole again."
Seeing the door ahead, Garrus turned to see swarms of Collectors gaining ground on them. "Get to the room! Everyone, move!"
"Right!" Zaeed blasted a few that were near the door and was the first to reach it. The one-eyed man opened their path and yelled back, "Clear!"
"Go, go!" Garrus pushed Thane ahead and Tali. He stayed back with Jack to fire at the rushing Collectors.
"You will know pain," Harbinger said to the team. "You will embrace ascension."
The Collector fire was becoming unbearable as Garrus' shields depleted quickly. "Shepard!" He opened a line of communication out with the radio. "We are at the room. We can't hold it much longer. You better hurry."
"We are on the other side," Shepard quickly came through.
Looking at the door to the back of them, Garrus motioned for Thane. "They are here! Open the door." He closed the one he had and moved over to help Thane and the others.
Shepard, Samara and Grunt came in with heavy gunfire right at them.
"Suppressing fire! Don't let them get through!" Garrus ordered his team as he rushed ahead to give Shepard cover.
"Seal the door!" Shepard called to Grunt.
But before the Krogan could get the door completely closed off, one of the Collectors managed to get a shot through Garrus' shields and he felt a sudden pain in his right side. The impact pushed him back some. "Garrus!" Shepard rushed over to him.
Looking down, he noticed a small dent on his armor and barely any exposure to his skin. Luckily, his armor held up the blunt of the force. "I'm fine."
"We probably need someone to stay back and hold the door while some of us move on and see where these tubes go," Miranda motioned to Shepard. "Who will it be?"
The incoming army of Collectors seemed like it wasn't going to end. They managed to get the door opened, which Garrus wasn't surprised, after all it was their ship. But now Garrus and the others were being pushed back to try to keep the Collectors from moving forward to where Shepard, Miranda and Jacob went. "I'm becoming low on ammo," Thane called over to Garrus as he popped in a fresh clip. Retrieving one from his own stash, Garrus tossed it to the Drell.
Becoming concerned without any communication from Shepard, Garrus debated if he should send a scout group to follow up with the Commander. However, they meant reducing his own forces to hold the door. That would be his last move. As if the Commander himself was listening in on his thoughts, John's voice came over the radio. "I'm setting the nuke. Get the hell out of there now!"
"Understood," Garrus ended the call and looked back over to his team. "Shepard's team is set. Head back to the Normandy!"
Grunt got up and rushed one of the last Collectors that was in the present force and headbutted it. The Krogan chuckled as he looked back at them. "What are we waiting for?"
Joker was standing at the docking bay as the Normandy hovered near their pickup location. "I'm so glad to see you, guys." The pilot smiled with relief as watched each of them walk by.
"And we are glad to see the Normandy flying again," Garrus countered playfully.
"I got the message when Shepard radioed in to you guys. I'm ready to leave when he gives the word."
"We are waiting on him, right?" Tali asked as she stopped apprehensively at the door.
"There's no Vakarian without Shepard," Garrus flashed her a smile. "Joker, go to the helm. I'll stay here and keep lookout."
"No way," Joker held up an assault rifle that he had resting up against the inner door frame. "EDI can guide this ship out. I'm staying here. Besides, everyone else got to kill one."
"I'm sure there will be some." Garrus looked back on. "Come on, Shepard..."
Time went by slowly as Garrus and Joker stood at the door, looking at the eerie calm Collector base in front of them. Suddenly, there was a loud explosion and the whole place rumbled. Straining his eyes, Vakarian thought he saw movement near the entrance. Then seconds later, he could clearly see Shepard, Jacob and Miranda running straight at them with a pack of Collectors on their tails. Grabbing his own rifle, he motioned Joker to do the same. "Take 'em down!"
"Whoo hoo!" Joker cheered as he steadied the rifle against his body and fired. Several Collectors fell as they tried to pursue their quarry.
Jacob jumped onboard first then Miranda and then finally Shepard. "Get this thing moving!" Shepard yelled out as he closed the door.
"EDI!" Joker hollered out to the ship's AI as he limped his way back.
"Acknowledge."
The Normandy gathered speed as it left the station and quickly gained distance. Seconds later, a huge explosion rocked the base and pieces of the structure went everywhere. Fortunately, this time, there was no aftermath to them.
A huge cheer rang throughout the ship as the news came through the radio. They won. The Collectors were dead and it was a huge blow to the Reapers.
Once they were back on the other side of the relay, Shepard patched into the Illusive Man. From what Garrus gathered was that the conversation didn't go very well…well for the Illusive Man. The leader of Cerberus was furious that Shepard didn't listen to his request to keep the base intact. Vakarian didn't blame John. That place was an abomination. Using humans to create a Human Reaper?
After his call, Shepard came back out to the CIC where everyone was still gathered to finish their celebration and even more now that they turned against Cerberus. Everyone could see what kind of man the Illusive Man was, even Miranda and Jacob. Both operatives quickly gave their resignations. Though, their celebration was cut short when Kelly noticed that a message came through the QEC. "Commander, you've received a message at your private terminal.
"Excuse me," Shepard side stepped around his squad mates to his monitor.
"Message from Admiral Steven Hackett from Alliance HQ." A young officer said over the console hushing the Commander's mood. Now there was one person he hadn't heard from in a while…not since he joined Cerberus. A pit formed in his stomach and he could see that his crewmates stopped in their tracks to look upon him. "I'm going to take this up in my room." He kept his eyes down as he walked into the elevator.
Jacob and Miranda exchanged silent glances as they watched him leave and everyone had a similar thought in their head. What was going on now?
Taking the opportunity, Garrus moved over to Kelly and kept his voice down low. "May you patch a message for me to the Citadel?" He had to reach out to Andromeda and tell her what happened.
"Of course." Kelly smiled warmly.
END OF MASS EFFECT 2..