Zaal'Koris twisted from behind his dubious cover at the sound of distinctly not-geth gunfire. A shuttle swept close…but not close enough. "Admiral! We can't get any closer—you need to come to us. We'll cover you. Come on!"
Shepard's lieutenant still sounded belligerent, but it was the belligerence of someone who did not want someone else having second thoughts at the last minute. It was the tone of someone who would jump out of that shuttle, throw his objective over his shoulder kicking and screaming if said objective didn't stick to the plan.
The lieutenant reminded him very much of Shepard once she finally raised her voice. The lad must be a protégé and not merely a subordinate.
"What're you waiting for, an invitation? Haul ass!"
Koris clamped a hand over the audial well his radio was positioned in, wincing at the tingling sensation the shout produced. Nevertheless, he turned and sprinted towards the shuttle, expecting every moment to feel a geth slug take him in the back.
Shepard's turian crewman was on the gun, eyes narrowed in concentration. The lieutenant stood nearby.
As soon as Koris was close enough, the lieutenant grabbed his arm and dragged him into the cabin. Tali caught him and redirected his staggering progress to the padded seats.
"Get us out of here!" the lieutenant called, propelling Koris across the cabin.
Koris grunted as he slammed into the other side of the shuttle, which tilted as it peeled away from the engagement zone.
"Whoo," the lieutenant said, shaking his head. "Let's go get Lola."
"Not a moment too soon," the pilot sighed, clearly indicating without malice where his priorities were. "Shepard? Cortez. Mission successful, we're on our way—send us your coordinates. Alright, we'll see you shortly. She says keep your fingers off the triggers when we get there."
"Noted," the lieutenant answered reflexively.
The turian folded up the gun and turned to glare at Koris. The beady-eyed scrutiny was highly uncomfortable. He said nothing, but the look said it all: where do you get off trying to call it quits like that?
From Tali's posture, she was wondering the same thing.
Not for the first time that day, Koris wondered if it wasn't time for the whole Admiralty Board to resign, and have a new one installed.
"You hurt? No suit ruptures?" the lieutenant demanded.
"None. Lieutenant, my crew—there may still be time." Shaky hands cued the crew channel his men would be on…if they were still alive. "Hello? This is Zaal'Koris, is anyone reading me? Hello!"
Silence.
Koris' stomach began to sink. Just when he felt the horror of the truth, a voice came over the ship's radio.
"This is Dr. Chakwas. We've got your civilians, Admiral, safe and sound."
"That's great," the lieutenant grinned, more relieved than confident. "We're gonna pick up Shepard. We'll meet you back on the Normandy."
"Is she alright?" the woman asked.
"As far as I can tell."
"Good," the woman sighed. "We'll see you back at the barn, then." The link severed, leaving the cabin in silence.
The lieutenant dropped onto one of the seats, crossing his arms over his chest. One foot jiggled, however, revealing he was not at peace.
Within ten minutes, the shuttle lowered, the door hissing open.
Koris wasn't the only one who shouted, and not the only one who might have opened fire if Shepard and two of her crewmen hadn't been in the way.
"Weapons down, dammit!" Shepard barked.
Koris was slow to comply, mostly out of shock.
Behind Shepard's small ground party were several massive geth Primes. Although armed, the giant machines showed absolutely no sign of being hostile and, as soon as Shepard had climbed into the shuttle, one of the Primes addressed her directly.
"These units will find a safe place to await your orders, Shepard-Captain. Little can be done until the Old Machine's signal is disrupted."
"Bunker down and stay safe," Shepard responded as though she was speaking to an organic. "Let me know once you're secure."
"We will comply." With that, to Koris' amazement, the Prime saluted after the human fashion before turning. The unit of Primes started off at a brisk pace.
The door slid shut.
"Good to see you alive, Admiral," Shepard said.
"Yes…" Koris answered dazedly.
"Report." Shepard turned expectantly to her lieutenant.
"Admiral's shuttle went down while you were doing…whatever you were doing…"
"Much as I'd like to hear it again, don't get her started," Alenko announced, looking concerned and interested at the same time.
"Tali, you're gonna love this," Liara whispered.
"Anyway, I took a team. We were going to shuttle down, grab the survivors and get back to the Normandy. Turns out the Admiral and his men made the tactical decision to break up. So EDI grabbed some hands and she got one group, while we grabbed the Admiral."
"Good work, Tank," Shepard said warmly as she clapped his shoulder. "Good initiative." She unfastened her canteen from her belt and drained it in one go.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Alenko asked, handing his canteen over.
"Oh, yeah. Just thirsty," Shepard answered, unconcerned.
"Shepard, if you keep this up you'll drink half your body weight before we get back to the Normandy."
Legion shuffled. "We did not anticipate this level fo dehydration." It sounded like an apology.
"It's okay, Legion. Think about it, Alenko. I was in the Geth Consensus—"
"Yeah. I've heard."
"You what?!" Tali demanded.
"Told you," Liara chuckled.
"There had to be some kind of drawback to that kind of interface. I'll take the dehydration over a headache, or the problems I had after the Cipher, or resultant of Prothean Beacons. This? Not a problem." She drained the canteen as if drinking to someone.
"Uh-huh…" although dubious, Alenko looked comforted.
By now, the lieutenant was scowling. "Wanna explain those big-ass geth, Captain?"
"I take allies where I can find them," Shepard answered with a shrug. "They wanted to sign up and Legion vouched for them."