Authors note: as promised, here's the next chapter. hoping to get the next one in a couple weeks if possible.
June 16th, 2155 – Refuge system – Ilos
Nihlus stared out the window of the Normandy at the planet before them, a ball of rust and ruin that had been mentioned in archaeological digs, ruins and even Prothean archives over the centuries, said to be a bastion of the Prothean people before they had mysteriously disappeared.
Ilos.
It was one of the few named Prothean planets that had never been found no matter how much any group from Citadel space had tried over the years. The popular opinion was that whatever mass effect relay had been connected to it had been knocked out of its alignment, making the network incomplete, and it was therefore impossible to find.
Yet here they were, orbiting the lost planet of mysteries and relics. Just like the Batarian frigate that was orbiting it.
"Pretty decrepit looking, isn't it?" Joker said from his seat as he looked over his instruments, making sure that Saren's ship could not detect them.
"Ilos likely has not had sentient life on it in millions of years," Nihlus commented in response. "And whatever happened to the Protheans here likely ruined the planet's atmosphere for them."
"Well, long range scans say it's perfectly breathable to us. Good gravity, lots of oxygen mixed with nitrogen," Joker listed off before chuckling. "Looks like there are a number of forest fires and lightning storms on the dark side of the planet. It's like ours, but rusty!"
"I fail to see how Ilos looks anything like your Earth," Nihlus said, finding the pilots chipper attitude at the time to be, strange.
"Well, forest fires and lightning storms I mean. There is basically one of both somewhere on Earth all the time. Especially California, it's always on fire," Joker said with a chuckle as a device on his dashboard began blinking, prompting him to tap it. "Yeah, what do you need, Boss?"
"Joker, have you gotten the data we need off the scanners?" came Desolas's voice, very serious in tone and almost grimly determined.
"Yep, all the scans have just finished. This place could make a nice resort. Warm, covered in ruins and with a sky the color of rust! No, check that, this place is crap. Atmosphere and gravity is perfect for us, though. I'll send the data on the enemy ship and positions I can get to the command room."
"Good, thank you," Desolas said before the connection dropped, only for his voice to come over the ships intercom system a second later. "All ground team members to the command and tactical room immediately!"
"Heh, looks like the end is upon us!" Joker said with another chuckle as he tuned to Nihlus. "You going down as well?"
"Of course, I need to see this finished," Nihlus said as he turned to leave.
"Look, Spectre. Sorry, about letting the Asari escape, I mean," Joker spoke up as he turned his chair away from Nihlus. "I should have thought more about what she was doing by the door."
"It's fine. It's not something anyone could have seen coming when she was told not to leave the ship. Don't let it bother you," Nihlus said as he stopped at the doorway and then felt himself smile a bit. "Thank you for the thought, though."
"No, don't thank me. Not when I screwed up. Sorry, I'll stop holding you back from that meeting," Joker said as he went back to doing something on his console.
Nihlus simply nodded and left the cockpit, the sound of the keys on its console clicking following him out, allowing his thoughts to wander as he headed through the ship.
The idea that they had followed Saren, albeit not through the relay system, to Ilos of all places was strange to him. What did Saren need on an ancient, and previously lost, Prothean ruin planet? Was it a piece of technology, data, or something else entirely? Perhaps something like that Thorian creature?
He truly had too little information as to Sarens motives. He had been one step ahead of them consistently, leading them on a grand chase while giving no clues to what his intent was.
No, that wasn't quite right. Desolas and Adaaya seemed to have an idea of what he was after, even if it was just the barest shred of an idea. It didn't help that they knew what that hologram had been. That Reaper.
The name made Nihlus shiver at the memory. Its tone was not that of a VI or even an AI like the Geth. It had tones, emotion in its voice, and its voice itself sounded like it was made of nothing but contempt and hate. The Prothean memories in his head, still scrambled, made the thing's very shape, voice and substance twist his insides like nothing else had ever done so.
He had dealt with Batarian slavers, seen dead children mangled and tortured. Hunted down murderers and sociopaths with some of the most horrid methods of killing in both council and terminus space. He had seen things as a spectre that most people would never be able to unsee, and that would irrevocably change people, yet he stoically endured it all, knowing that such memories came with making the galaxy a better place.
But that Reaper. It tore into his very spirit and made him feel completely inadequate, worthless, like a speck of dust on the ground waiting to be trampled underfoot. It dragged his worst fears up to the front of his thoughts, brought up hatred and anger he had long thought suppressed, and made him feel as if nothing he did could be of help.
It was such a horrific thing to even look upon a hologram of whatever that things was, yet Desolas and Adaaya had stood there and looked at it without a hint of fear. Worse, Desolas had laughed at it, to it. His was a laugh of a madman who knew he was mad and revelled in it, like an insane scientist who had discovered a lost hidden trick or weakness to something. The two of them knew what the Reaper was, had called it a ship, claiming it was like the Leviathan of Dis. Something they claimed to have destroyed. Something they claimed they nuked Kar'shan to destroy.
Nihlus felt a headache coming on in an instant, both from the Prothean memories, and the information he was finding out while on this mission. There was so much he was discovering that would shake the foundations of galactic relations, likely past their breaking points.
Hidden technologies and ships, hidden facts that could cause galactic war in a matter of moments, backroom deals that could change the entire shape of the galaxy itself.
Instantly Nihlus felt nausea at that thought. Of Project Driven Wedge. The name itself was far less diabolical than the plan itself. He could understand some of the logic behind it with the information he had been given in regards to it, but to think that the Hierarchy was willingly participating in it in full, with a solid intention to follow through with it was, disturbing, to say the least.
Before his thoughts could progress further along that avenue however Nihlus found himself in front of the door to the meeting room, it opening up to his presence and revealing everyone else from the ground operations to already be present within.
"About time you got here, Spectre," Wrex grunted from his spot on the wall, wearing a newly modified set of armour that while still painted bright red, clearly had more Alliance tech in it due to the odd angles and edges.
"I was in the middle of something, had to finish it up safety before I could come down," Nihlus quickly explained with a lie as he walked to his position around the table, the door closing as and locking behind him as he moved away from it.
"Alright, to get everyone up to speed then," Adaaya began as a galaxy map formed around upon the table, showing a small image of the Normandy moving between systems.
"As you know, yesterday we acquired a locked position for where Saren is and departed from the Tower of White Jade as we are faster. As of one hour ago we arrived here at the planet of Ilos, one that has, apparently, been mentioned in Prothean records that Citadel archaeologists have unearthed repeatedly in the past." The hologram then changed to one of the planet, the Normandy, and Sarens ship positioned as they were in the system. "According to the scan that Joker has been able to get from this distance, Saren's ship send down a single drop ship to the planet. The atmosphere is breathable, the gravity comparable to Earth, and Saren's ship has not yet detected us."
"Ilos is supposed to be a myth, what does Saren want with an old rock of ruins?" Wrex asked first as he leaned over the table a bit, glaring at the hologram of either the planet, or Saren's ship.
"Officially, we do not know," Desolas spoke up with an odd smile. "But whatever he is after, we will stop him from getting it! To that end we need to get onto the planet as fast as possible."
"Uh, the Normandy is a good ship, but I don't think it can outgun that frigate," Tali spoke up as she pointed at the planet hologram, specifically at a blue dot on the planet, below where the ship was orbiting. "And, is that perhaps where his landing site it?"
"It is, yes," Adaaya responded, causing Tali to slump down a bit.
"Yeah I figured as much."
"The plan is to use the Normandy's superior speed and manoeuvrability to bypass Saren's ship entirely, and land a small mobile team to give chase to Saren," Desolas explained before sighing. "Sadly, from this distance the Normandy's scanners cannot get us a map of the area, so those with us when we land will be blind and working off instinct."
"I don't think that will work," Wrex spoke up as he pointed at the ships hologram. "Can we get a bigger image of that thing?"
Adaaya nodded and tapped a couple buttons on the table's console, brining Saren's ship up in size.
"Yeah, no, that won't work. That's a Batarian Cala'va escort frigate. It's meant as a protective support ship to other ships that land and transport slavers. It's armed with nothing but missiles. Passing that thing is a bad idea."
"What is the range on those missiles then?" Kaiden asked curiously.
"They can hit ships up to the average range of a spinal accelerator gun on a cruiser," Nihlus spoke up. "They do have an issue with their targeting computers though that makes them have a hard time if a ship is too close to their own, or near other celestial objects such as asteroid belts."
"There are no asteroid belts in this system," Adaaya stated with a sigh, as well as a shrug of her shoulders. "I don't doubt that Joker could handle dodging missiles, or that the Normandy's graze shields could block them, but missiles complicate things. He wouldn't be able to just drop us off in low orbit if there are missiles chasing us," she grumbled before looking at Wrex and Nihlus. "How are these ships normally dealt with?"
"Couple dozen spinal accelerator shots to their center. They are moderately armoured but slow, so they are easy to hit," Nihlus explained
"Yeah, but I don't think it is going to want to move if it is trying to protect the landing zone," Wrex commented before chuckling. "Sometimes they carry swarm missiles too. The other way to deal with them is usually a boarding action. Their missiles are not calibrated to target drop ships and the launch systems inside are really easy to blow up if the whole ship can't be taken."
"You suggest boarding the enemy ship?" Ashley asked incredulously. "What part of we needed to get down there fast did you not hear?"
"That's the way to deal with those things if you can't hit them from range. I've done it before. They are not big ships; need a lot of room to hold all of their missiles though. Normally they only are crewed by a few dozen or so."
"So we either dodge the missiles and hope we can land fast enough, or board the ship and take it out first. Dammit!" Desolas swore in annoyance.
The room was silent for a few seconds before Garrus stepped up. "Hold on. How long would this ship take to get low enough in the planet's atmosphere to land?"
"Err, a few minutes, maybe five or six if the landing zone is not contusive to landing?" Adaaya guessed.
"Does the Normandy actually have a drop ship?" Garrus asked next.
"A small one. It's not used often. If fact I think we've used it once," Adaaya admitted.
"Alright, then why not do both. Fly past the Batarian frigate, have the drop ship with a few of us in it depart and then land on the frigate and board it, while the Normandy continues to the planet. Those on boarding duty then disable the ship either by full takeover or blowing its guns."
"Sounds like it would work," Wrex said with a savage grin. "It has been a few decades since I've been on a boarding action. I'll lead it!"
"Why would you-," Tali began to say, stopping when Desolas spoke up.
"You have done boarding actions before, I take it?"
"A couple dozen or so," Wrex said with a grin. "Nothing more enjoyable that taking a ship from your enemy and using it to cause problems for them."
"Alright. We'll need to figure out the specifics of how to do that manoeuvre with Joker, but that does sound like the best of both worlds," Desolas admitted before sighing. "Adaaya, Nihlus and I will head down to the planet; the rest of you will be on boarding duty."
"Are you sure it's a good idea to split our forces that unevenly?" Garrus asked.
"No choice. If we need to move fast planet side then the only one who can keep up with us at full speed is Wrex," Adaaya said with a shrug. "But if he's volunteering for boarding duty, that obviously won't work."
"Right, unless anyone has a better idea, we're going with this plan. Boarding team meet at the hanger in ten minutes with what equipment you will need," Desolas said before he looked right at Wrex. "I'll see if Joker can get any scans of the ship you will be boarding to support you."
"That would be nice. Unnecessary, but nice," Wrex admitted with a smile.
"Alright, you have your mission then, the details will be sent to Wrex," Desolas stated seriously. "The Normandy will start its approach in ten minutes, get ready. Dismissed."
Everyone in the room quickly departed, except for Nihlus, who stayed behind with Adaaya and Desolas. "I don't believe it needs saying, but I am joining you planet side. I need to understand what Saren is planning."
"Fine, as long as you can keep up. I'm not letting him get away this time," Desolas said as he tapped the tables console and shut it off. "I am going to go and get my gear in order."
"See, doesn't even recall being knocked out," Adaaya said with a snicker after Desolas left the room.
"I don't think he cares at this point," Nihlus stated. "His intent to deal with his brother seems to be getting a bit, problematic. It looks like it could start getting in the way of critical thinking."
"It is pretty close, but I'm sure it will be fine once we catch him," Adaaya said, before grinning in a way that was utterly vile. "All I want is a few good punches, and then Desolas can do anything he wants to him. Cut his limbs off; decapitate him; as long as it makes him happy!"
"Uh, right. Well then, please excuse me, I will need to check my gear one last time, even if we will have a few minutes more than the boarding team will," Nihlus said as he excused himself from the room.
Hopefully the mission would reveal all that he needed to know and end the need to be around the Alliance.
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June 16th, 2155 – Refuge system – Ilos Orbit - Refit Batarian Cala'va Class escort frigate Tyrants Guardian – Ship board time 14:43
Zera Karsh'na stood at the bridge of her ship with an uncertain feeling filling her. A Batarian captain for many years she was skilled and patient, but her current job was, strange. Working for a Spectre was an odd thing, and some of the things she had seen at his facility had been, concerning. The idea of her people being cloned, and those clones being used as disposable foot soldiers was not respectable. She understood the reasoning, but wondered if there were other ways. Yes there were some races that believed her people's culture was less than theirs, but that was not reason enough to invade their homes and nuke their home world. The Alliance did need to pay, but none of what they were doing seemed to actually lead to such a thing.
And now her orders were to simply sit in orbit to a long lost and dead planet to protect a landing zone while Saren took a couple mercenaries and a small army of Batarian clone soldiers with him down to look for something.
"At least this mission is easy. No risk of being found on such a job when the relay we went through had been lost in the first place. Why does he even need-.."
"Captain, scanners have picked up a ship heading toward us at combat speed!" one of Zera's people called out suddenly, pulling her from her own musings.
"So much for an easy mission. What class is the ship? Whose is it?" Zera asked, though in reality who the ship belonged to mattered little to her, she would still have it be blown from space.
"Um, huh, that is strange. By its weight class it is barely a corvette, or maybe a very small frigate. IFF is not council, and these readings," the tech mumbled before suddenly leaning back in their chair in fear. "It's an alliance ship, ma'am. Weapons signatures are minimal, but it is going past combat speeds. It intends to pass us."
"And head to the planet clearly. They do not know what they are messing with. Target it with the main and auxiliary batteries. Stagger fire the main battery after a cluster barrage from the auxiliary. That should catch even a ship that small."
"Yes ma'am, firing batteries as instructed," Another called out before a very dull thumping sound could be heard through she ship, the sound of its missile batteries firing.
Zera looked down at her console and watched as it showed the missiles approaching the target. In the void of space watching events unfold through the view window on the bridge was pointless. The only way to command a ship such as hers, with missiles as its armament, was by her tactical screen.
She watched as it showed the swarm missiles converging upon the enemy, only for its icon to not disappear, and then the same occurred with the main missiles. Did the enemy ship somehow manage to avoid them? "Report damages to the enemy!"
"Ma'am, fourteen cluster missiles struck the Alliance ship, but that odd shielding of theirs seems to have stopped the damage from getting through. The main barrage has missed, but the missiles are turning to follow via their VI's."
"Fire another auxiliary cluster barrage. No, two of them. Then fire the main missiles again as soon as they are reloaded!" Zera called, figuring that the enemy ship was just lucky. Catching a ship in a pincer attack of missiles would be easy enough, and it wasn't like they could outrun them if they intended on going to the planet below.
The dull thumping sound of missiles being fired again echoed through the ship just as one of the technicians on the bridge turned to Zera. "Uh, captain, the enemy ship is shifting course slightly."
"How slightly? Are they fleeing, or trying to skirt around us at a wider angle?"
"Neither. They appear to be heady straight for the our ship itself. I assume they have some sort of short ranged guns and are hoping to hit us before going past us."
"Not unexpected, but the outer hull will not be damaged by such guns, nor will our weapons. Prepare the auxiliary weapons system to fire a narrow dispersal cluster and then a wide angle," Zera ordered as she watched her screen showing the Alliance ship manage to pass through the second barrage and avoid the main anti-ship missiles. Again.
"Captain, the Alliance ship has passed through the second barrage, larger missiles still following, but less hits were registered this time."
"That is, odd. Normally more hits are registered on the second barrage," Zera muttered to herself as flashes showed on the screen.
"Captain, enemy weapons fire toward our-," whoever was speaking was cut off as a vibrant explosion in space lit up the bridge. Then another, and another and another. "They're shooting down our missiles!"
"That should be difficult with regular weapons. Did you detect missile fire from their ship?" Zera asked instantly.
"No ma'am, we didn't even detect a weapon discharge," one of the techs called as another chain of explosions lit up space.
"Damn it! Fire everything at that ship, brute force, takes it down!" Zera yelled as she suddenly had a thought. Her missiles were programmed to not pass near her own ship so other ships could not trick missiles into it. But what if that was their intention? What if that ship just wanted more room, and were trying to use that programming, if they knew of it, to make the missiles veer off?
Dull thumps made her look up to watch her own missiles speed off into the dark towards their target. Explosions appeared barely a second later as yells and screams echoed out through the bridge. Zera tuned them out, watching out the bridge's window as she suddenly saw the ship they were targeting, small and shaped like a bird, fly past them so close she could see the plating on its hull. "Dammit, turn us about and keep firing on them! And did we take any damage?"
"No captain, our kinetic barriers took a small sliver of damage, but our missiles veered away at the proper time and-."
The technician was cut off by the entre ship visibly shaking and alarms going off.
"Captain, damage to the stern entryway and surrounding bulkhead and hull. The stern is leaking atmosphere!"
"What hit us? Why didn't the kinetic barriers engage?" Zera demanded to know.
"Unsure, reports are-… the storage hanger was blown apart from close range, we're being boarded somehow!" the technician reported in horror.
"What! That is impossible! All hands to stations to repel boarders! Keep those missiles firing on that ship!" Zera said as she stood up and lifted a Kishock harpoon gun off the back of her command chair.
"But captain, where are you-?"
"To kill our boarders myself!" Zera exclaimed as she stormed out of the bridge, Kishok at the ready.
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With the heavy thump of a shaped charge going off and a blast of atmosphere passing them, Wrex, Garrus, Tali, Kaiden and Ashley stepped through the hole in the outer door of the Batarians frigate. The mission was so far going well, with their drop ship having been able to land on the back of the frigate beside its main hatch with surprising ease due to the drop ships magnetic feet. With their own magnetic boots climbing out and setting the charge was easy, fast even with how quickly Wrex worked.
Inside, the group found themselves in what appeared to be a storage hold. Boxes and crates were now floating about randomly due to the lack of gravity and atmosphere. Two doors were on opposite sides of the far wall, and emergency lights and sirens were going nonstop.
"Alright, the ship's crew will come through those doors. Kill them," Wrex said simply as he walked over to a large metal crate and pulled it down to the floor with one hand, before then taking his chosen weapon off his back and resting it on the crate, pointing right at the left side door.
Before anyone could comment on it, the doors did open and a pair of Batarians came through both doors. The instant response was surprise on their side, and everyone else raising they guns and firing. Due to being inside of ship higher calibre Alliance weapons were not sensible, so everyone was carrying a Type 2 laser rifle except for Tali, who's exosuit was equipped with a type 4 instead. The resulting laser fire quickly killed the few of Batarians who had entered, leaving their bodies at the doorway, now floating aimlessly.
"Alright, these halls are narrow, split into groups," Wrex said with a grin as he looked at Ashley. "Plant, come with me, the rest of you go down that hallway. And Magician, don't try to use magic on this ship, it probably won't work very well," he added as the ships atmospheric suppression systems finally cut in and dropped a bulkhead over the doorway they had blown their way into the ship from. Gravity retuned a moment later.
"You don't have to tell me that, I know how Eezo works," Kaiden said as he hefted his rifle, the repulsion bracelet on his wrist outside his suit shining ever so slightly doing its job.
"I'm guessing our job is clearing as we go until we find either the bridge or the weapons systems?" Tali asked as her exosuit's guns spun up into a calm but ready velocity.
"Correct. Keep your suits on in case these guns breach the ship. Kill anyone, even if they surrender, let's go!" Wrex ordered as he tuned and headed through the doorway with Ashley in tow.
Instantly they found Batarians at the end of the hallway where it turned. Wrex and Ashley opened fire, sending lasers down the hall and into the Batarians and a few into the walls as they stormed forward and put themselves into the small alcoves of some doorways.
At that moment, the door beside Ashley opened and a Turian came out, was startled by her presence, and swung his claws at her.
Spinning in place she caught his first claw and swung her open palm up at his arm, snapping the elbow with an audible crack before then pulling on the broken limb and throwing the Turian out of the room and into the hallway. Right into the firing lines of his fellow pirates. Without armour on he was quickly filled with accelerator rounds, causing a shout of surprise and shock from the ones down the hall.
"Heh, not bad. Looks like you know what you're doing in close combat at least," Wrex said with a chuckle as he pulled a council grenade off a case on his belt and threw it down the hallways. The thin cylindrical explosive soared down the hall and attached the wall, exploding partly around the corner and causing a number of screams.
"Of course I know how to fight in melee! My mother is an insane Youkai known for it!" Ashley yelled in annoyance as she turned the corner and fired her rifle, hitting the head of a Batarian who had fallen into the line of fire from Wrex's grenade.
"Having a parent good at something doesn't mean you will be, girl," Wrex said with a chuckle as he moved his gun out around the corner and fired into the adjacent corner, cutting though it and hearing a scream in response. The joy of laser weapons being able to penetrate metal walls to some extent. "And considering you were the one who almost went off and got yourself killed in a bout of self-pity, I honestly wasn't expecting much."
"How nice of you to be honest," Ashley deadpanned as an accelerator round pinged off of her one shoulder plate, making her scoot a bit further around the corner of the room she was by.
"Heh, no problem. What is that room?" Wrex asked as he gestured to the door that the Turian had tried to ambush Ashley out of.
Ashley tapped its panel and looked inside before turning back. "Small bunk room."
"Heh, good," Wrex said as he then did the same to the door he was by, grunting in annoyance. "Storage. We'll need to push forward then."
"Then why haven't we?" Ashy asked in annoyance.
"A boarding action is not quick. Even if I know the layout of the ship in general, they get hanged all the time. And getting caught from behind is a bad idea. Usually ends with people dead," Wrex said as he pulled another grenade disc out. One with red edging. "Get ready."
"I already am."
"Good. Hope you are not afraid of fire," Wrex said with a chuckle before he tossed the disc down the hallway. Unlike the first however, this one bounced of the first wall it hit and went around the corner before exploding in a ball of fire that caused a substantial amount of screaming.
In that instant the both of then rushed down the hallway and tuned the corner and fired their weapons. The single pirate who had not run screaming while on fire had been on the ground and was quickly killed, as was one who was rolling trying to douse the fire covering him.
At the end of the hall was another turn, as well as a door without an alcove around it. Moving to the end of the hall Wrex peeked around the corner and was met by a hail of accelerator fire that missed only due to his caution. The round peppered the wall, making it impossible to check the door on the opposite wall. "Heh, not a bad set up. I'm guessing that leads to the engine room, or the mess hall."
"Then we need to keep those ones occupied for a moment to find out," Ashley said as she pulled a long metal triangle off her belt and fiddled with it a bit. Before Wrex could comment on it she tossed it around the corner very carefully, and as soon as it landed it opened up and began projecting a shield in the middle of the hallway, effectively blocking it completely.
"Useful, Wrex commented as he walked out and up to the door, chuckling as accelerator fire struck the shield to no visible effect. "How long will it last?"
"Couple minutes at most."
"Good," Wrex grunted as he opened the door ahead of him and looked in with his weapon raised. Only to find a small room of tables and benches that was mostly empty aide from the dead Batarians lying around it, and Garrus who was positioned by the door on the opposite wall.
"Oh good, that door does connect to your hall," Garrus said as he saw Wrex and visible calmed down.
"Not unexpected. One door to a mess is not normal," Wrex commented as he turned around and broke the doors panel so it would stay open. "How is that side doing?"
"Fine. Tali's suit has shielding to it in addition to the additional armour plating she put on it. She's acting as vanguard but we're slowed by a blockade with an accelerator turret and a flamethrower."
"Heh, tough luck for you, we're going ahead," Wrex said before he turned partway out the door and looked down the hall, only seeing two Batarians in the way, along with three doors at the end of the hall. "Deactivate it and let's go."
Ashley simply nodded before she tapped a button on her wrist comp to deactivate the shield right as one of the Batarians guns overheated. Both of them then fired and killed both Batarians before they could hide themselves or back up.
The pair moved up to the trio of doors and checked to two to the sides finding both to be rather large, but empty, bunk rooms. The third door however was what they were looking for. The room was large and long, with large racks of missiles of a variety of sizes on its back wall, while the wall opposite it held of a number of launching tubes and systems. The middle of the room was primarily filled with mechanical arms and firing systems meant to load and prime the missiles before firing. This meant they were inert before being loaded, and held less danger of explosions if the room was hit by enemy attacks.
There were also a trio of Batarian technicians who seemed to be watching over the machinery nervously.
"I am Krogan!" Wrex yelled as he charged at the closest Btarian. The sudden noise surprised them all, and the closest one was thrown right backwards into a machine with a heavy thud. At the same moment Ashley killed one who tried to run for the only other door in the room. The last barbarian tried to pull out a pistol, but was quickly filled full of holes by the both of them. "Heh, easy. This is one of the rooms we should break," Wrex said as he pulled a trio of large demolition charges off of his belt.
"Where do we put them?" Ashley asked as she looked around uncertainly.
"Two on the launchers themselves, one on the stock pile," Wrex said as he pulled two of them off the belt and tossed them to Ashley. "Put them up high by the wall of the launchers," he ordered as he walked over to the stockpile of missiles and began setting the charge.
"Understood," Ashley said as he climbed the launcher system in a couple jumps and began setting the first charge.
Which was not easy as the launchers then set to work and fired their systems, causing the whole machine to shake and vibrate almost too much for Ashley to keep her balance.
"Dammit," Wrex muttered as he had to move to the side to avoid being struck by one of the mechanical loading arms.
"One charge down!" Ashley called a moment later.
"Good," Wrex said as he managed to place his down and turn around. Just in time to see the door open and a Batarian in full armour walk through, carrying a Kishock.
"Get off my ship!" the Batarian yelled as she aimed the Kishok at Wrex.
Seeing it raised Wrex threw himself to the side and narrowly dodged the harpoon, watching it fly past where he had just been and embedding itself in one of the inert missiles.
"You think I will let you just scuttle my ship?! Not a chance, you Alliance scum!"
"Ha, like you have a choice in the matter!" Wrex said from behind the one machine as he got back to his feet and pulled out a grenade.
"A Krogan? Why would you help the Alliance! If you are a mercenary I can get you paid far more!" The Batarian woman said as she very slowly began walking along the wall with her Kishok up and ready to fire.
"Because they might be worth helping. Whereas you are a waste of space," Wrex said as he looked up and noticed that Ashley was ready with her rifle in hand. It made him grin when he realized she was waiting for an opening, and unnoticed by the Batarian who was probably the ship's captain. Without another thought he then threw the grenade in the Batarians general direction from behind hens cover, earning a harpoon to pass and nearly graze his arm.
An explosion rang out, followed by the sound of laser fire, and when Wrex looked around the corner he was happy to see the plan had worked perfectly. The captain was lying on the ground weapon less and full of laser holes just to the side of where the grenade had landed.
"Heh, nice shooting," Wrex called out, causing the captain to cough, seemingly not quiet dead yet.
That was fixed a second later when Ashley fired a few more shots into her, aiming mostly at her helmeted head. "I have the second charge placed."
"Good. We just need to see if the other missile battery is set to blow then and get out," Wrex said with a chuckle as he walked over to a console and initiated the launchers self-diagnostic software, which would stop it from being operably for a few minutes.
"Wait, didn't our entry point have a bulkhead door drop over it?"
"Yep. We did blow the door to get in."
"Wont we have to override it then to get out?"
"No, we'll just blow it up. Batarian blast doors are not the best," Wrex said as he tapped the wristcomp he had been given before the mission. "Hey, you three ready to blow this place apart or what?"
After a few seconds Garrus's voice came back in reply. "We're setting up charges now. Tali managed to hack a computer here and found that the rest of the ship has gone into lockdown all the way up to bridge with blast doors over every hall. Reaching the bridge likely won't work. She also crashed the launchers program."
"Well then, we use the demo charges. They may have been the secondary, but they'll work easily enough. Head back to our entry point once you're done."
"Will do. See you there."