Interloper Rewrite: Chapter 16
Landfall
"Are you crazy?" Tali said, her eyes wide with shock. The question echoed in the dark, near silent hold of the Normandy. It also opened up a wide gulf fueled by uncertainty in my gut.
"Come on, I think it will work," I replied, although without the sound of confidence with which I'd initially stated my plan. "The Mako is airtight, it has maneuvering thrusters, a long-ranged weapon, and most importantly its on-board computer is isolated from the Normandy's systems."
"It's also a ground vehicle with a limited cone of fire and no way of bracing itself. You'd be a ping pong ball in there after you're first shot," Tali retorted, "You're more likely to damage us than the drones."
"I, um..." I stammered. Shepard cut in over the radio.
"I'm with Tali on this one, Deputy. There're creative solutions and then there're desperate solutions. Let's not start with desperate solutions."
"Yes ma'am." I failed to keep the creeping feeling of dejection out of my voice. The pit of my stomach felt like it had been ripped away by my very public foolishness.
"But let's not throw the baby out with the bath water. Engineer Adams, the Mako can be outfitted with magnetic traction aids, correct? Same with our hardsuit boots?"
"They certainly can," the gruff engineer said. "I have an inkling of your plan; I'll get my men moving right away. Tali, I'll need you on this as well. Grab the Deputy too, he's been crawling around the Mako enough to be dangerous with an Omni-spanner."
Working on the Mako in the dark while the seconds ticked down on the incoming drone was unpleasant, sweaty work. Multiple times I was thankful that the tools we were using popped out of a gadget on my wrist and wouldn't be under threat of slipping out of my grip, although that didn't help with the shaking in my hands. Luckily, I had Tali working beside me and not even my clumsiness could defeat her deft corrective hand. It was with relief that we replaced the bolts on the last wheel hub cover.
"All set, Commander!" I called. The reply was swift.
"Mount up, Deputy, you're about to take a little drive."
I rushed to grab my helmet, dodging a pack of marines that clomped across the deck with bulked up boots that snapped to the deck with each step. I slammed the helmet down over my head and let the seal plates find each other as I rushed back to the Mako. I dove into the tank and ran a quick startup check. My omni-tool showed no signs of Geth contamination. Behind me, someone slipped into the gunner's chair and dogged the hatch shut. I turned to see Jenkins strapping himself in.
"Jenkins, what are you doing here?"
"Someone had to keep you from trying to ram those Geth, may as well be me." The marine slapped me on the back. "Let's get us some drones." Ahead of us, the forward hatch burst open with a rush of air. The Mako was half dragged, half pushed by envirosuited engineers. Inside, Jenkins and I held on as the tank was plucked from the Normandy, flipping in the microgravity until the powerful magnetic anchors in the wheels pulled us back into the metal of the Normandy's long neck. A prickling feeling crawled up the back of my throat as the stars wheeled through the front monitors. The Mako landed with tooth rattling force. My eyes cleared in time to see the last of the marines bolt from the hatch and spread out over the hull with weapons ready. Behind them, the interior lights flickered and died, followed shortly by the outside running lights. The radio crackled.
"Mako team, I want you posted right on top of the hull. Our last LADAR read shows the first wave coming in at thirty degrees high. Watch out, looks like they have something new mixed in with the chaff, we're reading signatures somewhere between a drone and a fighter."
"Acknowledged," I responded and flicked the radio back over to internal. "Where do you think these guys came from? Drone swarms this far into deep space?"
"You're guess is as good as mine," Jenkins said. Above us the Mako's cannon swung into battery. "Maybe latched onto something orbiting the gas giant?"
My eyes flicked up to the pale red ball that lay behind us. "Don't we have a bunch of Alliance spy satellites out there? You think the Geth managed to get to them and break in?" I put the big IFV in gear and began the crawl around the neck and up behind the bridge.
"Why don't you hop out and ask them?" Jenkins asked, "Targets at the edge of our range. Shit, looks like they're further over than we expected. Hold us still for a second, I need to get my eye in."
"You got it!" The Mako crunched to a halt. My eyes glued themselves to the scopes. "Tracking twelve inbounds, nine small, three larger. You getting a better picture on your end?" An image flashed on one of the side monitors, a feed from Jenkins' gunsight. The Geth coming at us was an ugly looking thing. Its body was a scaled down version of their usual insectoid ship hull configuration, its aft end flared into an oversized drive cone. Both sides were flanked by wide flanges with circular cutouts. With a flash of insight, I realized they matched the size and shape of the Geth's drones. "They're drone carriers! FTL drone caddies, probably fitted on an undersized fighter chassis!"
"That's real fascinating, Mike," Jenkins said through gritted teeth. The view in his scope shifted as he chased the incoming drone carrier and then lead in. The main gun fired. The scope lit up as our jet of fire went out, auguring towards the carrier. The Geth went to dodge, but they wouldn't get out of the way in time. Seconds before the shot intersected the incoming carrier, one of its drones jumped in from outside the view of the scope and took the shot dead center, exploding in silent and incandescent fire. Before the shock of the drone's suicide dive had even worn off, the incoming formation returned our fire. A new constellation of furious energy burst into life, coming our way. "Drive, drive!"
I slammed the engine back into gear and shot off haltingly over the skin of the Normandy as the storm of incoming fire grew closer. The ping of rounds skipping off our kinetic barriers underlined the Mako's lower speed as the magnetic anchors gripped us tight to the hull. Another round went out, this one missed as I slothfully dove to the left as one of the drone carriers lined up on us. It's underslung stinger of a weapon scored an inch deep trough in the ship's skin. Jenkins fired again, scoring a hit on another drone. This one was set tumbling as the kinetic rounds sliced through the thruster pack.
And then they were on top of us. The Mako's skin rattled under the hail of fire, the shield indicator flashed an ugly amber. I gripped the steering column with white knuckles suddenly slick with sweat and tried to pull us out of the line of fire, but my usual dance partner was sluggish under the influence of the magnetic traction drive. Jenkin's weapon roared again, damaging a carrier that couldn't bring one of its suicidal shield drones in line in time, and they were past us, below the plane of the becalmed Normandy. Fire flashed in the dark below us as the Marines guarding the underside engaged from the scant cover of the smooth hull. Casualty reports from both sides rang out at the edge of my attention. My eyes were fixed on the red 'Shields Depleted' icon.
"Deputy! Deputy! Liddle!" someone was yelling in my ear, voice scratchy through the limited range of the radio. "Status report!"
I forced hands that I hadn't realized had frozen to move. "We took some hits, Commander, but we're still here. Looks like minor damage to the top hull, and..." A worrying warning light flashed on the dashboard. "Looks like we've got a fluid leak. Shit, it's the Omnigel reservoir." Outside, a fine mist of the grey repair nanites hissed away into the vacuum to form a shadowy halo around the IFV. If we took further damage, there'd be no repairing it. "Wait, they're coming back round again." The red blips on the radar were returning over the edge of the ship's hull and Jenkins was ready to meet them. His cannon shot struck a drone as soon as it crested the steel horizon. The shot was dead on and the drone disappeared in a bright blue flash. The drone's fellows were faster to react this time, their scattered weapons fire pattering over barely recharged shields, several lancing through to score long furrows in the Mako's skin. Alarms rang out and Jenkins swore behind me.
"That last shot hit the cannon. Barrel's dented, if I fire it again, we risk shooting off our own nose!" He yelled.
"Don't risk it, switch to machine guns!" I pushed the throttle to the wall and swerved away from the incoming fire, catching a few more rounds on the back quarter. The chatter of the machine gun caught up immediately to send a spray of fire bright rounds out at the sweeping wing of our attackers. There were fewer of them, the dozen attackers had been reduced to a mere five, but two of the larger drone carriers were still amongst their number. Both were leaving us alone to make runs on the Normandy's fragile engine assemblies. "Jenkins, the carriers!"
"On it!" Jenkins shifted his aim and walked fire over the ungainly looking drone caddies, sending sparks trailing from shield hits. The carriers continued their drive towards the engines undeterred while more drones looped in towards us. "Come on!" Jenkins' last burst broke through the left carrier's shields to puncture something on the underside. Immediately, the bright blue of the drive flare sputtered and crackled, dark smoke oozing in waves in the zero gravity. The carrier listed away from its attack run and its partner, seemingly locked into formation with it, followed. Our elation was short lived, as the trio of drones swept in behind us and sent more bright sparks into the back of the crew compartment. There was a sharp pop as the hull was pierced and a hissing noise. We had been hulled, and we were losing air. I sent a brief word of thanks to the universe for the seals around my helmet, but the environment was rapidly becoming cold through uninsulated a sweat soaked gloves. The drones sailed overhead and disappeared after their wounded carrier.
"Jenkins, see what you can do about patching those holes, I'll take the gun up here," I called back, shifting the controls up front. I peered out over the scopes and kept the Mako moving in small circles. The drones remained out of sight, although comm chatter made it sound like they were giving the marines on the underside hell.
"I don't know how much good I can do with our Omnigel on its way outsystem, but I'll see if the maintenance guys left any hard patches." Jenkins called, unstrapping. The hissing continued, joining the blaring warning indicators that were rapidly dying away in the thinning air. My eyes flicked from scope to scope, watching for the returning foe. It was scant minutes before they popped up, once again on our rear quarter. I pulled up around at the same time I slowly traversed the sticking turret. We opened fire at the same time, our rounds passing in the battlespace. My shot went wide, clipping the leading drone to minimum damage, the drones shot low, punching holes in the wheels. Something popped and sparked in the crew compartment and our forward movement suddenly disappeared, replaced by an unsettling feeling that curled my stomach. "The magnetic anchor's out!" Jenkins cried.
"I know!" I called back, flailing for the controls. I might be floating, but I still had jump jets. I pushed them up as far as they would go and gave them a squeeze. We dove under a fresh wave of incoming fire and clipped the Normandy nose first. To my horror, we bounced, pinwheeling away from the ship and out into open space. Jenkins crashed about in the back as we spun. More jump jets slowed our spin, but with the limits on their attitude, I couldn't stop it entirely. The drones screamed through the space below us, leaving us to helplessly drift away from our mothership. Bright fire lanced out again to strike the stricken frigate. We continued to drift further and further away while my mind scrabbled for a solution, some way to get back into the fight. My eyes lit on the gun controls. If I could get it turned around... I pushed the aiming column right, the turret whined, slowly edging around. Fitfully, my eyes went from scope to radar and back again. Two of the drones had peeled off to finish us off. The turret whined, and groaned, and ground to a halt. Unbelieving, my eyes fell on the 'hydraulic failure' indicator. It was hopeless. The drones grew larger on the scope. Another wave had snuck in after the first, and another dozen where on the edge of detection range. The Normandy would die, and it was my fault. At least I'd pay for my mistake soon. The two drones reached target lock distance and... exploded.
Bright red light glinted in the rapidly expanding shrapnel cloud, burningly bright. More of the drones went up in flames as the fully mobile ship swooped through the darkness. The GUARDIAN laser swept swathes of drones from space with invisible fingers, leaving nothing but embers in their wake.
"Deputy Liddle, do you read?" the radio shrieked, the voice on the other end was distorted by damage.
"Liddle here. Commander, is that you?"
"Deputy, hold still, we're going to try and pick you up."
"Commander, wait…" the Normandy swooped down towards us, hold open.
"Jenkins? Liddle? Are you okay?" A white gauntleted hand came through the hole in the roof. Jenkins grasped it and hauled himself out of the damaged tank. I followed close behind. Chief Williams and Lieutenant Alenko stood among a squad of the ship's marines.
"You did good work out there," Kaidan said, slapping me on the shoulder. Without the Mako out there, I don't think we could have held them off long enough to pull the restart."
"Yeah, you're welcome," I replied, feeling drained. I hopped off the wounded tank and down to the deck plate. The engines were thrumming under heavy burn. "We sound like we're in a hurry, Geth reinforcements?"
Ashley and Kaidan looked at each other uncomfortably.
"Not Geth, ours. Sounds like Lieutenant Gorman saw our little Geth trouble as enough of a distraction to deploy his landers. They're currently screaming in-system ahead of us. Capt. Everett is furious, but technically Gorman is using his own shuttles and has the authority to land under his own initiative. We're being sent in after him to pull him out if it gets too hairy. The two of you grab your gear and stock up for heavy action." Kaidan said. He dismissed us with a nod.
The two of us scurried to the armory double time and started hauling weapons out of lockers.
"Hey, you got any tungsten?" Jenkins asked.
"Here." I tossed him one of the ammo blocks I had stacked up in the back of my locker.
"Hurry it up you two, we hit atmo in ten minutes." Shepard had joined us. She sounded angry, and jerked on her armor in rough tugs. "Deputy, Corporal, good work in the Mako. You bought us just enough time."
"No problem, Commander, thank you for the rescue, it was getting pretty dicey out there."
"I'll pass your complements on to Joker, it was his flying. You ready to get back out there? It'd be no shame if you both sat this one out after the firefight out there." "
"We're ready, Commander." Jenkins gave a salute. I followed suit. The Commander returned the gesture and motioned for us to follow her back down into the hold. By the time we arrived, the turbulence of atmospheric entry thrummed against the hull. "Listen up Marines!" Shepard addressed the assembled troops. "Once we touch down, we're going to have to hold an LZ while we pull elements of the 109th out piecemeal. The leading platoon got pretty far in before the Geth launched an ambush and cut them off. The 109th has gotten itself into a jam. We are going to get in there and show them how it's done!" the assembled marines cheered. Since the skirmish on Feros, they had been fixing to get back in the fight with the Geth. "Our enemy is smart, they led the 109th straight into a trap, so I expect you all to keep your eyes peeled. I don't want to be writing home to any mothers today, so you watch yourselves down there. You get me?"
"We get you, Ma'am!" the marines replied as one.
The ramp yawned open over a scarred valley. Smoke rose from multiple sites across the open space. The purplish-grey metal of Geth structures jutted from the algal growth that covered the ragged rocks. In the center of the field, the circular bulwark of the Geth Outpost stood, dotted with towers. The 109th had managed to blast a hole in the side of it, a torrent of oily smoke leaked out of it onto the field. In places among the debris of landing ships and broken fortifications, I could see the flash of gunfire and the occasional explosion.
"Joker, pull us up to the largest concentration of friendly fire," Shepard ordered through her helmet radio. Beside me, Jenkins clenched a fist around his rifle. He nodded as I looked him in the eye. Across the hold, I saw Liara in the yellow suit of armor she had picked up on Feros. She smiled at me nervously and took a deep breath. Behind me stood two marines called Hawke and Becker. They had been assigned to our sector. I didn't know them, but Jenkins had said they were some of the best on board. Chief Williams walked among the waiting marines.
"You find cover the second we hit dirt. And I do mean cover, not like last time, Rodriguez. Keep your rifle pointed up front, mark your targets, take 'em out. You watch each other's backs, you hear me?" She laid her hand on Jenkin's arm for the barest of seconds. The ground was closer now. From our new vantage point I saw blue clad marines retreating under fire.
"Joker, forward kinetics on my mark, give the 109th some cover. Dial it in for danger close, we want to support them, not blow them up. Mark!" the nose mounted kinetic accelerators strobed through the thick smoke that hovered over the battlefield, shattering the stones under the advancing Geth. The marines looked up and half ran, half limped their way to the Normandy's protective shadow. The ramp grazed the ground roughly, gouging two thick groves. "Go go go!" The first wave of troops ran down the ramp and onto the battlefield. The Normandy gave a withering sheet of covering fire as the Commander and her team advanced from cover to cover. Ahead of the first wave, Wrex tossed foes left and right.
"Second team!" Ashley yelled. The remaining marines dashed down the ramp. By now some of the less wounded marines had made it to our location. Between us, Jenkins and I helped haul the weaker ones up to the waiting arms of Chakwas and her orderlies.
"You're gonna be alright," I told one who was holding a burned hand over a suit puncture. The marine nodded gruffly and shrugged off my offered hand.
"Second team, advance to the FOB." The order came in through my headset. The hardsuit's HUD handily marked the remains of a Geth tower about halfway between the Normandy and the outpost.
"You heard the lady!" Ashley yelled, "move up!" Our feet pounded over rough stone. The acrid smell of burning lichen made it past even the suits scrubbers. Light flashed over my head as the Geth defenders exchanged fire with the parked Normandy. With a swoosh that flattened what little growth sprang from the planet, the frigate bounced up on its thrusters and rocketed into the darkening sky. My breath was ragged as we stormed towards the knot of Alliance soldiers. Through the smoke and the encroaching gloom, I could see Wrex crush a Geth platform with his heel, Liara toss one into the air, and Tali blow one away with her shotgun. Behind me, someone went down with a scream. I pushed forward.
"Look out!"
I glanced upward, just in time to catch a Geth dropship glide in menacingly. The long ship dropped a squad of Geth in our path, blocking the way to the FOB. "Take cover!" I attempted to roll behind a piece of exposed conduit. My breath hitched as I landed hard on my shoulder. Jenkins dropped in beside me and fired over the conduit.
"You okay?" he asked. He primed a grenade and tossed it over his head.
"Yeah, just caught a bad roll." I rose to my knee and drew a bead on one of the blocking Geth. The rifle bucked into my shoulder as I fired a long burst into the platform. The tungsten rounds sparked as they ripped through the metal chestplate. I dropped back down to dodge the return fire. "We need to move up!"
"Tell you what, you go first," Jenkins joked. He took a turn firing over our cover. On our left, Ashley and two other marines pushed forward under a storm of fire. They responded in kind, blasting apart the blocking forces.
"You know what, I think I will." I hopped the conduit and switched to my shotgun. Not wanting to further damage my already abused shoulder, I tucked the weapon in tightly as it extended. It bucked savagely as I pulled the trigger. A tight cone of metal slivers shot from the barrel, the white hot metal burying itself in another Geth. I took a knee and fired again, knocking down another platform. Then I ran forward again. The FOB was now within reach. More of the marines of the second team had already reached the ruins of the tower. By now, Shepard's first team had cleared a wide swath of the metal spire. The blue armored soldiers of the 109th had gathered atop the broken tower, where they shot down into the surviving Geth. One platform still stood in my way. It had its back turned to me as I charged forward. As the enemy came into reach, the Geth turned to face me, bringing its weapon to bear. I activated my Omni-tool's contact shock program. The orange glow of the holographic plates lit up the Geth an instant before the jagged lines of electricity sparked across the pates. The Geth jerked backwards and flailed helplessly. I fired a round down into the stunned Geth, decapitating it.
"Liddle, over here!" Shepard stood at a holographic representation of the battle field. Chief Williams and one of the 109th marines stood beside her. "Glad you made it." Her comment was punctuated by a series of explosions coming from within the Geth compound. "Chief, did enough of our men make it through to hold this base?"
"I think so, Commander," Ashley began, "yes, with the walking 109ers taking up an overwatch position, we can hold here for some time."
"Good, I want most of our forces arrayed across this sector." She highlighted our current position on the map. "Kaidan!" she called over the officer. "You are going to take three men and form a rescue party. I want you responding to transponders and radio distress calls, that clear?"
"Yes, ma'am!" the biotic snapped off a salute and turned on his heel to gather his troops.
"Chief Williams, Chief Rikkon, you are going to hold this point. I'm taking Tali, Wrex, Garrus, and Liara into the outpost to pull out Gorman's squad."
"And me, Commander?" I asked.
"I want you liaising with the Valley Forge, they have some shuttles inbound to pick up the wounded. Stay in contact with them and help organize the evac." I nodded and saluted. Shepard returned the salute. I retreated from the map platform and found Jenkins climbing over a fallen chunk of the tower.
"About time you made it." I called. The marine shook his head. "You okay?"
"Grenley caught a bullet," he said glumly, "knocked her right out. Medic's say she'll pull through, but she'll be rotating out after this for sure." The crack of rifle fire filled the void in our conversation. As I was about to speak, the radio crackled.
"Alliance FOB, this is Cleaver One, do you copy?" the voice was female, calm, considering the circumstance.
"This is Spectre Deputy Liddle, go ahead Cleaver."
"Nice to hear a friendly voice, Deputy. I'm on approach to your location, am I clear to land?" my eyes scanned the Forward Operating Base. On one side, Shepard was readying her squad to move out, but otherwise the area had quieted down.
"Cleaver One, the door's open, put down in the clearing and we can start loading you up."
"I look forward to it, Deputy."
Author's Note:
So this was the hardest change to make by far, the Mako spacewalk. As initial readers will know, the original form of this chapter had Liddle and Jenkins take a trip out the airlock on a free-floating tether. As much fun as that was to write, it has been pointed out by past reviewers that it was, to put it mildly, just a bit too silly, even for fanfic. So, here we have the revision of a lot tamer Normandy drive, hopefully executed well enough to not cut down on the fun.
