Mass Effect: Maelstrom Siblings

by Leaf Ranger

When faced with protecting an entire galactic community, it's always good to have friends and squad-mates at your side. But it's even better when you've got your brother with you as well. Get ready galaxy, because here come Alicia and Naruto Shepard, the Maelstrom Siblings. Rated M for swearing, action, gore, and implied sexual situations.

11. An Archeologist in Distress

Well here we are with the mission to Therum. Hope you all enjoy this. I originally was going to have this part of the previous chapter, but it just didn't flow right with what I had and made the chapter insanely long.

Anyways, I hope you all enjoy this chapter. It'll be the squad's first time in combat against something a little more dangerous than thugs.

So time to get going. Let's go!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Mass Effect. They are the property of Masashi Kishimoto and Bioware. This is a non-profit fan made work of fiction. Please support the official releases.

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Chapter 11

An Archeologist in Distress

Artemis Tau Cluster

The Normandy shot through space, her faster than light, or FTL, engines burning brightly as she moved through the empty void between systems in the Artemis Tau Cluster, heading towards the Knossos System. Joker had reported to Alicia that their arrival time to Therum was expected to be roughly one hour, so she was gathering her ground team together for final equipment checks, as well as another briefing.

Currently, the squad of six were going over their weapons and armor with practiced eyes and hands, checking for any malfunctions, defects, or problems that could cause a weapon or system failure. All of them stopped as Alicia approached them.

"Alright. Before we get to Therum, I figured it would be important to hold one last major briefing. We already know our mission target area and our objective. But it's important we understand the enemy we'll be facing. Which is why I'm calling on our geth specialist to brief us on what she knows about the geth. Tali?" She asked, moving to the side.

Despite already knowing ahead of time Alicia wanted her to speak, the quarian engineer still felt nervous as she stepped forward. "Y-Yes, well…I can tell you everything I know about the geth, though some of the information I have might be dated," she started, shifting a bit nervously as she saw the unimpressed gaze of Wrex, and the stoic look Garrus was giving her. She took a deep breath, before continuing while bringing up a holographic image of a standard geth on her omni-tool. "The geth VI programming and processes were originally very simplistic and low level, as they were meant as a source of cheap manual labor. A single geth unit was only slightly more intelligent than your average maintenance mech. However, as we began to expand the number of geth units we created, and expand the number and complexity of their tasks, we modified the geth so that those operating within certain proximity of each other could network their programming together. They would be able to merge their processing power for simple programs and processes, freeing up more processing power to run more complex programming. Essentially, the more geth networked together, the more intelligent they became."

"That's how they grew intelligent enough to rebel against you, isn't it? Enough of them were networked together for them to start thinking on a more complex level. Because your people gave them that ability," Garrus said, causing Tali to flinch slightly. Both Ashley and Naruto turned to look at Garrus, who had the decency to look a bit abashed as Tali tried to continue.

"W-Well…the point is, the more geth we encounter, the more intelligent they're likely to be. We'll need to be careful, as they'll likely be able to employ strategic thinking in our battles with them," Tali said, fidgeting slightly with her hands now due to her nervousness.

"So the more of them we kill, the dumber they'll become?" Ashley asked, thinking they'd have an advantage over the geth.

Tali however shook her head. "Unfortunately, that isn't the case. My ancestors constructed the geth's mobile platforms with the ability to transfer their runtimes between platforms. We did this in order to ensure that if the hardware of a mobile platform was damaged beyond repair or destroyed, the VI program could be transferred into another platform, so we could at least save the 'intelligence' instead of having to completely replace it. The geth still have that in place, so even as we destroy them, the programs will simply transfer to the nearest platform. If anything, destroying the geth will make the surviving ones in the area more aggressive and dangerous, as each platform will grow more intelligent as more programs are transferred into it," she stated.

"Yeah, yeah, robots get smarter as we kill them, whatever. Just tell me where to shoot them," Wrex demanded, leaning forward on the cargo crate he was sitting on.

Alicia gave the krogan a glare, but he just waved it off as Tali felt her confidence drop even more. "W-Well ummm…a-as Commander Shepard and her ground team on Eden Prime can tell us, the majority of the geth aren't that hard to kill," she said, her voice quieter now. "I watched battle footage recorded on Eden Prime, as well as my own study of the platform I was able to gather the information on Saren from. Most of the geth platforms have been given some armor reinforcement and shields, but they shouldn't prove any more resilient than normal infantry or combatants. However, their weapons seem to be more advance and dangerous than most other races. So you'll want to be careful of that, as they'll likely be able to wear out our defenses faster than normal," she said.

"However, Commander Shepard ran into another type of unit on Eden Prime," she said, bringing up a new holographic image of a large geth armed with a cannon, with a tri-optic port. "I believe this is either some type of assault unit, or a command unit. From the combat footage, it is heavily armed, as well as armored. Concentrated fire power will be necessary to bring these down, or engaging them in close range with armor penetrating weapons. Commander Shepard's tactic was…inventive, to say the least. However, there is the possibility we will run into other combat models, so we should be prepared for the unexpected," she said.

Wrex just grunted, his eyes locked on the larger geth unit, anticipation evident on his face at fighting such a foe. Near him, Kaidan decided to ask a question he had. "Is there any other methods for engaging the geth? Can we hack them, like other mechanical units?"

"No…the geth programming is highly adaptable. Reports from our security forces during the geth rebellion indicated they were able to rapidly overcome hacking attempts. Standard overload attack programs will prove effective, and their weapons and shields will be vulnerable to sabotage and overloads, but hacking will do little against the geth. I would suggest focusing your tech abilities either on disrupting their shields or weapons, and simply destroying them with weapons," Tali said.

"Good. I'd hate to be bored fighting these things," Wrex stated, getting up. "So can we expect them on Therum?" He asked Alicia.

"It is possible, but there's no certainty. We don't know if this Dr. T'Soni is allied with Saren or not. We might see geth there protecting her, we might see them there to capture her, or there might not be any at all. But we should assume potential hostilities just in case," she replied. "If no one else has any questions, I think that's it. We should get ourselves squared away and ready to drop when we arrive."

The squad members nodded and returned to checking their weapons. Except Tali, who seemed to have pulled back from the group, looking down a bit. Alicia noticed this and moved over to her. "Tali, mind taking a look at my shotgun? I think there's a problem with the targeting programming," she said, holding up the currently folded up weapon.

Tali nodded, following the Spectre to a spot some feet away, before speaking. "Commander…I'm not sure if I'm well suited to be working on the ground with your team," the quarian said quietly. "I don't think Wrex or Garrus like or respect me that much and I wouldn't want to cause problems in the squad."

"I don't care what they think," Alicia said firmly, making Tali glance up to look her in the face. "I wanted you in my squad because you've got knowledge on the geth, but also because you're quick thinking and highly skilled in combat engineering. That move you pulled in Fist's office was ingenious, and you did it faster than any Alliance combat engineer I've served alongside. I believe you'll prove to be a valuable asset to the ground team. My brother certainly seems to think so as well. You're not going to prove us wrong, are you?" She asked.

Tali blinked and shook her head. "No ma'am!" She said, as Alicia smiled.

"Good. Now you just bring your A-game in the missions ahead, and leave dealing with Wrex and Garrus to me. Alright?" She asked.

Tali nodded at that, standing a bit taller as Alicia nodded in satisfaction. "Good…now can you actually look at my shotgun? There really is something up with the targeting program," she said a bit sheepishly, as Tali giggled and started to look over the shotgun with a diagnostic program on her omni-tool.

Naruto, watching them, let out a sigh of relief as he saw Tali go from seeming upset to looking more confident. He felt responsible for the quarian girl because she was largely in this mess because of him, or so he felt. He had seen her reactions to Garrus and Wrex's comments, how Garrus made her feel responsible for the geth's actions, while Wrex showed his utter indifference to Tali's knowledge and expertise. All of which seemed to make her feel worthless and guilty, given the defeated posture she had after the briefing. He glanced over to the krogan, knowing there was little he could say to change his mind. Wrex, like most krogan mercenaries, would respect only actions.

Glancing at Garrus though, he knew there was something he could do there. But he decided to wait, to see if Garrus and Tali had anymore problems in the future.

He turned back to his equipment, checking over the scope of his Viper sniper rifle, only to glance up as Ashley leaned over.

"So cap'n, still prefer the Viper? I'd have thought you'd see how much better the power of the Mantis is," Ashley said with a grin.

Naruto chuckled as he folded the Viper up and stored it. "What can I say; I stick with what works for me. And the Viper works for me," he said. "Besides, what will you do when you fire and miss a target charging at you? Wait ten seconds for the weapon to cool down enough to shoot, or get a second shot off right away?"

Ashley grimaced a bit at that, having occasionally run into that problem from time to time. The Mantis had power, but that power came at the expense of rate of fire, with the weapon being rather slow firing. It was important to make every shot count.

Garrus glanced over at them, having been listening to their conversation with interest, as he himself was a fellow marksman. He decided to add his two credits in, leaning over to them. "You know, if you want a good balance of rate of fire and power, you should see about getting your hands on a Tasira rifle. It's a turian sniper rifle I trained with on Palaven. Excellent rate of fire while still having a lot of knock down power," he commented.

The two Alliance marines glanced up, Ashley stiffening slightly while Naruto's did seem somewhat interested in what he said. "Really? Is that a weapon currently on the market?" He asked Garrus.

The turian sent a somewhat bewildered glance at Ashley, seeing how she had lost her good mood the moment he spoke, before answering. "I think it's still part of the standard arsenal for the turian military. But there are probably some floating around on the black market. I know this smuggler I've gotten good intel and weapon mods from before, she can maybe get you one. She seems to find pretty much anything anyone wants," Garrus told Naruto.

Naruto nodded at that, as Ashley went right back to focusing on her weapon, having lost the mood to converse. Garrus looked at her, then at Naruto with a questioning look. Naruto gave a slight shake of the head, indicating Garrus should drop the subject for now. Garrus just nodded and went back to checking over his own Mantis sniper rifle, as Naruto turned to Ashley. "Something wrong Williams?" He asked her.

Ashley took a deep breath. "Sorry cap'n, I just have a hard time being around turians," she apologized quietly. "It won't affect me out in the field."

"Understood Sergeant, but make sure to give him a chance. We're going to be working together here in some stressful missions, and it's important we learn to trust each other, both in and out of battle," Naruto advised her.

"I'll try sir," Ashley said, keeping her eyes on her weapon.

Naruto just shrugged, not expecting more than that from her, before standing up and carrying his weapons to his equipment locker, storing them away before beginning to run final checks on his armor.

The rest of the team was finishing up their weapon and armor checks when Joker's voice echoed over the PA. "Commander, we're fifteen mikes from Therum orbit. Long range scans are picking up some unusual energy signatures from the target area. You might want to come up and give it a look," he reported.

Alicia nodded as she stowed her gear. "All of you get suited and prepped. I'll be at the CIC," she said, moving to the elevator and activating it. She turned, getting one last look at the team prepping their armor, before the door closed and the elevator began to ascend.

A few minutes later she was on the CIC deck, heading towards the helm. Arriving, she saw the planet Therum filling the viewports. Joker was reading a holographic screen at the helm while Navigator Pressly was busy studying the sensor station near them. "Report," she ordered, moving over to the sensor station.

The lieutenant glanced up from the screen. "The target area has a number of strange energy signatures surrounding it, at several outposts and along roads leading towards the dig site. I can't be certain, but the energy signatures are similar to the geth on Eden Prime. And…I'm reading at least two large ships hiding behind the moon."

Alicia turned to Joker, who was already responding. "Don't worry, we're running silent. We've got at least four hours before we'll need to get out of here."

"Good. What about the target site, any strange energy signatures?" She asked the navigation officer

"Yes ma'am. There are a number of energy signatures at the researcher camp near the ruins. I can't pick out anything inside the ruins though, living or otherwise," he said.

"Then I guess we'll just have to see for ourselves. What's the closest landing point?" Alicia asked Joker, who was also studying the area.

"We can't actually land the Normandy anywhere close to the site, but there are two options. There's a smaller landing pad I could hover near, and let you and your squad drop. But we'll be right in line of sight of all those geth, if they bother to look up. Or there's a landing site about five klicks away where we can drop the Mako. But you'll be driving through all those possible geth to reach the ruins," Joker stated.

Alicia studied the map, weighing her options. "…how likely are we to come under fire at the landing platform?" She asked.

Pressly answered the question. "It's on the other side of the researcher camp. If Joker can bring us in low along this lava river here, we can probably remain undetected right up to the camp. The landing platform is on the far side from the ruins, so I think you've got a good chance of deploying before you come under fire."

"Whoa whoa, you want me to fly low over a river of lava? Seriously?" Joker asked, looking a bit surprised. "And I don't have to pay you guys to let me show off?"

"Guess that answers that. Pressly, plot the best course to achieve maximum stealth. Joker, don't show off too much. We want to get to the landing area, not impress the chicks who won't be watching," Alicia said, heading back to the hanger to get suited up.

Joker grinned as he very carefully stretched his arms, preparing to take the ship through her paces. "Alright baby, let's see what you can do," he murmured.

The Normandy surged forward, breaking its orbital pattern and following a flight path to enter the atmosphere. The hull glowed at the friction of re-entry, before it faded as the ship fully entered the atmosphere and dove down, heading for a mountain range. Joker grinned as he slipped through gaps between the mountains, following the general path Pressly had set to maintain their concealment from any visual scans.

In the hanger bay, Alicia had briefed the team on their infiltration strategy as she got suited up, and now the team was standing near the hanger door. Wrex, Alicia, and Kaidan, being the best armored and defended, were taking point to draw fire. Behind them, Naruto, Ashley, and Garrus all were waiting, sniper rifles drawn. Tali was bringing up the rear, being the least defended and not having any long range weapons. She'd follow up behind, doing what she could until she could get close enough to deal real damage.

"Commander, we're coming up on the drop point. ETA is two mikes and counting!" Joker reported over the comm.

"Alright team, lock and load and ready to roll!" Alicia shouted, sealing her helmet's breathing mask into place as the team all readied their weapons.

At the researcher site, a number of geth were patrolling the area. The corpses of several of the researchers were being gathered up and dragged to a central point, while other geth were setting up computer terminals and power units, intent on downloading all the data the researchers had.

They were pulled from their work by the roar of engines as the Normandy suddenly appeared over the rock wall surrounding researcher camp. The ship flared, the front mounted thrusters blasting as the ship slowed and hovered near the landing pad setup to receive shuttles, and the hanger bay ramp lowered.

Immediately, Alicia, Kaidan, and Wrex stormed down the ramp, the roar of Wrex's Revenant Light Machine Gun nearly drowning out the bark of Alicia's Lancer and Kaidan's Locust as they sprayed rounds towards the geth location. The synthetics quickly began moving to cover, only for three of them to drop as three loud reports echoed through the area. The trio of snipers was next down the boarding ramp, Tali right behind them, as they quickly hopped off the ship. The hanger bay closed and the ship began to rise up, moving away before it came under fire from the geth troops.

Alicia quickly pointed to storage shed near the landing area. "Kaidan, Ashley, take cover behind that building, and get ready to move around the left flank! Naruto, take Tali and head to the right flank! Garrus, Wrex, you'll follow me up the center!"

"Hell yeah Shepard! Let's move it!" Wrex shouted as he charged forward, Alicia not far behind him. Garrus shook his helmeted head, following Wrex and Alicia off the platform to the nearest cover.

On the right flank, Naruto was crouched behind some containers, barely even flinching from rounds ripping into the corner of their cover. Behind him Tali was wincing at the sound of their cover being chewed up, until Naruto turned to her. "Don't worry about it. They'll need something a lot stronger than those assault rifles to get us," he said.

It was at that moment something slammed into the crate, sending a piece of it flying over their heads. The pair quickly peeked over the top, seeing one of the larger, cannon wielding geth's preparing to fire again at them. Tali groaned as she dropped down. "You just had to jinx us!" She yelled, as a second blast slammed into the container.

On the left flank, Kaidan saw the trouble Naruto and Tali were in, and tapped Ashley's shoulder. The marine sergeant fired another burst from her Vindicator, dropping a geth trooper, before looking back at Kaidan who pointed to Naruto and Tali's position. "They need cover fire!"

"You got it LT!" Ashley responded, switching to her Mantis and switching places with Kaidan. As the sentinel trained lieutenant brought up his omni-tool, preparing to send an overload attack command at the two geth ahead of them, Ashley settled herself into crouch, one knee on the ground as she aimed. The larger geth was just about to fire when her first round from her Mantis slammed into its cannon, jerking the weapon to the side so it missed. The large geth unit turned, seeing the crouching marine, only for a second shot to slam into the shields in front of its optical ports, causing the shield to flare momentarily.

Sensing the geth's attention being drawn away, Naruto nodded quietly, holstering his sniper rifle. "Tali, I want you to concentrate on the geth troopers on our side. Keep them off me. I'm going to take care of the big one," he said, taking a deep breath as he unsheathed the hidden blades located in his gauntlets.

Tali nodded, gripping her shotgun as Naruto's legs tensed. "On the count of three…three!" Naruto shouted, vaulting over the crate and heading straight for the large geth. Tali popped up, her shotgun turning to aim at the closest geth trooper, who was moving out of cover behind a forklift. Her shotgun blast slammed into it, causing it to reel back as its shields failed, before a second blast tore open the chest plate, destroying circuitry within. Tali quickly dropped her shotgun, bringing up her omni-tool and sending a sabotage virus into the pulse rifle of a geth that was standing up from using a doorway of one of the buildings for cover, grinning behind her mask as the weapon shuddered before exploding in the geth's servos, riddling its frame with shrapnel and dropping it. A third geth trooper aimed at her, causing her to drop down, wincing as rounds hit the half destroyed container.

Her actions were enough however as Naruto was able to rapidly rush the large geth unit without being fired on, and with a yell, leapt on it from behind, driving his blades into its back. The geth immediately swung around, trying to dislodge him, but Naruto gripped the armored chassis with his left hand, the blade still dug in, as he yanked out his right arm and stabbed again.

From the center, Wrex grinned as he saw Naruto clambering on the geth and stabbing into its back, trying to get at vital circuitry. "Your brother's got quite the quad," Wrex said with a grin to Alicia.

Alicia just rolled her eyes. "Yeah, bravely stabbing something from behind. When I faced one of those, it was head on," she muttered, cocking her Crusader shotgun before popping up and blasting a geth trooper in the 'face'. The frame flopped over, the end of the neck a sputtering mess of sparks and wires.

Naruto however found himself in trouble when the geth smashed its back, and thus him, into the wall of a building. His armor held, but it still drove the air from him and he barely held on. The geth slammed against the wall again, this time forcing Naruto to relinquish his grip. He dropped to the ground, staggering slightly due to still recovering from the dual blows, as the geth turned, preparing to use its cannon like a massive club. That is until there was a roar and Wrex slammed into the unit, using his considerable size, weight, and strength to not only stagger the larger geth, but smash it through the wall it had been smashing Naruto into. Naruto quickly regained his breath and balance, Lancer now in hand, as he saw Wrex being thrown from the opening by the geth inside. Grabbing a disc from his supply belt, he armed the grenade before throwing it into the opening. "FIRE IN THE HOLE!" He yelled, dropping behind the nearest cover, as a recovering Wrex did the same.

A blast of fire, smoke, and debris erupted from the building as the grenade went off, causing the entire structure to collapse as it was not built to handle an explosion going off inside. Naruto and Wrex quickly got to their feet, weapons ready, only to see the sight of the large geth unit pinned in the rubble, a beam piercing its chest as it weakly struggled. Wrex just snarled, reaching out with his biotics to grab the geth unit, pulling it from the rubble, before proceeding to smash it into the cover a pair of geth troopers firing at Alicia and Garrus was using.

Garrus winced as he witnessed the krogan's actions. "Remind me not to piss him off," he told Alicia, aiming down his sniper rifle and picking off a damaged geth trooper that was attempting to fall back.

On the left flank, Ashley popped out from behind Kaidan, firing on a pair of geth troopers in cover, forcing them back down, as she advanced slowly behind Kaidan. The marine sentinel was using his tech armor to become a walking fortress, advancing slowly and providing protection for Ashley, who was popping out and attacking the geth, keeping them down. Kaidan was also firing with his Locust until they got to the next patch of cover, where the two immediately hunkered down. Ashley moved to the corner, popping out to suppress the geth, as Kaidan brought up his omni-tool. "Get ready on my signal sergeant," he said.

As Ashley nodded, Kaidan counted down. "Three…two….one…covering fire!" Ashley popped out again, laying down long bursts from her Vindicator as Kaidan quickly shot up, pointing his omni-tool at the duo of geth. His omni-tool quickly transmitted a virus command to one of the geth, causing its shield emitters to fluctuate and overload. The malfunction caused them to blow out, 'stunning' the geth as electrical currents ran over its frame. Those currents jumped to the geth next to it, overwhelming its shields as well and leaving both stunned. The two Alliance marines quickly opened up, destroying the two geth before they could recover.

"Nice one lieutenant!" Ashley shouted, as they checked their comrades, to see if they needed help.

In the center, Alicia had just biotically charged a trio of geth who had rounded a corner, coming from the far end of the research camp to reinforce the other geth. The first one she had slammed into, driving one of the gauntlet mounted blades into its frame and destroying it, as she swung her shotgun to the second geth, blasting it apart at almost point blank range. The third however opened fire on Alicia, who took a few hits, draining her shields rapidly. Alicia cursed, barely pulling the lifeless frame of the first geth into the path of the third geth's rounds before her shields could be dropped completely, before she used that same hand to launch a shockwave of biotic explosions towards the third geth, blasting the empty shell off her blade in the process. The third geth was sent flying, smashing into one of the terminals the geth had been setting up, destroying it in the process, as Alicia grinned. That grin faded however as another geth came out of cover, this one carrying a rocket launcher. She quickly dove into cover as the rocket barely missed hitting her.

Wrex, who was currently stomping a helpless geth into the ground with one massive armored foot, looked up as he saw the explosion of the rocket, before grunting as he shot the geth on the ground with his shotgun. Rushing over, he saw the rocket wielding geth reloading, and preparing to fire. He let out a roar, distracting the geth, as he charged right towards it. The geth quickly swung the rocket around, firing at Wrex who kept rushing towards it. At the last second, Wrex threw up a barrier, which the rocket impacted against. Through the smoke of the explosion the krogan mercenary appeared, still roaring his challenge as he slammed into the geth, smashing it into a wall. It fell to the ground, its torso crushed and deformed, as Wrex sneered at it and stomped on its head, ending it.

Tali, having joined Naruto, patted his shoulder and pointed to some of the terminals. "Captain, if we can secure one of those terminals I can access them and hopefully try to retrieve information!" She reported, as Naruto nodded.

"Right. Commander, Tali reported that if we can secure those terminals, she likely can hack them for information. We should check fire, to make sure we don't destroy them," he reported over his comm to Alicia.

"Good call. Everyone, try not to destroy the terminals! Check fire!" Alicia responded over the comm, directing the majority of the message to the whole squad.

It seemed that the squad had gained the upper hand, destroying most of the geth and driving them towards the edge of the camp. However, as the team reached the middle of the camp, the geth received reinforcements. A geth dropship roared by overhead, pausing long enough to drop a large oblong shape onto the ground. The shape hit the ground, rising up and unfolding into a massive four-legged construct. It was some type of geth heavy unit, moving on four legs with a long slender neck and head unit that had a wide optical port. Beneath this 'head' was a large cannon that it swung towards them, its sensors locking on them as it prepared to fire.

"Cover!" Alicia shouted as she saw its cannon glowing. She dove behind a building, tackling Tali with her as the others scattered while the cannon fired a charge of plasma towards them. The plasma round slammed into the ground, exploding and sending dirt and rocks shooting into the air. The walker scanned the area ahead of it, preparing to fire again as soon as it detected a target.

Tali, having scrambled back to her feet, was frantically typing on her omni-tool. "I don't know what type of geth that is! My ancestors never built anything like that!" She yelled over the comm as she tried to get some type of scan or understanding of the geth walker.

"I'm betting the geth have been busy the past three hundred years," Ashley quipped, popping out and firing at the walker from the building corner she was using for cover. The shields around it flared as it turned and fired at Ashley, who barely was able to get back into cover.

Naruto also opened up with his Lancer with similar results, causing the walker to focus on him. As he avoided its attack, Wrex growled angrily. "Bah, let me show you how a krogan does it!" He shouted, channeling his biotics and throwing out a powerful warp. It slammed into the walker, but all that did was cause it to turn towards Wrex and fire at him, this time actually succeeding in sending Wrex flying.

"Whatever that thing is, it's got some seriously powerful shields. I don't think we'll get through it with just weapons!" Kaidan said, watching their efforts against the geth walker.

"Tali, any chance you can-," Alicia started to say, only for the quarian to interrupt her.

"I've already tried delivering any number of viruses," she said. "Hacking won't be effective, just like against normal geth. But the firewalls around its programming are insane. I can't even deliver any of my other viruses!"

Kaidan, who was doing the same from his position, nodded in agreement. "She's right Commander. I can't even get at its shield emitters with an overload," he reported.

"Great, so any bright ideas?" She asked her squad.

"We should just shoot the damn thing! Its shields can't hold up forever!" Wrex roared over their radios, before popping out and spraying the geth walker with fire from his Revenant, as Ashley did the same with her Vindicator.

"Best idea I can think of. Everyone open fire!" Alicia shouted, as the rest of the team popped out of their cover, opening up on the four-legged walker. For the first time it seemed troubled, as it staggered back slightly, the kinetic shields around it shimmering from the rain storm of weapon rounds slamming into it. With all the targets firing at it, its targeting program was having a hard time choosing a target to fire at. Of course help came in the form of the remaining geth troops, consisting of three troopers and a rocket trooper. They opened up on the squad members, forcing them back into cover.

"Crap, we forgot about them," Garrus muttered, with Alicia already forming a plan.

"Tali, Naruto, work your way around the flanks. Take those geth troops in the side. We'll keep their attention and focus on the walker," Alicia said, popping up and throwing out a shockwave. The ripple of biotic explosions slammed into the walker, staggering it slightly as two of the geth troopers swung their rifles towards her, firing as she ducked back into cover. Naruto and Tali, on her orders, quickly began working their way around the left and right flanks of the geth position.

Kaidan winced as the rocket trooper hammered his position, bits of building and dirt raining down on him. Taking a deep breath, he popped up, throwing out a biotic throw to try and slam one of the geth troopers into a building. However, just as his throw was nearing his target a sniper round smacked into the geth, staggering it and causing his throw to miss it completely. He glanced over, seeing Garrus ducking back into cover with his Mantis, his helmeted turning towards Kaidan. "Sorry about that lieutenant! I didn't see you going for him," Garrus apologized over the comms.

Kaidan just shook his head, annoyed he had just wasted the energy on that attack. "Check next time. We can't afford wasting ammo or biotics," he said.

Alicia frowned as she slotted a fresh thermal clip into Lancer as she listened to them, before popping up and laying down fire, only to be forced back down by the geth walker. "Focus on the fight! We'll worry about coordination later," she said.

Thankfully at that point, her flankers came into action. The geth trooper on their left flank went down from sustained assault rifle fire, as the rocket trooper near him was quickly hit with a biotic throw that smashed him into the walker, staggering it and destroying the rocket trooper. The second geth trooper's pulse rifle exploded on him, leaving him weaponless and open to Ashley taking him down. As the third trooper turned towards Tali's position, it was staggered back by a shotgun blast from Tali's Scimitar, followed by Kaidan's Locust destroying it.

Wrex, seeing the walker was staggered and alone, grinned. "Now we take that bastard down!" He roared as he charged into the open.

"Wrex, stick to cover! Its shields are still up!" Alicia ordered, but Wrex ignored her, charging and blasting the walker with his Eviscerator, the shotgun spreads slamming into its shields. The walker turned towards Wrex who just kept charging, before it swung one of its legs, slamming the krogan back and into a building. Wrex fell to one hand and his knees, before he started to push himself up, only to be sent flying by a blast of plasma that slammed into the ground near him. He smashed through a crate, destroying it as he slammed into the ground, dazed and helpless.

Alicia cursed as she saw the display for Wrex's status indicate his shields were completely gone. He was a sitting duck, as the walker turned towards his position, preparing to fire again. "Distract it!" She yelled, moving into the open and firing her Lancer.

The walker again switched target to her, seeing her moving rapidly in the open, and fired at her. Alicia quickly rolled to the side, dodging the blast and ducking behind a crate. "Someone have any bright ideas how we kill this thing?!"

Naruto glanced over to the downed geth troopers, before grinning. "I've got one commander. Give me a distraction and two minutes," he said.

"You heard him. Kaidan, move to Wrex and check on him. Everyone else, open up!" She shouted, as the rest of the squad began firing while Kaidan rushed to Wrex, dropping next to him and checking the recovering krogan over. As the squad distracted the walker, Naruto quickly rushed towards the downed geth, dropping and rolling on the ground near them. As he came back up, he was carrying the rocket launcher used by the rocket trooper. Checking that it was loaded, he quickly shouldered it while in a kneeling position.

"Process this," he muttered, firing the rocket at the walker before dropping it and diving into cover. The rocket slammed into the walker, causing a large explosion that practically threw the walker into a building. Alicia grinned as she saw this, but that grin faded as the walker was still moving, struggling to get back onto its feet.

"Oh for crying out loud," she said, pulling out a grenade. "I want grenades on that thing now!" She shouted as she primed and threw her grenade. Ashley and Naruto followed suit, all three grenades sticking to the walker as each of them detonated the explosives. This time a much larger explosion went off, shrouding the whole destroyed building in smoke.

Alicia glanced at her motion tracker and grinned as she saw the red blip fade away. Still, without visual verification, she wasn't about to celebrate. "I need eyes on it people. Is it dead?" She asked.

Naruto slowly approached, Lancer up and ready, as Tali slowly approached from the other side, her movements more cautious and unsure. The duo reached the building, and soon found the wrecked walker, one of its legs completely blown off, its neck half destroyed, and its optical port dark. Naruto pulled out his Carnifex sidearm, and put two rounds into the head unit, before reporting. "It's dead now," he said, as Tali let out a sigh of relief.

Alicia mirrored that sigh, before standing straight. "Alright, we need to finish securing the area. Vakarian, Williams, I want you two on over watch. Set yourselves up on whatever high ground you can find and cover us. Captain, start searching for any sign of our asari scientist. Tali, start working on hacking into those terminals, find whatever you can find," she ordered the four squad members not occupied at the moment.

As they moved to carry out her orders, she turned to Kaidan, who was crouched next to a now sitting Wrex. The krogan was holding his helmeted head in one hand, shaking it slowly to clear away any remaining cobwebs. "Report," she ordered Kaidan.

"No major injuries commander. Maybe a couple bruises, but mostly he was just dazed," Kaidan reported, some admiration in his voice at the resilience of the krogan.

Wrex just snorted. "This was nothing," he said, slowly getting back to his feet. "I've gotten worse injuries from ball room brawls against salarians."

"Maybe next time you'll wait for my orders instead of rushing into the open like that," Alicia said sternly, a frown evident on her face even with her breather mask hiding most of it. "You put yourself and the squad in unnecessary danger with your actions."

Wrex just grunted, checking his weapons. "We're still alive, aren't we? And it's dead. So what are you worried about?"

Alicia growled as she grabbed his arm, causing him to turn towards her. "I'm worried about what happens next time you pull a stunt like that and kill yourself or someone else on my squad. You follow my orders, is that understood?" She demanded.

Wrex's helmeted head just stared at her, before he shrugged. "Whatever you say, commander," he said, a bit of a condescending tone in his voice.

Before Alicia could respond, Naruto approached her. "No sign of the target. I found several other archaeologists, all KIA. We've got four asari here, but none of them are Dr. T'Soni. It's possible she's in the ruins," he said, nodding over to the entranceway to them.

Alicia nodded as she put Wrex's insubordination to the back of her mind and moved over to where Tali was working on a terminal. "Any luck?"

"Some," the quarian engineer said, still staring at the screen. "I've managed to break through most of the security, but it'll take time to download the information here. I'd say anywhere between ten to twenty minutes."

The Spectre commander shook her head at that. "No time. The geth will be all over us if we don't start going. Can you insert a program to remotely download the information to your omni-tool?" She asked.

Tali nodded at that as she tapped a few keys on her omni-tool. "Done commander. The program, if left uninterrupted, will download the info, though it only has a range of about three hundred meters," she said.

"So we'll need to stay planetside if we want all the info. Let's hope it won't take too long," Alicia said, switching to squad channel. "Alright, listen up! Our objective is confirmed to not be present at the camp here. However, there is a possibility she is located in the ruins. I want everyone to check your armor and ammo, we're moving out. Williams, you've got point. Kaidan, bring up the rear," she ordered, moving towards the ruin, the rest of the squad quickly falling in.

The ruins, located underground, were accessible only by a sealed hatchway placed over a drilled entrance into the underground ruins. Ashley, on point, quickly moved to the hatch and checked it as the others joined her. "Ma'am, there's a security log registering entrances and exits. Looks like our asari entered this place about two days ago, but hasn't exited since. There are a few other authorized entries and exits, likely the other researchers, and then over the past thirty hours there's been nothing but unauthorized entries and exits," she reported.

"Well, unless there's a second way out, we're in luck. Weapons ready people, we'll have some company down there," Alicia said, as Ashley quickly opened the door and they streamed in.

The entranceway to the ruins consisted of a long drilled hallway, slanted downwards into the rock towards the ruins. The team was forced to proceed single file towards the bottom, each of them tightly gripping their weapons and watching the door at the far end. Each of them knew this was the perfect place to ambush and finish them off, with no cover and no way to spread out. Yet surprisingly, they made it to the bottom with no threats popping out.

On the other side of the door they found themselves in a large cavern, with a series of walkways and ramps leading to the far side, where they could faintly see a very large construct. The area was lit by lamps and light fixtures, as well as the soft blue wavering glow of what looked like some type of energy shield blocking a large oval aperture in the construct.

"Well…that looks impressive," Garrus commented, pointing towards the large structure that was still partially buried in rock.

Alicia moved to the edge of the walkway, leaning over the railing. "Looks like they had cleared away most of the rock on this side of…whatever that structure is," she said, seeing what looked like a good forty or fifty foot drop down. At the bottom she could make out mining equipment, but little less in the half-lit gloom of the cave.

Ashley, on point, quickly pointed near the structure. "Commander, looks like there's some type of elevator over there. That's our way down," she said.

Alicia nodded, and was about to comment, when she saw Naruto standing there, tightly gripping his Lancer, his frame very lightly trembling. She turned to him, concerned. "Captain Shepard, you alright?" She asked, forced to be professional in front of the others.

"Fine commander. I'm fine," he responded automatically, though his voice sounded emotionless, almost robotic. Alicia frowned more, knowing probably that some of the trauma Naruto suffered as a child thanks to the Protheans was resurfacing. She moved over to him, gently grabbing his shoulder and causing him to turn to her.

"Hey…don't let it get to you. What happened is long in the past. You're fine," she said quietly, having switched to a private channel. Naruto just gave a slight nod and shuddered softly, before he relaxed slightly. Alicia gave a nod, before pointing to the elevator. "Alright people, we're moving out. Captain, I want you to take Vakarian and Williams, and stay here until we've reached the elevator. Provide us with cover fire until we reach it, and then join up with us. We'll cover you," she said.

Naruto nodded, pointing to Garrus and Ashley, and the trio all brought out their sniper rifles. Alicia and the other three members of her squad advanced, weapons up and ready.

As the advance team finished coming down the ramps, Tali could only let out a soft admiring gasp as they drew nearer to the Prothean ruins. "They look incredible," she whispered quietly, admiring the smooth, almost seamless architecture of the structure.

"Hold the chatter till we've secured the area," Alicia ordered, and Tali meekly nodded as the quartet advanced. However, as they neared the structure they heard the soft hum of engines, followed by a group of five geth drones, similar to the ones on Eden Prime, rising up to meet them. Before either group could engage, three of the drones dropped, each destroyed by sniper rounds from the over watch team. The other two were immediately destroyed by rounds from three shotguns, leading to five sparking and twisted wrecks dropping back down the way they came.

Alicia let out the breath she had taken the instant the drones had popped up. "Well…if they didn't know we were coming, they do now," she said, pointing to the elevator. "Alenko, check the elevator. Captain, bring your team down."

"On our way," came Naruto's response, as Alicia moved towards the structure. Besides the elevator, there was also a path connecting to the oval aperture, indicating it had been an entranceway for the researchers into the structure. But the blue field in place obviously prevented entrance now, leaving them with the elevator as the only way down.

As the trio of snipers joined them, Kaidan nodded from where he had been scanning and analyzing the elevator. "She's good commander, but I'm not sure all seven of us will fit at once."

Alicia frowned at that, before pointing to Naruto. "Naruto, keep Vakarian and take Alenko. I want you three to remain up here and keep our exit secure. Williams, Tali, and Wrex, you'll accompany me down to the bottom. If they are more geth, we'll need to be ready for them."

Garrus frowned a bit behind his helmet, taking a step forward. "Commander, you're going to want every gun down there. And I'm not a bad tech combatant either. I'd be of more use down there," he argued.

Alicia let out a soft growl, turning to Garrus. "And that's why I want you here Garrus. We need to keep our exit secure, and if geth start pouring through that opening, I want to know we've got a good team in place to destroy them. Besides, we're likely to get into some close-range combat, and do you want to be in that situation, or up here where you've got room to shoot?" She asked.

Garrus stepped back, helmet shifting down slightly. "…I understand commander. Sorry ma'am," he said quietly, as Alicia just turned back to the elevator.

"We'll discuss this back on the ship. Team one, with me," she ordered, entering the elevator. Tali, Wrex, and Ashley followed, the door closing behind them. Pressing the down button, the elevator started downwards as Naruto turned to his two current teammates.

"Let's get set up. Kaidan, move into cover behind that stalagmite there. Vakarian, you're there. I'll take position here," he said, as the trio spread out, with Naruto glancing towards Garrus for a moment, before shaking his helmeted head.

In the elevator Tali shifted a bit nervously, clutching her shotgun as she glanced over the side of the elevator, seeing them drop more. She glanced back up, only to see Ashley watching her. The gunnery sergeant just gave her a nod. "Don't let your nerves get to you kid."

"Sorry. I never really expected to be in a lot of fire fights," Tali admitted quietly, as she held her shotgun. She had been trained in combat, as had every quarian sent out on Pilgrimage in order to ensure their survival, but she had no official military combat training. Her training was based more on survival than anything else, there in case she needed it. Only the quarian marines were given full combat training courses, and the mindset for combat.

Ashley just gave her a thumbs up. "You're doing pretty well for your first time so far. Just stick behind us and keep those tech programs going," she said.

Tali nodded, only for the four of them to stumble as the elevator screeched to a halt, the gears and pulleys that operated it grinding and protesting. Alicia cursed as she looked over the side, and saw twisted debris blocking their path. The walkways for the level above the bottom had been badly damaged, some of it twisted and contorted from whatever caused the damage. Some of that metal was blocking the elevator, preventing it from going any further.

"Guess this is our stop," she muttered, hitting the emergency release on the door, forcing it open. "Alright team, on me," she said as she stepped out, jumping down from one piece of broken walkway to the next. Her three squadmates followed, Wrex bringing up the rear since he was most likely to cause the destroyed metal to fail.

As Alicia landed on a bit of walkway right above the bottom level, a piece of debris was shaken loose and hit the walkway below. Alicia cursed slightly, trying to maintain her balance as the broken path shifted, before settling down again. However, at the moment, she heard a somewhat muffled voice speak up. "H-Hello? Is someone out there?! Please, I need help!"

Alicia blinked as she heard the clearly feminine voice, and dropped down to the walkway at the bottom level, turning towards another aperture. She stopped as she saw a rather strange sight on the other side, as her squad mates moved to join her.

On the other side was an asari, wearing dirtied and ruffled scientist clothing. She was suspended in mid air in some kind of energy bubble, her arms and legs spread out, obviously unable to move in any way. Alicia frowned as she took in the asari, before recognizing her from the reports given to her on their target.

"Dr. Liara T'Soni?" She asked, looking around for any signs of geth, signaling to her three squad mates to watch her back as she stepped towards the force field to better talk with the apparently trapped asari.

"Y-Yes, that's me! How do you…never mind. Please, you must help me! I'm trapped in this security field, and I can't escape," the now identified Liara said, managing to turn her head towards the console near her. "That security console there, it'll deactivate this field."

Alicia glanced at the console, before looking up at Liara. "How did you end up like this?" She asked her, confused at the sight.

"It…it was when the geth attacked," Liara said, her voice starting to break a bit. "I was down here with a couple of my colleagues, identifying new artifacts we recovered when…they…the geth came so suddenly…we rushed to the ruins, to try and hide…I…only I made it," she said, a sob escaping from her at the last part.

Alicia felt a small stab of pity, seeing how distressed Liara was, as the asari tried to compose herself. "W-We had managed to ascertain this was a security console. I thought I could use it to protect myself…it raised these energy shields that kept the geth out but…I must have done something wrong, because I was trapped in this energy field. I d-don't know how long I've been stuck here."

"We're going to get you out of there," Alicia told her, glancing around. "Is there any way to shut down the fields?"

"Not from your side. You need to deactivate the fields from in here. B-But I'm not sure if there is any way in," Liara told her. "Dr. Howards told me that he had detected another level of the structure below this one, and they were preparing a laser drill to try and excavate it. M-Maybe you can get in from there," she said.

"Alright, we'll see about that. Hang tight and-." Alicia was interrupted by weapons fire slamming into the shield, the walkway below her, and all around her and her squad, as a group of geth appeared on the cavern floor. Alicia cursed as she and her team scattered, seeking what cover they could. But not before a powerful round clipped Alicia, her kinetic shields barely stopping the shot but the force of it hitting her shoulder still spinning her around a bit.

"Sniper!" Ashley shouted as she hid behind a section of railing reinforced with a metal plate between the rail and the floor.

Alicia checked her shields, seeing the round had taken off almost half her shields. "I don't know what that was, but don't get hit by it!" She shouted.

"Easy for you to say!" Wrex shouted, popping up to throw a biotic throw out. He nailed one of the geth troopers, smashing it into a rock, but a second sniper round slammed into him, causing him to grunt and stagger slightly, before he dropped down.

Alicia launched her own shockwave in the momentary distraction, sending a second geth trooper flying, before drooping down again. "Williams, can you nail that sniper?!"

"I need to know where it is, and I need a clear shot. I can't do that with it watching the platform here. You'll need to distract it!" Ashley shouted in response, gripping her Mantis.

Tali, hearing this, bit her lip. Both Wrex and Alicia's shields were recharging, and they likely couldn't risk another hit like that. Ashley was the one who needed to take it out, so she couldn't pop up either. Taking a deep breath, she mentally questioned what she was doing, before looking up at the human marine. "Get ready Ashley," she said, and before anyone could respond she shot up, running sideways as she frantically fired her shotgun at the geth below.

The geth sniper quickly tracked Tali and fired; she screamed as the sniper round hit her shields, draining them much faster due to their weaker nature and sending her slighter frame spiraling. She hit the ground hard, letting out another cry of pain as she did so.

"TALI!" Alicia yelled, moving to the quarians side while Ashley, not wasting any time, shot up, picked out the snipers position, and quickly fired. Her aim was true and the geth sniper fell back, its optical port completely shattered.

Ashley dropped down to avoid more return fire, letting out a breath. "Guess they don't give their snipers any shields," she muttered, glancing worriedly at Tali, who was weakly moving as Alicia knelt next to her.

Wrex glanced at them, before growling softly as he rose up. That soft growl became a roar, as he charged forward with his biotics, slamming into a geth trooper and smashing it into the ground with his bulk. Shooting up, his shotgun roared to life, destroying another geth, as Ashley shot up and used his distraction to pick off the other geth stragglers.

With the last one down, Ashley quickly moved to Alicia and Tali, the former of whom was gently helping the latter up. The commander looked up at the sergeant and nodded. "She'll be fine. She'll have bruising definitely, and maybe a bit of a concussion, but I don't think she's in any danger. But Dr. Chakwas will be the one to make sure," she added, turning her head to Tali. "What were you thinking?"

Tali, swaying slightly, shook her head slightly to clear it. "Sorry commander but Ashley needed a shot. A-and I was the only one with full shields."

Alicia let out a sigh. "Maybe, but both me and Wrex could put up a barrier," she chided softly, as Tali's silvery eyes blinked behind her mask, before she lowered her head.

"Oh…r-right…I-I'm sorry commander, I-I should have waited," she said quietly, feeling like an idiot now. Of course they could have done that. She should have waited, not leapt into action like that.

Alicia let out a sigh and lifted one of Tali's arms around her shoulders to support her. "What you did was incredibly brave Tali. And I don't want to discourage you from thinking and taking action like that. But next time, you shouldn't put yourself in danger like that unless there is no other course of action. Okay?"

As Tali quietly nodded, Alicia began to realize that her squad was definitely going to need some work if they were going to function together. The quartet moved down to the cave floor, where Alicia found the large laser drill. Tali quietly pulled away, moving over to the large apparatus's control console.

"I think I can access it and get it going commander," Tali said, wincing slightly in pain as she moved to access the controls. "It's already positioned and the settings are in place for excavation. We just need to power it up and fire it."

Alicia nodded to her, and Tali quickly initiated the power up sequence and then the fire command. The drill lit up, humming with power, before roaring as a massive laser beam shot out, chewing through rock and dirt at an alarming rate. Not even ten seconds later the drill stopped, as smoke clouded their vision of the area it had been excavating.

Alicia slowly moved forward, only to stumble a bit as the entire area rumbled and shifted before settling. Regaining her balance, Alicia moved forward towards the thinning smoke and found a perfectly excavated hole leading to another level of the Prothean structure. Only this time the aperture in the wall, unlike the others they had seen dotting the structure, was open with no force field in the way.

Signaling her team, she started to proceed forward, only to receive a call from Naruto up above at the same time they heard the roar of a Mantis from above, and the slightly softer crack of a Viper. "Commander, we've got a problem here. Geth are pouring through the entrance. We'll hold them but you need to hurry up so we can get out of here," the vulzan marine reported, as they could hear more clearly the firefight brewing above.

"Roger that. Hold that position captain," Alicia responded, cutting the comm and shouldering her shotgun. "We need to hurry people. Move it," she said.

The quartet moved down into the ruin itself, finding themselves standing on a circular platform in a large open column like tower. Alicia moved to the center, frowning as she looked around. She could see the openings in the walls above them, most likely entrances and exits for this elevator like shaft. The problem was she couldn't find any form of elevator control. "Alright people, look for some sort of elevator controls or summoning device. We need to get to the next level."

Tali, holstering her shotgun, brought up her omni-tool and began scanning parts of the platform they stood on. She stopped at one protrusion sticking up from the platform. "Commander Shepard, there is some holographic circuitry here. Probably a control panel of some type," she said, running her hands over the protrusion, only for a green holographic command console to appear.

Alicia grinned as she moved over to it. "Good work Miss Zorah," she said, examining the control panel. She frowned a bit, seeing the words on it written in Prothean. She couldn't make them out, and had no idea what would activate the elevator. Yet even as she looked at the unfamiliar writing, she felt herself drawn to one particular command button. Slowly reaching out, she pressed it, and the platform shuddered in response. They all suddenly felt a slight sense of vertigo, as the platform suddenly began to slowly rise.

"Hey, how did you do that skipper?" Ashley asked, eyes widening in surprise. Alicia just shrugged as the platform soon came to a stop at the next level. And there before them was the trapped asari archeologist.

As the quartet moved up, they could see her looking over her shoulder, trying to see what had caused the noise and the shuddering in the tower. "You got through? How-never mind. Please, you must deactivate the barrier. You can do so from the security console here," she said, nodding frantically to the console next to where she was suspended in the air.

Alicia moved to the console, looking it over as she questioned Liara. "Dr. T'Soni, have you recently had any contact with your mother, Matriarch Benezia?" She asked, looking over the console, before looking to the asari.

She looked confused at the question. "Why are you asking that? What does my mother have to do with any of this?" She questioned back.

"Please answer the question, Dr. T'Soni. I need to know if you've had any recent contact with your mother before I can release you," Alicia said, waiting for an answer.

Liara, still looking confused, finally answered. "I've received a number of messages and she has tried to call me a few times in the past month or so, but I have not responded to her at all. I haven't spoken to her for over a year. But why does any of this matter?" She asked.

"I'm sorry, I needed to ask you. I can explain once we get out of here," Alicia said, turning back to the console, and quickly hitting the button that Liara had indicated. The bubble vanished, as did the energy walls blocking the tower entrances. Liara landed on her feet, only to stumble and start to fall over. Alicia quickly caught her, keeping her upright as the asari glanced up at the N7 commander.

"T-Thank you. I'm afraid I'm a bit weak. I haven't eaten in some time," Liara said quietly. Alicia just nodded as she reached into her supply pouches, pulling out one of her ration bars and an energy drink.

"Here you go. These are probably not that tasty, but better than nothing," she said, helping Liara to eat the bar and drink the energy drink. After both were gone, she nodded in thanks as she slowly stood up, still wobbling but standing on her own. Alicia, seeing this, nodded as she turned to her team. "Alright people, we've secured the VIP, we're moving out. Captain, what's your situation?" She asked, directing her command to Naruto and his team.

"Not good! There's too many geth, and now we've got a krogan! Real nasty one! That energy barrier came down so we're falling back into the tower! Need reinforcements ASAP!" Naruto shouted in response, as they heard gunfire over the comm, and Kaidan yelling something to Garrus.

"Roger that. We're returning to you, ETA two mikes. Try to hold till then," Alicia said, turning to her squad. "Move to the elevator, and prepare for combat. Dr. T'Soni, I ask that you hang back and out of the way please. We don't want you getting injured or killed."

"Y-yes, of course," the asari archeologist said, as the group moved back to the elevator. Liara moved to the elevator console, examining it, only for all of them to stumble as another rumble shook the structure, causing some debris to fall down from the walls around them.

"Okay, what the hell is that?!" Ashley asked. "We've got geth, krogan, and now an earthquake?!"

Alicia's radio squawked to life, as Joker's voice entered her helmet. "Commander, we're reading a lot of seismic disturbances in your area! Looks like some type of mini volcanic eruption! What's going on down there?"

Liara glanced worriedly at the commander. "This tower was located near a major underground lava flow that built up in the thousands of years since the Protheans left. If something caused a major seismic disturbance-,"

"Like a drilling laser being fired into the ground?" Ashley offered, causing Liara to nod.

"Yes, like a…drilling laser…you used the drilling laser to enter the tower, didn't you?" She asked them. "The lava flow will enter the tower and flood the entire area! We need to get out of here!"

"Yeah, no kidding," Alicia said as she returned to her comm with the Normandy. "Joker, get the ship in close enough for pick up! Make it fast, or we'll be swimming in lava here!"

Moving back to the command console, Alicia activated it, causing them to start rising again even as the tower trembled and shook around them. Wrex couldn't help but grin as they rose up and heard the sound of weapons fire drawing closer.

As they drew closer, Liara slowly moved back to the other side of the platform, with Ashley moving in front of her. The other three also all held their weapons, tensing as they readied for combat.

Soon enough the elevator reached the top platform, where they found themselves in a bowl like depression of a large room. There were several crates arrayed around the edges of the depression, some of which though were baring scorch marks and dents or bullet holes from recent combat. Near the only entrance into the room, the trio of Naruto, Garrus, and Kaidan were crouched, exchanging fire with several geth units. Garrus was nursing his left arm, where the armor was penetrated, his arm bleeding slightly from a graze.

Alicia quickly moved up to where her squad members were crouched, joining them as she glanced out at the enemy. "Sit-rep Captain, how we doing?"

Naruto slotted a new thermal clip into his Lancer as he reported. "I count at least ten geth, two of them carrying heavy ordinance. And one krogan, possibly battlemaster. He was tossing some biotics around when he first popped up, nearly threw Kaidan right through a stalagmite."

"Heh heh, now we're talking!" Wrex shouted as he heard that, grinning behind his helmet. "Now we've got a real fight on our hands here."

Alicia peeked out again, looking over the enemy. They were spread across the walkways, the troopers firing on them at random, though the heavier rocket troopers were holding fire for some reason. However the fire suddenly stopped, as a large krogan wearing gray and black armor with no helmet strolled forward, carrying a tri-barreled shotgun, the frame made of smooth curves. The krogan stopped at the entrance, not hiding or showing any signs of fear. He raised the shotgun in one hand, pointing towards Alicia.

"You there! You the leader?! Hand over the asari now," he ordered. Liara, at the back of the group, shrank away, recognizing the krogan who had ranted at her and threatened her so much, feeling fear taking her over.

"What do you want with her?" Alicia questioned, trying to think of a way to handle the situation. The lava was rising, and they didn't have a lot of time.

"Not me. Saren wants her. And he gets what he wants. So hand her over. Unless you want to resist," he said, sounding almost eager at the prospect of them resisting.

The others glanced at Alicia, who just simply nodded before responding to the krogan. "Don't be stupid, of course we intend to resist! Just give us a moment, will you?!" She shouted, causing everyone, friend and foe alike, to stare at her in shock. (1)

Having gained a few moments, she turned to her squad. "Alright, here's the plan," she said. "Wrex, you and me will handle the krogan. Naruto, Garrus, take out those heavy ordinance geth, and then move onto the rest. Kaidan, Tali, you start on those troopers. Ashley, you're guarding the doc. She's top priority. Everyone got that?"

As they all nodded, she turned back to the krogan, standing up as she held her Crusader shotgun. "Now, we're ready to resist you," she said with a smirk, immediately raising her shotgun up and blasting the krogan. (1 again)

The large reptile was staggered back by the solid slug slamming into his barriers, before letting out a roar as he surged forward, firing his own shotgun, which fired what seemed like three plasma charges at once. Alicia barely ducked out of the way, as Wrex roared past, slamming into the krogan.

As one, Garrus and Naruto brought up their sniper rifles, sighting the two rocket troopers while Kaidan and Tali brought up their omni-tools. Kaidan, targeting two geth troopers clustered close to each other, hit them with an overload program, causing their shields to surge and release bursts of electrical energy, damaging them both. Tali sabotaged the rifle another was using, causing it to short out and not fire, leaving the geth trooper defenseless for a follow up shot from her shotgun.

One of the geth troopers with the rocket launchers raised it up, preparing to fire where Tali was crouched, only for his barrier to flicker as a round from Garrus's Mantis hit it. Before it could recover, Naruto followed up with two fast shots, the first finishing off the geth's shields while the second one ripped open its optical port, destroying it. Its smoking frame dropped to the ground, as the second rocket trooper turned to Naruto, firing a rocket at him. Naruto, spying the incoming rocket, quickly dropped his sniper rifle and drew upon his biotics, growling as he unleashed a sudden blast of red biotic energy. The rocket, hit by the ball of dark matter, was knocked off course, slamming into the ceiling and exploding. Rock and debris rained down upon the walkway, smashing into one geth and causing it to fall off the walkway and to the cave floor dozens of feet below.

Meanwhile, Wrex was roaring as he swung one armored fist, smashing it into the face of the krogan battlemaster, causing said krogan to stagger back. However, before he could bring his shotgun up to shoot the krogan, he was met by a biotic throw from his opponent, staggering him back. The krogan tried to bring up his tri-barreled shotgun, only to get thrown back as Alicia slammed into him with her biotic charge, causing him to hit the walkway railing as Alicia was revealed to be on his chest, her left gauntlet's blade buried in his armor while her Mustang was in hand. She quickly raised it to shoot the krogan in the face, but he reared his head back and smashed it into her helmet covered face, throwing her off of him. He got back up, his armor now penetrated but still relatively intact. He growled angrily, stepping forward, only for Wrex to smash into him, growling angrily. "Don't forget me, pyjack!" He shouted, tossing the krogan battlemaster to the side.

The geth rocket trooper, reloaded now, rose up and targeted Alicia, who was shaking her helmeted head as she tried to stand up. He fired the rocket, just as both Naruto and Garrus destroyed him with their combined sniper rifles. Naruto quickly raised his hand, preparing to try and throw the rocket off course, when a figure half ran, half staggered past him, and dropped to one knee next to Alicia. Liara quickly threw up her hands and created a biotic bubble around them both, shielding them as the rocket slammed into it and exploded, shrouding them in smoke.

Ashley, caught off guard by the asari's sudden rush forward, quickly ran up as the smoke cleared, revealing Liara panting heavily and barely staying upright, her shield still in place. It soon flickered and dissipated, as Liara fell over again with a soft groan, right into the arms of the human Spectre. Alicia cursed quietly, holding Liara in one arm as she raised her Mustang in the other, firing at a geth trooper that was standing up and about to fire. Instead, the trooper fell over, several large holes blown in its frame from her powerful revolver.

"Commander, I've got you covered!" Ashley said, moving up past Alicia and opening up with her Vindicator, giving her cover fire so she could pull back with Liara. Alicia didn't have far to go, as Kaidan quickly took Liara from her to check on her, allowing Alicia to return to the fight, Mustang back at her side and Crusader in hand. Tali, Naruto, and Garrus had quickly joined Ashley in mopping up the geth troopers, leaving Wrex and the battlemaster engaged in a mixture of close-quarters combat, shotgun exchanges, and biotic dueling. Wrex growled as he drew a knife from his side, swinging it to try and slash the krogan across his face, only for it to bounce off as the krogan titled his head down so it hit his forehead plate instead. The krogan brought up his shotgun and blasted Wrex point blank range, sending him staggering and reeling, his armor warped and smoking. The krogan battlemaster laughed raucously as he prepared to fire again, only to be distracted by Alicia smashing him with a throw, sending him staggering back. Alicia followed this up with a shotgun blast that finally ripped through his armor and hide, causing a spurt of blood to shoot out of the wound.

"Gotcha!" Alicia finally growled, as the krogan dropped to one knee, gripping the wound. Her feeling of victory disappeared as the krogan stood back up, growling in a more feral manner, his eyes now filled with rage and violence, no sign of intelligence left. Letting out a much louder roar the krogan charged forward, with Alicia barely rolling out of the way and firing at the krogan's back, again penetrating the armor and wounding the behemoth. This seemed to only further enrage the krogan, who turned again, swinging his shotgun as if to bludgeon Alicia with it.

The human Spectre, jumping back, cursed as her back hit the railing. "Wrex, what the hell is going on here?!" She shouted, ducking to the side to prevent her head from being caved in.

"Bloodrage! He's a berserker now! We need to put him down fast!" Wrex shouted back, Eviscerator barking as the rounds from it ripped into the battlemaster's armor. This just drew the krogan's attention back to him, and he prepared to charge forward, just as Naruto appeared, slipping between his legs and using his blades to slice into the joints of the armor, cutting through the mesh and slashing into his legs. The krogan staggered and started to fall over, letting out another roar of anger and pain. The roar was muted though by Tali's Scimitar barking rapidly, two rounds of buckshot ripping apart the berserker's armor even more.

Wrex just charged forward, slamming the krogan into the ground while he was staggered and wounded, managing to knock him onto his back. He brought up his Eviscerator, and quickly fired right into the krogan's unprotected face, doing so over and over again until the thermal clip was overheated, and he was forced to stop. The rounds did the trick though, destroying the krogan's face and skull and ripping the brain to shreds. The krogan lay there, a lifeless corpse, as the squad all stood there, shoulders heaving as they panted from the fight.

They were soon reminded of the danger they were still in by another rumble, and more rocks and debris falling from the ceiling, causing Alicia to curse. "Right, fun time's over people! Lieutenant, bring Dr. T'Soni with you! Move it people!" She shouted, taking charge again.

The squad quickly began running for the exit, Kaidan supporting the half conscious Liara, soon aided by Alicia so they could speed up. The trembles caused by the seismic activity, and the falling ceiling, made the sprint more difficult, but the whole team soon was in the exit tunnel, rushing up through the door and into the relative fresh air of Therum.

Alicia, still supporting the asari archeologist, pointed to where the Normandy hovered near the shuttle landing pad on the other side of the research camp. "There's our ride people! Move it!" She shouted.

As they team sprinted through the camp, a geth dropship arrived on the scene, and geth began to rain down around them, quickly unfolding and drawing their weapons. The retreating squad were forced to run and gun, ducking to avoid rounds whizzing by their helmets as others ripped apart the ash and dirt under their feet.

Thankfully, help soon arrived in the form of the marine complement of the Normandy. The marines formed up on the ramp, providing covering fire for their allies as they rushed up onto the landing pad and onto the ramp. Alicia turned, leaving Liara with Kaidan as she made sure the full squad got onboard. As Wrex, the last one, thundered up the ramp she frantically activated her comm.. "Joker, get us the fuck out of here!" She shouted.

The Normandy slowly lifted up, turning away as the marines moved up the ramp, allowing it to start closing. Just as they did so, lava exploded from the tunnel, spewing out onto the half destroyed research camp and several of the geth. Then the Alliance frigate was speeding up, shooting up into orbit.

Alicia, managing to make it up onto the CIC just as the ship breached the atmosphere, rushed up to the helm where Joker was. "Status?!"

"Geth cruisers are on intercept course. Stealth drive active in three…two…one!" Joker reported.

Out the view ports, Alicia saw the two large, insect like geth cruisers approach towards them. The ships should have been able to clearly see them, either visually or on the various sensor systems. Yet they showed no signs of detecting the Normandy, which slipped right past them and quickly began leaving the system.

Alicia, seeing the danger seemed to be past, let out a sigh of relief. "Good work Flight Lieutenant," she said, gently patting his shoulder, causing him to wince.

"Hey, easy there commander," he muttered, as Alicia pulled away, slowly removing the breathing visor from her helmet. "And don't cut it so close next time. That sulfur and lava could have scratched the finish! Do you know how much that costs to replace?"

Taking in a breath of fresh air, she groaned as she felt the aches and pains of the combat she had just been through. "Just get us a safe distance away, and await further orders. I've got a VIP to check up on, and a report to file," she muttered, her voice tired.

"Heh, managed to survive all that fighting and you'll probably be done in by paperwork," the helmsman joked, as Alicia left the helm and headed for the crew deck

Arriving in the medical bay, Alicia paused at the doorway. Dr. Chakwas was at the first bed, checking over a now unconscious Liara and treating her. Tali, Garrus, and Wrex were also present, the first two being checked over by a nurse who was assigned to the ship on the Citadel and Kaidan, the latter of whom had some medical training. Wrex just waved off any treatment, though he was grumbling slightly as he rubbed his chest plate where it had been warped and damaged.

Alicia moved to Chakwas side, glancing down at the asari. "How's the patient doc?" She asked.

"She's suffering from extreme exhaustion, as well as dehydration. She'll make a full recovery, though she needs a lot of rest before I'm willing to let her out of here," the medical officer said, hooking up an IV drip to hydrate the asari, and pulling away. "Seems like you had quite the adventure down there, commander."

"You could say that doc," Alicia said, groaning softly herself as she felt her own aches and pains. "Anything else I need to worry about?"

Chakwas raised an eyebrow, before indicating the only available bed. "Nothing else at the moment. Tali is suffering from some bruising and a headache, and Garrus took a bullet graze to his arm. We'll have those settled soon enough. Wrex apparently suffered some burns under his armor where he was shot, but his regeneration is already handling that problem. That just leaves you," she said.

Alicia just groaned softly as she sat on the bed. "Hey, nothing serious doc. Just a couple scrapes and bruises."

"I'd believe that just as soon as I'd believe Joker is capable of taking things seriously," the doctor said, as she began to scan Alicia with her omni-tool "Now sit there quietly and don't move."

Alicia let out a sigh, allowing Chakwas to scan her as her eyes moved over her squad members. She wasn't happy seeing so many of them injured, even if the injuries were all minor. But still, she couldn't help but grin. They had fulfilled their objective and with no losses, which she definitely counted as a victory in her book.

Letting out a sigh she closed her eyes, allowing herself to relax. The mission was just getting started, and there were going to be more dangerous missions and close calls ahead. For now though, she allowed herself a brief sense of victory and accomplishment.

---

And chapter. Sorry if the ending is a bit abrupt, but I felt that the chapter was going on long enough. So here's the squad's first serious foray as a team, and as we saw, they're not quite yet a fully well oiled machine.

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and my variation on the Therum mission, giving it a bit of new life. I know most people weren't too happy with my almost canon recitation of Eden Prime, so hopefully this makes up for that.

To clear something up, each time you see someone say something like fifteen mikes, or whatever, mikes is the short hand military slang for minutes. Just to clear that up.

Special thanks go out to a7xfantic11 and Kyuubi123 for their efforts in betaing my work. You guys are awesome.

Nothing much else to say, except Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you all.

1. Thank you Porthos from Disney's live action movie The Three Musketeers. Funny character. Also I don't own The Three Musketeers, as it is the property of Disney. Back when they made relatively good movies on their own and didn't need to buy other people's stuff.