So, some people have been complaining about how little impact Naruto has had so far. I can understand that. But considering how early on we still are in the story of Mass Effect, let alone the entire trilogy, I believe people are expecting too much too soon. We are still dealing with getting everyone here to actually work together, not just making sure Naruto actually does something that stands out in particular. Besides, the point of this was never to have Naruto stand out, it was to showcase the power of a sibling bond. Maybe I haven't really shown that off entirely yet, but as I said, this fanfic is still relatively young in the grand scheme of things.
I will work towards having Naruto having a bigger impact on things, but I'm not going to compromise my writing because of some complaints. I'm sorry but I'm the one writing this here, the one putting the effort into. I'll take critiques and suggestions under consideration, but that's all I can say.
Now sadly, I was planning to start this off a different way, the before author bit, but I wanted to do it first in my Shinobi's Creed fanfic, and was unable to. So next cycle around, I'll start how I wanted to.
Also, to the anonymous reviewer who asked, Naruto's biotic abilities are very strong, and he probably can outrank most asari, but well trained commandoes and other such military trained asari are probably more skilled and powerful then Naruto is. Naruto ranks higher than most other biotic users, but against krogan and well trained asari, he's not as strong as them.
Lastly, sadly my beta a7xfanatic11 currently is busy with college life, so this chapter was not beta'd by him. I did my best on my own, but if you do catch mistakes, I'd appreciate it.
So, with nothing else at the moment, time to get going on with the chapter!
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Mass Effect. They are the property of Masashi Kishimoto and Bioware respectively. This is a nonprofit work of fan made fiction. Please support the official release.
Chapter 15
Colony in Danger
Alicia grinned as she finished pouring herself a cup of coffee, adding in some sugar and creamer. "Oohhh, yes. Come to me you sweet heavenly nectar," she murmured, appreciatively sniffing the brew. She savored the warmth emanating from her mug, before she took that first sip. Letting out a content sigh, the commander grinned as she started to head towards her cabin, happy to relax after their mission on the moon. The debriefing had a bit arduous because of having to be sworn to secrecy regarding the newly 'born' AI, as well as having any data or recordings picked up by their armor being secured.
She was just about to round the corner from the mess area to her cabin when she was interrupted by a voice calling out to her. Kaidan was approaching her, saluting as soon as he drew close enough.
"Commander, do you have a minute?" Kaidan asked her as she returned the salute.
"Step into my quarters, lieutenant," Alicia responded, turning and opening the door. Kaidan quickly followed her inside as the door closed and she sipped her coffee again before setting it down. "At ease. What do you need Alenko?" She asked.
The biotic lieutenant took a deep breath. "Commander, I know this might seem a little crazy but I need to hear your thoughts on this. Do you think maybe the Council is holding out on us?" He asked quietly.
Alicia raised an eyebrow at that, leaning against her desk as she crossed her arms. "What do you mean?" She asked curiously.
He shifted a bit nervously. "I mean…we've been going after Saren for a week now, maybe longer, and our only lead was Dr. T'Soni, which led us nowhere," he said. "I'm just wondering if maybe the Council isn't that eager for us to capture Saren. Maybe they have more information then they're letting us know about, but they're holding onto it to give him a chance to escape, so that they aren't embarrassed?" He suggested quietly.
Alicia took a deep breath, reaching down to pick up her coffee and sip on it again. "To be honest, I really sort of doubt it. Saren knows secrets the Council doesn't want anyone to know, and the longer he's out there, the more likely he is to spill those secrets if it benefits him. The Council will want him brought down as much as the Alliance does, they just would rather it be someone other than a human who caught him," Alicia said, before grimacing. "Though that does create the idea that they might be holding out on us and another Spectre is working the case in secret. You know, distract us by letting me chase after him while their own agent is working in the shadows. Like that cliché from those really old movies…what was that one…Rush Hour! Right, that," she said, snapping her fingers as she remembered the movie title.
Kaidan blinked in surprise at that, looking a bit pensive. "I hadn't thought of that…do you think that is the case?" He asked her.
"Guess we'll see, won't we? Besides, the Council doesn't know this, but I've got my own secret information network," Alicia said with a bit of a grin, blinking as her computer beeped. "In fact, I think that might be them now. Anything else lieutenant?" She asked him.
"No, thank you Commander. I just wanted to voice my thoughts on this. It was bugging me, and I'm sure some of the other crew members as well," he said, before saluting.
She nodded, saluting him back. "Dismissed," she said, watching him go before sitting down at her computer console, accessing it and grinning as she found a message from her godfather Jiraiya on the console. Opening the message, she began reading it.
Down in the hanger bay, Ashley was focused intently on the opened shotgun in front of her, tweaking some of the internal mechanics while standing at her workbench, mostly ignoring the very large presence standing next to her table watching her. "Heh, you really know your way around weapons, don't you?" Wrex asked her, watching her actions with a somewhat interested look.
"Have to if I'm going to make a difference out in the field," she said, focusing on the shotgun. "I don't have biotics, and I'm not proficient enough with tech programs. But what I can do is drill someone between the eyes at five hundred yards, and make sure the weapon I'm doing that with is in perfect condition."
Wrex chuckled at that. "I can admire that. You ever get bored working for the Alliance, you should head to Tuchanka. You'd find endless work there," he said, before looking up as he noticed movement. "Well well, the Crimson Demon."
Ashley looked up, her eyes widening slightly as she saw Naruto approaching. She quickly stood at attention, saluting. "Sir," she said.
Naruto returned the salute. "As you were. I wanted to talk to you for a moment Williams. In private, if you don't mind Wrex?" He asked the large krogan.
Wrex simply grunted, standing up and walking off as Ashley relaxed, though remained facing him. "What did you need sir?" She asked him, still remaining professional.
Naruto, shifting his weight to get comfortable, took a deep breath. "Commander Shepard wanted to speak to you and Garrus about the continued tension between the two of you, but I told her I'd do it, since I understand your situation better," he said, seeing her stiffen. "Before you start thinking the worse, allow me to explain. I'm not going to force you to be buddy-buddy with him or anything. I'm just going to talk to you about it."
"Sir, I can reassure you that I am fully ready and willing to work alongside Vakarian if it is required of me," Ashley said a bit stiffly. "There won't be any problems between us in the field."
"I had no doubt about that Williams. Your integrity and professionalism is not in question here," Naruto said, before slumping slightly, leaning against one of the support struts in the hanger. "Drop the ranks for a moment Ashley. Right now, I'm not your captain, I'm just Naruto."
As Ashley seemed to relax more, Naruto continued. "We're in for an extremely unorthodox mission Ashley. We're fighting an unknown enemy, we're going outside Alliance control to get things done, and there's a hell of a lot riding on this mission right now. If we're going to get through this…we need to have more than just professional courtesy for each other, we need to have a level of trust between us, which will help us fight even better out there."
Ashley crossed her arms, half sitting on the worktable as she relaxed. "I get that, I really do. But Vakarian…he just…pissed me off," she said, rubbing her forehead. "I'll admit, a little bit of it is because he's a turian, and you know how much I have a problem with them. But I actually tried to put that behind me when he came to me, trying to fix the problems between us. Until he decided to try and make excuses for what happened at Shanxi. Try to shift my anger towards the Alliance," she said, her voice becoming strained with anger towards the end.
"I could understand being pissed off at that," Naruto said sympathetically. "But, and please hear me out here, don't you think he's at least partially right? Yes, none of what happened to your family would have happened if not for the turian aggression. But it was the Alliance's choice to use your grandfather as a scapegoat, to give the public someone to blame for what happened. And it was their choice to treat your father and you the way they have so far. You can't blame only the turians for what happened to your family."
Ashley growled angrily at that, turning and slamming her clenched fists on the worktable. "Damnit, I know," she snarled out. "I know that, but I just…I don't fucking know, alright?! How in the hell can I blame the Alliance and be loyal to it at the same time?! I feel like I'd be betraying them, that'd I'd just be proving them right about me and my family!" (1)
Naruto watched her quietly, before speaking. "Just because your loyal to them doesn't mean you can't be angry with them," he said. "It just means you aren't blindly loyal, which is honestly a good thing. You're not betraying the Alliance if you feel anger or betrayal at what some of them did to General Williams, your father, or yourself. After all, you're just being human, aren't you?"
His words did not seem to comfort Ashley, who remained tense, her fists clenched. Naruto watched her for a few seconds, before speaking. "I want to tell you something but please, do not repeat it to anyone. Alright?"
Ashley looked up at him, and after a few moments contemplation, she nodded. Naruto took a deep breath before speaking. "When Alicia and I were younger, around sixteen years old, our dad was killed during the batarian raid on Mindoir," he said softly, making Ashley's eyes widen at that. "He was part of the marines sent to try and stop the slavers, but they were pinned down. He tried to rally some of the others in his unit but…the batarians cut him down. When we found out…it nearly destroyed Alicia. She was…lost…completely robotic. She simply just went through the motions of living, if you could call it that," he said quietly.
"Captain….Naruto….I'm so sorry," Ashley whispered, sorrow and horror on her face.
Naruto nodded quietly, before speaking again. "We both got past the grief, in time. It took her a while longer than me, but…we both were able to deal with the sorrow at losing him. But...I still feel so angry when I think of batarians. There are times I want to go out and hunt them all down. But it…it's worse with Alicia. I saw her…during Elysium. She gunned down an unarmed batarian she had at her mercy, instead of securing him. And I heard her talk about Torfan, as well as hearing from the other soldiers who fought alongside her. She was ruthless, even brutal to the batarians they faced against. And when I've tried to talk about it, she just…she stops me. She changes subjects, or tells me to drop it, and I can hear the anger in her voice, the rage. There are times I fear she'll lose herself to that rage, and cease being the woman I call my sister."
Naruto took a deep breath, before looking at her. "Ashley…I'm not going to say you have to control your rage. It is your emotions, your feelings. You should handle it however you choose to. But let me tell you…it is a poison, one that can hurt and blind you if you don't find a way to deal with it," he said, before standing up and moving away.
Ashley watched him go for a few moments, before turning to the table, slowly unclenching her fists as she let out a shuddering breath. Closing her eyes, she slowly knelt down and began to whisper a prayer, hoping for wisdom and guidance.
Citadel
"Captain Anderson! Captain Anderson! Is it true that the Alliance is denying humanity information on its first Spectre? That they've been keeping Commander Shepard from taking part in any interviews with the media? The public has a right to know!" Shouted Khalisah al-Jilani, doing her best to get an answer from the former captain of the Normandy as he moved past her and towards the doors of the human embassy.
"As said before, no comment," Anderson said, moving past the reporter and her camera drone and into the embassy, now safe within its walls from the prying yellow journalist. Jilani was well known for asking questions and twisting answers in order to discredit anyone she felt was 'too big for their britches', which turned out to be anyone who didn't give her the answers she wanted. Interviewing the first human Spectre would definitely earn her a fair amount of ratings, especially if she could dig up some dirt on Alicia Shepard that would tarnish her image. The public loved their heroes, but loved more seeing them fail and fall.
Shaking his head he quickly moved to the office of Ambassador Udina, where he found the human representative currently in discussions with several other Alliance officers on computer monitors. "Alright, I'm here Udina, so what's so damn urgent?"
Udina scowled at him, only to be interrupted by Hackett, one of the officers present on the conference call. "There's been a massive upswing in geth activity within the Traverse," he said, drawing Anderson's attention. "We've received distress calls from at least two outposts and a patrol flotilla, and we've lost all contact with three more outposts. There's been enemy movement detected all along the borders with the Skyllian Verge and the Terminus Systems. We're coordinating a strike back against the enemy. However, the most disturbing bit of news was losing contact with the colony on the planet Feros in the Attican Beta cluster. It's not close enough to any of the clusters currently under attack by the geth to be them, but losing contact with it at the same time that these attacks began seems too coincidental."
Another officer, Admiral Johansson of the 4th fleet, now spoke. "Unfortunately, we're already stretched thin. Between engaging the geth attacks we do know of and patrolling our borders to drive off any pirate raids or other geth forces, we can't send anyone to investigate. That is why we want you to contact Commander Shepard and the Normandy and redirect them to Feros, to see what is going on. It might be a coincidence, or it might be connected to the geth and Saren. Either way though, we need to know what is happening at that colony."
Anderson frowned but nodded in understanding. "Understood sir. I'll contact Commander Shepard and redirect her immediately to Feros. Is there any other information I should pass along to her?"
"Not at this time. Saren Arterius and his flagship have continued to elude all our scout patrols. What about the Council? Have they any new information?" Hackett asked.
"Not yet," Udina said with a growl. "Or if they have, they're not sharing it with us. I would like to believe they're having as much trouble tracking him down as we are, but I doubt Saren could hide from the salarian STG."
"Let's not assume the worse. Please update us on the Feros situation as soon as Commander Shepard gets back to you on it," Fleet Admiral Sumners, commanding officer of the 1st fleet, stated, before the admirals all signed off.
Anderson looked to Udina, one eyebrow raised. "A bit cynical there, weren't you?" He asked. "I doubt the Council is withholding information."
"They are politicians. They'll worry about the image they present, the strength of their public image," Udina said, sitting down. "If one of their other Spectres brings Saren down, it will not embarrass them as much as having a new rookie agent clean up their mess. Especially one with as much attention on themselves as Shepard has. Now, I believe you have information to share with our Spectre?"
Anderson, recognizing the dismissal, merely nodded before turning to go contact the Normandy.
Normandy Briefing Room
Alicia's ground team sat in the briefing room, having been summoned there by Alicia ten minutes ago. Their commander entered the room, quickly moving to the command console and activating it. "We've possibly caught a break in our mission," she said, quickly gaining their attention. "We're being redirected to Feros in the Theseus system, Attican Beta cluster. There's a colony there that went dark, and we've been sent to investigate."
"And how is this connected to our mission?" Wrex asked. "Sounds like pirates, not Saren."
Alicia drew up a map of the Traverse, Skyllian Verge, and their border with the Terminus systems. "Over the past fifty hours, there's been a series of rumored or confirmed geth attacks," she said, highlighting each of the attacks. "Alliance forces have already moved to engage them. However, the colony on Feros went dark shortly after the attacks began, even though it is nowhere near the current engagement zones," she added, now highlighting Feros. "Alliance Command believes it to be too coincidental that pirates or slavers could attack the colony at the same time as there's a sudden series of geth offensives, but until someone investigates, we won't know for sure. However, I also have a second source that lends further evidence to this being the geth and most likely Saren's handiwork."
"What source?" Garrus asked, interested, as Alicia pulled out a data pad.
"A contact I have, who specializes in gathering information. Code named Fohlohk," she said, trying to hide a smile, as did Naruto. Only the two of them knew the truth of the codename that Jiraiya had them use when discussing him with others. The retired Alliance admiral and author still kept a web of contacts across space to give him information that he passed to the Alliance. So of course he and his contacts were keeping an ear out for any word on Saren or the geth, to pass on to Alicia.
Controlling herself, Alicia continued. "I've gotten good information from them in the past, and they passed something along to me earlier today about Feros. Ten days ago, an unregistered shuttle landed at the Feros colony, and remained there at least three days. After its departure, everything returned to normal until suddenly all contact with the colony was lost. No distress calls, no communications of any type. ExoGeni, the corporation that funded the colony's founding, sent a small ship to investigate and they lost all contact with it as well. I would say that there's a very good chance this was Saren searching for something on Feros, and is now trying to hide whatever he found."
Naruto nodded at that. "The planet is largely one giant ruined Prothean city. The colony itself was built into the skyscrapers themselves. He could likely find any number of things that might aid him there. I remember when a transport I was on made a stop there to deliver munitions for the security force in place. ExoGeni utilizes their rent-a-cops to defend the colony since it is a small one at the moment. If the geth are attacking, they're probably hard pressed to hold out, if not completely overrun already."
"So we're going to be heading in. If we're dealing with geth, I want everyone ready to fight them. Make sure your weapons have disruptor and armor piercing round mods installed, so we can punch through their shields and armor plating quickly. And check your armor, make sure everything is working. We know geth weapons hit hard, so let's try to avoid anyone getting injured," Alicia said, nodding to them. "That's all, dismissed."
The majority of them quickly got up, heading to the door, except for Liara. The asari stayed behind, looking unsure. "C-Commander, did you mean me as well?" She asked Alicia, feeling nervous about the prospect of entering real combat for the first time since her rescue.
Alicia studied her for a few moments, before nodding slowly. "I know you're probably really nervous, but the truth is, we can use all the help we can get," she told Liara. "Your biotics could be a big help in a support role, and you have some medical training, which we might need as well. And every extra gun can help."
Liara looked down a bit at that, biting her lower lip. "A-Are you sure? I might just be a liability out there. I don't have any training, and-."
"And neither does Tali, beyond what she needs to survive out here," Alicia said, gently pulling up on her chin so the asari had to look at her. The contact and looking at Alicia caused Liara to blush ever so slightly, as Alicia continued. "I've got faith in you. And you don't need to run into combat, guns blazing or anything. I just want you to use your biotics to help out, either shielding people in danger or forcing enemies out of cover."
Liara nodded at that, taking a deep breath. "I'll do my best to not let you down, Commander," she said, trying to sound more confident.
"Good. That's all I want," The vangaurd said. "Now go get ready, so we can kick some robot ass."
Liara blushed at Alicia's use of vulgar langue, but nodded, looking determined as she headed off to get her equipment checked out. Alicia just grinned, before glancing down at the data pad containing the information Jiraiya had sent her. Besides the information about the shuttle and the missing ExoGeni ship, Jiraiya's contacts had managed to scrounge up vague reports hinting at something else on Feros. Something that ExoGeni referred to as 'the Thorian', but that there was no concrete evidence on what it was, or if it even existed. Her godfather, besides passing the information along, had made his own commentary on how all attempts to find out information on whatever this 'Thorian' was had resulted in failure, or dead ends with people associated with ExoGeni suddenly on the trail of his contacts looking into it. So it obviously was important, whatever it was. But she hadn't brought it up to her team since there was no concrete evidence on what it even was.
Shutting the pad down, she headed out of the briefing room, moving to the navigation hologram. Climbing up to the podium and activating it, she quickly set new coordinates while activating the intercom. "All hands, set ship status to alert status, prepare for general quarters. Navigation, plot fastest course to Theseus System, Attican Beta Cluster. Helm, best speed once course is lad in," she ordered, as immediately klaxons started blaring throughout the ship, alerting the crew of the new ship status as the lights dimmed and combat lighting sparked to life. Alicia turned and started to head down to the hanger deck to join her ground team in getting ready, as she felt the shudder of the engines activating, pushing the ship towards the Relay on the outskirts of the Sol System.
The journey took a total of five hours, and by the time the ship arrived in the Attican Beta Cluster, the ground team was fully armed and equipped, waiting for their new orders. Alicia, decked out in her armor but with her helmet clipped to her side, was back on the CIC deck, standing near the helm as the ship entered the Theseus System. Joker was deftly manipulating the controls, piloting the ship into the best position. "Activating stealth drive systems," he reported, checking the status screen on that, seeing it light up green.
"Sensors, full passive sweep. I want to know anything and everything out there," Alicia ordered, staring at the windows. During combat, armor plating slid down over the windows to prevent enemy fire from blasting open the helm area with a lucky shot. Right now though, they were open until confirmed enemy sighting.
At the sensor station, the ensign on duty was conducting the passive sensor sweeps, before responding. "Tango confirmed in orbit around Feros, unknown-class. Profile suggests light cruiser, classifying as Delta-class," she said, referring to the identification system utilized by the Alliance to identify sensor contacts of new enemy warships, until they could be properly identified and classified later. So far the Alliance had encountered three classes of geth warships, now four counting the light cruiser. The sensor officer kept compiling information on the cruiser's profile to send to the Alliance, while checking for other contacts. "Additional, ten Falcon-class fighters, two Able-class dropships, en-route to planet's surface."
Alicia moved to the sensor station, looking at the screen to see the positioning of the enemy. "Can you get a read on their shields from here?" She asked quietly, studying the screen.
"…affirmative. Enemy barriers are currently offline," the ensign reported.
The N7 grinned at that, moving to the comm unit. "Sound general quarters, all hands to battle stations. Tactical, target the enemy cruiser. Gunnery control, select weaponry. Helm, come to heading zero-two-five by zero-three-four. Position us above the cruiser and coordinate with tactical and gunnery for optimal engagement range," she ordered as the alarm klaxons sounded and the crew moved to battle stations. The stealth drive gave the Normandy a powerful advantage when sneaking in and out of enemy controlled systems and scouting enemy positions, but it could not be operated at the same time as the weapon systems, as it required too much power. (2)
Joker grinned back at her, nodding. "Aye commander, heading laid in," he said, looking forward. "Death from above."
Alicia nodded as she heard that, standing behind him as he piloted the ship into position. Warfare in the age of mass effect technology was all about positioning. Warships would engage each other with their main cannons at long range, advancing towards each other to get into effective ranges where the enemy was unlikely to dodge incoming fire. Smaller ships like frigates, light cruisers, and destroyers were more effective at closer ranges, being more maneuverable and armed with multiple batteries of GARDIAN lasers that could cut through larger ships in such close quarters. Main cannons were fixed weapons however, only able to fire at targets in front of the warship, meaning heavier warships either had to maintain their distance to keep their guns fixed on the enemy, or rely on missile and GARDIAN lasers in closer quarters, though dreadnaughts were known to mount smaller side mounted cannons to broadside enemy ships.
However, most warships were extremely vulnerable to attacks directly above against their dorsal plating, or from below at their ventral plating, because the layout of their weapon systems could not aim directly above or below the ship unless the ship repositioned to present its side, front, or stern to the enemy ship. It was usually nearly impossible to gain such an advantageous position on an enemy ship unless they were distracted by another enemy ship, but the Normandy was practically built for gaining such a combat position against an enemy ship. Such as now, as the Alliance frigate was repositioned above the geth cruiser and slowly rotated in space, using maneuvering thrusters to keep pace with the cruiser as its bow now pointed down at it.
Alicia watched the enemy ship on the holographic display in front of her, the windows in front of the helm covered now by the retractable armor plating. Her ship was in the best position possible, and the geth didn't even know it thanks to the stealth drives. The only worry was if the weapon systems could be powered up fast enough to hit the ship once they dropped the stealth systems before the geth cruiser detected them and powered up their barriers. She took a deep breath, accessing the intercom unit again. "Prepare to drop stealth drives. Tactical, fire when ready then raise barriers," she ordered.
The crew was tense, all of them at their stations, absolute silence reigning through the ship as they waited for orders, waited for shudders that came from weapons fire and from the barriers absorbing damage. In the hanger bay, both Tali and Liara was especially tense, fidgeting nervously. It was one thing to have experienced ground combat, when they could shoot or run or hide. Now, stuck on a ship about to enter combat, unable to do anything but wait, their nerves were on edge. The others were calmer, or so it seemed, though Garrus continually fiddled with the grip of his Mantis sniper rifle and Naruto seemed to be rechecking the hidden blades on his gauntlets more times then was necessary.
And then the order was given. "Now!" Alicia ordered, both to Joker and over the comm unit to her tactical officer.
Joker quickly disabled the stealth drive, his hands already moving to the flight controls to maneuver the ship if they should come under fire. Immediately the power previously going into the stealth systems was rerouted by engineering back to the tactical systems.
Alicia could only grimace and watch the holographic display of the geth cruiser. She could tell they had quickly detected them, as the ship was attempting to roll, to bring its GARDIAN batteries to bear. They knew from other Alliance encounters with the geth that their laser batteries were more powerful than their own, and she didn't want to see what they could do to her ship. And then she heard the response over the intercom.
"Firing!" Yelled the tactical officer, and they felt the soft shudder as the keel mounted mass accelerator cannon fired, the round barely traveling two seconds before slamming into the cruiser's hull. At the same time the four missile launchers, two mounted in the bow and two mounted on either side of the main cannon, launched their payload, the disruptor torpedoes slamming into the hull of the ship as well, buckling the plate armor and even rupturing the hull in one area. The space between the two ships lit up as the GARDIAN lasers on the Normandy opened fire as well, raking the hull of the ship as Joker began to deftly side-slip the ship, keeping them just out of the firing arcs of the geth ship's weapons. A second round from the main cannon slammed into the ship, this time ripping through the dorsal hull plating and causing a large explosion as it hit something critical. The geth ship lurched before its engines lit up, struggling to push the ship away from the Alliance frigate, the maneuvering thrusters still trying to roll the ship and turn it on its axis to face them.
"Tactical, redirect fire to their engine cluster!" Alicia ordered, as Joker repositioned the nose to aim at the stern of the ship. Immediately a third round shot forward, this one impacting against the cruiser's barriers as the geth activated them. However, another wave of disruptor torpedoes passed right through the barriers, unaffected due to their mass and slamming into the engine cluster, damaging or destroying half of it. The geth cruiser began to spiral now, out of control as the geth tried to compensate for the lost engines. The GARDIAN batteries on the Normandy raked the cruiser, melting the armor plating and trying to get through to the hull underneath.
On the bridge, the sensor officer turned as new blips appeared on the screen. "Incoming fighters, ETA two mikes!" She yelled.
Alicia cursed at that, knowing the Normandy would have to maneuver to avoid the incoming fighters, and thus exposing them to fire from the cruiser. But it was either that or suffer torpedo hits from the incoming fighters. She quickly moved to Joker. "Take us out. Try to keep us out of their weapons fire, but focus on avoiding the fighters. Gunnery, can we use those Javelins on the cruiser?" She asked, referring to the four Javelin missiles mounted to the underside of the hull on magnetically clamped disposable missile racks.
"Yes ma'am, just need to make a good run on the cruiser!" The gunnery officer responded.
Alicia turned to Joker, who was already nodding. "Already plotting the course. You might want to hang on to something," he said, quickly entering the commands.
The Normandy began turning away from the cruiser, the engines firing to life and rapidly pushing the ship away, even as the geth cruiser finally was able to bring its GARDIAN batteries on the frigate. The rear of the Alliance ship's hull was peppered by laser fire which left some scorch marks and melted ablative hull armor, but as the distance increased, the lasers started to become less effective, the greater distance lowering their intensity and effectiveness.
Alicia, now strapped in a bucket seat in the helm area to keep her from being tossed aside in violent manuevers, watched the displays. They were pulling away from the cruiser, but the blips indicating the fighters were closing in on them. Alicia gripped the straps holding her in place as the ship pulled a rapid turn, coming back around and aiming right back at the cruiser. The geth fighters, taking the shape of small wingless insects, were rushing towards the frigate. As they drew closer they all began to fire towards the Normandy, launching smaller torpedoes similar to the ones that the frigate had fired on the cruiser.
"VAMPIRE VAMPIRE VAMPIRE!" Shouted one of the tactical officers, using the combat code for incoming missles, as the tactical crew member assigned to the GARDIAN batteries set new targeting priorities. The GARDIAN batteries began firing again, ripping through the missiles even as Joker began to dodge the incoming projectiles. The torpedoes that had been evaded turned to come back, only to be shot down by the rear batteries as the forward ones fired on the still charging fighters. Three of the geth fighters were cut down, exploding silently in space in brief flashes of light and plasma fire before becoming nothing but debris. The others evaded, scattering as the Normandy shot through them back to the cruiser.
Joker grinned at that, only for his eyes to widen as he read the data on the cruiser's profile. "Oh shit, BRACE!" He shouted, seeing the cruiser set up to fire on them with its main cannons. He had just barely started to dodge when the light cruiser fired at them, the round streaking rapidly through the dwindling space between the two ships. The round hit the ventral barriers of the Alliance frigate, ricocheting off as the ship continued its evasive maneuver, though it shuddered from the impact. On board, the deck jumped under the crews' feet at the round hitting the shield and bouncing off. Joker growled as he did his best to keep the ship under control, swinging wide around the enemy ship, so that they couldn't fire their main cannon at them again. "Whenever you gunnery boys are ready!" He shouted into the comm, rolling the ship to dodge a barrage of laser fire from the cruiser.
"Begin run!" The tactical officer shouted, as Joker repositioned and aimed at the cruiser, setting the engine output to maximum. Engineering responded, pouring power into the engines as the ship surged forward as the main cannon fired, the round slamming into the geth cruiser's barriers. The main cannon fired three more rounds before they were within range of the mounted Javelins. Two of them, the farthest on the left and right, were released, their engines igniting and propelling them forward rapidly on converging courses, with the other pair following after them. All four of them slammed into the geth cruiser. This was the death blow for the ship, as the matter warping warheads exploded and ripped through the already weakened hull, causing the entire ship to shudder and buckle, breaking slowly into two before the reactor core blew, annihilating the majority of the ship.
"Cruiser destroyed!" The sensor officer shouted, the crew cheering at the news of their first kill. Alicia felt a surge of excitement as she watched the holographic image of the cruiser disappear, no longer registering now that it was gone. The remaining fighters, finding themselves alone against the frigate, turned and began to flee, heading to the surface of the planet to likely regroup with the drop ships.
Alicia unbuckled herself from her seat, standing up. "Good work people! Damage control, get to work assessing damage to the ship. Communications, send word to the Alliance that we've confirmed geth presence at Feros. Helm, take us down after the message is sent. And Joker? Good work," she said, patting his shoulder lightly, so as not to hurt him.
Joker just smirked up at her. "What, you doubted me?" He asked her. "So does this mean I get that pay raise now?"
"Yeah, laugh it up. Just remember I'm the one who decides when you get leave, smart-alec," Alicia said, heading to join the ground team in the hanger bay.
Stepping off the elevator, she saw her ground team immediately turn to her, questioning looks on their faces. "We're free and clear," she said with a smile. "Geth light cruiser, which is now a bunch of pretty wreckage."
"Hah, good to hear!" Wrex shouted with a grin on his face. "Hope you recorded the fight, I'd love to watch it."
Alicia just grinned, before growing serious. "But this does mean the geth are here, and in force. They looked to be dropping more troops on the surface when we arrived. So we're probably going to face heavy resistance down there. Captain, gather the marines and get them prepped. We're going to need every gun we can put out there."
Naruto nodded, moving to call the marine complement to the hanger deck, as Alicia looked to the rest of the team. "Kaidan, Wrex, you two will be deploying in front with me. Tali and Ashley, you two will follow up with Naruto. Garrus, you and Doc will take up the rear," she said.
The team all nodded, each checking their weapons over as they felt the surge of movement as the ship began to head towards the planet. Naruto joined them as the marine complement, both on and off duty, arrived in the cargo bay and quickly lined up in two rows of five, all of them saluting.
Alicia returned the salute, looking them all over. "Alright leathernecks, listen up! We're on route to the colony Feros, where the geth are making life miserable for our colonists! Well we're here to make life hell for them in return! I want you all to suit up and be ready to deploy! Squad One, you'll be following up behind my team, and secure our initial landing spot, the Zhu's Hope dock. Squad Two, you'll deploy in the docking area, secure the ship, make sure we have a way to bring supplies and wounded to and from the ship as need be, and be ready to redeploy to support Squad One or my team. Do you get me?!"
"YES MA'AM!" Ten voices rang out as one, as Alicia grinned.
"That's what I like to hear! Move out!" She ordered, turning forward again as the marines quickly moved to the equipment lockers, preparing to suit up.
The ship, finishing its re-entry flight path, leveled out and started to home in on the docking port of Zhu's Hope, the first location settled by the colonists on Feros and established as a sort of 'port town', while other colonists moved into the skyscrapers close to it. The communications officer tried to raise both Zhu's Hope and the ExoGeni headquarters on the planet, but had reported that apparently there was some type of geth jamming signal affecting communications. They'd need to make actual contact on the ground.
As the ship approached the docking ports, Joker reported from the helm. "Commander, there's a lot of damage to most of the docking ports. There's one where we can put in, but there's no way to deploy from the hanger deck. You'll need to leave through the airlock."
Alicia moved to the nearest intercom, activating it. "Understood Flight Lieutenant, thank you," she said, turning it off. "Alright, let's move it people! Marines, remember your assignment!"
"This is what you've trained for people," Naruto added in, looking at the marines under his command. "Eyes sharp, weapons ready. Hoo-rah!"
"Hoo-rah!" They shouted in return, raising their guns in salute. Naruto grinned at them as the ground team boarded the elevator first, riding it up to the crew deck.
They reached the airlock door just as Joker finished settling them into their docking berth, and the automated docking clamps secured the ship in place. Alicia moved up to the helm, patting Joker's chair. "Keep the ship warmed and ready to go, in case we need to make a quick getaway."
"You got it Bonnie," he said with a grin at her, making Alicia roll her eyes before she secured her helmet and breathing mask in place. She pulled out her Lancer, as Wrex and Kaidan joined her up front, Revenant and Locust drawn respectively. The trio stepped through the doorway and out of the ship, weapons immediately raised and ready to fire as they stepped out onto the dock.
The docking port was a large enclosed affair with a walkway along the walls, where crews and dockworkers could move around the ship or ships docked inside the hanger. There were some cargo crates dotting the area, but little else. Alicia continued to scan the area as Naruto stepped off the ship, his own Lancer raised and ready as Tali and Ashley moved alongside him. It wasn't until Garrus and Liara had joined them that the first sign of life appeared, in the form of a ragged looking man appearing down at the end of the walkway. He was dressed in civilian clothing, but it was torn and singed, his hair unkempt, and what looked like soot on one cheek.
Alicia held up one hand as the man approached, signaling to her team to hold fire. "Identify yourself!" She ordered the man.
He winced, stopping and holding up his hands. "W-Wait, I'm not a geth! I'm a friendly!" He shouted, looking at them wildly. "W-We saw your ship coming in! Fai Dan told me to come get you!"
"Are you from Zhu's Hope?" She asked, approaching him, seeing him nod eagerly at her words.
"Yes! We've been fighting the geth for almost four days now! We thought we were done for, when-!" He started to say, only to be interrupted by Naruto.
"CONTACT FRONT!" He shouted, as they could see a few geth troopers down the walkway. One of them was raising a rocket launcher to fire at them, when two sniper rounds from Ashley and Garrus brought it down. Alicia grabbed the civilian, dragging him into cover as the team immediately engaged the geth.
Naruto, taking cover behind a waist high crate, did his best to identify the targets. "Three tangos, trooper class. One behind the walkway, two others using those crates at eleven o'clock for cover!" He shouted, switching to his Viper sniper rifle.
"Confirmed!" Ashley shouted from her own position. "Bastards got us pinned down here!"
Liara, at the back of the group, bit her lip as she very slowly peeked up, taking a look. "C-Commander, should I use a singularity?" She called out, only to let out a shriek as several rounds impacted the walkway near her helmet, driving her back into cover.
"Good idea T'Soni! Suppressing fire!" Alicia shouted to the team as she rose up, firing on the lone geth. The others did the same, laying down fire to push the geth into cover, giving Liara the chance she needed to channel her biotics and fire off a singularity at the two in cover together. Both of them were pulled into the air, left easy targets for the team to finish off with a barrage of weapons fire. The lone geth began to pull back, attempting to escape the way it came, only to be brought down by the combined sniper fire from the three marksmen, leaving it a smoldering wreck.
Alicia stood up from behind her cover, Lancer raised. "Captain, take Williams, Wrex, and Alenko down there and secure the exit. Vakarian, cover them," she ordered, helping the civilian up. "You'll follow us back to your people," she told him, before touching the side of her helmet, activating her suit radio. "Normandy1 to Normandy Actual, we've secured the docking area. Deploy marines. Squad Two will hold the area, Squad One will follow up to secure Zhu's Hope," she ordered.
As the airlock on the ship opened and the first squad of marines stepped out, they saw Naruto signaling from further down the hallway. Alicia nodded, gently nudging the civilian. "Stay close to one of us at all times, and if any more geth appear, get into deep cover, fast," she told him. He quickly nodded at that as she started off down the hallway, followed by him, Liara, Tali, and Garrus as the first squad of marines took up their own over-watch position. They found the others stacked up on the corner at the exit way, with Ashley on point. Alicia moved up to them, as Naruto looked over his shoulder at her.
"Looks clear Commander," he reported. "Nothing on the tracker, but if they're not moving, that doesn't mean much."
"Right," she murmured, peeking around the corner. "Standard formation, Alenko on point," she said, as the lieutenant nodded and moved to the forefront, Locust in hand. His tech armor gave him the extra protection to survive even a headshot from a sniper rifle, though he likely would be finished off by another shot after that if he didn't get into cover. This made him one of the two logical choices for taking point, the other being Wrex simply because of his krogan durability and heavy armor.
Alicia slotted in behind him, tapping his shoulder. He quickly came around the corner, advancing through the exit with weapon raised, scanning for any targets, with Alicia quickly following him. The others followed the two of them in line, Tali, Liara, and the civilian occupying the rough center of the line, getting the maximum protection.
Yet it seemed unnecessary, as they proceeded through run down hallways and slightly crumbling staircases. The entire structure was of Prothean design, but age had clearly done a number on them. As had combat, as they could see scorch marks, explosions, and splatter from both blood and mechanical fluids. Yet the only bodies they found were of geth, their frames broken and one or two sparking still, indicating they were only somewhat recently destroyed. They also heard some weapon fire in the distance, indicating there was fighting elsewhere.
After two flights of stairs and three corner turns, the civilian with them spoke up. "J-Just around that corner! There's a barricade, s-so let me go first," he said, moving up. He quickly moved to the corner, before shouting out. "It's Carl! I've got soldiers from the Alliance ship! Don't shoot!"
He turned and nodded to them, moving around the corner. Kaidan followed up, cautiously moving around the corner, only to nod at the others to follow as he moved through the entranceway.
The others soon followed, finding themselves in a very large open docking area, large enough to house several small freighters or two medium sized freighters. At the moment, there was the burning wreckage of a medium sized freighter tilted on one side, nearly dividing the whole area in half. The cargo section of a smaller freighter was set up not too far away, and seemed to be acting as some type of temporary housing, given how people were moving in and out of it through doors. Everyone either was carrying a weapon, parts and tools, or debris, and all of them looked ragged. They could also see a salarian that seemed to be acting as a type of quartermaster, given how he was checking supplies, distributing what he had to those who needed it.
Near them were some barricades, mostly made of debris but also a couple of portable combat barricades, used both by the Alliance military and police forces to secure areas. Behind these were half a dozen colonists armed with weapons, only one of them in armor decorated in the colors and emblem of the ExoGeni Corporate Security Forces.
Said colonist, a blonde woman, signaled them through the barricade. "Good work Carl! Report to O'Connell to help her with the power," she ordered, before nodding to Alicia. "Greta Reynolds, ExoGeni Security."
"Commander Shepard, Alliance Navy," Alicia returned to her. "I've got five more marines coming in behind my team here," she said. "They'll be helping to secure the area here."
Greta grimaced at that. "We could really use more than just five marines, but beggars can't be choosers. If you want to help, get to the other side of the freighter there! Fai Dan is leading the defense over there, where the geth are hitting us the hardest!"
Alicia nodded, signaling her ground team to follow her. They quickly did so, moving around the cargo modules, and towards where they heard more weapons fire coming from. Soon enough they found more colonists and security officers taking cover behind more barricades and a large fallen column of something resembling concrete. They were popping up to fire at something through another entranceway, and receiving fire from more geth troopers, judging from the weapons fire.
"Move in people, let's push those geth back!" Alicia shouted. Kaidan was the first one into the fray, his form glowing blue with biotics before he threw up a barrier, shielding the barricades from fire, causing both sides to momentarily cease fire. The colonists, realizing they had help, now stared wide eyed as the large armored form of Wrex charged past Kaidan, a mad booming laugh sending shivers up their spines as he charged into the geth, knocking them aside like bowling pins.
One of them started to rise up, preparing to shoot Wrex in the back, only for a blade to swipe across its neck, severing the tubes there and causing it to drop as Naruto continued forward, forgoing his Lancer for the Carnifex, which barked out as he fired at another geth, dropping it. Alicia smashed into another with her biotic charge, piercing it on her own wrist blade as she raised her shotgun with her free hand, blasting open another geth with the solid slug. The rest of the team took up position, but held their fire due to the somewhat narrowed space of the entryway. Instead, they watched the trio of biotic powerhouses tear into the geth.
Wrex, having charged to the back of the group, now turned, smacking a geth into a wall with his Eviscerator, firing point blank range into it, before turning and head butting another geth, the form of his armored head hitting the geth's face plate and destroying it entirely. Naruto grabbed the outstretched limb of a geth, dragging it close to him as he wrapped an arm around its 'neck' and firing point blank into it, holding onto the now spasming drone as a shield as he raised his hand cannon to fire at another geth. Alicia launched a powerful throw, sending a geth flying into its comrades, before surging into the air to hit the downed geth with a biotic slam that sent them flying into the walls.
Soon enough, the geth were wreckage, and the trio returned to the others, Wrex chuckling as he examined the shotgun like weapon he had pried out of one of the geth drones hands. "This'll make a nice trophy," he chuckled, sliding it onto a spare magnetic plate on his armor.
Alicia meanwhile approached the colonists, seeing an older man in civilian clothes and very short hair approaching her. He was followed by a Hispanic looking woman with short curly black hair, clearly part of the security force given her armor. The man was the one who spoke first. "Thank you for arriving when you did. I don't know how much longer we could have held out. I'm Fai Dan, and this is Arcelia Silva Martinez. She's...my right hand," he said, his voice pausing oddly.
Alicia merely nodded to them. "Commander Alicia Shepard, SSV Normandy, Alliance Navy," she said. "Sorry we didn't get here sooner, but we didn't receive any distress calls and the geth launched a number of attacks, stretching our forces thin."
"I guess better late than never," Arcelia said, though it was clear she wasn't grateful for their aid.
Fai Dan gave her a look and she quieted down, before turning back to Alicia. "Unfortunately, that was just the latest wave. They established some type of outpost a bit further up the stairs there, in a tower," he said, pointing to the entranceway. "After we repelled the first attack, we tried to push forward, only to be met with overwhelming numbers. You need to clear them out to stop anymore attacks."
Alicia took a look in that direction, before nodding. "We can do that. Alenko, Williams, I want you two to stay here in case any other geth pop up. Doc, mind seeing if you can help the wounded?" She asked, turning to Liara, who shakily nodded. "Everyone else, with me," Alicia ordered, before activating her comm. "Squad One, report."
"Squad One here ma'am, we just arrived. Awaiting orders."
"Move to the northeast position. There are defenders here in need of relief, so give them a break," Alicia ordered, before nodding to Fai Dan. "I've got five marines coming here, they'll let you all take breather."
"Thank you Commander," Fai Dan said, nodding and moving away, while Alicia turned to those she hadn't given orders to.
"Let's go people," she ordered, raising her shotgun up. In the tight corridors it would be more effective. Wrex took point, grinning as he cocked his shotgun, the team stepping carefully over the wrecked geth. Behind them, Kaidan and Ashley took up defensive position while Liara was led inside the 'shelter' where the wounded were being kept.
Naruto was gripping his Lancer tightly, following up third in the line behind his sister. "I don't like this," he murmured quietly. "What's so special about this particular spot? Why are the geth trying to wipe the colonists out here specifically?"
"I don't know," Alicia said softly. "There must be something here Saren wanted, that he's trying to bury now that he found it so that we can't find it."
"Then why didn't he order that geth cruiser to just bombard the colony from orbit?" Garrus asked. "He could just bury it all with little effort."
"Because he wants to make sure whatever it is, it's destroyed. And he's not sure an orbital bombardment would do it," Naruto said. "Whatever is down here, he wants to make sure it's gone."
"And that is why we're going to make sure that every geth here is reduced to nothing but spark plugs and scrap metal," Alicia said, making Wrex chuckle happily.
"I can get behind that," the krogan said, peering around a corner, only to quickly yank his head back as weapons fire ripped into the concrete. "Found them."
"Tali, can you give us on eye on them?" Alicia asked. Tali holstered her shotgun, slowly moving up as she pulled out a small metal sphere from a supply pouch attached to her suit. Using her omni-tool she activated the sphere, revealing a tiny holographic drone. An Alliance invention, the Seeker-class Recon Drone was used by Alliance soldiers for scouting building interiors and locating the exact placement of enemy troops that couldn't be located by exterior spotters or exterior scans of the building interior. Alicia had suggested that Tali, as the team's combat engineer, would benefit from incorporating drones into her arsenal, but the Alliance had restricted what could be handed out to her alien squad members with regards to their military tech.
Tali directed the drone and it slid into the entranceway, staying low to try and stay inconspicuous. And it initially seemed to work, until it began transmitting data back to Tali. She watched the screen on her omni-tool. "Commander, there seems to be a few geth troopers opposite of the doorway. At least one of them is a rocket trooper and-!" She was cut off as they heard weapons fire, and her screen suddenly went dark. "They detected it," she said dejectedly, closing her omni-tool.
"At least we've got an idea now," Alicia said, patting her shoulder. "Ideas?"
"I could go charging in there, but they'd probably fill my hide with rounds before I could even get into cover or reach them," Wrex grunted.
"I've got an idea," Naruto said, moving up to Tali while drawing out his Viper. "Garrus, join me. Tali, can you replay the video?"
Tali nodded, bringing up the recorded data and replaying what the drone had seen. Both Naruto and Garrus watched it, focusing on details. "Garrus, think you can make a shot on the rocket trooper?" He asked.
Garrus studied the position in the video, mentally judging on angle and position through the video. "…probably. Just make sure you're ready to follow up if I miss," he said, as he moved up to the corner now. "Just get ready to drag my body back once they shoot me," he joked, as under his helmet, his targeting visor over his left eye synched with the scope of his rifle. The targeting visor would let him see through his left eye what his scope and thus his Mantis was aimed at. He shuddered a bit, taking a few breaths before surging out, his rifle coming up. In the space of a second he was aimed and firing, before throwing himself to the side to avoid the return fire, his barriers flaring momentarily from a few hits.
As soon as the weapon fire ceased, Naruto was instantly in the doorway, down on one knee as he aimed. He fired two rapid shots, seeing one of the geth troopers drop, before charging forward and sliding into cover behind a low wall as the geth, momentarily disoriented by the sudden and unexpected tactics, tried to refocus on him. The rocket trooper was discarding the rocket launcher, now a useless hunk of metal due to the round from Garrus disabling it. It moved to pick up the downed trooper's weapon, only to be dropped by a second round from Garrus, who quickly followed after Naruto. The two, now having secured a beachhead, began laying down suppressing fire, allowing Wrex, Tali, and Alicia to follow up.
Alicia grinned as she got into cover. "Good work there!" She shouted, even as rounds hit the wall they were taking cover behind. "Let's mop these bastards up and make sure whatever they've got set up in here is offline."
One of the geth dropped back into cover to allow its weapon to cool down, as the other one kept them suppressed. Tali was quick to neutralize the threat, using a sabotage program on its rifle. The weapon sputtered and failed, causing the geth to quickly try to duck down and fix the weapon, only for its head to disappear as a slug from Alicia's Crusader blew it apart. The other geth rose up to fire, only to be yanked into the air by Naruto's pull, and shot out of the sky by Garrus.
Wrex grunted as he stood up. "Starting to feel left out here," he muttered, only for them to be startled by the sound of metal smashing into the ground. Ahead of them, several metal objects had hit the ground, only to start unfolding into more geth troops, including one large geth Prime. All the geth moved to attack them, making Wrex grin. "Never mind! Dibs on the big one!"
"Spread out people, split their fire!" Alicia ordered, quickly seeking new cover. Tali held her position, wincing as a blast from the Prime's cannon exploded against the wall near her.
"I-I think I'll stay here, if you don't mind!" Tali shouted over the fire, working her omni-tool. It was her greatest tool at the moment against this many geth. She launched another sabotage program at one of the geth, this one managing to cause a back fire and actually damage the geth while destroying the weapon.
Naruto let out a spray of weapons fire from his Lancer, hitting a geth trooper and forcing it to seek cover, before ducking back into cover. "Just great, raining geth. Just what we need!" He grunted, slotting a new thermal clip into the weapon. "Remember the good old days where enemies had to actually bring their shuttle close to the ground and hop out?!"
"You're talking like an old man there!" Alicia shot back, throwing out a shockwave at the geth, sending two of the troopers flying. She was forced back down as the Prime focused on her, only to switch fire as Wrex moved close, getting back into cover. Two of the geth, a sniper and a rocket trooper, both turned to fire on Wrex, only for the sniper to drop as Garrus picked it off with a well placed headshot. Alliance reports had indicated that geth snipers were equipped with extremely powerful rifles that they had been unable to fully study and thus work towards protecting against. But that the sniper geth seemed to have very limited, if not non-existent, barriers, possibly due to power requirements connected to enhanced optics or the sniper rifle they carried. So they were easy to pick off, if you could target them.
The rocket trooper quickly moved to target Garrus, identifying him as the highest threat due to him destroying the sniper, only to find its rocket launcher was not responding when it fired. It pulled the trigger a second time, only for the rocket launcher to explode, taking the geth with it.
Tali giggled a bit, seeing her second sabotage virus taking out the rocket trooper. "Is it wrong that I actually enjoyed seeing that?" She asked over her radio.
"Nothing wrong at all kid!" Wrex said, popping up and firing his shotgun. The shrapnel-esque rounds slammed into the Prime, barely making it flinch as its barrier held and it turned to fire at him, only for Naruto to pop up and hit it with a warp. Its barriers began to drain, fluctuating against the matter warping energy, its cannon actually being heavily damaged and becoming little more than a club as the warp disfigured the barrel. Seeing this, it began to charge, moving into melee range.
"Grenades!" Alicia shouted, as she and Naruto quickly hurled grenades at the Prime, engulfing it in flames and shrapnel. It staggered out of the cloud of smoke and flames, its armor pitted now as its barrier had fallen to the explosion. Wrex let out a roar as he leapt over his cover, rushing forward wreathed in biotics as he slammed into the Prime, actually lifting it up and smashing it into a wall. The Prime was taller than Wrex, but he was heavier and more solid, allowing him to drive a biotic infused fist into the Prime, denting its armor. He kept it pinned to the wall, punching and head butting it, until it finally threw him off. He landed on his back, but raised his shotgun, firing almost point blank range into its chest, ripping into the dented and damaged armor. The Prime staggered, only for Wrex to slam it with a powerful throw that buried it further into the wall. It struggled and tried to pull itself out, only for Wrex to get up, plant his shotgun in its tri-optics, and finish it off with one point-blank blast.
The fight still wasn't over though, as there were still a few geth troopers. Naruto hurled a biotic pull, yanking one of the troopers towards him before he buried one of his retractable blades into it, ripping upwards to finish it off. Tossing it aside, he threw up a barrier as a geth fired at him, only for it to be thrown back by Alicia slamming into it, quickly grabbing onto it and using her biotics to grab either side of its head and twisting, destroying it. She tossed the deactivated geth at another geth trooper, watching the still active one duck under her improvised projectile, before raising her Mustang and putting three slugs into that trooper, dropping it. Tali brought her shotgun up, firing at one of the last two geth troopers and quickly finishing it off with several blasts from her rapid fire shotgun. And Garrus brought down the last one with a well place burst from his Phaeston, watching it stagger from the burst before falling, sparking and spasming.
Alicia panted a bit, seeing no more enemies. "Clear?!" She called out, to make sure. One by one, the others each reported the same. "All right, good job people! Now let's get up there and see what they were protecting."
The quintet moved forward, soon arriving in a single room that had several geth consoles lining the walls, but no other enemies. Alicia quickly directed Tali to the nearest computer, where the quarian quickly set to work, hacking through the security.
"This was a forward command post," Tali reported, reading the data. "They were coordinating with a second command post, located in what looks like the sewers, to launch attacks on Zhu's Hope. There's another group apparently occupying the ExoGeni headquarters, located in a skyscraper down the skyway."
Alicia frowned as she heard that, thinking it over. "Get every bit of data you can, then we shut it all down. Corrupt it, deactivate it, shoot it, I don't care. We leave them nothing to use here."
Tali nodded and quickly set to work downloading the information, as Alicia turned away, only to be interrupted by Tali. "There's something else here. They're apparently focusing on something here…called the Thorian?" She asked questioningly, looking over her shoulder at them.
The others looked just as confused, turning to each other, before Alicia shook her head. "We'll worry about it later. Colony first, crazy sounding thing second," she said.
Tali went back to work as Alicia mulled over this information. It seemed that this Thorian was most likely a real thing, something ExoGeni found and was doing its best to keep secret, but that Saren had found out about. Whatever it was, Alicia knew she had to find it, as it most likely would be what Saren had been after. But before that, she needed to ensure the geth wouldn't be a problem. Rolling her shoulders, she focused on the task at hand, her mind working on how best to finish off the geth threat.
And that's the chapter. Hope you all enjoyed the first half of the battle for Feros, and my own little original added content. Guess we'll see, won't we?
Best of luck in college a7x! Hope things get easier for you!
Not really much else to say, except post-Happy Thanksgiving! See you all next chapter!
1. Ashley was always an abrasive, angry, passionate personality. Who was sadly rather derogatory to non-human races. The problem was it never really was explained why she was the way she was. The best we got was that she was pissed off for what happened with her grandfather, her father, and herself, which she blamed the turians for. To me, this is why I think she is the way she is, because she is angry at a lot of people, alien and human alike, but she doesn't know who to blame, or how to deal with that anger correctly. Honestly, this was a missed opportunity to further explore Ashley's character, or develop it in canon. Both she and Kaidan could have really used their own loyalty missions to help develop them more.
2. Not canon (it never came up as far as I know), but it honestly makes sense, given how any time we see the Normandy engaging in combat, they never have the stealth drive active. Yes, enemy ships have attacked it while its stealth drive was active, but that didn't mean the Normandy could shoot back at the same time.