Chapter 51
Cargo Bay – SSV Normandy SR1
"This whole thing reeks of a setup…" growled Satō as he shook his head at the spectre. "Sorry Shepard, but I don't like this at all."
"Your concerns are noted, Commander. But this is about more than just getting rid of the geth now," she said as she strapped on her chest armor and sealed it over the insulated suit she wore. "These aren't normal geth. They aren't even like Saren's geth, who were acting odd to begin with. They're something entirely different, and we need to know exactly what that is. We're not going to get that done by waiting up here."
Satō shook his head. "At least wait for the Fifth Fleet to send back up!"
"And have the geth potentially shear them in half with whatever superweapons they've created? No thanks," she said as she glared at him. "They issued a challenge to me. They knew I'd be here, and they'll get me," she said before reaching up and sealing her helmet on. "Besides, if they know about me, then they might know about my team. However, they don't know you lot are here with me," she said as she poked his chest with an armored finger.
He smirked gently before giving a slight shrug. "Alright then, Spectre. You're the boss here. Just… do me a favor."
"And what's that, Commander?" she asked curiously as she loaded her weapons onto her back.
"If you're out to get me killed, let me know beforehand. I'd like to write my last will and testament," he said as he grabbed his own helmet and sealed it on. She looked at him with a stern expression, causing him to raise one hand defensively. "It was a joke… I'm sorry."
"It's not your fault, Satō. I've just… been through some shit since you and I were pissing each other off," she said with a melancholy tone, making the man nod.
"Well, I'll ease off on the morbid jokes then. In the meantime, you watch our back, we'll destroy whatever's on yours," he said firmly as his team lined up behind him.
After everyone, including Shepard's team had finally armored up, they all stood rigid in the cargo bay just feet away from the mako. "Alright, we're doing this the safe way. The geth we're familiar with have armored tanks that can launch plasma at Mach 1. So, we need teams that can work together as a unit," she said as she looked over at the leader again. "Satō, break down your team for me."
Surface of Maji – Vamshi System
The battle started as soon as they hit the surface. Rockets and mass accelerator rounds began to rain down on them from a plateau where the geth base was housed as the small army of N7 landed next to the mako in the troop loader. "Alright, you all know the plan! Stick to it and you'll all be fine!" shouted Shepard from the vehicle as she took her seat, hoping that her words were true. As soon as the mako was loaded with her chosen squad, she punched the accelerator, leaving tire streaks in the silica dust as they made their way for the small mountain.
As soon as they were within range, the geth from the mountain tops joined in the firing, their snipers aiming to knock those on top of the vehicle off. But Liara, Kaidan, Wrex, and the two N7 biotics all covered the mako in multiple layers of biotic shielding. One of the armatures on the cliffside aimed and fired directly at them, the plasma blast slamming into the barrier, causing Kaidan to go down to one knee.
As they drew closer, the rockets began to pepper the shields as well, putting more strain on the group as the vehicle began climbing the mountainous stairway. Suddenly, out of nowhere the edge of the plateau exploded as the ex-Cerberus shuttle flew up the opposite side of the mountain using its cloaking, allowing five soldiers to all unload on the base defenders. Satō fired his grenade launcher, sending an explosive round right into the middle of a group of geth that had been firing down at the incoming vehicle.
They unloaded on the unsuspecting automatons before a camouflaged armature reared its head from the mountainside and fired in their direction. "Shit!" shouted Satō as the shuttle dove to the side to get out of the way. Satō, Garrus, Ash, and several of the other N7's with them were all dumped into the dusty surface of the mountain as the ship steered out of range of the tank's plasma fire. Scrambling to their feet, Ashley pulled off her assault rifle and began riddling the geth who hadn't been immediately destroyed by the grenade with holes.
Reaching down, she grabbed Garrus by the cowl of his armor and hurled him behind one of the geth's hexagonal shield platforms. Looking up, she saw the armature staring directly at her, making her dive for her life as a blast slammed into the ground where she was and created a crater that sent her rolling. Satō reached over and dragged her into cover with him behind another one of their own defenses. "Shit! Should have expected something else up their sleeve!" shouted Satō as he fired from behind the curtain as more hidden geth began to rise from the dust like a zombie movie.
"Always expect the worst," said Ash as she pulled the weapon off her back and slapped the heavy end onto her shoulder.
"Holy shit," said Satō almost excitedly as he laid down fire for her.
"Thanks for the loan, Wrex!" she shouted as she pulled the trigger. The gun began to whir loudly for a few seconds before a large beam of light shot forward, burning through two geth platforms at once. Swinging it wide, she swept it across the battle as it began to crackle with heat, the light tech bypassing their kinetic shields and decapitating anything it crossed. Finally, she focused it on the armature just as it began to get too hot to hold.
The massive machine began charging again just as the beam weapon lanced into its head and caused an explosion that would have impressed even Wrex. Finally, she released the weapon and shook her hands to cool them off as the armature collapsed into a heap of scrap. "Damn, even in negative one-twenty Celsius?" asked Satō as he fired a grenade upwards, allowing the wind to carry it directly into a squad of new geth.
Garrus had gotten up out of the silica dust and returned fire with lethal accuracy. "Williams! You alright over there?"
"I'm good. How is your side holding up?" she asked as she pulled her rifle free again and ducked back behind the energy shields.
"We're giving them hell, but they've practically got a conveyor belt bringing more out of that facility! They're pushing us back!" he shouted as he sent an electric shock into a geth before putting a round directly through its head.
Ash glared at the cone-shaped geth structure through the barrier. "We have to do something about it and quick! Or else… or else…" she said, her jaw dropping as she saw a colossus armature march out over the heads of the smaller geth. "Fuck!" she shouted as she grabbed the heavy weapon again.
Satō launched an explosive shot directly at its legs, but it continued walking unabated, its plasma weapon in its head firing directly at them. The explosion tore down the energy shield and hurled them both away. Ash tumbled through the red dust, landing face down and breathing heavily. "Shepard! Now would be a good time to…"
Before she could finish, the mako ramped over the edge of the plateau and slammed onto its wheels directly in front of her. All of the biotics who were atop the vehicle previously were now floating to the ground as if they were seraphim guided by feathery wings. But the chief knew that Liara was actually guiding them with her biotics.
Once they hit the ground, Satō heard the shout over the comm. "Biotics, now!" came Shepard's voice as the wheels on the mako began to spin, shooting a spray of silica dust into the air as they sped directly for the opening in the structure, rolling over any geth unlucky enough to get in their way.
The colossus aimed at them and was about to fire, but its aim veered off as it began to float from the ground. All five of the biotics had their hands forward, their forms crackling with powerful biotic energy. Ash got back to her knees and aimed with her rifle at the geth platforms who started to fire on the biotic squad. Garrus charged out into the open and did a spinning kick that sheared one of the defenders clean in half before he rolled back into cover to rain fire down on them.
Shepard slammed on the accelerator as she waved back to her squad. "Fire now! Satō, you too!" she ordered. The mako's cannon spun around and fired its gauss round directly into the belly of the massive machine. The attack was soon followed by a grenade explosion. Very gently, the colossus began to drift sideways towards the edge of the plateau.
Liara gasped gently as her legs began shaking. "Shepard! We aren't going to be able to hold this much longer!"
Growling, Shepard turned the vehicle and aimed directly at the tank. "Buckle your seatbelts kiddies. This is gonna suck," she shouted as she drove forward and used the jump jets on the vehicle to send it airborne. Seconds later the mako impacted the colossus directly in its back, sending it tumbling sideways.
But the blue energy from the biotic team weakened as Kaidan fell forward, holding his throbbing head. The strain put onto the others without his help was too much, causing the others to release it as well. The colossus dropped from the air and landed on the edge of the plateau. It lay still for only moments before getting back to its feet.
Shepard shook her head as she felt her own headache begin pounding in her cranium. Looking over at the massive armature, she glared. "Everyone, fire everything you have at it before it can charge again!"
"I got this Shepard," shouted Ashley as she stepped out from behind the recharged barrier with the laser weapon again. "You got my back Satō?"
"Hell yeah!" he shouted as he loaded a canister into his launcher and fired it directly at the monstrosity's head. Instead of an explosion, an electrical charge blasted outwards, consuming the colossus and causing it to lock up briefly.
Ash pulled the trigger and prayed that the precious few seconds he had bought her were enough. The laser charged again, and this time she aimed it downwards. The beam fired and hit the dirt at the automaton's feet. Satō launched again, this time explosions tore at the ground in front of the machine as it recovered. Turning to Ash, its head began to glow brightly.
Suddenly, there was a loud crack, and the ground shifted beneath its feet. The edge it stood on weakened and crumbled. The colossus slipped down with the rockslide, its plasma beam firing up into the air as it began tumbling down the side of the mountain.
Shepard let out a sigh of relief as the mako gunner spun the weapon towards the facility and began blasting through the ranks of marching geth. Backing up slightly, she turned back towards the facility and drove directly through the entrance, crushing any of the automatons that were marching out to the battlefield. "Tali, it's our turn!" she shouted as she stopped the vehicle just outside of a large freight elevator.
Popping the hatch on the mako, she jumped out with the quarian and the N7's directly behind her. "Be careful, all of you. Geth can create tiny platforms that are just as deadly as the bigger ones," warned Tali over the comm as she opened her omni-tool and began harvesting the signals present throughout the base. Shepard activated the elevator, which sent them plummeting down into the depths of the mountain. "This is worrisome…"
One of the N7's named Francis spoke up. "An elevator? Why?"
"Elevators are convenient for organic beings. They are made to accommodate people for comfort. Geth do not use elevators like that. If the main facility is in the mountain below, they would likely have a vacuum powered transit system to get them to the surface. Even if they built an elevator for transporting many at a time, it wouldn't be built like this…" she said as she looked around in awe.
"So, what does that mean?" asked Francis curiously.
"It means that this elevator was meant for us to use," said Shepard as she tapped her foot impatiently. When the elevator stopped and the gates slid open, she held her pistol ready. As they stepped into the large room, their eyes widened immensely as they saw an entire wall of cabling leading directly to a large orb with the same glowing eye commonly seen on geth in the center. "What the absolute hell?"
The eye looked down at them briefly before a loud series of clicks sounded. Suddenly, it spoke. "Organics present. Self-destruct initiated. Please vacate the premises."
"Did they just say please?" asked one of the N7's incredulously.
"Not now! Get the hell out!" shouted Shepard as she sprinted back for the elevator. Activating the comm, she shouted to the rest of the team. "Retreat from the area immediately! The base is going to blow!"
Tali, who held a hand over her rapidly beating heart as the elevator carried them back up towards the surface, turned to Shepard. "I… I've never heard them speak…" she said, her voice shaking. "What in the Ancestor's name is going on here!?"
"I don't know, but we can ask that question later!" growled Shepard as the door opened. Grabbing Tali's wrist, the spectre ran for the mako and jumped inside. Once everyone was inside, she slammed on the accelerator as she threw it into reverse, causing those who had yet to secure their safety harnesses to slam forward into whatever was in front of them.
"Everyone outside the structure is clear, Shepard! Where the hell are you!?" asked Garrus over the comm, but he went silent as the mako exploded out of the opening. Shepard spun the controls, turning the tank and aiming it straight for a cliff.
"Sorry guys, but this is gonna be a rough trip," she said as she sent the tires spinning again. As the mako soared over the edge of the cliff, she felt her stomach shoot up to her throat. The nose of the vehicle turned down and she held onto the steering control for dear life as gravity pulled them rapidly towards the ground. Finally, she slammed her thumb onto the button for the jump jets, resulting in them all plopping unceremoniously into their seats before the tires finally impacted the mountain side. She had already pressed on the accelerator, allowing the wheels to impact with less friction as the vehicle finally touched ground.
Ash and Satō watched in awe with Garrus from the back of the troop loader as the top of the structure began to glow. "Oh spirits… you don't think the base itself was the weapon, do you?"
Ash looked from the turian back to Satō, then back to the base. Reaching up, she activated her comm. "Shepard! The top of the base is glowing! Tell the Normandy…" but her transmission stopped as a high-powered beam fired from the top of the base directly into the sky. Everyone stared up at it silently for a long moment.
"I don't see any debris…" responded Garrus as he scanned the skies.
"I'd hope not. It would really suck to have our first mission on the Normandy end up with its destruction," replied Satō as he too tried to peer through the red atmosphere.
Suddenly, the base exploded, sending an eruption of fire shooting out of the top and breaking off every shelf around the outside of the plateau, causing massive rocks to rush down in a rockslide. Ash covered her face as sand and dust peppered her suit from the explosion. "Shepard, do you copy?" she asked as she glared through the red storm of atmosphere. "Does anyone have eyes on the Spectre?"
"The mako is currently on its side at the base of the southern side of the plateau," came Locklear's voice through the comm.
"Bring us around now!" shouted the gunnery chief, ignoring the fact that every N7 currently surrounding her technically outranked her. The troop loader turned and flew down to the area that the N7 second had pointed out and Ash eyed the tipped mako grimly. Jumping off of the vehicle, she hit the ground and ran for the top hatch where she found Liara already attempting to use her biotics to lift it back up.
The asari looked over as she approached, her biotics straining as she tried to flip the mako back over onto its wheels. Ash nodded to Liara and grabbed the edge of the vehicle. Using her full strength, she growled as she began lifting the vehicle with the asari's assistance. Soon, the others from the troop loader filed out and began helping as well, and it wasn't long before the mako bounced back onto its wheels. The chief jumped on top of it and accessed the panel that had been against the ground previously.
As soon as the hatch popped open, Tali aimed her shotgun directly at the chief. "Woah hold on Tali!" she said as she lifted her hands up in surrender.
"Ashley'Williams? Oh, thank the Ancestors, I thought you may have been leftover geth…" said the quarian with a low growl as she put her weapon away.
"Is Shepard alright?" asked Ash as she popped her head into the hatch, giving her an upside-down view of the cabin. She noticed Shepard's dark armor laying in the back across two of the seats while the other N7s were on the floor, groaning in their own songs of pain.
"I doubt she's severely injured. The base self-destructing sent us wheels first. I just got my bearings again when you flipped us over," responded the quarian as she turned around and gently tapped Shepard's faceplate.
"Ugh… shit…" growled the spectre as she reached up and grabbed Tali's hand to keep her from tapping again. "Am I dead?"
"As if an exploding mountain could kill her," responded Garrus from outside the vehicle, his joke masking a barely noticeable sigh of relief. Satō chuckled and shook his head.
"Shepard, you need to contact the Normandy. Before the base exploded, it fired a beam of light into the atmosphere," urged Ash hurriedly as she laid on her back on top of the tank.
"Normandy, do you copy?" asked Shepard as she slowly sat up into one of the seats.
There was a long moment with no response, the crew now looking at each other worriedly as the comm stayed deafeningly silent. But after a moment longer, Pressly finally responded. "Spectre! Normandy copies, Spectre! Apologies, we just had something miss us by a few kilometers."
"Any idea what it was?" asked Shepard curiously.
"No idea, Shepard. But the outside visual recorders caught it if you want the clip," he responded.
"Affirmative," she groaned as she crawled back to the front of the mako. "Also, send down the recovery team to get the mako. She's going to need some work before our next drop."
"10-4, Spectre," replied Pressly as the comm went silent.
CIC – SSV Normandy SR1 - Grissom System
Shepard stood tall as she watched the videos play out side by side. Ashley's camera, Garrus's camera, Kaidan's camera, and Satō's camera all caught the unusual sight, and it looked the same every time. Her eyes switched from Maji over to Casbin's green surface where the geth had built a large platform into the ground. After they had cleaned up the ground forces, the platform fired a beam upwards from a tower built between a set of consoles. As before, the platform exploded. The beam was also fired from the Antibaar base in the Tereshkova System as well as Rayingri in Gagarin.
She glared at the videos of the beams on the four different planets firing as Tali stood at the foot of the ramp leading up to the galaxy map working away on her omni-tool. "You're here, I know you are…" growled the quarian as Garrus approached.
"You sure about that? We've been here for a few hours and haven't received a challenge yet," said the turian as he leaned against a sleeping console with a relaxed demeanor.
"It has to be here. I've calculated the trajectory of each of those beams of light and this system is where they all meet. That cannot be a coincidence!" she snapped before sighing and reaching up to grab her helmet. "I think I just gave myself a headache…"
Satō cocked an eyebrow from across the CIC. "Holy cow, you've got a mind like a machine to figure that out."
Tali was taken aback at his statement before looking towards Shepard. The spectre shook her head and smiled lightly. "It's an expression of amazement. Like when you say Keelah."
"Oh, I see. I didn't realize cows on Earth were so awe inspiring," she said thoughtfully, gently nudging the conversation away from his compliment.
"How do you calculate the trajectory of a beam fired from four different moving planets at four different times in four different systems and manage to pinpoint where they met in an entirely different system?" Satō asked as he scratched his short dark hair.
"She's super smart, Satō. What's the matter, jealous?" asked Locklear as she mimicked Shepard's relaxed leaning.
Liara eyed Locklear curiously before looking between her and Shepard but said nothing. Instead, Satō responded to his second's jab. "Kinda. I thought getting a master's in mathematics made me smart, but yeesh."
"My VI does most of the calculations. I just punch in the numbers," she said nervously. "Anyway… under normal circumstances it wouldn't be too hard to figure out which planet those beams were targeting in the system given that most of the planets are gas giants. But…" she started when Joker interrupted from the cockpit.
"They can't be on Zaherux because of the nano disassembler bots that live on the surface," he said as he turned in the seat and winked at the quarian.
"I'm sorry, nano disassembler bots?" asked Liara curiously as she looked towards the pilot.
"Oh god, please don't indulge him," groaned Ash, but her protests went unheeded.
"Yeah, according to texts by an asari scholar by the name of Delsae Orthysa, Zaherux is covered miniature nano disassembly machines that pull apart anything that goes down to its surface. That's why every drone ever sent by the Citadel reported back a mechanical failure," he said without a trace of sarcasm.
Tali glared at the pilot before shaking her head. "The more reasonable theory is that the surface has near constant dust storms made of silicate powder that would destroy anything mechanical that wasn't airtight. If you went down to the surface in your armor, within seconds, the dust would clog every joint making it so that you can't move."
"Kinda like on that world with that turian cock. The one with all those neat scars," replied Wrex who was leaned back against the far wall.
"Y-Yeah…" acknowledged Tali, trying to erase the vulgar image that the krogan had put into her head. "The geth are capable of doing this, of course, but if they were trying to build another base like the others, it'd take more time than they've had in the system. Because even with preparation, working in that environment would make moving a difficult process."
"Yeah, and why put a base on a planet filled with sandstorms that would disable every troop you sent out when there are literally millions of asteroids out here that you can cloak yourself in?" asked Shepard with a shrug.
"Not to mention these are geth. They could have a silent space station floating around and we wouldn't even notice it," said Kaidan worriedly as he crossed his arms.
Suddenly, Tali's omni-tool beeped. She looked at it and her luminescent eyes squinted into a look of confusion. "That can't be right…" she said as she stepped up to the galaxy map again. Shepard stepped aside and allowed her access. Reaching out, she shrank the system map until it was focused on Notanban.
"Can't be there, Notanban is a gas giant," said Pressly as he eyed the hologram.
"I know!" growled Tali as she looked down at the omni-tool again and adjusted the scale. This time, it shrunk down to one of the many moons of the massive planet.
"Solcrum? Isn't it blasted with as much heat and radiation as every other rock in this system? How would they get a base there?" asked Satō curiously.
"He's right. Wouldn't it be easier to find a metal-lined asteroid to help them protect against the radiation?" asked Garrus curiously.
"The geth are made of a polycarbonate metallic alloy that is resistant to heat up to…" she said as she looked at her omni-tool to put it into human measurements. "Fifteen hundred degrees Celsius. Solcrum, as far as it is away from the Grissom star only gets four hundred at worst. So, the geth would have no issues withstanding the heat. The radiation however…" she said as she crossed her arms. "We've already established that these are new geth, unlike the old ones. The old ones would not be playing whatever odd games these ones are. The old geth were very… to the point," she said uncomfortably as she turned her head away.
"Maybe they've invented a method of blocking radiation that we haven't," offered Satō in a friendly gesture. Kaidan cocked an eyebrow at the man but said nothing.
"There is that…" she responded as she lifted her omni-tool and began typing. She didn't have to worry about privacy as much due to Shepard installing the same blurring safety feature she had on her own device. [Val'eda, you are positive Solcrum is where they are?]
[Positivity cannot be ascertained without more information. The data beams fired from the bases, each likely carrying petabytes of information, all met in this system. Solcrum was in the crosshairs of all four beams when they were fired. The geth not being here is a possibility, but the chances of this are low,] replied the AI, typing the response out on the omni-tool.
[I understand. Have you figured out what kind of data they were sending?] asked Tali, trying to ignore everyone staring at her.
[I have not. Were we closer when they were fired, I may have been able to get something. Unfortunately, all the data I have is from lower-than-average quality recordings,] said the AI as it brought up a picture of the closest beam available. Even she had to admit the lens flare the light beams had caused on the Normandy's visual recorders made it near impossible to see it clearly. [Do you understand the implications of this, Tali?]
The quarian looked stunned for a moment before realizing what the AI meant. [The geth have found a way to communicate across the galaxy without comm buoys.]
[That is correct. They have essentially created a mass relay for data, meaning they have surpassed every Council species in the galaxy in technology. Something as simple as radiation shielding would be a minor discovery for a species capable of doing this,] replied Val'eda.
Sighing to herself, Tali just shook her head and lowered the omni-tool. "Keelah…"
"What is it?" asked Shepard curiously.
"The geth appear to have advanced far more than we realized," she said as she placed a hand on her hip.
"But… they don't look any different," said Ash from her own console.
"They may not have wanted us to see what they truly have become yet," she said as she clenched her fist. "I don't know if they're waiting to ambush us with it, or if they don't want to show us at all. But whatever is going on, we need to be prepared for the absolute worst. If we face off against their true advanced technology, I'm not sure we would stand a chance."
"Uhhh… Spectre?" said Pressly as he chimed up from near the cockpit where he was standing over another officer's shoulder.
"What is it, Lieutenant?" asked the redhead from her podium above the galaxy map.
"We just detected a spike of electrical energy on the surface of Solcrum," replied the navigator as he ordered the data sent.
She looked down at the holographic map and her eyes narrowed. As they zoomed in on the surface of the ravaged moon, they all donned a mask of seriousness. There was a facility with a rounded pillbox shape on the surface. Surrounding the entrance were four towering spires with electricity crackling around them.
"Is that some kind of Tesla coil?" asked Kaidan as he squinted at the small image.
"No…" said Shepard as her brows furrowed. "They're not for defense."
"Then what-" Locklear began to ask, but she was cut off by the Spectre.
"They're inviting us in," said Shepard as she stopped leaning down over the map and finally stood up straight. "They know damn well we're here and wouldn't have charged those things up for us to detect unless they wanted to be found."
"Oh, here we go…" groaned Satō as he rubbed his face in his hands.
Kaidan smirked at the man and shrugged. "Welcome to working with Shepard," he said as he turned and headed for the elevator. Garrus, Ash, Liara, and Wrex all followed, leaving Tali and Shepard with the N7s.
"So, what's the plan?" asked the Japanese man as he reached up and scratched his head.
"We're going inside, and we're finding out what the hell they want. They've been toying with us this entire time. Letting their comms go through the buoys so we could listen in, feeding us information about their bases, and giving us plenty of time to escape the bases before they self-destructed. I'm going to find out what the hell they want, and why the hell they are sending us on this goose chase," she said as she stepped down from the ramp.
"What if they try to kill us this time?" asked Satō curiously as he smirked at the woman.
"They've had plenty of chances already. Had they blown the base back on Maji before we got inside, most of us, if not all, would be dead," she said as she shook her head. "They don't want us dead."
"Well, for someone who doesn't want us dead, they've sure as hell been trying to kill us a lot," said the man as he rubbed his neck.
Locklear, Tali, and even Shepard herself chuckled at the N7's response. "True enough. But you're working we me now, which means you're not allowed to die until I say so. Got it?" she asked as she smirked back it him.
"Heh, you got it, Spectre," replied the man with a matching smirk.
Surface of Solcrum – Notanban Orbit – Grissom System
"Alright everyone, we have about fifteen minutes of radiation shielding a piece. We get in the base, find out what's happening, fight if we have to, and get the hell out. Do I make myself clear?" she asked across the comms.
"HOOYAH!" shouted the entire team of N7s, surprising some of her non-human crew members.
"What the spirits was that?" asked Garrus as the troop loading ship landed cautiously outside the base, well out of reach of the electrical towers.
"I don't know, but it sounded like a battle cry. I like it…" said Wrex as he jumped off into the dust of the literal blue moon. "HOOYAH!" he shouted before affectionately shoving one of the N7s flat on their face. "Heh, you humans are alright."
Shepard shook her head at the krogan before turning and looking up at the towers. Her eyes widened as she slowly saw the crackling metal fixtures begin to calm, the electricity dimming before ultimately vanishing from the surface. Almost immediately, Pressly messaged her over the comm as best he could. "S-tre! The en-gy spike diss-ted! We are re-ng no -ctivity in the ba-" came the XO's voice over the comm, struggling to get through the intense non-ionizing radiation given off by Grissom.
"Affirmative. We're approaching now. Fire Team, you know the drill," she said back over the comm.
"Sights a- lock- Spectre," came the voice of Praetor Gavos.
Raising her hand, the spectre signaled them to move forward. The entire group moved at a quick pace, their timers on their radiation shields ticking with every second they stood in the sunlight. It took less than a minute for them to reach the presumed maximum radius of the towers. Shepard stood at the edge and looked up at the towers, wondering if she would be cooked alive for stepping forward.
"Our suits have electrical dampening safeties, but even they wouldn't help us against towers that large…" said Tali as she stood next to the Spectre.
"Oh hell, just get it over with," complained the krogan as he shoved Shepard aside. His large feet left massive prints in the dust as he walked forward, looking up at the towers challengingly. "Come on you tinker toys! I'm right here!" He waited for a long minute for something to happen, anything to happen. But nothing happened, and he turned to the others with a smirk under his helmet. "See? What'd I tell ya?"
Shepard glared at the krogan but couldn't argue with his results. Cautiously she stepped forward, followed by her squad and the N7s. Soon, they all were marching into range of the potentially dangerous towers. But they never lit, confusing the spectre even more. Her mind was awash with confusing and conflicting questions. From the geth's direct challenge to them showing off a new form of technology, to them practically rolling out the welcome mat at their potential last base in the cluster. She couldn't figure out what their game was, whether they broke away from Saren's geth, or whether they were just here distracting her while Saren did something else entirely.
They reached the door, and she activated her omni-tool to open it, but the door opened itself, sending chills down her spine. This was starting to look like a horror vid where the protagonist is lead into a trap by some overwhelming angry spirit. But she knew the only way to find out what was going on was to step in this building and be prepared for anything. Moving forward, she took the first steps inside with her pistol raised. As she crossed the threshold of the door, the darkness inside the building vanished as the lights flicked on, showing a hexagonal room with a pedestal in the center. Her squad followed her in, their weapons drawn as well, facing outward to make sure their backs were covered.
"Are those vid screens?" asked Kaidan as he looked around the room.
Shepard eyed the walls curiously, and sure enough, they were hard-light projectors. "Satō, keep your squad back just in case things go south. But be ready to bust in."
"Affirmative, Spectre. Holding position," he replied quietly over the comm.
Stepping forward, the commander immediately noticed that the facility was blocking the radiation. Every step she took inside lowered the radiation count significantly, allowing her rad shields to recharge. "Alright, new plan. The building has heavy radiation shielding. Everyone inside," she commanded as she turned to them. Starting with Satō, the N7s all marched inside, forming a growing ring as each of them took a position to cover everyone else's back. Once the final troop was inside, the door closed, and the lights went out.
"What the hell!?" asked Ashley as she looked around with her weapon, accidentally clipping Liara's helmet with the barrel.
"Goddess! Please be careful with that," groaned Liara as she put her head up again.
Suddenly, the screens on the wall lit, causing everyone to point directly at them with their weapons. On the screen was a stage decorated very brightly with curtains of what looked like red velvet, pictures of fantastic creatures stitched into the cloth like one of the Chinese embroidery art pieces she had seen back on Earth.
The curtains on the crackling video that played on every wall parted, allowing someone to step out. Tali gasped in surprise as she saw a full-bodied quarian with no suit at all standing on the stage dressed in formal robes from centuries ago. "W-What is this?" she asked, her voice trembling as she watched.
After clearing his throat, the quarian in the video began to sing in a deep baritone words that even the translators had trouble deciphering. Despite the lack of understanding, Shepard could feel the man's words in her heart. The song was sad, mournful, and unlike most quarians, this one's voice reached a low baritone that some human opera singers wished they had.
Tali felt her eyes welling up inside her helmet as she listened to the song. She sniffed and tilted her head down, her body trembling as she felt the Khelish words sink into her mind. The song he sang was a song of family torn apart by war. Brothers and sisters worlds apart, hearts broken as they longed to see one another again. She didn't know why they chose this song. It was considered a classic back on the fleet and was sometimes sang to members of a family going on their pilgrimage. She sniffed again heavily but felt soothed slightly as a strong hand gripped her shoulder. She let out a mournful sigh but looked up again and stared at the video as the man ended on a high falsetto.
As soon as the quarian man finished, he gave a respectful bow, then the screens went blank, and the lights turned on again. "What was that?" Kaidan asked her curiously, his hand gently holding Tali's shoulder.
"It was an old song believed to have been born in a time of civil war on Rannoch before we even had space flight. It's one of the oldest known songs we have. But this vid was recorded in the Laktekka Hall. Son'Keelah vas Torba, the singer, sang the song to mend the wounds of the people who fought. He was praised as a hero and bringer of peace, reminding our people that we are one," she said as she huffed a breath out to try and stop herself from getting even more emotional.
"Wait… Keelah? You don't mean…" started Ash curiously.
"Yes, they are the same. Son'Keelah became a revered ancestor, one representing our entire world. So, when we say Keelah se'lai, we are actually saying "by the world..." or in more recent centuries, "by the homeworld I hope to see someday," she responded as she looked over at the gunnery chief.
"I see, so it's like us saying "Oh my god," Ash said, getting a nod from Tali.
"I'm unsure of the origins of this god figure, but Keelah is perhaps the most revered ancestor of them all," said the quarian as she looked back up at the screen. "I… I don't understand why they are playing this vid here. What are they trying to say? Are they taunting us?" she asked desperately.
She reached up and gripped her helmet, trying to think of any reason why the geth would do this when she noticed her omni-tool flashing. Holding it up, she tapped the screen, unblurring it for her and her alone. A simple line of dialogue was present on the screen. [The video is encrypted with a hidden message.]
Shepard suddenly spun around with her pistol up and ready to fire as she heard a loud noise behind her. But she quickly lowered the gun as she realized the pedestal in the center of the room was moving. It opened up, revealing a small data card, then an arm began growing out of the ceiling. Everyone in the room stared at the contraption as it lowered until it was only a meter away from the data card, most of them holding their weapons ready just in case.
The arm lit up and began firing a familiar beam of light at the datacard. It began to glow for a few moments, then the laser stopped, and the arm folded up into the ceiling again. The lights dimmed, putting everyone on edge. But nothing made them as nervous as the timer that appeared on the screens all around the room in galactic common numerals. [10:00] As soon as it appeared, it began counting down.
"Shepard, we should probably leave," said Garrus as he folded his rifle and placed it on his back.
"Yeah…" she said as she walked forward and picked up the datacard from the pedestal. "We got what we came for. Let's go," she said as she turned and instructed everyone to leave the building. The N7s all filed out, followed by her squad members. Before she left, Tali turned and stared at the screen with the ticking timer for a long moment, the song playing through her head again before finally she turned around and exited the small compound.