Border of Ilos and Kabul
Leaving the shifting sands and rocky mountains of Kabul, the mako dropped of a small cliff that deposited them in the lost alien city/planet of Ilos. The dead city, with its abandoned, monolithic skyscrapers, surrounded by massive, ancient trees struck a chord with many of the legionnaires.
For Shepard, it actually a fond memory of her mission to find the Conduit and stop Saren, which she accomplished in spades. Sev had no real attraction, but instead focused on sightlines and avenues for ambushes. But for Sarah and Pyrrha, the empty city brought darker memories to the surface. For Pyrrha, it looked too much like Mount Glenn and the many other cities of humanity fallen to the Grimm. A grim reminder, she mused that Yang would've liked that pun, that humanity is always on the brink, just barely staving off extinction with their walled cities.
Sarah, on the other hand, looked at Ilos and could only think of the many ruined cities she'd seen in her life. Chicago, Pittsburgh, Washington DC, while the buildings of Ilos may be in tact, she knew a graveyard when she saw one. Their structures stood as monuments to a long dead civilization, who for all their sacrifices and struggles, their hubris and power, ultimately signify nothing.
At least, that's what they would be thinking of if it wasn't for Shepard's manic driving. As Shepard kicked off the thrusters to slow their descent into the city, the mako bounced on the alien road before coming to a full stop, almost threatening to roll over as it did. Under threat of revolt, Shepard put the mako in park and opened up the exit hatch, causing all of the legionnaires to jump out, gasping for fresh air.
Sarah literally kneeled on the ground and began kissing the alien terrain, while Pyrrha stumbled forward, her face turning a similar green as her eyes. Sev had both hands on the side of the mako, desperately holding on for balance, while T3 rolled down the exit ramp, his head bobbing up and down.
"Guys come on, what are you doing? We should stick to the plan, moving in with the mako will make this mission a lot easier." Shepard said, annoyed at her teammate's lack of resolve and willpower.
"NO!" 3 voices and an electronic BZZZT cried out.
"No! I refuse to be in that thing for a moment longer." Sarah wailed. "The hour we rode in there more terrifying than my entire living life!"
Pyrrha staggered over to Shepard, hand over her stomach. "Shepard… your driving skills could... use some work." Pyrrha then collapsed to her knees as well.
Shepard sighed. She wasn't that bad, was she? None of her old crew complained this much.
Shepard turned to T3, who rolled over to her. "What about you little guy? What's your opinion?"
T3 responded by extending his utility arm and shocking Shepard's thigh with a few hundred volts from his arclight.
"Oww! Damn it, I guess that answers that." Shepard complained as she rubbed her leg. "Alright fine we can make some adjustments to the plan. The outpost is in walking distance now, so… every take five and get yourselves together." She ordered.
The rest of the legion had no qualms about immediately lying down as Shepard moved to gather all of their supplies from the Mako.
The Legion, now recovered, made their way towards the Geth Outpost. Breaking down into 2 separate fireteams, the legionnaires leapfrogged their way forward between the alien skyscrapers. It was a standard maneuver, one fireteam would hold position, providing overwatch and covering fire while the other would push up. Once the second fireteam reached their intended position, they would then reverse roles, allowing the first to advance.
Following this pattern, the squad eventually gained visual contact on the Geth outpost. Placed around the base of one of the skyscrapers, the outpost consisted of a single defensive wall, lined with watch towers and 4 sentry turrets, and a single main gate that currently remained open.
Lying prone on their stomachs, they pulled out scopes and binoculars to observe the Geth within the base. Within the watchtowers, a total of 4 geth snipers maintained their sightlines upon the perimeter. Within the base, a dozen Geth troopers milled about, ordered by a much more imposing Geth Prime. At the center of the base, a large, folded, quadrupedal Geth Armature laid deactivated.
The defenses of the base scouted out, the squad retreated to go over the final details of the plan.
"Alright, defenses are pretty solid, but nothing we haven't seen before." Shepard started off. "Pyrrha, Sev, I want you two on sniper support. Take out those sentries and any other priority targets we call out. But be ready to move in if we call for back up."
"Roger Commander." Both hunters responded.
Shepard turned to the rest of the squad. "Sarah, T3, and I will push up and pressure the main entrance. Those turrets pack a punch so stick to cover, and focus on drawing the Geth to us. Our goal will be to get T3 into the base so he can bring the turrets offline. From there, should be a cakewalk to take down the rest of the Geth. Questions?" There was no response. "Good. Waypoints should be set on all of your HUDs. Move out and good luck."
With that the legionnaires broke apart and swiftly moved to their destinations. Pyrrha and Sev moved to a stone walkway overlooking of the base, giving them a wide view of the outpost. Meanwhile Shepard led her half of the team via ground level, using massive tree roots and ancient pillars as cover.
After a brief confirmation from both teams that they were in position, Shepard gave the snipers the go ahead to begin. The first shots happened in an instant. One moment, two geth snipers were scanning the horizon, the next their flashlight heads were turned to scrap as plasma and dust ripped through them.
It took less than a second for Sev and Pyrrha to acquire new targets, and put the other two snipers down as well. However, the Geth snipers didn't even need a millisecond to send out a warning signal to their allies that they were under attack, sending all of the platforms into combat mode.
The defensive towers opened up first. Having a general idea of where the shots came from, they loosed a volley of plasma towards the snipers, forcing them into cover. Meanwhile the Geth Armature that protected the main entrance sprang to life as the infantry began to funnel out. The geth Prime led the squad of regular troopers to engage the enemy, while a squad of previously unseen shock troopers followed them.
Seeing that her plan was working too well, Shepard began to bark out orders. "Alright pull back! Draw them away from their defenses!"
Immediately the Legion started retreating, laying down a covering fire as they weaved through streets and alleyways to get away from the overwhelming fire advantage the Geth had. The Geth, having thought they now had the advantage, pushed after the Legion.
The Legion rounded a corner, breaking line of sight with the sentry turrets, allowing them to turn around and face their pursuers. When the Geth came into view, Sev made the first move. The heavy hitters of the Geth, the Geth Shock troopers were on point in the Geth formation. As soon as they appeared, Sev lobbed an EMP grenade that landed in the middle of the whole formation.
The shock troopers side stepped and dove out of the way, expecting a large explosion of fragmentation. However, they were instead hit by arcing bolts of lighting as their bodies locked up, electricity forcing their synthetic forms to overload and seizure. Taking advantage of the now immobile targets, Sarah popped out of cover and unleashed a hail of bullets from her minigun, shredding the shock troopers.
The Geth troopers, now aware of the Legion's ambush, did not rush in like their shock trooper counterparts. Instead the kept distance, sticking to cover and firing combined bursts of mass effect pellets at the Legion. The sustained fire pinged of Sarah's aura and armor, forcing her to fall back.
That's when the Geth Prime made its move. Aided by the suppressing fire of its allies, the Prime deployed two floating turrets to defend its flanks and sprinted forward like an unstoppable juggernaut.
Shepard saw it approaching and called out a warning. "Don't let him get close! He's got a mean canno-"
Shepard paused for the briefest of seconds, her mind confused by what she was seeing. The prime was not wielding a pulse cannon or plasma shotgun, but instead a battle axe. A two headed, six foot long battle axe, covered in lightning, that looked like it had an eagle etched onto its face. Shepard had no idea what that weapon was, but had no intention of finding out.
If the Geth were showing off one of their secret weapons, it was time they showed off one of their own.
"T3! Overload him, now!" Shepard commanded as she drew her SMG to counter suppress the Geth troopers
With a high pitched whistle, T3 was coated in an orange, hardlight omni-tool hologram as he hacked into the Prime's systems and overloaded its shields. Ever since both Shepard and Thane arrived in the Final Destination, they had been working on a side project to get T3's cyber warfare systems compatible with Citadel technology. The result, T3 now had access to the entire cyberware suite that a combat engineer like Tali used.
"Pyrrha! Bring him down" Shepard roared as she fired a burst from her SMG, destroying one of the floating turrets protecting the prime.
Pyrrha gave a quick confirmation before dashing out of cover. Holstering Miló, Pyrrha drew her lightsaber and dashed for the unshielded Prime. With a mighty battle cry, Pyrrha leapt in the air and brought the lightsaber down on the Prime's head. The prime saw the attack coming and raised the shaft of its axe to block. And to Pyrrha's utter shock, the lightsaber hit the shaft of the axe and refused to cut through. In fact, it barely bit through the wrapping as she unknowingly brought her lightsaber against an Adeptus Astartes Power Axe made of solid adamantium.
Pyrrha's eyes went wide as the Prime then shoved her back and countered with its own swing. The attack was fast, but Pyrrha was faster. However, Pyrrha could feel the energy field around the axe even at a distance. She didn't know what it did, but she could only assume it wasn't good. So instead of blocking its swings, Pyrrha nimbly bobbed and weaved around the strikes, subtly using her semblance to throw the Geth's attacks off course.
Forcing the Prime to overextend on an attack, Pyrrha then moved forward and made two deep cuts into the Prime's legs. While lightsaber worked this time, the Prime's armor was too thick for an instant delimbing. Pyrrha was forced to pull back when the remaining turret opened fire on her, forcing her to bring Akoúo̱ up and divide her attention.
"Sev! Throw another EMP!" Shepard ordered as Pyrrha backpedaled, removing any chance for friendly fire.
With another grenade flying, the burst of lighting electrocuted the Prime, destroying its turret and stunning the Geth.
"Pyrrha, together! Rip that weapon out of its hands!" Shepard commanded as she and Pyrrha both extended their off hands.
The Power Axe was coated with both the black aura of Pyrrha's polarity and the purple flame of Shepard's biotics as they attempted to yank the weapon free from the Geth's grasp. The Prime struggled to maintain a grip on its weapon, but the arcing pulses of electricity made it impossible for it to focus its strength. Soon the weapon flew free, landing at Shepard's feet and the Geth was left defenseless.
The Prime, now immobile and down its shield, was then lit ablaze as T3 moved forward and sprayed it with his flamethrower. The high intensity flames burned and incinerated the Prime's armor. A follow up volley from Sev and Sarah put the prime down completely.
With the Prime and Shocktroopers now dead, the remaining Geth Troopers began a retreat, heading back for the safety of the turrets and armature. Before Shepard could call for her team to regroup and plan out their next attack, she watched as Sarah broke formation and chased after the retreating Geth.
"Goddamnit, Lyons! Get back here!" The Commander screamed to no avail. Too much adrenaline was pumping through Sarah right now, she wanted blood.
Running ahead of the others, Sarah shouldered her minigun and instead picked up a rocket launcher one of the Geth Shock Troopers never got the chance to use. Seeing the Geth Troopers flee behind the Armature, Sarah loosed a rocket that flew and slammed right into the quadrupedal walker. The explosion sent up a cloud of smoke that enveloped the armature, and Sarah smirked at the destruction she wrought. A smirk that fell as soon as she saw the armature's light pierce through the cloud of dust and fired a plasma round straight for her.
The only thing that saved Sarah from a premature disintegration was Sev, who managed to catch up and tackle the Sentinel to the ground. Grabbing hold onto her, the two then crawled their way behind a fallen stone pillar which barely gave them 2 feet of cover as the armature and turrets opened fire on them.
"Son of a- Pyrrha! Get them out of there!" Shepard ordered before running to T3 and lifting him into the air. "Let's go little guy. We're taking out those guns."
Pyrrha looked around her, trying to come up with a way she could safely evacuate her teammates, but all she could see were stone buildings and dead Geth. That's when inspiration struck. Sheathing her weapons, she held out both hands, focusing her semblance as the Geth bodies around her all began to float. The corpses of the Shock Troopers and Prime floated in front of her, compressing together to make a single massive ball of dead Geth.
Rounding the corner with her macabre sphere of synthetics, the turrets and armature shifted their attention towards her. Plasma round impacted the wall of Geth, unable to break through Pyrrha's impromptu barrier. Once she made her way to Sev and Sarah's position, the cover gave them the opportunity to stand up and get out of the killbox.
Looking behind her and seeing that Sev and Sarah had left the area, Pyrrha's face hardened as she could now go on the offensive. All while under fire, Pyrrha compressed the ball of Geth further and further, and at the same time began to rotate it. As the rotations picked up speed, Pyrrha then launched the geth-star forward, turning it into a massive, magnetised cannonball aimed right for the armature. The armature, too slow and cumbersome to avoid the ball of scrap hurtling towards it, could only watch as the cannonball slammed into, smashing its power core and sending the whole thing into a blue-white explosion.
While Pyrrha extracted Sev and Sarah, Shepard was simultaneously working on her part of the operation. While the turrets kept fire on Pyrrha, Shepard, holding on tightly to T3, biotically charged one of the turrets, bringing them onto the wall. The impact of Shepard's biotic fist was enough to crack the armor and expose the turret's underlying circuitry. This gave T3 the opportunity to move up to the turret and begin hacking his way into their systems.
Within several seconds, T3 had the turret under his control, and rotated it to aim at the others. As Pyrrha's cannonball of Geth destroyed the armature, T3's turret opened fire on the others, catching them off guard and destroying them. With the primary defenses down, the Legion then rushed into the outpost, easily destroying the remaining Geth troopers and claiming it as their own.
"A Goddamn idiot!" Shepard berated a ramrod Sarah as the rest of the squad secured the area. "That's what I am for taking your word! I asked you one question! One question before started this mission! Are you good? And yet here you are, nearly getting yourself and Sev killed in a blood rage! Do you have anything to say for yourself!?"
"Commander… I-" Sarah couldn't form a response.
Shepard watched her mouth gape open and closed. It was as if her thoughts were slowed, indecisive, unable to focus. Even her gaze was unfocused and despondent, despite the tears forming in the corners of them. That's when it hit Shepard. Sarah was going through shell shock, a combat stress reaction. A mental breakdown resulting from traumatic events during battle and war. And the recent days for Sarah couldn't be considered anything but traumatic.
Shepard sighed. "Look, Sarah. Take a deep breath. We'll talk about this soon. Pyrrha!" Shepard called out and the young huntress immediately snapped to attention. "Bring Sarah to the mako. Get her some water and check her for any injuries."
"Understood Commander." Pyrrha acknowledged before gently taking Sarah's arm and leading her back to the APC.
Putting this off annoyed the Commander, especially since this whole thing was her idea in the first place, but the mission came first, then she could take care of her friend. Shepard walked up to Sev and T3, who had spent the time gathering what equipment they could find. "What do you have for me, Sev?"
Sev was currently standing over a pile of Geth bodies, several weapons, and a few sealed crates. "Quite the haul, if I say so myself. According to your records we found some high end Geth weapons, along some creates of thermal clips, grenades, medi-gel, and assorted armor." Sev patted down the crates next to him.
"Biggest thing however, is that damn axe." Sev gestured to the Power Axe that was laid down separate from the pile. "Like Thane said, Geth running with non-geth weapons."
Shepard looked down at the massive power axe and let out a low whistle. She bent down to pick it up and to her surprise, struggled to lift it even with her cybernetic augmentations. Feeling around the weapon, she eventually found a switch which activated the lighting (disruptor) field around it. Getting used to the weight in her hands, she then gave the axe a test swing by cutting right into a geth trooper corpse.
As, or possibly even more, effectively than a lightsaber, the axe melted its way through the Geth's corpse, then through the stone walkway beneath it. Shepard's jaw dropped and Sev let out a small curse as they saw how effortlessly it tore apart the Geth.
"Damn." Shepard muttered under her breath before turning off the weapon. "Glad Pyrrha didn't take a direct hit from this thing. Aura or not, it would've torn right through her. Wonder where this thing is from."
"Battle axes are common enough in my universe, but I've never seen one do that. Not even vibro weapons or Mandalorian Iron blades can cut like that." Sev added on.
Shepard holstered the axe magnetically on her back. "Alright, what else do we have?"
Back to the pile, Sev gestured to the firearms. "A few Geth Pulse rifles. Some were damaged in the battle but I think we can jury rig the parts together to make a few functional rifles. Biggest weapons are these two though." Sev gestured to two weapons Shepard was very familiar with. A Geth Plasma Shotgun and a M-98 Widow Sniper Rifle.
"Now this…" Shepard said as she picked up the plasma shotgun. "This is something I've missed. One of the meanest shotguns in my universe. A triple barreled, pseudo energy shotgun that fires a cluster of superconducted projectiles that flash convert the air into plasma, dealing a Hell of a lot of damage on impact. Beautiful." Shepard patted the top of the shotgun.
"Well if you're taking both of those, I call dibs on the sniper." Sev flatly stated as he picked up the anti-material sniper rifle.
Shepard nodded. "A M-98 Widow sniper rifle. Pretty much the most powerful sniper ever developed. It's actually so powerful that the recoil alone would break any non-synthetic or cyborg's arm." That caused Sev's head to snap to her. "Don't worry, we were able to modify them to be used by regular organics, I'm sure we can do the same here. That or we just unlock your aura. Careful though, that thing only has one shot before you need to swap thermal clips."
"One shot is all I ever need." Sev darkly chuckled as he loaded in a fresh thermal clip.
"Of course." Shepard rolled her eyes. "Alright, let's get this all loaded up in the mako. No reason to stay here any longer than we need."
Sev snapped a salute and the three remaining legionnaires began the arduous task of loading all of the supplies to the Mako.
Once the supplies were loaded up into the mako, Shepard and Sev found Sarah and Pyrrha sitting in the cargo hold together.
"Sev, why don't you take the wheel." Shepard said, turning to the commando behind her.
"Oh thank dust." Pyrrha muttered under breath.
"Pyr, you take shotgun. Sarah and I need to have a talk." Shepard finished.
Sarah grimaced at that, while Pyrrha put a sympathetic hand on her shoulder, before moving to the front of the APC. Despite being a machine, T3 decided to acquit himself from oncoming conversation by taking the gunner seat.
Soon enough, the APC began to drive off as Sarah and Shepard sat in the rear of the troop bay.
"So, you want to tell me what happened there?" Shepard asked in a calm, soothing voice.
Sarah let her head hang in shame. "All honesty, I don't have any excuses."
Shepard sighed. "Sarah, I don't need excuses, I need an explanation." Shepard leaned in closer, causing Sarah to look back up at her. "While we may not have been part of the same military, I can tell that you're an experienced soldier, not some greenhorn fresh out of basic. An elite veteran even. Something like what just happened, or what happened with Six should not be happening. So I need to know why you're losing your cool like this to know if I can trust you to watch our backs in the field."
It was Sarah's turn to sigh. "I am sorry Shepard, really. I know what I did was dumb. I figured that out as soon as I saw the armature." Sarah rubbed the back of her head. "I guess all I can say is that I've been… for lack of a better term, frustrated."
Shepard raised an eyebrow. "From what? Dying? I think everyone here can relate to how stressful that is."
"It's more than that Shepard." Sarah shook her head. "It's more like… I felt that I needed to prove that I belong here."
"Why wouldn't you belong here? With us?" Shepard asked, confused by Sarah's confession.
"It's like you said before, I'm supposed to be an elite veteran. You see in my world, or at least the Capital Wasteland, the Brotherhood of Steel were the best of the best. We were the bulwark that protected the survivors from threats like raiders, super mutants, and even the Enclave." Sarah balled her hands into fists. "And I was supposed to be the exemplar that everyone looked up to. Sentinel Sarah Lyons, champion of the Brotherhood of Steel, commander of the Lyons' Pride… Elder for all of six fucking months." Sarah put her head in her hands at the mention of this.
"Elder… I assume this is more than just an indicator for your age? Otherwise you're going to start making me feel bad." Shepard half-joked, trying to both bring up Sarah's spirits and make herself feel better since Sarah only looked like she was in her mid 20s while Shepard was still in her early 30s.
There was a slight smirk on Sarah's face that quickly disappeared. "Elder is the commanding rank for a Brotherhood of Steel chapter. My father Owyn Lyons, was Elder of our chapter for over twenty years. For over twenty years he lead our chapter to be the saviors of the Capital Wasteland. Under his leadership we eventually put down the super mutants, stopped the Enclave threat, and secured a future for the Wasteland under our direction." Sarah spoke with pride and reverence, before shifting to pity and self loathing. "When he passed on, the title of Elder fell to me. And instead of leading the Brotherhood, all I did was keep the seat warm until some super mutant shot me in the back of the head. Some savior I turned out to be."
Shepard remained silent, letting Sarah vent as much as needed.
"And that's not even where it ends! Coming here, seeing what people like Six, Pyrrha, Galen, or even you can do… it's all just been one giant revelation that says, you're weak, the Brotherhood of Steel is weak. We're supposed to be the most technologically advanced and powerful faction in the Wasteland, but that doesn't mean shit here." Sarah felt herself deflate as she finished her rant.
"And that's why you've been fighting so hard. Against Six, against the Geth, to prove to yourself that you're not weak." Shepard mused.
Sarah could only nod in response.
Shepard could see where Sarah was coming from. Some of the things that they'd seen here have been completely insane.
Seeing her confidence was shaken, Shepard tried to comfort her. "Believe me Sarah, you're not the only one here who feels, out of their element. Shadow demons, magic powers, laser swords, this is not what I thought I'd be fighting when I signed up with the Alliance." Shepard then placed a hand on Sarah's shoulder, forcing her to look up. "But at the end of the day, Sarah, no matter how weak we feel, no matter how scared, we have a mission. And we have to remain strong because it's not just about us, but about everyone. It's up to use to be the backbone of this team, the rock that others rely on."
Shepard took her hand of Sarah's shoulder and gave her a smile. "And believe me, you've done a great job being that rock so far, even without magic force powers or cybernetic augmentations, and you'll only do better with Aura." Shepard then paused again. "You know, I'd like to think that a person is better than the worst thing they've ever done. And by extension, a person is better than their worst failure. Do not let your failures or your weaknesses define who you are. You are not weak for dying, if that were true every person that's ever existed is weak. But you would be weak for falling to your emotions now, for letting your team down."
The words stung Sarah, Shepard could tell. But it was a truth she needed to hear. And Shepard knew she'd be strong enough to handle them.
"Thanks Shepard, for everything." Sarah locked eyes with the Commander. "I'll… think on what you said."
"Good. And always remember, that no matter what the enemy throws at us, we face it together."
Sarah nodded, lost in thought as the legion continued their silent drive home.
A/N: So turns out, when you're home sick with the flu, it gives you a few days to write another fanfic chapter ahead of schedule. I tried to make this chapter kinda like the loyalty missions from Mass Effect. Mission itself was fun to write, not entirely sure how effective the end was. Writing uplifting, motivational conversations is weird.
Also, the first hint of W40k! How and why do the Geth have access to W40k tech? Well, you'll have to keep reading to find out.
Review Responses:
Slime A Lou Prime: That's a pretty good idea. I'll add it into the pile of many other ideas that I happen to come up with lol. I did have an idea for a Mass Effect Fallout crossover that I thought about doing before this one.
Bov: That's a pretty good idea!While I won't drop any spoilers for who (or what) is showing up, I will say that more W40k stuff will eventually get introduced.
SilverExcel115: Always possibilities!
Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, be sure to check out my other fic, Jaune Arc, Lord of Hunger, and I'll see you in the next one!