John Shepard, SR-2 Normandy, FTL (Two Hours to Dholen Relay)

"What did you fucking do to my armor you fat asshole?" John said quietly as he stepped forward, his face inches from Gerald's.

"Jesus," Gelard replied as he took a large step back. "Jacob isn't quite together yet, so I had to step in here. Armory is ridiculously well organized, by the way. I think Jacob might have a tighter ass than Miranda."

"So help me Gerald…." John closed his eyes for a long moment.

"I'm hitting the ground with you, so I needed a suit," Gerald shrugged. "I repurposed your N7 kit to fit. We are close to the same size. Except I have a bit more to love."

"Goddess, help me," John sighed as he leaned his head back and stared at the ceiling. "I am just going to kill you."

With snort, Gerald pushed past John and moved to the armor locker. "Stop being a baby. I had already picked up a new suit for you anyway. This one is tailored to your combat profile." With a dramatic flourish, Gerald pulled out the armor drawer, revealing John's new suit.

The armor was a brushed steel with a matte black cable underlay. The plates of the legs, hips and shoulders were reminiscent of the knights of ancient European earth, down the the flared shoulder pauldrons. The helmet, even with its thin red visor and red rebreathers had a 'crusader' vibe to it. And it had a red stylized dragon taking up left chest and shoulder quarter of the armor. It even sported an engraved N7 logo over their left pectoral.

"I hate it," John said darkly, his eyebrows knit down into a straight line. "Where the hell did you even get this?"

"Heh, heh," Gerald cackled as he rubbed his hands together. "This sucker is based off the Urban Combat League armors, so it's been through a rather ridiculous about of testing, research and improvements. This particular suit was custom made by a guy that was from Elysium. You saved his family back in the day, and he ended up the lead designer. This was what he whipped up for you when you became a Spectre."

John stood staring at the semi gaudy suit for a moment before sighing. "All right. I'll bite. Tell me about it."

"Glad you asked! 'Cause I was gonna tell you anyway!" Grinning, Gerald brought up his omnitool, opening a screen. "It has a built in biotic amp that will interface with your implants and give you abilities a rather impressive boost. Probably about ten percent or so. Also, it has a shield booster effect. But, seeing as how I have met you, I added a little something extra, so you should see an extra twenty percent there."

For a long moment, John stared hatefully at the armor before sighing deeply. "And it's already set to fit?"

"Totally is," Gerald assured him. "I snuck into your room while you slept to measure you."

His still hateful gaze shifted from the armor to Gerald.

With a shit eating grin, Gerald winked. "Nah, I looked it up in the Cerberus data files. Anyhoo...I'll let you get dressed."

"Right," John said, taking a deep breath and releasing it with as much of the tension as he could, before reaching for the armor. "Hold on Tali," he whispered. "I'll be there soon."

"Oh! By the way, Commander! Nice Blasto sheets!"

Tali'Zorah vas Neema, Haestrom Observatory

Coughing, Tali slowly pulled herself to her knees as the world spun about her. "Xera...why did..what…" A loud explosion rocked the building, shaking Tali from her daze. "XERA!"

With a yell, Tali scrambled to her feet and threw herself against the door, desperately triggering the mechanism that should have opened it. Over and over she hit the button, cursing Xera, herself, even the Ancestors. "No! Please, no!"

Opening her omnitool, Tali began to search for a way into the system. Any way, only to have the door stare at her, the red disc denying her. "What did you do Xera?" Tali cried, her tears blurring her vision.

Then, behind the door, the sounds of battle...stopped.

"What?" Stepping back, finally, Tali's eyes widened. Silence. Dreadful silence. "Keelah...no….they…" But in her heart, she knew.

Slowly, Tali took a deep breath, and looked around the great room. Once, a long time ago, this had been a place of learning. When the world had originally been settled, the quarian people had not even found their Mass Relay. This station, and many like it, were built to study the Perseus Veil itself, and what may lie beyond it.

And now it would be her tomb.

"No…" Tali muttered to herself as a low growl began in the back of her throat. "No, Xera gave me this chance. Jane is still out there...the Commander is out there. He needs me…."

Spinning on her heel, Tali moved quickly to the main observation aray, her eyes gliding over it's surface. It still had power. Did the quarians build so well, that two hundred year old systems would be functional? Or did the geth keep it up? For some unknown purpose? Was it what was happening to the system's sun?

"Doesn't matter," Tali said to herself as she bagan hacking into the system. Files and data feeds scrolled across the displays in front of her. Her eyes danced over the information as she searched for the thread, the common piece that would tell her what was happening.

A screeching sound began at the door. A buzzing, hissing screech. A sound that meant one thing. The geth were trying to get through the door.

Gritting her teeth, Tali began sifting data faster, the lines flashing faster. Once, on the original Normandy, Shepard had come down to see her while she worked on the ship's systems. He had seen the number of displays she had open and marveled at the speed of the scrolling data. The thought brought a small smile to her lips, despite the situation. Thinking of the man her soul yearned for, often did.

Then there was another explosion. Small, quieter this time, and the screeching stopped.

There was somebody out there! Maybe Kal'Reeger? Or Xera!

"Focus, girl, focus," Tali chided herself. "Find that data."

Kal'Reeger, Haestrom

*cough* Kal shook his head slightly as he panted behind the low wall. That shot that had caught him in the chest had, luckily, only been a brushing, but the plasma bolt had still put a puncture on his suit. The internal seals had clamped down and a patch of medigel and sealant was keeping it from getting worse.

Still...the infection had already started.

With a self deprecating chuckle, Kal hit himself with another dose of antibiotics. "Getting slowed down by a head cold, what would your mother say?"

The screeching started again.

"Keelah," he muttered, shifting himself up to look over the wall. The geth Colossus stood, its head lamp twisting back and forth as it looked around the courtyard. To the right of it, in front of the heavy observatory door, a pair of geth Primes flanked a single Destroyer as they wielded what looked like some sort of large cutting device.

And to the right of them, Kal could see Xera's broken body, laying, ignored by the damned machines.

Come on Reeger, Kal growled at himself. You just need to give Tali time. Shepard must have seen what happened. She must be clearing a way down. Unless they destroyed her too.

Reaching up, Kal struck himself across the side of his helmet, bringing the world back into the focus he hadn't realized he had been losing. "Shut up and fight."

Looking down at his lap, Kal slowly picked up the rocket launcher. It was old. Like many things on the fleet. The thing had been in service probably longer than he had even been born. Ancestors, it even had notches gouged into the side of it. A small line vertical, a second line, horizontal, connecting the top, and a second line attached to the bottom of the middle. The humans said it looked like the letter 'Z' in their language. But then, they tallied things in weird four lines, struck through with a fifth, as they counted by fives, not threes, as was proper. Probably all those extra, useless fingers….

"Stop babbling and shoot," Kal cursed himself as he rolled to his knee. With one swift, smooth motion, the rocket launcher hit his shoulder, and he fired, before dropping back under cover. He didn't bother to see it he had hit. It didn't really matter. He just needed to keep the damned geth off the door.

With another sigh, Kal hit himself with another shot of painkiller before climbing to his hands and knees, crawling along the lower wall, searching for another position.

John, SR-2 Normandy, Shuttle Bay

John felt like an idiot.

As the elevator doors opened, he strode quickly into the launch bay, his eyes locked on the drop shuttle, and the ground team in front of it.

"Hey! Shepard!" Garrus grinned. "Looking snazzy!" The turian then frowned slightly before leaning over toward Miranda. "Did I use that right?"

"Heh," Miranda actually smirked. "Yes, you did, Vakarian."

"Hah! Nailed it!"

Rolling his eyes, John set his silver helmet on a cargo crate as he activated his omnitool and bringing up a hologram of the observatory area.

"This is a smash and grab op," John said ignoring his best friend, gesturing to the map as a red dot appeared. "This is our drop zone. We will be coming in hot, and underfire. Though from what our sensors have been able to gather, the quarians have given the geth a hell of a beating."

Another dot appeared, further along as the map rotated slightly. "This is our goal. An old quarian observatory. We are picking up geth radio chatter moving towards the area. It was clear that the geth didn't expect anybody to come here, despite the resistance the quarians had received. The numbers are enough to make this hard, but not nearly enough to stop us."

"Excellent," Grunt grinned happily. "I'm looking forward to crushing their heads beneath my boots!"

"Calm down there, big guy," Kasumi shook her head at the krogan as she laughed.

"Ha! I've been in a tank until what...four hours ago?" Grunt eyed the small human. "I need to get the fluids moving!"

"Anyway!" John cut off Garrus as he saw the turian's mouth open. "Gerald will stay back with the shuttle, here, with Zaeed and Mordin. They will be holding the landing zone so we can beat a hasty retreat."

"Wait, wait," Miranda scoffed, an incredulous look on her face. "Gerald is not only coming on a ground mission, but you are putting him in charge of an important part of it?"

"Oh, ye of little faith," the sing song voice of the man in question came from the open shuttle's door.

Almost as one, the entire team slowly looked over at Gerald as he stood in the shuttle's door. He grinned as he tapped the black, red and white of the N7 insignia on the breastplate of the armor he had taken from John. Even with the slightly let out midseam of the armor, he wore it like a professional.

"So? We know you took Shepard's armor," Miranda's fists balled up at her sides as she glared at the man.

"Ah...no," Garrus said weakly as he laid a hand on the woman's shoulder. "He...ah, he really is…"

"You have got to be joking!" Miranda whirled, first looking at Garrus, then at John as the color drained from her face. "You aren't joking…."

"Major Gerald Fallwyn. N7 Infiltrator," John sighed, with a gesture to the man in question.

"Ah, retired," Gerald added. "I don't like groundwork anymore."

"How did I not know about this," Miranda demanded of John as she pointed at the object of her ire. "Cerberus went through everybody!"

""No idea," John shrugged as he turned back to the hologram. "Also don't care. He isn't exactly the greatest soldier, kinda shit at it, really, but if you want an escape plan, he's your guy."

"Don't get used to this," Gerald added, his voice taking on an unusual dark tone. "I'm only doing this because Tali was the only one to play Galaxy of Fantasy with me."

Miranda's response was to completely ignore the man.

"Now," John called louder, gathering everybody's attention. "Grunt and myself will spearhead. Miranda, biotic support, naturally, Garrus will move up here," John indicated a pathway that seemed to lead up and across the buildings, running parallel to John's path. "He will be able to provide overwatch.

"Kasumi," John turned to the woman. "I want you as a roving scout. Stay close at first, so we can get a feel for them, then move out some. I want to know what's coming before they do."

"You got it, Shep," Kasumi grinned as she faded from view. "They'll never see me coming! Or going! Or when I take their robo-wallets!"

Quarian Migrant Fleet

It was eating at them.

The knowledge that they were responsible for the deaths. Those poor, young people. It was for the greater good of the quarian people, true, but still….

"When do we tell the others?" they thought aloud to the device they held. "When do we make the delration? We can shift the blame to the humans. They aren't important. They get in the way."

There was only silence.

"I know," they scowled, irritation in their voice. "We will be as one, the way it should have been in the beginning. It's the only way to survive. And to serve."

Once more, the cabin fell silent as they looked lovingly at the small device. No longer, did they look at the Fleet.

Grunt, Haestrom

"I! AM! KROGAN!" he bellowed as he charged straight on. His shoulder dipped low as he caught the geth Destroyer unit, just above it's hips, and drove it several meters, crashing into a stone wall. Then, with a casual heave, he flipped the machine up and over the edge of the walkway, to crash against the ground far below.

It was exhilarating! The feel of his blood pumping through his veins! The feel of metal crushing under his blows! The smell of the weapons discharge! Even the sting of wounds, the scent of his own blood!

It meant he was alive!

With a mad cackle, Grunt swung his assault rifle to the side, the side of it's barrel cracking across standard geth, and launching the thing a good dozen meters away. He then brought the gun back around, a spray of rounds in front of him, forcing more geth to dance of him.

"Grunt!" Shepard yelled from someplace behind him. "Dammit Grunt! You're getting too far ahead!"

"No I'm not!" the krogan bellowed back, a mix of joy and indignation in his voice. "You're just too slow!

"Listen to me, you son of a bitch!" Shepard spat back. "You get back here, right this instant!"

"Don't wanna!"

"Grunt," Garrus warned over the comms as a *boom* echoed, and a geth he hadn't noticed, exploded behind him. "Grunt, you listen to your Battlemaster."

With a slow blink, Grunt looked at the geth that had been about to shoot him in the back, then he looked at the two geth Prime units that began to fire up the corridor at him, their plasma shots sparking off his reinforced shields.

Then, his head and shoulders drooped as he turned and began a slow jog back to where Shepard stood.

As Grunt reached the human, he noticed the fair sized ring of geth bodies and parts scattered around his Battlemaster's position, and grinned.

"You're not sorry at all, are you," Shepard accused him, with a disapproving scowl.

Grunt just looked at his feet and kicked a head away, watching it bounce down some stairs. "Heh heh heh…"

John

With a slap of his omnitool, John's tech armor spring to life as a pair of hopper style geth slid along the wall of the building in front of his team. The little bastards were quick and hard to get a clear hit on, even while they peppered him with fire.

"Dammit," he cursed. "Miranda, would you mind?"

"Of course, Shepard," the woman nodded as she stepped forward. With a flach, her biotics flared, catching one of the geth and ripping it off of the wall. Then, with a small gesture, Miranda smashed the geth hopper into the second one, two, three times, before they both dropped the ground and lay still. "Anything else?"

John bit back a remark as he opened the door to reveal a small room. The floor was littered with broken geth of all kinds. Standard, hoppers, even a Prime. And on the other side of the trail, a quarian marine sat slumped against the wall. His suit, as well as the wall behind him, were covered in plasma shots.

"Tough bastard," Grunt nodded approvingly as he followed John inside. "All this with that jammed in his guts."

Flashing the krogan a confused look, John knelt in front of the quarian and looked him over. Right in the upper abdomen was a raggen chunk of metal, nearly a foot long. It looked like somebody had covered it in sealant tape. Testament to the damage it must have made inside the man.

"How the hell did he do all this, that wounded?" Miranda said with mild astonishment.

"Humans, asari, salarians….all soft," Grunt, well, grunted. "Only a quarter inch to reach your spine. Only twelve pounds a square inch to sever it. Quarians, not so much."

"Guys," Garrus broke in. "Could you move it a bit? I don't want to miss Fleet and Flotilla: The Series. The season opener tonight is supposed to clear up that cliffhanger."

"Ooooooh!" Kasumi squealed happily. "We finally get to know if Heirax is the father, or if it's his evil twin brother, Malius!"

"Goddess save me," John sighed, opening the door to the next section.

Twelve geth stood, their plasma rifles aimed at them. Behind the line of geth, two Primes stood flanking a destroyer.

"I AM KROGAN!"

"Dammit, Grunt!"

Jeff 'Joker' Moreau, SR-2 Normandy, Dholen System

"Mister Moreau, a second geth ship has dropped out of FTL," Edi's calm voice informed him.

"I see it Edi," Joker bit back. "I do have sensors here you know?"

"Yes, Mister Moreau, I am aware. I am part of the ship," if Edi was offended, she didn't let it out. Was a spaceship capable of getting offended?

"Pretty sure Sovereign was offended," Joker muttered as he brought the ship around to face the new threat. Playing hide and seek with the geth ship Jane had left for him had been getting boring anyway.

The new ship was more than twice the size of the Normandy, but still faster than a ship it's bulk should have allowed. One of the advantages of not have people running around in it.

"Joker!" the officer at the tactical station called out. "I can't get a firing solution if you keep weaving like that!"

"Seriously?!" Joker half turned in his seat to look back at the idiot. "You want me to hold still while you do your free hand algebra?"

"Umm...no…" the Idiot said, shrinking back.

"Yeah? Then how about you shut up and let me drive, hmmm?"

"Okay…"

"I swear, Cerberus is full of morons," Joker spat as he dropped back into his chair. If the pain in his side was any indication, he might have popped something. "Worth it."

For a moment the cockpit was silent, save for the taps of the haptic keys, and swiping of control screens.

Then, a small orb popped up next to Joker.

"You seem to be more stressed than normal, Mister Moreau. Would you like me to play some soothing music?"

John

"There is another courtyard looking thing ahead of you," Kasumi reported. "It looks like another quarian took a stand here. Heavy weapons. You might have to watch your step."

"Roger that," John nodded as he keyed the door. Before them was an open courtyard, close to thirty yards on both sides, as Kasumi had said, but the scale of the damage had been severely underestimated.

Scattered about the yard, in a wide semi circle around what looked to be a giant squared stone pillar, lay a small wrecking yards worth of destroyed geth. At one point, it even looked like the geth had begun climbing the bodies of fallen platforms to reach the shooter.

"No movement," Garrus informed the group. "I'm moving up to get an idea as to what's on the otherside of where you are. Think I hear weapons fire."

John's teeth clenched tight as he nodded. "Do it. Kasumi?"

"Already moving, Shep," the thief's normally cheerful voice was subdued. "These guys died heros."

For a moment, John closed his eyes, remembering the 'heroes' he had known. "Let's get our people and get out of here," was his only reply before switching channels. "Gerald, what's your situation?"

"Oh, weather is just lovely," the other man panted. "Clear, but with occasional dropships. I'm too fat for this job."

"Hey, it was your idea to come here," John smirked slightly.

"Hey, Shepard," Grunt called from the gunner's nest he had climbed to while John spoke with the others. "Door is blocked off pretty good. Looks like somebody rigged demo charges to blow it, though."

"Thank the Goddess for small favors," John sighed. "Collect the body and get down here, we can pop it and go."

"Charges, huh," Garrus's voice grinned. "Think Tali was pulling a Therum?"

With a raised eyebrow, Miranda regarded John. "'Pull a Therum'?"

"Ahem," John coughed into his fist as he watched Grunt work his way back down, a red clad body over one shoulder. "When we were looking for Liara during the Saren hunt, she was caught in a Prothean bubble, thing. And the only way to get her out was to get to the projector."

"So Shepard shot it with a mining laser, clearing a path!" Garrus chuckled. "Liara's expression still makes me giggle when I think about it."

"The idea of a turian giggling frightens me," Miranda said dryly, as she crossed her arms.

"Hey, Shepard," Grunt jogged up to John. "The quarian is talking."

"What?" John looked up sharply.

"I meant his comm seems to be working," Grunt's eyes rolled.

With a frown, John shook his head as he access the dead quarian's omnitool.

"-dy left out there?" a gravely male voice nearly begged. Pain rode the undertones of his voice. "Shuttle Four? Anybody?"

"This is Commander Shepard," John replied, glancing up at his team and gesturing them away from the pillar. "My team and I are on the other side of a fallen building, and are about to pop it with the charges you left. What's your status? Where's Tali?"

"Shepard? How...Nevermind, how isn't important," the quarian let out an almost relieved sigh. "Tali'Zorah is locked in the observatory, and I'm pinned down. As far as I can tell, we are all that's left."

"Roger that," John cursed under his breath. "Blowing doors."

Grunt grinned a wide, toothy grin as his finger came down of the button of his omnitool.

But nothing happened.

The smile faded to a frown as he hit the button a couple more times before looking back at John and shrugging.

Then the charges detonated, shattering the stonework in a cloud of dust and debris. Stones and detritus showed down as Grunt stood wide eyed for a moment before thrusting his fists into the air. "That was awesome!" he bellowed.

"Heard that from here," Kal'Reeger laughed slightly before gasping with pain. "I would appreciate it if you could pick up the pace a bit though."

"We'll be there," John assured the man as he jumped, sliding up and over the stone blocks the team had ducked behind, hitting the ground running.

"About time you got here, Shep," Kasumi gave a little wave from her seat next to a quarian in marine red. "Kal and I were about to finish off the geth, but figured Grunt would be sad if we didn't save him some."

"Damn right," Grunt muttered as he fondled the geth plasma rifle he had torn from the hands of geth Destroyer. The krogan had lost his assault rifle when he had used it to bludgeon the same geth. And for some reason, the weapon continued to function. It was a relatively well known fact that geth weapons, when not in geth hands, had its core melt down, making it useless slag. But nobody seemed to have informed Grunt of that fact.

"Hey, I'm helping!" Garrus interjected.

"Okay, yes, Garrus took out a couple," Kasumi shrugged dismissively. "But there's a Colossus in front of the door."

"So I see," John scowled. "Several geth units on the walkways, a couple in that long, low open room, too."

"The geth are trying to breach the door, but it's a bit difficult when somebody keeps firing missiles at them," the quarian chuckled as he hefted the rocket launcher he held. "Name's Kal'Reeger, Migrant Fleet Marines."

"Commander John Shepard," John nodded. "Wish it was in better circumstances."

"Yeah, me too," Kal said before a short coughing fit shook him. "It's that con'alds Colossus," he spat out finnaly. "Everytime I make any progress, the thing huddles down and begins to self repair."

"Great," Miranda scowled, looking over the courtyard. "There is a way around to the left, it looks like…"

"Yeah, but you'll be caught in a crossfire there," Kal'Reeger nodded. "That's how I was hit. You could swing right and go through the observation deck, but then you are in a direct line of fire for the Colossus."

Before John could say anything more, a screeching began, making his eyes snap up to see the

Colossus. It stood with it's optic seemingly staring right back as him.

But what then drew his attention was the source of the sound. Two large geth units stood, weidling some form of cutting device. The geth were cutting their way to Tali!

When asked later, John couldn't remember ever making the decision to move. He just was.

John caught himself as he landed on the ground below the balcony he had been kneeling on a moment ago. Without thinking, he threw his body forward as a barrage of plasma bolts crashed down around him, shattering his tech armor and burning away his biotic barriers. Long black pits, deep scorch marks covered the brand new armor as he stormed forward, his omnitool coming up and reactivating his tech armor.

From behind, he could make out the indignant roar of a krogan over the cursing of an angry human biotic. He heard, but he didn't register it.

His teeth set, John's SMG ripped open a pair of geth that stood in his way. Then took out another that leaned out above him.

Another geth, this one a type he didn't recognize, dropped to the ground before him, raising a heavy rifle, as John's SMG poured fire into it, then clicked dry as it auto ejected the full thermal clip.

With a low snarl, John ducked and slid forward, his right leg first as he reared back and threw the now useless SMG, starling the geth. Giving the machine no chance to catch itself, John's hands reached to his lower back, unfolding his shotgun and jamming the barrel into the geth's midsection, blowing a hole through it.

Back up to his feet, the marine-turned-madman, ran on. Two more geth died, their shields then their bodies broken by the shotgun, now dry and cast aside.

His pistol came up next, precision shots cutting through synthetic bodies. One, two, three, then four fell as a trio of shots clustered tightly in the chest.

The steps leading up to the observatory doors cracked, a circular divot forming as stone, designed to be broad and aesthetically pleasing, buckled under John's biotic charge.

To John, the world blue shifted, and blurred as he released the empty pistol, focusing on just getting there!

Then he was there.

John's bioticly charged right fist smashed into the small of the Prime on the left's back, as the force of John's blow threw it forward to slam against to door, ringing it like some sort of giant gong.

Rotating on his left foot, John spun about, both his omniblades flicking out as he ducked under the outstretching arm of the other geth unit. With an uppercut, John stabbed into the arm before withdrawing. His left first hooked out, stabbing into the geth's side.

Then John was back out, shifting his weight to his right leg and turning as the geth's fist swung around, it's knuckles throwing sparks as the dug a furrow into his chestplate, and detonating his tech armor, staggering them both back a step.

John recovered first.

With two strides, John's right foot kicked down on top of the geth's right knee as he lept, biotic energy adding mass to his weight. As he crashed into the geth unit, John stabbed forward with both blades, sinking deep into the machine, then pulling back, only to stab back in.

As the geth tumbled over onto its back, sparks and flames erupting from its chassis, John caught himself, landing astride the thing, blue biotic energy swirling about him as his two omniblades glowed, sizzling with whatever fluids coursed through the geth's body.

His victory was short lived, as a mass of steel swung down in an arc, hitting him square in the chest and throwing his body tumbling and bounce down the stairs, where he rolled to a stop.

Desperately, John scratched at the ground as he pulled himself over onto his back. He gasped, over and over as he struggled to pull air back into his lungs. Burning pain radiated from his entire body as his head rang like a bell.

Jerking and tearing at his helmet, John pulled it off, and tossed it aside as blood splattered out of him, slapping wetly on the ground.

Bleary eyed, John looked back, expecting to see his death, but instead, he saw Grunt stepping over him, a look of pure, childish glee on his face as the stolen plasma rifle fired into the knot of geth that charged John's downed form. And beyond the krogan, the Colossus staggered as a rocket struck it, followed by a biotic warp. A sniper rifle boomed in the background of John's hearing, over and over. Sparks from a blurry figure jumped at the Colossus, and coursed over its frame.

"-erd?" he heard Grunts deep voice cackle as the sound rushed back to John's ears.

"What?" John attempted to mumble as he struggled to his feet, his hands grasping the krogan's tail, first, for support as he drug himself up.

"I said, 'Are you alive'," Grunt ground out, his voice oddly high pitched, for a krogan. "Touch my tail again and you'll eat your armor."

"Right...right, sorry," John spat more blood. That probably wasn't good.

"Take the thing off my back!" Grunt jerked a thumb over his shoulder, indication the device he had been carrying since they arrived.

"...'Kay…" John grabbed the thing, off from the krogan's back, only to have it unfold into some sort of massive, if stubby barreled cannon. Surrounding the barrel, were three broad wings. And the thing hummed with power. "Uhhh...what is this, Grunt?"

The krogan laughed as be reached back and grabbed the collar of John's battered armor, dragging the man in front of himself. "No idea," Grunt admitted, a certain joy in the words. "Found it in the armory. Looks like it would hurt a lot, so I grabbed it."

"What if is explodes and kills us or something?" John looked over his shoulder at the krogan hiding behind him.

"Then we go spectacularly," Grunt shrugged matter-of-factly. "Besides, that's why I'm behind you. Don't you want to pull that trigger and see what it does to that geth?"

For a moment John stared at the Grunt before smirking. "Well, fuck it," he chuckled. "Who am I to deny my day old boy his first present?"

"That's the spirit, 'Dad'," Grunt cackled, slapping John on the shoulder.

Taking a deep breath, John stepped around, and hefted the massive cannon and pulled the trigger. Nothing happened for a moment, but John wasn't surprised. A weapon like this usually needed a moment to warm up.

And warm up it did.

The cannon in John's grip began to hum as if vibrated. Inside the device, he could feel something spinning as power began to thrum through it. Then, slowly at first, then increasing at an alarming rate, John could feel the tug of a powerful Mass Effect field building within the weapon. When the cannon's humming reached a crescendo, John released the trigger.

From the barrel of the weapon, a black hole shot forward. Blue biotic energy coursed over the void black ball that hurtled toward the Colossus before it impacted with the machine.

No. Impacted was not the right term, because the singularity formed by the weapon didn't so much as hit the Colossus, as stop a meter in front of it. The distance, however, didn't save it.

The blue energy surrounding the singularity flashed purple as it began to break down. Violent winds suddenly erupted around the black orb as the event horizon began to rip the geth apart at the molecular level.

The Colossus, realizing the danger, let loose an electronic squeal as it's legs ripped holes in the stone beneath it, as it struggled to pull itself away. But it was stuck fast, or rather, it was slowly being pulled forward.

With wide eyes, John watched as the front half of the Colossus began to shred into spaghetti-like ribbons, swirling around the singularity, like some sort of mini accretion disc.

Then, suddenly, the ball imploded, vanishing in a puff of blue biotic energy, leaving the rear half of the Colossus to slowly topple to the ground with a resounding crash.

In the aftermath, the world seemed still, and quiet. Not a sound could be heard aside from the tinkling of parts as the geth fell apart.

Slowly, John's wide eyed stare lowered to the weapon in his hands, where it sat, a thin stream of steam rising from it's barrel.

Cursing, he threw it away from himself, flinching as it hit the ground.

Tali

She sat in the middle of the room. Her legs were pulled up in front of her with her arms wrapped tightly around them. Her visor rested on her knees as she sat. Tears having long ago dried up. The sounds from outside, the explosions, the rattling of the walls, the screeching of the geth trying to get through the wall had all stopped.

Or she had stopped hearing them. Maybe she was already dead? Did the Ancestors blame her for the lives lost of this stupid mission? Was this her punishment? Doomed to sit here, rass'teil?

She wasn't sure how long. It was a moment, mere seconds. Or minutes, or hours. But eventually the doors gave a echoing boom, slowly falling backwards, a cloud of dust kicked up by its deafening impact.

Light streamed in, its bright rays cutting through the dust and gloom. The brilliance slicing through her visor, shining through her eyelids. The light forced her hands to come up, to try to block the pain.

A shadow fell upon her then. A shadow, whose existence fill her with a warmth no sun ever could.

She looked up, desperate. Her soul yearned for the silhouette that stood in the door.

"Hey, Tali," he said. There was something in his voice. Something that caught deep inside of her, and pulled at her. A warm embrace that held her heart gently in its embrace. "Sorry I'm late," John Shepard said to her. Her Captain. The other half of her soul. Her Saera.

Quarian Lexicon

Con'alds: Curse word used in the same manner as humans use 'Bastard', but worse. Direct translation is 'product of a mating between siblings'

Raas'teil: Term used when describing the plight of a soul when its body has ceased living. Literal translation: Forever wanderer. Unable to join with the Ancestors, the soul wanders aimlessly, never to feel joy or solace. Having no heaven or hell in quarian religion, no demons or angels, the quarians believe in an afterlife where their souls reunite with all of those who have died before them. The raas'teil, due to their actions in life, can never know this peace and continue throughout eternity always yearning for what they can never attain.

Saera: Term used when speaking to ones lifemate. Literal translation: My soul's soul. Other meanings include, but are not limited to: Keeper of my soul and My souls protector. Most commonly used word throughout the fleet by a quarian when speaking privately to their lifemate. Though unconfirmed by any quarian, there are implications that this word holds extreme intimacy as well as absolute trust. No single human word or phrase encompassed all that this one short word implies as it appears to contain both dominant and submissive traits.