The decaying soldiers charged straight into a hail of gunfire. All parties unleashed hell in bullet form. Fragile though the creatures looked, they were anything but as lost limbs and perforated torsos did little to dissuade their advance. Thick yellow blood leaked from wounds yet none of them slowed or even acknowledged the damage. Most still had scraps of purple tinted armor.
With the mechanical undead almost upon them, the Prince felt ill knowing action was required. He fell back on the self defense training all royals receive and coaxed the ever present tingle deep in his mind to the forefront. Orian unsheathed Sigil feeling its enormous weight for a brief instant before focusing his gift on the blade.
Not a moment to soon did a ghoulish runner leap from a boulder at Shepard. Orian thrusted forward impaling the gray monster and pulled back his focus on the weapon letting it slice its way to the ground before going feather light again. It fell in a heap of useless meat and wires. He couldn't help but shiver at the idea that had he and Shepard chased after the Geth this horror may have been him.
The Commander pushed him aside beheading another undead with her wedge of hardened light in the process. "Get your head in the game! You can freak out when the Husks are dead." She slashed another one in the throat then finished it off with a burst from her handgun.
The Prince rose and rejoined the fight. A lift here or a throw there from each biotic member of the team had the Husks filed into a conveyor belt line. In this new formation half fell in less than thirty seconds under the concentrated fire of twenty some guns. What did get through Orian and the Vorcha swarmed with their blades and claws.
After the shock of what was happening was pushed from his mind the Prince managed to notice growls and groans from behind. Just within the clearing were nearly forty more of the monsters running into the woods. The suns light illuminated green cloth on a handful. Clearly Jovia's men did not make it back to their barracks.
"Behind us!" Was all the group needed to hear for a quartet of grenades to devastate the enemies front line.
The Asari spun on their heels to strike out with three separate shock waves. Bodies slammed against trees; snapping branches and tearing away bark. The husks faired worse with broken spines and shredded flesh. A pair of singularities rounded up those that were left. Alhena finished off her ammo and let loose a slam between the fragile orbs of dense gravity. The detonation was big enough to add some square footage to the clearing. What monsters remained were easily dispatched; Orian himself removed several heads.
Dropping her empty gun Alhena turned on the Commander. "You said there was only one Geth! What the fuck did you have me send my men into?" His sister was a demanding General, but one that cared for her soldiers.
Shepard for her part stayed calm if alert. "Those aren't Geth. They're called Husks and they use to be your men."Obviously this revelation didn't help the situation.
"You never said Geth could do this to people!"
Nardar cut in. "Geth platforms are not able to transfigure on their own. Require 'Dragon teeth' large metal spikes on which targets are impaled. Releases complex nanobots to convert flesh to synthetic materials and reprograms brain for hostility."
The Princess only looked further angered. "Why did you not tell us they had such technology!"
"Because they don't!" Shepard interrupted. "The fact that this Geth had Dragons teeth with them means things are a hell of a lot worse than we thought. Now get back to camp and tell your men at the tower to get ready to level this forest. Anybody that's hurt go with her and find a way to contact the Normandy."
Two Turians one Quarian and an Asari followed Alhena on her way back. The rest began looking for a way to undermine the Geth's reconstruction efforts. The two remaining Quarians and all four Salarians got to work on disabling the ship's electronic equipment. Each Krogan took turns attempting to pry its doors open and the biotics concocted a method of restraining the shuttle. It amounted to nothing as the system's Geth improved firewalls were too tough, the doors appeared to be welded shut and its engine was just too powerful. The Prince listened to Shepard berate herself for getting 'the best on the market'.
A barely audible crackling sound came over the Commander's helmet communicator. Her face showed what Orian learned was an expression of relief. Either the airship managed to relay the radio signal or the Geth required all its power to fend off the hackers.
"Shepard to Normandy do you copy?" By her grin the answer was likely a yes. "I need you to target the Ursa Major and fire with the main guns." This caught Orian off guard.
"Wait! We still have to get the child out." Destroying this creature was not worth killing an innocent girl.
"We don't have time!" On cue the shuttle started to hum like before in the arena. "Everyone fall back! Normandy fire when you have a clear shot." The noise grew as everybody ran into the woods.
"This is not right! Just trade its freedom for Erane." It was a fair trade; a life for a life. "You have fleets that could protect us if they return with an invasion force." It was starting to hover.
"This isn't about the Geth. That thing would not have come here unless it was for information." Before Orian could form a rebuttal Shepard grabbed him by the vest. Her eyes were wide and manic looking. "If that thing gets off this planet it will find the Reapers and everyone everywhere WILL DIE!" She tried unsuccessfully to drag him away from the ship and likely impact spot. "Fine. If you want to die here that's your choice."
She gave him a look of disappointment and he returned one of disgust; then she ran. Orian didn't know just what The Commander had seen in her life that could leave the woman so cold, but he wasn't going to give up. He drew Sigil once more and attacked a rear thruster leaving a good sized dent. A second strike missed as the ship rose skyward.
The Prince knew his next course of action was absurd under even the best of circumstances, but he'd rather die a fool than live having done nothing. He tore off his feathered collar and raised his wings into the air. Orian gathered all the power he could muster. With one strong leap he launched into the sky.
Even in such a state of disrepair the shuttle remained in the lead. Few things on Turvess could out-fly a gifted Runner, yet this ship was pulling ahead. In a straight vertical ascension the Prince's wings were all but useless, and his skull was starting to pound with his effort.
Suddenly the Ursa Major pulled hard to the right. At that same instant a glowing blue pillar filled the void the ship had mostly evacuated. Fifteen feet away and Orian could still feel the heat of what was no doubt a space weapon. Sparks flew from the shuttle's left side; it was now without half its thrusters, and began to slow down. The Prince felt his lungs burn for more air as he and his quarry entered the upper atmosphere. It was now or never.
Pushing himself to the breaking point Orain reached the sliding door. He carefully used Sigil to pry the hatch open. With sword in place a strong twist of the hilt broke whatever mechanism held the plate of metal in place. Air currents scattered any unsecured items within the ship. A quick glance revealed a small Drell huddled in the far back corner. Orian's attempt to step inside was thwarted by a line of gunfire ripping into his leg. The Geth sat in the cockpit with a weapon in its hand and fired another burst downward at him.
The Prince didn't have enough power left to defend himself against such weaponry. He pulled out of the ingress and slashed at a still active thruster above him. Three good hits had the device sputtering dangerously. Satisfied the race was now even Orian clawed his way up to the ship's windshield. Several attacks left only dents and cracks despite Sigil's great weight. He hurled himself into the sky once more. The Prince managed to pull ahead. At about two hundred feet he dove.
This time Orian did not release his gift's hold on the weapon. He pushed all his power into Sigil's blade and reversed the flow of his energy. The prince was no longer diving so much as being dragged to the ground by a sword who's original mass had increased at least eight fold. Wind whipped past his ears in a deafening roar as he fell faster than he thought possible.
The Geth clearly didn't have the faintest idea of what was about to happen. Intent on pulverizing the annoying organic it did not waver. On impact metal folded in on itself before ripping apart. Sigil wedged its way through the cockpit and anyone inside. Wires ripped and plastic tore apart as the Geth was nearly bisected. Farther down the blade went shearing the roof apart. Toward the rear he reached out his hand and grabbed the curled up girl as the tailgate split in half.
Now out of the ship Orian released his grip on Sigil letting the blade drop from his hand. He held Erane tightly as they fell. The Prince needed to pull out of this dive. Wings unfurled painfully in the high speed winds. Orian felt his bones creak and tendons pull taught. With their angle of descent changed most of the speed bled off, but the Prince was to weak to reach the fields. Lower and lower they went until the first tree branch pierced his wing, and then another.