On the Aurora bridge the command crew were all at their stations. Jarod was at Ops, Locarno beside him at the helm. The Delgado sisters Caterina and Angela were at their respective stations, science and tactical, with Tom Barnes seated in front of Caterina at Engineering and Meridina moving over to the First Officer's chair when Julia stepped onto the bridge. The klaxons had ceased, but the ship's running lights were shifted entirely to red. Across her kilometer-long hull the two thousand crew of the ship were moving to their battle stations due to those red lights.
Julia lowered herself into the central chair and secured her safety harness. "What's our status?"
"Coming out of warp in ten seconds," Locarno answered.
There was no need for a countdown. Julia waited the ten seconds until the ship's warp drive disengaged. The holo-viewscreen came online at Jarod's command, presenting the image of a planet with red streams of lava covering part of the otherwise reddish-brown surface. A single Geth warship was still in orbit, shaped like a wingless dragonfly. The insect like ship turned away from the planet.
"I'm picking up a power surge. Their FTL drive system is activating."
On the screen the Geth ship suddenly disappeared, shooting away in the blink of an eye.
"Bring us into orbit," Julia ordered. "Stand down from Code Red, make our status Yellow."
"Yes Captain," Meridina answered. Across the bridge everyone removed their harnesses, allowing them freer movement.
"Scan the planet. We're looking for a Prothean dig site where an Asari is present. There may be more than one."
Caterina immediately reacted to Julia's command. "I'm running the scan now." Cat looked over her readings. "I'm getting something in the northern hemisphere, the other side of the planet from the Human colony. An active power source is showing in what looks like an underground dig site… I can't get life sign readings though, there's an energy field interfering with the sensor returns." After double-checking something Cat turned to Julia and nodded. "And there are Geth there. A whole bunch of 'em, including a very big one."
"Lieutenant, can you relay those to me?" asked Jarod.
Caterina nodded at Jarod and did so. He looked over her readings and shook his head. "That energy field is going to make transporting down to the site difficult. We may need to beam down about two kilometers or so from the site."
"What about landing with runabouts?"
"Even with shields, the Geth have heavy weapons that might damage them, I wouldn't recommend sending any down until we've neutralized the Geth," Jarod answered.
"That means fighting through all of those Geth," Julia noted. "Could we have Laurent's fighters move in first and hit them with airstrikes? Or use our light weapons for orbital bombardment?"
"I wouldn't recommend it," Jarod replied. "Even with precision weaponry, they might cause damage to the entrance tunnel."
"So it's the Marines after all." Julia turned to Meridina. "Tell Major Anders I want a full Marine strike team deployed, heavy units included. And let Lucy know she's joining them. Make sure they know about the atmospheric conditions and temperature."
Meridina nodded. "I am relaying the order now."
"And inform Commander Atreiad I want the Koenig ready for launch within the hour." After Meridina nodded in acknowledgement, Julia turned her attention to Caterina. "Lieutenant, I want regular long range sensor sweeps," she said. "The Geth may be back with reinforcements, and I'm not letting them catch us by surprise."
"Yes ma'am," Cat answered. "And may I join the mission to the site once it's secure? There's a lot we might learn about the Protheans down there, maybe even something relevant to whatever Saren's trying to do."
Julia considered the idea, noting the concerned look on Angel's face. Still, Cat was the right person for the job, especially given the importance of the site. So she nodded. "Alright. Go put your team together, Lieutenant, and pick a runabout."
"Yes ma'am," Cat replied, slipping out of her chair in favor of one of the standby officers.
Julia returned to her seat and to her primary job at this point, possibly the hardest job on all the ship.
Waiting.
Only a single Geth scout patrol interrupted Shepard's team on the way to the lift, one easily dispatched. Once it was defeated the four took the lift up to the garage for Zhu's Hope. The Geth clearly had little concern for the vehicles present, most of which were unarmed civilian craft that would be death traps on the way to ExoGeni HQ. Alone among them was a M-35 Mako, a literal copy of the one still in Normandy's cargo bay.
Shepard triggered the vehicle to open with her military ID code. The engine came to life within it, as did all of the control screens and surfaces inside. Right inside the door was a driver's seat flanked by a gunner's seat with controls for the turreted guns of the ATV. Robert, more by habit than desire, slipped into said seat while Shepard took the driver's seat. Ashley and Tali took seats in the rear. "Ma'am, with all due respect, maybe I should drive," Ashley said. "I got top marks on the range."
"Commander's prerogative, Sergeant," Shepard answered.
"Oh dear," Tali said. "It's a good thing I updated my suit's motion sickness mods since Klensal."
Shepard frowned toward the Quarian as she slipped into one of the seats. Tali ignored the frown and pulled the protective harness down to hold her in the seat. Ashley took up the one across the way, giving each plenty of room given the vacant seats to each side.
Robert, who hadn't gone down on the scouting mission to Klensal, glanced briefly toward Shepard. Shepard's green eyes met his and narrowed. "Not you too," she grumbled. "Perhaps you'd like to drive?"
"Well, now that you mention…"
Before he could finish Shepard's foot slammed on the throttle pedal. The Mako leapt forward and Robert was thrown back into his seat. The shock of the sudden movement took his breath away for a moment and kept him from finishing the sentence.
Ahead the door of the garage automatically opened. The Mako was going so fast that it zipped through only a second after the garage opened high enough for the vehicle to have sufficient clearance to exit. The bright sunlight of Feros shined down on the skyway, a literal mid-air highway linking the tower where Zhu's Hope was located to another in the distance.
Robert glanced over to Shepard. "You did that on purpose," he accused.
"Yep," she confirmed.
"And you wonder why people are worried about your driving." He eyed the edge of the skyway. Even though it was curved upward to a lip along the edge, it wouldn't take much for the Mako to go over said lip and off the edge to a long, very long, very fatal plummet to the rubble-laden ground below. "Especially since we're what, a kilometer above the ground?"
"Kilometer and a half, easy," she replied, her eyes still focused forward. "And you've got bigger things to worry about."
Robert felt the danger even as his head turned to face it. A massive four-legged Geth platform was standing behind a line of bipedal Geth platforms. Each brought up a rocket launcher.
"You're in the gunner's seat, Robert," Shepard reminded him. "Taking them out is your job."
Robert looked down at the controls. "Right," he said, while gripping at the joystick that controlled the turret. He reached up and pulled the gunnery camera down to eye level, showing him a view of the enemy troops from the gun-camera mounted on the turret. With his right hand operating the control joystick, his left hand was free to control the camera, letting him zoom in and out and bring up the distance, displayed in meters counting down on the screen.
"Thumb trigger is for the machine gun," Ashley said behind him. "The index trigger controls the 155 millimeter main gun."
"Both mass effect?"
"Yeah. Composition is good for both armor penetration or area effect."
"Right."
By this point the first rocket was already in the air, flying toward them so quickly Robert was sure it'd hit. But Shepard's driving was precise, swinging them just out of line of the rocket and leaving it to fly past. Robert brought the crosshairs over the center point of the four rocket-armed Geth and pulled the index trigger. The main cannon thundered. A plume of flame erupted from the midst of the Geth, blasting the two closest to it into clouds of flaming debris and sending the other two flying like rag dolls.
"Main gun has a safety lock to keep it cool," Ashley added, as if just remembering the point. "You can only fire it every four or five seconds."
With that in mind Robert put the crosshairs on the big four-legged Geth. His thumb pressed down. The machine gun attached to the main turret sent a spray of hyper-accelerated alloy metal, no piece larger than a grain of rice, into the big armored Geth. A kinetic barrier absorbed the shots with decreasing effectiveness.
Then the Geth fired a bolt of plasma that shot down the skyway at them. Shepard turned slightly to evade, preventing a direct hit, but the plasma impacted against the rear edge of the Mako's side. There was a slight tremor in the vehicle. "Looks like the barrier held," Tali noted, watching the action from her seat.
"I don't exactly have a lot of room to maneuver," Shepard warned. "Take that thing down."
Robert was already releasing the thumb trigger, given the heat warning for the machine gun was near the maximum level. The main gun was ready to fire again, though, and he put the crosshairs right on the Geth's torso and squeezed the trigger. The round from the 155 gun slammed into the kinetic barrier and through it, smashing into the silver surface of the four-legged machine. Again Robert triggered the machine gun and this time watched the Geth's body spark, wounds and tears forming in its skin. He let off again when the machine gun was about to overheat.
The Geth was shooting again. Shepard turned hard and braked by necessity, ensuring they didn't go over the edge. The shot flew right in front of them by less than a meter.
To Robert's benefit, the turret control systems ensured the turret turned as well, sparing Robert the need to turn the turret ninety degrees to face the Geth. It was already charging up another shot at the temporarily-immobile Mako.
Before it could fire, the Mako's main gun finished cooling down. Robert targeted the machine's chest and fired again. With no kinetic barrier to even slow it down, the round shot right into the heart of the Geth platform and wrecked its interior systems. The plasma charge dissipated and the flashlight eye of the Geth died out. After a couple of moments the entire Geth exploded, victim of an overload in its critically-damaged systems.
"Great shooting," Ashley said. "You're a natural at this."
"I have a little assistance," Robert said.
"There'll be more where those came from," Shepard warned, already gently pushing the throttle and turning the Mako back into line with the tower ahead. "Keep an eye out."
"Yes ma'am," Robert answered. As the Mako shot down the skyway again, he thought, And maybe Shepard's not really that bad a driver after all. Just… very precise.
He decided that it was best not to speak the thought aloud, though. Just in case.
Lucy had been to hot planets before. Abdis, or Abydos as it was called in R4A1, had been a broiler during the day.
But Therum took the cake. And, Lucy imagined bitterly, baked it too.
The temperature meter on Lucy's visor HUD showed a deadly 59.8 degrees Celsius as she and the Marines around her approached the dig site. Moving on foot with light and regular power armor - or swevyra power in Lucy's case - allowed the team to avoid a prepared defensive outpost the Geth had taken control of. Lucy felt hot in her armor. She hadn't bothered with the robes, which would only weigh her down and do little to help with the heat. The Gersallian armor was at least built to have cooling systems for extreme environments, combined with the standard issue helmet she used, and together it kept the internal temperature at a little over half the outside temp.
Which, granted, meant it was nearly ninety degrees Fahrenheit inside her armor, and that was distinctly uncomfortable.
But there were ways it could get worse, which is what happened when they arrived at the dig.
The Geth were waiting for them with a defensive perimeter supported with cover. Lucy felt a sense of danger and brought her lightsaber out. It flashed to life just in time to intercept the sniper round aimed at Anders. "Snipers!"
Another shot rang out. Another of the Marines, an Alakin, took a hit before he could get to cover. "My personal deflector is down to twenty percent," the Alakin said.
Even as the warning came Lucy sprang into action. There was no use feeling for her foes. The Geth were not connected to the Flow of Life themselves. She couldn't sense them. But nor were they invisible to her senses. She could sense the danger they represented to her and the others. An instinctive knowledge, revealed to her through her connection to the Flow of Life, that let her know where to attack.
One moment she was running over the volcanic soil. The next a shot came for her, deflected by her lightsaber, then another. She batted away the round, triggering its plasma discharge that instead went right into the flashlight head of the Geth platform that had fired the shot. While it fell its companions continued to fire.
But now they fired at nothing. Lucy made a leap into mid-air just as they fired. She jumped further and faster than a normal human being could have managed and landed behind the barricade the Geth were using for cover. The nearest Geth she sliced in half with a single swing. The same motion of her lightsaber became a deflection of another Geth's fire, sending the bolt of plasma intended for her into the hip joint of the third. Lucy reached out with her hand and through the Flow of Life to grip the damaged Geth. She threw it into its compatriot and sent both into a nearby rock formation.
That was when she felt another sniper shot being prepared. She brought her weapon up and caught the shot sent her way, sending it off into the rock wall across the pathway. She swung again to stop another shot. Looking up she could see the towers from which the snipers were shooting, towers beyond easy attack range for her. Especially with the other Geth in close range and still threats.
Then there were streaks of flame in the air; missiles, fired from the Marines in their armor suits, now crashing into those towers and engulfing the shooters' nests with flame and pressure. A flaming Geth platform flew from one due to a slightly off-angle hit. The other Geth were not seen, presumably blown apart from the closer direct hits.
Even the two Geth platforms she'd been fighting were eliminated before she could finish them herself. She tracked the fire to Anders and a squad of Marines advancing quickly on her position. The other Marines were behind them, either moving ahead or in cover returning fire from those Geth platforms not yet taken out. "Excellent work, Lieutenant," Anders said, a hint of sardonic amusement in his voice. "Charging ahead without orders and being able to survive is a hell of perk, isn't it?"
"It looks like you've made good use of it," Lucy countered, attempting an equal tone and not quite avoiding irritation. With no imminent danger the heat inside her suit was reminding her of how damned unpleasant this planet was. Why couldn't the Protheans have built their ruins on a cooler world?... and now we'll end up going to an arctic world at some point since I'm asking.
"Well, you disrupted their entire defensive formation, I'll give you that. And got the attention of their snipers." Anders chuckled to himself. "I'd bring up what I was actually about to do, but we should move on ahead." He gestured to where the other squads had already moved on to the rise beyond them. "The ruin entrance is just ahead of us."
"Lead the way," Lucy answered.
With Anders' squad trailing, they advanced on to link up with the advancing Marines. The Geth platforms clearly weren't experienced in dealing with retreats. Lucy sensed the elation of Anders' Marines at their successful advance.
Then there was apprehension. Shortly thereafter Lucy saw the bright burst of white-blue light ahead and a cry of pain and knew there was trouble.
The trouble wasn't from the agile Geth platforms slinking along the sides of the structures at the dig sites. The Marines were putting them down. It was the other Geth threat, the biggest one. A colossal four-legged Geth platform that looked like a cross between a metal turtle and a giraffe with its longer neck connecting the body to the big flashlight head. A plasma projector was already nearly done charging when it came into view, aimed at a squad of Marines, one of which was badly wounded. They were behind some cover, but the cover was flimsy and wouldn't absorb the entire plasma blast.
"Go go go!" Anders shouted at her, knowing his own teams weren't in position to properly engage before the Geth could land a fatal hit on his people.
His permission hadn't been necessary, but it was appreciated. Cursing the heat of the whole damned planet, Lucy reached for the warm power inside of her and felt it fill her body. Her muscles started moving faster, without strain, aided by the energy of life pulsing within her courtesy of the Flow of Life. Again her lightsaber flashed into existence. Not to deflect a shot, though. Even without the instinctive clairvoyance of the Flow of Life she knew, immediately, that the plasma discharge from the big Geth was simply too big for even a lightsaber to adequately deflect. If she could get to them before the shot, maybe her raw powerful could deflect it...
In the time it was taking her to close the range she looked about her surroundings, trying to figure out if she had an alternative. Her eyes settled on a sheet of metal. Given its shaping and structure, she figured it was heat shielding, and with the time left she had to hope it was. She raised her arm and extended her free hand, using it as a focus for the power flowing through her. Invisible force gripped the sheet and tossed it into the air.
The Geth fired. The orb of deadly plasma raced toward the stricken Marine and his compatriots.
The sheet got there first.
The orb splattered over its surface, crackling like lightning. But it could not get around the sheet.
Lucy turned her attention to the Geth war machine itself. With its main weapon she didn't want it blasting everything, given it could damage the tube leading to the underground dig site. She'd have to give it a target.
Namely, her.
So she ran toward it over the open. Her lightsaber swung to deflect incoming shots from the other Geth platforms. A couple shots were angled to go right back toward the Geth, one even hitting a Geth right in the flashlight head, while the rest sprayed everywhere. Behind her more Marines were moving into a firing position. This was good; it let her focus on the main target.
The big Geth's head tracked her. It's four feet shuffled, shifting it around to meet her as she came in. Energy surged near its head until another orb of lethal plasma was coming toward her. With a mere second to react Lucy dove and rolled under the shot. The blue blade of her weapon flashed in the air again, catching more of the fire from the smaller platforms, while her legs kept going.
It was going to be close. The Geth heavy platform was charging another shot, and she wasn't sure she'd get to it in time. Indeed, as it became brighter, a brief thought came to her head, that she'd miscalculated, that it was going to fire just before she got too close for it to hit her…
That was when a missile slammed into the flashlight head. The Geth's neck flailed wildly after the impact, the light broken, the machine blind.
Behind her, and in her helmet, Ander's voice cried out, "You're clear, Lieutenant!"
And so she was. As Lucy moved toward the Geth machine she brought her lightsaber up. It was well-constructed and gave resistance to the weapon, so the leg was unsevered by Lucy's cut, merely damaged. She twirled about and cut through it again, aimed at a weaker point in the armor around the joint. This time the blade cut cleanly through. The leg fell to the side. A confused, angry electronic warble came to the air, as if the Geth was crying out in pain.
As the Geth machine teetered, trying and failing to keep balance with just three legs, Lucy cut its other fore leg out from under it. Now it pitched forward and fell to the ground, Lucy getting out from under it before it could crush her. Her lightsaber lashed out again, carving an angry red wound into its side. Fluid from severed hydraulic lines spilled and steamed where it struck the melting point-hot metal skin around the wound.
And yet the Geth creature wasn't dead, simply wounded. Its head flailed. Plasma was still building up in its firing chamber, now targeting Anders and some of his Marines. They took cover in the moments before it fired, utilizing the misshapen stack of sheet metal Lucy had previously employed, which allowed them to survive the orb of plasma that came for them.
"Lieutenant, get clear!" Anders called out. "Marines, switch to anti-armor munitions!"
Moments later another pair of missiles from the power armored-Marines hit the front of the Geth machine. They penetrated toward the heart of it, blowing out large chunks of debris and fluid through two gaping wounds caused by the jets of super-heated plasma created by the anti-armor warheads. Lucy was already running for one of the last group of singular Geth platforms when the second salvo hit. More of the torso was blown out.
By the time Lucy was cleaving through the last Geth platform, another salvo had hit. This time, the Geth war machine was blown to pieces.
"Good job Marines. And Lady Knight." There was some bemusement in Anders' voice at referencing Lucy like that. "Sanders, Sanger, secure the perimeter. Khraa, Kutalaran, set up sniper nests and heavy weapon firing stations. If the Geth come back, I want them to find us ready for war. Step to it Marines!"
"Sir yes sir!" was the collective reply.
Anders wasn't finished, however. "Aurora, this is Major Anders," he continued, now on open comms to the ship. "Site is secure. I repeat, site is secure. Send in the science team, and we'll need medbay ready for one casualty."
"Good job Major," Julia said. "The St. Johns and Warri are en route. Tell your Marines that Hargert will have a meal waiting for them when they get back."
"Let him know it's appreciated, ma'am."
The St. Johns was lifting off with Doctor Walker already tending to the injured Marine inside. On the Warri, the rear module was full of specialized gear being packed up by the mixed team of science, operations, and engineering officers, some taking up the available seats.
Caterina took in a breath and observed her team - as chief science officer she was in command of these officers - while Tra'dur checked her helmet's seals for her. The field action uniform was the same she'd worn on Tira during the fight, with the attached helmet, gloves, and boots that made it an environmentally-sealed suit for her to survive the hellish volcanic temperature of Therum. "Seal checks are good," said the Dilgar woman. Her helmet was already in place on her own action uniform.
"Thanks." Cat turned to the other members of the team. Barnes was finishing suiting up with the helm of Ensign Tulari, a purple-complexioned, teal-spotted Dorei woman and one of the junior engineering officers. The last pair of officers were Lieutenant (J.G.) Theek, a male Alakin science officer with geologist specialty, and Ensign Talara, the Falaen/Altean helm officer who had some training for field operation support.
"So, sixty fraking degrees Celsius out there," Barnes grumbled. "And people actually live on this place. Why not just use mining drones?"
"Well, the kind of VI automation you're thinking of isn't common in this universe, at least not pre-Multiversal Contact," Cat reminded him. "Plus they might not have been able to afford it."
"Bah." Barnes sighed and reached down for his pack, carrying a collection of sensor gear and emergency survival gear. "Aren't we just here for some Asari babe? Why are we hauling this stuff?"
Cat gave him a sour look. "Because it's a Prothean ruin, Tom, er, Lieutenant. And our secondary mission is to see if there's anything of interest here about what destroyed the Protheans. Given what Commander Shepard saw from the beacon, and what Meridina was shown by that intelligence on Adrana… well, we need proof of the Reapers to get people to take it seriously."
Barnes grumbled something inarticulate before heading for the door.
Cat turned slightly and noticed the frown on Tra'dur's face. Her English had a faint Anglo-Indian accent when she asked, "How can someone that undisciplined be an officer?"
"It's his way of coping with discomfort," Caterina explained. "Once an engineering problem presents itself, that's when he shines."
"I see. Your people… they give allowances in exchange for merit."
"Some do." Caterina could remember, darkly, how nasty Admiral Davies and others like him could be around her and her friends. "Others, not so much."
Tra'dur put on her own pack. It had other science gear, as well as its own survival gear. "This is why Captain Andreys puts so much effort into maintaining formality, then."
"Yeah." Cat lifted her own, with some effort. There was a visible grimace on her face.
"The fate of the Protheans is an interesting question." This was from Ensign Talara, who stepped up to join them. "I've read some papers in my spare time since we began the mission. Although most of them dismiss the idea of an outside force destroying them."
"Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence," Caterina said. "I mean, yes, without evidence you can't logically prove something, but it just means something is unproven. Disproving it would require confirmation that the Protheans' fate didn't involve the Reapers or whatever they are…"
They departed the Warri by the side airlock. Cat took in the sight of the battle, including the ruined carapace of what had been a big Geth combat platform. Anders approached with Lucy. "There aren't any more Geth on the surface," he confirmed. "My squads just took out the last stragglers, and Commander Laurent's pilots removed the Geth at the nearby checkpoint. But there's no guarantee that there aren't more inside. Combat sensors are showing too much interference."
"So we'll need you to cover us," Cat said. She tapped her sidearm holster, where a pulse pistol was secured. "We're armed too."
"Good, but if things go right you won't be using those. I'm leaving Lieutenant Sanger up here with a rear guard, but I'm taking a couple of squads with me to be your vanguard."
"And me, of course." Lucy smiled inside of her helmet. "To help both of you as necessary."
"Right. We'll follow you, Major," Caterina said.
Anders nodded and started gathering his squad. The other officers huddled around Cat, with Lucy joining them. "It'd be nice if Doctor T'Soni and whoever else is running the dig site has a climate-controlled atmosphere down there," Lucy said. "I'm sweating enough out here."
"I know. My fur already feels damp," Tra'dur complained.
"There are worse," Cat remarked idly. "The Doctor took me to this volcanic planet where the atmosphere could set you on fire if you stepped outside the atmospheric forcefields."
"A terrible way to die," Talara, observed.
"Yeah, it was," Cat answered, her voice a little hollow, more than enough to let the others know she'd observed it firsthand. Ahead of them, Anders and his Marines were already approaching the entrance to the dig site. "Well, let's go find Doctor T'Soni and see if there's any cool Prothean stuff here."
"Right behind you," Lucy assured her.
The flaming ruins of another four-legged Geth war machine burned as the Mako roared by. Robert returned the turret to its default forward-facing position. A quick check of ammunition levels showed that they still had another two hours worth of combat ammunition in the block, minimum. This was the great advantage of mass effect field-based firearms; whatever they lost in punch or versatility compared to directed energy weapons like phasers or Darglan-tech pulse guns, they made up for it with sheer firing capacity.
"No more Geth on sensors," Robert said. "No indications of jamming either."
"Right." Shepard kept her eyes on the skyway road. Ahead the entrance to another tower loomed. "Tali, what's our status? Any damage?"
"Nothing severe," Tali said, hunched over the access hatch to the Mako's engine and critical systems. "The kinetic barrier is at half strength and improving. Although it looks like you took some splash damage to the middle axle. Give me a few minutes and I can repair it."
"That might not…"
Shepard stopped speaking when a voice crackled over the open radio lines. "...that engine noise? They're getting closer…" She glanced to Robert as they pulled up to a ramp leading further up the tower, beside another ramp that was partially blocked and leading downward.
Instead of checking sensors, Robert felt out through the Flow of Life. With so much of the planet dead, the Flow was weak here, anemic. That made the handful of living beings near them all the easier to sense. "A half dozen or more," he said. "Very close." He eyed the downward ramp. "That way."
"Tali, looks like you're getting the time to fix that axle," Shepard said. "Ashley, Robert, with me." She pulled the Mako up beside the downward ramp and secured it.
"It'll be done when you get back, Shepard," Tali promised as the three stepped out of the Mako.
Shepard took the lead, as always, leading the two around the Mako and down the ramp. As they approached one of the barriers a gunshot rang out. Robert reached a hand toward his holster, the other up and ready to help him focus power if he needed it for defense.
"Not Geth," Ashley observed. "Sounds like a Predator pistol."
Shepard nodded. "Whoever's there, this is Commander Shepard of the Systems Alliance, we're here to help!"
"Oh thank God," a voice cried out from below, that of an older woman. "Would you idiots put those guns away?!"
When there was no gunfire for several more seconds, Shepard finished leading them down the ramp. At the bottom was a makeshift camp where several people, all Human, were spread about. Two were in combat armor, flanking a man of mostly East Asian ancestry. "Are you in charge?" Shepard asked him.
"Ethan Jeong of ExoGeni Corporation," he replied. "I'm the administrator here." He frowned at another figure, an older woman.
"You're the one who cried out to stop firing?" Robert asked her.
She nodded. "My name is Juliana Baynham. And thank God you've come. Maybe you can save my…"
"Your daughter's probably dead, Juliana," Jeong said, his voice loud and irritated. "Right now the important thing is we may have a ride out of here."
"Aren't you the optimistic type?" Ashley gave him a disapproving look.
"I'm here investigating the Geth attack," Shepard said to them. "In fact, we're on our way to your HQ tower to see what the Geth are doing there. Is there anything you can share with me?"
"I'm afraid nothing of value," Jeong answered. "ExoGeni's purpose here is to research any remaining Prothean technology recovered. But we've had very little success with substantial new finds. Frankly the colony is costing my company money. I'm not sure what the invaders want."
Robert felt a prickle at the back of his head. An instinctive sense within him of deception. He kept any look of surprise off his face, saying nothing as Shepard continued to ask Jeong more about what ExoGeni was up to.
The gray-haired woman approached him. "Please, if you're going to the HQ, find my little girl. Find Liz." Robert sensed the very real worry and terror in the woman, suffering from one of the most primal fears many sapient beings could ever know: being a parent with a missing child. "Even if she's dead, I…"
"You have to know," he said. Robert nodded and tried a comforting smile. "I know what you mean, Miss… Baynham, right?"
"Yes. Juliana Baynham. My daughter is…"
"Elisabeth?"
"Yes. An excellent guess."
He nodded. In truth, it hadn't been just a guess, of course. "When we get there, I'll do what I can."
"We all will, ma'am," Ashley assured her. "Family is important."
To that, Robert nodded in heartfelt agreement.
When the three returned to the Mako, Tali met them at the door. "Everything is fine," she said. "I even realigned the axles. Whoever does the mechanic work here is horrible."
"Excellent work, Tali." Shepard returned to the driver's seat. Robert, again, took up the seat beside her, leaving Ashley and Tali to their prior seats. Shepard glanced over at Robert. "So, how much was Jeong telling the truth about?"
"Not hard to guess he was covering something up, huh?" Ashley asked.
"He was certainly lying when he said he didn't know why the Geth were here, and that there's nothing here of value worth an attack," Robert replied. "He's a decent liar, but I still felt the deception."
"He's a corporate type, who knows what kind of skeevy work he's trying to cover up?"
"I don't know." Robert shook his head. "I sensed something back in Zhu's Hope. Something… off. There's more to this colony than we're seeing."
"But what would Saren be interested in here?" Tali asked. "Could there be another Prothean beacon, like on Eden Prime?"
"It's possible, but I doubt it," replied Shepard. "Covering that up couldn't be done forever, and ExoGeni would get hit by so many sanctions and charges by the Citadel Council and Systems Alliance that it would ruin their business. No, this has got to be something else." She put the Mako into drive. "Now let's go find out what it is."
Robert braced himself this time, saying nothing as Shepard sent the Mako rocketing up the the next ramp.