Hi there!
Back with a new chapter. I wanted to write this earlier and publish it in january, but unfortunatly I couldn't. My grandparents got sick and it looked like my grandmother wouldn't make it so I was so wrapped up in that to write anything, or doing anything for that matter. But she is out of danger now, but still not fine.
The other reason why it took so long to write it was because I had a really hard time figuring out how to put this chapter so it wouldn't be boring with them just driving around in the mako... As fun as it is to play it, it wouldn't make a good read.
And I want to say thank you for your support, fave, follow and mostly your wonderful reviews! When I'm stuck I go back and read all your encouragements and your thoughts! It really helps! Even if I know how the story is going to play out, I still run out of ideas sometimes. But you help me! Please keep it up! =D
But now back to the read... Hope you like it!
Escape the Fate
Chapter 13: Liara
Quinn's POV
She hardly felt the optic crush beneath her strength nor did she see the tiny pieces scatter around as she had already her blue and green eyes fixated on her next kill. The now lone Geth Hopper looked down at its comrades crushed head underneath her palm and slowly began to back away, knowing the same fate awaited it if it didn't get out of her reach. The Geth turned and leaped into a high jump towards the construction around the ruin's exterior, thinking it would be safer up there. But there was nowhere for it to run, sooner or later she would get it. She would get them all.
Quinn's eyes followed her pray as it jumped from one pillar to another like they were the only ones there. The voices behind her didn't register in her mind nor that others was after her pray. All that was the need for killing it. Removing her hand from her previous kill, she flexed her fingers like she could already imagine squashing the next kill. This Geth would meet the same end as all the rest.
The sound from above did nothing to break her out of her killing spell she was so engulfed in. Nor did it break as something heavy was being dropped behind her and the ground quiver by the heavy weight and force. How her legs didn't lose their balance was a mystery. Just like the voices behind her, her senses was screaming for her to turn around, but she was too engulfed in this predatory mind that she hoped nothing would break her out of it. The dark lusts for blood, destruction and killing was overpowering the grief she had been so consumed in. It was a welcoming relief.
Even if she saw the black masses being dropped at the corners of her sight, she still did not realize the threats behind her. Recklessly, she boosted up the biotic as soon as she predicted the Geth Hopper's movement to a more reachable place. As soon as it initiated it's jump, she let her biotic charge her forward. Although she didn't get more than three feet before the straight path she had foreseen had been cut short and instead thrown to the left. With just as strong force as her charge, did she and whomever had tackled her, rolled strongly and hard against the ground until they came to an abrupt stop when the two of them hit something hard.
With the world spinning around her, she managed to drag herself to a sitting position and realized she was leaning her back against a crate. Her hand found its way to the sore spot on her head and rubbed at it and all she could think of for a moment was that she hoped it hadn't split open, cause it sure felt like it. With a look at her hand, she found no blood. Still quite confused, she let her gaze wonder around the area. This was not the outpost she had charged into just moments ago. Still trying to remember how she had gotten there, she barley registered the shooting going on above her.
Only when a familiar voice spoke, did she snap out of her thoughts. "Hey. Are you okay?"
Startled, her eyes shot up at the person standing with his back just next to her, who was also leaning out of the crate with a pistol in his hands, shooting. Realization hit her and she knew he had been the reason the spell was now broken. The grief, betrayal and the feeling of being used came back and for a moment, she began to panic.
But that panic quickly turned into anger and she stood to a crouch, her left hand pushing her from the crate and screamed at the other biotic; "What the hell you piece of shit?! I would've killed that fucking thing if it wasn't for you!"
Kaidan leaned back into cover and turned towards her with an angry expression on his face. The tone was matching as he said; "Yeah? If I hadn't tackled you, then you be dead right about now!" He nudge his head and threw a glance towards a spot behind her back, before he turned his attention back to the battlefield.
A bit puzzled by this sudden change of attitude, she let her eyes linger on the man a little while longer as she tried to figure out what could have caused it, cause it certainly seemed it was solely directed at her and not the mission over all. Narrowing her eyes in suspicion, she eventually turned her gaze to behind her. Quite shocked, she couldn't take her eyes off of the hole in the ground where she had, or more correctly should have past in her charge. Burning marks was all around the hole and the ground had even cracked. Pulsing sparks was still shooting up in the air, but eventually, it died out. If her charge had managed to get her out of the way was uncertain. However the more she thought about it, the more she realized that the Geth Hopper had tried to lure her into that trap. It hurt her pride to admit to herself that it indeed could've indeed killed her.
A growl escaped her as her eyes lingered on the hole. Having been saved by anyone from the Alliance yet again was really making her feel humiliated and it was really pissing her off too. With a clenched jaw, as hard as she could master without breaking off a tooth, she took the other side of the crate and got into the game.
About thirteen feet away from her, stood John and Tali behind a similar crate, with John being the closest to her. Both was deeply engaged in the fight and it was then Quinn noticed the scratches, cuts and burns on their armors. Curious, she turned to give Kaidan a glance and found that he too had the same marks. But with him being closer, she could see to what extent. Though most looked superficial and solely to the armor, there actually were a few cracks in the armor, but none of them showed any indication of being injured as they kept on fighting. A quick look over her own armor followed and there wasn't anything other than the familiar screed marks formed from her charge.
It dawned on her that she couldn't remember much of their time on this planet. All she could remember was the Geth she had crushed, but how many of them wasn't as clear. Why were the rest of them so battered when she had been the one killing the Geth? They had been sitting in the Mako the whole time, yet the vehicle was nowhere to be seen.
The questions was pushed to the side as she had to get her head straight. Even if she wasn't as blood thirsty any more, she still wanted all of the Geth killed. She pulled her assault rifle off of her back and leaned out of the crate just enough to get a clearer view of what she was up against.
A Geth Armature stood on its four legs and blocked the entrance to the ruins. Along with it, two snipers hanging in the back, taking the first shot they got and two shook troopers who were advancing as the others were pinning the team to the crates. Then of course, was the annoying Hopper who was jumping and crawling over their heads on the construction, shooting at them with its laser.
All this had been a lot easier if they had the Mako there to back them up. With its massive guns they would have taken them all out in a couple of minutes at tops, but all they had was a regular soldier with various guns, a sentinel who couldn't decide whether he should be a tech or a biotic so he's less than mediocre at both, a machinist who can hack but has no real combat experience and a pirate vanguard who played up and close, but as things looked now, there was no way she could do that.
All this in mind, she still knew which of them all was the biggest threat and which of them all they needed to take out first.
Having kept an eye on the green jumper the whole time, she called out to Kaidan over her shoulder; "Hey, Pretty-boy."
It took a second or two before he gave her his attention. Leaning back into cover, she saw him turn towards her in the corner of her green eye with a questioning face twisted with that anger. "What?"
Without removing her eyes from her target as it jumped out of John's fire and tried to find a new angle, she asked; "Lift that thing down for me, would you?"
Although Quinn't biotic was great, she still was a close up and personal kind of gal when it came to her fighting and preferred to feel the crush of the bones before shooting them in the face, giving them the most excruciating death she could give. So to targeting a moving enemy with a ball of energy wasn't really her area of expertise and knew she would use unnecessary energy in trying to catch it and there wouldn't be any guarantees she would. Fortunately there was other people who could compensate in that area, which meant they were completely and utterly useless after all.
Kaidan turned up to the catwalk above them and saw the jumping Geth crawl towards a pillar just a few feet in front of John and Tali, clearly trying to take out the one with the heaviest guns. Although John knew it was after him, he still had to deal with the rest of the Geth who also wanted to take him out first and second would be the machinist who were trying to hack them.
The man didn't need to be told twice. Kaidan turned towards her fully as he drew at his implant to gather the dark energy. Similar to her own biotic, the energy shaped around his form before gathering around his arm. When he had the necessary energy in his hand, he threw the biotic energy at the Hopper just before it was able to take another shot at their comrades and was lifted into the air. As soon as it was hit by the energy, Quinn shot it dead.
The body fell to the ground with a sickening thump between the two crates, but neither pair paid it any attention. Without any distraction from above, the team could now focus on what was going on ahead.
"Focus on the troopers first," John ordered as the two Geth was getting closer.
"Remember, go for the optics," Tali called out not long after as she tried to multitask between her gun and hacking, neither going that well, but at least she had backup.
Without the Hopper, the other Geth had a harder time keeping up. As much as the Armature tried to back the snipers and troopers up with its cannon, it still didn't manage to prevent its comrades to be taken out. When focused on one pair, the other managed to take out one Geth and maybe even cripple another. It wasn't long until they had managed to kill the two snipers and the two shock troopers, leaving the Armature the only one left standing.
But now their tactics had to change. Though they could fool it, it still wouldn't be taken down that easily and shooting at it would only result in all their clips going empty. Tali was quick in trying to sabotage the Armatures cannons, keeping it from firing so the rest of them could focus on taking down its shield.
"Keep at it. The shield's almost down!" Kaidan shouted as they watched the kinetic shield flicker as the pressure on it intensified.
But after two full clips gone, the shield still wasn't down and it grew on Quinn's nerves. But when another voice complained before she could open her mouth, she couldn't help but snort in amusement.
John threw away the empty clips and put in a fresh one as he yelled; "Come on, go down already! What the hell is this thing made of, anyway?"
"Guys, I'm losing it! The cannon is getting back online!" Tali warned as she fiercely hacked away on her omni-tool, trying desperately to hold it.
"Just a little bit more!" John answered. "It's almost down!"
All they could do was keep shooting at the shield, hoping it would break before the Armature got back its control. However, even if they managed to get the shield down, the fight was far from over. They would still play the cat and mouse game with the pulse cannon and they would waist more ammo. Throwing a glance to her own clips, she noted that she didn't have more than two left for her assault rifle. After that it would leave her with a pistol and a shotgun. None of them ideal for taking down such a big target at such a distance.
As in sync, the shield broke the moment Tali lost control of the cannon. The Geth Armature didn't waste any seconds in firing. Targeting the space between the two crates, where both Quinn and John stood the closest, the two had to duck behind the crates with barley any moment's notice. Watching the deep hole where the cannon hit, the ground was still breaking and the sparks flew dangerously at every direction. She could feel the static in the air and the heat. With such a powerful shot, it amazed her that they managed to not get hit. If they had, they would've been dead in an instant.
There was no way they would be able to take it down before anyone got hurt or they would be all out of clips. Giving a small peek from behind the crate, a small plan was forming inside her head. If they could get a few grenades underneath its stomach, then maybe they would be able to throw if off its momentum for a brief second. A second they could use to get up and close to its weak spot and shot the optics. But for that to go down, they would need a distraction.
Standing up, she turned to John and yelled; "Listen, I have a way to kill it!"
Barley batting an eye at her, John got a skeptical expression with the grim one he already had on as he kept firing at the Armature. Only when the cannon was fired at his direction again, did he lean back into cover, switched to a new clip and yelled; "Yeah? So now you want to talk tactics? What happened with you just rushing in head first?!" He threw her a harsh glance before going back to the shooting.
"Fuck John! I have a way of destroying that fucker and you want to argue?!"
"I don't think I can trust your judgments. After all, we're the ones paying for your 'way-of-doing-things'."
"We're all going to pay with our lives if we don't kill that thing soon, you asshole!" She screamed and pointed at the Armature, only to have to duck back into cover as another pulse came her way. "Do you want us to throw stones at it when we're out of ammo?"
"She's right, Commander," Kaidan suddenly chipped in. "I don't have many clips left! We need to end it soon."
John, who was now leaning against the crate took a moment to think it over. He knew he was the one with the most weapons, therefore he had not really thought about them running low on clips. After all, he hadn't expected them to find all the Geth on the planet and therefore gone for a more lesser-combat team and had equipped thereafter. Turning his head towards Tali, she nodded in agreement.
"Fine," he finally spoke. "But this better be good." There was a warning with that.
With a triumphant smile, Quinn switched to her shotgun and put a hand on her hip as she asked; "So- who wants to play bait?"
She quickly enlightened them to her plan and at first she was met with reluctance. However when she pointed out that there was no other offers, they agreed to go along and play it out. As she told the plan, it was quickly determined on who would do what and what was expected of them. John would play bait and distract the Armature by breaking away from the crates and into the open, drawing its attention and most importantly, its cannon away from the others. Then Tali, who had gotten the grenades from John, would throw them under the stomach of the four-legged Geth and then get back to sabotaging the cannons before it could kill John. Kaidan would act as fire support and also put up a protective biotic barrier between John and the Armature. Once the grenades had set off, hopefully being strong enough to blow the Geth off of its four legs and closer to the ground, then Quinn would use her biotic charge to close the distance, smash the optics, shooting it with the shotgun or anything else she could think of to kill it if that didn't work.
And as smoothly as it sounded, it surprisingly went just according as planned. Except for Quinn not leaving the head with the optics just crushed, no she annihilated it with the strong force of her biotic just to get even more aggravation out of her system, before she stepped away from the synthetic carcass.
Stepping up on the ramp leading them to the entrance, Quinn said quite satisfied and slightly out of breathe; "See, that wasn't so bad now was it?"
"You're lucky it worked," John said, not at all as cheery as his sister. In fact, he was sounding angry and accusing. "At least you had your head straight this time."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Quinn turned away from the door, which she had already begun to open, to look John straight in the face.
Stepping up closer to her, he was at least a head taller than her but still none of them was intimidated by the other, he had a grim expression on his face. "You've been out of it since the first outpost! Charging in, head first without even a fraction of a plan." He growled of anger as he said it. "Risking not only yourself, but our lives as well."
"As I recall, I've been the one killing every single thing on this fucking planet-"
"Oh?! You 'recall' something?" John pushed a finger at her just to let her know he was reaching the end of his patience with her. "What I 'recall' is you not even knowing the difference between an enemy and a friend! These marks-," He threw his arms up to the sides and looked down on them. "-were not from the Geth. But from you." His eyes met hers again. "We had to jump out of your way, otherwise you had crushed our skulls too!"
"I never asked for your fucking help. I-" she roared back, but he cut her off.
"We're a team! That's what we do!" His forceful shout echoed down through the tunnel, which had revealed behind the door. "You may not like it, but this is how it is. Deal with it or stay on the fucking ship." With that, he pushed past her and headed down the tunnel.
Tali and Kaidan walked past her, not daring to speak.
There was a thousand comebacks she could throw in John's face, she could even let her fist do the talking like she had done so far, but deep down, she knew he was right. She had lost control and gotten way too reckless, not only to their standard, but to hers as well. Though she could blame it all on Nihlus' death, she knew it wasn't only because of that. As much as she had loved him back then, he had not been the first person she had loved who had died. Death, betrayal and abandonment was what she expected of people. Wasn't that the reason why she didn't get too close to people?
So why did she react so strongly to Nihlus death? She couldn't say.
Turning around, she watched her brother walk down the tunnel with the other two close behind. She should be angry at him for yelling at her, but she wasn't. His shoulders was tense and she knew he was on the verge of exploding. That was enough to give her satisfaction. She was getting to him and it was kind of amusing to see. All the anger and resentment she had towards him wasn't going to go away and she needed him to know it. He also needed to feel the same resentment towards her for this to go as she wanted. As much as she wanted him to know the reason why she hated him, she also knew he would pity her if he knew the truth and the only resentment he would feel was toward himself. And for that she would take every opportunity to make his perfect life just as miserable as he had made hers.
John's POV
The way down the tunnel was quiet, much to John's appreciation. He was angry, furious even and still he had managed to restrained himself yet again when in fact, he knew he shouldn't have. But then again, he also couldn't allow Quinn to get to him. All he had was his cool and he needed to have as much control of the situation and on himself as he possible could, otherwise he didn't know what would happen. Just as his sister, he too had a nasty temper when it actually came down to it and let it lose. Something he was sure Quinn remembered and was baiting for it for some irrational reason. He wasn't stupid, even if she tried to make it out that way. He was just cautious.
The tunnel went deep into the mountain, only slopping slightly down and they didn't see any threat as they walked down. But as they neared the end, John saw movement and soon a single Geth became visual. It didn't seem to have taken notice of them yet and John stopped and threw up his hand to motion the others to stop as well. He then pulled out his pistol and took aim. With just a couple of pull at the trigger and the head was shot, leaving it dead on the floor just by the opening. They stood put for a moment longer in case there was more waiting for them just around the corner, but as he saw no more movements, he gave them the green light to continue down.
Still on their guards, they stepped on the steel frame in the excavation, hearing the metal make a shaking noise as they put their weight on it. His eyes went to look around the huge hole in the mountain as he had not been to many excavation sites before and couldn't help but be amazed. But that was short lived as more Geth moved in from the lower level, heading towards them.
"Take them out!" John ordered as he walked over to the railing with his pistol in hands and aimed to the lower levels.
But with only two Geth inbound and with him being closer to their optics it was easier to take them out without much fuss and they could move on further down the ruins.
"Think we're good, Commander," Tali said as they headed for the lower level and had checked for more threats.
John stayed on point, following the path down the stairs and his eyes went to the huge wall of the Prothean build construction going vertical along the mountain wall. It looked like it was some sort of building as the holes in the construction looked like a window on each level. But as he neared, he was met with some sort of forcefield which denied them access to it.
Tali stepped up next to him as she said; "It looks like this cavern formed around the ruin. After it was built."
"Long way down," Kaidan then said from somewhere behind him and made John take a look over the railing.
"Be careful so you don't accidently fall down, Pretty-boy. Your perfect hair would be a mess if you did," Quinn said with a shrewd tone, making John wonder if she was imagining pushing the Staff Lieutenant over.
Turning a glance over to his sister, he found her retreating her head from over the railing and then stepped on the elevator John had passed by. He expected her to be angry or at least sulking after their dispute, but she seemed like it had never happened. If that was a god thing or not, he wasn't sure.
They all stepped on the elevator and it began to descend. For being suck a poor construction, it was amazing how smooth and quick it was. It was beating the Normandy's elevator with flying colors. It brought them down quite a few levels and when it finally reached the bottom, they stepped off to another catwalk, but they had still not reached the bottom of the excavation. Turning the corner to look for another elevator, a shot which nearly took Tali's foot off, brought them to an abrupt halt.
All of their attentions was brought to the wall of the Prothean construction and found a Geth Assault Drone hovering just above the path leading to the next elevator. Only a second later and another one joined it from beneath and then a third, all of them shooting their lasers at them, forcing them back into the elevator to find cover. But the walls on the elevator was made of mostly wire fences and there wasn't much cover to hide behind, at least not for four people. Their kinetic shields took most of the damage but that wouldn't last for long if they didn't do anything about it soon.
Tali was quick to open up her omni-tool without him needing to say so and began to hack away while the rest of them had to resort to their weapons. Once Tali managed to get control of one of the drones, it got easier to take them out, but they didn't get out of it without a few new burns to add to their already growing collection.
Quinn was the first to move out of the elevator and walked straight up to one of the fallen drones. Without any hesitation, she kicked it with all her might and it crashed into the stone wall before it fell down and disappeared down the hole. They could hear it bounce and crash against the stone wall as it fell and even if they hadn't been that subtle before, this would certainly alert the rest of the Geth.
Having his arms crossed over his chest with an eyebrow raised at her, he asked rather annoyed; "Did that help?"
Turning an evil eye at him over her shoulder, she let her eyes do the talking before she pushed past him and stepped on the second elevator. John took a quick glance over the railing to see if he could spot any more threat waiting for them down there, but he couldn't see anything. He was the last to get on the elevator and it immediately began to descend. The elevator moved just as quick as the first one, but it was far from a smooth ride. Around twenty feet down the speed quickened and though the breaks tried to slow them down, all that happened was sparks began to fly and screeching noises could be heard.
John began to look for a way to get off before they the breaks would give and they would drop into a free fall, but there was nowhere to escape. They had to grab a hold of something to not lose their balance or even fall out of the open door. Just when John though that they would crash the breaks suddenly decided to work again and they were brought to a rough halt, making them all fall to the floor. With a quick scan over his team to see if they were alright, none of them looked injured. Kaidan and Quinn both rubbed their heads, but both got up on their feet with a few quite curses and Tali had her armor protecting her from bumps and bruises.
"I fucking hate elevators," Quinn said and quickly moved to the door, pushing the rest of them out of her way. With a quick peek over the edge, she then jumped out and with a short drop, John figured they were close to the bottom.
John was the next to get off of the elevator and on to the platform just six feet down. Johns gaze wondered out through the pit and saw the platform he was on appeared to be collapsed down to the floor under. He wasn't surprised to find Quinn walking down it, not bothered to wait for the rest of them. John stayed just to keep an eye on the breaks in case they decided to go again and the elevator would drop down before Kaidan and Tali had managed to get out.
Kaidan was next to get out and as soon as he had gotten back on his feet, he said with a light tone; "Now that was some ride."
"Don't joke about that," Tali scolded as she walked up to the door and gave the Staff Lieutenant an annoyed glance, at least John thought it was although it was kind of hard to tell with her mask. "I hate elevators..."
"That's quite ironic as you've lived on a ship all your life," John said as he offered her an helping hand which she gladly took before jumping down herself.
"I've been stuck in elevators more times than I care to count!" Tali defended.
"Um... Hello?" A voice suddenly spoke. "Could somebody help me? Please?"
Turning around by the voice, he thought he hear it coming from underneath them.
"Can you hear me out there?" The female voice spoke again, her tone sounding more pleading and desperate. "I am trapped. I need help!"
John threw a glance at Tali and Kaidan, who met his gaze with the same alarmed expressions before he quickly walked down the broken platform and jumped down to the next one only to find Quinn coming to a stop just by the forcefield just ahead, her hands crossing over her chest as she stared to whatever was beyond it.
"Quit shouting!" She scolded angry. "This place is crawling with Geth!"
"Sorry. I am a little-" The voice spoke apologetic, but when the three of them walked up next to his sister, the woman behind the forcefield quickly stopped herself and then decided to introduce herself instead; "Look. My name is Dr Liara T'Soni. I am an archaeologist."
The asari was floating in the air behind the forcefield. Her body was rigid and it looked like she could barley move. He wasn't sure what he had expected when he had heard her call for help, but it certainly wasn't what he saw before him. The doctor looked exhausted and worn out and there was no telling how long she had been that way.
"Are you okay? What happened to you?" He found himself asking and his tone was filled with sympathy.
A tired groan escaped her. "Listen. The thing I am in is a Prothean security device." She tried to turn her head to beckon at something behind her, but she wasn't able to move as much she wanted and quickly turned back to them. "I cannot move, so I need to you to get me out of it. All right?"
With a forceful snort and no sympathy what so ever for the poor woman, Quinn took a few steps closer to the asari and leaned into her face as close as the forcefield allowed her to get and spoke with an intimidating, but also demanding tone; "Your mother is working with Saren. Whose side are you on? And where are they?!"
The threat in Quinn's tone got to the woman and she cringed underneath the pirate's stare. However, she seemed more confused than scared. "What? I'm not on anybody's side!" She nearly shouted, but when Quinn's intensive stare didn't waver, Liara sought the others for any kind of trust.
Just looking into those desperate and pleading eyes, John was convinced she spoke the truth. But at the moment, he wasn't the one she needed to convince. It was clear to John that when it came to Saren, Quinn would do anything to get to him and she kept reminding everyone that she would not let anyone or anything stand in the way of that. Them being there was enough proof of that. Now knowing why she was so determined, he could forgive her for some of her behavior.
"Then you better chose one. And fast. Otherwise you'll be left in there to rot!" Quinn leaned back and crossed her arms again as she waited for the woman's answer.
Although he though she was a bit harsh, they still needed to know where the woman's allegiance lied in case she would be trouble when they got her out. Of course Quinn knew that John wouldn't leave the woman trapped in there, but that didn't stop her from pushing the poor girl to where she wanted.
At first the woman looked like she couldn't believe what she was hearing, but then panic crossed her face. "I may be Benezia's daughter, but I'm nothing like her!" She cried out and the tone she used made it clear to him that she had some lingering resentment towards her mother. "I haven't spoken to her in years. Please-" Now growing pleading and desperate again, John though this would have to be enough of the interrogation. "Just get me out of here."
With a gentle hand on Quinn's shoulder, who was startled by the touch, turned around as John walked past her and closer to the doctor. "How did you end up in there anyway?" His eyes wondered to wall to get a clearer understanding on how the forcefield worked.
Seeming to have relaxed a little bit when she wasn't in the pirate's direct view, she explained; "I was exploring the ruins when the Geth showed up, so I hid in here." The tone then grew excited as she couldn't believe what she had seen. "Can you believe that? Geth! Beyond the Veil!"
"Really? And here I thought they lived here..." He heard Quinn mutter sarcastically behind him and he could easily picture her rolling her eyes.
"I activated the tower's defenses. I knew the barrier curtains would keep them out," Liara continued, either oblivious of Quinn's comment or ignored it. "When I turned it on, I must have hit something I wasn't supposed to. I was trapped in here. You must get me out. Please."
"Maybe you should repeat yourself a few more times. We didn't really get that. You're saying you want out? You're sure?" Her tone was irritated, but also full of condescending. John threw Quinn an angry glance which told watch her mouth, but she ignored him and continued. "You shouldn't have messed with technology you don't understand, then."
"I wasn't going to let the Geth capture me!" Liara was quick to retort in anger. "Beside,-" her tone grew gentle again. "-I know how it works. Mostly."
"Do you really have to argue with everyone you come across?" Kaidan asked, who too was having enough of the pirate's attitude.
Turning her head to him, Quinn defended herself. "To put it simply - yes." She turned back to the asari, her eyes cold and narrowed. "I can't kill them. So all I have left is to argue." With that she turned and walked up next to the Staff Lieutenant. "If there's a problem with that, then I'll happily go back to killing." And with that, she walked off.
"Don't worry," John reassured the trapped woman with a sincere smile. "We'll find some way to help you."
"Yes. We won't leave you in there," Tali also reassured.
Relief washed over Liara's face and her shoulder seemed to relax some too. "There is a control in here that should deactivate this thing." Again she tried to turn her head like she had forgotten she wouldn't be able to, but actually managed to turn further than last time but quickly looked back to them. "You'll have to find a way past the barrier curtain. That's the tricky part. The defenses cannot be shut off from the outside. I don't know how you'll get in here. Be careful, though," she warned. "There is a krogan with the Geth. They have been trying different ways to get past the barrier."
"Thanks for the warning," John said. "We will get you out of there, I promise."
Turning around, he found that Quinn was already walking down the ramp leading to the rest of the excavation an into the pit. He wasn't surprised that she hadn't stuck around for the rest as she had gotten the answer to the question that had brought her here in the first place and nothing else mattered. He guessed that if Quinn was the one to decide, then she would truly leave the asari here to rot without any care in the world. Whereas he would be left with remorse and haunting. What his dear sister was up to, he had no idea but it sure wasn't to find a way to free the asari. The only reason why she hadn't gone for the exit yet was because the elevator was broken.
John hoped they would be able to find something useful down in the pit and followed his sister to the catwalk. But as he watched her go, she suddenly began to act strange. She threw them a glance but quickly turned it back when she saw his eyes were on her. Her pace quickened somewhat, but not to an alarming rate. It took him a second to realize her guard was up but for some reason she tried to keep it hidden. Yet her hands had not gone for her weapons, but to be fair, she didn't really need her guns to be deadly. She rounded the corner of the generator beneath them and out of his sight. Now on the guard himself, he kept an eye out for any threat. But with the generator in the way, he couldn't see into the pit except for a small gap between the rocky wall and the machine. Suddenly, a Geth appeared, weapon ready in hand and about to fire at the three.
"What the-?!" Kaidan exclaimed, who had been totally oblivious of to the threat, but cut the curse short.
They had no time to react before gunshots went off and then they flew out of the view of the gap. Once down, John realized the shots had not been fired at them. He jumped up on his feet and drew his pistol out of its hoister and aimed at the gap but found the Geth nowhere to be found. Instead he saw a familiar blue streak cross it, letting him know that Quinn had charged after another enemy. The anger from previously came rushing back as he realized she had used them as bait and had deliberately put them in danger yet again.
He didn't waste any time and climbed over the railing and jumped down into the pit. Turning the corner of the machine, he spotted a Geth lying on the floor with its head shot. His gaze went out over the pit and deeper inside against a large rock, he spotted the pirate ram another one into the hard surface to flatten the head out further. However, as she was too caught up in that, she didn't see the sniper further in who was taking aim at her. As quick as he possible could, John switched to his sniper rifle, put a knee to the ground for stability and searched the dark for the black A.I. and the light of its optic. No sooner than when it appeared in his scope, did he pull the trigger and a loud bang exploded throughout the pit an echoed loudly against the walls before it eventually died out.
But by then, Quinn had realized what had happened and she had dropped the broken remains of the Geth trooper to search around for the source of the shot. At first she just stared at him stunned, but then her eyes narrowed in frustration as it dawned on her that he had just saved her life. He guessed she wasn't happy about that and a quite satisfied feeling erupted inside of him. The same triumphant smile she had on earlier, crossed his own mouth.
Nothing was said between them after that and they focused on taking a quick and secure sweep around the pit to see if there was anymore Geth lingering in the dark. Once done, they, or at least John, Tali and Kaidan looked around the camp to find anything useful to help them free the asari doctor, but found nothing.
As they headed back towards the forcefield, Tali asked; "How are we going to get to the archeologist?"
"We could try using this mining laser to blast through," Kaidan suggested and pointed at the machine just next to the ramp.
Walking up to it, John took a good look at the machine. "Not a bad idea," he then agreed.
However, none of them knew how to activate it. Nor how to operate it. Still John turned to the only one who would be able to figure it out. Tali, who, without having to be asked, sighed a little before she brought up her omni-tool and tried to hack the machine. It took a minute or two before they heard a hissing noise coming from the machine as it fired up. Without any warning, the laser shot out from the nozzle which was directed towards the wall already and dug into the mountain floor just beneath the Prothean structure. The walls around them immediately began to quiver and loose rock fell all over from wherever they had been lose and dust blew up into their faces, resulting in them having to cover their eyes and mouths.
When it became too much to bear, Tali, the only one with a mask and who wasn't bothered by the dust, then turned the machine off and went to take a look at the newly dug hole. Once the dust had cleared and she got a better visual, she said; "It worked. We can go through this tunnel."
Still coughing, John opened his eyes and indeed saw a tunnel leading to another opening into the Prothean construction underneath with no forcefield to stop them. Following Tali's lead, they entered the tunnel and headed into the ancient structure until they came across a closed console. But as they got up closer, it was then activated. Before he was able to do anything with it, Quinn had put her hand on it and the ground underneath them began to move up, like another elevator. With only one level up, Quinn removed her hand and the elevator came to a stop where Liara waited for them.
Turning around, John quickly walked up to the asari, her back against them.
"How... how did you get in here?"She wondered over her shoulder. "I didn't think it was any way past the barrier!"
Annoyed, Quinn spoke from over at the console; "Who fucking cares how we did it, just hurry up and get her down so we can leave."
"Yes, of course," Liara said. "Please... get me out of here before more Geth arrives." She turned towards a panel on the wall. "Tht button should shut down my containment field."
Tali, who was the closest to the panel, did was she asked. As soon as she had pressed the button, Liara was released and fell down, her legs buckling as they hit the ground and she was on all four. John reached out a helping hand to her and Liara shut him a bewildered gaze, before she then gladly accepted his help.
As soon as she was up on her feet, Kaidan asked; "Any idea how we get out of this place?"
"There is an elevator back in the center of the tower. At least, I think it's an elevator. It should-" Liara said as they walked back to the console, where Quinn stood waiting impatiently and was rudely interrupted by the pirate.
"Yeah, we know it's an elevator. We used it to get to you. What we want to know is how we get past that forcefield up at the exit," Quinn spoke and John shot her an angry stare at her rudeness, but of course that didn't change anything. Instead she put her hand down on the console and the elevator ascended.
"I-I still cannot believe all this," Liara said, her shoulders slumped and her gaze down to the floor. "Why would the Geth come after me?" Her blue gaze went up to meet his own. "Do you think Benezia's involved?"
But it wasn't John who answered her.
"Saren's looking for the Conduit," Kaidan explained and her blue eyes shifted to him. "You're a Prothean expert. He probably wants you to help find it."
"The Conduit? But I don't know-"
Suddenly there was a loud and alarming rumbling, followed with violent quivers going through the whole mountain.
"What the hell was that?" Tali asked, her tone pitching.
"There ruins aren't stable," Liara explained as her gaze wondered the walls. "The mining laser must have triggered a seismic event." Liara marched over to the console and pushed Quinn out of the way before having her hands all over it. "We have to hurry. The whole place is caving in!"
As Liara tried to make them get up faster, John decided he needed to get through to the Normandy. "Joker!" He didn't wait for a respond until he gave the orders. "Get the Normandy airborne and locked in on my signal. On the double, mister!"
"Aye, aye, Commander," the pilot replied through the com like he had been sitting and waiting for them to get in touch with him. "Secure and aweigh. ETA eight minutes."
Not too happy with that reply, Tali was quick to voice her frustration; "He needs to move faster."
"Not much margin for error," Kaidan agreed.
A snort had John and the rest of them turning to the pirate, who had an incredulous look upon her face. "How do you expect a ship to help when we're stuck inside a fucking mountain?" With Liara having taken control of the elevator, Quinn crossed her arms over her chest and looked at them all like they were stupid. "You want him to ram it into the mountain wall? Yeah, that would really do us much good."
"That's not what we meant-" Kaidan said, but Quinn was quick to take the word out of his mouth.
"No? Then why does it matter if the ship is here in eight minutes or two? We're the ones who needs to get out of here before this whole place collapses over our heads. So let's just focus on that instead of blaming a pilot who can't do anything anyway."
Like they were ashamed, both Tali and Kaidan lowered their heads. It was true what she had said, but that had not been the reason why John had contacted the Normandy. He wanted the ship there to pick them up as soon as they got out of the ruins in case more Geth stood outside waiting. If they were going to run out of a mountain with rocks falling upon their heads, they would be in no shape to fight. Although he could tell her that and defend the other two, but he felt she had a point. And even if she didn't realize it, she was defending the oblivious pilot and that was teamwork in John's books.
The elevator eventually got to the top, but not without some agonizing pacing and frustration. It was then they realized the forcefield was gone and the path to the exit accessible. But soon they found the previously mentioned krogan and three Geth accompanying him blocking the exit to the path.
With heavy and determined steps, the krogan neared and John and the others went for their weapons.
"Surrender," the krogan ordered with a dark husky voice, but grew challenging as he continued. "Or don't. That would be more fun."
In the corner of his eye, John saw Quinn step up beside him all too eager to take him up on the challenge and John had to shot up his arm in front of her to stop her from charging straight in. When she didn't give him a single glance, he knew she was falling into her murderous mind. But she stayed put behind his arm, her hands twitching before going into tight balls and the dark energy was beginning to swallow her. The rumbling and quivering got more aggressive and John didn't want to spend precious time in fighting if he could prevent it.
"In case you haven't noticed, this place is falling apart," John said, hoping to reason with the bulky krogan, and if that didn't succeed, at least break Quinn out of her trance and see reason.
"Exhilarating, isn't it?" The krogan said and it shocked John how little he cared of being buried alive. "Thanks for getting rid of those energy fields for us. Now hand the doctor over." He pointed his shotgun at John to intimidate them to surrender Liara, the Geth too each choose a target to focus their weapons on.
But that was enough to trigger Quinn and she pushed John's arm out of her way before charging the krogan. She hit him straight on with her biotic charge, but as the krogan was too heavy, it didn't really go as she had planned and he stopped them in their tracks a few feet away from the wall. Then he bashed the butt of his gun into her stomach having her double over and then he hit her again just below her neck, making her fall to the floor.
As soon as Quinn had charged past him the fight had gone into motion. John had shot the Geth who had been stunned and too slow to react when his sister had charged at their superior, while Kaidan, Tali and even Liara who had no weapons, but still able to use her biotic had the attention of the other two Geth.
Staying on the move was John's only option to not get hit by the Geth's laser. He tried to stay clear of the others as well so that the Geth didn't accidently shoot the others. The Geth managed to get in a few hits, and if it wasn't for his shield then it would had done some real damage. All he could do was keep shooting at it and hope its shield would break so he could get to the optics. But this one was a bit more resilient than the previous ones he had encountered but eventually he managed to get through.
It was then he heard a pained scream. Both his and the Geth's attention was brought to the source and John was shocked to find Quinn lying on the floor and the krogan seemed to be stamping right down on her chest. There was no chance for her to recover quick enough to stop him. At first the shield took the heavy weight, but it didn't stay for long and the krogan broke through it and rammed his foot straight down at her armor and cracking it in an instant. With the breath forced out of her, she began coughing violently and the krogan laughed at the sight.
Seeing the gravity of the situation, John knew he had to hurry if Quinn wasn't going to have her chest crushed. Without a second thought, though probably not a good one with everything already unstable, he pulled out a grenade and threw it at the Geth before jumping into a roll to get away from the blast and towards his sister and the krogan who was about to blow her head off with his shotgun. John used the momentum of the roll to get back up on his feet and shot the krogan at its head. It was enough to get him off of Quinn and as soon as his foot was off of her chest, she rolled away from him before he tried to shot her again, ignoring John's fire. Soon both Tali and Kaidan came to their aid and they managed to take the krogan down.
But there was no time to take a breather. All around them the wall was collapsing and they needed to hurry. John ran up to Quinn, who was lying on the floor and gasping for air. She did manage to get a few small breaths of air in and a quick look at her chest plate told him it was putting pressure on her chest and keeping her from being able breathe properly.
"Move! I got her!" John said to the others as they came up to them.
They did what he said and ran for the exit. John grabbed a hold of Quinn's arm and put it behind his head and took the other around her waist.
"Can you run?" He asked and all he got was a nod for an answer.
Though she tried to support herself as they ran, he was the one who kept them moving. In front of him the others ran as fast as they could while trying to keep away from the collapsing rocks. Adrenaline was pumping through him as he pushed to as quick of a run he could master while supporting someone and still it all felt like they weren't moving an inch. Although he knew that wasn't true, his mind still saw it that way. The path to the exit seemed longer and rocks which hadn't been there before was preventing them to move fluently. Stepping over them took up much valuable time and he couldn't help but to think that it was a huge possible chance they would be buried underneath this mountain.
"Move! Move! Move!" Someone yelled and it took him a second to realize it was him and he was yelling at Liara who had gotten too far behind Kaidan and Tali, but still much further than he and his sister.
"Watch out!" Quinn tried to yell, but it came out husky and barely audible and John barley managed to stop and move out of the way just in time before a large rock would fall upon them.
However he had no time to think about it and had to round it to before he could sprint again. As they reached the stairs, the others was already far gone, much to his relief. But still he and Quinn was still in danger. The two ran up the stairs, he still supporting her. The dust was getting to her and she suddenly began to cough violently and he was nearly dragging her over to the tunnel. It was then he realized that the two of them wouldn't make it. He could see the light of the end of the tunnel and yet they were so far away from it. But the other three disappeared into it, meaning they were safe.
It was then an energy took hold of him and in an instant flew throughout the tunnel and into the light.
Thank you so much for reading!
Please tell me your thought and fave/follow if it was to your liking!
I know some of you don't like me asking you for your opinions when it comes to the story. I know where I want to take the story and I know my choices when it comes to where they should go, who should have a romance with who and so on... The reason why I ask you is because as the writer I sometimes miss things cause I'm too wrapped up in the writing. You all notice things I take for granted. And I want you to be part of the story. The crucial choices in the game will be asked cause I want to know your thoughts and why you chose it. ^^
Thanks again and I will see you in the next chapter.
Sorry for not being able to give you a teaser this time either...
So far, the pool for John's romance option is;
Liara - 3
Ashley - 3
None - 3 (Hoping for Tali or someone else)
You can tell me more than once, cause the vote will continue until the actual chapter it happens.