AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hey, this is actually some good news I have to tell for the first time in a while. I mentioned my job at the Lumber Yard at Lowe's was working me to the bone, right? Think I mentioned I applied for a part time position but they threw full time hours at me? And that it's a 40 minute commute? Well, a movie theater barely ten minutes from home is almost done with it's construction and they accepted my job application. Box Office Cashier. They plan to open sometime in February and Lowe's got a two weeks notice from me. But Saturday, I got a concussion on the job because some total fucking idiot, probably in a corporate office, decided that the best way to stock 8ft long metal sheathing was vertically. With the base around shoulder height. Long story short, trying to stock it, some fell and bonked me on the head. I'm fine, I've been concussed before. They let my two weeks notice take immediate effect and I'm not working there anymore. With the fact I now have a lot more free time, I'm going to try uploading weekly again rather than every other week (until the new job starts up. If we're lucky I might be able to keep it going.)
Also, for about a week now, I've had a fully functioning self-built PC! Thanks to the Christmas funds mostly. By the time I'm writing ME3 I hope to have gotten to ME3 on a computer playthrough where I can try some specific mods, I believe one is called EGM or something of the sort to see if narratively aspects of it fit better, and I might take inspiration from there. We'll see. Anyways, sorry for this huge ass author's note. Hope you enjoy!
Commander John Shepard
Thane and Kolyat had been alone for a while, which is probably a good sign. To pass the time, Bailey looked into some old C-Sec records. Noticed a string of murders around a decade ago where all the victims were all thugs and murderers and rapists linked to a slaver group, C-Sec just didn't have the hard evidence at the time.
"Prime suspect was a Drell," Bailey remarked, leaning back in his chair. He shared a glance with Garrus and I. "Not sure who was responsible for those, but they probably don't exist anymore. Ten years and all," Bailey remarked nonchalantly. The door to his office opened, Thane stepping inside. His face as blank as ever.
"Things ok?" I asked.
"In… a sense," Thane answered. "Our problems cannot be fixed by words. Let alone what seem like so few. He has agreed to keep in contact as we continue our mission. And after so long as we survive. We shall see what happens."
"Now for the elephant in the room," Bailey sighed. "Your boy shot someone, and tried to kill someone else. No one I feel sympathy for, but it's there."
"I did witness both victims shaking down business and threatening civilians. No, he shouldn't just walk off scot free, but…" I thought for a moment. "Try wording it all as misguided vigilantism. Sticking it to the man and all that. He wants to make a difference, so give him… community service."
"What jury would agree to that?" Bailey questioned.
"With me putting Kelham behind bars for you, you're able to clean out your C-Sec closet. You can slide this… ruling under the rug."
"Hm. Maybe add in a plea deal, that would help keep it out of court. Yeah, I'll see what I can do, Shepard."
"You know, this might be one of the most actually unlawful things you've ever done," Garrus remarked.
"You say that like you weren't there for me stealing the first Normandy to go to Illos."
"I don't remember the Council telling you not to go on your own, just that they wouldn't send reinforcements," he shrugged.
"Regardless, thank you, Captain," Thane bowed, changing the course of discussion. "And thank you, Shepard. I am ready to continue our mission."
"You sure? We can take some more ti-" I began, interrupted by a call coming through the comms.
"Shepard, call from the Illusive Man. And this is one you're really going to want to hear," Miranda informed. I sighed, what timing.
"Is it the IFF?"
"No. It's a Beacon."
Commander John Shepard
Two and a half days of travel and Thane had declined the offer for him to stay on the Citadel for us to pick up after he's had some more time, preferring instead to be on the mission. TIM had explained the situation. Joab, a colony in the Enoch system of the Rosetta Nebula had an archaeological team in what was believed to be a site for one of the ancient habitation centers of some primate-like species. Only subterranean remnants of the cities have been found, and largely tanks to time capsules that the species tended to bury outside of such centers. Whoever they were, they predated the Protheans. And it's more than obvious who their killers must be. Returning to the topic of the archaeologists, they were digging in a likely location for one of the habitation centers, and found out that the Protheans must have had a similar interest in this species. They uncovered a buried beacon. Unfortunately, the planet was in Terminus, and the Blue Suns have a significant presence on the planet. They caught wind of the beacon seemingly before word could be sent out to the Alliance, as the Colony is primarily Human. However, Cerberus had an agent on the team, and he was able to send a message.
The Suns have fortified the dig site and are likely arranging either for a buyer or perhaps even a Council Ransom. The latter of which is sure to result in a Spectre more than it is a ransom. Another curious tidbit in TIM's call was that he may have a follow-up mission depending on what we find here. Something about another dig team that Cerberus has somewhere. Naturally, I didn't leave the Citadel before making sure Anderson would hear about this little find so that someone not Cerberus can pick up the Beacon after we clean up the Suns.
Our orbital scans of the complex show that the Suns have dug in deep, fortifying the position heavily. They had already moved in anti-air guns, which meant we were going to have to land the shuttle out of range or fly low and get as close as we can to the fortifications. At least as far as the shuttle and ship is concerned. But as we travelled, a different idea occurred to me.
The Mako. Technically it wasn't combat ready. The gun was still busted, and the shields could only perform at their minimal strength. But it was perfectly drivable, and the hull was intact to withstand a drop just fine. We might just go for a lower drop on account of the shields. The AA guns they have won't break a Frigate's shields at the speed it'll be going in and out, and by the time they realize the Mako dropped and adjust their aim, we'll be on the ground. That gets us on the ground at a reasonable distance. That solves the problem of us getting to the ground, but only that. Too close to the dig site and the gun emplacements will tear the Mako, and us, to shreds. Too far, and any attempt to cross the gap will be a suicide run with or without our biotics. It doesn't help that the surrounding terrain is flat, any potential natural cover flattened by the Suns to better fortify the position. Sure, the Normandy could airstrike to clear the way, but then we risk destroying the Beacon. The good news is that the Mako can fit the entire team, and that Garrus, Thane, Zaeed, and myself know how to efficiently use a sniper. Additionally, I've gotten a new toy. A heavy weapon with a fun little warning symbol on its side. Despite not actually being radioactive.
The M-920 Cain. It's a prototype weapon for the Alliance, lovingly nicknamed as a Nuke launcher, as it coincidentally creates a mushroom cloud but without the fallout. A portable particle accelerator surrounded by chambers for dust form Eezo. Using antimatter reactions to generate strong positive and negative electrical currents into the Eezo, it launches a twenty-five gram slug that accelerates to five kilometers a second, the slug being enveloped in mass effect fields shearing away at the target with massive explosive force. Our simulations show that it can take out the Anti-Armor and Anti-Personnel turrets facing our Drop Zone without breaching the dig site itself.
So, drop zone along the… North side. Use the Cain on the Anti-Armor turret, and if that doesn't destroy the AP turret, use the second round on that. Snipe any major threats, then use our biotic powerhouses to cover our advance. Sounds like a solid plan to me.
An hour later, everyone was gathered in the Mako, briefed on the situation and the plan. Like old times, Garrus was in the Gunner position, and Tali at the Engineer's seat in the cockpit. While Garrus might not be shooting, it's still leaving room in the troop compartment. Which, having Grunt in there, every little bit helps. Soon, the cargo bay doors opened, showing that we were within the planet's atmosphere as all we could see were grey clouds. Joker began the countdown from ten as I revved the Mako's engine, she's still got fire left in her. When he reached two, the cloud cover vanished, and after one, I put the pedal to the metal, laughing screams with Tali, Garrus, Grunt, Jack, Kasumi, and Zaeed as we entered free-fall, the remainders just being silent. Less than ten seconds passed before we reached the threshold to activate our thrusters, and we could see the dig site from the angle of our descent. The entrance and fortifications formed a circular perimeter. Two Anti-Air guns, and an Anti-Armor gun for each cardinal direction. The entrance to the site itself was a pre-fab that was likely put in place when the dig began. And all of it surrounded by what were essentially raised trenches. I activated thrusters, and the Mako impacted the ground as it normally did, coming to a stop more or less where we wanted it to be, and immediately began filing out from the Mako's left hand side, while the right faced the dig site.
The sound of gunfire was endless, some of it meant to suppress, others to kill. So, I wasted no time in pulling the monster of a gun from my back, feeling the weight, easily in the triple digits, and peeked to get my angle on the Anti-Armor. Once I had the angle, I returned to cover, and used two seconds to begin the charge. The remaining two was peeking out of cover behind the Mako again and finishing the charge, with a satisfying whirring noise through the charge it roared like a fighter jet as the recoil from the slug leaving the weapon might have dislocated my shoulder if not for my enhancements and without any noticeable time difference, the Anti-Armor turret exploded in a fantastic mushroom cloud, who's explosion drowned out the rhythm of gunfire. In part perhaps many of the guns pointed at us stopped firing for any number of reasons. The Anti Armor was absolutely obliterated, meaning the longevity of our cover here just improved exponentially until they put their own heavy weapons in position.
As the Cain took a moment to cool, a jet like tool extending from a ring pattern along the weapon's barrel literally spraying coolant around and into the barrel, coolant which sizzled and began to boil I might add, Garrus and Thane pulled out their snipers to begin taking shots along the cockpit side of the Mako, while I was at the back end. Now with the gunfire, I could hear the bullets now impacting the hull rather than deflecting off shields. A light on my side of the Cain turned green, indicated it was ready to be loaded. I took the large slug from my belt and inserted it into the now open ammunition slot along the bottom of the barrel. Now I peeked to see the Anti-Personnel turrets. Two of them, the one on the left was closer to the Anti-Armor and had fortunately gotten caught in the blast, so they won't be using that one anytime soon. Unfortunately, the same can't be said for the one on the right. The gun was smaller than the Anti-Armor, which was more or less a block of metal dug into the ground with a pair of large Mass Accelerator cannons sticking out above the ground. The AP emplacements, however, were more comparable to the Pillboxes of the old wars on Earth Holes and viewports in the ground lined with thick layers of concrete. The difference here, however, like with the Anti-Armor turrets, was that they were protected with metal rated for military ship hulls. And an improvement of the AP emplacements today, was that no viewport was needed. Just a solid metal wall with guns and cameras built into the reinforcement while inside sat the gunners taking aim.
I began the charge in full cover, having gotten my angle, and then for the last two seconds, took aim. My shields flared a second in, but I had to commit, or risk us getting bogged down as reinforcements come to our side. Or even mortars if they have them. Just before the Cain fired, one particular sound stood out to me. Another sniper shot. The Cain fired and I was launched back onto the ground, right onto my back with all the wind knocked out of me, adrenaline not letting me feel the pain. But as I tried to breathe, it was all less than shallow and more akin to empty wheezing. My eyes were wide under my helmet as the later portion of the sound of an explosion was registered by my ears, and Tali shouting my name in fear. I was staring up at the grey, cloudy sky before a purple visor with two bright white lights behind it, the contours of her face barely visible, followed by that of a white and red Salarian helmet.
"Projectile missed heart. Impacted lung. Straight through body and armor. Exit wound visible. Likely came from Widow Anti-Material rifle. Applying medi-gel. Will survive wounds provided battle victory," Mordin explained. As the medi-gel was applied and as it set, I was able to take an actual breath, the air staying in my lungs this time.
Fuh-Fuck," I groaned, the pain now kicking in. If not for my armor and whatever was left of my shields, the impact would probably have been a lot worse. I could probably stick a finger or two through my torso and out my back by the sounds of it. I began to try and sit up but Mordin simply pushed me down to the ground.
"No condition to fight. Will remain here to protect and treat you," Mordin shook his head.
"Damn it," I murmured, my chest feeling like it was both on fire and being stabbed by a million needles every time I took a breath. "Garrus, squad's yours." I stated weakly, staring him down. With our helmets, expressions were impossible to see. But I could read him. Nerves were probably taking hold a bit, but the nod he returned told me the only thing that mattered. He'd get the job done.
"You heard him," Garrus called out. "I'm in Command while Mordin stays back to treat Shepard."
"I'm not going anywhere," Tali stated, staring right down at me.
"I'll-" I coughed. "Be fine. Go kill the bastard who shot me," I suggested. "Take point-" I breathed again, cringing in pain. "With Garrus."
"Bosh'tet," Tali murmured, running her hand along my helmet. "Fine. Just don't do anything stupid."
"Not with professor around," I remarked quietly, a smirk under my helmet. Tali joined the others who were preparing to push, giving one last glance back to me.
"Jack, Samara, give us a barrier with everything you've got. Rest of you biotics, reinforce it. We've got a mad dash to make to those trenches or we're carrion bait. On my mark," Garrus paused a moment, waiting for the next lull in gunfire to take advantage of any reloading or cool downs their weapons need. "Mark!"
Garrus Vakarian
There is something so terribly surreal about running through an open field towards what is essentially a wall of bullets coming right at you, but just seeing them bounce off a near invisible field before they hit you. And not knowing how long they might keep doing that. But we were closing in. Just a few more seconds and we'll be in the trenches taking them by storm. My legs are burning but I'm not dying because of how much they complain. Finally, we made it to the wall of the trenches and jumped. When Shepard described them as raised in the briefing, it wasn't by much. Only a few feet. Enough to jump and quickly vault over for any soldier out of training. Obviously, the dangerous part was your vulnerability during the jump and vault. But fortunately, the Cain did wipe out defenders along this side of the dig site, but Grunt was also the first to make the jump, drawing fire to the giant Krogan, but our biotics, with the relative safety of the trench wall, used what was left of the barrier to cover the climb for we gunmen, allowing them to be covered by us for their climb. Shotguns were going to reign supreme here. As Grunt so quickly demonstrated on a pair of Blue Suns gunners, just one shot from his Claymore tearing through two with one shot.
"Tali, take Zaeed, Samara, Miranda, and Kasumi along the eastern side of the trench. Grunt, Jack, Jacob, Thane, and I will take the west. We'll meet at the south end and enter the dig site," I ordered.
"Got it," she responded. The benefit to fighting in these trenches was their design. You couldn't actually see over the trench wall unless you were standing on what was essentially a ridge-like platform on the inside of the trenches. It was to our benefit, however, because those who weren't already in the open right in front of us, Grunt specifically as we charged along, could only see and take a shot at us if they exposed their entire torsos by standing on the ridges. And first their backs would have to be facing us. A few learned how poor a decision that was rather quickly. A few smart ones tried tossing explosives at us, but our biotics tossed them back before they even hit the ground. Until finally a fleeing Sun, terrified, ran face first into us, tried to run back, before just stopping, sandwiched between us. They were unarmed, Salarian, holding his hands in the air.
"Uh… I surrender?"
"Works for me," I shrugged, moving past Grunt and bashing the butt of my shotgun against his head, knocking him out. "Someone tie him up. We still need to clear the dig site and secure the Beacon. If we're lucky, we'll only find a handful of mercs inside." Jacob went and took care of securing the merc, while Tali unlocked the pre-fab over the dig site and we entered. It was empty, save for a table and lockers along the wall. The way down to the dig site itself was a large round elevator in the center of the prefab, though it seems we would need to call the elevator up to us.
"I got this," Kasumi remarked. "I'll take it down cloaked, take out whoever is in charge, let you know when to come down."
"That could work," I mused. "Go ahead." Kasumi gave a mock salute as she vanished into thin air, when the elevator arrived, and started going back down with her on it. About ten minutes passed.
"So. There were… three people down here. The CO included. They were drunk. Now they're dead. So come on down, all clear." Well, with that, I got on the comms.
"Mordin, we've cleared out the dig site. Is Shepard in a condition to interact with the Beacon or should we get him some treatment first?" I asked. I didn't see how bad the wound was. All I know is that the shot pierced him through the lung from a Widow.
"Treatment first. Will allow monitored expedition to Prothean artifact after surgery. Extenuating circumstances."
"And how is he right now?" Tali questioned.
"Unconscious. My doing. Inside of the Mako. Will survive, but sooner treatment received, the sooner a full recovery."
"Then we'll plant explosives on the gun emplacements for safety. We'll get him back to the Normandy in half an hour."
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This one is actually just about the chapter. Having Shep get injured again is part of an idea that goes to River for credit. You'll see the purpose of the injury realized over the next few chapters. It's also an attempt to make Firewalker a bit more interesting. You'll see and understand starting next chapter. Also, you might have noticed I heavily changed this N7 mission. Well, I read up on the planet, this made the most sense to be where the beacon would be, and an essentially vaporized cityscape is likely to be more of a flat lands than a crevice cave system. Plus with all the creds you could make from a beacon? You know that shit is gonna get fortified like Fort Knox.