AUTHOR'S NOTE Next week is spring break so I should be able to get a more sizeable chapter out. Maybe use the stuff discussed in the end to write another space battle. Additionally, I might try to do one of two things. Either get a chapter out the following Friday, or the following Monday with the extra time I should hopefully have on me. I am sorry about the length of the chapters being as short as they have been. It's a mix of procrastination and other lack of time. Sorry again.

Tali'Zorah vas Neema

Barely a day had passed since the mine before we were preparing for our next mission in just once cluster over. This time, the Illusive Man had elected to simply have Miranda explain the mission to us. The short version was that Cerberus had attached two agents to a Human survey vessel, the Cerberus personnel with the purpose of Prothean research on the planets the vessel would visit, and the vessel itself to field-test the Alliances latest prototype ground vehicle, dubbed the M-44 Hammerhead. The ship had gone missing in the Ismar Frontier, the Elysta system, on the planet Zeona, after a report from the Scientists of having noticed signs of Geth along their trail.

The planet itself was highly volcanic and tectonically unstable. The atmosphere unbreathable by any sapient race. EDI had just completed scanning and located signs of the research team, though no signs of Geth now. We had the location of the Hammerhead and a small facility built in the side of a network of Volcanic fissures. The site the Hammerhead was located at, strangely, was a few kilometers from the main facility. Too far a distance in hostile terrain for us to move on foot, and too hazardous to take a shuttle from one place to the other. The solution was simple. Use the Hammerhead. I had gone over the schematics and it was essentially a low flying V-TOL that would generally remain a few meters off the ground, and additional thrust could be applied, albeit temporarily, to give it the power needed for significant vertical thrust. In simple terms, it was much more maneuverable than the Mako. Though it appears to have sacrificed much in the way of durability and structural integrity. It would not last long in a firefight without it's shields, save against small arms fire. Offensively, it only had one weapon, a homing micro-missile launcher attached to the top of the Hammerhead. But it's still Alliance tech and methods, so it should be like the Mako in that regard.

As for Shepard, we have yet to have the conversation Kasumi suggested I have with him. When I had gone into the med-bay to sleep, Chakwas had told me I had just missed him awake, but she did move one of the medical beds to be beside John so that I could rest easier than in a chair. And in the morning, he was still asleep, and I needed to prepare for the mission.

Considering the Hammerhead was not made with the intention of being a troop transport, it only has space for its crew of three. The pilot, the gunner, and the engineer. I would obviously be the Engineer, however Garrus had elected to take Miranda as the pilot as TIM sends her flight sims of prototype vehicles, and she had been running the Hammerhead's during the last months of the Lazarus project. While Garrus would be the gunner.

We took the shuttle down before too long, a relatively sizeable sinkhole in the black volcanic rock making up most of the planet's surface, interrupted by streams of molten rock being out destination. A large shipping container was the only unnatural feature. The shuttle touched down in front of it, Miranda exiting the cockpit as we disembarked, and autopilot returning the shuttle to the Normandy, which was holding a low orbit around the AO. Opening the container was a simple matter for myself, and the Hammerhead was revealed. It was currently all in white, two wings out from the front with vertical jet thrusters at the far ends of both wings, and the cockpit being a two-pronged housing. The left side for the gunner, the right for the engineer, and at the center of the cockpit behind the prong extrusions was the pilot. At the overall center of the vehicle was a single large vertical thruster that provided the main source of lift. The other two more with the purpose of providing direction. And the horizontal thrusters were located behind that, much smaller comparatively to the other thrusters. And finally, the micro missile launcher atop the cabin. Another shortcoming of said turret was that it was locked facing forwards. It could tilt up and down but could only fire on what the vehicle was facing. The entry stairs were already open, in the cabin underneath the turret. The only purpose of this space being a narrow pathway for the crew to take their seats. At least each crew position, certainly too small for a Krogan, but able to snugly fit the three of us, were all individually sealed off. Metal boxes, essentially, to protect us from damage to another portion or to jettison the three compartments, even in a vacuum, safely in emergency situations. Like in the Mako, we only were able to see our surroundings outside of the Hammerhead when it was powering up and fully activated. Screens making up the portion of our capsules at head height, and consoles at torso and below. Screens and sensors and cameras to give us visuals.

As the hammerhead came to life, the hum of the engines were clear, though not deafening. We could still hear one another, and the sounds of the volcanic environment with ease. Just with the undertone humming of the Hammerhead's power core.

"Systems check: Weapons are green," Garrus called out.

"All nav systems check as green."

"Power, shields, and thrust, green."

"Miranda, take us out to the first site." Miranda did not verbally respond, simply taking to the task, driving us ahead. Nature had made a ramp ahead for us, and Miranda simply sent us up it and activated the vertical thrusters to launch us further ahead along the path to the first site. Which was already separated by a gap, though simply falling forward would have had us "land" above solid volcanic rock rather than a river of lava. Repeating this process as the terrain allowed, with or without 'ramps' we proceeded forward until some wreckage blocked our path. But it was thin, and a single micro missile cleared the way. This was our ticket out of the sinkhole. And while the sinkhole was stable, the area around the site was not. And our journey to the main facility showed us just how volcanic the planet was. The amount of solid rock to navigate with dropped substantially. And we were constantly 'jumping' with a V-TOL over large lakes and rivers of molten rock through outcroppings of solid rock in the fissures. Arriving at the base was a garage for the Hammerhead, and as we parked, the volcano rumbled, leaving us all with the idea that it would be wise to leave the Hammerhead on standby, rather than deactivating it. We disembarked quickly, entering the facility. White walls, structural supports, and then a bridge into the main facility with reinforced glass walls and ceiling, while the floor was a reinforced grate allowing you to see through holes in the floor to the river of magma below. Which did nothing to calm my nerves.

And still, no bodies of any personnel. We followed the facility schematics to what should be the hub of their research. Windows at the far side of the room looking over another lake of molten rock. Miranda quickly moved to a console to retrieve data.

"I have a data log from Dr. O'Loy. He seems paranoid and adamant at the same time about preventing another Eden Prime. Dr. Cayce and he both believed that this site was a kind of star map to a main Prothean site and they agreed the data should remain secret. They took the data the base's sensors had gathered of the star map and then deleted the on-site copies. I can only presume they went to the main site next."

"Can we recover where the main site would be?" Garrus asked.

"We can, however we'd need to reactivate the main power grid, connect EDI to the base's systems as it recompiles the data. That process should be fast, considering what we're looking for has already been detected, and that they appear to have forgotten to change anything about the scanners to prevent the Geth from doing the same we plan to."

"And you're sure they forgot, rather than pretending to with some trap?"

"I am. While the data of the logs have been manipulated, gaps in code, the rest is untouched. No rewrites. Nothing. Cayce and O'Loy were simply scientists in Cerberus' loose employ, not exactly analysts. However, they do note how the power grid does not interact kindly with the volcanoes' tectonic activity. It seems the base's power core was not properly shielded, and the mass effect field it generates influences the surrounding terrain. Knocking lose any portion here will likely lead to an eruption."

"Will we have time to evacuate?"

"No need to worry about that. I'll just get EDI connected to the base's systems while we make for an extraction point. EDI can activate the sensors and retrieve the data while we're re-boarding the Normandy." Miranda took a spare transmitter and connected it to one of the base's consoles, ensuring the connection wouldn't be ruined by how far we may be from the facility.

"Unfortunately, your path of entry is not viable to return to any extraction point. However, there is a path upwards from the facility that will lead to the surface, allowing for a safe extraction for both the crew and the Hammerhead," EDI chimed through the comms.

"Sounds good, we'll make our way there immediately." We wasted no time in returning to the Normandy through the new route plotted by EDI. We had the time to be cautious and ensure any 'jumps' were accurate and calculated. Finding ourselves to the surface and the Normandy coming down for a height that the Hammerhead could dock within the Normandy. We attached the Hammerhead to a cargo crane in the Normandy while the Mako was planted to the port side. And as the cargo bay began to close, EDI chimed up again. "Activating the sensors, volcanic activity increasing exponentially." The AI paused a moment. "Data recovered. There are two worlds. Correlating with the logs I also took the liberty of recovering from the base, one is already being excavated by Geth, the other is the main site that Doctors Cayce and O'Loy. The former is closer than the latter, however both are on the far side of the Galaxy."

"Can't say I'm inclined to just let the Geth keep digging. But I don't want to risk them getting to the main site before us. How much would stopping to see if the Geth presence is something we can stop delay us from the main site?" Garrus asked.

"Five hours," The AI answered.

"Not too bad," Garrus mused. "I'll see if Shepard can help us organize an Alliance force to let us strike both quickly.

"The commander has just recently awoken for a meal. Shall I inform Mr. Moreau to set course for the main site?"

"For now. You already said that they're along the way. ETA?"

"Two days and ten hours."

"Understood. Tali, I assume you're coming along?"

"I was looking to talk to him anyways."

"Then I'll go file the report."