HOLOCAUST:

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR:

PYRRHUS OF KORIS PART TWO

July 8, 2186

1452 hours.

Pava'pa'ke Falls, Former Country of Annigeh, Far'leh Continent, Rannoch.

Second Morning War, Operation: Last Full Measure.

Captain Marcus Lee Shepard, Admiral Tali'Shepard vas Normandy, General Kal'Reegar vas Normandy, Major Madi'Reegar vas Normandy, Legion, Military Advisor Garrus Vakarian.

As peaceful as the Pava'pa'ke Falls were now, it was becoming increasingly clear that over the past two days, that wasn't always the case.

Garrus and Legion provided overwatch just as he ordered. Occassionally, as Marcus and his squad moved through the small, narrow pathways, he had seen bits of rock and dust cascade from above to land below, and everytime he looked up, he saw either the black chasis of Legion or the red striped armor of Garrus as they leapt past, constantly on the move.

The pathways they had been moving through were largely narrow and centered, with not much else to define them. Large croppings of rocks bound together tightly defined the walls around them, with mostly dust and the odd plant covering the ground. Overall, it wasn't anything very remarkable.

Things got interesting however when they rounded the next corner.

The first thing he noticed as he moved his flashlight over the dusty vicinity was the slight tinge of red. It was barely noticable at first, but the more he focused on it, the more he was able to take note of it. The tinge itself covered a wide area, at least over a meter, both in length and width. There was no mistaking what it was. They came through here.

As he looked up, he noticed the footprints moving through the dust, confirming his suspicion. But just as the trail continued, it also abruptly stopped. The trail seem to become hectic after that; they went out in multiple directions, like they were taking defensive positions or something. Marcus, getting curious continued to step closer, bringing his rifle higher as he kept his eyes down range, and that's when he saw it.

Bullet holes. They raked the side of the rocks, scarring their surfaces. He also noticed what looked to be scorch marks. From flamethrowers or plasma, he didn't know, but it did confirm one thing; Koris and his crew had been engaged by geth forces in this area.

Only question was, did they survive the encounter?

He took the initial lack of bodies in his proximity as a good sign; it means they hadn't gotten bunkered down. From the looks of it, the quarians had even returned fire; what looked to be an ejected thermal clip poked out of the dust, dim from the lack of radiating heat within it, and with half of its size covered in dust that must have blown over it from the time that passed. And has he brought his flashlight over more of the surrounding area, even more spent thermal clips could be seen.

"Evidence of a skirmish here," Marcus noted, motioning to his discovery, "We've got some blood, bullet holes, scorch marks and spent thermal clips, but no bodies. My guess is that they ran into a geth patrol and took them out; that, or they were killed, and the geth moved the bodies."

"It is more likely that the creators survived the geth attack, Shepard-Commander," Legion replied over the comm, a slight scuffle heard as it corrected its footing, "Your assumption would be correct given the appropriate circumstances before this predicament. But with the geth corrupted by the Old Machine signal, it is unlikely the geth would initiate the delicacy or care needed to move the bodies. It is more likely they would leave any fallen creators to enter natural organic decomposition."

"How is that even possible?" Madi asked, confused as she tried to rack her brain for an explanation. Her rifle was still held firmly in her grip, but she had lowered it slightly, cocking her head in mental observation as she kicked absentmindedly at one of the clips on the ground, "I thought the signal increased the geth's combat capability; it not only made them more tactically efficient, but it also meant they were more effective fighters. How could Koris' crew, who are not even trained in combat, fight them off? It doesn't make sense."

"The geth aren't invincible, even with the signal, Madi," Kal consoled, "And given how narrow this area is, it's likely Koris and his men lured the geth into a chokepoint and gunned them down. Its also likely they didn't even kill the geth forces; they have simply withdrawn. We haven't seen any geth bodies either."

"That also explains why the tracks abruptly stop," Marcus noted, pointing to where the tracks appear to intersect, "There's nothing to indicate where they went. We go based on the assumption that Kal is right; Koris and his men withdrew. They didn't go forward, but they didn't go back. They climbed the rocks, maybe?"

Marcus watched as Tali moved forward, shotgun at the ready as she took a peek around the nearest corner, which leaned off to the right. He kept watching even as Madi responded.

"Its possible. Our people are good climbers," she said almost proudly, "Although if its that the case, I don't know where they could have-"

Tali turned the corner, her shotgun raised. But whatever she saw, caused her her position to relax slightly, and her weapon to lower.

"Keelah," Tali almost muttered, only audible enough to be heard over the radio, cutting off Madi mid sentence. She then turned to the group, eyes landing on Marcus specifically, "I think I've found your answer."

Marcus, glancing at Kal and Madi, jogged over to Tali's position, making sure his pulse rifle remained raised. If they were ambushed by geth forces, they needed to be ready. But when he rounded the corner, even he had to lower his weapon, taken by surprise and shock by what he saw. Even Madi gasped, and Kal just grunted in appreciation, Marcus imagining a small grin forming on his face.

Bodies. The next pathway was absolutely littered with them, but most of them were geth, to their surprise. Leaning against a rock on their left was the unmistakable form of a geth shock trooper, its chest looking to have been split open by a high-penetration shell; likely that of a close-proximity shotgun. White liquid coated the top of the right, but all of it had crystallized by this point, forming a shiny cloak over the top of the otherwise grey surface.

A small crater lay in the dust, clearing from a grenade explosion. The legless body of a standard geth trooper lay optics-first in the dust, similiarly coated in its own 'blood'. Another trooper was on the right side of the crater, jammed inbetween the rocks with its arms splayed outwards like a crucified executionee. Its optics were dark, one half cracked from immense pressure, and the front of its chest had caved in, crushing the circuits and machinery hidden behind it. Its pulse rifle lay on the ground beneath it, the casing cracked and soldered from the blast that killed its owner.

Finally, one final geth body lay on its back, probably the least devastated of the four dead geth. Again, it was just another standard trooper, its left hand still clasped firmly around the trigger of its pulse rifle, which now rested ontop of its chest. Three puncture wounds could be found; one had punched through its upper leg joint, likely severing the servos that kept that leg operating, while a second torn up some cabling in its left arm. The third seemed to be the killer blow, striking through its neck and blowing out the other side, eviscerating everything in its path. It sat in a dried puddle of white, probably the messiest of the four.

Frowning, Marcus moved towards the fourth geth trooper and closed the distance instantly, nudging the body with his foot to make sure it really was dead; he had seen geth suffer much worse than this during the Eden Prime War and still survive. Hell, Legion had a massive hole through its chest, and it operated fine.

Luckily for them, the trooper did not flinch, and there wasn't the familiar synthetic click or hiss of it communicating, meaning it truly was dead. Finally, he was able to address what he noted; that the puncture holes were alot bigger than he thought they would be; the weapon that took it down was alot more powerful than a standard predator pistol. More like a...

"This geth was taken down with a Carnifex," Marcus noted, turning to the quarian trio, who were examining the geth bodies behind him with equal interest, "The entry wounds are too big for a normal predator, and it certainly packed alot of punch. Assault rifles would be more sporadic, shotguns would have a widespread and leave more damage, and I doubt they'd use a sniper rifle in such close quarters, not that they'd have access to one. They don't have access to high-grade tech, so it couldn't be a Paladin or a Phalanx. Carnifex seems to be the most likely candidate."

"This crater was created by a fragmentation grenade," Kal noted, scanning with his omni-tool as he stood, his rifle temporarily magnetized to his hip, "Explosion residue is consistent, and the blast size accomodates. Gathering from how these geth are positioned, they were taken by surprise."

Marcus nodded, "I came to the same conclusion." It makes no sense otherwise. If these geth were the ambushers, why did the quarians gain the upper hand? Even in a chokepoint, these geth have upgrades; four of them are more than a match for a quarian bridge crew, especially one without combat experience. Yet this trooper looks like it barely raised its weapon, the two destroyed by the grenade are angled facing it, and the shock trooper looks to have been walking towards the rock; if it had been killed while ambushing the quarians, it would be on its back, not slumped over a rock.

What if the geth were the ones ambushed?

Marcus turned around, looking for any clues that might lead them to where the quarians had gone and how they managed to get the jump on the geth. He kept looking up until his eyes landed on one thing; footprints.

"Found them," Marcus immediately announced, and within moments, Kal, Madi and Tali were by his side, looking to where he motioned.

"They start again here, but not behind us?" Kal asked, motioning to the alley where the did geth were, "That doesn't make much sense."

"Perhaps a bit of wind was kicked up during the fight and hid them?" Madi queried, "Anything is possible."

"It doesn't matter," Marcus immediately interrupted, nodding to the trail, "We've got them again, so we should keep moving."

"Keelah, it's been two days," Kal skeptically added, quickly reequipping his rifle, "They could be anywhere by now."

"We can't just abandon them, Kal. Remember, if we lose Koris..." Tali trailed off.

"I know, ma'am...Tali," he stated, quickly correcting himself near the end, "Just getting a bit...skeptical. I doubt these geth were the last, and I doubt even more that this little skirmish went unnoticed. After all, geth are software. When they die, they just upload themselves to the consensus. Which means..."

Marcus eyes widened, and he was suddenly moving forward alot more aggressively, "They'll warn the rest of the geth of the quarian presence on the planet. Which would result in reinforcements being sent. Come on, we better double time it."

They continued move along, the four of them moving into a diamond shaped formation as they pressed on ahead. No sound could be heard as they continued except for the chirping of birds over ahead, the eery sound of wind blowing, trees rustling, and the odd howl of an animal in the distance. It was Rannoch in all its undisturbed natural quality.

This planet and its inhabitants haven't known a sentient/sapient species for three centuries. Quarians today would be like invaders from another world to them. The thought had an ironic quality to it, despite their situation.

They were about to round yet another corner when they heard a rustle from a nearby cluster of plants. Like well-timed and practiced actors, they all turned in sync, weapons turning to assess the possible threat. But it was the single flashlight that did it.

Screeching angrily, a round, reptilian like creature burst from the plant cluster, disturbed from its sleep. At first glance, it looked like a miniture armadillo, but this animal had a semi-spherical armoured shell, like that of a turtle, and infront of that was a smaller circle, this one equally as armoured looking, with six, black beady eyes, razor-sharp teeth capable of slicing through bone, and four paws with claws just as sharp. It skimpered off with speed that belied its appearance; vanishing into a much denser cluster. To keep from angering it further, not knowing what it was capable of, he kept his flashlight away from it, instead turning back to the corner they were about to turn into.

From the amount of Rannochian wildlife I've run into, I could fund my own section in Galactic Wildlife Collective magazine.

Continuing to move despite their disruption, he keyed his comm to their overwatch pair, "How's it looking you two?"

"Apart from seeing two big looking animals doing something I really do not need in my day-to-day, I'm still not seeing much of anything. No geth, quarians, nothing," Garrus replied, "However, I did pass two more escape pods on my way here. One looked to have crashed vertically, and another looks to have been...well..." the turian drifted off, tone sounding worn out.

"Tell me Garrus," Marcus sighed, knowing what was to come, "What happened?"

"The second pod looks like it was bombarded. From the angle the debris flew away at and the distance from the ground zero site, I'd say the bombardment was aerial; likely a geth dropship. I...I didn't see any survivors, Marcus. I'm sorry. I didn't see much in the first pod, either. But given how they looked, I wouldn't be placing any bets."

"Hopefully there are more survivors ahead. Keep me posted. Legion, you see anything on your own end?" Marcus asked, growing increasingly agitated with the lack of sizable intel. So far all we've got is bread crumbs. Where are they? Where did they go?

The geth's response only added to this feeling of helplessness, "Negative, Shepard-Commander. No geth activity detected, and no life signs in the vicinity aside from those belonging to the creators, yourself and Vakarian-Archangel."

"You know, I'm not actually Archangel anymore, Legion," Garrus corrected over the comms, "Stopped being that after Omega, actually."

"This unit is aware," the geth simply replied, causing a slight grin to slip across Marcus' lips. It quickly dropped however as they pressed on, their search continuing, "Cut the chatter everyone. We've got to keep moving. Keep searching."

And so they did.

Over crevices, through the rocks. Nothing but plants and dust and the darkness.

Stars continued to twinkle in the sky, unnamed worlds unknowing of what was happening. That the search for one man hung in the balance. That if this one man died or was lost, an entire people were doomed. Marcus refused to let that happen. This mission was not over until he either had Koris alive, or a body. He would not give up. He could not. The quarian people depended on him. On his squad.

After a while, they reached an open plain, which was a nice change from the repetitive crevices and pathways they had found themselves traversing. A small dune led them down onto a wide open savannah, with trees evenly spaced out, allowing sunlight to reach the ground during the day time. Most of these trees were full of life, with greenery sprouting from every branch, standing tall and mighty, a testament to their long existence. A minority were small and dry, their lifeless branches telling a much different story to the behemoths they shared habitation with.

Separating them from this savannah however, and located just at the end of the dune, was a large river, easily eight meters in width. A large column of water washed itself in a constant stream down to the right, continuing until it spilled off the side of the cliff. Water cascaded in tall towers towards the ground several hundred feet below, causing a thunderous boom as it made contact with its connecting side on the ground. The noise was almost deafening.

I see we've reached the real Pava'pa'ke Falls now. No way Koris and his crew got across though. That water is too deep and the force propelling it would have washed them away. They must have taken a different route.

And as Marcus looked out across the open savannah, he realized they couldn't possibly survey it all.

He lowered his rifle, cursing his luck, "Fuck, a goddamn dead end. And not the typical sort."

"I can't see anything, Marcus. Tree cover is just too dense," Garrus reported.

"We are reporting similiar inability as well, Shepard-Commander," their geth companion added in kind, "We have enhanced our optical zoom to a hundred percent and are unable to penetrate the dense canopy of the savannah."

"Keelah," Madi exclaimed, almost slumping in defeat, "We'll never find them in this. It'll take hours. There must be another way."

"Doesn't look like it, yol'tiya," Kal stated, squaring his own shoulders, "I don't see how he got across this river in one piece, though. That, or he didn't. But I doubt Admiral Koris would be stupid enough to attempt a crossing."

"We'll play on the assumption that he didn't," Marcus declared, turning towards them with a fire in his eyes, "I came this far, and I'm not about to be stopped by this. We'll-

The tense quiet of the night was finally broken by piercing bang.

All of them turned at once, respective weapons aimed. Marcus himself scanned the canopy, but could not find the cause. No rising plume of fire reached into the air, and from the sounds of it, no explosions followed it. But there had been no mistaking that sound. A grenade.

A few moments later, another bang followed it. And this time, it was accompanied by an unmistakable loud synthetic click. That usually associated with geth.

Gunfire followed, the sound of geth pulse rifles. The cough of a geth plasma shotgun charging and firing. The slap of a Javelin sniper rifle. The thump, thump, thump of a geth grenade launcher. And inbetween it all, were the reports of standard firearms. The barely heard sound of a carnifex answering every rifle pop. The sound of organic cries; unmistakably quarian.

"I think the ancestors have just given them to us," Madi murmured, gripping her rifle with new purpose. Marcus nodded, about to tap his comm when he heard the roar of thrusters.

He looked up in time to see Garrus descending towards them, orange flame spitting and hissing from his back as he was lowered downwardly. Arriving at his destination, he moved into a roll, the turian arriving in a crouched position as he brought his sniper rifle up, immediately sighting down range. Not long after, Legion joined them, albeit less stylishly, preferring to simply slam into the ground with a loud crash, optic already centered down its rifle scope before it even hit the ground.

"I can see 'em," Garrus declared, mandibles twitching under his helmet, "They're about...one point five klicks north of our position. They've got good cover and I count at least ten of them. They've all got pistols and shotguns, are using rocks for cover. Although I don't think that's going to last, Marcus. As for the geth forces, I'm having a hard time counting all of them, but I count at least two score of them. Mostly troopers, shock troopers, rocket troopers and what looks to be a few snipers along the treeline. There's also two destroyers and one juggernaut. Overall, I don't rate their chances of getting out of there alive as being particularly high."

"Yes, thank you for the negativity, Garrus. It is much appreciated," Marcus snapped, obviously not in the mood for his semantics. Finding them was hard enough, now it's actually extracting them alive. That's going to be a killer. First though, we must reach them. How the fuck did they cross the damn river?

"Shepard-Commander, we have located a bridge structure that will allow us to cross the river," Legion reported, motioning to the far left side. All party members turned to see the structure; it was definitely old looking. It was made of what looked to be old, worn out stone, but looked to be in relatively good condition. Ancient quarian khelish was etched into the stone as markings, likely old directions for city civilians long dead. Whatever it's purpose, it was there for them now, and its good condition would make getting to Koris' crew much easier.

"Then let's move, people. Time's wasting," Marcus barked, breaking into a jog as he took the lead, approaching the bridge with as much speed as he could muster that didn't involve a full-sprint, "Garrus, Legion, when we get within 500 meters of the combat zone, lay down and provide covering fire. Tali, you're with me; we're going to flank around and hit them from behind. Kal, take Madi and use your grenade launcher to take care of that juggernaut, then link up with Koris and his crew and get a look of where they are at. Wounded, tactical situation, thermal clips left, whatever. Ask them hard and fast. Let's do this people. Double time it-"

Just as they crossed halfway across the bridge, their armoured boots clacking against the hard stone, a loud thrum could be heard. It was a sound Marcus was quite accustomed to; after all, he had heard enough of the sound during the Eden Prime War. The engines of a geth dropship. And one of them was close, by the sound of it.

His immediate instinct was to look behind them, but he saw nothing. Looking to the side and in front of him, he narrowed his eyes to see it, but still he saw nothing. And despite it all, the sound only grew. It grew and grew, its intensity becoming almost piercing, but despite the proximity of the sound, none of his squad could find it.

"Legion, just where the hell is that sound coming from?" Marcus snapped.

"Shepard-Commander, we forgot to tell you-"

Legion's response was drowned out as the sound became deafening, a blast of wind slamming against their armoured bodies as the dropship passed right over them. Tali, Madi and Kal's veils were picked up and flown in the air like scarves, blowing in the intense breeze. Dust was kicked up in temporary plumes, temporarily blinding them in the whirlwind. His armor clanged as bits of rock ricocheted off the tough material.

They all looked up, and despite what they knew had just happened...

...the sky was still clear, their view of Rannoch's four moons and the stars around them still unmolested.

What the fuck is going on here?

The sound got more distant, clearly heading towards the quarian positions. He focused on the sky as the sound moved further away, but despite all his senses being honed into the task, the sky remained adamant in its belief that nothing was disturbing its air space.

We can't all be going crazy...surely-

And then, like a phantom, it was there. He watched the crackle of electricity and the warble of energy as the dropship slowly appeared; electricity glided over its hull, and wherever it touched, grey and silver metal appeared, the sleek design of geth architecture. And once all the electricity was gone, the vessel was there, for all to see. Immediately upon appearing, its ventral deployment hatches hissed open, and geth troopers dropped onto the field, at least six geth hunters and seven more geth troopers.

As baffled as he was before, it was starting to make sense, and his bewilderment was broken as he continued his jog, this one more persistent. I know that effect. I've seen that happen to-but that can't be possible. That's technology way beyond-

"Legion," he began, gulping as they ran, helmet batting aside overhanging leaves for him as they passed through, "Since when did the geth possess the technology to cloak their ships? I thought that kind of technology was only theoretical."

"Theoretical for organic governments. Organics are restrained by resource management, economic budgets and military strategic welfare. The geth are not effected by such limitations. We saw a technological advantage, and we build it," the geth replied, running at a pace that not only caught up with Marcus, but surpassed him. It took Marcus a moment to remember that Legion was a machine; they didn't get tired or fatigued, "However, the geth had only been implementing this technology to our ships when the creators attacked us. When the Old Machines corrupted the geth, the cloaking technology was applied to all geth ships immediately."

"So wait, you're telling me the geth only just came up with this technology, even though the tactical cloak has been around for years?" Garrus pondered, curious, "This only now occurred to the geth? And what do you mean, 'all geth ships'?"

"The geth did not see its implementation as a necessity. We were not in a state of war, and it would not give us any significant tactical gain in preserving our borders against invaders. It would only have been able to see widespread use in a full-scale conflict, which we believed the Creators would not be able to enact," Legion reported, getting ever closer to the quarians, the sound of gunfire and cries and synthetic warbles increasing, "The only reason the geth looked at the technology again was due to the threat of the Old Machines. Shepard-Commander accepted our gesture of cooperation, and we believed it necessary to prepare for war against the Old Machines."

Cloaking technology for warships? Legion, the geth may have just made the Normandy's stealth drive obsolete. He turned to the geth, beginning to drawn in his breaths more heavily as they edged closer, "But Legion, what do you mean all geth ships have this?"

"We believed our description to be self-explanatory, Shepard-Commander," Legion responded, its optics turning to regard him entirely, "All geth vessels are equipped with this technology. Even our dreadnought-class ships. The entire geth fleet and all platforms would be able to entire a cloaked state at any one point to avoid detection from Creator forces. As for the technology itself, it combines the effects of the Normandy's stealth drive and tactical cloaking technology. The ship is hidden from not just sensors, but also visual scans, which is achieved through bending light around the perceived-"

"I know how tactical cloaks work, Legion!" he barked, shaking his head. They were so close now. He could hear every word the quarians screamed with crystal clarity. They slowed their advance down to a halt, all of them crouching so as to not make their presence known. They needed to take the geth by complete surprise.

Sitting still, he turned to the geth, who was now moving into a prone position as ordered, its Widow rifle positioned accordingly to allow it free movement, "So what you're telling me is that this technology not only makes the ship invisible visually, it makes it totally invisible? Even to sensors?"

"This is correct," the geth replied, modifying its scope, "However, as you have observed with our dropships, the cloaking cannot hide sound. In space, this does not matter, as sound does not travel to begin with, making ships totally undetectable. Once in atmosphere however, they can be heard, and any natural effects, such as wind, still occur."

"Good to know," Marcus replied, frowning slightly, "But wait...do the Reapers have this technology?"

"Analyzing query," the geth replied, suddenly still for a moment. Then it replied, "The Old Machines do not possess this technology. As observed by the memories of the heretics, it was discovered that the Old Machines believed tactical cloaking to be unnecessary given the firepower they wielded, and have not made any efforts to develop such technology."

Reaper arrogance. Typical. Still, their fault is our gain. This'll give us a valuable tactical advantage. First though, we settle this war.

"We can continue talking about this later," Marcus ordered, "Everybody, take positions." Turning to his left, he saw Garrus positioned behind a tree in the same position as Legion already, just waiting for Marcus' word. With a firm nod at the turian, he turned back to his squad, holding up a hand to Kal and Madi. Kal understood the signal, quickly holstering his rifle and pulling out his new favourite toy; the geth grenade launcher he had retrieved, which Legion had revealed was called a Centaur. An appropriate name, Marcus surmized.

"Everyone, on my mark. Legion, Garrus, you'll have the opening shots."

"I've got a hunter in my sights. Legion, do you see the one next to it?" Garrus reported.

"Acknowledged, Vakarian-Archangel."

"Target it. They're about to flank the quarians from the right. I think they're being a bit naughty."

Marcus could only grin as he glanced at Tali, his wife having her shotgun in hand and ready to fight by his side. Noticing his like, she smiled at him, reaching out one hand to squeeze his own. I'm right here, the gesture said. With a warm smile, he turned back, and without any further waiting, he clenched his fist and waved it forward. Attack.

Their attack was complemented by two sharp bursts, both of varying degree. Plasma thrums and muzzle flashes were joined by two sharp bangs, one quietened and sharp, the other high-pitched and hard. Regardless, they hit their targets dead center; one tore through the back of one geth hunter before it could activate its tactical cloak, the high-velocity, high-impact shell blowing apart its optics and tearing its head asunder. The force of the impact sent it slamming face first, plasma shotgun falling from its hands. Garrus' shot hit its own target simultaneously, doing less damage, but with the same result, leaving two very dead hunters.

Marcus and Tali were already moving, flanking off to the geth's rear. A few shots sliced through the air above and inbetween them, likely from either geth return fire or from missing shots. An explosion rose near them, the force stumbling them slightly, but not close enough to totally ground them. Dust rained on them, but they continued, pressing on until they reached a small cluster of trees, dropping into a crouch.

Marcus turned, watching as Madi and Kal moved, already opening fire. Three flashes blasted from the barrel of Kal's centaur, and he heard a loud synthetic cry follow the salvo, watching as the geth concentrated their fire on the pair. Madi got off two shots before the two quarians were forced to drop behind a pair of trees, pulse rifle fire and sniper shots chewing up the ground they had been standing on before.

He turned to his wife, grinning behind his helmet, "You ready for this?"

The rack of her shotgun drew back as she loaded it, and the steady hum of her shotgun building up power could be heard. He imagined her own grin behind her armoured mask, "I'm right beyond you, yol'tiya."

"God, I love you."

"Knock it off," Tali chastized, although he knew she enjoyed his words of endearment, "We're in the middle of a battle."

"Best time for it," Marcus remarked, checking his pulse rifle was loaded, "Okay, you spread out five meters from me, but keep me in your sights. Steady fire, and watch your crossfire. Quick and precise, and keep to the trees. Use your grenades if you need to, and try and whittle down their shields as much as you can," he quickly commed Garrus, "Garry, need you to cover our advance."

"For spirits sa-, well at least it isn't...you know," the turian grumbled, clearly not happy at the use of one of many of Kasumi's pet names for him, "Copy that, I've got you in my crosshairs. Ready when you are, Marcus."

"Okay, on my mark," Marcus ordered, taking a deep breath, "Three, two...one! Okay, move, move, move! Hit 'em hard!"

Marcus was out in an instant, pulse rifle shouldered and firing. Tali did as ordered, spreading out into a five meter distance as she shouldered her shotgun and opened fire with shots of her own.

Marcus' pulse rifle pretty much came to life in his hands, an intense glow building within the weapon's core before being unleashed upon his targets. The weapon vibrated intensely as brilliant, purple flashes erupted from the barrel, moving at rapid velocities to strike their targets with superheated spherical bullets. The rounds hit home, chewing through his target's shields almost instantly before proceeding to blow chunks of metal off its chasis, the trooper squealing electronically as it withered under the hail of fire. White liquid spurted from every wound inflicted upon it until it finally collapsed in silence, crumbling under its own weight as it slammed into the dust.

He did not let up. As soon as the trooper was falling, he switched his targets to another one. His pulse rifle opened fire, rupturing shields rapidly as it had before. Within moments, rounds pierced its own own pulse rifle, rendering the weapon useless. The geth attempted to drop its weapon in a haste to find another one, but before it could, he aimed further up, and a single burst embedded itself in the geth's optics, obliterating it instantly, the momentum sending it tumbling onto its back, motionless.

At this point, augmented by their increased processing speed, the geth were catching onto what was happening. By that point however, two more troopers had fallen to Tali's simultaneous assault, bursts of plasma having bitten into their backs and killed them before they knew what was happening. A third geth platform, this one a rocket trooper, was in the process of turning to attack Tali with its ML-77 Missile Launcher, when a round struck it clean through the side of its head, sending a fountain of circuits, liquid and cabling spilling onto the ground. The geth stood there for a moment, shaking, before it finally toppled forwards, missile launcher still clutched in its hands.

"Hold the round of applause, Tali. I know you're just unable to contain yourself," Garrus remarked through the comms.

Even as Marcus pressed forward, bringing down fire upon a trio of shock troopers, who looked to be trying to halt their advance, Tali was moving into a forward combat roll, managing to gracefully holster her shotgun during this motion.

"Don't flatter yourself, Vakarian," the quarian snarkily replied as she came out of her roll into a crouch, reaching under the dead rocket trooper and prying its missile launcher from its dead hands. With the launcher now in her possession, she quickly stood up, brought it to her shoulder, and depressed the trigger four times, watching as a stream of missiles poured from the barrel.

Marcus himself wasn't having such a great time. He had managed to eliminate one of the shock troopers, but the other two had quickly assumed a more defensive role, dropping into a crouch and unloading a hail of fire onto the spectre with their pulse rifles, the purple flashes in the darkness being almost blinding.

In response, he dropped into a crouch of his own, bringing up his omni-shield to repel the wave of gunfire. He watched it uselessly ping off the orange field, either ricocheting and hitting the ground, or vaporizing upon impact. Either way, the troopers caught on quickly, and in a show of tactical prowess, both of them stood up, with one strafing to the left, and the other to the right. While they did this, they both kept firing, reloading their weapons with lightning speed.

I can use my shield to block the shots of one, but I'd have to turn my back on the other. Fuck. Only one way to deal with this. This is gonna hurt me more than them, I bet.

With nothing to help it, he quickly dropped his omni-shield, and brought one leg in preparation for what he was going to do. For a few seconds, his kinetic barriers bared the brunt of the geth envelopment, and were draining fast when his body finally began to swim in the liquid blue of biotics. A familiar, cool feeling flooded his body, pumping him with adrenaline, and tightening his muscles.

Here...goes...NOTHING!

One second Marcus was there, the next he wasn't.

His body lurched forward at the speed of a bullet, his entire body becoming one, blue projectile. In the span of a second, he had moved five meters, slamming into his target with the force of twenty frag grenades exploding in one's face. The sound of metal slamming against metal was an almost deafening sound, and his armor bumped against him roughly, likely to be giving him bruises later.

Luckily for him, the force did more to the geth than to him. While Marcus managed to land in a roll, the shock trooper was totally unprepared for such an attack, and was sent flinging backwards, its back slamming against a tree with such force that the tree (keep in mind that this tree was at least over 70 inches thick) actually bent back slightly before righting itself. The shock trooper itself was left broken, pulse rifle slipping from its hand to fall to the ground as its broken body fell to the ground, snapped in an unnatural shape.

Quickly spinning around, he reached out a biotic hand, encasing the second shock trooper in a field of blue. The geth was lifted into the air effortlessly, hands desperately trying to right its aim so it could snap off shots at Marcus, but to no avail. Despite its upgrades, the geth were still helpless against biotics.

After lifting the geth several meters, he brought it back down again, with enough force to bury its head at least half a meter into the ground, optics likely crushed from the impact. The geth went still, its platform now dead.

"Having fun?" Garrus asked over the comms, clearly amused.

Marcus took a moment to steal a breath, grinning, "Time of my life."

"Hahaha...I hear tha-shit, get down! Sniper, on your six!"

Marcus did as he was told immediately, the sound of a loud boom echoing through his ears just before he dropped. His kinetic barriers registered the impact, but luckily for him, they had recharged to a strong enough state to protect him. But the shot had now drained them again, so he remained still, bringing up his rifle to pop off shots at the geth from his safer position.

"Hold on a second. Oh no you don't..." Garrus mumbled. After a moment, another loud boom was heard, this one from Garrus' rifle. A second later, a whoop of triumph, "Another one down! I'll keep an eye out for any more snipers, Marcus."

Marcus finished his latest burst, this one tearing the leg off of a charging trooper, who had attempted a kamikaze action against him. By this time, his shields had recharged, and he picked himself up into a crouch position, "Copy that. I'm moving forward! Tali, status!"

The quarian replied instantly, "We're pushing them back! The juggernaut's dead, and Legion just picked off the last destroyer! Although I doubt this is it!"

Yeah, the geth most certainly know we're here now. They'll send reinforcements soon enough.

"Keep pushing! Let's mop this up and link up with Kal and Madi before the geth send reinforcements!" he ordered, "All forward!"

Tali didn't need any further orders, so he returned to his own special flow in combat, holstering his rifle before pulling out both his pistol and SMG simultaneously, dual-wielding them with equal measure.

As he rounded the next crop of trees, he was surprised to find an unknowing geth sniper in a prone position. It fired its javelin before quickly reloading it, slapping a fresh thermal clip into the provided slot with unparalelled speed.

Without so much as regarding it any further, he took aim at the back of its head with his pistol, and fired. Its form went limp a second after the shot pierced its optics, bits of glass and white liquid coating the ground under where the shot impacted. The sniper dealt with, he pressed forward, using the trees to screen his movements, as he came upon the main geth flank.

Tali was right; they were getting beaten back. The geth were no longer pushing the offensive as they had been, and were now adopting a more defensive posture than they had been before. He watched as a rocket trooper moved to take aim with its launcher before its head suddenly wasn't there any longer, blasted away in a haze of plasma and heat. Not even bothering to acknowledge its corpse, Tali stepped past it, Chitika hovering by her shoulder as it popped off incendiary blasts and overloads at any geth unlucky enough to risk her shotgun.

He only smiled endearingly at her before quickly bursting from the trees himself, locking onto a pair of rocket troopers and a trio of shock troopers.

He raised both his weapons, took aim, and fired. The timed cough and semi-automatic, multi-shot bursts of his pistol and SMG fired respectively, twin muzzle bursts flashing in inconsistent tandem, blowing away at their targets. One shot managed to pierce the shoulder of one rocket trooper, throwing off its aim as its missile fired uselessly into the sky. The rocket trooper was quick to recover however, spinning around to fire its missile at Marcus. Before it could, Marcus' pistol fired again, hitting it directly into the optics and downing it immediately.

His SMG raked along the shields of one shock trooper, but was having little effect, as the kinetic barriers on a shock trooper were more powerful than he thought; it was only the pulse rifle that managed to pierce them so easily due to the power held within it. He continued to hold the trigger, but only managed to drain half its shields before the shock trooper finally retaliated, bringing up its rifle and firing. His shields were already at three quarters before he finally moved to the left.

By then he only just managed to miss having a round strike right through his hip, instead wincing as it pierced his armor, grazing against his skin. The heat and impact were enough to send a lance of fiery pain right up his side, but he shoved that pain to the side long enough to bring himself closer to the geth.

Firing his pistol over his target's shoulder, he managed to pin down the geth behind it long enough for him to bring up his omni-blade on the SMG arm. Before the shock trooper knew what was happening, he used his pistol arm to knock the pulse rifle away, spin on his right foot, and bring his omni-blade slicing downwards, taking the geth's head with it in a flaming hiss.

Orange light tinged the edges of the decapitation zone, and liquid spurted in tall rivulets as it collapsed, with nothing to connect it to its software. Using its body as cover, he brought both weapons up to deal with the second shock trooper, but realized it was no longer there.

Looking down for a split second, he noticed a large hole in its chest, and smiled even as he watched a purple flash dance past him, and another blast of light strike the second rocket trooper in its thigh. Brought to a knee, it tried to bring up its other arm to fire, but its head disappeared shortly after, leaving it to stumble and fall.

In a matter of moments, a warm back collided with his, "Miss me?" Tali laughed, already firing again.

"It's like you were gone for a week," he replied, bringing both his pistol and SMG up to pour into the third, retreating shock trooper. Unable to whether the assault, it fell, body riddled with holes and smoke pouring from every orifice.

For a moment, it seemed the battlefield was going to lessen up.

And then a familiar sound roared through the sky.

"Dropship!" Kal spat over the comms, "We've got incoming! 12 0'Clock, high!"

Marcus and Tali's heads snapped up in tandem, watching as infamous aerial vehicle descended towards them.

Even from this distance, they could see the energy gathering at its bow.

Oh shit.

"Move!" he barked, quickly making a break for the cover Koris and his crew were using, running at full pelt, "Get to cover!"

Tali was at his side almost as soon as the dropship opened fire, twin lances of missiles shooting towards them. Within moments of firing, the missiles found their mark, slamming into the ground with unbelievable force, sending columns of smoke, grit, fire and dust shooting up into the air, drenching them in its fire.

The double explosions sent Tali and Marcus tumbling forward onto the ground from the proximity. It took a moment for Marcus to come to his senses, wiping his visor as he spun around to see what was happening.

The dropship stopped over where it had attacked, and once again, its ventral launch hatches opened. Marcus expected more troopers to deploy, or perhaps a few more destroyers, or worse, a full platoon of juggernauts.

Instead, he watched as at least four squadrons worth of recon and assault drones poured from its hull, followed by at least a squad of hoppers. The drones Marcus didn't particularly care about, but boy did he fucking hate hoppers. Fuck.

"Take out those drones! Garrus, Legion, focus on those damn hoppers!" Marcus snapped, bringing up his pistol and SMG and immediately opening fire. From the sheer amount of drones flying towards them, he didn't even need to aim.

Tali followed his example, dropping her shotgun in favor of snapping out her pistol, popping off shot after shot at the coming horde. They were immediately met with the geth's retaliatory response, waves of purple light casting aside the darkness as they arched towards their targets, promising to deliver death en masse. The rotary guns mounted on the bellies of recon drones fired at full bore, with the assault drones not letting up either. The hoppers leapt into the trees, firing at the quarians from a distance, but never getting any closer. All the while, the dropship just hovered there, content to not move.

As Marcus and Tali began to crawl back, they did not let up for one second; did not take their eyes off the geth horde for one minute. And it was working. The odd shot would embed itself into the poorly armoured form of a recon drone, the impact either sending it spiralling out of control to smash upon the ground, or causing it to explode instantly. The assault drones required a bit more pressure, as they possessed shields, but once those were down, they died just as easily as any recon drone.

Sniper fire from Legion and Garrus answered the hoppers. They were fast moving, leaping around the field at a frantic pace, never staying in the one place for more than a second before delivering its payload and leaping somewhere else. But Garrus and Legion were good shots, and every couple of missed shots, a dead hopper flopped to the ground, a shot having pierced its optics or another pivotal part of operation on its body.

Marcus' SMG overheated in his hands, Marcus cursing as he turned to address the offending hopper, but unable to find it. A moment later, said hopper collapsed onto the ground, Chitika having found it and levelled an incineration blast at it, killing it instantly.

"Fuck this," Marcus spat as he finally dropped both his weapons and brought back out his pulse rifle. Shouldering it, he immediately opened fire, and watched with suppressed glee as drone after drone after drone exploded, raining shrapnel all around them. The fire continued to lessen until eventually every single drone was destroyed. Garrus and Legion required very little help dealing with the remaining hoppers.

When the battle subsided, silence once again overcame the savannah, with only the sound of footsteps, shuffles and the subtle hum of the dropship's stationary orbit to be heard.

Marcus got to his feet, picking up his weapons and holstering them as Tali did with her shotgun, summoing her drone back so she could deactivate and put it away. Marcus reloaded his pulse rifle, making sure to pop out the old, used one before doing so. He made a show to wipe the dust coating his visor off, leaving deep indents as he did so. Turning back to Tali, he smiled, patting her shoulder.

Then they all turned to look at the dropship, and when it seemed like it would attack again, the ship simply began to slowly move away, building up more and more speed as it did. As it reached terminus speed, it initialized its cloak, and light once again bent around it as the dropship began one with the night, only the distortions of the refraction giving away its true existence.

"Well, I guess that's it. For now," Marcus stated, taking a deep breath, "Garrus, Legion, regroup on us. Kal, Madi, how does it look?"

Kal's reply was grim, "Not as good as we'd hoped, sir. That wave of drones took out three more of the crew, and a sniper got another one. We've also got one who's badly wounded, sir. I don't think he's going to make it."

"Copy that. We're on our way," Marcus replied, motioning for Tali to follow him as he let his weapon slide back onto his back, shaking his head as they both jogged for the rocks the quarians were using as cover. Four of ten survivors dead. That leaves us with just six people, and five if this fifth doesn't make it. Fuck.

As they reached the cropping of rocks, they heard a ragged voice, along with another female voice he didn't recognize, "It's going to be okay, just hold on. We just need to seal your-"

As Marcus and Tali rounded the corner, they got to see the quarian man fully, and knew that what the female was saying was anywhere close to being the truth. He was severely shot up, and that was just putting it mildly. Blood pooled around where he sat, being soaked up by the ground. His mask was intact, but the chest section of his suit had been shredded to bloody ribbons, nothing but a mass of exposed muscle, tendons and veins to be seen; any grey skin that survived the exposure was painted in red blood, alot of it wet and still dripping. Orange medi-gel could be made out amongst the wounds as they tried to make him more comfortable, but it was clear the quarian wasn't going to make it.

The quarian responded to the female's kind words, gurgling as he likely coughed up blood, "Tell it to me true, Deza. I'm not going to make it."

The quarian identifed as Deza wasn't going to give into such defeatist, but realistic, logic, "No! That's not true! You can fight this! People have suffered worse and survived, Dorn! You can get through this!"

To Marcus' surprise, it was Tali who moved forward, placing a hand on Deza's shoulder. The quarian turned around, her eyes demanding to know who would dare be so familiar. After seeing who it was though, the quarian straightened her eyes widening, "Admiral Shepard-"

"-Deza, it would appear Dorn has made his decision. And he is right," Tali, the admiral, replied. She turned to look at the quarian named Dorn, smiling wearily, "He has been exposed to open air too long, and there is no way his suit can save him from this. He is going to die, Deza."

"No! That's not-that's not true..." Deza whimpered, hands over her vocalizer.

"It-it's okay..." Dorn replied, gulping as he winced, trying to make himself more comfortable against the rock's rugged surface, "I can...I can be with...be with my yol'tiya, again. I can see Dagt again."

"Who-who is Dagt?" Deza asked.

The voice to respond was a familiar one, one which made Marcus turn to look in belief. There, crouched beside Dorn's seated body, was a male quarian in cyan, milky white suit. His veil was a light shade of pink, with a checkered pattern of crosses. His mask was a cobalt blue color, with multiple straps covering his chest. He had a single carnifex pistol which was holstered on his hip, and he was crouched on one knee, looking defeated.

The voice that responded was very British sounding, always making Marcus wonder if there was secretly a pom hiding in that suit, "Dagt'Hazt vas Lazataa was his wife. She...she was the lead scientist on the Alarei."

He watched Tali's shoulders slump slightly before she staightened them again, not allowing anyone to see her weakness. Marcus looked at her sadly, memories of the Alarei appearing in his head. Seems Tali wasn't the only one who lost a loved one in the Alarei Incident.

A moment of silence followed, with a few of the crew taking a moment to take a breather, while others stocked up on ammo and assessed any battle wounds they may have suffered. A few tended to the dead, making sure their bodies were assembled appropriately and respectively.

Tali eventually broke the silence, coming to kneel beside Dorn with a sad expression, taking Dorn's hand in her own as she grasped it, "You a soldier, Dorn?"

"I'm...my name is...Dorn'Hazt, Admiral. I..." he coughed, trying to gain some composure as he sputtered, "I worked maintenance on the Qwib Qwib...I clean engine parts."

Tali patted his hand, "It's okay Dorn, you don't have to be afraid anymore. You're here. You're on the homeworld."

"Keelah," Dorn seemed to reply indirectly, as if Tali's words had just helped him fathom where he was. He looked up into the sky, glowing eyes landing one of Rannoch's larger orbitting moons, "It's beautiful...I wish...I wish...damn it...I wish Dagt was here to see this. I wish...Jona...my son..." The quarian trailed off, and after a moment, it seemed like the quarian had died. His eyes had closed, and he didn't move.

Then his body began to shake. And after a while, the telltale sounds of weeping could be heard.

"My boy," Dorn wept, his sobs coming out as long heeves, "My smart boy. He's...he's going to grow up without any parents. His mother's dead and soon...I will join her. I can see her again. But at least I got to see the homeworld before I...die."

"Yes, you did, Dorn. I'll be sure to tell your son that his father died on the home of our ancestors," Tali reassured him, stroking his hand, "You died a hero, Dorn. The crew of the Qwib Qwib will be remembered for what happened here."

Marcus stepped in, kneeling beside Dorn, gaining the quarian's attention as he sniffed, looking into Marcus' eyes. The spectre nodded, giving a smile of his own behind his helmet, nodding to accentuate it, "For a man who clean engine parts, Dorn, you did good. You did damn good. Your son should be proud."

"Rest easy now," Tali gulped, as if building up to something. It was clear Dorn was in his death throes now, "Rest in peace, Dorn'Hazt pav Rannoch. Keelah Se'lai."

"Please...tell my son...tell Jona...tell him I...I..."

Dorn's other hand was lifted, and all eyes turned to watch as Koris, Captain of the Qwib Qwib and Admiral of the Civilian Fleet, patted the man's shoulder in tandem, "I will, Dorn. I will tell Jona personally."

"Thank you, Admiral," Dorn replied, his eyes starting to droop visibly behind the mask, "Keelah...Re'lai..."

Dorn's head slumped to the side, and his body went limp. Tali and Koris let go of the dead man's hands, making sure to place them across his chest in a sign of respect. As had Kal and Madi before, they began whispering prayers for the dead under their breath, and Marcus took that as his cue to stand, moving over to where Garrus and Legion stood.

Garrus looked at him grimly, "How many survived?"

"Five," Marcus growled, "Only fucking five."

Garrus let his head hang low; it must have been a turian way of respect. Legion did not move, merely responding.

"We mourn the loss of the creators," Legion replied, its voice having a sad quality to it, "The geth will remember their sacrifice when this is over."

"When this is over," Marcus repeated bitterly, armoured hands on his equally armoured hips, "Which better be fucking soon." Five. Just five. Only fucking five. Out of all the survivors, we only got five, including Koris? That's too few. Too goddamn few.

"Captain," came Koris' voice from behind them, Marcus turning to watch as the admiral approached him, with Tali not far behind. Kal and Madi had stayed to take care of the other four survivors, and to see to it the bodies were arranged properly, "Your help was not anticipated. My crew and I were ready to die."

Marcus nodded. I know that feeling all too well.

"Your fellow admirals made it quite clear that your survival is pivotal to the war effort. Losing you would not only be a significant setback, but could have lethal consequences," he explained, "Apparently, your loss could result in a civil war."

Koris nodded humbly, hands clasped behind his back, "I...I see."

"We couldn't afford to lose you, Koris," Tali stated, arriving at his side, "We simply couldn't. We ran the numbers, and the cost we've suffered now would be far greater if we lost you."

"I understand. My fleet would not follow any other admiral," Koris summarized, nodding hesitantly as he turned back to his own crew, "It is just a pity you did not come sooner. We've been holding out for two days. We were stronger before, but we've lost more and more people as the geth kept pressing. I'm surprised we lasted this long."

"How many were there before?" Garrus asked.

"Forty," Koris stated simply, his eyes having a downcast look to them, "Forty-one, if you are to include me. And only a quarter of those had any combat training."

The numbers hit Marcus like a rocket, and he was stunned for several moments. Thirty-six quarians dead. Fuck, the cost better be worth it...

"If only we had come sooner..." Tali said, trailing off.

"All we can do is mourn them and make their sacrifice worth it," Marcus stated simply, hiding his true thoughts from them, "That's all we can do."

"Shepard-Commander," Legion spoke suddenly, "We are detecting activity."

"Keelah, a geth?" Koris flinched slightly, although compared to Raan and Xen's reactions, it was a relatively tame gesture, "And it isn't trying to kill us?"

"It's a long story, Admiral. Long story short, Legion's a friend of ours, and he isn't corrupted by the Reapers. He's here to help," the spectre explained. With his explanation looking to have soothed Koris' fears, he turned to Legion, frowning, "What kind of activity?"

"It is the geth dropship," Legion replied, "It is approaching for another pass."

"Without cloak?" Marcus quiered, frowning, "Why the hell not? Why let us know they're coming?"

"Because it is carrying cargo that cannot be hidden by the cloak, therefore negating its usefulness," Legion declared.

He did not like the sound of that, "Legion...what kind of cargo?"

The geth's response was simple; it brought out its Widow rifle, prompting the rest of them to do the same, "We recommend finding defensive positions. It will deploy behind us."

Marcus nodded, shouting as he turned, "Kal, Madi, get everyone to the trees! The dropship's coming in for another pass!"

He watched Kal and Madi nod, motioning to the four survivors to begin running for the trees. They began to do this just as the dropship's form appeared from around the trees, roaring to a halt in mid air as it opened up at the six running quarians with its usual salvo of missiles.

Marcus watched as the salvo trailed the group striking just behind them. The first detonation did no harm except send the quarian running from behind, Deza, flying, her body hitting the ground as the blast finished carrying her. Marcus and the squad could only watch in horror as the second missile hit her in the torso.

The resulting explosion consumed her, chunks of gore and viscera propelled through the dusty, night air in multiple directions as the blast scattered her. Suit fabric, superheated muscle particles, skin flakes, arms, legs, you name it, it went flying through the air to hit the ground around the blast within a fifteen meter radius. All that was left of Deza now was just a crater.

Luckily, the others made it to the trees, but the dropship was not finished. And it was then that Marcus noticed its cargo too late.

Oh, fuck me...

The docking hooks under it unlatched its cargo, which slammed into the ground below it with almost bone crushing force. Its job done, the dropship entered cloak and silently slipped away, only the roar of its engines being heard.

"Everybody, get to the damn trees! Kal, get out here with that grenade launcher! Garrus, Legion, scatter! Pepper that motherfucker!"

Even before he had finished giving out his orders, the source of their panic began to extend itself from its fetal position. Four, mechanical legs extended outwards and began to pull its main, armoured body up and off the ground. The wiring and cabling could barely be seen under its bright white heavy armor as it stood up, almost reaching its full height. Even then, it continued to unpack, a long neck extending from the front to stand fully erect, its optics gleaming from the top, staring at them. Attached to the side of it was a heavy machine gun, and under that, a heavy siege pulse cannon.

At its full height, the geth colossus stood at a frightening height of just under fifteen meters; the size of a small house. The geth answer to the tank.

Without so much as a sound, a purple energy began to build up within its siege pulse cannon.

The colossus barely acknowledged the sniper rounds that pinged harmlessly against its powerful kinetic barriers, simply focusing on Koris, Marcus and Tali as it continued to charge its siege pulse. After a moment, he turned to Koris, "Admiral, get to the trees. Now." Koris knew when to flee, and did as he was told, running at full pelt for the treeline. Marcus had to admit, for an admiral of his age, he ran pretty fast.

Marcus turned to Tali, "Scatter."

His wife did not need reminding. She immediately strafed off to the left, and Marcus did the same on the right just as the colossus finished charging its cannon up and fired.

The two of them managed to evacuate the vicinity just before the projectile hit. Looking behind him, he watched as the siege pulse hit the ground where they had been originally, a large blue ball of plasmatic energy discharging in a wide field as the ground around it was consumed in the fiery blast. The flash was bright, but enough to be totally blinding, allowing Marcus to continue sprinting in the direction he had chosen. A good thing too, as he also heard the colossus' machine gun begin to spin up, followed by the repetitive thunk, thunk, thunk as it fired, raking the ground behind him as it turned slowly to catch up with his speed; despite its immense firepower, the colossus failed in the area that the YMIR mech did; it was too large and cumbersome to turn fast enough.

The colossus began to turn around as it moved to follow him, its machine gun refusing to let up its onslaught as round after round pounded after him. Marcus on the other hand just kept running, knowing that if he stopped for even a second, that HMG would tear through his shields and reduce him to randomized, unidentifiable slabs of meat.

Luckily for him, just as the colossus finished its first turn, it stumbled. Its shields flared brightly as it registered the impact of a projectile, and its machine gun ceased fire, head turning around to address the new threat. Able to stop running, Marcus quickly ceased all forward movement, turning to watch as Kal emerged from the trees, firing his centaur non-stop into the giant geth tank.

Even before it finished turning to deal with Kal, the colossus was already charging up a new siege pulse burst, and without even waiting, Marcus quickly and quietly ran towards the colossus, formulating a plan in his head. He figured that unless they got under its shields, Kal's centaur was only going to annoy the colossus, not kill it. The only way to penetrate these shields was with an anti-armor weapon, like the cannons on a Hammerhead or Mako tank. But lacking those, they were limited on options.

So they'd just have to get under its shields.

Still running, he holstered his pulse rifle and quickly grabbed at his shoulder, looking for the clasp to undo his grenade bandolier. He could hear Tali screaming at him to stop, but he didn't listen; he just kept running, hands finally finding the clasp of his bandolier as he blindly sprinted towards a death machine.

He heard Kal cry out, and looked up in time as he watched the quarian marine retreat into the trees, his form disappearing as a cloud of plasma erupted behind him, the column of smoke and heat blocking off all view of him. Following it was a burst of machine gun fire, which quickly sent Kal retreating totally into the trees, Marcus watching as the high-speed, pulsated bullets completely tore through the trees, sending wood splinters and bark flying in all directions. One tree exploded from the onslaught, collapsing onto its side. The heat from the plasma of the siege pulse was so intense that Marcus was forced to watch as flames spawned seemingly from nowhere, beginning to envelop entire trees.

The darkness was pushed away as the fire spread, and the colossus just continued to follow Kal along the treeline, giving Marcus time to close the distance between him and the towering mech.

Just as he reached one of the colossus' legs, Garrus spoke, "Marcus, Legion and I are almost out of ammo, and we're not even making a dent in that thing's shields. There's nothing we can do."

Marcus nodded, quickly grabbing his first bandolier and beginning to wrap it around the colossus' leg, "Garrus, fall back to the trees. Legion, do you have any explosive rounds?"

"Only one, Shepard-Commander," Legion replied.

"Load it into your rifle, and wait for my mark. When I give it, take aim at the colossus' optics and fire," he ordered, walking around until the bandolier was wrapped firmly around the colossus' leg. Only just, though; he could see the material straining from the tightening, but it would hold long enough for him to do what he needed to do. With a grunt, he clasped the bandolier, holding it in place.

"Marcus, just what the hell are you planning?" Tali growled over their private comm.

"You'll see, sweetheart," he replied, his voice laced with sarcasm, "It's going to be quite the explosion. I wonder if Joker'll can see it from where he is?"

"You are such a bosh'tet," she snapped back, but he could tell his words were having their desired effect.

"And you love me for it," he replied, grabbing his second bandolier and searching the colossus' underbelly for a place to stick it. Finding it in a piece of jutted armor, he quickly wedged the bandolier inside, making sure it was attached firmly before leaving it. With a grin, he moved over and primed one of the grenades in the first bandolier, before priming another in the second. With his job complete, he unholstered his rifle and began to sprint away from the colossus, which had, unfortunately, caught on to what he was up to.

"Marcus, run! That thing's onto you!" Garrus shouted over the comm.

The whirr of a machine gun spinning up reinforced Garrus' words, "Understood, Garrus!"

He came to a stop however, turned and brought up his omni-shield, slamming it down infront of him just as the colossus opened fire, high-impact rounds slamming into his shield. The impact and sheer force of the impacts staggered him slightly, but the force was becoming quickly overwhelming. He gritted his teeth, growling through them as he held his position. Any second now...

And then like a blessing from heaven, the first blast came.

It was beautiful. The first blast was quickly accompanied by more as the rest of the grenades in the first bandolier exploded, waves of heat running up the colossus' leg. The geth itself screamed out defiance in its usual electronic cry as the first of its two rear legs was obliterated, bits of cabling and circuitry mixed with superheated white liquid from the blast and sheared armor plating flew into the air, propelled upwards by the blast.

The colossus fell backwards, its weight unable to be supported on three legs alone. But before the geth could even assess its damage, the second bandolier exploded.

This time, the blast and force was so great that the colossus was airborne for a mere second, before slamming back into the ground with a loud quake. Its entire underbelly was shredded, pieces of armor melting off while others were simply twisted or blown off, with white liquid cascading into the air in tall fountains, as if reaching up to the sky.

Legion did not need his signal; it must have understood. The first set of explosions was to immobilize the colossus, while the second was to destroy its kinetic barrier generators; he did not know where it was, but the explosion was large enough to cover all bases. With its shields down, its optics were now vulnerable...

The shot came quickly. Before the colossus could charge up its siege pulse again, a shot slammed into its head, piercing deep into its optics before detonating, the interior detonation causing the head to explode like a ripe fruit. When all was said and done, the colossus' head was totally missing, along with most of its neck. Now headless and with no software to control it, the colossus simply slumped, its dead body slamming back into the ground with a large tremor, the fearsome tank now being no more.

When the silence enveloped them again, it was Kal who spoke up, "Sir...you are one hell of a crazy bosh'tet."

Marcus just laughed as he deactivated his omni-shield, regarding the destroyed powerhouse infront of them. After all that was said and done, they'd actually done pretty well in that fight, "Thanks, Kal. Compliments are always appreciated. By the way, Legion...nice shot."

"The chances of this unit missing was...correction. We apologize, Shepard-Commander," the geth corrected, causing Marcus to frown, "You were...complimenting us. This appears to be a popular organic notion. We...thank you, Shepard-Commander."

Ah...okay.

"You're...you're welcome, Legion," he stuttered, shaking his head. Be got to his feet quickly and easily enough, but the colossus' attack had really winded him, and he had no doubt he had bruises all over his body. Not to mention that shot that had grazed him earlier in the fight. I'll have to get Chakwas or Michel to look at it when we're back on the Normandy.

"Marcus!" Tali cried out, rushing towards him. In moments, he found himself wrapped in a tight hug, one that wasn't entirely unwelcoming. Before he could return it though, Tali retreated, shaking her head, "You idiot! Do you realize how stupid you can be, sometimes?"

Marcus just grinned, "You seem to love reminding me, love."

She visibly rolled her eyes, "Whatever, you stupid fool. Are you okay?"

"Just a bit winded," he assured her, tapping his visor to hers, "Nothing too serious. I'll be fine, don't worry. That colossus barely touched me."

"As long as you're-"

A rumble of engines reminded them they were not out of trouble just yet.

"Oh for fuck sake!" Marcus growled, spinning to see the dropship. There was no sight of it, on the horizon, which must have meant it was coming towards them under cloak, "I have just about had enough of that dropship!"

Just as the words left his mouth, the dropship appeared, dropping its cloak to unleash a hail of missile fire. Marcus, before he could even react, found a three-fingered hand gripped in his before he was yanked away by it, Tali dragging him towards the trees. It took a moment before his legs properly reacted and he ran beside her, the two of them letting go as they both sprinted for the trees.

"I don't think this dropship is here to deploy troops this time!" Garrus shouted, Marcus turning to see the turian also running for the trees, Legion not far behind him.

"Good," the spectre shouted back, bringing up his comm to the shuttle, "Because this ends...now."

They reached the trees just as the dropship unleashed another salvo, this one impacting the trees nearby. The explosion destroyed several more trees, the blasts further augmenting the flames that were already licking at the savannah.

These trees aren't going to be safe much longer. We'll burn to death before the damn dropship kills us.

The dropship itself was unrelenting in its assault, proving Garrus' assertion right; the ship had no further forces to deploy, and was likely here to hold them down until more could arrive with proper reinforcements. And Marcus knew that any further assaults would be the death of them. This needs to end.

It wasn't long before his comm to the shuttle connected, and Cortez's voice filled the line, "How's it going over there, Captain?"

"It's a fucking shitstorm over here, Cortez!" he snapped immediately, desperate to be heard over the fourth salvo to be fired, the explosions not only too close, but unbelievably loud. Only when the sound subsided did he speak again, "We need that dropship gone, Cortez! Can you assist?"

"You bet your ass I can," Cortez replied, the sound of a haptic interface being fired up easily heard. When he spoke again, the man's voice was distant, "Keeling, you better get ready! Prepare for a hot extraction!" the voice then returned to normal, now addressing Marcus, "ETA one minute! We'll be there soon; just hold on! Cavalry's comin'." With that, Cortez cut the line.

"Everybody, bunker down! We've got backup incoming!" Marcus barked, quickly bringing himself to sit down behind a tree, leaning his back against it. He quickly holstered his pulse rifle, knowing he would not need it. Tali ran past him and leapt to land behind another tree several meters nearby, trying to make herself obscure. All around, survivors and squad alike followed their example, and soon, they could only sit there and listen as things exploded all around them; trees combusted into flames, dust flew into the air and wind was forcibly removed from its location as the explosion sent plumes of it blowing into their faces.

Marcus looked out at the dropship, which was simply sitting there in a stationary position, firing its missiles continously, uncaring for could be coming for it. It knew they had nothing to take it out with, with the last of Kal's centaur rounds used up on the colossus, which meant the dropship could sit there lazily and take potshots at them for as long as it liked until it ran out of ammo. And by the time that happened, more would have arrived.

The dropship's glory didn't last however. The unmistakable sound of a kodiak shuttle's engines could be heard in the distance, which quickly intensified. The dropship must have realized this, as not two seconds after the sound was heard, it attempted to enter a strafing maneveur, but by then, it was too late for the aircraft.

The first molten tungsten shell slammed into the dropship's side, tearing through it and out the other side like its armor was made of tissue paper, causing the dropship to falter in its position, shaking slightly from the blast. Flames licked at its side and at the entry holes, quickly consuming the interior of the vessel.

Another shot pierced it through the front, causing even more damage. Finally, a third shell tore through its middle. It must have impacted the dropship's main reactor as the resulting impact concluded in a bright, piercing white flash, which was followed by the loudest explosion of the night. Trees twisted and leaned dangerously to the side as the massive air expulsion from the blast blew at them. Everybody was knocked to the ground as they watched the fiery remnants of the aircraft slam into the ground, nothing but fire and debris to show for its existence.

After a brief moment, Cortez's kodiak shuttle replaced the dropship in its orbit, hovering for a moment before moving slightly off to the side and landing, its hatch sliding open.

Marcus got to his feet, watching as Keeling immediately stormed out, her Valkyrie rifle aimed and ready. Seeing no hostiles, she quickly lowered it, nodding to her commanding officer.

Confident the area was now clear, Marcus turned to the group, nodding with a wince as he held his side, "Everybody, pile onto the shuttle! We need to leave before reinforcements get here!"

The group didn't need telling twice. Like rabbits fleeing a fire (which in some respects, they were, noting the flames that were eating across the savannah rapidly, lighting up the night sky like bright beacons), the entire group erupted from the trees, his squad remaining professional and joining Keeling as they made sure the entire area was secured. Only once Koris and the three remaining survivors were onboard did his squad get onboard. Marcus was the last on, still wincing from the bullet's grazing on his side, managing to shut the hatch on his way in before plopping down in the seat beside it.

He felt the shuttle lift into the air, before suddenly shooting into the sky, leaving Rannoch behind as it moved up into the atmosphere, stealth drive ensuring that the geth would detect them escaping.

Tali was instantly at his side, dropping to her knees as she began feeling around the entry wound. She poked at it, watching for a response. When she saw him flinch slightly, she shook her head, reaching up and removing his helmet as she tsked him, "You stupid idiot. You are hurt! Why didn't you tell me when I asked you?"

Reaching up a hand, he rubbed at his face, shaking his head, "Because it wasn't important, and wasn't that bad. All it needs is some medi-gel, Tali. You need to stop worrying."

"It's my job to worry about you," Tali whispered, grabbing her own packet of medi-gel as she began to apply it to his 'wound,' doing it with tender, loving care.

He nodded, sighing as he stroked her cheek, "Well you can stop. Alittle bit of medi-gel and I can walk it off."

Tali just continued to apply medi-gel to his wound, but he knew she had not stopped worrying about him. She never did. It just made Marcus remember why he loved her so much, and that he was lucky to have her for a wife.

As the shuttle continued to elevate into Rannoch's atmosphere, Marcus looked up, and his eyes locked with those of Koris'. They looked at each for awhile; the understanding in their eyes, the apprehension, as well as mutual thanks. Koris was grateful for Marcus saving his life, and in the end, that was all that was needed.

But the losses had been great; he had no doubt this greatly affected Koris. The loss of one's entire crew while fighting geth and seemingly stuck on a hostile yet familiar world with no hope of rescue or escape would no doubt hinder one's resolve, and Koris had lost all but three of his crew. Being the captain of a ship, he had no doubt this would scar Koris till the end of his days.

But Koris also understood the necessity of his own survival; that it was necessary for the continuation of the Fleet. Sacrifice the few to save the many.

As Koris looked away and Marcus looked back to Tali, he sighed heavily, hoping that it would all be worth it.

It better be.

{Loading...}

July 9, 2186

1929 hours.

Medical Bay, Normandy-Class Stealth Frigate SSV Normandy SR-2, Migrant Fleet, In Orbit over Haestrom, Dholen System, Far Rim Cluster.

Second Morning War.

Captain Marcus Lee Shepard, Chief Medical Officer Karin Chakwas, Assistant Medical Officer Chloe Michel.

As Marcus sat on the edge of the bed, he reached up and stretched his arms, waiting for a satisfying pop and crack before dropping them, rolling his neck to produce the same result. At that point in time, most of his body still ached from the operation back on Rannoch, but thanks to his cybernetics, he was recovering better than most would be. For instance, the graze across his hip had already healed over; all thanks to his body's regenerative abilities.

The only reason he was still here was because Chakwas and Michel insisted on running tests on him, which he guessed was understandable. The medical officers aboard warships (at least in the Alliance Navy) were always required to run daily medical checks on the onboard crew, especially of the combat personnel. And it just so happened that today was time for Marcus' own checkup.

He sighed heavily as he glanced between the two women, watching them as they exchanged opinions, while also tapping away at datapads and omni-tools respectively. The two of them talked professionally, speaking in a bunch of medical jibber-jabber that Marcus both didn't comprehend and didn't want to comprehend. He just sat there as the words washed over him, waiting for them to let him go so he could get some more work done. There's so much to do. I've got one war to end, another to fight.

Tali had seen him to the medical bay herself before leaving, having to attend a meeting of the admirals in the War Room. The entire Admiralty Board was present, including Gerrel, albeit through vidlink, as Marcus was still adamant about not letting him aboard after the geth super-dreadnought incident. He didn't know the details, but he garnered that the meeting was to bring Koris back up to speed on what had been happening while he was marooned on Rannoch; a recap, if anything else. Tali had promised to see him later when the meeting was finished.

As for the survivors of the Qwib Qwib...the three of them had been persistent about remaining by their captain's side, but Koris had made it clear that with the Qwib Qwib gone, Koris was no longer a captain, as he had no ship to command. The three quarians had eventually given into its logic, and all of them were reassigned to the Tonbay; Shala'Raan's flagship. What Koris was going to do without a ship to command was beyond Marcus, but at the moment, his mind rested on other things.

We've saved Koris, but now what? We just sit here until we can locate this signal? That could take days! While we sit here, the Reapers are still overunning the galaxy! We should be out there finding the catalyst, not playing around with the quarians and the geth while we sort their petty fucking problems!

He sighed, inwardly cursing himself at the manner of which he thought. Get yourself together, Marcus. Securing this particular alliance could be the most important of the war. Sure, the krogan carry most of the ground-based muscle, but what about in space? If the quarians and the geth combine their fleets, they'd easily be able to outfight the asari, turian and salarian navies combined! Not to mention the geth have goddamn plasma-based weapons, which is by far superior to the magnetohydrodynamic superheated tungsten-based weapons of the Reapers. That, and they have cloaking for their ships to boot! The geth are the only ones who can understand how the Reapers think at a machine-based level, and the firepower they have is a large bonus! Besides, I can just imagine a platoon of geth primes chewing up an entire horde of husks by themselves.

And imagine that platoon of primes supplemented by quarian combat engineers...

The possibilities were endless. And all he had to do was get the two of them to see past their differences and work together; which would mean the geth giving the quarians back Rannoch, and in return, the quarians forgiving the geth for the First Morning War. No easy feat...

And we can only do that once the geth are free of the Reaper signal. Which means...we can't do shit yet. Have to wait for Legion to locate where the damn thing is first.

It was then that his thoughts drifted back to his wife, Tali. She just went through alot of shit. She's finally able to see her homeworld, and she spends most of the trip there killing geth while rescuing a high-value asset. Doesn't leave much time for sight-seeing, unfortunately. He had no doubt she was reeling from that fact, but would look forward to seeing Rannoch again when they went back. And I swear we'll go back. We have to. When this little war is finished, I'll take her there myself.

Always work before play, though. And we are sort of fighting for survival; there's that too. Haven't forgotten that we're sort of in the middle of a galactic genocidal machine apocalypse.

A holocaust, except this time it was giant, sentient star dreadnoughts looking to wipe out all galactic life in existence. And they're winning.

And they'll keep winning if I don't resolve this stupid little conflict!

"Marcus," Chakwas' voice snapped him from his thoughts, causing him to look up to see Michel and Chakwas looking at him expectantly, "You with us?"

Damn it, should have been listening. He licked his lips, nodding slightly, "Sorry, I was just thinking. Running some scenarios through my head. So am I good to go?"

Chakwas nodded, looking satisfied with his answer, "I'd say so. Your cybernetics aren't acting up, your scars haven't come back, and its clear your regeneration abilities are still active and working. You haven't shown any signs of sickness recently, have you?"

"Not so much as a runny nose," Marcus replied instantly, slapping his hands on his knees, "Fit as a fiddle."

"Then you're perfectly fine, as I expected you would be," Chakwas declared, deactivating her omni-tool as she returned to her red-headed assistant, "Do you agree, Doctor Michel?"

"My scans haven't picked up anything different, and you've certainly got more experience with his cybernetics than I do," Michel replied, her heavy Russian accent dripping through in her voice. Eventually, she shrugged, switching off her own datapad and crossing her arms, a broad smile covering her red lips, "So from what I can see, he's completely fine. In perfect shape for a soldier."

"Then I guess that's it then," Marcus stated, moving to stand up, feet dropping onto the deck as he straightened his legs and back, hearing them crack and pop as the stiffened muscles gave their release, "I'm free to go?"

"Well, we don't have any reason to hold you back," Chakwas remarked, grinning slightly, "Although, I do believe you owe me a drink. A glass of my Serrice Ice Brandy, I believe."

He widened his eyes at her for a moment, before relaxing, "Wait, really? It's been a full year already since we last shared a drink?"

"No, it hasn't," Chakwas admitted, rubbing her forehead as she turned back to her desk, reaching for her liquor cabinet underneath, shifting her chair out of the way to reach it, "But I think it would be worth it to have it now. We never know what tomorrow brings, and I would rather have it now than never."

She doesn't think we can win. Or she does, and she just doesn't think we'll survive long enough to see victory. The thought brought sadness to him, but he quickly swept it away, walking over to place a hand over Chakwas', stopping her from moving. She looked up at him, having ceased all movement.

He simply smiled down at her, "I appreciate the thought, Karin, and I look forward to the next time we share that bottle, but for now, save it. Save it for victory. Save it for when the Reapers are destroyed, Cerberus is dealt with and we can all rest and celebrate."

Chakwas seemed to regard him for another moment before nodding, closing her drawer as she shook her head, standing back up, "Of course, Mark, you're right. I know you won't fail us, I was just...I was just getting sentimental. I'm an old woman, I'm sure you can forgive me."

"We've been through alot, Karin," he reached up and gripped her shoulder, squeezing it as he smiled warmly at her, "You were there for me when I had to sacrifice Ashley on Virmire. You stood by my side even when we all risked court-marshall for stealing this ship. You were on the Normandy as it took out Sovereign with the killer blow. You survived the Normandy's destruction. You saved Tali after Peta's attack, and put up with my shit after the Bahak Incident. And you still stuck by the Normandy even as we were grounded. Karin, you were abducted by the Collectors and came out no worse for wear. We will survive this. We all will. And when this is all over, I will gladly share that drink with you."

Karin smiled at him, nodding, "And so will I. I'll make sure to keep it cold."

He grinned, chuckling to himself slightly as he let his hand retreat from gripping her shoulder, "Just one thing though; when we do share that drink, I want it to be on a sunny day where we can kick up our feet. I also want there to be a good view of some Reaper corpses."

Chakwas shook her head, sinking into her chair as she rolled her eyes at him, "Men. You'll never change. I guess Garrus will be there?"

"Of course," Marcus chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck, "And I'll leave a spot for Wrex, too. Nothing like an horizon made of dead Reapers to complete the day."

Chakwas just shrugged her shoulders, laughing halfheartedly, "Then...leave a seat for me, Mark! I'll enjoy the view with you."

"I'll be sure to join you," Michel added, laughing.

Marcus nodded to the two doctors, making his way towards the doors, "Well, I'll leave you two to it. I've got some wor-"

Before he reached the doors, they opened, revealing Tali and Koris waiting to be granted access. Marcus turned to address the visitors, and smiled upon seeing Tali.

The quarian admiral did the same behind her mask, and after sharing a brief hug, they pulled apart, Marcus tapping his forehead against her visor.

"How did the meeting go?" Marcus asked, looking up at Koris, who to his credit remained quiet during Marcus' exchange with his wife, "I'm sure you've been brought up to speed?"

Koris gave a simple nod, his posture remaining unchanged, "It would appear alot has happened since I crashed the Qwib Qwib, and yet so little. I'm glad Gerrel's little charge actually destroyed the super-dreadnought, otherwise my crew's sacrifice would have been for nothing. The moron should never have led the charge from the beginning."

On that, we can agree. He nodded to the admiral with a look of sympathy, "I'm truly sorry for the loss of your crew, Admiral. If we had gotten there sooner we could have at least-"

Koris was having none of it, raising one hand to forestall Marcus' apologies, "You have no need to apologize, captain. You saved my life, and likely saved the Migrant Fleet for the second time in this war in the process. The Civilian Fleet was on the verge of total anarchy when I arrived. I only just managed to rally the captains and persuaded them from fleeing," the admiral shook his head, gulping, "As for my crew...you couldn't have gotten there any sooner, I know that. The time difference would have remained the same. My crew would have died all the time. You did what you could."

"I..." he tried to object, but given Koris' look, the admiral's opinion seemed to be set in stone. With a final nod, he obliged, motioning for them to walk into the mess hall so the doctors could be left to their work. Stepping outside, they found themselves a seat at the mess hall table; Tali and Marcus sat on the right side, beside each other while Koris opposite them. The admiral looked surprised when one of the human crew members, Crewman Hawthorne, saw the quarian approaching and immediately stood up, straightening his posture and offering a snappy salute, "Admiral, sir!"

Koris stood frozen for a moment before breaking out of his haze, returning the salute, albeit slightly less formally, "I...at ease...soldier?"

Marcus smiled slightly, and turned to Hawthorne, who had now dropped his salute hand, "Its okay, Hawthorne. Koris isn't actually military; quarian admirals don't work like that."

"Oh," Hawthorne seemed to blush, rubbing the back of his neck, "Sorry for the misunderstanding, sir...I mean...Admiral."

Koris just awkwardly nodded. Seeing that Koris was looking to take a seat, Hawthorne snatched up his food tray and drink and shoved it to the side, taking a seat infront of it, "You can have my seat, admiral. I'm back on duty in a few minutes, anyway."

"I...thank you...Ensign," Koris replied, taking the proferred seat as he carefully pulled it out and sat down, sliding it back in again as he clasped his hands ontop of the table's surface.

Before Hawthorne picked up his burger, he shrugged, nodding, "No problem, admiral." He then promptly bit into his burger, having been looking at it with intense hunger.

"Damn," Marcus had watched, and suddenly, as if triggered by the sight, his stomach grumbled, demanding sustenance, "I could do with some food myself."

"Me too," Tali instantly added, looking to Koris, "Would you like some food yourself, Admiral?"

"No thank you. A...a glass of water would be nice, though," the admiral concluded, looking to be overwhelmed by this sudden hospitality.

Before Marcus could even stand, Gardner was already shouting from the kitchen, "Some steak and chips, coming right up, captain! Just hold on tight and I'll get you the goodies in a second. Some nutrient paste for Mrs. Shepard? Or would you like something abit more appetizing?"

"Nutrient paste will be fine, thank you, Mess Sergeant," Tali chirped happily.

"Please, the name's Rupert at this point," Gardner yelled back, before returning to silence as the smell of food cooking began to permeate the room.

Marcus turned back to Koris, letting out a long sigh, "So...what ship do you think you'll be assigned to when this is over?"

Koris shook his head, making no motion to move any more than that, "I won't be. At least not for the duration of this particular conflict; like Raan and Xen, I'll be remaining onboard the Normandy to oversee operations for the foreseeable future. After that...I do not know, captain. Perhaps I will find myself a new flagship. A pity...I was quite proud of my ship."

Marcus didn't bother to mention the admirla's choice in ship name, as he was sure Koris had been ridiculed more than enough time for it, but he could also understand Koris' sorrow; Marcus had felt the same way about losing Normandy SR-1, and still felt the same; after all, the SR-2 was a great ship, but it still wasn't the SR-1.

The SR-1 was there at the beginning. The SR-1 destroyed Sovereign. The SR-1 saved us from Virmire. And its the SR-1's body that lies buried on Alchera. This ship will never be quite the same.

But with Koris, there never would be a second Qwib Qwib. His ship was gone, forever.

Marcus nodded, "I understand how you feel, Koris. I lost the Normandy once, along with alot of its crew. Of course, I got my ship back, bigger and better. But I still know what it's like to lose a ship you have alot of pride in. That you've put your soul into. And losing the crew is even worse...I'm truly sorry for your loss."

Koris nodded, sighing lightly, "Thank you. Still, it is good that I remain unmarried. I do not think I could bear losing a wife as well. I will never forget my crew, or my ship, but I can move on. My people need me, of course. And I will do my duty by them. As any good admiral should."

Marcus regarded his words carefully, gulping as he nodded to them, "Yeah, you're right."

But in his mind, another battle raged.

"And I will do my duty by them. As any good admiral should."

"...as any good admiral should..."

Yeah...

A/N:

A lazy way to end a chapter, I know. But I figured you guys had waited long enough.

Next chapter will be a interim or straight to business; the geth server mission. The entire plot of that mission will be changed drastically however; you'll see why, and hopefully you guys will like it.

I've seen a large drop in reviews. This makes me sad. Why you no review?

If you're there, please drop a review. Let me know I've still got a reader base. Aside from you Myron, whose reviews are always appreciated, and dividing MDH, who likely understands how quickly shit can hit the fan when you're busy. XD

Anyways, I look forward to seeing you next chapter!

Keelah Se'lai, troopers! Or should I say,

Keelah Re'lai, troopers!