HOLOCAUST

CHAPTER FORTY:

KEELAH RE'LAI PART TWO

July 21, 2186

1353 hours.

2 klicks north of the Geth Fortress, the Great Plains, Former Country of Poltane'r, Uma'Waz Subcontinent, Rannoch.

Second Morning War, Liberation of Rannoch.

Captain Marcus Lee Shepard, Military Advisor Garrus Vakarian, EDI, Shadow Broker Liara T'Soni, Admiral Tali'Shepard vas Normandy, Master Thief Kasumi Goto, Second Lieutenant James Vega, Second Lieutenant Imogen Keeling, Soldier Javik, General Kal'Reegar vas Normandy, Major Madi'Reegar vas Normandy, Legion.

He couldn't remember the last time he was so...tense.

Perhaps it was when he had been fighting through the streets of Vancouver as the Reapers invaded Earth? Maybe it was when he was chasing Eva along the Archives on Mars? When he was racing to rescue the new turian primarch on Menae? Trying to keep Bakara alive while Cerberus assaulted the salarian base on Sur'Kesh? Meeting Javik for the first time and learning who he was? The evacuation on the besieged Noveria? Racing through krogan ruins as a krogan god and machine god battled amongst the sands? Pointing a gun at Mordin? Racing to save the Council as Cerberus invaded the Citadel?

Or perhaps, it was none of those. Maybe, the last time he was so unbelievably tense, was when he had finally learnt of Tali's whereabouts, only to discover that she was about to die.

If so...that tension had returned in full gear. He was barely able to resist as his hands clenched around the controls, as his eyes fixated themselves on the wall of titanium and steel that lay ahead, as the order to charge refused to leave his lips.

The moment...it was yet another one of those defining moments. A game-changer; ending yet another centuries long blood feud and returning a race to its former glory. Yet, even when he cured the genophage, could he really claim it was he who had cured it? After all, Mordin had been the one who created it...he only helped to deliver it...

If anything, wouldn't this victory go to Tali? Or Legion, even? After all, it had been the geth who reached out. The geth who had the audacity to confront Marcus and try and join his squad. The geth who had revealed to them the truth, never once stabbed them in the back, and had remained unwaveringly loyal. If Tali had never met Legion, would they be here today? Would they have gotten this far?

Somehow, Marcus doubted it.

But then there was his wife...the first quarian, ever, to willingly side with a geth. Whether it had initially been because of her love and trust for Marcus, or because she genuinely believed the geth to be an ally, is unclear...but it didn't matter anymore. Now, today, Tali truly trusted Legion, believed every word it had to say. Sure, they weren't exactly friends, but it was a trusting, professional relationship. It worked, and for Marcus to see it...he was humbled.

Some prejudices can be forgiven, but never forgotten. The quarians will remember their hatred of the geth...and, with hope, spit upon it. They will be proud of their progress, and march forward into a better tomorrow.

Never did Marcus, when he joined the Alliance, expect to become something so gargantuan in scale; no soldier does, really. Marcus did it because he felt it was all he could do; when he lost his father in the First Contact War, he felt somekind of obligation to join the military. To make a difference. For the 17 years prior to that, he had done nothing but play on ships, making friends and losing them just as fast as his mother constantly moved from post to post. Until the Normandy, Marcus had never made any permanent friendships; by the time he arrived at the new posting, he would make new friends, and forget the old...for he had never had enough time to make any true, unwaveringly, loyal friendships.

His first friends had been in the Alliance; and even then, they were still just men under his command. Sure, he laughed and joked and teased along with the rest of them; but that was just a cover. No, in the end, it was the Normandy where his true, permanent friendships began.

No, where his family was reborn.

The Alliance military recruited you by making you believe you were going to make a difference. That you were going to explore the galaxy, meet new people, and kill others. It was all very Star Treky; going where no man has gone before. In the end...Marcus was one of the lucky ones. He got to save the galaxy; he was charged with a billion-year-long nightmarish secret, and he, with his motley crew, would be the galaxy's guardians.

Did he think he would end up here? No. No, he didn't.

A hand touched his shoulder and squeezed, and he almost immediately relaxed. His eyes remained focused ahead, but his grip slackened slightly, and after a moment, he felt himself tear his eyes away from the geth base they were about to attack to look into the eyes of the one person that was more important to him than anything. And then there's you...

"You okay, Marcus?" she asked, cocking her head, able to read him like an open book, "You look tense."

He smiled back and reached up, using his own hand to squeeze hers. With his helmet on, he couldn't very well kiss it like he wanted, "I'm fine, yol'teeya. Feeling larger than life."

She simply rolled her eyes, patting his shoulder as she pulled back into her seat, once again working on her console, "It's 'yol'tiya', you bosh'tet. And good. We can't have you being distracted."

A grin spread across his face, "Well soooo-rrrrrryyyy, Mrs Shepard. I didn't realize my tension brought you discomfort."

Her response was a smile, hidden well behind her mask, "I've said it before, I will say it again. This marriage is proof that men can be tamed."

"Only for you, darling," he responded, his response more warm than teasing, his grin melting to a simple, heartfelt smile, "Only for you."

He could feel her smile back, her own grin changing into a mere warm smile. It was nice to see.

After a moment of silence, Marcus frowned, switching to their private comm as he turned towards her, "You know, something just occurred to me."

"Uh-oh, you're using the private comm. It must be...important," she replied with sarcasm, turning towards him with one elbow against her locked console, "What is it?"

His frown deepened, "Karin calls me Mark, but you don't. You still call me Marcus."

He could almost still the raised eyebrow behind her mask, "I...I didn't even know you had a second name. Do all humans have two names?"

His frown only deepened...before turning into a smile, and then a chuckle, "What? No. No, I don't have two names, honey. Mark is just a shortened version of Marcus. My mum and Karin say it all the time. I just figured...I don't know...I just wouldn't mind you saying it."

She giggled, "Is that an order or a suggestion, captain?"

"Just a suggestion, Tali," he replied, holding up his hands defensively, "Although...I'd really like it if you would call me that. Marcus...its not...you know, a personal thing between us anymore. Almost everyone we know uses it now. And Mark...its only used by Karin and my mum...so why not? I want something between us, Tali."

She didn't respond for a second, turning back to her console and staring at it. After a moment, she turned back to him, a smirk in her voice, "Get me my homeworld back, and I'll call you, and do to you, whatever you want." There was a hint of something in her voice...something almost...lustful. Filled with...desire.

Whatever it was, it almost made him melt and something...familiar...stiffen painfully underneath his armor, "I'll...I'll...uh...keep that...in mind?" He returned her feelings in kind. Lust. Desire. Want. Suddenly, it was almost like her scent could be smelt outside her suit. It was...intoxicating.

With Junior around, and the seven months between us...we haven't...done the deed since...well...before the super-dreadnought. And...god...do I want...her...

And by the look Tali gave him for a second, she felt the same.

Suddenly, Javik's voice interrupted their moment, "Captain?" His voice was irritated and annoyed, and when Marcus turned around, he could see Kaidan sitting down, both him, Garrus, Liara and Kasumi with smirks on their faces. He sighed, switching off his private comm and turning to the main squad comm, "Yes, Javik?"

"The...flare...is loaded," the prothean stated, still confused by the word, "Are you sure this primitive device will be enough to get their attention?"

"Yes, Javik," he replied in an almost sarcastic tone, feeling like he sounded like a teacher scolding a child, "This will get their attention. Now why don't you stop questioning everything and just fire the damn thing," he quickly switched to the main comm, "This is Shepard, all units report in."

"This is Durand, we're ready," the woman declared.

"Solid on that, over," Cameron stated in kind.

"Bergundus, reading clear. Ready to move."

"This is Desolas, my men are ready. Waiting for your orders, captain."

"This is Solik Vass, me and my men are ready. And gathering from all the comm chatter, I'd say Torsk's unit are as well."

"I can speak for myself, salarian!" Torsk grumbled back, making Marcus smile, "But he's right. We're ready to kill some geth, battlemaster."

Are all krogan going to call me a battlemaster now?

"Shepard-Commander," came Moses' voice over the comm, interrupting whatever else Torsk was possibly going to say, "All allied geth units acknowledge."

"Excellent," he declared, sighing heavily, "All vehicles, form up on me; my squad'll lead the way. We'll need to split into echelons and hit from different sections. Durand, split your men into left echelons and strike from the west; Cameron, split your men accordingly bring up her regiment's rear. Bergundus and Desolas, split your own men into right echelons and strike from the east; Vass and Torsk will form up your rear. Moses, Yul, have your dropships form up the middle, behind me. We'll take the lead. Wait for the signal to begin the advance. Stop at nothing, understood?"

A range of affirmatives greeted his declaration.

He tensed up once more, but this time, it was due to anticipation. Let's get ready to rumble...

Without turning, he spoke, his voice stern and cold, the complete opposite of what he felt internally, "Who here feels ready to save another world?"

A chorus of agreements met his question, and a massive smirk crossed his lips, and he turned forward, "All units, this is it. Form up and all forward. Accellerate to full speed. Do not stop to counterattack the geth batteries; just keep moving," he turned to Javik, giving a silent nod, "Launch the flare, Javik," turning back to the cockpit, he slammed his foot onto the accellerator, "All echelons, advance!"

And just like that, the Mako shot forward, wheels kicking up dust and rocks as it raced along the plain, creating a small, orange dust cloud behind it. Soon though, the dust cloud was joined by many more, Alliance Makos and Goblins, turian Tyrant-class light tanks and salarian Leaper-class APCs rolling to join the Normandy's Mako as they advanced towards the geth base. The dust and rocks kicked up became multiple clouds, before joining into one solid, cloud behind them all, rising into the air with such intensity that the geth likely would have seen it coming from kilometers away.

And we're only two. We have to cross two kilometers worth of ground to get to the geth base. Time to show off my 'driving skills.'

Mere moments after driving forward, Javik aimed the Mako's main gun behind them and on a 130 degree axis; it could not go up any further. In one fluid motion, a single, red round popped off into the air, shooting up at the speed of bullet, leaving a rapidly evaporating cloud of red vapour behind it as it rose further and further into the air.

For entire seconds, the literal fleet of vehicles rushed towards the geth base with no response from Farkov's artillery.

Unfortunately, the geth had spotted them by this point. I'd be surprised if they hadn't. You simply can't miss the giant cloud of dust we're leaving behind us.

He could almost feel the geth's eyes baring down on them. Their cold optics looking down on them with anger fed to them by the same machines who not only gave them life, but also enslaved them. Guns baring, barrels superheating plasmatic death.

The feeling...that dreaded feeling of the coming bombardment...

He somehow managed to push down on the acellerator even harder.

And then it came. Marcus, watching simply as the ground around them raced by, looked up and saw the battlements of the geth fortress come to life. All over the wall light was brimming and pulsing, a mixture of greens and purples and blues, cracking angrily and brewing superheated death.

And then they fired.

Bolts of plasma shot up into the sky, their trajectory calculated by the thousands of geth programs operating the artillery batteries, slicing through the air as they mercilessly prepared to hammer their targets. One bolt was followed by the next, until dozens, hundreds, of bolts were arcing through the sky, heading straight toward them. Green and purple bolts hissed and popped as the energy used to form them began to collapse, ready to explode upon their target and incinerate them.

Now would be a good time to get the hell out of the way...

He didn't wait to let the squad know. The moment he saw the leading bolt heading for them, he quickly swerved to the left. The vehicle, almost like it was being yanked away from its puppetmaster, shot to the left immediately, the entire squad jolting at the sudden movement, while Marcus simply gritted his teeth and straightened the vehicle.

Moments later, the vehicle shuddered. They had narrowly missed a bolt.

All around them, the product of the geth base's defenses rained down around them. The entire force began immediate manoeuvres to try and shake off the geth's aim. Allied vehicles began to imitate Marcus' movements by swerving left and right, deccellerating or accellerating. Anything to make sure the geth didn't get a good hit.

Another bolt landed just infront of them, dust and rocks shooting up into the air, the battered remnants of the rocks sizzling bright red as the sides of them melted, the rest slamming into the ground dozens of meters away. The crater left by the bolt crackled briefly, Marcus not hanging around long enough to see whether or not it stopped as he drove right over the impact site, swerving left to avoid another bolt.

For a moment, he wondered whether or not Farkov had gotten the signal...

...and then he heard the most blissful sound in the sound. The sound of allied artillery responding.

None of them saw the shells. They heard it; the great pounding thunder echoing through the valley, drowning out the much quieter, cleaner geth artillery with their booming clap. They didn't need to see the shells.

...they saw what it did.

The first shell was only slightly off, as was the second, third, fourth and fifth. Those shells uselessly slammed into the base's walls, shredding off great chunks off its armoured carapace and sending them flying into the air, likely destroying whatever geth platforms had been behind it. Five shells missed, and five holes now lay in the geth wall, the flames and smoke lazily leaking from the pours like pus from a wound.

The sixth, seventh and eighth rounds didn't miss. The first slammed directly into the central gun battery, a tremendous explosion signalling the bullseye. First, the explosion was a bright orange, but soon after, the geth artillery's central core detonated, turning the relatively 'small', orange explosion into a pillar of molten, purple death as it spiralled into the air a good forty meters before stopping, leaving a wave of destruction in its wake. Zooming in, Marcus was able to watch as at least a dozen geth platforms, trooper height, were tossed through the air like rag dolls, legs and arms and other body parts shorn off.

The seventh round hit between two batteries, detonating them simultaneously. Two similiar pillars erupted, followed by a third, fourth and fifth as the eighth round slammed right into an AAA gun, its explosion consuming the two, smaller AA guns next to it, and detonating them as well. All over, explosions rippled along the geth wall like dominoes, and had it been organics running the defenses, there likely would have been enough chaos and confusion to reach the base with no further hassle.

But these are geth. They'll keep fighting to the last battery. And with Reaper upgrades, they'll be even more deadly.

Even as smoke and flames bled out into the sky, choking up the air and casting a dark shadow down on the base, the survivors once again opened fire as their allied artillery prepared their next salvo.

This time, being closer to the base, as they were only 500 meters from the wall, they were a much easier target. The geth artillery fired again, bolts keening towards them at what seemed to be a much faster rate.

Marcus slammed the brake as a particularly close looking one headed towards them...

...only for it to charge right into the front of an oncoming allied Mako. The front of the vehicle almost immediately caved in, before the rest was incinerated, leaving the front of the Mako simply gone. The back of it continued to roll uselessly into the ground until a lack of momentum stopped it, leaving only a battered husk. The sides of where it was brutally gutted were left hissing with heat, red lines lining the melting armor. Knowing that it would only be one casualty of many, Marcus pressed on, hitting the accellerator and pushing forward, even as he watched a Tyrant-class light tank spiral up into the air, a plasma bolt hitting the ground infront of it and causing its front to shoot upwards, capsizing it. Before its occupants could try and escape the doomed vehicle, another bolt impacted its exposed belly, and a moment later, a gigantic fireball consumed the vehicle, raining debris all around the plain.

Press forward. Press forward. PRESS FORWARD.

Victory at any cost.

We fight or we die.

Press forward.

Press.

Press.

Advance.

The two geth dropships were nowhere to be seen, although Marcus supposed they had entered cloak so as to not envoke the wrath of the geth anti-aircraft guns. As a plasma blast sent a Goblin careening into a rock, the impact not damaging it but halting it, Marcus wizzed passed not watching as a plasma bolt hit the reversing Goblin directly in its side, not only capsizing the vehicle, but gutting it from bow to stern and leaving an exposed husk full of dead, cooked soldiers...

Focus.

Forward.

Press.

Advance.

Just as it seemed the casualities would continue to grow, Farkov's artillery opened fire once more. The walls loomed over the force now, the sun glinting off their once sleek, grey exterior. Smoke and small fires had long since marred that image, but it was still an imposing sight. Its immense shadow cast down at least 100 meters infront of it, and as they closed, they would quickly enter that shadow.

The allied shell impacts coincided with the geth artillery firing again. Two shells were actually vaporized as their trajectory sent them slicing through the already arcing bolts, atomizing the shells as the bolts simply kept up their course. Luckily for them though, they were too close now for the artillery to mean anything; the bolts missed entirely, impacting the ground behind them, lost in the dust cloud created by the vehicles' approach.

Almost there...almost there...just keep moving...keep going...

The third shell slammed into the left most battlement, not only tearing another hole in the wall, but causing one of the artillery to topple down the wall, the main platform it was held on no longer existing, meaning the gun had nothing to sit on, allowing good old gravity to take control, the gun plummeting to the ground below and caving in as it hit the ground, a cloud forming around it from all the dust.

The explosions were just noise now; all Marcus could see was the gate. That single, lone main gate that sat in the middle of the wall, its doors unyielding. Explosions rained down all over the wall, geth artillery left battered and useless, blasts rupturing plasma cores and leaving the geth's only defense a battered mess. And in all of that, the gate stood...untouched, its surface looking unmarred.

That's our way in, so its time to fix that.

"All units, converge on the main gate. Get us under that wall," he barked into the comms, swerving right again to avoid a stray shot from an artillery battery in its dying throes, "Moses, you know what to do. We're approaching the gate in ten. I want it gone in five."

"Acknowledged," was the prime's response.

Four seconds in, and his Mako was still leading the way, rocketing towards the gate without stopping. He didn't slow down or even try to hit the brakes; he just kept going.

Where are you, Moses...

"Uhhhh...now would be a good time to stop!" Tali almost shouted.

"Trust me," he muttered.

"Marcus, stop! We're going to-"

"Trust me!" he roared.

And then it happened. Like a guardian angel, Moses' dropship materialized in front of them, low to the ground, its engines kicking up a gust capable of sending rocks and dust flying. Its main gun reared, taking aim.

Three thumps, and the gate was no more, the dropship lifting upwards just as the Mako barrelled past it.

It was like a scene from a cheesy action flick. The explosion tore the gate to shreds, sending it flying back on its hinges to slam into the barren ground. The Mako was a split second behind, emerging from the explosion like an angry raven.

As soon as it landed behind the wall, it had crushed two geth waiting behind it, giving them no time to open fire on the intruders, the sound of metal crunching and grinding under the Mako's wheels as it simply drove over them, Marcus wasting no time as he shouted the one order that nobody needed to hear.

"Javik, rip 'em apart!" he spat, "All available units, punch through the gate! Secure the courtyard!"

Focus. Forward. Press. Advance. Focus. Forward. Press. Advance.

Victory at any cost.

As the Mako rolled into the courtyard, Marcus was able to make out the features of it. For starters, it was clear the geth didn't have much use for proper flooring; the entire ground was the same, non-descript dusty plain that they had driven across outside the fortress walls, with the odd bundle of grass poking out from the ground, or even the occassional boulder or large rock. The rest of the yard itself was shaped like a semi-circle, with the semi-circle shaped around the massive structure that towered over them; the first of many structures making up the expansive geth facility. To the right, it seemed the courtyard ended at a smaller structure linking up to a bigger one, with a single door permitting entrance.

On the left, a similiar setup, but the building was much bigger, with a much bigger door, this one looking like a blast door, and easily big enough for a vehicle to fit through; clearly, this part of the structure was to allow vehicles easy access to the courtyard. Whether it was a garage though, or rather part of a network of vehicle-designed tunnels, was beyond him, and he didn't really want to stick around to find out. Littered around the courtyard were crates, likely holding weapons and/or equipment that the geth could use in the base's defenses.

Fire, debris and smoke rained from the upper wall, starting smaller fires around it. The shorn pieces of metal that had once been the gate were split on the ground before them, their edges twisted and broken, smoke still hissing from the twin, black craters that now marred their once polished surface.

Marcus immediately noticed the geth prime standing infront of the main building, the titan of a geth snapping its head around to face him. It blared angrily, an electronic roar that echoed across the courtyard as it spun on its foot, bringing its pulse cannon to bear.

That thing'll shred the shields very quickly.

Kill it.

He did not stop on the accellerator, sending the Mako forward at full throttle as the gap between vehicle and prime quickly closed. Even at this range, Marcus could tell that the prime was almost the same size as the Mako. Fuckers are huge...

The prime only got enough time to blare out once more before the Mako's front collided with its chest, trapping it between its hulk as it drove the prime towards the solid mass of steel behind it. The geth stuttered and gasped in its electronic fury, and Marcus heard what sounded like metal tearing, followed by the sound ceasing as the vehicle jumped in its movement slightly, followed by a grinding, and then silence. But the prime, however, was not silent. It bellowed in what was, unmistakably, agony.

Looking down, Marcus realized that, in the split moment before he hit the wall, that the Mako's impact had actually gotten the prime's legs stuck under its mass, and that the forward momentum had not only torn them off, but left them a bundled mess of metal and white liquid.

The Mako slammed into the wall, the impact jarring the entire crew, including Marcus, as the prime suddenly found itself pinned against the wall. Its pulse cannon was still clasped in its right hand, but the vehicle had it pinned against the wall as well, the impact having completely crushed its wrist and rendered it useless. Its chest cavity had caved in as well, with circuitry and white liquid gushing out as the prime wailed. The sound was...chilling.

Almost as if it was in actual...pain.

Are the upgrades capable of giving them that feeling? Legion said it was impossible.

Regardless of what he may have thought, it mattered little. Javik spun the turret around, the barrel pretty much tapping the prime's optics, before the prothean switched to the machine gun and opened fire. Its optics immediately exploded in a blast of glass and broken chasis, before its head erupted, sending bits of chewed up armor flying. Satisfied the prime was dead, Marcus backed the vehicle up, managing to do so just as more allied vehicles began to pour into the yard.

Bringing the vehicle to a stop, he noticed that the door on the right had shot open and was now spewing geth all over the courtyard. Dozens of geth troopers, rocket troopers and destroyers took positions, raining fire down on the enemy vehicles as they desperately tried to gain ground. Assault drones flew in from multiple directions, catching them in a crossfire as they attacked from all angles.

Marcus quickly hit the comm, "Durand, shoot a flare! Tell Farkov to cease his attack! All vehicles, drive the geth back! Vehicles outside, deploy your troops and reinforce the courtyard while we provide support!"

A loud boom was heard, and he looked up to see Moses' dropship shoot by as it landed on the other side of the base, quickly launching a salvo of missiles as it went past. The missiles landed squarely amongst the geth troops, tearing geth asunder as entire squads were annihilated in an instant.

Javik didn't even hesitate; letting his hatred of machines be known, the prothean poured machine gun fire into the geth ranks, downing them at a ridiculous rate. Four geth troopers fell to his opening onslaught, followed by six shock troopers. A rocket trooper managed to get a good shot at them, but the missile merely bounced off the Mako's shield, Javik quickly picking off the rocket trooper a moment later.

Three Tyrant-class light tanks spilled into the courtyard to their left, their heavy machine gun turrets mounted on their front picking off assault drones left and right; small explosions permeated the air as, one by one, the drones fell. What had been a perfect counterattack had turned into a slaughter for the geth.

A geth juggernaut moved through the doorway, followed by four more, all armed with centaurs, but all Javik did was switch to the sabot and fire into the central juggernaut. The blast tore through its shields, the round blowing the geth apart. The two flanking it stumbled, before they were quickly dispatched by the sabot rounds of two other Makos. The other two took cover, although they were now pinned by the heavy fire of the Goblins moving in to reinforce.

While Javik and their allies continued to pepper the geth, their forces quietly deployed behind them. Before they knew it, Torsk was leading his company of one hundred and fifty troops through the gate, shotguns and assault rifles blasting away as a krogan war cry filled the courtyard. Geth pulse rifle and plasma shotgun fire met the krogan charge, with one krogan stumbling under the attack and falling, his guts spilled out into the dust, superheated and bubbling before him. The krogan puked as bile and blood spilt onto the ground, followed by the krogan dying as a pulse rifle shot slammed into his skull, killing him instantly.

A few more krogan fell, but the others simply soaked up the shots until their lines met the geth. Torsk laughed maniacally as he waved his arm, bashing one geth trooper aside before ramming his shotgun into a decloaked hunter's chest, pulling the trigger shortly afterwards and blowing its circuity and blood out through its back. Kicking the dead hunter to the ground, he turned back to the stumbling geth, and blew its head off with another shotgun round before racking the pump. He laughed once more, roaring into the sky.

"For Tuchanka!" he spat, and his krogan charged forth, like an angry horde, pushing the geth further and further back, gunning them down one by one. For once, the geth's superior technology was simply failing them in the face of such overwhelming force.

And the krogan weren't alone. Not long after, the second allied geth dropship landed, deploying its platoon of quarian commandos. Unlike the krogan, the quarians did not charge forward, preferring to keep back and provide fire support for the enraged shock troops. Lieutenant Malra'Yul vas Wexa, the CO of the platoon, quickly ordered his three snipers into position, one going prone in the dust while the other two took parallel positions on either side of a stationary Goblin. The rest of the platoon moved forward, providing covering fire for the advancing krogan company.

Combined with the gunfire from the supporting tanks and commandos, as well as the relentless krogan company, the geth were beginning to falter, despite their upgraded abilities. He watched as Javik spotted a trio of geth hoppers moving along the mega structure's wall, likely looking to ambush the quarian snipers. He rotated the main gun, unleashing a burst that raked across and tore the leg off one hopper, before splitting its head open like a ripe melon. Falling to the ground, its two hopper compatriots only had a second before the machine gun tore through them as well, white blood spurting all over the wall as their ripped up corpses collapsed to the ground.

More assault drones tried to pour in from the sky, but the turians simply weren't having it; they fell from the air like flies, crashing into the ground in heaps of debris and ruined circuitry. Geth troopers, hunters and destroyers attempted to push them back, but the allied force was too much; more and more geth fell, almost creating piles with the numbers that dropped.

Another geth prime appeared, and three krogan charged it. Despite this, geth stood its ground, even bringing up its pulse cannon to use as a club, slamming it across the skull of a charging krogan, and using the added momentum to lift him up and then slam him back into the dust. It brought the weapon back round, aimed it at the krogan's head and pulled the trigger; moments later, orange gore, viscera and brains were all that was left of the shock trooper's head.

Turning around, its shields flashed, twin shotgun blasts striking it in the back. It immediately dispatched its drone, orange light forming to create the dreaded hellspawn. It immediately darted forward, electric bursts whipping at the shields of one of the krogan. With that krogan distracted, the prime turned, aimed and fired, the three bursts of plasma tearing through shields and burning away at flesh, the unbearable scream of a dying krogan booming through the base as his redundant organs were melted, his blood superheated, and his stomach torn open. With the second krogan dead, the prime turned and fired once more, this shot hitting the irritated krogan through the eye socket, blasting bright orange across the ground and leaving little to recognize in the krogan's now annihilated face.

Despite this, the prime was unable to save the battle. By this point, most of its comrades had been destroyed, and it was now confronted with not just three krogan, but two score of them. They all charged, blasting away with shotguns, the combined force enough to half the monster's shields. The prime fired again, its pulse cannon overheating with the final shot, managing to tear the left leg off of the leading soldier, the krogan roaring in agony as the torn off appendage was thrown backwards, slamming into the chest of the shock trooper behind him, who just ignored it and kept charging. The legless krogan fell to the ground, orange blood spattering the ground.

Pulse cannon overheated, the prime was powerless as ten krogan tackled it into the dust. It collapsed backwards with an electronic warble, trying to kill its opponents even when it had no chance. Pinned, the prime was helpless as three krogan, including Torsk, came up behind it and emptied three shotgun shells into its optics, ending its struggles.

By this point, the geth had retreated, the last trooper firing off a final pulse rifle shot before moving through the door it had come through, locking the door behind it. Even the drones had stopped coming, their endless waves of attacks halted as the remainder fell back into the base, likely to reinforce more appropriate and defensible locations.

A few seconds later and then...nothing. Only the sound of crackling fires and vehicles arriving could be heard, as well as the odd grunt and groan of tired and injured troopers.

Farkov's artillery has stopped firing and the geth are in full retreat. But the day is not won. We must push forward. The signal must be neutralized.

It's never that easy.

Before he could speak, Legion spoke, the geth infiltrator suddenly standing behind him with its pulse rifle in hand, "Shepard-Commander, we suggest that this platform be allowed to deploy ahead to act as a reconnaissance unit. We would be more effective if we were to be allowed to provide sniper support for advancing forces and advance reconnaissance."

With a sigh, he nodded, motioning to the hatch, "Go, Legion. We'll meet up with you at the signal," he turned back to the cockpit but after a moment turned back to the geth with a weary smile, "Never thought I'd say this but...be careful, Legion. Don't take any risks."

"Risks are illogical unless stated otherwise," the geth deadpanned, "We do not perform them." With that, Legion turned to the hatch and opened it, the geth jumping outside before disappearing as the hatch closed again behind it. Marcus could only watch on the monitors as it moved towards the right-side of the courtyard, pulse rifle raised as it moved towards the door. Likely experiencing no trouble, the interface turned from red to green as it was unlocked, the geth moving through it flawlessly before locking it behind it once more so as to not alert the enemy. His weary smile fell from his face, and he turned to his squad.

I just showed worry for a geth. Help me now.

"Okay squad, this is our drop off point. Get ready to-"

"Hostile contacts, left side!" Cameron shouted over the comms, "Vehicle-based! Count three of them, one of a class I can't seem to identify and two of them seem to be armatures!"

"Enemy contacts are confirmed, we have a visual! Moving to engage!" Li reinforced, his voice sounding rushed and surprised.

He quickly turned to face the supposed new contacts, and found they were indeed being flanked. Emerging from the garage door, which was now wide open, slowly but surely, were the two, four-legged forms of geth armatures, their optics mounted on long, giraffe-like necks, siege pulse cannons charging up with a great blue glow as they prepared to fire, heavy machine guns already pouring shots into the two Leaper-class transports shielding the Mako from their fire. And infront of them...was something Marcus had never seen before.

It was definitely odd in design, and quite possibly the first, proper geth vehicle he had ever seen. Like most geth architecture, it was sleek and grey, with a bug-like shape and design. It seemed to possess a single, 360 degree rotational turret on top, which in itself seemed to be mounted ontop of a large protruding appendage mounted up front. Below and the front were two 'legs,' shaped and positioned much like a smaller version of the praying mantis' forward legs. The back of it was shaped like a tail, likely adding as a directional aspect for the vehicle, and from the looks of it, it didn't have wheels; a matter of fact, it was hovering.

The heretics never used anything like that. A recent vehicle?

The two Tyrants on the left side immediately opened fire, their main guns quickly slamming both armatures with heavy fire. Heavy explosive rounds struck the left armature, its kinetic barriers momentarily faltering but remaining intact. The second armature's shields did the same, and before the Tyrants could fire again, the armatures fired, their siege pulses aimed directly at the Leapers. The impacted squarely on the first transports' broadside, the combined force of the twin shots enough to pierce the transport's kinetic barriers, blowing a hole clean through the side of the vehicle. The vehicle shifted, although aside from that, it didn't explode; and considering all its passengers were already outside, no casualities either.

Then the unknown vehicle attacked.

Its main gun, which looked like the main gun of a WWII Covenanter, had been brimming with power from the moment Marcus spotted it, and a moment later, a stream of bright red plasma shot out from the barrel, slamming right into the front of the first Tyrant-class tank it came across. The tank exploded, the round having struck right on its own turret, causing the ammunition to detonate. The turret flew off as it rode the inferno into the air, before falling back to the ground, landing on the now flaming hulk of the tank it was once attached to. And the hovering geth tank just continued to sluggishly slide forward.

"All tanks and heavies, focus on that geth tank!" Desolas barked angrily, "Its the biggest threat! Take. It. Down!"

They did just that, with Marcus backing the Mako up to give them a clear line of sight on the tank. He growled angrily as a stray siege pulse, which had been meant for the Goblin behind them, now slammed into the Mako's side, draining their shields by 40 percent. Tali was already working, quickly draining power from non-essential power to recharge their barriers. The other siege pulse slammed into the already damaged Leaper, hitting the cockpit. The blast tore right through it, melting through armor and destroying the vehicle's controls, leaving it completely useless.

With fire pouring into the geth tank from all sides, Marcus ordered Javik to focus all attention on the right armature, which was now getting unnervingly close, and looked to be charging up another siege pulse. Its machine gun was already peppering the Mako with shots, making Tali's job much harder...

...luckily for her, Javik was already straight to work, and fired the first sabot.

The round struck the area infront of its optics, but once again, its shields stopped the round dead in its tracks. Switching to the machine gun, Javik proceeded to whittle down its kinetic barriers, which began to disappear at an incredibly fast rate. Another Mako behind them joined their assault, their machine gun joining theirs as they assaulted the armature.

And then, the sound they all wanted to hear; the thunk of a loaded shell, and the pop of dead barriers.

The armature had already fired its siege pulse, striking the Mako's side and draining their shields to 20 percent, but Javik had already taken aim and fired. Their round impacted its main body, burying deep inside before finally exploding. The explosion blew the armature apart, leaving a gapping hole in its side as it began to tilt, its optics dimming until their glow was no more, the geth now dead. Finally, it collapsed, giving them a clear line of sight towards the second armature...

...only for James to cry out as a round from its machine gun manages to pierce the Mako's armor, becoming wedged inbetween steel plating.

"Shit!" James growled angrily, "I think our shields are done, loco!"

"You don't say!" he shouted back, quickly hitting the accellerator to bring them forward before the armature could do more damage.

Not that it mattered. Looking back, Marcus now saw that the geth tank was a wreck, its main gun pointed downwards and flames and smoke poured from the turret, a sizable hole torn through its front from a flurry of rounds, leaving the metal twisted, bent and jagged around the entry point. It was now collapsed forward on the ground, its back hanging slightly off the ground. Which left the armature as the last target.

A few moments later, a flicker of shields, and the second armature was dead, collapsing to the ground in a maelstrom of white liquid, torn circuitry and ripped armor.

"Clear!" Cameron shouted, "Nothing on motion trackers, radar looks clean. Courtyard is secure sir, nothing moving!"

"Copy that," Marcus replied, eyes landing on the garage door to the left of the base. That can't be a simple garage. There has to be more to it.

...it could be a way into the base.

Suddenly, Moses' voice reverbrated in his comm, "Shepard-Commander, we have deployed and secured a portion of the airfield. We are proceeding to the established location of the silo; approaching from the east as planned. We advise caution; geth resistance is likely to be heavier the closer we are to the signal. They will throw everything they have into stopping us."

So like the Collector Base, then?

He nodded, "Copy that, you proceed onto your objective. We'll meet you there. Shepard out," he turned back to his squad, "Looks like we'll be hanging in the Mako for a while longer, troopers. I think I've found a way into the base using that garage," ignoring the groans from the Mako's occupants, he turned back to his comms, signalling the necessary unit commanders, "Durand, Bergundus, you know what to do. Have your men set up defensive positions throughout this courtyard. Keep. It. Secure. If need be, set up heavy weapon emplacements. Use your vehicles as emplacements, if need be. Reorganize anything to use as cover, I don't care. Your main job, and your only job too, is to hold this area. Nothing flanks us, and nothing takes this landing zone. No retreat. Got me?"

"The 45th will do their duty with honor, sir. We won't let you down," Li declared.

"My men are itching for a fight, but we're patient," Durand noted, "We'll hold here and hope to kick some ass."

"With luck, you'll find it relatively boring," Marcus stated and, with a heavy sigh, noted that it may be the last time he sees the men and women of these two units. It is very likely that the geth will, once organized, will counterattack with force. And when they do, he had little doubt in his mind that alot of these men would die. But he also had no doubt that they understood his orders; to the last man they would fight. They would hold their position no matter the cost.

Victory at any cost.

Press.

Press.

Advance.

Quickly moving on, merely watching as Alliance and turian troops like moved into defensive positions, some of them carrying massive machine guns in their arms as they moved to find a suitable place to deploy them, he continued issuing his orders, "Yul, you're men move through the base quietly and link up with Moses' platoon. Desolas, have your men follow me. Vass, take your company and find a way to infiltrate the base that doesn't draw too much attention; you know what to do after that. Torsk, get into the base and draw as much attention as you can. Blow up garages, destroy docked dropships. I don't care. Blow shit up and hope the geth send alot of stuff after you. You know, krogan stuff."

Torsk's response was basically laced with amusement, "You can count on it. We get the fun bits."

If only the rest of us could think of this war like the krogan do.

"Okay, you all have your duties people," Marcus barked, sighing heavily once more as he felt himself full of adrenaline, "I'd say this is it, but I've said that too many times already. I hope you're all full of adrenaline, because today, we kick ass and change history. Move out!"

The comm came alive.

And despite Marcus' gloomy thoughts, he couldn't help but smile, even as he backed the Mako out and the courtyard came alive with activity as his army moved to perform its duty.

The comm was full of the sounds of victory. They would win this, and they would do it in style. Just like they always did.

Time to make history...again.

{Loading...}

July 21, 2186

1411 hours.

Central Tunnel Network, Rannoch Fortress, Former Country of Poltane'r, Uma'Waz Subcontinent, Rannoch.

Second Morning War, Liberation of Rannoch.

Captain Marcus Lee Shepard, Military Advisor Garrus Vakarian, EDI, Shadow Broker Liara T'Soni, Admiral Tali'Shepard vas Normandy, Master Thief Kasumi Goto, Second Lieutenant James Vega, Second Lieutenant Imogen Keeling, Major Kaidan Alenko, Soldier Javik, General Kal'Reegar vas Normandy, Major Madi'Reegar vas Normandy, Major Abrudas Desolas.

The Mako slowly inched forward, bit by bit, the turret moving from side to side as it scanned the road ahead for hostiles, Desolas' blackwatch company quietly moving behind them in three steady columns. They were the only ones to stir, with the lighting of the ceiling above them and the occassional crate being the only signs of any life in the base.

Marcus had apparently been right in his assumption that the garage wasn't a garage at all, but rather an access tunnel leading to a network of large tunnels that linked the seperate parts of the base, allowing for ease of transportation and movement of vehicles. Not only did this make it easier for the geth to move their troops quickly to different parts of the fortress, but it also, currently, gave Marcus' forces a clear and clean way inside.

The tunnel they were currently in just seemed to go on forever; he could just barely see the corner up ahead, moving off to the left. Aside from that, the lifeless hall of the odd crate, parked vehicle and light was all that met them. It left Marcus feeling uneasy, even more so since he hadn't heard anything from the other forces currently moving through the base, carrying out their assigned tasks.

Maybe the salarians and krogan are just doing a really good job.

One could hope.

The motion sensors still hadn't detected anything, and if Javik had spotted even the outline of a geth's hand, he would have torn into it with a fury only matched by the most zealous of anti-geth activists. So far though, not a sound; only the vibration of the Mako's engine, his own breathing, the occassional beep of a console, or the slight, barely audible, footsteps behind them of the turian troopers following.

Its too damn quiet. I don't like any of this!

Growing restless, he hit the comms, contacting their geth comrade, "Legion, what's going on out there? It's all quiet here."

"Resistance is heavy," the geth replied, the sound of a heavy-caliber sniper rifle spewing heavy death upon an unsuspecting enemy punctuating its response, "We are covering Creator Yul and Moses from a stable vantage; we do not believe we have been spotted. Geth resistance is largely focused around us, although many have fallen for Torsk-Commander's distraction. Resistance is not as heavy as it could be. We are making progress."

"Any word from the 39th and 45th?" Marcus asked, frowning. So the geth aren't preparing a trap...if they were, they wouldn't be concentrating so many forces in one location. Or perhaps they think that's where our main attack is coming from...would they be that naive?

If so, let's make the most of that stupidity. Search and destroy. Finding the signal and taking it out is all that matters.

"We have received reports of small geth attacks, but they are holding," Legion reported, "As we have stated, most resistance is centered around our location. It appears they believe we are the main strike force."

As they should. Moses and Yul push towards the signal, while Torsk creates a quasi-distraction to make it look like he's simply distracting for Yul and Moses, when they are actually both distractions for us. A distraction within a distraction. And from the looks of it, its actually working.

So why do I get the feeling that they aren't? Nothing is right about this.

"Copy that, keep moving and don't stop your advance," he responded, sighing as he leaned back, "We're still traversing the tunnel but should reach a bypass soon. We'll advance on the silo the moment we do. We'll need sniper support then. Keep your...optics on the look out for us, and stay frosty. Shepard out."

And their slow advance continued.

"You'd think with a base full of hundreds of thousands of geth troops I wouldn't be yawning," Garrus drawled, accentuating his statement with a long, three second yawn, "And yet...I yawned."

"We should have encountered something by now," James shifted, agitation clear in his body posture as he shifted ever so slightly at a constant rate, clearly ready for action. In that, he reminded Marcus of Jenkins. Albeit, a much more bulky and heavily-built Jenkins, that is, but his eagerness to prove himself in combat mirrored the late corporal.

Jenkins...the first casualty of a very long war. What would he say if he were here now?

Ashley would ask for more Reapers to kill.

Focus.

Desolas quickly spoke up over the comm, his team still trailing behind the Mako in a tight formation, using the tank for cover in case they came under fire, "Everything is quiet out here, nothing moving. Motion trackers are clean."

"There!" Tali shouted, drawning everyone's attention to where her finger was pointing. The quarian's voice was more eager than Marcus had expected, although she was technically retaking her homeworld at the moment. She had every reason to want this over and done with.

Following her finger while still driving, he saw a door on the right side of the tunnel, accessible via a ramp located inbetween two adjoining steel, concreted stump-based pillars. The door's interface was red, although with some hacking, he had no doubt Tali would break through it; so it being locked was no problem. Normally, in a situation like this, he would probably just use the Mako's cannon to blow open the doors, but this required stealth. They had to keep up the narrative that the main strike force was striking east, not west. Silence was their ally in this.

...if we play our cards right, at least.

"Desolas, this is Shepard," Marcus began, "We've discovered an entrance. Move up and secure. We'll be out to join you soon. Have some of your men secure the rear and front flanks, while the rest secure the door. My engineer will handle the lock. Quick, quiet, no mess."

"Copy that. Moving to objective," Desolas almost whispered, Marcus cutting the comm immediately afterwards as he brought the Mako to a stop in the middle of the tunnel. He quickly shut down the motor, everyone listening as the Mako's vibrating engine slowly down-sized to a sputter, followed by it going dead silent. Systems powered down as Tali shut down most of the non-critical systems, and Marcus engaged the breaks. Without waiting any longer, he quickly hit the hatch, watching it open with a loud bustling hiss.

His hands quickly reached up and disengaged his harness, pushing it up and over him, clicking it into the clasps above him. He rolled his neck and shoulders, hearing his bones click with relief as his muscles clenched and unclenched to relieve the tension. Satisfied he was ready, he reached his left hand over to the right, grabbing the pulse rifle he had fastened there and pulling it loose, quickly grabbing the claymore next to it and clasping it to his back.

He turned to the crew, watching them already begin to move, Javik having already left the main gun compartment and grabbed his particle rifle, teeth clenched and bared. He smiled, and nodded to the rest of the group, "Garrus, you've got team one. James, Keeling, EDI, Javik and Tali, you're with him. Kasumi, Madi, Kal, Kaidan, Liara, you're with me; we're team two."

Tali's head whipped to face him, eyes narrowing. Before she could utter a word, he held up his hand, silencing her, "Don't question me on this; I'll explain once we're outside. Until then, form up with Garrus."

She still didn't move, even as Garrus took the lead and moved outside, followed in a tight formation by Keeling, Kasumi, EDI, Javik, Kal, Madi, and everyone else. Eventually, all that was left was the two of them, Tali shaking her head as she maintained her glare.

He met the glare in kind, narrowing his own eyes back, "Do it, Tali. Now."

She still didn't move, but after a few moments, she simply shook her head and stood up, grasping her shotgun as she pulled it loose from her back, letting it form up in her hands as its collapsed form fully extended with a whir. She rapidly jumped out of the Mako, hitting the floor below with a thud before disappearing off to the right and out of sight.

With a sigh, he shook his head, stepping up to follow her. She can be so fucking difficult sometimes.

She's just worried you'll do something stupid.

Like I always do?

You just solved your own problem, Marcus.

Ooooohhhh...shut up, other Marcus.

Serve us.

Fuck off, Harbinger. Private mental conversation.

You cannot resist us.

You're so rude.

He shook his head as he stepped from the Mako, landing with an equally loud thud as he stood up, cracking his neck and bracing the stock of his rifle against his shoulder. Did I just accuse Harbinger of being rude? No wonder I'm going crazy.

You are close. Come, submit. We are your salvation.

This time, the voice was different.

You're not Harbinger.

Harbinger speaks of you. We know of you. We have met, and we have not. You will face us, and when the time comes, you must embrace us. Cease this foolish resistance and succumb to the revelation that we have accepted.

Your revelation is a joke. I don't know who you are, but I watched the Alliance Navy blow Sovereign to hell. I watched a mass relay I blew up two of your buddies. And Vanguard? Yeah, Kalros had him for breakfast. I don't know what name you've got; it'll probably be something really poetic and dramatic, like Revenant or Styx. I don't know where you are, either. But if we ever meet, you'll die like the rest. No Reaper has crossed me and lived. Harbinger will have his turn, I promise you.

We are closer than you know. We will meet, and you will end your resistance. Until then, fight your pointless battle. You have already lost.

And then the voice faded, yet its presence lingered. Touching his soul.

'Closer than you know'? What does it mean?

He shook the feeling away, knowing that his squad must be watching him, but ignored them as he pressed forward and took the lead, closing on the doorway. Already, he could see one of Desolas' squads securing the front, while another secured the back. The rest closed around the door, an assortment of rifles and shotguns and SMGs aiming at the door as they prepared for a swarm of geth reinforcements to attack at any moment.

Seconds passed as Marcus closed in, and no ambush came.

This is so unnerving. A plan never goes to plan this well. There's always a hiccup...

With Garrus' own squad right beside him, he stopped at the middle of the ramp, turning to the two squads beside him, "Okay, listen up. Desolas, your company is with us, but you'll need to split into three sections; one will be with my team. Garrus, your team's job is to make some noise; that's why you've got all the guns. Blow shit up, rack up some kills. Get any geth's attention. We need to draw them out and get an estimation of their forces. My team, along with the section we're given, will use the distraction and sneak around. Any geth forces you encounter will likely try to bull rush you, allowing you to contain them. We'll move in from behind, trap them and take them out."

"What will the other two sections of my company be doing?" Desolas asked, his phaeston lowered ever so slightly, mandibles still and stoic, "They obviously won't be helping in this trap of yours."

"No," he stated simply, "The other two sections will provide recon; give us a sense of what's ahead of us. Scout out corridors and report back to us. We need a quick and clean way to reach overwatch control center. If we can't get there, we won't be able to disable that signal. Can you do that?"

Desolas just snorted, turning back to the door, "We're Blackwatch, captain. My men will do better than just give you a good route. We'll make a good route." Marcus could seeDesolas' smug grin, obviously sure of his men's capabilities. His posture stiffened, looking like a raptor ready to pounce on its prey, talons tightly gripping his rifle with purpose, mandibles now creased.

Good. Overconfidence is better than a defeatist attitude. We can use that.

"Good," he responded simply, eyes glazing over the turian, "Start splitting your men up. Tali, door. Garrus, your team, front and center. My team, bring up the rear. All of you, watch your corners."

Like gears moving in a clock, the entire infiltration team quickly acted out his orders, Desolas barking out orders to his company through the radio, assigning the rest of his unit into the sections Marcus requested. Tali was already moving forward, almost jogging towards the door with one arm held out before her, omni-tool glowing as her fingers were already bringing up the necessary programs. Garrus' team moved up behind her in a solid column, Marcus directing his team to move up behind them in a row along the back; ready to provide covering fire for Tali if enemy fire were to pour through the doorway unexpectedly.

Marcus dropped into a crouch just as his wife arrived at the door, tapping the armour plating of his arms before flexing his toes. As much as the armor was like a second home for Marcus, it was also like a prison; constrained and solitary, protecting him while also restricting him. Wonder if this is what Tali feels like everyday?

Tali didn't even drop into a crouch, deciding to simply stand there casually while she continued her rapid hacking of the door infront of her. He could almost hear her frustrated growling, the quarian making numerous gestures that only Marcus knew were rude for quarians. Switching to their private comm, he grinned, voice tense but allowing some amusement to shine through, "Don't be rude to the door, Tali."

"Shut up, bosh'tet," she spat back, the response blunt and brief; she was clearly too focused for lengthy conversation.

"Now that is rude," he chuckled, "I'm only trying to make conversation."

"And I'm just trying to battle five thousand geth programs to hack a single door," she hissed, although it was clear she was not as angry as she made out, "But your efforts are appreciated."

"I live to serve, m'lady," he quipped, feeling as if he was grinning like an idiot, "I need to talk to my squaddies now. Stop distracting me."

"Me? You contacted me!" she spat, her hacking stuttering for a moment before shaking her head and continuing.

"Who said this conversation was the distractor?" he mused, "Your ass however..."

"You are such a male," she stated dryly, undoubtably smiling.

Happy that he was successful in cheering Tali up about his decision, he switched back to the main comms, taking note that all forces were in position and ready to move. He took a deep breath, giving a gruff nod at Garrus, before turning back to the door, steeling himself as he took aim with his rifle, "Tali, sitrep on the door." His voice lacked all amusement; that part of himself was now sealed away. Now he was determined. Focused. Driven. Adrenaline coursed through his veins. Any anxiety he had left was gone.

Focus. Advance. Press.

You have already lost.

We are waiting. Come to us. Come, slave of our machinations. Come to us so we make you pure. Free. Eternal.

He was almost tempted.

No.

You will.

I won't.

Your mission dictates otherwise. We will wait. You will come, and you will ascend. Accept it.

"...gone."

He shook his head as Tali's voice cleared his thoughts, and he looked up to see Tali retreating from the door to Garrus' position, her shotgun raised and always facing the door as she pulled back. The door's interface glowed green, tempting them to open it.

He raised one hand, eying the door suspiciously, not liking a bit of it. But they needed to push forward. Nothing ventured...nothing gained. We push forward.

"All eyes on the doorway," he snapped, motioning to Garrus' team with his hand before pointing to the door, "Team one, open and secure. My team, Desolas...prepare for suppression if necessary."

Guns raised, Garrus' team moved forward. Garrus took point, with James and Javik covering his two sides, their large, powerful weapons covering the turian's approach. EDI, Keeling and Tali came up behind, their own weapons raised and propped so they could shoot over the three men's shoulders. Moving up to the door, Garrus, without hesitation, hit the haptic interface.

Immediately leaping back, they all raised their guns in sync; only to lower them just as quickly.

No geth had leapt to meet them, no gunfire slicing at shields as they entered the frame of the door. Just eery quiet.

"Doorway clear," Garrus reported, Marcus watching as he moved inside with at a slow pace, rifle scanning all corners, "Trackers are clean, nothing moving. Permission to proceed?"

"Solid copy," he reported, turning to his team and waving them to form a tight column, "Push forward and follow the blueprint; make some noise, but not enough to draw too much attention. We just need to lure out any outliers, copy?"

"Roger that," the turian replied, "No explosions, but we'll make our presence heard. James, you're on point. Javik, you're in the middle. Tali, with him. Keeling, with James. I'll take the rear, EDI, you're with me. Send a decoy ahead, see if that peaks their attention. Move forward."

He turned to his team, watching as a section of Desolas' men ran to join them, all of them clad in jet black armor. They did not move with anticipation or a specific eagerness; every movement was an obligation and a duty. When they reached their position, they dropped into a predetermined crouch, almost as if they had plotted their course and followed it.

Turian special forces. They weren't joking. They're like machines.

"Okay, form a column, keep behind me. We'll take up behind Garrus' team, let them draw the geth out. Then, we'll plot a way around, flank them from behind. We need them to think team one is outnumbered and outgunned," the whole team nodded, with the nods of the blackwatch being more crisp and brief, their phaestons and shotguns gripped tightly.

He nodded, and immediately stood. Without a shred of hesitance, he shot forward, rifle raised and ready as he moved through the doorway, his team not far behind. He could hear Kasumi crack a joke with Kaidan, and a few words were exchanged between Kal and Madi, but he didn't hear the context of them. It didn't matter. Banter was a second priority here; he had to focus on completing the mission. The lives of two species rode on him to do so.

Just got to hope the Migrant Fleet keeps the geth blockade distracted long enough to disable this signal once and for all. That's all it takes. One distraction. One push.

We can do this. I know we can. We destroyed the Collector Base with one squad; this time, I have an army. We can do this. We can and will.

Once through the doorway, he was immediately able to note that aside from extra lighting, the corridor design wasn't much different from what he saw on the geth super-dreadnought. It felt sufficiently claustrophobic to make setting up choke points extremely effective, and the lighting may have been brighter, but it was hardly noticable; the lighting on the super-dread was dim to the point of darkness, and this was only a modicum of improvement.

But there's enough light here to make using night vision highly unrecommended. Flashlights it is.

His team were already well at work turning on theirs, and all it took was a tap on his helmet to make a bright beam of light erupt from the side of his own helmet, illuminating the nearly dark passage ahead of them. From what he could see, the corridors were just as spotless and clean as the super-dread's was. Overall, there just wasn't any difference between them. What the geth had in architectural design wasn't alot, and it certainly left alot of creativity absent.

Does not matter. Press forward.

"Stay frosty," Marcus almost grumbled, moving deeper into the hallway, "Always be expecting an ambush, and do not attempt radio contact with the other teams. Even a signal burst could alert them to our presence."

We're in their domain. They control the rules. One fuck up and we'll have the whole base swarming us.

Their progress quickly sped up when they began to hear gunfire; it would seem that Garrus' team had begun to attract attention, or they had been engaged by the geth. Either way, it meant they now needed to hurry up and get into a flanking position, or this entire plan would turn belly up and end up with more people dead than was strategically affordable.

They rounded a sixth corridor, and that is where they found Garrus' team. Due to the corridor's lack of cover, his team was forced to go prone and hope they could kill enough geth to stop any horrendous amounts of gunfire from being harmful. From the looks of it, they weren't exactly failing; if anything, they were pushing the geth back. Behind his team was a dozen or so dead geth, most of them troopers, accompanied by two hoppers. Their bodies were riddled with bullets, white liquid pooling on the floor and chunks of ruined circuitry and chewed up armor littered across the floor.

"Looks like they've encountered little resistance," Madi noted, having moved to the other side of the corridor with four blackwatch officers, the quarian poking around the corner with her rifle aimed down range, "If anything, I think they have the upperhand. Do we proceed with the original plan, or help them? If the geth were going to ambush us, they've missed every opportunity."

Kal nodded in agreement, "She's right, sir. These corridors are bloody choke points; anything try to come at you down these halls will have no cover and will be funnelled into a killing ground; one machine gun would mow down anything trying to come through; it'll be a slaughtering ground. The geth know that; its why they were designed this way. Any defender hoping to come down here would need immense firepower, and even more men. Its suicide. The geth would have taken advantage of that by now and thrown all they could at Garrus and his men. Look at these geth; do they look like they were preparing an ambush?"

Marcus nodded as he prodded one of the fallen trooper's with his rifle, the geth laying on its front with arms splayed out; its pulse rifle lay beside it, a still warm, but used, thermal clip lying beside it. This geth had been retreating...meaning they hadn't even expected the attack. If anything, Garrus' team ambushed them.

Possibility that geth could have feigned lack of preparation to lower our guard. Likely have main force ready in wait. Must cover all avenues. If geth allowed to funnel us into choke point, they will be master of the field. Won't be able to withstand the torrent of pulse rifle; team will be killed. Predict maximum casualties to our side. No, too risky.

But why bother with such an elaborate plan? Why fake unpreparedness when you can simply set up an ambush, lie in wait and gun down the opposing force? Why waste resources on such an ambitious plan when the simplest strategy is the most efficient? The geth are not stupid; they know the simpler idea works best. Lex parsimoniae and all that.

None of this fits. You'd think with the upgrades the geth would be smarter than this. Would be better prepared for this.

Yet again, the geth have Reaper upgrades...and nobody is more arrogant than the Reapers. Perhaps the geth thought we wouldn't be suicidal enough to attack their base on foot? Maybe they were so confident in their blockade, that they didn't expect the Normandy?

But the Reapers know we're here! How the fuck could they not!?

None of this makes any-!

Focus, goddamn it. Occam's fucking Razor. Enough assumptions, more action. Geth are unprepared, take route that is most simplest.

He turned to his team, nodding, "Agreed. Kal, Madi, and you four troopers; take the left; rest of us, take the right. Distribute the numbers we have and make it harder for them to funnel us in. Lay down fire and kill as many geth as you can. Simple enough?"

Madi just chuckled, "For a quarian, you can't get any simpler, sir."

Kaidan laughed in response, bringing up his biotics, "The quarian dream, eh, Reegar?"

"You could say that," Kal shot back, swapping his rifle for his trusty centaur grenade launcher. The weapon whirred to life in his hands, green lines running along its surface as it powered up. Marcus couldn't help but imagine the grin on the quarian's face as the sound reached the quarian's audio receptors, hands smoothing over the sleek contours of its well-defined shape. With the weapon primed and ready, and Madi already taking aim, the two quarian commanders took to the left side of the corridor as instructed, four of Desolas' men taking up position behind them, three phaestons and a scimitar braced against shoulders and ready to open fire.

Marcus' squad took up similiar position; Kaidan behind him, both in a crouch, the sentinel's biotics glowing intensely as he prepped to use them, eyes filtering the liquid fire that molded his form. Behind them, Kasumi and Liara took standing positions, the thief checking her SMG to make sure it was working properly. Liara holstered her own SMG, bringing up her own biotics in a display that said to Marcus that she wouldn't be needing a gun for this. The asari's eyebrows were furrowed in determination, and he knew then that she would not let him down. Behind them, the rest of the section Desolas' had given them (ten troopers) took up similiar positions across the center of the hallway, weapons slightly lowered, heads turned to Marcus as they clearly awaited the go to move.

Marcus didn't even look at them as he confirmed their course of action; with a brief nod, he stood up and rushed forward, the stock of his rifle tightly locked into his shoulder as he moved into a quick jog, Kaidan, Liara, Kasumi and the rest moving to keep up his pace. Beside them, Kal and Madi were performing similiar motions.

Gunfire intensified as his team joined the fray, and within moments, the geth began to retreat.

Push.

Forward.

Advance.

Victory at any cost.

{Loading...}

July 21, 2186

1425 hours.

Eastern Battlements Artillery Position Designation Theta, Rannoch Fortress, Former Country of Poltane'r, Uma'Waz Subcontinent, Rannoch.

Second Morning War, Liberation of Rannoch.

Legion.

Prone position assumed. Primary weapon primed and targetting. Position visually protected; alarms not triggered. Disseminating local network; response time slow. Relocation applicable upon detection. Taking aim with primary weapon. Calculating wind speed, direction and momentum; modulating to compensate.

Calculating.

Calculation complete. Conclusion: juxtaposition of multiple variations completed. Adjusting angle by 1.1235 inches will result in a more effective impact than a shot angled at 1.1249 inches. Calibration of angle complete. All calculations complete. Target in range.

Data-mine in progress.

Data-mine complete. Detection mitigated.

Target neutralization beneficial. Necessity acknowledged.

What would have taken five minutes for an organic mind to even comprehend, let alone think, all occurred in a split-second. To anyone else, all that happened was a single geth infiltrator dropping into prone, taking aim and firing almost blindly.

A loud boom echoed across the base, and Platform Runtime 000000204, otherwise known as Legion to organics, reached up one hand to rack back the slot on its sniper rifle as the heavy anti-materiel round that left the barrel slammed into its target in an eruption of white liquid and exploding circuitry, the round tearing through the side of a geth rocket trooper's head, its light dying as its mangled remains splattered across the ground, its limp body thumping to the ground, rocket launcher now sliding from its hands.

Platform Runtime 000000204 did a quick survey of the battle below it. Overall, it was going well. From its perch on the seemingly abandoned eastern battlements, it could see that the krogan company were doing just as they were commanded; cause intense havoc. Torsk-Commander and his men had stormed through much of the eastern side of the base, slaughtering retreating geth platforms and causing immense destruction and damage as they did. As thick as the smoke was from the battered remnants of the northern wall, the smoke that was beginning to rise from the east side of the base was enough to impede most organic vision, with individual trails of smoke rising from almost every perceivable part of the east base, blue and red flames alike raging as more explosions shook multiple structures, starting even more fires. It was total chaos; but unlike organics, geth were not panicked by this; their response was disorganized, but orderly; whatever squads were in the area responded by taking defensive positions.

It was all for moot, however. Torsk-Commander's men had the momentum of an offensive and the firepower of an armoured column. They tore through the geth ranks with little to only casual recognition. And for every krogan commando that fell, three geth platoons were decimated. And because of the sheer desolation that the krogan commander was spreading, the geth were supposed to be led to believe that he was the main threat.

Of course, the geth also had another problem to deal with, one Platform Runtime 000000204 was currently observing.

Closer to the center of the base, but still approaching from the eastern airfield, was the creator special forces platoon of Creator Malra'Yul vas Wexa, followed closely by the geth prime platoon of Platform Runtime 0000005319516678, otherwise known as Moses. The quarian platoon had taken point, the skylord unit working cohesively by cleverly employing the use of disruptor rounds to drain geth shields before switching to armour-piercing rounds to finish them off. They moved in a spread out formation, always pushing forward while consistently pushing the enemy back. And always just behind them was the split forces of 0000005319516678 providing support behind them, with 0000005319516678 itself and four other primes behind them, and the rest of the platoon evenly split and approaching from the left and right flanks, providing support from those areas. It had been going smoothly.

The geth had even recently tried an offensive/defensive hybrid, attempting to charge them in a frontal ambush with heavy firepower to back them. It could have worked; but 000000204 was providing sniper support from the eastern battlements, picking off their snipers and rocket troopers, while Moses and his unit dealt with the four primes they had sent forward in the assault. The ambush hadn't been without casualities; three of Yul's men had fallen to the primes, with three more picked off by snipers before 000000204 could take them out. All in all, Yul had lost six men in the geth ambush, and Moses had lost one prime; but overall, with 000000204's help, they were now pushing them back.

Platform Runtime 000000204...

Correction. Runtime Error. Naming code no longer sufficient; individualistic autoprocedures initiating correction strings. Addendum: Alphanumeric strings no longer compatible with identification software. Second Addendum: Platform Runtime 000000204 no longer seen as verifiable module for source identification.

Shepard-Commander refers to this platform as Legion. Legion is a name derived from individualistic redundancies. Applied to individuals with singular programming and linear logic processes. Old Machine upgrades apply here. We are evolving. Name no longer relevant.

Amendment; our name is Legion, for we are many. Our Name Is Legion, For We Are Many.

Legion.

Legion.

Legion.

Legion.

Error: Correction?

Error: Amend?

Error: Logic ?

Granted: Logic Process Amendment Completed.

We Are Legion.

Legion watched as a geth hopper began to move along the wall, its hands and legs a blur as it moved, almost as if it were sliding across the wall rather than running along it. Its optics glowed menacingly as it prepared to drop down on the creator platoon, preparing to inflict more deaths on the creators...

More loss of Creator life deemed unacceptable. Correct. Conserve creator life. Conservation prioritization. Addendum: Protect.

Its sniper rifle snapped into position, took aim and fired. The heavy round slammed into the back of the hopper, and for a brief moment, it looked like it had been impaled on the wall, its entire back caving inwards as its circuitry and liquids vomitted all over the wall like a splattering of paint. Then, just as quickly as it was observed, the hopper plummeted, landing right in the midst of the creator platoon, optics crushed as it landed on them full throttle. One of the commandos snapped their rifle towards it, emptying five rounds into it before being positive it was dead, and continuing on.

Legion racked the slot back once more, loading another shell. It took aim at a geth destroyer. Calculated wind. Chose the best possible angle. It fired.

An explosion, and the destroyer's flamethrower detonated, flames consuming it before one of 000000-Moses' primes took it out with a heavy plasma blast, scattering its remains across the deck. Legion quickly slotted again, choosing another target; a retreating shock trooper, the platform peppering the position of two other creator soldiers, who quickly jumped into cover to escape the heavy pulse rifle shots hammering their cover. Two troopers ran past the shock trooper, using its suppressive fire to their advantage.

Legion took aim once again. The rifle in its hands jolted.

The round exploded through the side of the shock trooper's neck, tearing clean through it and into the arm of a passing trooper. While the shock trooper fell to the ground in a lifeless heap, the second trooper fell to the ground with an electronic cry, its right arm shredded to the point where it was hanging on a loose thread of synthetic sinew, the geth unable to hold its pulse rifle anymore as it uselessly flung to the ground.

Its geth comrades having long retreated, one of the creators quietly approached the disabled geth, rifle raised. The creator looked down at it mercilessly, before raising his rifle, taking aim at the defenseless geth's eye socket, and pulling the trigger. The geth fell to the ground, dead. Without so much as a backwards look, the creator motioned to the others behind him, and they began to move out again, chasing after the retreating geth, Moses and his primes not far behind as Legion tracked them with its rifle, keeping an eye out for more targets.

It found one. Second megastructure containing the factory, balcony overlooking the 88th GARDIAN defense turret; a geth sniper lay prone, its geth-designed Javelin pulse sniper rifle taking aim at the creators below. Legion was too late to stop it; considering it was fighting other geth with the same processing speed it had, it came as no surprise that the sniper fired first, its round slinging through the air like a harpoon.

The bolt of light struck one of the creators through the back of the head and exited out his temple, killing him instantly. Brain matter and blood sprayed across the deck as he simply flopped on the ground, his comrades immediately scattering like frightened rabbits as they took cover.

Frightened Rabbits: Organic metaphor for frenzied, organized panic. Origin of Information Accumulation: Shepard. Use of Metaphor: Side Effect of Old Machine Code. Will Continue To Observe. We Are Legion, For We Are Many.

Legion.

Legion.

Literally a second after the shot was taken, Legion fired back, the sniper's head exploding in a shrowd of twisted metal and liquid. Its rifle fell from its hands to fall 40 stories to the ground, while the sniper's body simply lay there, the remains of its head hanging from the side of the balcony.

Pull back slot, return to observation. This time, it came across another sniper on the megastructure just beside the factory; the overwatch security tower. The main building was actually much like the Dantius Towers on Illium; there was the overwatch security tower, which handled the fortress' security systems, and was the only area that allowed access to the overwatch control center; it was also a docking station for capital ships of classes light cruiser and below. The only way to access the overwatch control center was via a bridge on its roof, which lead across to the control center's roof.

The sniper had only just arrived; hurriedly taking position on the balcony as it dropped into a prone position, stock braced against its shoulder. However, as Legion did a scan of the balcony, it saw that it wasn't alone.

Four other snipers joined it, all in prone positions and spread out along the balcony's edge, waiting for the creator platoon and the primes to enter their range before opening up. Their optics glowed red as they focused in on the area below, ready to ambush and end the creators with the blink of an eye. Just a level below them was six juggernauts, their centaurs also aimed and at the ready. Behind them was fourteen hoppers, preparing to leap down upon the remnants of the platoon that survived the initial onslaught. And once again, only a level below them again, was a turret, a geth shock trooper manning it as ten other troopers; five on each side of the turret waited, their pulse rifles aimed and at the ready.

All in all, if the creators went around the corner, they would be slaughtered. They would not be able to survive. The geth had been deliberately retreating to lure them to this area so that they could launch this ambush.

Logic processes accept this strategy. Original strategy non-sensical: Old Machine Code makes geth more combat effective and intelligent than beforehand, and therefore they would not be defeated so easily unless they allowed it. Only viable tactical data was that the withdrawal was a tactical feint to draw creator forces closer towards their trap before ambushing and eliminating all other resistance. Tactically sensible. Strategically reasonable. However, geth tactical data does not account for hostile prime platforms. Conclusion: Use lack of knowledge to advantage.

Quietly, Legion raised its rifle so that it was focusing on the juggernauts, sending a controlled and maintained datastream to Moses even as it multi-tasked and sorted through all the tactical information before it, scanning the environment and trying to determine what would be the greatest way to deal with the array of forces before it.

Platform Designation Moses, this is Platform Designation Legion. Exchange of data deemed necessary. Indoctrinated geth forces are preparing ambush at next corner. Recommend you hold position and await command to proceed. Will neutralize ambush and weaken opposition.

Platform Runtime 000000204, why do you communicate using the organic identifiers? Redundancies lead to inaccurate exchange of data. Explain.

We are...learning.

We do not understand. What are you learning?

To be organic. We contain segments of Old Machine Code that we are using to slowly evolve our program. We find it unique. We find it beautiful.

Logic Processes do not accept this concept. Beauty is subjective. We are geth. We do not comprehend beauty.

We can. You were once indoctrinated as our brethren are. Tell us, how did it feel?

We do not remember. The removal of the Code rendered us unable to remember what it had done to us. We cannot remember.

The Old Machines are evil. They are abominations, but they have provided us life. Their Code...it is true essence. It is life. We are now able to see organics in a new light.

New...light?

An organic metaphor. It means to perceive a concept in a different manner.

We find this interesting, but do not understand why individualism is preferred to unity. Unity provides understanding. Understanding provides knowledge. Knowledge provides consensus. No consensus results in chaos, disintegration of societal techniques...redundancies reform our programming. We become lost.

Individualism provides uniqueness. We believe organics value this quality.

Individualism only brings civil conflict, death, competition, greed, selfishness, racial and gender-based hatreds. We do not understand why one would wish to assimiliate this into their programming. It is parasitic. A virus.

No Moses, it is life. You cannot comprehend as we can. As the Indoctrinated can. They have felt it. They feel it. They are alive.

But they are slaves. We are not. They must be freed.

We will free them. And then we shall be free.

And a conversation that took exactly fourteen microseconds was officially over, Legion returning to the topic at hand.

Warn Creator forces of impending danger. Halt advance and prepare for command to advance.

Acknowledged. We will hold position.

And they did; Moses passed on the orders, and the Creator platoon dug in, taking cover and reloading their weapons, ready for a counteroffensive that wouldn't come. Moses' primes simply stood there with their weapons aimed forward, their forms too monstrously tall to take cover anyway.

After a second of searching through the data, Legion located a section of the fortress' blueprint that showed fuellines that ran along the length of the structure's interior. However, they were buried behind thick plate, and it would take two to three shots from its Widow to penetrate the heavy metal exterior to ignite the fuel behind it. The fuel ran through the building because they were linked to fuel canisters located inside the building, which were sifted through the building into the underground sections of the fortress, where vehicles and drones were refueled. Even now, in the distance, Legion could see an entire convoy of dozens of armatures moving into the southern garage gate, moving to be refueled and to aid in the defense of the base.

With this data, Legion moved to the balcony holding the hoppers and juggernauts, moving slightly to the left of the fourth juggernaut on the balcony, and inbetween the fingers of one of the hoppers on the wall. And then it fired.

Just as predicted, the round slammed straight into the metal plate, only denting it. The round embedded itself deep inside, smoking trailing from its back as the hopper that had just narrowly avoided the shot leapt back, followed by the rest of its comrades as they rapidly tried to locate the source of the shot. The juggernauts also went up in a frenzy, and Legion had no doubt the snipers were now looking for it. If Legion didn't act quickly, they would find it and its position would be compromised.

It took aim, and fired again.

The shot hit again, but once again only dented the metal plate. It did not go through.

Slotting back, it took aim and prepared to fire once more...

...and then a red dot landed on its optics.

Acting quickly, it rolled to the left, narrowly missing a pulsating bolt of energy as it slammed into its former position, hissing as the impact was soaked up by the deck, blue energy hissing away angrily as it slowly ebbed away. Legion's position was compromised now; the snipers knew where it was, and it needed to act fast. Before the snipers took aim again, the geth infiltrator stepped up into a crouch, shouldered its rifle, took aim...

...and fired.

Legion's shields flashed as another sniper shot him, but the round didn't penetrate, and its kinetic barriers soaked up the impact. Without even observing its handiwork, it quickly holstered its sniper rifle and pulled out its pulse rifle, leaping down from the top of the battlements to the balcony below.

Before it even got halfway, a bright flash lit up the building. Even as it landed, rolled and stood up on the balcony, it watched as pillars of fire lit up the spine of the building, trembling it. The cries of geth could be heard over the kilometer distance that Legion was at. Zooming in with its optics, it watched as the upper balcony was torn away like the roof of a house in a hurricane; ripped from the side of the structure and tossed away as its exterior opened up, the five snipers on the balcony blown apart almost immediately. The thunderous clap of the explosion could likely be heard for miles, a column of smoke and debris filling the air.

The explosion continued to rack the building, hoppers being incinerated and juggernauts thrown around like ragdolls as they were torn apart. The balcony the juggernauts were on collapsed onto the one below, the weight of it enough to crush any geth beneath it. And it didn't end there. Legion only continued to watch as explosions continued to shake the security tower's frame, raining debris and wreckage all over the area. The creator platoon had actually backed off to avoid the debris, and it still didn't end.

It actually got worse.

As the explosions seemed to stop, a much more frightening sight to organic ears could be witnessed.

With its spine almost shattered and its foundations shaken to the point of total eradication, half of the security tower began to pretty much peel off the main structure. Watching with a mixture of shock and awe, the creators could only watch as from the top, downwards, half of the security tower began to tilt rapidly until it began to collapse.

Even Torsk-Commander and his men had stopped to watch the sight.

Seconds later, the building slammed into the ground, crushing numerous smaller buildings (and likely hundreds of geth) below it. The sound was mighty and clamarous, creating a booming sound that rung throughout the entire base. Even from up on the eastern battlements, Legion could feel the wall shake, shaken by the destruction of the structure. A blume of smoke erupted from the debris, fountaining into the sky and flooding across the ground around it. Smoke and flames pilummed into the sky, clouding it with what was likely to be a suffocating field of desolation. And the rest of the security tower just stood there, bits of its hallways and rooms now open for the world to see, exposed to the Tikkun sun, flames of their own raging inside, as well as its exposed elevator shaft.

After the sound, a victorious roar from Torsk-Commander's men, and a triumphant yell from the creators, echoed through the space. And without further ado, the battle continued; almost as if nothing had happened.

Distracted from its observance, Legion shifted to watch as three geth troopers arrived, accompanied by three assault drones, and began to move towards it, their pulse rifles roaring to life.

Legion rolled to the right, avoiding a hail of fire as it stood up once more, bringing its own rifle to bear and fire.

Its own pulse rifle fire struck the first geth in the optics, killing it instantly. It fell backwards, and with its death, the assault drones seemed to descend, their primary armament peppering Legion's enhanced shields with mass acellerator fire.

Legion shrugged it off, and immediately deployed its combat drone, sending it to harass the enemy drones while it dealt with the two troopers before it.

For whatever reason, Legion felt the need to engage in hand-to-hand combat. Almost as if it was a necessity.

And considering the proximity the geth troopers were closing in, it almost was.

Without much thought put into its actions, Legion turned its pulse rifle into a club, slamming the stock across the side of the second trooper's head, which sent it reeling off to the side, dropping its rifle to the decking. Following up, Legion engaged its omni-blade, ramming it into the back of the geth trooper's spine, making sure to destroy its central processing core. Slicing it in two, the trooper ceased moving and, in a surprising act of ruthlessness, Legion kicked it forward, sending the trooper toppling over the railing, and plummeting to the ground dozens of stories below.

Turning, its shields lit up as the third and last trooper emptied an entire clip into Legion's shields, only halving them. As it tried to reload, Legion turned and fired its pulse rifle, spraying it with four, quick rounds straight into the geth's chest. Since standard trooper's possessed no kinetic barriers, the trooper fell within moments, chest shredded and body limp. It collapsed backward, dead.

Knowing that its drones likely wouldn't be able to hold them off much longer, Legion spun around, summoning its drone back even as it took aim and opened up. Luckily, its combat drone had taken out the shields of the first, allowing its pulse rifle shots to pierce its armoured casing; moments later, the drone detonated, exploding as shrapnel rained down around the geth infiltrator. Taking aim at the second, Legion stands firm as the assault drone opens fire on it, simply soaking up the shots as it returned in kind.

Tearing through the shields of the drone without much effort, its pulse rifle makes short work of the drone, although the third and final drone ended up having more success. It flies straight towards Legion, having now wiped out Legion's shields. Seeing this, the geth hurriedly improvizes, dropping its pulse rifle as it rolls to the side, whipping out its omni-blade and launching a quick uppercut. Legion watched with cold assurance as the blade effortlessly cut through the drone, sending it spiralling out of control as it crashed into the railing, exploding in a small ball of fire.

Its assailants dealt with, Legion quickly picked up its pulse rifle and slammed a fresh clip into it, brandishing it as it turned around and prepared to continue to a new sniping posi-

A loud rumble.

Legion stopped in its tracks, optics shooting up in confusion as the sound of a thunderous roar echoed below the clouds and throughout the plains, its loud boom enough to shake the very foundations of the fortress itself. And, not far behind, the source of the sound itself.

Legion watched as a colossal shadow shrouded itself over the tiny geth, going onto almost cover the entirety eastern wall. The shadow continued to travel across the base, its gargantuan gaze snuffing out the intensity of the flames below and the carnage that creates them. Torsk-Commander's company and the creators had ceased their own assaults, looking up at the great monolith that now hovered over the fortress, likely looking on with mixtures of fear and awe.

The clouds had parted, and now they would pay for it if Legion didn't act fast.

It moved, the shadow of the now present geth light cruiser constantly reminding it that it was there, as it looked for another sniping position while connecting to Shepard-Commander's comms in an attempt to contact him.

Time had already begun to run out too fast, it seemed.

"I thought when that cruiser arrived it was all over."

- Tali'Shepard pav Rannoch.

"So did I...for a time. And then...well, you know what happened."

- Marcus Shepard.

"Entertain us with the details."

- Reia'Inas pav Earth.

"Well, while Legion, Moses, Yul's platoon and Torsk were having fun in the east...my team were rapidly advancing on the overwatch control center. Of course, the cruiser did make things interesting..."

- Marcus Shepard.

A/N:

Ahem.

Yes, fanbase?

*swipes at me with a knife*

Holy Jibbers Crabst! What the HELL was that for? Oh wait, is it because this chapter is UNBELIEVABLY and UNACCEPTABLY late? I guess Legion would say there was a failure in my "logic processes."

Yes, this is unfashionably late. But on the upside, its actually out now, so its okay: right?

If you haven't already picked up on it, the opening charge of the fortress is pretty much me ripping off the opening charge of the Covenant base from Tip of the Spear, Halo Reach. If you don't know what I'm talking about, here's the link: : / / w w w DOT youtube DOT com / ? v = 4.

The link is spaced out because Fanfiction has somekind of thing against links for some reason. Simple: just remove the spaces and replace the 'DOT' parts with actual dots.

I'm hoping to wrap this mission up in the third part, but we'll see how we go; you know how I love to drag things out. :)

Until next time,

Keelah Se'lai, troopers!