Therum
"How's your arm?" I look up from my plate to see Tali sitting across from me
"It's been a day, but it's mostly healed" I said, moving my arm around. "Should be fully healed in a day, how's engineering?"
"It's amazing! I've had no idea that the Alliance has such advanced technology" she said, taking a quick sip of her food, "are you into tech?"
"I'm pretty good with Lincoln logs"
"What?" she asked
"Little pieces of wood that you can build with, usually log buildings"
"You're not kidding?" she asked, and I just nodded. "So, no tech?"
"No, I've tried, but it just goes over my head. Plus, that's why we have you" I said smiling
"Hey guys" I heard Ashley say, sitting next to me, "What're you eating?"
"Bland waffles"
"Protein tube" Tali answered, "How's the Mako coming? I saw you and Garrus pull an all nighter"
"Slowly, but I have coffee to help with that" she said, lifting her mug, "And I finished your new armor"
"Uugghh" I said, head falling onto my plate, "You sure it can't just patch it?"
"No, you can't patch holes bigger that a fist, a dozen times" she said, "but your helmet was salvaged"
"Thanks, so, Mako?" I asked
"Yes…" she trailed
"Good to know that you're taking my advice, how's Garrus taking it?"
"Well, at first he wouldn't let me touch it, but when I showed him I knew what I was doing, he let me help under supervision"
"Supervision?" I asked
"Yeah, for about two hours, then it was smooth sailing after then"
"Do you guys need any help?" Tali asked
"No, we should be able to handle it, don't you work like 13 hours a day as is?" Ashley asked
"I'll see you guys later" I said, walking away to throw my trash away, and not wanting to be in that conversation
"You already eat?" I heard Shepard ask from behind me
"Yeah, and you should know that our chat with Ashley was very effective" I commented, nodding over to her and Tali
"Okay, well today is the last system that we have to check out, so we should be finding Dr. T'soni soon" she said, "Any idea on who we should bring?"
"Well" I said, "We'll need Tali for her tech skills against the Geth, and other than that, anyone I guess. What's our time table?"
"We should be in the Knossos system by 9:30, any idea on where to start?"
"I was looking at the map, maybe Therum?" I suggested
"Okay, I'll let Joker know, when should we meet to discuss our last choice"
"How about we don't, and say we did"
"How about we do, and do" she replied
"I'll back whoever you choose, because either way the mission will be a success, deal?" I asked as I walked away before she could stop me, making my way to the gym.
"Could all members of the ground team report to the briefing room in five minutes please" Joker said, ending my morning workout. Checking my omnitool I see it's 10:20, looks like they found our new doctor. After a quick change of clothes, I made my way up to the CIC deck, getting into the elevator with Garrus.
"I heard you made a new friend" I commented
"I'm sorry?"
"Miss Williams?" I asked, and his mandibles twitched
"She has been very helpful in repairing the Mako"
"And how goes that?"
"It's still not usable, at least a weeks' worth of repairs, and then we still need parts to bring it back to one hundred percent"
"Great" I muttered, leaving the elevator and making my way to the briefing room, and I took up a spot leaning up against the back, out of the way
"Okay everyone" Shepard started, "We found Dr. T'soni, she's on a dig site on Therum, however Geth are spotted on the planet. I would prefer that everyone would be on this mission, but we're down to one mako, so we're cut down to four. It'll be a drop a few klicks from the dig site, and we'll have to move in, dealing with Geth, if we go any closer we risk being shot down, so we're forced to go the long way. The team will be myself, Chase, Tali, and Garrus. We leave in 15, dismissed." And everyone filtered out, and it was just me and Shepard.
"Garrus?" I asked
"We're fighting in open space, the two of you will be doing most of the heavy lifting, until we actually get into the dig site. Did you have a different preference?"
"Either Kaiden or Wrex, for biotics, but I trust your judgement"
"Well, if you talked to me about it, maybe in a meeting, oh wait, who's idea was that?" she asked, sarcasm oozing out of her
"It's not like we won't get the job done, I'll be in the loading bay when your done gloating" I said starting to walk
"Wait" she said, and I turned to her, "I didn't go with Wrex because he got badly injured on the last mission, and Kaiden, it's a little too soon after our talk"
"I figured" I lied, didn't even think of that. "You alright Jane, for the mission?"
"Yeah"
"I'll see you down there" I said
"And thank you, for your talk after the mission"
"It's what I'm here for" I said walking out the door, going to the loading bay.
"Any chance I can get my launcher back?" I asked, but he just laughed and looked away, damn you Wrex. "I'll buy it" I said, but he just ignored me. I make my way over to my locker and load up a small number of explosives, never know when something's going to have to blow up. "You ready?" I asked towards Garrus
"Yeah, I'm ready" he said as he loaded his sniper on his back, "I am worried about her though" nodding towards Tali
"I'll keep an eye on her. All Quarians do go through combat training before leaving on pilgrimage, I'm sure she can handle herself"
"Where did-" he stopped mid-sentence.
"Ha! You were about to ask where I learned that, right?" I asked, and he just nodded
"You had what we humans call 'zombie brain', it's pretty common" I said, walking over to the Mako, getting in. This, this is going to be fun.
"This one works, right?" I asked towards Garrus as he climbed in
"Why wouldn't it work?" I heard Tali ask from the back, when did she get in here?
"I don't know, maybe he grabbed a part from this one?"
"I didn't, this one's in perfect working order"
"For now, you haven't seen her drive" I muttered the last part as Shepard climbed in
"Everyone ready?" she asked, and we all responded, "What were you all talking about?"
"Nothing" Tali quickly answered
"What's wrong with you?" she asked, looking at me
"Wrex won't give me my launcher back"
"Why?"
"I bribed him with it" I said
"I definitely don't want to know" I heard Tali say from the back
"I think you, without explosives, is a good thing" Shepard commented
"I still have my c-4" I muttered
"You're joking, right?"
"Yes" I said, and she sighed in relief, "saying c-4 is misleading, this stuff's way stronger" I said with a smile, and the loading bay door ahead of us opened.
"30 seconds until drop point" Joker claimed
"Copy that" Shepard responded, and soon the green light went off, and we started going
"Hold on tight" I said looking over at our two resident aliens, and we started our free fall towards the lava filled world, tumbling through the air and landing hard onto the ground. I won't lie, I like doing this.
"That was unpleasant" Tali muttered out, I couldn't help but grin
"Garrus, jump on the guns, we have incoming!" Shepard yelled as the Geth dropship dropped off some armatures, just like the game.
"Shepard, we have a small base ahead!" I heard Garrus yell, snapping me from my omnitool
"There's a small path to the right" I observed
"Oh, you're here?" she quipped
"Oh look, a Geth Garrus! See now I'm helping!" I deadpanned, get a smirk from her
"We should get out" Garrus commented, taking out the one turret.
"Fuck that, just ram them" I said, quickly regretting saying that, I almost forgot who was driving. She started ramming them with extreme prejudice.
"Hack any Geth?" I asked, holding onto my seat as Shepard kept ramming them
"How? She kills them too quickly" she said, and I couldn't help but laugh
"Tali, Chase, go lower that gate" she ordered, and we moved out. Going into the small base I took point, taking out my newly upgraded Mattock and dropped the shock trooper quickly. I go over to quickly look it over, and Tali moves past me towards the corner. I start to follow her, and she dives from around the corner towards me, knocking me off balance when another shock trooper came around the corner, ramming me into the wall. On instinct, I drew my sword from my sheath, swinging my sword down the middle of its head, splitting the eyeball in half.
"You okay?" I asked towards her, getting a nod, and I walked over to the control panel, opening the gate. "We're on our way back", and on the way back Tali tried to apologize, but I just waved her off, it's not like she has a ton of combat experience, that mistake was on me. Garrus will freak when he sees the front of this thing.
"How'd it go?" Shepard asked
"It went fine" I said, "how much farther?"
"It's a few minutes away" she said, starting the mako.
"We can't fit the Mako through" I look up from Tali's comment, and see we're already at that section, I really need to stop getting so entrenched in my omnitool.
"Well…." Shepard started
"No Shepard, you will not fit" I said, staring at her, and I could see her disappointment, "It's okay kid, maybe next time" I commented, patting her shoulder.
"All right, on foot people" she said, and we all got out, and as soon as we did I grabbed Garrus.
"Just don't look at the front" I said, and I could see the dread come over him, and he went to the front of the Mako, immediately falling to the knees. "It'll be fine, you and Williams will take care of it, just a little paint" I said, giving Shepard a look
"Let's move!" I heard Shepard yelled in her best 'Commander' voice, and Garrus just snapped too, running up to take point. Damn, I was hoping for more of a reaction from Garrus.
"That's cheating" I muttered, getting a cocked head from Tali, I just shrugged. I'm pretty sure I heard her say something about humans.
We changed formation, Shepard taking the lead with Tali not far from behind her, with Garrus and myself hanging back.
"Sniper!" Shepard yelled, and before she could do anything, I dropped it. Garrus and I was pretty efficient, providing cover for Shepard and Tali, and when we spotted a Shock Trooper, we'd take them down with a quick 1-2 from us.
"I'm moving up, Tali needs a little more cover" I said, getting a nod from him, closing the gap between us by half, about 30 meters. I pop up and take down three regular Geth that rounded the corner, Tali taking down one with her shotgun. We continue our way up, eventually making it around the corner and finishing off everyone in the immediate area.
"Why are you doing that?" I heard Shepard ask towards me
"I do a lot of things; can you be more specific?" I responded as we started up the hill
"You are focusing on the Shock troopers, you need to focus on the small fries first" she suggested
"I do it to dumb them down faster"
"What?"
"What?" I asked, stopping by some rocks, "you do know that the more you kill, the dumber they get. And the more specialized, I.E. shock troopers, carry a lot more programs, affecting all the other ones. You didn't know?"
"No, how'd you know?"
"Google" I deadpanned, yeah, they're still around, "We should go" I started, walking towards the refinery
"Geth!" Tali yelled as the damn frog jumped off the scaffolding, and the Armature turned on.
"Heavy hitter, get to cover!" I yelled, jumping behind a concrete barricade. Damn these hoppers. I completely forgot about them, it's been 13 fucking years, and I've wrote down all the knowledge that I felt was very important, but these small details have been long gone. I pop out of cover and drop one of the Geth.
"Tali, can you drop its shields?"
"I'm working on it" she said, typing away on her omnitool. I look up, pull out my mattock, and sprint across and slide next to Shepard. "No way, it's shields are too strong, I can drop it 25%, but we won't be able to drop it before it recharges"
"Damn" I muttered
"I know, I don't have an idea too" she said, returning fire
"No, I have a plan, just didn't want to do it" I said, getting ready to sprint, "give me some cover" and I sprinted behind the refinery thing we're at, allowing me to reach where the Armature is. I take a deep breath, ready my explosives, thank god that I brought them, and sprinted towards the Armature, sliding under it's legs. I know that if I look towards Shepard, she'll be wording expletives towards me, but I'm a little busy. I slam a pod onto the belly of it, but it fell off immediately, damn it. It won't stick, gotta think quick, omnigel! I pull out a canister, coat the pods with it, and test one. They won't last long, but it'll work. "We got five seconds after I start running!" I yelled over the comms.
"Just hurry the fuck up!" Shepard yelled, she's furious. I put up all the pods, hit my omnitool to arm them, and run like hell, and as I round the corner I could feel the heat come over me as it throws me.
"Chase!" I heard someone yell over, but I don't want to get up, I'm tired.
"Chase!" I felt someone pushing on me, I look up to see Shepard
"Did I get it?"
"Yes, you idiot!" she yelled as she pulled me up
"What the-"
"Can we do this on the Normandy" I interrupted her, wiping off the dust on me. "We have a doctor to find, and we're racing machines"
"Fine, for now," she said, leading over to the opening to the dig site. Glancing over I see a crater where the Armature was, that's a big hole.
"I forgot you had those on you, zombie brain, right?" Garrus started, and I just nodded, giving a thumb up to Shepard as she just nodded in disappointment, but I see her smiling.
"Garrus, take point" Shepard ordered, and we make our way down, it being exactly like the game.
"This seems sketchy, 100 credits say one of the elevators break"
"I'll take that bet-" Garrus said, just as the elevator breaks and we fall onto the scaffoldings below us.
"So, now or later?" I asked, but he ignored me
"Is someone there?" we heard, and me and Shepard walked over
"No, we're not here, I'm a figment of your imagination"
"A human's her figment of her imagination?" Shepard asked incredulously
"I'm in a lot of women's imagination"
"So, you're stuck?" Garrus asked, interrupting our conversation
"Yes, I came in here behind this barrier curtain, but I must have activated an alarm, or a-"
"Why are there Geth after you?" I cut her off
"I don't know! I'm also concerned that the Geth are out of the Perseus Veil! It's been 300 years!"
"Okay" Shepard butted in, "How long have you been here?"
"I don't know, a day, maybe longer?"
"Alright, you stay put. We'll find a way around" Shepard said, and we turned around towards the floor below us.
"Hey Shepard" I said, getting her attention, "Where exactly is she going to go?"
"Shut up" she said, and we made our way down towards the miner laser, Geth appearing out of nowhere, but we quickly dispatched them.
"They came out of nowhere" Garrus muttered, reading my mind, he's just mad that I stole two of his kills
"Maybe you should work on your aim" I said, and he just looked away
"No entrance down here Shepard"
"I know, any ideas?"
"Tali, how about that mining laser" I suggested, and she just took a quick look at it.
"It could work"
"Do it" Shepard ordered, and with a few taps, and a crap ton of dust, we had an entrance. We walk in, making our way towards the elevator
"Anyone know how to use Prothean elevators?" I asked, but got a nod from everyone
"I'll give it a shot" Tali said, taking a look at the control panel, and with a tap we start rising
"Lucky guess"
"It was not, it was an educated hypothesis" and I just stared at Tali, "It was the biggest button"
"Well, it worked" Shepard said, and we made it to the floor with Liara.
"Okay, Ms. T'soni, I'm going to ask some quick questions, I want quick answers" I said, "Are you working with your mother?"
"What no! I haven't seen or talked with her for years"
"Okay, what about Saren?"
"What does that have to with anything?" She asked
"Answer it"
"No! I have no Idea what's going on" she said, and I looked over to Shepard, and she nodded, at least we avoided boring conversations
"How do we get you down?" Shepard asked, and Liara guided her, and she fell, barely able to stand. Tali helped her up
"How did you get in here anyways?"
"Mining laser" I said with a smile
"Right, of course. We could use the elevator in the back, I believe it should take us up to the surface" She claimed, and Shepard led us to it, turning on the elevator. About five seconds into it, a massive quake rocked the elevator. I immediately look over to Shepard. "This area is extremely unstable, the mining laser must have set off a chain reaction!"
"Joker, lock in on our position! And double time it"
"Roger that commander, eta 8 minutes"
"Make it faster!" I butted in, and as soon as we reached the top we came up to that damn Krogan and a buttload of Geth, I knew I should've brought Wrex.
"Surrender, or don't. That would be more fun." He started
"You do realize this place is falling apart" I said
"Exhilarating, isn't it? Thanks for getting rid of the energy shields for us, we'll take the doctor now"
"Tali" I said over our secure com, "once things go down fall back with liara, Garrus will go with you. Shepard, you focus on the Geth, Garrus will support, I'll deal with the Krogan" and within a second I heard clicks from all of them, acknowledging
"She'll stay with us, thanks" Shepard said
"Not an option, Saren wants her, and he gets what he wa-" I interrupted him with a quick two shots from my rifle, and all hell broke loose, and the Krogan rushed at me, and I dove to the right, avoiding the freight train. Damn Krogan are faster than they look. He quickly turns around, throwing me against the wall with biotics. I get up, rolling to my right to avoid a shotgun blast, and charging at him with my pistol, dropping his shield, but I rolled to my left into cover as he recovered and brought another shot at me. Damn thing dropped my shields, and only half the rounds hit me. I pull up my pistol, go around the cover to try and flank him, but he was waiting for me, pumping a round into my side, landing me against the wall.
"You were a good little exercise, pyjak" he muttered, picking me up with his right arm, "thanks for the fun"
"You do know where you messed up, right?" I asked almost incoherently, blood spewing from my mouth
"And what's that?" he asked, smiling
"You gave me time and an opening" I muttered, pulling out my sword, hitting the one-use button on the handle, and the edge started glowing white hot immediately, swinging it at his arm, lopping it off. I fell to the ground and looking up I could see him trying to stop the bleeding from the stump where his arm use to be. I quickly recover, grab my sword and jump at him, stabbing the sword into his head, and he just went limp, and I fell next to him. Looking around I could see Shepard and Garrus finishing off the last of the Geth, and on que another quake, much stronger than before, started to rumble.
"We need to move!" she yelled, going over to carry Liara herself, I get up slowly, applying some medigel. "Move, move, move!" she yelled, and we all started to run, I ended up in the back, right behind Tali.
"Let's go!" I yelled, starting to push Tali every time she started to slow down, damn scaffolding was falling literally a few feet behind me.
"Up the tube" she yelled, as we started up the entrance, "Joker, you better be there" I heard her yell, and as we reached the top I saw the Normandy, and Tali barely made the jump, and I made it a little past her, reaching it just in time. I pull Tali up, guiding her to not be on the loading door for when it closes.
"Doctor, over here" I heard Ashley yell, running over to Garrus.
"Yeah, that makes sense" I said rather loudly, "run to the guy that doesn't have a scratch on him" I said, realizing I was bleeding again, and I just fell onto the ground.
"Chase!" I heard someone yell, but I couldn't tell who it was, I passed out before I could look up.
I open my eyes and see a metal roof. Med bay, it's night based on the lights. At least I'm not dead. Looking over I see the doctor typing away at her desk, why is she always typing. Right next to me I see Shepard, fast asleep on a chair. I make a quick, low pitched whistle to get her attention.
"Doc" I whispered as she came over
"Don't worry, I gave her a sedative, she'll be out for another hour, or less"
"Okay, how bad?" I asked
"Bad, you've been out for two days. In fact, you had two broken ribs, three cracked, massive blood loss, and you needed a new kidney"
"Damn" I muttered, "How long till 100%?"
"Nothing was life threatening, besides the blood loss and kidney, but those are fixed. I'll give you a week until you're back to normal. You will need to see me everyday for an injection, it makes sure that your body doesn't reject the implant. Do everyone a favor, me especially, don't fight Krogan.
"He looked like he wanted a hug" I deadpanned, "Why's Jane here?"
"Well, JANE" she emphasized, "has been spending any free time here that she has"
"Why?"
"Ask her when she wakes up, and don't get up, you still need a day in bed. I'm going to get some sleep, yell if you need me" she said, leaving the med bay. Am I supposed to yell through two floors?
"mmmmahajkh" I heard Shepard mumble, so I guess it was less, and not an hour
"You awake?" I asked, and she woke up, startled
"You are?" she asked
"No, you're still asleep. You can still use me as you see fit again" I deadpanned, earning a quick sucker punch to the shoulder, "That was uncalled for"
"Good to see you're awake"
"Can't sleep without me, I understand" I deadpanned, "All joking aside, heard you spent a lot of time here, you okay?"
"I'm fine, just wanted to talk you when woke up"
"I'm injured, don't hurt me"
"What?" she asked
"Just covering my bases" I said, "And what exactly are we talking about?"
"Your actions on Therum, you were way too reckless"
"That's how I fight, I don't know what to tell you"
"What happens if you die?" she asked
"Then I die?" I responded
"What?"
"Oh, I see what's going on. I don't really care if I were to die"
"What the hell do you mean?" she said, standing, furious
"Well, I don't know. It's not like I have anything to live for. No family, no real friends, actually the only thing I had was the Alliance, but that's long gone. Stopped caring I guess."
"Well, we'll fix it" she claimed
"We'll fix it?"
"I find something you'll want to live for" she claimed, stomping out of the Med bay. This, this is an odd turn of events.
"Do not get me a pet!" I yelled before the door closed, that would be too much of a hassle.