Chapter 9: Journey into the Veil part. 3

Shields at forty present!

"I don't need the numbers E.D.I !" Joker shouted, maneuvering the ship away from the beam of energy fired from the Reapers main gun.

The Normandy fought the Reaper along side the quarian invasion force. The Reaper got an early shot at the quarians and destroyed or damaged a line of ships with one blast from its main gun. At the sight of the geth ships, the quarians fired. The geth returned fire and the battle quickly became a mess of ships fighting each other and the Reaper.

"Joker fire the main gun!" Shepard ordered.

We cannot get a solid shot on the Reaper.

"What?" Shepard snapped. "Why the hell not?"

With quarian and geth craft swarming the field there is an 93.98724% chance of miss firing and hitting either side.

Joker rolled his eyes. "Well maybe if the geth and the quarians would stop shooting each other for just a second..."

"Joker that is a brilliant idea!" Shepard turned to legion. " Legion do you think you could get in contact with the geth and ask for a cease fire?"

"We can make the attempt. Only if the creators are willing to do the same."

"E.D.I get me the quarian Admiral in charge!"

Processing... a channel has been opened Admiral Han'Gerrel vas Neema."

"Great." Shepoard thought. Han Gerrel was all for this war with the geth to begin with and right now this battle might depend on a man who's hatred might get in the way.

"Shepard if you haven't noticed we're in the middle of a battle!" The Admiral barked. "What could be so..."

"Admiral I need you to stop shooting at the geth!" Shepard interrupted, shouting into the comm. "Right now this Reaper is tearing us apart and you and the geth are the only ones with the guns to kill it!"

"Are you suggesting we work with those things?" He questioned, disgust lining each word. "I'd rather die than work with those synthetics!"

"Then you will Admiral! Look around you, how many quarians do you have in this invasion force of yours? How many are dead already?" Shepard angrily questioned. "Now take a look at the geth fighting this Reaper along side quarians that are trying to kill them. What happens when this thing doesn't go down and there aren't enough ships to stop it from getting to the rest of the Migrant Fleet? Can you live with being responsible for the death of an entire species? Your species?"

There was a long pause. "Well whats it going to be Admiral? Kill a bunch of geth now only to be extinct later? Or are you going to help?"

"I'll... I'll order the cease fire... and order the attack on the Reaper."

Shepard turned back to Legion. "The message has been received. The geth will join the creators in battle."

Shepard took a deep breath. "Thank god." He whispered to himself. "Joker I want you to circle back . I want the Normandy at the head of this charge."

"Of course you do Commander." He replied. "Such a vanguard."

The Moreh:

"Damn it!" Tali spat. For the last hour she'd been trying different hacking methods to destroy the A.I. Nothing has worked so far.

This attack is futile Tali'Zorah. My kind will uplift the quarians with fire and the rest of the galaxy will follow.

Tali deactivated her Omni tool. "Well there's this." Tali took out her pistol and fired into the A.I.'s core. "Shepard you're rubbing off on me." She said quietly to herself.

"What have you done?" Admiral Xen yelled, running into the room.

Tali raised her pistol to the Admiral. "I understand I'm committing an act of treason Admiral, but you and I need to talk."

"Reaper shields are down!"

"Alright! Joker go in for the kill!" Shepard ordered.

The Normandy descended on the massive ship. The Reaper took fire from all sides, its hull absorbing the impacts of disruptor torpedo's and javelin missiles. A steam of blue energy coming from the Normandy's main gun tore through the hull. The thannix cannon left a massive hole in the Reaper, the resulting shock wave from the explosion made the Normandy shutter.

Joker took a deep breath. "We did it." He said, letting out an exaggerated exhale.

We are getting a transmission from the Neema. E.D.I announced.

Shepard had one this battle. For the first time since the Reaper's arrived in the galaxy he felt like he could win this fight. This was a turning point. But this was just one Reaper and this was just one battle."Put them through." Shepard walked to the comm. "What is it Admiral?"

"Shepard we just received a distress signal from the rest of the Migrant fleet!"

"What?" Shepard exclaimed. "Whats going on over there?"

"We need to mount a rescue operation. The Live ships are..."

The Moreh, bridge:

"Keelah!" Tali couldn't believe what she was seeing. The Live ships where the pride of the Migrant fleet. Now they were mangled hulks of debris, escape pods and damaged ships littered the the space around them. Damaged ships flew in every direction, those that could send a signal called who ever they could. One thing was adamantly clear... the Migrant fleet was lost.

The crew of the Moreh looked in horror at their once great fleet. Admiral Xen stood away from the crowd that had gathered at the bridge. Tali had brought her up here at gun point, demanding to be taken to the Migrant fleet. She gave into the young quarian's demands. This is what they found when they got there.

"Admiral?" The Admiral looked up in the direction of the voice. Tali stood in front of her. Her hands were balled into fists, her body shook. "Let me take a team to look for survivors." Her voiced cracked.

Xen crossed her arms. "I'll give the order." She mumbled.

Tali nodded, shoving passed the Admiral.

"Admiral Xen!" The Moreh's pilot shouted. "The Neema and the Normandy have returned with the geth! They've started a rescue operation."

The Admiral turned to Tali who was already down the hall. "So I can guess once this is over Tali'Zorah you'll return to your human captain?"

Tali stopped, turning her head slightly to the Admiral. "No."

AN/ Happy Easter everyone.